no computer...lots of excitement

So, about a week ago Aho was on our computer when all these pop-ups started...well...popping up. We called every technical person we know and tried our best to fix it, but turns out we caught a virus and well...our computer is dead. All we have is Aho's work laptop for emergencies (and checking the blog=)). I guess you don't realize how much you use an item until you don't have it anymore. And I'll admit it...I loved our computer. Hopefully we'll have our new one soon.

We've had some excitement since our last blog. Our rice cereal adventure didn't go so well. It made my gassy son 100 times gassier than normal, which meant that instead of sleeping longer at night, he was waking up almost every hour crying and screaming. So we stopped our rice ceareal and waited a while.

Then we decided to try oatmeal cereal, which went well for the first couple of days. That is until I made the terrible mistake of adding a tiny bit of formula to the oatmeal one night. Ola has never had formula, but I figured I'd just add a little bit to my breastmilk because there wasn't enough. Later that night he proceeded to throw up every drop of everything he had anywhere in his body, so much so that it wasn't only coming out of his mouth, but his nose too. I thought my poor little baby was going to die (yes, I was freaking out)! I screamed so loud when he threw up the first time (at 2 am) that poor aho, who was knocked out sleeping up stairs, jumped to his feet and flew down the stairs faster than I've ever seen him move. After the second time it happened we ended up taking Ola to the ER and then to his pediatritian afterwards. He smiled the whold time and no one believed that he was sick. But, it turns out our little man has a milk allergy and I can't give him anything with milk in it (especially formula). Never gonna make that mistake again.

Aho and I were also able to go to the temple yesterday for his brother and sister-in-law's sealing. Luckily, my mom came down to watch Ola. The temple was so busy with all the people trying to attend before it closes for renovations. We left home at 7:15 and didn't get home to about 3. But it was really nice to be able to go before it closes.

And then, last night, Ola rolled over all by himself. I left him on his back when I went upstairs to get his bath ready and when I came back down he was propped up on his tummy totally happy. Oh no...he's mobile!!! Ahh the joy!

And...tomorrow is christmas. I can't believe it's already here. We're going to spend our first Christmas morning together, and then Ola and I are off to Kauai. I can't wait.

Happy Holidays!!!

Yay! Food!

Since we got the go ahead from our pediatritian, and since our hungry little man doesn't seem to get enough, we gave him his first meal of rice cereal last night. It was definately entertaining. At first, he was a little curious, then mad that it wasn't coming fast enough, and then...he was just over it. Poor Aho (who had been at work for about 20 hours and was practically falling asleep) had to be our makeshift highchair. But it was definately a big milestone for our little chubs. =)

4 months

Today was Ola's four month birthday, which meant our monthly pictures and our well baby checkup. My hungry child has eaten himself all the way to 15lbs. 11oz. and 24 1/4 inches, which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height (so far, he's looking more like me than Aho...size wise of coarse). It also puts him out of his 3-6 month clothes, which I had to pack away last night, and into his 6-9month outfits, which don't have much room left either. Then again, the 12 month outfit we've been taking pictures in is definately being filled out ahead of schedule. My tough little man took three shots in the legs like a champ. He also got the go ahead for rice cereal, and other foods soon to follow. This should be an adventure.

Turkey Day

Wednesday, after coming in from Maui, Ola and I flew home to Kauai for the Thanksgiving weekend. In my whole life, I've only spent two Thanksgivings away from home. The first year we were married we stayed on Oahu and I cooked, and last year, my whole family went to Vegas. So spending Thanksgiving at home this year was nice. My mom always cooks way too much food and I spend the whole weekend trying to eat it all.

But this year was extra special because there were four generations of my family there. My grandpa insisted we take pictures to document the big event. I laughed at the Oreo effect we created. Me and my poor white kid.

