Catching Up- California with the Soons and Taualiis

Our trip to California was long and jam packed with fun! We were there for 2 and a half weeks, the longest I have been home in a long time. On Saturday, June 16th 'Ihi and I along with my parents and AJ attended a wedding for our friend Nikki Masuda. The ceremony was up in PV and the reception in Long Beach. It was beautiful! Kahili started his drive on Monday after work, stopped over in Vegas and spent the night with the Kahalepunas, then got in to Torrance around 10 am Tuesday. The Soons also flew in on Tuesday morning so we had a party at our house with everyone all day. My mom made spaghetti that night for everyone and I made Nutella cookies.

'Ihi took a while to warm up to Daddy after not seeing him for a week

A nice competitive game of basketball with the fam

On Wednesday, we started our amusement park adventures at Knotts Berry Farm. My sisters, coco and Daylene came with us and we had a blast with Kahilis' whole family. 'Ihi loved the rides that she could go on and she was such a good girl.

'Ihi and Ku, reunited after 5 months of being apart (That's half of their life!)

'Ihi and I on the hot air balloon ride at Knotts

Thursday-Saturday were long days spent at Disneyland! Although, 'Ihi wasn't old enough or big enough to ride tons of rides, I felt like it was a perfect age for her to go to Disneyland for the 1st time! She was so amazed by all the people, colors, and environment that it was fun to see her reactions and how much she loved it. Not to mention the quality time she got to spend with her 12 cousins that she rarely gets to see and her aunties and uncles. Grandma and Papa were so helpful carrying 'Ihi because she only lasted in her stroller for short periods of time. Overall, the amusement park experience was great and we had so much fun! Thanks Papa and Grandma for 'Ihi's first trip to Disneyland! Her favorite ride was Dumbo, she loved going up and down!

First time at Disneyland: June 21st-23rd, 2012

Gigi, Auntie Coco and Auntie Daylene came for one of the days

Daddy was pretty excited to ride the new Cars: Radiator Springs ride. It was awesome!

The only family picture we took at Disneyland...SAD!

On Saturday, my parents picked 'Ihi up in the middle of the day and babysat her while Kahili and I went to my friend Lani's wedding in Chino Hills. They then dropped her back off and we headed back to Disneyland for our last night with all the Soons.

On Sunday when we got back to Torrance, Kahili packed up the car and headed back to Utah. We packed up my mom's car and headed up north to see 'Ihi's great-grandparents in Templeton. It was a rough 5 hour drive but we made it and were happy to spend a day playing with the Greats! Thanks for letting us come visit!

Us and the Greats!

On Tuesday, 'Ihi got to spend the day with Papa Kev and Auntie Day while my mom and I went to the LA temple where my older sister Amanda got her endowments. It was such a wonderful session and a great reminder to me. I have not been back to the LA temple since I got my own endowments and got married 3 years ago!

Amanda and her friends from the singles ward

All of us who were at the temple

On Wednesday morning, we headed over to Grandma Junes for one last goodbye then headed to the airport. Thanks for letting us come visit everyone, we miss you guys!

'Ihi with each of the Taualiis except Coco who had already left for a softball tourney

Catching Up- Coco's Graduation

My little sister is not so little anymore...she's a high school graduate! Not only that, she is coming to BYU in the Fall to play softball! 'Ihi and I took a flight out of SLC and into Long Beach on Monday, June 11th. She was pretty good on the flight, I just had to entertain her for the whole hour and a half. We read a book (about 20 times through), played "I drop it, you pick it up" for about 30 minutes, and the rest of the time she was ether eating mangoes or drinking apple juice. Anyways, here are the pictures from the festivity day:

The cute sign Auntie June made and 'Ihi passed out before the graduation (that didn't last long)

Coco and our cousin Kyle who also graduated

The whole Taualii clan

Coco and 'Ihi, Kyle and Kc

'Ihi the graduate

'Ihi and I at the graduation

Thanks to all those who took pictures and tagged us on Facebook...I didnt take a single picture thanks to my hands being full!

Catching Up- Travis and Felicia's Wedding

On June 9th, my cousin Travis was married to his best friend, Felicia! It was a beautiful sealing and a super fun reception. I wouldn't expect anything less from Travis ;) A couple weeks before the wedding, Travis called me and asked me if I would make their wedding cake for their Utah reception. Now, I bake a lot but I do not make cakes ever because Kahili and I aren't really cake eaters. Kahili told me to say no. He got in the shower and by the time he got out, Travis and I had already hung up and he had already convinced me to do it. All of my sister in laws are wonderful cake makers so with some help from them over the phone and with the help of my friends Lauren and Miken here in my building, I made a presentable cake! Felicia's wedding colors were pink and yellow so I made a 3 layered yelow cake with white buttercream frosting and pink accents. When I got to the reception, I added some yellow roses. Here are some pictures of the bride and groom with the simple cake:

Better late than never...10 Months!

