4 Months Old

Today 'Ihi is officially 4 months old and I can't believe how fast time has gone by! I know I always say this but she is growing way too fast!

Stats

14 lbs 10.5 oz

25 1/8 in

16 1/4 cm head circumference

'Ihi has become a lot more active this month! Here are some new 'Ihi-isms :)

*She grabs anything and everything in sight and it goes directly into her mouth.

*She is still a pretty good sleeper but I'm pretty sure traveling messed with her schedule. She was almost consistently STTN until we went to Cali and now she is back to waking up once during the night.

*She pretty much puts herself to sleep most of the time. I lay her in her crib when she's tired and after a little fussing (no real crying), she falls asleep.

*This is a new one as of this week... She has definitely found her voice and knows how to use it! She squeals (very loud) and just talks our ears off all day! It is fun to watch her learn different pitches in her voice and then try them out.

*She is still a pretty happy baby and will go to just about anyone. However, the affects of being a stay at home mom are starting to show as I see she favors me and knows when I'm not in the room.

*She despises her car seat. When we put her in she arches her back as if to keep us from buckling her in. Just the other day we were driving home from Highland and it was disastrous.

She screamed all the way to Provo and then wouldn't stop even when we took her out at home. It was not one of her finer moments.

*She is still drooling a ton! She soaks through the top of her outfit at least once a day.

*She rolls when she wants to. I think she really likes tummy time so she just stays on her tummy and plays with the toys I put in front of her. She's not rolling around the apartment just yet.

*She laughs all the time. Sometimes I can just look at her with a funny face and she will laugh. She is very ticklish on her neck, underarms, and tummy. I love ticking her and making her laugh.

*She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror. In fact, we have made it part of our bath routine. Before she gets in the bath, she admires herself in the mirror for a couple minutes.

*It is much harder now for me to get her to take a bottle and she refuses the pacifier a lot now too. I don't know what has changed.

*She has a great personality. I love having little conversations with her and watching her face light up as she smiles and laughs.

I think that's it for our 4 month update... Cheers to starting solids tomorrow (per doctors orders)! We will see how she likes poi :)

'Ihi's 1st Staycation

Last month was the premiere of the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn. I have been to all the Twilight premieres and was not planning on going to this one because Kahili works on Thursday nights and I have a baby now. Well, my cousins bought me a ticket anyways just in case and Kahili came home one day and said that he had gotten his shift covered at work so I could go! I was way excited. Then he suggested that we have a little 'staycation' because we might as well take advantage of his Marriott benefits. So Thursday night we headed down to Thanksgiving Point and checked in to the Springhill Suites. Then we picked up some food and went over to my aunt and uncles house in Highland and hung out until it was time to go. Kahili and 'Ihi went back to the hotel room and I headed up to SLC with Faith and Jordan. It was so nice because they got tickets at Gateway that were assigned seating so we didn't even show up at the theater until 11:50 for our 11:59 showing and we didn't have to wait in any lines! It was so awesome and I loved the movie! I thought it was the best one yet!. The next day we slept in a bit and then did some shopping around American Fork. It was the best staycation I have ever been on because it was the first one for us as a family of 3 :)

(sadly these were the only pictures I took of this night)

Thanksgiving 2011

I know I'm very late but I wanted to make sure I posted about the wonderful Thanksgiving that we had this year! The holidays are all about family and we were able to see both of my grandmothers' sides of the family this year which is very rare. Ka'ihilei and I got to go down to California on the Monday before Thanksgiving and stay until the following Tuesday. It was a fun week packed with tons of family time.

Earlier in the week we...

Went to Farmers Market and 'Ihi really wanted some kettle corn so we got it got her :)

Spent some time with grandma and grandpa

Watched some cartoons on the lovesac

Had multiple photoshoots haha

And had a playdate with our friends Sammy and Isla!

