February 2013

-Went for our 24 week appointment and 3rd ultrasound. Baby was much better behaved and they were able to get the measurements they needed. She measured 1 lb 10 oz and the heartbeat was 145.

-We had a nice Valentines day activity with Auntie Coco decorating sugar cookies.

-While we were in Hawaii, Kahili had applied for a job at the LAX Marriott for an AYS Supervisor position and the first week of February they called him and asked him to come for an interview! We didn't want to chance him flying standby cuz the flights were pretty full so we bought a ticket using miles. Then I realized the day they wanted him to interview on was Valentines Day so 'Ihi and I decided to fly in a few days before when the flights weren't as full so we could be with him. A few days after we booked his flight, Kahili was looking at jobs again and the Front Desk Supervisor position for the Torrance Marriott (the city where I was born and raised and where my family still lives) had been posted. Kahili applied and emailed the manager right away and explained that he would be in town that week if they could squeeze him in for an interview or even just a visit, he would appreciate it. The manager responded right away and set up an interview time for Thursday. Here's the short version of our trip to LA (the short version is long and for journaling purposes so skip ahead if you don't care to hear about the interviewing process): 'Ihi and I flew in on Tuesday and spent some time with family, Kahili flew in Wednesday and we had dinner with my family before we went and checked into the hotel (the LAX property had offered a room for 2 nights since Kahili was coming in from out of town to interview so we took advantage), Thursday was interview day for both properties and was also Valentines Day and ended up being the most stressful day of my life haha. We woke up and went to breakfast then just hung out since his interview there was scheduled for 12:30. 'Ihi went down for a nap and at noon Kahili started getting ready when he realized he had forgotten his dress shoes at my parents house. I drove like a maniac to the nearest shoe store and he ended up being 10 minutes late to his interview. I found out later that they never said anything about him being late and neither did he. I took 'Ihi swimming and Kahili came to the pool when he was done around 1:45. He said it went well and they would let him know if they could set up a 2nd interview before he left (his flight was Friday morning at 10:30). His interview in Torrance was at 3 and we could have taken up to 30 minutes to get there depending on traffic so we headed out right away but were stopped in the lobby and told they wanted to do the 2nd interview at 4pm. Kahili said yes right away and I casually mentioned that we were heading to Torrance for an appointment and didnt think we would be back in time. They just asked for Kahili to call and let them know if he was going to be late. He went in for his interview at the Torrance property and I swear it was the longest hour of my life. I called and pushed back his other interview to at least 4:30 but didnt know how long he really would be. I would later find out that he was interviewed by 3 different people in 2 hours, the 2nd interview was with the GM and when she found out that 'Ihi and I were waiting out in the car she had us come in to meet her. i got such a good vibe from the Torrance Marriott that I just didnt feel at the LAX one. Kahili missed his 2nd interview at LAX and had to call and apologize. They were understanding and set up a short interview for the morning right before his flight. Both hotels said they would contact him by the end of the next week because they still had interviews to do. I felt discouraged and I think he did too after a full day of interviews and no offers. Long story but the next day when Kahili got back to Utah, he was contacted by both hotels offering him a position. What a blessing! We had the choice between the two hotels and after weighing pros and cons of each, we chose the Torrance Marriott. It was a very stressful and emotional day for me because I had to get Kahili those shoes under a time crunch, entertain 'Ihi in weird environments, be an emotional support to Kahili, and I'm pregnant so every day is emotional :). Thanks to my sister Daylene watching 'Ihi for us, we were able to go out and have a nice dinner at Stacked (a cool burger place) for Valentines Day.

Walk with Gigi

Swimming with Auntie Day

Valentines Day morning

Waiting for Daddy to come out of his interview

Airport adventures

-'Ihi and I flew home from Cali the next Tuesday when the flights were empty again and immediately ad to start packing. Kahili had put in his 2 weeks notice at both his jobs in Utah on Saturday (the day after he got the job). On Wednesday we got a call from my dad letting us know that mom had been in a pretty serious car accident where the car flipped and was totaled but she was fine besides being sore and hurting her back. What a scary thing to happen and to think we were just there and could have been in that car... we are so thankful she was ok!

-The next couple weeks are kind of a blur and involve lots of packing and lots of goodbyes. I was able to go out with my girlfriends from the Huntington (our apartment complex) one last time before we moved. We went to Sub Zero ice cream and saw the movie Safe Haven. These women have been my sanity and emotional support as a first time mom. I was able to go to them to vent or if I ever had parenting questions or was just having a rough day. Their kids were some of 'Ihi's best friends. 