Traveling has set my blogging on hold but I have been using post it notes to keep track of my growing babys' recent accomplishments. I don't know where to start so I will just dive in with this months updates:

*'Ihi has 7 teeth now. I'm pretty sure she cut 5 of those within this last month which explains the super fussy/non-sleeping baby that we had been dealing with. She is learning how to use her teeth and is able to bite off pieces of certain foods.

*'Ihi loves dancing and starts dancing randomly but almost immediately when she hears music or if we start singing to her. She usually stands up supporting herself on something or kneels on all 4s and bounces/jumps to the beat. It is ridiculously cute and always puts a smile on my face.

*Sleep. What's that? We are still struggling in this department as 'Ihi still wakes at least once a night, usually more.

*She eats just about anything anyone will feed her. She is the ultimate beggar and will bug you until you feed her. She still eats baby food every once and awhile but she definitely prefers solids and does not discriminate...she will try anything! I have finally succeeded in getting her to take formula so she gets a bottle of formula about once a day until she is 11 months and can start drinking cows milk.

*We've got a loud mouth on our hands. 'Ihi loves to babble and she especially loves to yell! She says Mama, Dada (or just Dad sometimes), Uh-oh (when she does something she's not supposed to) and lots of other words that I don't understand yet. She points at stuff sometimes and says what we have translated as "What's that?" haha. Who knows if that's what she's really saying.

*She understands who Mom and Dad are. She also knows what NO means and shakes her head back and forth when we catch her doing something she's not supposed to be doing.

*We have finally invested in a gate because we got tired of climbing the stairs 20+ times per day to go get our little monster. She somewhat learned how to go back down stairs while we were in Cali but then she had a little fall and now refuses to climb down. So she just yells from the top of the stairs until someone comes to get her.

*She is still very clingy but while we were in Cali she would go to people as long as I wasn't in sight. She especially liked my sister, Daylene. Our dog, Oreo, was 'Ihi's favorite babysitter ;)

*I think my favorite thing that she started doing this month was giving High-5's! If you put your hand out in front of her and say "High-5?" she will do it! It's awesome.

*She is in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers still.

*We are still waiting for her to take off walking. She uses her little walker to get around but I think she prefers crawling because she is so fast at it!

Photoshoot Giveaway!

My friend Madelyn who took 'Ihi's 6 month old pictures is having a photoshoot giveaway that ends tomorrow! Head over to her blog to enter and check out her amazing talent!

Click this link to see details: Madelyn Wayment Photography


P.S. Lots of updates on our recent adventures coming soon so be on the lookout for that!

April and May 2012

The past 2 months have been packed with lots of fun and exciting adventures for our family! Hopefully I have taken enough pictures to document these things in a way that is not too boring for all you readers...

Warning: This post is very long and contains a lot of pictures. If you don't really care what we've been doing for the past month, I would stop reading now. Haha.

Mid-April we bought our first car! My parents' truck that we were using was getting really old and starting to have quite a bit of problems so we talked to them and they said we could trade it in if we could get a good price. It was also very hard to get 'Ihi in and out of the truck so we wanted something more realistic for a family. We found a great deal on a used 2008 Mazda CX-7 right down the street from us so we jumped on it. 

Our new car :)

'Ihi and I went on a playdate with our friends Josie and Junie to the Bean Museum. Junie is about a month older than 'Ihi so it was fun to get out of the house and do something fun!

'Ihi and Junie

We love living at the Huntington and have made so many friends here. Since we have had nice weather, we get the pools/water toys out at least once a week and have water parties! The kids love it because they get to run around and play together and the moms love it because we get to talk and hang out! We even had a popsicle party once!

We went on a little staycation to Thanksgiving Point again (last time was for the midnight premiere of Breaking Dawn when I went with my cousins). This time, Kahili went with a bunch of his friends to the midnight premiere of The Avengers. Before he left, we went swimming as a family and went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner! Yummm!

Kahili and his friends Dane, Yami, Alan, Aaron, and Jordan

Swimming at the hotel

I don't have any pictures of this but Kahili and I were able to go on a date thanks to my friend Katlyn who watched 'Ihi. We went Classic Skating and it was so nice to have a little time to ourselves and not have to worry about taking care of baby. On the way home we stopped by Pizza Hut to bring some dinner home and The Chocolate to get some dessert and a cupcake for our babysitter :)

We had a BBQ with some friends while Kahilis' brother Wai was here. 

