THREE!

Christian, my love -

You are three, and you are my "big boy." At least that's what we tell you. But when I slip and say that you're my "sweet little boy," you quickly correct me with "No, I a big boy!" Sigh. I love your charisma, your passion for everything you do. You are all boy, holding nothing back. No fear. I've learned to just roll with it, a little bit more, but you still make my mama heart skip a beat at least fifty times once a day.

Things that you love... you love PAW Patrol, and Tom & Jerry, with a sprinkle of Chuggington, Curious George, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ok, so maybe we've given you a bit too much screen time. You also love the "cupcake game" on the iPad. You love the water. The beach. A beach baby through and through. You and daddy have this game you play in the ocean. Daddy yells, "HEAD FOR IT!" and you two charge the incoming wave to shore. A little body surfer. With your goggles on, you have no qualms about diving head first into a body of water. You love lizards. Especially all the little baby ones that live by our steps. And you're always trying to catch one. You love to ride your bike, and charge hills... even if you take a spill. You shake it off so fast and you're right back to it. No fear. You love your skateboard too. Thrill seeker.

You love and care deeply for your friends so so so very much. You love Mimi & Papa, and Nannie, and me too. But I know who really has your full heart and attention - Daddy. A daddy's boy all the way. The bond you two have makes my heart melt and I try not to get jealous. Daddy is the one who has taught you how to climb to incredible heights at the playground, so that when I take you, I know you know what you're doing. I know that I am your comforter. I kiss your boo boos. You know I can't start my day without your giant "Good Morning" hug, and I tell you how much I missed you while you were sleeping. I can't help but crawl into your tiny bed with you at night just before you fall asleep... partly from my own exhaustion and because I want your snuggles. You wrap your arm around my neck and my heart bursts. And then I wake up an hour later. You are so sweet, affectionate, and love deeply.

Birthday loot! Thanks Nannie! 

Just the frosting, please!

You love going to church, probably mostly to see your friends, especially Joey. And you drive me totally crazy when you kiddos run laps around fountain pool, and every week we say, "no running" to no avail. But you have learned that Jesus is your friend, and how much He loves you. You know that he has created the sun, the sky, the ocean, the mountains, and we constantly look around and say, "thank you God" because we have so very much to be thankful for. When I told you the baby girl in mama's tummy went to live with Jesus, you just looked at me thoughtfully, like you knew she was in good hands and that she was with a friend. Occasionally you would rub my tummy and say, "the baby lives with Jesus." And some days I would just lose it. I just love you so much and you are my miracle. Our miracle.

Belly buddies and best friends!

Some days my patience runs (really) thin, and I'm sorry. I'm working on it, I promise. I'm praying about it. It's a scary thing to pray for more patience.

You love people. You love to play tag at the park, or chase. There isn't a person that you wouldn't have as a friend. You love books. Right now your favorite books is this really really long one by Richard Scarry. It's not so much that you love when I read it, but you love to hunt for Goldbug.

You know your ABCs, can count to twenty, are potty-trained (WOOT WOOT! but trying not to jinx it) and are learning how to throw a proper shaka. A requirement for all people living in Hawaii. You frequently say you're "all pau" when you're finished with something, and you know them as slippers, not flip-flops. You know that a sea turtle is a honu, and that papaya grown on the tree out front is delicious. You love shave ice, and realize that it's a staple food. And every lady is an "aunty" and every man is an "uncle." You have so many aunties and uncles.

You love Baxter. Maybe just a little too much. But Baxter I think just loves the extra attention, no matter how rough it may be. Although you get quite irritated if Baxter (or Babu, as you call him) lays on or across your toys, especially while playing with them. Don't take it personally, it's just a thing that cats do. But I still love to hear your, "NO THANK YOU BABUUUU." Manners. Ah yes. Always a work in progress, but you're pretty good at using your pleases and thank yous freely. 

Gosh. You are such a light in our lives, a gift, Christian. Our wild, fearless boy. And we are so blessed that we were chosen to be your parents. We love you so much. And there's nothing in this world that would ever change that. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

aloha friday!

I took that photo when I walked out of the church this morning. It's been a mostly cloudy day with rotating bouts of rain, sunshine, and rainbows. But I just love the Ko'olau's and loved how the tops were covered by the clouds. The windward side is such a beautiful part of the island. But really, you can't go (too) wrong anywhere on the island. 