'Ihi and Kason

Girls Night Out!

'Ihi and Junie

Last play date with our Huntington friends

January 2013

-We spent New Years Eve with the Panees and it was awesome! Good food and a good time had by all. The guys even took the kids sledding at midnight.

-Auntie AJ flew in the day after New Years and we got to go sledding again! Then the next day we dropped her off at the MTC.

-'Ihi and I were sick most of the month with various illnesses due to the extremely cold weather (it was in the negatives for most of the month and even hit -10 some days...miserable!) 

-The minute 'Ihi and I were both healthy we took off to Hawaii for some defrosting and family time. Grandma Brede had surgery the week before and wasn't doing well so we knew it might be our last chance to see her (and it was). Uncle Wai also wanted to see his baby girl and Papa and Grandma can never turn down a visit from us :) After 10 days in Hawaii we were planning to go to Cali for a few days but Daddy was getting lonely so we went home to be with him. 

Christmas in Cali

Didn't love Santa this year...

Dinosaur jacket from Uncle Ka'u and Auntie Gemma

As I mentioned before, Kahili had to work on Christmas eve, Christmas day, and even New Years so he sent 'Ihi and I to California so we wouldn't have to be alone on Christmas. We flew out Christmas eve, just before a huge storm hit Utah, and got to spend an entire week with my family. It was nice to be able to spend some time with my sister, Amanda before she left on her mission as well.

'Ihi loves Auntie Day!

Playing in Long Beach with Gigi, Auntie Coco, and Auntie Day

My little love bug

On Christmas morning, we were able to 3-way skype with Kahili and all the Soons to open grab bags. I had Noe again this year and made her a family birthday calendar. 'Ihi had Uncle Wai and made him the shirt pictured below. Kahili made 'E'a a lego table. Besides all the Christmas festivities, we were able to attend Sister Taualii's going away party and farewell.

The shirt 'Ihi gave to Uncle Wai :)

Christmas morning mustache stamp

(Santa came on Christmas eve morning right before we left for Cali. He brought 'Ihi a slide, some new books, and play cars. I had finished 'Ihi's quilt so we had that laying out as well!)

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

Yep, I'm pretty far behind on my blogging but I'm gonna try my best to catch up!

Back at the beginning of November when Kahili got home from his little business trip, he found out he would have Thanksgiving off this year but he would have to work Christmas and New Years. He also mentioned how many PTO hours he had so we decided since we have never been to Hawaii for Thanksgiving (Kahili hadn't been since before his mission!), we would look at tickets and try to go. Well, the second Kahili mentioned the possibility to Dad, the tickets were booked (that always seems to happen haha). Dad had miles racked up with Hawaiian Airlines so our tickets were out of Las Vegas.

 

So excited to be in a hotel room!

Our flight was on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Kahili had 10 solid days off. Monday after work (around 4pm) we started our drive down to Vegas. Kahili's license had expired on his birthday so I drove the whole way and he took care of 'Ihi. It was a rough drive but worth it! We stayed at a Marriott in Vegas and then on Tuesday we met up with Kahili's cousin, Casey who took us to the airport and let us keep our car at his house while we were gone. The flight was long (almost 6 hours) but it was nice that I had Kahili there to help me keep 'Ihi entertained. I had a whole activity bag packed for her and we went through it all (coloring, modeling clay, dry erase board, books, snacks, kindle with games, and we used Kahili's computer to play with photobooth and take selfies). We also walked the aisles, had lots of different snacks, and i think she slept about 2 hours of the trip. 

Eating a 'nana' at Papa's house

Being in Hawaii for Thanksgiving was awesome! I couldn't believe how much food there was, I should have taken a picture. I think we had three different turkeys (traditional, fried, and kalua) along with all the other traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Needless to say, we ate a ton of food. My favorite thing about being in Hawaii is how many cousins 'Ihi has around to play with. She is so happy there and had so much fun playing with her cousins at Papa and Grandma's house and they even got to go to the beach together. 