Ola was extra happy to be home because it ment getting his favorite toy back. Last time we were home my mom gave him his first Christmas present (yes, it was October). But he totally loved his baby einstein play gym. His favorite part is a star that hangs in the middle and lights up and plays music. Well, three weeks after we brought it home, the music was mostly static. I was so sad when the costco here said they were all out. But my mom picked one up on Kauai and when we got home it was waiting for Ola. We was so happy to be reunited with his friend. He couldn't stop staring and talking to his star.

Since Aho flew down on Thursday, he wanted to check out the stores on Kauai on friday. We were supposed to be shopping for Christmas presents, but Aho couldn't resist getting Ola a new friend. We sat this new bear up in front of him in his car seat and he talked to him the whole rest of the day. I think maybe he needs more attention.

Then Saturday, we went to my Aunty and Uncle's house in Kekaha for dinner and I got to see my friends son, Kiyoshi, who will soon be Ola's surf buddy on Kauai. Ola's papa (my dad) and Kiyoshi's papa (my uncle Dellick) surf together every morning. And they can't wait till these two monsters are ready to go surfing with them. These two have no choice but to be best buds. Yosh is 13 months older than Ola, but is HUGE. He went to take a bath while we were eating and came out sporting his new pjs. SUPER MAN!!!

But I think the funniest picture I caught while I was at home was of our rottie Puna. She has a very good nose, which is apparently good for more than just finding food. She now uses it to let us know when Ola needs to be changed. My mom had to help a little, because as scary as she may took to some people, this 120lb. dog was terrified of my son's two little feet.

Vacation!!!

Last week we took a much needed vacation. Since November is Aho's vacation month, we figured we better use it. So, we decided to try out the superferry and go to Maui for 4 days. We figured it would cost about the same to travel and take our truck as it would to fly and rent a car, but that we could take as much stuff as we needed to in our truck as opposed to being limited to one bag each on the airplane. Maui was great! A little expensive, but great. But next time, we'll spend $17 for our extra bags and just take the plane.

We were a little excited getting ready to leave, but that was short lived. Good thing we took a picture while we were still smiling. Well, that's the biggest smile you get from Aho.

I have NEVER gotten sea sick. NEVER! And I've been on my fair share of boats. Aho has NEVER gotten sea sick. NEVER! But I guess there's a first for everything, because after the FOUR HOUR trip from Oahu to Maui (yes, air only takes 30 minutes), we were both feeling pretty lousy. In fact, after the trip there, we were pretty tempted to buy plane tickets and ship the truck back.

Sunday night we had dinner at Sansei for Aho's 24th birthday. With all the crazy things going on and being away from home, we couldn't do birthday cake and ice cream, so Aho settled for tempura fried ice cream for dessert. It was so good!Monday we decided to take a drive to Hana. It was beau-t-ful and made us very grateful to live in Hawaii. We were going to attempt to head all the way to Kaupo, but the tourists out there drive crazy and the one lane road was getting a little hazardous. So we decided to just head back. We had to make a few stops along the way for a hungry little man. Then for a grumpy little man. And then for a carsick mommy (another first). But the fresh air was great. Tuesday we wanted to catch some sun and went down the road to Wailea to hit the beach. Well, the clouds decided to join us and the water was freezing, but it was still gorgeous.

After the beach we drove to Kahului and ate lunch at Da Kitchen (the best place we ate on Maui, thank you Clarke), had guri-guri at Maui Mall (thanks Lohi for location), and drove around, ending up at Iao Valley. It was late and very windy and cold, but once again, beautiful!

Wednesday we had to get up, pack, run to Makawao to hit Komoda Bakery (again, thank you Clarke), and then jump back on the superferry (which was faster and smoother the second time around).

For those of you who haven't been to Maui in a while, you really should go. It cost us a pretty penny, but it was nice to see that there are still parts of Hawaii that aren't covered in cement. Everywhere we went we saw open land, green trees, and blue ocean. Four days definately wasn't long enough to see everything, but we liked everything we saw. Thank you hunny for such a great trip. And for finally taking a vacation. =)

Ready to walk

Ola LOVES to stand up. There are times when he will fuss until you hold his hands and pull him up. And then, once he's standing, he's totally content. While we were at Cam and Lohi's this week, Aunty Lohi that it would be fun to put Ola in Na'u's walker.