Today was the last day of Vacation Bible School. Hallelujah because I am tired. I was mostly a floating volunteer and helped where I was most needed. Which was usually the nursery. But I did help out with the preschool class one day and served as a crew leader for a group of older kids another day. I think I had the most fun working with the preschoolers and was most exhausted working with the older kids. The nursery was great too. It was fun to connect and chat with moms that I've met recently at First Prez through Mighty Moms. 

This week I completed a 3-day juice cleanse, and tomorrow's Kaia run is the Diamond Head loop. Hell week continues. It's about 4 miles all the way around. Hold me. ALSO tomorrow, Christian gets to help his good buddy, Austin, celebrate his 2nd birthday!! We're always always always excited for any opportunity to hang with the Liles family and a drive to the north shore! 

Looking for a good movie to rent? I rented The Pretty One a few nights ago and really enjoyed it! Although my taste may be questionable. Don't ask Rob. But I do love independents. 

Yesterday Rob, Christian, and I ventured down to Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha so they could get some shave ice. We live just over a mile away and Christian road his little balance bike the whollleeee way (and back). Rob chased him on his skateboard, and... I ran. A lot. 

Uncle Clay was there working the register. Probably the friendliest man I have ever met. In my life. While we were there he introduced us to his hanai son, who just happened to be there enjoying shave ice with his family, which also included his little boy which was born just 5 days after Christian. And sorry to use the Urban Dictionary link. It just described it perfectly. As Urban Dictionary so often does. Ha. BUT ANYWAY, I will forever take all my future guests to this local gem. 

Anything else anything else? I don't think so. Oh! I was really excited to see that Richmond has Stroller Strides. Now to convince Rob to let me take the BOB so maybe I will actually exercise while visiting. 

Baxter's most exciting thing to happen all week? 

A new box. 

Happy Aloha Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

this is love

Ever wanted to know what love looks like? This.

Many thanks to my friend Leah's boyfriend, Jon, for capturing this. 

christian + baxter

I know I posted this on my Facebook page, but it is probably one of my all time favorite Christian videos. To say that he loves Baxter doesn't even begin to touch the surface. He loves Baxter. This went on for a while before I ran to get the camera. And as much as Christian "loves on" Baxter, Baxter takes it really well. Most of the time he is actually purring. Man, have we been depriving Baxter of attention THAT much??

I love Christian's belly laughs! It is literally the best sound in the world.

gettin' around

It's only a matter of time. Christian is on the move, and he looooooves Baxter.

happy valentine's day!

Rob and I aren't really big celebrators of Valentine's Day. Really. We tell each other we love each other everyday. But alright fine, I'll bite. This Valentine's Day I'm feeling a little more enamored than usual. It's just that, I have this overwhelming feeling of...love. I feel so blessed. I look out my window and see absolute beauty. I say to Rob ALL THE TIME, "I can't believe we live here." Our paradise. I mean, I know that Rob is my soulmate. We really were love at first sight. Our shared love of the beach, the ocean, warm weather, tropical climates, the need to travel and see the world, the ability to have wonderful conversations about airplanes... and now living in Hawaii with our SON.

Our son. 

Sometimes I still can't even believe we have a child. And then he wakes me up at 3am to eat. Joking. But seriously, I look at our little guy and he smiles at me, and I melt. I look at Rob playing with our son, and I melt. I love being able to stay at home with him. Seeing him grow and change before my eyes. Don't even get me started on if I hear Iz's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I turn into a heap. I will most certainly cry. There's so much love in my life and seriously, I don't need a designated day to remind me of that. But today is still kinda nice.

2 months

I'm glad I'm getting around to writing this before Christian is 3 months old! But as expected, my life is quite preoccupied at the moment! And by the time he's sleeping, where I more time to write, I'm too tired to actually do it. Vicious cycle.

But life with this little guy is amazing. I just can't put it into words. Everyday I think about what a little blessing he is to our family, and I can't believe he's ours! How did we get so lucky?! I would say that we have a very very very easy baby. He's so mellow and seems to really like people. So far he's met quite a few of my flight attendant friends that have been here on layovers and he's just as chill as can be being passed around and held by "strangers" - his new aunties and uncles!

 

{Christian and Sammy}

 

{Christian and Cherie}

One of the biggest new discoveries is Christian's voice. He's talking up a storm! And by talking I mean, making mostly "ooohs" and "aaahs," but it's like he really does try to have a conversation with you. He watches your mouth so intently and tries to make his move too, and if you stick your tongue out at him, he'll stick his back out. I just love it! I really had no idea that having a kid would be so much fun and bring so many laughs to my day.

