Happy Halloween!

Ha. Well, I get an "A" for effort this year in the category of Halloween. Wednesday evening was our Ward Halloween Activity complete with a Trunk or Treat. I took off a little early from work because I was so excited to see Nadia in her Fairy Princess costume that I got for her... she however, had a mind of her own. Ahh the joys of a two year old. We struggled and argued and a few tears later on both her and her hormonal pregnant mommy's part we ended up with this:Yes, that is a onesie and tights... As long as she was happy. And let me tell you she was completely comfortable and thrilled with her outfit of choice... well I guess I just need to be happy too. When people asked me.."What is Nadia this year?" I just smiled and said, she is herself, her very opinionated and independent self. One day those qualities are going to be a compliment. :) I figured we would go round two on Saturday evening getting ready for Trick or Treating in the community. Well Saturday was a BUSY and LONG day for my little princess. She came up and "helped" mommy at the Gunstock 1/2 marathon & 5k... then helped clean out the car and went to the beach and so by the time we were showered and fixing her hair and getting dressed yet one more time for Halloween... we ended up with this:She knocked out cold at 5pm and didn't move a muscle until the next morning. Ahh my little princess... next year we will go Trick or Treating and let you pick your own costume out.

The big TWO!

Miss Nadia turned TWO last Friday! WOW! She is growing up so fast. I took advantage of the fact that she is still too young to know which day exactly is her birthday.... so we actually made the cake on Sunday.... but it all worked out in the end. Nadia is quite the little helper in the kitchen. She had a blast helping me make her butter cream frosting and playing with the fondant (this was my first attempt at fondant, by the way). Here are a couple pictures of our little family celebration...

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

This is the other reason I have been neglecting the blog of late... Nadia is going to be a BIG SISTER! And it's a BOY!!!! Good things do come to those that wait. To say we are excited would be putting it lightly... he is due to arrive around the first week of March; now the hard part agreeing on a name.

Blog? What Blog?

Guessing from the title of this post you can probably figure I have been slacking off on my blogging the last few months. We have been super busy, so it isn't that there is nothing to talk about; I will blame it on the lack of extra free time and the beautiful hot sunny summer that we have enjoyed this year. This summer was a summer of changes and growth. I was offered a new position at work which added new challenges and extra hours of responsibility in that area of life. Nadia grew leaps and bounds in communicating. She is quite the jabber box these days speaking part Samoan, Fijian, and English all in one sentence. When Inoke and I are both at work she goes to Aunty Fetu (whom Nadia lovingly calls MOM! just like Fetu's boys do) while there she loves playing with her little buddy Leo. I like to say they have a "love hate" relationship. "Go Leo" is often the first thing that comes out of her mouth when she wakes up in the morning, then as soon as she gets to Leo's house the "hate" part of the relationship often appears out of nowhere. As Nadia and Leo are still learning to SHARE with others and each other. They will play like angels for a few minutes then in an instant it will turn into a full on wrestling match over the toy of the minute. While there, Fetu speaks to her in Samoan. Lucky thing I still remember a little of my two years of Samoan Classes from college. Well at least enough to decipher the ramblings of a toddler.

I haven't quite figured out how Nadia decides which words she likes in which languages. Perhaps if it is easier to pronounce in one she opts for that language? There isn't a rhyme or reason to her words, she understands all three languages, but when it comes to speaking she randomly picks. Like the other night for example we were eating dinner and Nadia clapped her hands did the sign for "finish" then said "Uma! Kahyah tahye, PEESE!" while she rubbed her stomach with the sign for Please. So we have "Uma" Samoan for finish, Fijian is "Oti", then "Kana Tale" which is Fijian for more food, and she finished it all up with English "Please" with Sign Language added in there for good measure. Some days she says "Ai" instead of "Kana" some days she says "Inu" instead of "Gunu" I guess in her little mind it all makes sense. It is quite comical and very entertaining.

Besides that, Nadia spent a good deal of the summer in her pool. She has become quite the little fishy, blowing bubbles, and splashing around for hours at a time. We even took her to the water park a couple weeks ago. She LOVED that place. We will have to go back soon. When it is time to get out of the water you will often hear her screaming "NO! Go WAI!!!" She knows exactly what she wants I have to give her credit for that.

So that is what we have been up to lately. Here are a couple pictures of the summer events...

Swimming in the pool with Tata...

Working on the sun tan with Mommy...

Helping man the Pinata with Tata at Lia & Levu's Birthday Party...

Taking a couple swings of her own at the pinata...

Four Little Monkey's Jumpin' on the Bed...

I just have to take a second and say how cool it is to watch Nadia play with Leo, Lia, and Levu. It is like a realization of a long time dream to watch her play with the children of long time friends. Back in the early days Pre-Nadia I remember talking to Monica about how cool it would be to have our future kids play together... now it's a reality. I love it! Lia and Levu are six weeks older than Nadia, and Leo is six weeks younger.... the four of them together = total chaos; but in a good way.

Martha Skills...

I have been on a quest of late to "organize" and manage our home... it is a continual project and I have been taking things one closet at a time (sometimes one drawer at a time). It never ceases to amaze me how much "stuff" accumulates when you live in a place for a couple years. We finished Nadia's room first moving out the crib (she has refused to sleep in the crib since she was about seven months old) replacing that with a big girl bed and new decore. Her nursery was rather overwhelming with pepto bismal pink (I have no idea what I was thinking back then) so it is now toned down with greens and browns and Nadia LOVES her room. I found this cool old bookshelf in the storage shed behind our house. I guess you could call it "shabby chic" or "rustic charm" I just thought it would be a great for storing all my books in my future office. So this past weekend Loren and Kitione helped me refurbish the bookshelf. It was fun for all and cost me a big old $2.99 for the paint brush. (I used the paint samples that were getting tossed out at work and kinda mixed a few in a bucket to get enough to coat the whole thing so it is a very unique one of a kind color, but I love it). Now I am hooked... I want to do more home projects...