Oh the joy of a walker. He got to stand and I got to work.

He was such a happy camper!

Now if only his feet could touch...he could actually go somewhere.

Thanks Lohi! As much fun as it was for Ola, I still think I was more entertained.

Classic Moments

I love posting on our blog, mostly because with all of the millions of pictures that I take of this little monster, I'm afraid I might forget what was happening when I took them. I'm very slow in my scrapbooking, so I figure that if I at least blog, I can always look back and see what was going on. But lately, I've been too busy to post anything, and besides, nothing all that exciting happened. But, this past week, I did catch Ola in some pretty classic moments. Enjoy!

Our little King! Propped up on his throne.

A very happy, very fat face.

One thumb isn't enough. He wants his entire hand in his mouth. Ok, maybe two hands. (And check out the feet)

Caught red handed! Really, there are no words for this face.

Hanging out with Aunty Sonya & Na'ulei

Rockin' the "Big Boy" outfit!
(That shirt is a 6-12 mo.)

Parenting

~ Before Ola was born, Aho and I would always comment on the wonderful kids we knew. You know, those kids who are well mannered, who listen to their parents, are polite, smart, talented, and have sweet and funny personalities. We know quite a few. And we both said that we wanted to be the good, hard working parents who shaped our children to be like the wonderful ones we already knew. Of coarse, we also talked about those rascals we would see (or know). The ones who don't listen, talk back, have extremely bad habits, have no respect, and are allowed to get away with anything. And we both vowed that we would try our hardest not to allow our children to become like that.

~ Sadly, there is no book written on how to make your children wonderful. But, I was really touched by a talk our bishop shared this Sunday. It was our Primary Sacrament Program, and in conclusion, our Bishop shared a portion of a talk by President Hinckley entitled "Bring up a child in the way he should go." The portion he shared was about a tree President Hinckley planted in the yard of their first home. He shares that he planted the tree in the corner of the yard, envisioning the shade it would provide for the home in the future. When he planted it, it was small and tender and very easy to bend. However, he paid little attention to it over the years. Then, many years later, he happened to notice it one day. It had been planted where the wind blew the hardest, which had caused the tree to lean badly to one side. In an attempt to correct the tree that was once so pliable, President Hinckley tried to simply push the tree upright. When that didn't work, he attached ropes and pulleys to a steady post, but the tree only trembled slightly. It seemed as though the tree was saying, “You can’t straighten me. It’s too late. I’ve grown this way because of your neglect, and I will not bend.”At last, he took a saw and cut the heavy branch leaning to the west. All that was left of the tree was a single branch reaching upward.

~ President Hinckley goes on to state the following: "The other day I looked again at the tree. It is large. Its shape is better. It is a great asset to the home. But how serious was the trauma of its youth and how brutal the treatment I used to straighten it. When it was first planted, a piece of string would have held it in place against the forces of the wind. I could have and should have supplied that string with ever so little effort. But I did not, and it bent to the forces that came against it. I have seen a similar thing, many times, in children whose lives I have observed. The parents who brought them into the world seem almost to have abdicated their responsibility. The results have been tragic. A few simple anchors would have given them the strength to withstand the forces that have shaped their lives. Now it appears it is too late. It is not enough simply to provide food and shelter for the physical being. There is an equal responsibility to provide nourishment and direction to the spirit and the mind and the heart. Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children which have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love; that she will have no greater happiness than to see them grow into young men and women who respect principles of virtue, who walk free from the stain of immorality and from the shame of delinquency."

