23

Yesterday I turned 23 and it was probably one of the best birthdays I have ever had! I got so spoiled by my friends and especially my hubby! He told me a few days prior to my birthday that he had made massage appointments for my friend Kristi and I for the morning of my birthday. Kristi was sweet enough to take me out to Kneaders before our massage and it was delicious! We both had the french toast. Then we headed up to the Sundance Spa where we got changed into some microfiber robes and had a warm foot soak. After that was done we went to separate rooms and got our blissful hour-long massages. I was in heaven. It was such a relaxing morning and just what I needed.

This was right after our massages and I look like I'm still asleep. haha

We came home and shortly after, Kahili, 'Ihi, and I headed out to Firehouse for lunch so I could get my free sub :) Of course, Yogurtland was right next door so we hit that up too! We went out and did some shopping around for a new entertainment center but couldn't find what we were looking for. 'Ihi fell asleep so we headed home to try to get a nap in but she woke up right when we got home. Kahili offered for me to take a nap but I couldn't fall asleep.

At 6pm, we went to pick Coco up to go out to dinner. I chose CPK (California Pizza Kitchen), the same place we went last year because we havent been back since last year haha. After dinner, we walked around the mall a bit and Kahili bought me some new running shoes! Hopefully they will motivate me to get out and exercise a little more than I have been.

Overall, it was a great birthday and just what I needed. Kahili was home ALL day which is very rare these days so it was just nice to have him around for a change. He also changed every single poopy diaper 'Ihi had that day which was a nice break for me! I appreciate all the facebook messages I got from friends and family, the cards and money I got from my grandparents, and the lovely flowers my visiting teachers brought me!

My 13 Month old

At church modeling a dress I made for her

Last month she was a baby and now she is a toddler. I have one hilarious toddler. She sure keeps us on our toes with her energy and spunk but {most days} I wouldn't have it any other way! It seems like she has learned so much from the last time I posted and it's only been a couple weeks! 

At 13 months:

*She has learned how to blow kisses. Just like her open mouthed kisses, she puts her hand up to that open mouth and then blows out. It's pretty cute.

*She blows on food if we tell her it is hot.

*She is becoming more of a Daddy's girl everyday! She never used to care if he left or anything but now she cries and it makes my job even more tough. She smiles so big when Daddy walks through the door. I love listening to them play and interact when I am upstairs or in a different room!

*She understands simple commands and obeys {most of the time}. For example, after I change her diaper I hand her the dirty one and tell her to go put it in the trash and she will do it or if we are going out and I ask her to bring me her shoes, she will do that too. Sometimes she only brings one shoe though so we're working on it!

*She loves being Mommy's little helper. She helps me clean the floor if I give her a wipe or if I am picking up the toys and putting them in a basket, she will help me do that. Sometimes right after we are finished she will dump the whole thing and the process starts over. haha

*She finally has enough hair to put up in a little ponytail! Here was her first ponytail ever:

*She has been pretty good with me being in the gym everyday. I try to find her a babysitter/play date at least once a week so that I can have an 'Ihi-free practice. 

*She still has a great personality and makes the silliest faces.

*As of today she has 11 teeth and is still working on cutting one more molar for this round of teething. We have had some rough nights but hopefully when these teeth are all in we will all get some more sleep.

We love our sassy little girl!

For you, G.G-rents!

The G.G-rents NEED to see these! That is, great grandparents for those of you who don't speak awesome :) jk. 

Auntie Coco is here in Provo and stuck with us for now so she comes over about once a week for dinner/laundry/'ihi time. We went and picked her up after church today and Kahili made a delicious dinner for us all to enjoy: chicken katsu, chinese chicken salad, pork gaugi, and rice. Yummmm! after dinner and some ice cream, Auntie Coco whipped out her computer and of course opened the 'Photo Booth' app and 'Ihi loved it! Here are some of my faves:

Pretty dang hilarious if you ask me! Love you guys!

'Ihi's 1st Birthday Luau

Last week we celebrated 'Ihi's 1st birthday by throwing her a luau party at our church pavilion. The Soon family has a tradition of having big first birthday luaus so even though we aren't living in Hawaii, we decided to carry on the tradition here with our friends in Utah. I just have to say that there is NO WAY we would have been able to pull this party off without the help of our families that came into town from California and Hawaii!

The Invites

I had seen some cute postcard invitations online and decided a long time ago thats how I wanted to do 'Ihi's invites. I had searched around and didn't quite find what I wanted online so I knew I had to make it from scratch. I called my friend Alana who is a photographer in Hawaii to ask her what I needed to do and she offered to make them! She does amazing work so I sent her some pictures from our family shoot last month. She took those pictures and the info I gave her and made this:

 I love them! They were exactly what I wanted and I am so grateful to have such a talented friend! If any of you are in Hawaii and need pictures taken, go to Alana Yates Photography and schedule your shoot. You won't be disappointed!

