Virginia, here we come!

I can't believe the time has come - we are leaving Hawaii and headed to Virginia for most of December. It sounds slightly backwards to say, "I'm excited to leave Hawaii to visit Virginia!" But that sums it up exactly! I miss my Mama and I'm looking forward to spending some good quality time with her. The last time I was there was for my baby shower and I was about 24 weeks pregnant. That 24 weeks pregnant has now turned into a smiling, giggling 3 month old baby boy!

 

{the last time Mom held Christian! so tiny!}

As excited as I am, the preparation for this trip has my head spinning. I would say that Rob and I are confident, seasoned travelers. But traveling with a baby, I feel like the inexperienced "holiday traveler." You know, the ones with 209384023984 bags for a three day trip? With Rob working the past few days, it's been a challenge trying to get stuff done with a little one. Thankfully, Mimi came to my rescue today and I was able to run in and out of stores quickly!! I've made list after list of all the things that need to be done, need to be packed, and I finally think I've crossed most of it off.

Tomorrow we'll leave on the red-eye to Las Vegas and from there to Charlotte (I think??) and landing in Richmond at 9:30pm. That's approximately twelve hours on an airplane and fifteen hours of travel time if you include the time between flights. God help us. We're bringing the car seat just in case we can get a seat for Christian, however I fully anticipate holding him most of the time. He's pretty mellow, but generally hates the car seat after too long. I'll have my Ergo too. I plan to nurse him on takeoff and descent. And I have a nice big leather tote that will double as a diaper bag and my "personal item." Since all sixty loads of laundry are done, the cat has food, Christmas cards have been addressed and stamped, my letter to Pastor Dan about our rose has been written (blog to come later), and the last remaining thank you notes are done, I can fully concentrate on packing tomorrow.

Virginia, here we come!! 

new traditions

One thing I want my son (and future children) to remember as an adult are family traditions from childhood, like I do. This year for Thanksgiving, we (hopefully) started a new tradition. First, as an "airline family," holidays most likely won't be celebrated on their exact day, and since Rob had to go to work, we celebrated turkey day on Wednesday. But no matter what day we celebrate Thanksgiving on, I hope it'll always be as a picnic on the beach! A day filled with family, sun, sand, good waves, a charcoal grill, and lots of laughs. And that's exactly what this year's Thanksgiving day entailed.

Rob setting up our encampment. I swear it's so awesome I could live on the beach under that tent. 

I even did a little bit of reading on my new Kindle, while...

 

Rob surfed, of course! The waves were so good! But Mama learned a hard lesson last week about surfing and nursing right afterward. Baby doesn't like cold milk!

There was laughing. Lots of giggles and chubby cheek smiles!

Let the cooking begin! Our whole turkey dinner was cooked on this awesome little grill. The smell of charcoal took me right back to when my Dad cooked hamburgers on our old charcoal grill.

 

Rob and Papa needed a way to keep the potatoes warm while they cooked the turkey. Bury it in the sand!

Thanks to Mimi and her delicious cooking, we had turkey tenderloins, a cranberry dressing, sweet potatoes (my oh my, they were delicious!), fruit salad, and asparagus.

My new favorite family photo! Baby's first Thanksgiving.

 

Does this cuteness need any explanation?? 

We stayed until the sun went down, and sunsets in Hawaii never disappoint! We even saw the green flash, something you always look for while watching a sunset. And in the year I've lived here, I've witnessed a handful.

After the sun set we packed up and headed home from the North Shore. As we drove home we talked about how perfect this day was. The beach + family = the best there is. But I can't help but think about how much I wish my mom and family were a part of this day too. The holidays can be bittersweet. I am so excited to celebrate, but it always makes me miss my family too. Thankfully, being a stay at home mom, and being able to fly for free/cheap, means I can spend lots of time in Virginia as well! I mean, Christmas isn't Christmas without a little bit of cold weather, right?

peanut butter & chocolatey goodness

Don't know if you've ever heard of the website Pinterest, but it's my new addiction. Without being totally confusing, or writing a whole blog post about how much I love Pinterest, I'll try to keep it simple. It's a big bulletin board of your favorite things found on the internet... or other "pins" by other users of Pinterest. Sort of like all your internet bookmarks into neat little categories with pictures. You can pin ANYTHING. I've already pinned tons of DIY crafts that involve techniques I know nothing about, like sewing. Pretty hair styles. Fashion. Books I want to read. Places I want to travel. And my favorite "board" - Food I Want to Eat.