~ I am so grateful for the belated prophet, President Hinckley. I love that he could look at a tree in his yard and turn it into such a powerful lesson about the importance of our role as parents. Looking at Ola, I know I will never have a greater blessing, or greater responsibility, than that of being a mother. And although we may not do things perfectly, I know we will do our best to make every effort on our children's behalf. If we take the time to make simple efforts now, we will not have to take drastic measures later.

~P.S. If any of you great parents out there have any pointers, we are open for input. Please...share your secrets.

New Things

We've been working with Ola on grabbing things for a while now, but with no success. Then today...finally...he got hold of his rattle and wouldn't let go. I cheated a little and put it right into his hand, but he did the rest. And held it up for a photo just to prove it. We also had a hillarious moment tonight when my mom was trying to show him something else. We've been working on getting him to suck his thumb as well, but my mom decided to show him his toes could reach his mouth too. He got such a kick out of it. He was laughing so hard, he gave himself hiccups.

Visitors

On Monday, Nov. 3, Ola finally hit his 3 month mark. I shouldn't say finally. There are times when I can't believe how fast time is flying, and other times when I feel like he's been mine forever...but is only now 3 months old. But we once again took pictures in his 12 month outfit. He's filling it out a little better, but still has a bunch of room.
He wasn't so pleased with me for putting him in different outfits for pictures, and was much happier to just be naked in his diaper.
Later in the day, Cam, Lohi, and Na'ulei came by. Seeing the two of them next to each other is so funny. It's our own version of ebony and ivory.

Na'u decided she wanted to step on Ola. I don't think it helped that the three adults in the room just laughed. Luckily, Aunty Lohi saved Ola's pretty head.

But really, all she wanted to do was honi him. These two are just too cute together.

Thanks for the visit guys!!!

Yes, he's mine

When they handed Ola to me for the first time, I saw Aho all over. Ok, all except for the color. Since then, I've seen him do so many things that just make me say...yep, that's Aho's son. My sister-in-law, Lani, laughs every time he makes a grumpy face and agrees...yes, that's definately Aho's kid. There have been a few things of mine that I notice. He loves to talk and sure shows his portuguese blood. He has his daddy's face, but my ears, as strange as that may be. And yes, he's white (poor thing). But this week I noticed one more thing we share. My poor son has my sweaty hands and feet. Yes, since I was a kid, my hands and feet sweat. And not just when its hot or i'm nervous. That's when it goes over board. But normally, I have clammy sweaty hands. And, so does Ola. Of all the things I would want to pass on, that was never on the list. But, at least I can say without a doubt that "yes, he's mine!"

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been rough. Aho and I have been so increadibly busy. Friday I was running around all day and getting ready for our ward's Halloween activity. Aho barely slept because he didn't want to miss baby's first Halloween.

Saturday, my parents flew in from Kauai and agreed to watch Ola so Aho and I could go out to the temple (Thank you Papa and Tutu for helping out so much this weekend). It was the first time that I left baby for more than 20 minutes. Up to this point, I've only left him at home with Aho to run out and get food or run to the bank. This was definately a test of my strength. I left the house at 9 to pick Aho up from work, and we didn't get back home until after 3. My parents were loving it. I, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get back to my little monster. It felt like forever. I guess I'm not as tough as I always thought. When my parents finally brought him home, I just wanted to hold him and hug him and kiss him. Being away from him for those SIX hours made me ever so grateful for eternal families. I am so happy that he is sealed to us and that he's mine forever.

And then this afternoon, we finally had Ola's baby blessing. He'll be three months tomorrow, so he's a little bigger than the average, but he was a total trooper. It was the first time he stayed awake during church, but he didn't fuss at all. And even though Aho was SUPER nervous, and only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep (and lack of, for the past 3 days), he gave a BEAUTIFUL blessing. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who is a worthy priesthood holder and capable of blessing our family. Hunny, you did a GREAT JOB!!! Thank you every one who came, and especially those who participated in the blessing.

Now that all the craziness is over, maybe we can get back to a normal life. =)

Momy, Daddy, and Ola


Papa, Tutu, Mommy, Daddy, and the star of the show...Ola!