The Favors

I saw an idea similar to this on Pinterest and liked it but decided to switch it up a bit. I found some adorable sand castle pails at Target in the dollar section a few months ago and bought 12 of them on the spot. I couldn't pass up an amazing deal. I made a list of a bunch of snacks that 'Ihi likes to eat so we filled the buckets with those things and placed them on different tables so they doubled as center pieces as well. My mom went out and bought all the stuff at Costco: Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, Goldfish, Candy, and Marshmellows (which we didn't end up using cuz they were melting like crazy!). My mom also made the little bags for people to fill up. They were clear bags with a little sticker on them that said, "Thank you for helping us celebrate 'Ihi's 1st birthday!". This picture isn't the best but you can see the sand pails on the tables:

The Food

We are so lucky to have the best 2 families in the world! Weeks before the party, the Soons and Kahalepunas did the emu of the pig in Hawaii. The packed it in gallon ziplocks and froze it until the week of the party when they put it in a cooler and sent it to Utah. Kahili's parents came up on Wednesday before the party and started cooking right away! The Taualii's were good sports and chopped until their hands were sore. On the menu was: Kahlua pig, Teriyaki beef, rice, noodles, Chinese chicken salad, poi, poke, squid luau, chicken long rice, and fruit. I wish I would have gotten a picture of all that goodness!

The Decorations

The plus to having the party outside was that I didn't have to decorate as much because it was already beautiful just being in nature! All of my decorations came from the dollar store except for the pictures of 'Ihi. My mom and I put streamers up on both sides of the pavilion and then I had bought some little poster decor that we put up on the pillars. I had decided on 4 colors that I thought looked good together for all the decorations: hot pink, lime green, yellow, and orange. I loved that it looked so vibrant. We also had pools out for the kids to play in, beach balls, and a ball pit! These were all super fun things that 'Ihi loves to play in/with :) I forgot to take a picture of my display table but basically I just made some mod podge posters of pictures I had printed from her first year. I also made one entirely from instagram pictures I have taken throughout the year. My mom made a photo book for 'Ihi that tells a story of things she likes to do or has done this year. Lastly, using a tutorial I found on Pinterest, I made this:

The Cake

Back in June, I made a simple s=wedding cake for my cousins wedding. That gave me the confidence I needed to take on 'Ihi's birthday cake. I decided to just make a small "smash cake" for her and then cupcakes for all our guests. Luckily, I have some great friends here in my complex that helped me out a ton! I distributed the cake mixes and different ingredients a few days before the party and then all I had to do was pick them up the night before/day of. My friend Kristi made 4 dozen cupcakes and my friend Lauren made 4 dozen cupcakes and a batch of buttercream frosting. I just had to make one more batch  of the frosting and the beach ball "smash cake". The morning of the party, I frosted all the cupcakes with a star tip and Lauren helped me put on the little umbrella cupcake toppers I had found at Zurchers. Here is how they looked:

The birthday girl and her cake:

And the aftermath:

Last but not least, I had to post a family picture of us at the party! I wish I would have been able to get pictures of 'Ihi with all of her guests but that just didn't happen. Thanks to everyone who came or who thought about her on her special day! 

I Have a 1 Year Old

Yep, we have officially made it a year being parents to a little girl. What an amazing blessing she has been in our lives! I know this post is a little late but I have been busy coaching and having fun with 'Ihi!

*We went to a WIC appt a few days after her first birthday and found out she is a little over 21 lbs and about 29 inches long! That makes her in the 40th percentile for weight and 72 percentile in height.

*August 24th was the last day I nursed her. It was getting really hard trying to schedule feedings around practices and stuff so we had dropped down to nursing 3 times a day at the beginning of the month. The week my family was here, 'Ihi bit me...HARD. I thought I would just stop cold turkey but ended up nursing her once a day for about 2 days and then went to every other day and then I was done! It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. She has adjusted well to drinking whole milk and takes bottles at night and before a nap but sippy cups any other time of the day.

*She has been eating well! She eats just about anything we give her but she sure has a sweet tooth, just like her momma! I usually make her fruit smoothies in the morning and she sometimes eats cereal with that. Then she just eats some of what we are eating for lunch and dinner. She loves her Mac and Cheese and any other kind of noodles. 

*She is so smart! She says "Ball", "Mama", "Dada", "Detta" (Jetta), "Uh Oh", "Yeah", "Outside" and lots of other words that I can't make out yet. When family was in town they thought she was saying "Papa" and "Daylene". I heard the "Papa" but not the "Daylene". 'Ihi even knows where her friend Jetta lives and will go knock on her door when we go for walks!

*'Ihi still loves being outside and points at the door and yells "Outside" when she wants to go out there!

*Shes a full time walker now and is starting to run too! She knows when someone is chasing her and she runs away pretty fast. We are loving her Crocs that we got her last month.

*This month she started sleeping so much better, thank goodness! I started sleep training her again at the beginning of August (a week before I had to start working) and it worked this time. She started sleeping from about 9pm-5am and then eating and going back down til 8ish. We have had some not so good nights in there but for the most part that is her sleeping schedule nowadays.

'Ihi has such a fun and cute personality. She makes everyone around her smile, especially Kahili and I. She is definitely crazy and gives me a run for my money but we love her so much! She started to form more of a bond this month with Kahili and I love watching them play together. 'Ihi thinks Kahili is hilarious and laughs at everything he does. I can't wait to see their relationship blossom. 

And now for the picture overload:

My little gym rat (Yes, she is in a ball cart)

Helping me at my CPR class

Exhausted after a long day in the gym

Daddy was home today so they built a fort in 'Ihi's room while Mommy was working

Chocolate face