The flight home seemed a lot shorter because 'Ihi slept more and we got in to Vegas around midnight. Casey picked us up from the airport and we were lucky to be able to spend the night at their house that night. The next morning, we started our trip back to Provo around 10 am. Kahili started driving until we stopped for lunch at Cafe Rio in Cedar City. Then I took over driving cuz I was getting car sick and my back hurt from trying to entertain 'Ihi. 

It was a long trip but so worth it! We love being around family and it was so much fun to be able to see 'Ihi interact with her cousins more!

Here comes the picture overload:

 'Ihi stealing Ku's snacks

 All 13 grandkids eating Sunday dinner

 Family pic at the beach

 Daddy and 'Ihi visiting Tutu Brede (she had a minor heart attack while we were in Hawaii)

 At the beach with Uncle Ty and Auntie Alana having a picnic

 All the kids out on the lawn in front of Papa and Grandma's house

 'Ihi didn't love the water but she sure enjoyed playing in the sand

 Kahili, 'Ihi, and Tutu

 Bath time with cousin, Ku

 Why do we even buy toys? Laundry baskets are more fun!

 'Ihi and Auntie Alana

'Ihi and Daddy at the beach

Babies

Those of you who made it all the way to the end of my last post (kudos to you!) know that 'Ihi is obsessed with babies right now. Part of that obsession is because we have tried to explain to her multiple times that she is going to be a BIG SISTER! Yep, you read that right:

'IHI IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER IN MAY.

She is currently in big sister training and passing with flying colors! She brings me diapers and wipes (sometimes it takes her 20 minutes....) when I ask her to, takes care of her baby doll, pushes her around in the stroller, changes her diapers, feeds her whatever she is eating, and wraps her up in blankets when she is cold. :)

I have been horrible at recording this pregnancy but everyone told me that would happen so what the heck. Here are a few things to note for journaling purposes (skip if you don't care to know the details):

*I started feeling nauseous on September 14th. Why do I remember this? Because it was my birthday and I didn't feel good that whole day and the weekend following until I took a pregnancy test on the 17th to confirm it. (Kahili guessed on my birthday that I was pregnant but I thought I had just caught a bug. It had only been 4 weeks since I stopped nursing!)

*We found out we were expecting on September 17th. We were not exactly 'trying' but we weren't preventing. Since I had finished nursing in August, we decided I wouldn't go back to the doctor to be put back on the regular pill instead of the mini pill. We both felt like 'Ihi was in need of a playmate, close in age, and decided that if Heavenly Father wanted us to have another kid, we would.

*Throughout my whole first trimester I was working(coaching at Timpview), Kahili was working 60+ hours every week, he was gone on a 10 day business trip when I was about 8 weeks pregnant, 'Ihi was a wild child, and I was one exhausted mama.

*I don't know if it's the fact that I am trying to keep up with an active toddler who barely sleeps or what the deal is but this pregnancy feels so much harder than the first one. I still have not thrown up (thank goodness), but I just felt 10 times more nauseous, exhausted, and the headaches are killer!

*On Halloween, we had our first ultrasound and check up with the doctor. I weighed in 10 lbs lighter than I did with 'Ihi (yay!) and baby looked healthy (measured 2 days early) and had a strong heartbeat of 167.

*On December 4th, we had another appointment and baby's heartbeat was 147 which led me to suspect that maybe this baby is a boy (Kahili would be beyond ecstatic) even though I have been thinking it's another girl. 'Ihi's heartbeat stayed in the 160s almost my entire pregnancy with her.

*I am currently almost 18 weeks and due on May 27th (moved up after the first ultrasound from May 29th). We go in for our gender ultrasound on January 7th and I am so excited to find out!

15/16 Months

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun! Well actually, life just gets really busy around the holiday season when there is so many fun activities going on. Back in October when I last posted updates about 'Ihi, I decided I would wait and do them every 2 months from then on. Therefore, here I am and 'Ihi is now 16 months old and smarter than ever! Here are the 'Ihi updates from the last 2 months:

*Signs and says 'please' and it is the cutest thing ever! HOWEVER, she thinks that she can get whatever she wants if she does it which is frustrating at times.

*Signs 'more' and 'all done/pau'

*Has been eating pretty well lately. She loves macaroni and cheese and apples. Thanks to her Daddy, she has a soft spot for fruit snacks as well.

*She loves her 'baba' (bottle) especially when she is tired. I am trying very hard to only let her have it in the morning, nap time, and bedtime.

*She loves playing with any type of ball still

*She loves pillows and will lay on our body pillow on the ground to drink her bottle every morning

*She likes collecting things in bags and carrying them around the house.