 

{a little video}

how's baxter?

A question that a lot of people have asked me is, "how's Baxter doing?," because everyone knows, Baxter is like a child to us. Spoiled and constantly loved on. At night, he slept on my head, or my pillow, or was the little spoon. He would lounge in the hallway for hours a day. But now that the baby is here, admittedly, life has changed somewhat for Baxter.

{day 1}

 

Our primary focus has shifted to all things baby. It's just the way it goes. I'm either nursing him, holding him, reading to him, changing his diaper, talking to him, or trying to get him to sleep. Rob too... well, not the nursing part. And Baxter's world has been turned upside down because he's not getting all of our attention.

To say I wasn't worried about him the month leading up to Christian's arrival would be a lie. I worried how he'd react to a baby crying. So I would play YouTube videos of babies crying. (Honest truth). And he'd immediately run away. Crap. We setup Christian's bassinet, which of course, Baxter thought was especially for him. So we had to train/yell/squirt/do whatever we could to keep Baxter out of Christian's future sleeping arrangements.

Now that it's been 6 weeks, I can offer a report on how Baxter is doing and adjusting. He's fine. At first, he definitely didn't know what to think of this... thing that makes a lot of noise. And when Christian started crying, Baxter would immediately exit the room. Now, he just kinda looks at him. And then looks at me like, "make it stop, please." For the most part, he ignores the baby. Of course he sniffs his head or his toes every once in a while, but that's about it.

Apparently Baxter has learned that when baby cries, Mommy or Daddy picks him up. So now, especially at night, if the baby even makes a peep, Baxter comes from wherever he is and wants to sit on my lap and be in my face. Yep. He's thinking, "well, if I just force myself onto her, she'll have to leave that thing alone." Sorry kitty. Also, when I nurse Christian, he most definitely wants to be on the nursing pillow with him, which he tries at least once a day to do before settling down next to me where I pet Baxter and nurse Christian simultaneously. A learned skill.

I do admit that I have ignored him more than I want to, especially at the beginning, but now I'm trying to love on him whenever I see him and my hands aren't too full. We don't keep the door open as much because it's just too much noise (and people walking by) to deal with right now. But occasionally we do. Now that I've temporarily moved my sleeping arrangements to the sofa, that has posed a small problem. There's just no room for me and a 15lb cat on the couch. But, he still tries, and usually I still let him. Unless I'm extra cranky. I refuse to let him on my pillow because there is absolutely nowhere for me to go, so he'll settle back into being the little spoon. He wants nothing to do with Rob, sleeping in the queen-size bed, all alone. Nope, nothing. He knows not to go near the bassinet because all we have to do is show him the purple spray bottle and he's gone.

Bringing baby home was a big change for all of us. And we're doing as much as we can to make sure Baxter knows he's still the number one kitty, we love him, and a part of this family just the same.

baby's corner

With possibly less than a month to go (!!!!!), we're still pretty unorganized, as you can see. This is the little corner of our 1-bedroom apartment that will be set-up for baby upon his arrival. In order to fit all of that there, we Rob had to flip the bed around. And even though we can hardly squeeze through between the closet and the end of the bed to go to the bathroom, baby will have a place to sleep right next to mama.

We bought the cube storage and drawers from Target. The drawers contain all the washed baby clothes (only sizes 0-3 months because we have a TON of clothes), swaddling blankets, burp clothes, random toys and other things. So far we've got two different kinds of disposable diapers we're going to try out. Ideally, I'd love to attempt cloth diapering, but I'll have to figure that out later, or not. Both diapers brands I picked are two of the most "natural" kinds out there - Earth's Best and Seventh Generation. We have an assortment of newborn sizes and size 1 (just incase we get a bigger than expected baby), but we've also kept the receipts so we can return any unopened packages we don't use.

I absolutely LOVE our new diaper bag (who am I? Am I really talking about loving diaper bags?). It's a Ju-Ju-Be and very Hawaiian looking... but masculine enough that Rob is willing to carry it. (The men out here generally wear Aloha shirts to work/church/any business casual function/wherever, so to see a man with something "flowery" isn't really a big deal). And it's Hibiscus flowers.

We have the stroller there for now, but I'm sure it'll stay in the back of the truck when actually being used.

Boppy Pillow for nursing the little one.

