alooooha friday!

Pineapple fields on the north shore. 

Oh Friday. How you truly mean nothing to me. This day is no different than another day for the stay-at-home mommy with a husband that travels for work. Well, I guess today is a little different because Rob is actually at headquarters all day doing interviews. So it was nice to see him for 5 minutes this morning, and then again tonight. Case in point: I started this little post at oh... 7 this morning? It is now 6:30pm and Rob is home. Onward. 

This week was a busy one. Since we've decided (for now) not to put Christian in a "real" preschool, and use more of a homeschooling approach, we've been trying out some new activities. We've been having fun in a soccer skills class, yesterday we tried out gymnastics (which he LOVED), and soon we'll be trying out a group that does weekly field trips around the island. It looks like so much fun! I follow them on Facebook and when I saw them take a trip to the taro fields where the kids actually got in and got muddy picking taro, I was sold. (They're grown in pondfields.) I love their philosophy, "The goal of the program is to get families outdoors, learning about our rich environment, including animals, the ocean & land, and the precious Hawaiian culture and history." Can't wait for their winter program to start! He'll be trying out a Jiu-jitsu class on Monday. If he doesn't care for that, then we'll try something else like Taekwondo. So yeah, a little busy, but LOTS of fun! Usually these activities take place in the mornings, so that leaves our evenings open to just hang out or head up to the park. 

Cora had her first little "tumbling" class yesterday. And yes, she LOVED it. However, even though the class starts at 6 months old, it's really geared towards early walkers. I think we'll hold off for a few months until she's at least crawling, and then start going regularly. 

Today is my mom's birthday!!! Yay! Happy birthday, Mama!!! 

I really wish we could be there to celebrate. I've been missing Virginia and craving some Mama time really really badly lately. Right now, I am missing the change of the seasons as I sit in my house with the windows and doors open and a fan pointing on me because it's so darn hot. I don't miss cold weather, and I definitely DO NOT MISS SNOW and winter, but I do miss autumn. Seeing leaves change. The crisp mornings. Wearing boots and jeans and sweaters. Right now, I am missing Richmond, and I'm wishing it wasn't so hard to get back there. 

Mom sent me this picture the other day of a tree that my dad planted. So pretty! 

Let's talk Whole30. I'm on DAY 30! Sweet mercy. I made it! Thirty days of eating WHOLE, nutritious, delicious foods. Clean and green. Nothing processed. No processed sugar. No gluten. No dairy. No alcohol. But thirty days of eating so much yummy food. Foods that don't actually have "ingredients!!" Here's just a sample of some the delicious meals I ate during the past 30 days. 

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of my favorite dish from the Whole 30 book - Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie. I've also been loving Sweet Potato Turkey Burger Sliders. I make it Whole30 compliant, which I think it basically is except it calls for barbecue sauce, and you'd have to make your own or read ingredients. Either way, not a huge barbecue sauce fan anyway, so I don't use it.  Guess what? I eat A LOT of sweet potatoes. And eggs. More on the Whole30 later. I haven't weighed myself in 30 days, I haven't tracked calories in 30 days. It's been SO liberating. 

I'm currently on day 5 of the 21 Day Fix Extreme, and uh, I'm really sore. I'm part of a challenge group on Facebook that's really been keeping me accountable. I'm seriously so in love with the Beachbody programs and philosophies, I am considering becoming an official Beachbody Coach. We'll see. I'm still thinking and praying about it. :) All I know is my Beachbody coach is awesome, inspiring, her positive energy is infectious, and it really makes me want to be part of her team. 

Tomorrow is Halloween, and we'll do some trick or treating around the neighborhood for the first time. Christian is thoroughly stoked. We didn't get around to carving pumpkins though. Oops. Maybe next year? And I totally forgot to string up my pumpkin and orange twinkle lights. 

Ok I better end this before it becomes an Aloha Sunday post. Have a safe and wonderful Halloween!! 

6 months!

Wait. What? 6 months?! That can't possibly be right. To me she should STILL be a newborn. I blinked and now she's a 6 month old!

Weight: 16 lbs (48th percentile)

Height/Length: 27" (89th percentile)

Thriving!! 

She is such a sweet thang. She loves to be held and carried around. Probably not abnormal for the average 6 month old! ;) She LIGHTS UP when she sees her big brother. He's always so engaging with her. (Read: wild and screams like a banshee around her). But, oh so much love. 

No solid foods just yet. Well unless you count the frozen banana she gnaws on sometimes in her teether mesh toy. Those things are genius, by the way. I've also let her gnaw on small bits of avocado, but no "official" sit down, let's eat, meals. One of her first foods will be poi. I wanted it to be one of Christian's first food, but never tried it. I have a feeling that if you don't start them on it as infants, then they'll probably never like it. Hah. Have you heard of poi? I've recently seen this article (Is Poi the Ideal Baby Food?) circulating again, and the timing is perfect! Luckily, it's readily available here as I just picked up some from Costco! 

