Monday, April 30, 2012

Family photos & Kawika's Birthday

We got our first family photos done at Sears about two weeks ago.  We timed them right around Kawika's birthday so we could do solo 1-year-old shots of him at the same time.  I'm pleased  :)





The last one of all of us turned out beautifully, but it didn't transfer well to the computer.  It's sepia-tone, and IRL it's 11x14, so it's a nice big photo for us to put in our house.  Kawika was really cooperative; he'd just had a nap and a snack, so he was game to make all kinds of adorable faces for the photographer.  She was actually really great, and if we can get her again, we'll probably go back.

Kawika has recently started walking, as long as he has someone to walk to.  He can take 6 or 7 steps in a row now; it's pretty impressive.  He gets so excited, too, his whole face lights up and he squeals and laughs as he's running the last couple of steps to fall into your arms.  It's completely charming, and totally enough to make me forget what a pain he is at night now that he's cutting a molar.  He's started using other words besides "doggy," "mama," "dada," and "uh-oh."  He now makes a noise that sounds something like "wee-yoo-wee-yoo-wee-yoo" and it's super cute.

We had his birthday party on Saturday.  It turned out really well; the food was great, there were no tantrums or meltdowns, despite K only having 1 nap totaling just under an hour long.  The guava cake I made turned out nicely, and Kawika really enjoyed his cupcake.

My friends Kate, Mallory, Timo, and Cassey all came by, which made my day.  Mal & Timo couldn't stay long since they were headed to Eugene to cheer on our friend Aki while he ran a marathon.  Go Aki!!  Kate brought her 10-week old daughter Fiona and I got in some quality teeny-baby snuggle time.  Cassey brought Maddox and Peyton, and I'm so glad she made it!  Cassey hasn't been feeling well lately and I really appreciate that she came  =)  Apparently Maddox (who is clearly the best big sister ever) cried the whole way home about missing "vika."  SO CUTE.

Anyway, photos: 
The Birthday Boy!

Cousins Kawai (2) and Mahea (7)


The guava chiffon cake! 

MMMMM CAKE!!

Kawika with my Dad   =)

My back was hurting really bad last week so I found a chiropractor who's certified in the Weber (prenatal) method.  I found one close to home, who specializes in it, and he's in-network!  Triple score!  Plus, when I went in last week just to pick up my new patient paperwork, he said he could fit me in, no problem, so I got an adjustment last week.  I've slowly been feeling better, but I'm definitely excited that I have another appointment today. 

My next ultrasound (next Monday the 7th) cannot come fast enough.  I'm so anxious to find out what we're having and then push my name choices down Chris's throat.  =)  LOL.

Friday, April 27, 2012

My boy is a year old!

Kawika had his first birthday on Wednesday.  No party yet; that happens tomorrow.  But still, the milestone has passed.  He is officially a YEAR old.  Chris and I were looking at him yesterday while he was napping in our bed, marveling about how BIG he is.  He was so teeny!  And now he's ginormous!  Proof:  His 1-year checkup was yesterday and he is a big guy.  He weighs 24 pounds and is 31 inches long (85th and 95th percentiles, respectively).  He wears 18-month sized clothes and even those pants hit just above his ankle now.  Good thing the weather is supposed to change soon; he has lots of shorts.  Hopefully he won't grow so quickly that they're all hot-pants when the really warm weather rolls in.

Aside from being a big dude, the doctor also said his iron levels are normal, he says a fair amount of words, seems very strong, and should immediately stop drinking from a bottle.  *sigh* I KNOW, Doctor Kevin, I know.  1 year = no more bottle.  In an ideal world.  But I have no intentions of cutting out the bottle until Monday.  When K will be an entire year AND 5 DAYS OLD.  And then we're phasing it out, starting with naps.  At least I have a plan in place, but I'm not enjoying it.  I don't think K will, either. 

The Birthday Party is tomorrow.  I've only done 1 test run of the cake and it didn't turn out exactly right so now I've got just 1 shot to get it right and I hope the adjustments I'm making are correct.  If not, I suppose I can turn it into a trifle, but that would be pretty disappointing.  Considering I did a test run and all.  I made Chris check to see how many eggs I needed because the recipe is at home with him and I am not.  The conversation went something like this:
"You need 5 egg yolks."
"Okay, how many egg whites do I need for the fluffy part?  Look on the second page."
"Umm... oh!  8 egg whites.  But we don't have 13 eggs!"
"It's okay, we only need 8."
"But... 5 yolks and 8 whites."
"Yes, but I'm separating the eggs.  So those 5 whites that I don't need for the 'yolk' part can-"
"OH YEAH YEAH I GET IT I KNEW THAT."