All of the bath stuff in the corner was a part of the gift my co-workers gave to me. So very awesome! There are a few hooded towels, lotions, a sponge, and even a little bathtub!

The co-sleeper is a little bassinet-type crib that will actually be hooked to the side of the bed; the baby will be easily reachable, but not actually in the bed with us. We can also use it as a free standing bassinet. We'll probably only get a few months use out of it, but I'm hoping we'll be able to use until we move into a bigger space.

Moby wrap for baby-wearing, thank you to my sister-in-law!

A memory book to document all the little fun things our baby will do because I hear they grow pretty fast. There's also a little one-year calendar I bought because it has an airplane on the front. Couldn't resist.

As for the extra fan (there's no central A/C, people!), the cat, and the messy bed, welcome to our home.

Pregnancy and a cat harness?

Not in this lifetime...

I happen to stumble across this gal's blog entry from a posting on BabyCenter* and I have to share. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant AND have put tried to put Baxter in a harness, but I get this. Pregnancy and putting Baxter in a harness? Surprisingly, there's a correlation.

I'm sure Rob appreciates the uncontrollable laughing coming from the living room at 6-something this morning. (As a result of my inability to sleep, of course).

*BabyCenter - a sometimes helpful website with pregnancy/kid related information. I usually check out the pregnant lady forums for my daily dose of eye-rolling.

Baxter LOVES to...

...sit just outside our door and do this over and over and over. But being that we're on the 12th floor and the only thing between us and a concrete parking lot is a chest high wall, we keep a close eye on him.

Mele Kalikimaka!!

Moving to Hawaii: Bringing your Pet

I had NO clue what an endeavor it would be to bring Baxter to Hawaii. I did know that Hawaii is rabies-free and that animals arriving had to be quarantined. I really really really didn't want to have to quarantine Baxter in Hawaii, but c'est la vie. Once moving to Hawaii started to become a partial reality, I decided do some research as to what I had to do to bring our kitty with us. 

The good news: I don't necessarily have to "quarantine" him. The bad news: I have a four page checklist with seven separate points and several sub-points of things that have to be done to qualify for "direct-release" at the Honolulu airport. Direct release=no kitty jail. I went cross-eyed the first time I read it and I had to read it out loud. Repeatedly. And also, we started this process early, even before we knew we'd be moving to Hawaii or not because we knew there was a lengthy waiting period. 

Step 1 - Rabies Vaccinations

No problem, right? Wrong. Since Baxter was rescued, I knew that he had been vaccinated by Jiji (Baxter's foster mommy), but this checklist requires at least TWO rabies vaccinations in his lifetime. So, we went to get him vaccinated, again. About a year had passed since his first & second vaccination, so even though he had received a 3-year shot the first time, I don't think this would be considered "over vaccinating" him. Also, what the hell else was I supposed to do? That's what they require. 

From the latest vaccine, there's a 90 day waiting period to enter Hawaii. 3 months. The least of my worries. 

I also had to track down all the info from his first vaccination - which Jiji so graciously helped me with. It wasn't exactly easy, because the state of Hawaii is very specific in the information they want (date vaccinated, type of vaccine, etc.). I actually had to email the people over in Hawaii (the government, I guess?) with a lot of questions about the paperwork I did have. Surprisingly, they emailed me back rather quickly. So yeah, the vaccine stuff is straight. I think. I hope. 

Step 2 - Microchip

All pets must be microchipped. Baxter microchipped. Check! So, if he gets lost, you can scan his neck, and up pops my information! Fancy. I like it. 

Step 3 - OIE-FAVN Rabies Blood Test

This was a little confusing trying to explain to the vet. Luckily, here in California the vets are pretty familiar with the "moving to Hawaii" procedures, so really it was just confusing to me. They knew exactly what needed to be done. Basically, they drew blood from Baxter (I'm pretty sure he hated us that day), and sent it away to some lab in Kansas. Your arrival date in Hawaii must be 120 days (4 months) after the lab receives the results. But not more than 36 months after.  And then there's all these other fancy instructions, like the paperwork must have the microchip ID number and say Hawaii as the destination and... and... cross eyed. 

THEN, there's the website through the State of Hawaii government website where I could actually check to make sure Baxter got a passing test result. It was only updated every Friday and it was a million page long PDF file. Searching by microchip number is the only way you'd ever find your pet. I think by week 4, Baxter was on there and good to go. This is where we got the date of November 18th - the first date Baxter would be eligible for direct release at the airport. Arriving prior to that date would result in him being quarantined until the 120 days are up. 