'Ihi playing in the grass at the BBQ

'Ihi and I covered the booth at the MTC while Kahili had a training for all the security guards. We had fun while doing it and couldn't believe that's what Kahili goes to do everyday when he leaves us ;) jk.

There was a groundbreaking for the new temple that is going to be in our neighborhood. It is seriously right across the street from our apartment and this picture was taken from our living room:

My first Mother's Day was wonderful! The day before, Kahili and 'Ihi took me shopping and told me we were going to get my present. They got me a serger! I was so excited because now the little outfits I make can look more professional and last longer! Sunday morning, Kahili took 'Ihi so I could sleep in. They made me breakfast and then we watched a movie before we went to church. At church, the bishopric brought us fruit skewers, chocolate covered strawberries, and cream puffs. It was awesome! Then after church, Kahili cooked some steaks for dinner. My mom and dad also sent me a new carrier that distributes the babies weight better so your back doesn't hurt as much. I have used it so much already and I love it! (Kahili didn't go to work ALL DAY so that was a treat all by itself!)

Here is my new serger. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with my baby girl on Mother's Day :(

I participated in the Utah Pasifika Festival this year which was right here in Provo. My aunt was in charge of it so we went of Friday to help set up and then helped with her food booth that night. On Saturday Auntie Lynn and I had our own booth and it was a success! I had made just a few little things to sell, nothing big. I made a 4th of July dress, a skirt, 2 baby blankets, 2 turtle stuffed animals, and 4 crayon rolls. I sold the dress, the skirt, and 1 of the baby blankets. Auntie Lynn sold tons of her Hawaiian print material and a big bedding set. We were both very happy :) I also played in the volleyball tournament that they had and my team lost in the championship game.

Saturday night Kahili and Joseph presented Kristi and I with certificates to go get pedicures and told us they had made an appointment for us on Monday! The boys both didn't have to work so they went golfing in the morning then Kristi and I went to get our pedicures while they took the babies to Costco to get some stuff for their big Elders Quorum BBQ that nigt. We met back up at home, took the kids to the babysitters and headed to the movies to watch The Avengers! None of us had seen it but Kahili and he wanted to see it again anyway :) Then we went home, got ready for the BBQ and put the pools out so the kids could swim while the guys cooked. It was a great turn out and just a great day in general!

Yesterday we took 'Ihi to get shave ice for the first time. She loved it!

Last but not least, Kahili got promoted at the Marriott! He is now the Front Desk Supervisor and it is a lot more work but he loves it! I am so proud of how fast he was able to move up in the company and what a great job he is doing. He sure is a hard worker!

Sorry for the extensive post...maybe next time I won't wait a whole month to update this blog! Hope you liked it though!

9 Months Young

Ka'ihilei is now 9 months old and is starting to show her little personality even more with every passing day. I'm a little late posting this because we have been SO busy but I will talk about what we have been up to lately in another post. I want this post to be all about my baby and the new developments she has made this month. So, here it goes:

*'Ihi is almost 20 lbs and is a lug to carry around! Kahili and I are constantly passing her back and forth because she hurts our arm to carry her around. She is also about 28.5 inches tall so she is not tiny but not super tall either. Both of these are around the 80th percentile.

*She loves to walk around by holding on to someones hands (it's a back killer!). She will be walking any day now and I am kinda looking forward to not having to carry her everywhere but I also know it is going to be hard to keep track of her. This girl is active!

*She crawls normal on carpet but bear crawls on grass, cement, and tile. I think it is so cute!

* She's still majorly a mama's girl and wants to be by me all the time. It's hard to get anything done around the house.

*She eats just about anything we give her but is slowly not wanting baby food anymore. Besides nursing, apple juice is her drink of choice.

* She has 4 teeth now. Just last week she cut her upper center teeth and I'm so glad she did because teething has not been fun!

*She had her first ear infection last week and let's just hope she doesn't get another one of those soon. The combination of teething and the ear infection creating a little monster child!

*Sleep. What's that? haha. I guess 'Ihi developed her Daddy's sleeping habits meaning she doesn't like to... Mama is NOT happy about this. At all.

*She LOVES to be outside still and we have been having some pool parties with our friends in the Huntington. 'Ihi loves the water and loves splashing! We even got her a pool so we can go out whenever she wants!

*She is very smart. She knows how to get her way and she figures things out that surprise us everyday!

*All the other little kids in our complex know her name and ask their moms to play with 'Ihi which we think is too funny because they are all so much older and 'Ihi barely even interacts with them. They just like her to be there while they are playing, it's so cute!

We love 'Ihi so much and can't believe this first year is almost over! She is definitely not a newborn anymore. I am trying my best to live in the moment so that I don't miss anything.