Not to shabby for a half days work and $2.99...

FAMILY PICTURES...

I am slacking on the blog of late... lots to catch up on. First we finally had family pictures taken. I am so excited to have our first family photos with Nadia. The amazingly talented Natalie Norton shot them for us; she is awesome. Not only gifted in the area of photography but to get Inoke to relax and even laugh... well that is true TALENT. We have known Natalie for several years, she and her husband were in our married student ward back in the day. If you remember I had booked our pictures back in November of last year. Due to tragic and unforseen events (Natalie lost her infant son to pertussis in January) we ended up rescheduling a few times. I am so glad she was able to get us in and the pictures were totally worth the wait.
So here are a few of my favorite ones:

I'm allowed a little bit of vanity... right?

Move over Julia Child...

Last night Kitione came up to the screen door and asked me if Nadia was going to be eating dinner soon... and what she was having for dinner. I gladly played along and told him that we were making Roti and Curry for dinner. He ever so kindly volunteered to come "help" play with Nadia while I cooked dinner. (Gotta love that little guy!) Both Kiti and Nadia decided that it was no fun watching me make dinner... they wanted to help too. Kiti is very skilled with a rolling pin and Nadia bless her heart just couldn't keep her cute little fingers away from the roti's... it was entertaining for all three of us and dinner was so good! I told Kiti he can come "help play" with Nadia any time...

The Zoo...

Last weekend continuing on with the idea of getting out more and enjoying the paradise that surrounds us here in Hawaii; we decided to check out the Honolulu Zoo. I really don't know how I have lived here so long and yet not once made it down to check out the local zoo... especially to go see Inoke's cousins down in the gorilla cage... (HAHA, it's only fair he teased me all weekend telling Nadia we were going to see "mommy's family the albino monkeys"). It was a great day. The weather was perfect and Nadia was totally and completely thrilled with the opportunity to roam around exploring and seeing live animals. We will definitely have to make another trip down to check out the Keiki Petting Zoo in the not too distant future.

A Couple of Beach Bums...

All too often I am on such a tight schedule to squeeze in "all" that needs to be done on the weekends that I forget how awesome it is to live in paradise. When I was in college I was the queen of the beach, serious I scheduled my classes around peak tanning hours and only would work in the evenings leaving every afternoon from 12-4pm FREE for tanning and sunshine (Don't worry I still graduated Magna Cum Laude; even with sand in every textbook I owned). Ahh how I miss those days. So lately I have been doing some reflection and decided that no matter what laundry gets left undone or what dishes get left in the sink, etc. Nadia and I are going to get out and ENJOY the beautiful surroundings at least once a week. This weekend I took baby girl on her first outing to Sunset Beach... Ahh that is one of my all time favorite spots on the North Shore, the sand is wide, the water is clear and blue, and Ted's Bakery is just a hop skip and a jump down the road... Nadia LOVED it. So here is to making new traditions... going to the beach can be a tradition right? Or at least a Mama/Daughter bonding thing right???

18 Months!

Nadia is officially 18 months old today... Holy smokes where has the time gone? Her personality keeps us smiling and very entertained daily. Some favorites of late... blowing kisses to everyone when she leaves, KISSING boys. Uh, yep she LOVES to give hugs and kisses to her little friends. She is very good with following instructions and extremely helpful around the house. You will often find her with the broom or dust pan sweeping up the floor; or with a baby wipe wiping up her face and the faces of all her friends too. Nadia is quite a little mama, I love it. Some words of late are "stopit" (not my favorite), "naka nana" (Vinaka (Thanks) Mommy), "dua" (one), and Inoke's all time favorite "TATA!!!" (Daddy). Whenever she hears the horn beep on the car, she knows daddy is home and she immediately drops whatever she is doing and jumps up to go to the door arms stretched up and big smile on her face to say "TATA!" She loves to run around singing to herself and often will pick up a book and "read" it by making wispy sounds and flipping the pages. So that is a quick update on the little princess. Here are a couple pictures we took this morning. She is quite the accessory diva!

Trinkets...

Last weekend we went down to Kapiolani Park to watch some rugby and BBQ with friends. This is a picture of our little fashionista Nadia. Yes I am that mom; the one that matches the hairbands, with the sweater, with the dress, with the shoes, etc. and I am not going to apologize for it. Note the little golden necklace on Nadia. That little darling was mine. When I was five or six and the movie Annie was at it's peak of popularity I LOVED Annie. I actually broke my leg trying to do spins and twirls off a small flight of steps while singing and trying to recreate the song "Tomorrow." My mom gave me my very own Annie locket complete with the "I Love You" inscribed on the back. I remember wearing that necklace everywhere as a kid. It was right up there with Care Bears and Cabbage Patch Dolls. When my mom was in town a few months back she brought me down a little zip lock baggy full of old trinkets that she had saved from my childhood. Nadia loves accessories; so I thought it only appropriate that she get to "borrow" my little locket for a while until she gets her own. I am biased, but I think it looks darling on her and she won't take it off.