Step 4 - Waiting Period
And we wait...

Step 5 - Paperwork! 

There's a buttload of paperwork that needs to be submitted. The tricky part is, the original health certificate they require is only "good" for 10 days. So right before I leave, I need to hit up the vet for this nonsense. 

Step 6 - Turning in your Homework

Now it's time to submit all the paperwork. And it has to be received in Hawaii at least TEN DAYS prior to your arrival. Remember the expiration date I told you about on the health certificate?? So yeah, everything EXCEPT the health certificate has to be mailed off and received at least 10 days before kitty lands in Hawaii. Oh yeah, there's also some paper I have to get notarized I keep forgetting about. Crap.

Step 7 - Who the hell knows... 

This part just gives me the hours of operation of the Animal Quarantine Facility/Customs and how much it's going to cost me to have Baxter direct released at the airport ($165)... 

And on a side note, you can't just bring any animal into Hawaii and call it pet. I'm pretty sure it's just cats and dogs only. No birdies, ferrets, or other rodents. 


(I noticed my pictures weren't showing up for some reason, so again, this is the checklist I am referring too...)

And OF COURSE our Baxter is worth it. 

(for brandi)

"why yes, dat is quite interestin..."

"on dah lookout for squirrelz!!"

"wut? am i in dah way?

"don't mind meh. i sit where i want."

"will you puh-leeez let meh sleep??"

"hold meh!"

"i'z help fold da towelz!"

"i'z help you studeh too!"

"going on a trip? not without meh!"

"i'z in sleeper mode watching out for squirrelz..."

"oh? you thought this was your spot?"

"i SAIZ not without meh!"

Is my cat a dog?

I love my kitty, Baxter. He's seriously unlike any cat I've ever had growing up or met before. And I know I'm going to sound like one of "those" parents that thinks their kids are the smartest, funniest, cutest, prettiest, most talented of all the kids in the world (barf, they're not), but my cat actually is the coolest cat I know. As my friend Reed put it, "Even if you don't like cats, you'll like Baxter."

Reasons why I think my cat may be a dog:
1.  He likes to play fetch. We have this ball with feathers on it. When we pitch it across the apartment, Baxter runs at full speed, picks it up, brings it back and drops it in front of us. Repeat. I do not lie.
2. He lets us know when he wants to play, and it's usually all the time. Baxter loves to chase the "feather on a string" around. When he wants to play, he'll bring it to me, set it by me, and stare/meow at me. (He literally just did it.) Who's got who trained?
3. He takes showers with me. Well, kinda. He has evolved from just sitting on the top of the toilet while I shower to actually getting in the shower. He sits on the ledge of the tub and doesn't seem to mind getting sprayed. When I'm done, he gets in the actual tub and sits in the leftover water. He drinks it too, but will play around for a little while.
4. He likes belly rubs. He does not sleep like a "normal" cat most of the time. Meaning, all curled up. He sleeps on his back with his arms and legs splayed wide open. And sleeps.
5. He's ALWAYS there to greet us. Whenever we are returning to our apartment, he is standing by the door waiting for love. He rolls around on the floor waiting for us to pet him, which we always do. And I know he's not just standing there the whole time we're gone either because sometimes we're faster at getting through the door than him, especially if he's sleeping. I think he knows our "sound" coming up the stairs. Once when I was at home and Rob was out, Baxter jumped off the couch and took off for the door. Ten seconds later, Rob walked through. And I had heard numerous people before that coming up the steps.
6. He loves to ride in the car. He'd rather not be in the carrier, but we obviously have to use it to get him into the car. Like a cat, he fights it. But once we're in the car, we open the door, and after a few minutes, he's out. He likes to look out the window...leaving his "nose prints" all over.

And I could go on. But I won't insult my Baxter by actually calling him a dog. He's such a goofball and makes us laugh all the time. I truly believe that rescue pets are "grateful" for the love they receive from their owners. Baxter's foster mom, Jiji, is seriously awesome too. I like to keep her posted on Baxter's latest shenanigans. She told me over and over how special Baxter was and she was not lying. These days I am much more of a "cat person." Cats are just much more mellow, they don't jump all over you, don't lick all over your face, and aren't as high maintenance as dogs. (But don't get me wrong, I LOVE dogs too! I had a black lab growing up! And let's not forget Lily either!) Go ahead, call me the crazy cat lady! I won't even be insulted.