*She likes helping Mommy clean the house: sweeping and wiping the floor, vacuuming, taking out the trash (I have to leave some sort of box or milk carton out so she can help carry it down), and cleaning the toilets (when Mommy is not around).

*She has been sleeping much better though she still sleeps in our bed. It's no telling what time she will go to bed on any given day but when she does go to sleep, she sleeps for about 8-10 hours.

*She can say 'eye' and 'nose' and correctly identifies: eyes, nose, mouth, and ears on herdelf and others(for the most part)

*Started saying 'no' in the cutest way possible. Still deciding if I like this or not.

*List of words she says on a daily basis (some are unclear but I understand them enough to know what she is talking about): mommy, daddy, baba, outside, hi, bubbles, cheese, no, baby, eye, nose, hot, ball, doggy, please, bye, snow, juice, owie, wow, uh oh, boo (book), chip, poopoo. Her vocab is expanding daily and it seems like she learns new words all the time. It's crazy!

*She started loving apple bananas in Hawaii so I thought I would try to give her bananas here in Utah but she hates them so that was a fail.

*Folds her arms during (the first 10 seconds of) prayer (we're working on it! :))

*Loves singing the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' song while she pokes her fingers together and she makes me sing it over and over again!

*She thinks every stomach is called 'baby'....more on that in our next post! :)

Miss Independent

Ka'ihilei is 14 months old and very independent these days. At 13.5 months old, she weighed 21.5 lbs (65th %ile) and was just shy of 31 inches long (86th %ile). The doctor said she is growing marvelously, right on track. This little girl has TONS of personality and I can't wait to share some of her little 'Ihi-isms...here they are!

*She is wearing some 12 month clothes but mostly 18 month clothes right now.

*We are still in size 3 Pampers.

*We are constantly dealing with a very picky eater and it is pretty stressful for me. I want to know that she is getting all the nutrients she needs from different foods but I can never predict what she is going to like on certain days. She has been drinking LOTS of milk...like a gallon every 4-5 days and the doctor wants me to cut it down to 3 bottles/ less than 30 ounces a day. This has been very hard because some days milk is the only thing she will take so I feel like I am depriving her of nutrients and calories. The hope is that if we give her less milk, she will stop being so picky about food.

*She's got a major sweet tooth like her Mama. In a way, it has helped me because I know that if 'Ihi sees it, she will want it (whether it be candy, soda, baked goods, etc.) so I try not to eat it.

*The girl already knows how to throw a toddler tantrum. She is very stubborn and when she wants something and doesn't get it, you will for sure know that she is NOT happy.

*On the flip side, 'Ihi can be super sweet. For example, most mornings I wake up to her straddling my stomach while leaning over and giving me kisses til I wake up! Its the cutest thing and helps us start off our day on the right foot (sometimes after very rough nights).

She has added "Papa" to her list of words and continues to repeat certain phrases that I say to her a lot. I love that she can understand almost everything I say and she reacts to it. When we say, "are you ready to go bye-bye?" she starts blowing kisses and waving to anything and everything in sight.

*'Ihi loves animals, especially dogs! She will chase them around for days. She also waves to birds when she sees them fly by :)

*She loves Micky Mouse Clubhouse and some mornings will point at the TV til I turn it on.

*She LOVES to dance (must get it from her Daddy). She dances to music on TV, in the car, or will point to our ipod music player that we got for her room so that she can dance around and play. At my volleyball games, they play music during timeouts and in between games and you can almost always count on 'Ihi to provide some entertainment for everyone. My girls think its the cutest and funniest thing.

*Coloring/eating crayons is a favorite activity of hers lately. She loves drawing on whiteboards too.

*Sleep is still a struggle around here. I have tried every different type of sleep training and nothing works on 'Ihi. the minute she is put in her crib awake, she starts screaming and won't stop until she either poops or throws up. I have resorted to bottle-feeding her to sleep. It is exhausting but I don't know what else to do. If anyone has any experience with this, I would love some insight. I'm at my wits end.

*She has a very sensitive gag reflux so when she chokes on the smallest thing, even if just a little comes up, she ends up emptying her whole stomach. Not fun.

We love our little princess to the moon and cannot believe how fast she is growing up! Ka'ihilei, know that your Daddy and I love you so so much and we don't know what we would do without you!