Thanksgiving day, we got up early and were so excited because Kahili came in that day. He got in around 12:30 pm and we ate at 2:30 pm. He had worked the graveyard shift the night before so he was super tired and after dinner with Grandma June, Uncle Brett, Uncle Mike, Frank, Aunt Lucy, and the Bakers, he went to take a nap. Everyone was passing 'Ihi around and taking their turn holing her. When one of the Bakers was holding her, she was sitting in one of those white plastic chairs right by the stairs. Everyone was talking when all of a sudden, the back two legs of the chair broke and the two of them flew backwards! 'Ihi was safe and just cried because it was scary but I was traumatized! It was such a scary experience and I'm just glad baby girl was safe.

Around 11:30 pm, my dad, Kahili, Amanda, and Daylene headed out to fight the crowds at Best Buy for some Black Friday deals. Mom and I stayed home and did our own Balck Friday shopping online ;). Then we went to bed because we knew we were waking up early the following morning to drive to Lompoc where my mom's cousins live and where that side of the family had Thanksgiving. 'Ihi had her first roadtrip and it was about 2.5 hours. She slept the whole time! What an angel! I found out that Kahili bought a 42 inch TV from Black Friday.... not too excited about that one. I think our 32 inch is just fine. Anyways, when we got to the ranch, we just hung out and Kahili got to ride a horse which he was very excited about. 'Ihi and I stayed at the house and she got to meet her great-grandparents (my Mom's parents) for the first time! When everyone got back we headed up to the vineyards and were able to take a few family pictures. That night everyone came over and we had chili for dinner up at the barn.

Saturday was another day filled with hanging out and just playing around the ranch. Kahili went with a bunch of my cousins and sisters out in the open and shot clay pigeons. It was my first time shooting and we had fun. When we got back, a few people helped me take 'Ihi to the barn to get some shots of her with some props they had lying around haha. Later that night, the family all came back over and we had pizza and root beer floats. After dinner, we drove back home and again, 'Ihi slept the whole way! I couldn't believe it. She is such a good little traveller.

Sunday we went to church and then had dinner at the house with the Marzorinis. Before Kahili left to the airport for his flight, we pulled names out of a hat for our adult Christmas gifts (a tradition we adopted from Kahili's family and started last year).

Monday was a pretty uneventful day until the evening when 'Ihi and I got to go visit/meet the Curtis family! Melissa was my YW leader and I used to babysit her kids and I just adore them. She invited us over for dinner so we got to catch up, eat, and even make snowflakes after dinner. It was so much fun!

Tuesday 'Ihi and I headed back to Utah once again to be reunited with Daddy! It was such a fun trip but we were happy to be home and sleep in our own beds.

Ready to Learn

Provo Mommas: Listen up!

Yesterday, Kristi and I took 'Ihi, Jetta, and Reagan (a 2 year old Kristi babysits) to the Utah County Health Department for a class called Ready to Learn! I heard about it through a nurse that made a house visit a couple months ago when 'Ihi was just a month old. The class was great! Basically, from what I understand, they have a different topic to discuss every month (the class is on the 2nd Tuesday of every month) and then they have activities and books that correspond to the topic. This months' topic was math. First, the teacher had a lesson to refresh our memories on patterns, sequences, and other math concepts. Then she read a couple of books with counting or patterns in them. She had tons of different books to show every example imaginable. Then she gave us some crafts and pointers on how to implement counting and other developmental activities into our childs' life. It was very informative. The best thing was that at the end, we got to pick out a book and take it home with us! I have a feeling this is really going to help us build our library of books for 'Ihi. I can't wait to find more activities to do with 'Ihi so I can teach her as much as she can fit into her little brain! :)

If you are in Provo and would like to come with us next month, please let me know! We would love to have more friends there!

For more information go to: http://www.unitedwayuc.org/welcomebaby

3 Blissful Months

Yup, our little girl is now a 3 month old and not so little anymore. She is seriously the happiest baby around. The best word to describe her I think would be "chill". I guess she gets that from her daddy :) Words cannot describe how much I LOVE her and I know Kahili feels the same way. She is learning a lot every day and is growing way too fast (but I guess I always say that). Here are some new things about 'Ihi that we love (and some that we don't haha):

*We went to the doctor last week for a bump that turned out to e nothing serious but I guess the advantage was that we got to weight and measure 'Ihi. She is now a whopping 13.02 lbs and 24 3/4 in long! She is growing so fast!