While perusing other people's pins (OPP), I came across these! Originally from this website. And for the love of all things peanut butter and chocolate, I knew I had to make them. So I did.

They are Peanut Butter Cup Bars and they'll make you wanna smack your mama they're so good.

 

These are so ridiculously easy to make. Not sure if the grocery store even sells Graham Cracker Crumbs, but we couldn't find any, so I made my own using Graham Crackers, a zip lock baggy, and Rob's Kleen Kanteen water bottle. I also sprinkled some on top. And the only reason why I don't make these every single day is because I'm sure they have about a million calories and I am trying (ever so slowly) to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. But if you're a Reese Peanut Butter Cup lover, like myself, you have to try these.

the weather outside is frightful

Ok. Maybe not that frightful. But to me, this feels cold. Not chilly, but cold.

Go ahead. You can hate me. I understand. And no, it probably won't get any colder than this through the Winter months either.

We live on the 12th floor and get a great cross breeze when the trade winds are blowing, which was crucial to me surviving pregnancy during the summer. We rarely run our A/C because it's one of those janky window units that sits above the main door and doesn't cool the bedroom anyway. So needless to say, our windows stay open every single day. The only time we shut them is during the afternoon rain showers that tend to blow right into our living room and bedroom. And sometimes during the night. Fortunately (for me), it's Rob's side of the bed that gets wet during the middle of the night showers.

But this morning I woke up freezing! I immediately put on socks, long pants, and a long sleeve shirt. We've already been dressing Christian in warmer jammies. Well, his usual long sleeve footie pajamas with an added pair of pants and socks. We swaddle his arms, so his upper half stays warm.

 

{Yeah, that's a little blurry. Sorry. So stinkin' cute though!}

And Baxter manages to stay warm snuggled up next to me. Every single night.

Oh yeah, and this year Thanksgiving dinner will be a picnic on the beach. New tradition? Guess I'll have to bring a sweatshirt for that, just in case.

how fast they grow

FINALLY!

This week my best super stew friend, Billy, made it out to Hawaii for a layover. I've been dying for him to meet Christian. He was actually the first person, outside of family, to know I was pregnant. For those that don't know, Billy and I insta-bonded while in Barbie Boot Camp aka flight attendant training when we both found out we were going to be based out of LAX, not ANC. We definitely thought we'd be spending time living in a crashpad in Anchorage, flying arctic turns, doing the "milk run" on the 737-200 (which our airline no longer has), and basically being cold, but none of that happened. We did however share a crashpad in Redondo Beach with lots of other flight attendants and one super creepy (no, like SUPER CREEPY) 40-something year old man who wasn't a flight attendant but wanted to live with a bunch of flight attendants who ended up having a RECORD (yeah, way to go landlord), have margaritas at Cantina Real (on days off, of course!), ride bikes along the strand, and other fun beachy LA things.

{bonfire at Huntington Beach}

We've flown lots of trips together too! And there's one thing about flying with friends, you probably shouldn't do it. TOTALLY joking, Billy! (Yes, I'm referring to that horrid trip out of Chicago). Exploring downtown Vancouver was probably one of my favorites.

 {doing our best to channel the slightest bit of glamour on our way to YVR}

 

{Billy has all the luck! But, he DID get me Rob Pattinson's autograph. Thanks Billy!}

So I was very exited when Billy said he picked up a Honolulu! We had a great day catching up over lunch, walking around Magic Island, sipping coffee, all before he had to return on the red-eye that night. And he FINALLY got to meet Christian!

 

He's a natural!