Halloween!!

Ola in his costume before the alterations.

And after. Pretty darn proud of my alterations.

I dressed him up this morning too. The outfit says "I love my mummy" (with a picture of a mummy)

Tutu even bought him Police Style sunglasses

And he was so stylish in them

Ola and Mommy...the two daddy wanna-be's

Daddy, Mommy, and Ola

We went all out for Ola's first Halloween. If you saw our earlier blog, my mom ordered him two outfits, a police man and a bear. Well, the smallest size they had was 6-12months, which was a little big. We decided to go with the police outfit since it was a little smaller. Thank you to all of you who thought we could fill it out in the two weeks we had. Trust me...he tried. He ate like crazy, but no luck. So yesterday, I went to work taking in his costume so it would fit for today. Then, this morning, Aho and I decide that we would dress up too. I really wanted for us to both be inmates (since Ola was the cop), but couldn't quite work it out in the few hours I had. So, I dressed up in Aho's police academy uniform, which matched Ola's very well, and Aho dressed up in his cow costume (a few years ago he was the cow and I was the cow girl). Everyone laughed that we had switched roles. He now gives milk while I give tickets. Aho barely had any sleep, but he didn't want to miss Ola's first Halloween, so he woke up and came with us to the chapel for our ward's Halloween pot luck and trunk-or-treat. It was so much fun. And my two men were too cute.

PCC

Last night was awesome! We went out to PCC for the Haunted Lagoon canoe ride with Cameron, Lohi, and Na'u. We also got to see Channy, Sarai, Ka'ehu, and Sinalei, but Channy was on time (meaning the rest of us weren't), so they were on a different ride (one of the first ones). Too bad we couldn't take pictures during the ride though. It was too funny. The best, was when some monsters pulled a lady out of our boat and dragged her onto shore and hacked her up. She was sitting right in front of Cameron. And we all thought she was with the lady sitting next to her. Ola did great. He woke up a little bit before we got on the ride and stayed awake the whole time. I thought he was going to get splashed by the monsters in the water (so gross swimming in that water), bo I would cover his head and face with a towel. Only, he didn't like missing the action. I guess he wanted to see the monsters. In fact, the only time he got scared was when "Jason" turned on his chainsaw. SUPER LOUD! But other than that, he was a total trooper. If you haven't been, we totally recommend it.

Ola and Mommy waiting in line.

Last picture before the ride starts.

Cameron, Lohi, and Na'u, our fearless companions.

Aho trying to make Ola look at the camera. Nice try hunny!

Thank you Cameron and Lohi for always coming up with fun stuff for us to do together. Driving home last night, Aho and I were both grateful to have such good friends. If it were just us, we'd just sit home all the time asking each other what we wanted to do. Lucky thing we have such wonderful friends!!

Jogging

I had great plans for today. I was so excited beacause I've wanted to go to the beach all week but was busy with other things. So today, I was determined to go. I got ready, packed our towels and extra things for Waiola and I was ready! But...plans don't always work out. Aho suggested that I should go and buy us a beach umbrella and other things we might need for future beach excursions (instead of just trying my luck at getting one of the resort umbrellas at Ko Olina). So, I decided to stop by Walmart and pick one up. But our Walmart said they were all out. So, I went to K-Mart. K-Mart was all out. So I checked sports authority. No beach umbrellas. Sams...not right now. Costco...not anymore. Walmart in Mililani...I think there might be some back in that corner...maybe in athletics...no...sorry, we must be all out.

I don't understand why no one has beach umbrellas. I don't care if it's winter everywhere else...it's summer here all year long. Anyway, after going to all those places...I was too tired to go to the beach. In all my searching, I did get Ola some new sunscreen and a floaty thing with a shade cover. I'm hoping that we put them to use tomorrow.