She may be a little unsure of the banana. 

Everyone's happy when Dad comes home from a trip, but Cora's smile lights up the room when she sees Rob. She loves her daddy. And I love that she has Daddy's beautiful blue eyes. 

Cora is also sitting up unassisted for short bouts of time. 

She loves loves LOVES watching the trees blow in the wind. Frequently we sit outside on the lanai just for that purpose. She's at that age where it's like she's really seeing everything for the first time. The wonder in her eyes as she takes it all in... it really makes me stop and think, why don't WE as adults stop and marvel the beautiful world around us like that. Cora's life lesson for the day. Going on her first hike on her 6 month "birthday" was PERFECT. She kicks her legs (we call them happy feet), and takes it all in. Smiles at the trees, coos at the flowers. Constant amazement. 

She loves the water. Which is obviously perfect. In the tub, in the ocean, it doesn't matter, it's splash splash splash! 

She also finally loves walks in the stroller. IF I leave her uncovered. Therefore, I take my walks in the early evening so the sun isn't beating down and I don't have to put a blanket over her carseat to protect her oh so fair skin. As long as she can look around, she is perfectly happy. If Christian is there to also provide her some entertainment, which he's always willing to do, even better!

I am so in love with this baby girl. And I'm so in love watching Christian be such a wonderful big brother to her. To be completely honest, I was skeptical when all the mamas of more than one child ASSURED me that I would love her just as much as I love Christian. HOW could I love another human as much as I love Christian? But it's true. It's so true. Your heart just grows. Our family is complete and perfect. 

It's been a wild 6 months operated on minimal sleep, but we're surviving. And we're having lots of fun! 

SO.

MUCH. 

LOVE.

:)

TGI (Aloha) Friday!

Oh heeeyyyyyy... it's been a while! A long while. I really have no explanation as to why I took a blogging break, because it wasn't intentional. Life just got busy with two kiddos and a husband that travels for work and vacation and a trip to Kauai and just LIFE. But I do enjoy this so much that I hope I can get back into some sort of routine. So, here's what you missed!

Cora is 5 months old! She is just the sweetest little Rose there is. She loves love LOVES her big brother, who is just as happy playing with LEGOS as he is trying to make her laugh. He is so sweet with her, SO SWEET that he shared his cold with her last week. Womp. There's this thing called "space," that we're having a hard time explaining to a very enthusiastic 4-year old boy. Most all of last week and this week Cora has been battling the cold that Christian had, except she had a very low fever and a nasty cough. I took her to the doctor just to be sure it was only a cold, and seems to be. She's on the upswing though, thankfully. As of last night, Cora is sleeping in the crib! No more bassinet where the walls were quite literally closing in on her. I use the word "sleeping" very lightly. But she is an absolute joy. Squeaking up a storm, all smiles, loves watching the trees blow in the wind, and LOVES watching Christian.

Christian is just awesome and hilarious and so SMART!! We've got a fun little schedule going on. No, he's not in preschool, and at this point unless I can find a very part-time option (which has proven to be hard on this side of the island), he won't go. But truthfully, since we plan on homeschooling, I'm not worried about it. We're part of a MOMS group that gets together for different activities during the week, on Tuesdays he goes to Mighty Moms with me where he plays with the other kiddos, and on Thursdays he goes to a more structured bible study in a class with others his age. Wednesday mornings are soccer, and once a month on Saturdays we're at the BMX track so he can ride his bike and do the Strider races. And LOTS of time at the park!! We're looking into various different martial arts programs trying to decide which one we'd like for him to try out. Because obviously being a ninja is his top life goal at the moment. Since he learned that Papa reads his bible every night, Christian wants to read his bible every night. We're practicing memory verses, and he's so proud of himself when he learns it.

We've already started planning our trip out east next year, which includes a week in the Outer Banks. I'm really excited about this!

Today is day 16 of my Whole30, and I keep having dreams that I keep eating junk food by accident. Yeah. So there's that. I've been working out daily trying to get back into some routine, and going out for run/walks several times a week. I registered for the Hapalua Half-marathon in April and am considering doing some smaller races in between. I made a reservation for a night at the Turtle Bay Resort for the Wanderlust festival in February with some of my favorite people... and is it too soon to start counting down???

Overall, life is good. I have no complaints, other than I'm craving that Hawaiian fall weather, which showed up for a few days a few weeks ago. It's been mostly pleasant the past few days, so I'm really thankful for that. Last Tuesday when we drove home from church (my moms' group) the Ko'olau mountains were in full waterfall mode. There were dozens of waterfalls flowing through the mountains, and it is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever witnessed. I did not take the picture below (because driving), but this is exactly what it looks like. To put it into a little more perspective, Christian and Mimi counted 43 waterfalls driving home yesterday along the H-3. FORTY-THREE.

Have a wonderful weekend! Happy aloha Friday!