*She has the most contagious laugh! I seriously find myself trying to make her laugh all day long because I love the sound of her deep giggle. It's the best sound in the world.

*She has a love/hate relationship with her car seat. When I take her walk/jogging with me a couple times a week, she loves it and falls right asleep. However, she hates riding in the car when I am driving and she is in the back all alone. She screams her head off til we get out or she falls asleep. whichever comes first.

*She rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time on November 2nd (when she was about 2.5 months old) and then just about a week ago she did it like 10 times in a row so I was able to catch it on film. yay!

*Her sleeping patterns have pretty much been the same as last month. She will go about a week with sleeping through the night and then for whatever reason, she starts waking up once during the night again. This might be because of growth spurts but I haven't really been able to figure it out yet.

*She has adjusted well to napping in her crib. Most of her naps throughout the day are in her crib but she will sleep in her car seat if we are out shopping or what not. I'm so glad I am able to put her down a little drowsy and she will fall asleep without me having to do anything special.

*She is drooling a TON. It's almost like she's a leaky faucet. We think she may be teething (already?!) but the doctor said sometimes they do start teething this early but you won't actually see a tooth for another 2 months or so.

*We bought her a Baby Einstein video and she loves it! This morning I played it for her and she was kicking around and squealing. It was fun to watch her.

*She is getting some personality and I love interacting with her. She is so fun to play with and sometimes we just sit and make faces back and forth at each other.

I am so grateful for a husband who works so hard so I can be at home to raise our little princess. Not only does he work really hard, he makes such a diligent effort to take 'Ihi for a couple hours when he is home so that I can make dinner or sew or do other things that I haven't been able to get done. 'Ihi and I are so lucky to have him! And Kahili and I are so lucky to have 'Ihi because she makes us better people every day.

Work

Well, it's official. As of today, Kahili has been hired by BYU Police to be a Training Supervisor over the MTC security guards. Kahili was a security guard at the MTC for 4 years before graduating in April (it was a student job and since he was no longer a student, he couldn't work there anymore). Kahili absolutely loved his job and loved the people he worked with. Soon after he was finished, they made a new position that is 3/4ths-time. He now has the privilege of working at the MTC again.

Kahili is very excited about this new job! I, however, have mixed feelings. Kahili will be working 30 hours a week at the Marriott and 30 hours a week at the MTC. That means 'Ihi and I will have much less time to spend with him. We talked and prayed about it though and think it is the right decision for us as a family right now. I am so thankful to have a husband who works so hard for our family so that I can be home with our baby girl.

That being said, I need a new hobby! Anyone have any ideas of things I could do with a 3 month old?!

She did it!

Today we were skyping with my family in Cali and I laid 'Ihi on her tummy so they could see how strong she was. Before I knew it, she had rolled over onto her back! Seriously! Ask my mom, Coco, or Daylene...they all witnessed it! I was so sad Kahili wasnt there to see so, when he got home from his church meeting, I put her on her tummy again. Guess what?! She rolled over again! I'm so proud of my little girl! She is growing up so fast!

Remember when she was just this little:

Trick or Treat!

We had so much fun for 'Ihi's first holiday, Halloween! About a week before, Kahili said instead of spending lots of money on costumes, I should just make them... so, that's what I did! I don't really like dressing up for Halloween but Kahili loves to and since we now have a baby to dress up, I did it. I told Kahili he could pick what we were going to be but he couldn't come up with anything so I looked online and decided we were going to be Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flinstone. Making the costumes weren't that bad even though I only started a week before.

Wednesday night we carved pumpkins with our friends, the Packards. They made a Darth Vader pumpkin and Kahili carved us a Mario pumpkin.

On Saturday we went to our ward Halloween party and chili cook off. Although Kahili didn't win the chili cook off, the food was good and we had a lot of fun seeing everyone dressed up.