=)  Sweet, silly guy.

He also reported that Kawika has decided to take up to 5 steps at a time on his own, like, not holding on to anything.  I missed his first shuffling crawl, too.  Oh, and he cut a molar the other day when nobody was paying attention.  What is this 1-year-old crazy growing milestone bullshit?  What happened to my baaabbyy??

While discussing the fact that we need to wean him off of the bottle soon with my mother she said "Aw, but that's my favorite part, the snuggle up time we have when he's having a bottle!"  And I commiserated, because it's also my favorite part of each day: that last night-time bottle before he gets all sleepy and cuddles up on me and starts making cute little mouth noises while he falls asleep. 

And then I cheered her up because I said "Hey, no worries, you'll have another one in 6 months!"  Er, I will, but she totally gets to play with it.  I'll share.

 Here's my 16 week picture for those of you who are into that kind of thing. 

Looks like my 24-week photo last time. Boo.

It's a week old at this point, because I'm 17 weeks (tomorrow)!!  Sheesh!! What's going ON with TIME lately, huh?  It's just slipping, slipping... We find out the sex (definitively) a week from Monday.  I'm super duper excited for that, and I have a strong hunch and I can't wait to see if I'm right. 

Okay, enough for now.  I have things to do that don't involve talking about myself, and they're just as important, even if they're not as fun.  Until next time.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Not announcing, too busy

We have not officially announced that we're expecting again. I mean, we told family, and a couple of friends, but I haven't done the Facebook reveal (I feel like this blog goes relatively unnoticed so I feel no compunctions about posting it here).  It's not that we're hiding it, by any means, but I'm not making a BFD about it, either. 

Don't get me wrong; I'm excited!  I'm happy!  I'm nervous.  But it will be great and we'll get through it and all that optimistic stuff.  And then we'll have two kids (OMG).  But, like I said, I'm not making as big a deal this time around.  Maybe it's because I'm much busier, already having a little guy running amok, and maybe it's because work is picking up again as we head into warmer weather.  I'm not sure why, but it seems like this pregnancy is going much faster.  I had originally intended to announce it at 12 weeks like the last one, after we got the first ultrasound pictures.  But then I forgot the pictures in the baby bag when I dropped C and K back off at home and headed to work and then I forgot the next morning because C had already put them on the fridge and then... here I am at 14 weeks like "Well, I'll just announce it when we know the sex."

I'm not planning on having a 2nd baby shower.  Our first one was so completely amazing, with a huge turnout and super generous family, that we're really not lacking anything.  The only things we could use are diapers, maybe a travel pack n play or co-sleeper, and clothing (if we have a girl).  We will need a toddler bed for K but probably not until around Christmas time.  We plan to have the new baby sleep in our room for the first few months like we did with K, then move K to a toddler bed, and put his crib in the baby's room.  He'll be about 20 months at that point, which sounds right.

If we have another boy, we definitely don't need clothes.  We have so many clothes.  Well, up until the 18 month size.  K's has always had a sizable wardrobe, thanks to hand-me-downs and friends and family who said "This was so cute I just HAD to get it for him!"  When I decided I needed to buy him something I always got a size or two bigger, since we had the most of the smaller sizes.  Now he has enough clothing to get him through the summer, but I'll definitely need to start stocking up on the warmer stuff in bigger sizes.  Now would be a good time to do that, I suppose, with all the summery stuff in season  :)   Smart shopper, over here!

Having kids born 18 months apart means that even if we do have a 2nd boy, the clothes that I have are all wrong for the season that a boy born in October will need.  So I'm still hoping for a girl  :)  Have you SEEN little girl swimsuits??

SO FREAKIN CUTE

Anyway.  I forgot where I was going with all of that.  Or maybe I said what I wanted to say.

In other news, K's first dentist appointment is this afternoon!!  We're going here; Vancouver Pediatric Dentistry.  Since we have new insurance, my old dentist is now out of network (SAD!).  So I found a new one for myself, very close to my house, yay!  And I found one for K.  I really wanted one that specialized in the pediatric part, since dentists are a dime a dozen.  This place has good reviews and from what I've read, they seem very nice.  Wholesome, even.  I'll let you know how it goes  :)