Our trip to Arizona...

Nadia and I went to visit friends up in Arizona for a couple days. It was beautiful there! We had a wonderful time and were sad to leave, five days just isn't long enough. Below are some slide shows from our adventures. I was so happy that Nadia did well on the plane ride to and from. She is such a little trooper. The first day or so was a little challenging with all the adjustments and changes to schedules, but she settled down and relaxed.

While there I took her swimming for the first time. She loved the pool and even put her head under the water without too much fuss. After about fifteen minutes in the pool she just looked at me, put her head down on my shoulder, then fell fast asleep (in the water). It was so cute I had Angela take a picture. We have a little swimmer on our hands.

We also took her to the movies for the first time. I figured since it was a kid movie if she made too much noise it wouldn't really distract the others in the audience. She did great for about a half hour then she got tired and slept peacefully the rest of the movie. Eva and Mallina had a blast. The movie was in 3-d so we all had to wear glasses to make it not be blurry... Eva wasn't too thrilled about the glasses but she didn't seem to mind the blurry show. She loved her popcorn. She took it home and ate more that night, then the next day and the next day. It was so adorable seeing her sit there with this huge bucket almost as big as her.

Monica came over to visit with Liahona and Levu. I was so excited to finally see them up close! They are so adorable. Lia is a little spitfire, she is on the go go go all the time. Levu is a chill baby. I loved it... it was fun to see Nadia interact with other babies. Lia kept trying to take Nadia's pacifier... and Nadia was kinda like "hmm what am I supposed to do???" it was funny. Then on Sunday when we went down to visit Monica at her house Nadia was ready for Lia. It was so hilarious. She was trying to hug her and ended up almost pulling Lia down. Hopefully next time they get together for a play date Nadia will be crawling or walking too...then they can really have fun together.

It was just a great trip overall... even with me ending up in the ER and having my eardrum rupture (that is a whole other story). I had a wonderful time catching up with Angela and seeing Mallina and Eva again! Nadia and I wanted to stay for at least a month... but reality is reality so we are home and Inoke is happy to see us again (we are happy to see him too).

Limes...

This weekend on our way home from Inoke's work we were driving through Kaneohe and I mad the big mistake of pointing out that there was a new Denny's in Kaneohe. (Before the closest Denny's was in Waikiki). If you don't know this, Inoke LOVES Denny's; something about how it was the first restaurant he went to in America and ever since he always wants to eat there. So here we are 6am barely rolled out of bed, not really presentable for public places we go to Denny's. Seriously he will opt for Denny's over just about any other restaurant. It is funny because every time he has the T-Bone Steak and Eggs regardless of time of day. I digress, lately Nadia has been expanding her food choices with sweet potatoes and cantaloupe and pineapple, etc. So I thought she might like to taste the lime from Inoke's drink. I was holding her and saw her face wrinkle up a bit, but she kept on biting the lime so I just thought she "liked" it. No joke about ten seconds after these pictures were taken she took one deep breath and WHOOSH she puked up her entire 6oz bottle from breakfast all over her and all over me. I tried to "catch" the eruption with my hands but it was everywhere including down my sleeves up to my elbows. Completely covered in baby puke. Ahh just how I want to start out a meal. The funny part of the story is Inoke. He just sat there and laughed at me. I tried to remain calm and ask for a burp cloth, rag, blanket, anything to get the puke off and he just said "I was hoping she would puke on you, Haha." Evidently he could decipher from her looks that it wasn't just a sour food taste squishy face, it was a "I'm going to puke all over you" face. Oh well. We were able to get her semi cleaned up just in time for the food to arrive. I have to admit I kinda lost my appetite a bit after the explosion, but I learned a valuable lesson: Next time let Inoke hold her when we try new foods.

6 months

WOW! Nadia turns six months today; people always told me that babies grow so fast and how they are constantly changing. I always kinda thought in the back of my mind "ya, ya, yada, yada" but now I understand. Here are a couple pictures from each of those lightning speed months that have passed since October 15, 2008.

Here she is at birth...

One month old...Two months old...

Three months old...

Four months...

Five months...

And finally half way there at six whole months..

New Tricks

I have to say that Nadia really thrives on her "schedule" she is like clock work when it comes to bedtime, bath time, massage time, bottle time, etc. It is really nice to know that I have exactly one hour from the time that she wakes up in the morning to play around with her before she turns into this little demanding baby ready for a bath. Serious, you mention the word "sisili" within ear shot and her face lights up and she is ready for a bath. Same in the evening it's like Cinderella when the clock strikes 6:30 wham everything changes in an instant and I had better have her bath ready to go or things go downhill pretty fast. I really am so grateful that she has patience with me. I mean how many babies will sit there and let their mommy rub oil and lotion and fix their hair every morning and every night. Even when I get a little crazy in the evenings with the combing... as shown in the picture below... I love her doowop curls...ahhh I just hope that she stays this way forever.Oh and the slide show is just pictures of her new favorite things, namely putting her feet in her mouth (that freaks Inoke out) and taking her pacifier in and out of her mouth over and over and over again. Hey whatever floats your boat, right?

Happy Easter

We had a nice and quiet day yesterday. No big ham dinners or Easter bunny baskets. I tried out a new recipe in the slow cooker (try check out the link to the Crock pot recipes blog on the right) Mongolian Beef with Jasmine Rice and fresh green beans... wow. My eyes are now open to the infinite possibilities that a Crock pot really has. In the past I was a roast with carrots and potatoes and that is just about it in the Crock pot lady... now I am so excited to try new recipes... But I digress. So Easter, we went to church, then came home and took a nice nap and enjoyed the sunny afternoon together.

I was debating on getting Nadia a big Easter basket full of goodies. But what would I put in it? After all she is still only eating rice cereal and baby foods. So who would end up eating all that Easter candy? ME. Nope, not a good idea. Perhaps next year...

Here are a couple pictures of Inoke and Nadia before church.

All Smiles...

This was taken yesterday evening. I just think it is so adorable because it captures Nadia. Seriously she is all smiles and giggles, an absolute joy to be around. Do you think she loves playing with Inoke???

I'm A Big Girl Now...

It has been a while since my last post. We have been doing just fine over here in sunny Hawaii. The weather looks like it is finally turning the corner into spring. Hopefully we will get out to the beach soon. Nadia is growing like a weed. She is officially too long for her infant carrier now. I have been looking around at car seats the last few weeks. All I have to say, is "WOW" there are so many different opinions and brands and safety ratings. I was a bit overwhelmed at making the big decision. In the end we settled on the Britax Roundabout in the Camooflauge print. I LOVE the print... and it is washable! This weekend was Nadia's first long ride in her new big girl car seat. She did great. I wish my seat was as comfy and padded as hers... only drawback is that I have to get her in and out of the car even when she is sleeping (no more just grabbing the seat and baby in one swoop). Oh well we will get used to it.
Here are some pictures...

She also LOVES her stroller. I am so happy that she loves going for walks with me. It keeps me exercising and gets her out of the house. She looked so cute this morning I took a couple pictures.