Monday, Kahili's work had a Halloween party for all the employees and their families. We stopped by there before heading out to Highland to go trick or treating with my cousins. We really wanted to take 'Ihi trick or treating (mostly because Kahili wanted candy) but she fell asleep right before we were gonna leave so we left her home with my aunt and uncle.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went on a family date to the pumpkin patch/corn maze in Orem. I have been wanting to take 'Ihi for a couple weeks now and today was the perfect day to go! It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for being outside. We headed to Orem because that was where the closest pumpkin patch was. I remember going to the pumpkin patch as a kid and loving it so I thought it would be a good tradition to start in our family. Can you believe Kahili had never been to a pumpkin patch before?! I sure couldn't! We had so much fun walking around looking for a pumpkin and walking around the corn maze. I think 'Ihi liked it too. She was looking around at all the different colors and posing for some pictures. Anyways, we took lots of pictures so here they are:

After the pumpkin patch, we went to one of our favorite places to eat out. Spicy Thai. That's where the last picture came from. Well, next week we will be carving our pumpkins so look for a post coming up about that. Until then,

Happy Fall!

2 Months- Ka'ihilei

I seriously cannot believe I am the mother of a 2 month old! It truly feels like Ka'ihilei has been part of our family forever...I can't imagine life without her. She is the sweetest little girl and she brings so much joy to our home. I feel like she changes everyday and is growing so fast, TOO fast! It's hard to believe you can love someone so much. This morning when Kahili got home from work he just kept kissing her and saying, "Man, I could sit here and kiss her all day!" :)

At her 2 month check up yesterday she weighed 11.5 lbs and was 22 3/4 long. She got 3 shot vaccines and 1 oral vaccine and she was a champ! She took the oral one really well (the nurse said it tastes like kettle corn- lucky 'ihi!) and then I gave her the pacifier for the shots. Well, that didn't last long! She spit that sucker out right when she felt the first shot. She didn't cry too much though because right after I was able to pick her up and then I nursed her right after. Before we even left the office she was asleep like a little angel. When she woke up, she was a little fussy but I fed her and Kahili gave her some Tylenol and then she fell asleep again. She is such a good baby!

Here are a few things I wrote down throughout the month that are "new" (to us at least):

1. She drools a TON...just like Daddy! I Have to put a burp pad under her wherever I put her down to sleep because if I don't, she leaves a big drool stain behind.

2. She pulls my hair all the time and it hurts! When she's feeding she grabs for my hair and even when I'm just holding her. I hope she grows out of this habit or I'm not gonna have any more hair pretty soon.

3. She love, love, LOVES her pacifier! It calms her down almost instantly and it's also nice because if we are out and not able to feed her right away, her pacifier will keep her content until I am able to feed her.

4. She has officially found her voice! In the morning, she is such a happy little girl and I just lay her down on a blanket and we talk about what we are going to do that day. I love that time.

5. On September 27th she slept through the night, 7 hours straight! I was so excited I moved her to her crib in her own room. Unfortunately, she hasn't slept through the night again but, she does really well and still only wakes up once during the night.

6. She loves picture frames and dark/light contrast. We have a wall with picture frame and shadow boxes on it and she stares at that wall all day.

7. She still loves bath time! She is going to be a water baby!

8. Her eyelashes finally came in and they are beautiful, long, and dark!

9. She started smiling back at us around 7 weeks. Before she would smile but not in response to anything. Now she smiles all the time! The best is when I smile at her or give her kisses all over her face and she smiles back at me :)

10. She loves bouncing and the bouncer we have isn't good enough. I have resorted to using my big exercise ball. I hold her and we sit on it and bounce and it puts her right to sleep.

11. Not only does she love her pacifier, she intentionally brings her hand to her mouth to suck. If we don't give her the pacifier right away she definitely finds her hand and starts sucking away.

Well, that's all for now. I can't wait to see what she does next! Now get ready for a plethora of pictures and videos: