More Nadia...

I can't help it. I love taking pictures of her. She makes the cutest little faces...

Seven years later...

Today Inoke and I celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. What?! How can it already be seven years? Holy smokes. I remember the day so clear I was a 22 year old that knew everything and could be told nothing... soon thereafter I became a 22 year old that knew nothing; but still could be told nothing. The crazy thing about it all is I still feel like I am 22; not 29 going on 30. Inoke and I have had an awesome 7 years and at the risk of sounding all mushy; I am so greatful that he is there with me for eternity.

No big plans for celebrating this year. We are just enjoying a quiet day home with Nadia. I can honestly say, she is the best anniversary, Christmas, birthday present all in one. I would rather stay home with her than go anywhere or do anything. Funny how fast you can totally adore a little baby girl.

Fijianisms' 101

I will be the first to admit that making the jump from "aunty" to "mommy" can be a little unnerving. I mean all those little things that mom's just automatically know. I never really thought about it; then there is the whole every mother raises their own baby their own way thing. I mean there really is no right or wrong way, there are just different ways, right? Inoke's family all flew out this past week so it is now just the three of us here at home. I think I am adjusting rather well, and Inoke is head over heals for Nadia. It is really endearing to watch him learn how to change dirty diapers and gain confidence that he won't "break" her when he picks her up. We are coming along just great.

So I have to share a couple new things that I learned from my Mother in Law when they were here regarding raising babies Fijian Style. One evening Nadia was fussy, totally not normal for this little one, she is normally a total chill baby. We figured out that she had some gas. So Inoke's mom asked me to get her a piece of paper. I thought maybe she was going to write down some ingredients to get at the store or something to fix the gas; but no that wasn't it. She putNadia down and rubbed the paper on her stomach then crumpled the paper up into a ball and handed it to Inoke; instructing him to go hang it out on the clothes line. I guess after raising seven babies of her own she has her own little ways of doing things. It just made me laugh a little because I had never expected that one. So the other day when I came home and saw a piece of crumpled paper hanging from the window in the bathroom, I just deduced that Nadia must have had some gas pains.

The second natural fijian remedy I learned last week was one for hiccups. I guess paper is a pretty popular remedy... one afternoon Nadia had the hiccups; they didn't seem to be bothering her but they did bother Inoke. So he took a small piece of paper, licked it, and stuck it to her forehead. Again I just looked and smiled. So if you ever see a little Fijian baby with a spit wad on their forehead, they must have had the hiccups.

The Wise Man Built His House...

And the rains came down. Holy smokes did the rains come down on Laie yesterday. To say it poured would be a gross understatement. One of the joys of living in Laie is that every couple of years we get a good dumping. It is pretty much inevitable that the rain will come and instead of getting all worked up about the inevitable flood damage people still go out and "play." What never ceases to amaze me is how fast the water gets soaked back up into the ground. This morning our yard was "dry." I am truely greatful that our house is up on stilts and built upon the sand... cuz the water just kept on rising up those back porch steps and even though we had about 6" of standing water in our yard and the carport was totally flooded our house stayed dry. The worst I suffered was the loss of one of my work shoes that was left out on the steps... (I found the other shoe floating around in the back yard). Here are some pics of La'ie.

Our Newest Addition...

Last Friday we welcomed Baby Nadia to our little family. Uh, no you didn't miss nine months of pregnancy, I am really not that great at keeping secrets. We are adopting her, she is Inoke's sister Finau's little one. She was born on October 15th and we have been anxiously awaiting her arrival to Hawaii for the last seven weeks. She is amazing. Truly amazing. I love her curly dark hair, and her big black eyes mesmerize you with her stares. We are all adjusting and enjoying having family around for the first little bit. Finau and Jay came down with Vaka and Nadia; then Inoke's parents arrived from Fiji on Sunday, so we have a full house. It is a pretty close call as to what Inoke loves more; having Nadia around, or having Finau and his Mom cook all his favorite Fijian foods. One thing is clear though, that little girl has Inoke wrapped around her little pinkie... uh oh I can see how this is going to be...