The day wasn't a total bust though. I really wanted to start jogging again but couldn't find an afordable jogging stroller anywhere here, and shipping in is so expensive. I tried using my regular stroller yesterday, but it got a little wobbly once I started running. Luckily, while I was wondering around K-Mart today, I found a decent jogging stroller for under $100. It's a jeep, which Na'u seems to approve of, so I'm sure Ola will love it. I put it together when we got home, with a few adjustments (the infant inserts from Ola's car seat) since the space seemed a little big. Waiola did great, and I'm glad to say...I am now back into jogging. Well...walking/jogging.

First time in the stroller~A view from the top during the ride~Asleep by the end

Monday

I love to be busy! And before I had Waiola, I could fill a whole day just running errands. I loved making a list of all the things I needed to get done and checking them off one by one until I had nothing left. It's just one of my quirks. But...now that I have Ola in tow everywhere, and I try to run errands in between feedings (which can be every hour some days), I feel like every day is SUPER busy, even though I only accomplish a few tasks. I admire mothers who have more than one child and manage to do anything at all...they are my new heroes.

Monday seemed like another crazy busy day. I woke up at about 6:30, fed Ola, and got to work cleaning. I've been pulling things out of boxes and storage and dumping it into our living room to sort, which ended up making my living room a mess. So I cleaned, and reorganized, and cleaned again, which was great. When Aho got up (I think it was about 12), I told him I needed to run to town, and he was lovely enough to go with me. Since we were out that way, we decided to check out the new Whole Foods store. If you know me, you know I love food! And organic food is usually good tasting and good for you. Walking around the store though, I remembered why I don't buy much organic things...they're so expensive. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but Aho saw some stuffed chicken at the butcher counter and decided we would try it out. Pictured below are the two pieces he purchased as they were cooking for our lunch. They each consisted of two organic chicken breasts, wrapped around stuffing (one was herb, one was apple cinnamon), and tied up.

If they look good, savor the view. These TWO pieces came out to a total of $45. As we walked out of Whole Foods with the most expensive chicken we have ever bought, we thought it would be the best chicken we ever had. No such luck. Aho laughed and said...no wonder we have an obesity problem in America. You spend $45 on healthy, organic chicken, and it tastes junk. But you spend $1 on a hamburger at McDonalds, and you're not disappointed. Oh well...at least we gave it a try.

My mom arrived while our chicken was cooking (and had a good laugh at our story). We're very lucky because her job allows her to be here fairly often, which she is 10 times more thankful for now that we have Ola. He was very happy to see his Tutu, as is obvious. I think I'm the only one who might adore him more than she does.

After our $45 "snack", we were trying to decide where to eat for dinner (I wasn't kidding when I said I like food), and Aho went upstairs to play his newest computer game, Spore. I left Ola with him for a 2 minutes and came back to this...
I guess he's more like his Daddy than I thought.

We ended up eating at Makino Chaya (where I ate way too much) and getting home around 8:30. Since Tutu was here, she gave Ola a bath and he was off to bed about an hour later. I don't know where the day went, but it sure seemed full. No thanks to the chicken!

Pumpkins

On Sunday, as always, Waiola and I went to church. Due to his changing shifts, Daddy was at home sleeping. We missed him, like we always do, but he was up when we got home and caught a few great pictures of me and my little ham. This one is my favorite. I love dressing him up on Sundays in his little onsies with ties on them. But he only has two and he's growing out of them fast.

Later that evening, after going to a baptism, we drove out to Kane'ohe to visit Channy and the beautiful new Sinalei (the other two were fast asleep). And Cameron brought along some pumpkins so we could have a competition...tuiteles vs. del toros. Aho and Cam sat at the table for a good hour just trying to think of something to carve on their pumpkins. After Lohi and I gutted them, they decided to go with a UH theme.

Cam and Aho...taking forever to decide what to carve.

Lohi and Na'u having fun with the guts!

Ola was sleeping, but he was still in the Halloween spirit.

Aho and the final products. The old and new logos for UH. We're so creative!