Catch up via photos (or, "Hi, I'm lazy!")

What gives? Where's the rest of my food, woman?

The most recent pic of baby and daddy. I like to think K is saying "woop woop!" here.

My wonderful man, steam-cleaning our shower.  Seriously.  Love.

Obv, the date is wrong, but how freaking CUTE is this?

He's eating lots of solids now... growing so fast!

He plays really well on his own.

Such a goob. I love it.

He's not really crawling yet (come on, you're 10 months!) but he tries.

Gahhh, so cute!

The mohawk!!

Aaaayyyy!

I have teef!

*SMOOCH*

I is sleepy, mama.

I know, I know, I've been completely slacking on the blogging.  But as it turns out, I like to read other peoples blogs more than I like keeping my own updated.  Imagine that.  Also... I've been a little preoccupied:

Yep, that means positive!!

Because as it turns out, we got lucky (pardon the pun) our first month out of the gate (read: without protection) and will have our second baby this October, making our kids 18 months apart.  We were aiming for 18-24 months apart, so... Score!  Goal!  Woohoo!  =)

I will try to update more frequently, but... we all know how well that's worked out so far.  TRY, people, the key word here is TRY.

No words, just Christmas pictures

A baby for Christmas!

Sitting with Auntie, wearing his Christmas jams

A new toy from Uncle D!

A new toy from Grandpa!

 

A new toy from Auntie and Uncle!

...And I'm not sorry!!

I'm not living very aloha today.  I let my temper get the best of me earlier today and lashed out on my Facebook.  I deleted 2/3 of my friends, wrote a strongly worded status message, and followed it up by posting exactly 1 "public" item on my profile: a warning to stay out of my business.  I'm not sorry for it.

I'm so sick of people PRETENDING to be my friend and then turning around and betraying my trust.  Either you're here for me, or you're not.  You're on my team, or you're not.  Pick one and stick with it, because from here on out, that's where you are.  No more changing, no more second chances.  If you have a problem with me, talk to ME about it.  I don't even know how many YEARS I've been saying that.  I feel like I'm in freaking high school again!  Only this time, it wasn't me who was fucking up.

It is a well-known adage that misery loves company.  I have come to fully believe it because of what I personally have seen. To those of you who need to hear it:

1.  I'm sorry that you're not happy with your husband, but don't get mad at me for trying to cock-block you that night.  I did it the only way I know how.  Thanks SO much for twisting it around to make ME look like the snake.  I guess I should have just let you fuck up then, seeing as you went and did it anyway after that.

2.  You have a drug problem and need to grow up.  Don't deflect when people are talking to you about why they're concerned; they say it because they love you, and getting defensive and pointing out their own shortcomings isn't a good way to ensure that they're still there for you when you fuck up next time.

3.  Repeat of number two.  The two of you are a real pair.

4.  I'm willing to bet that you've been in a similar situation to the one I'm dealing with now and that's why you act the way you act.  I still don't think that being secretive and blowing people off is polite (or how you should treat your family), but I'm beginning to understand why you do it (especially with your family).

5.  I think you need counseling and anti-depressants.  To start.


That's it.  I'm done for now.  I feel a little less angry but I'm suddenly very tired and very sad.  I'll try to post a more cheerful post-Christmas entry with photos next time.

Almost here!

Whoops, it looks like my blog posts are getting more infrequent.  I'll have to do something about that, when I can find more time!

It's almost Christmas, which is exciting.  I love seeing my family and friends, and giving gifts that make them smile.  I wish I had more money to spend on gifts this year, but once again, we're down to just one income, just in time for the holidays.   C and I had talked about this, oh, in JUNE, and made a plan so that we wouldn't be in this situation for another year (3 in a row now) but obviously that hasn't worked out.  Luckily, Christmas isn't just about giving gifts, so those that get small and/or homemade gifts from me won't be upset, but it still bothers ME.

Kawika is almost 8 months old now!  Time really does fly.  He's so strong it's hard to get things away from him if he decides he really wants it.  He always wants to stand, and he'll walk with me while holding my fingers for balance.  He doesn't seem interested in crawling and gets frustrated when placed on his belly.  He immediately rolls to his back to give you a glare, then rolls back to his tummy, and back and forth, until he gets bored and yells, at which time we set him on his feet and he smiles like "Finally!"

Work is fine.  We're entering our slow period and there have been lots of rumors circulating about the future of our company, so that's a little unsettling.  Other than that, though, it's business as usual.  We did have our annual holiday party this past Saturday and it was a blast.  *small pat on own back*  Here are some photos:

Coco and me

Me, C, Coco, and Steve

Me, Coco, and Polly, plus some of our best employees

IMHO, it was the best company party we've had (at least since I've been working here).   =)

Also, what's a blog post without baby updates?  A photo and a video here:

Kawika on Thanksgiving, 7 months old

I think that was the last bath we had in his baby tub... he's too big for it now and tries to climb out, so he's graduated to the big tub, as of 2 weeks ago.  He loves the water and has a blast just splashing and scooting around.  I love that he loves bath time.  Hopefully this trend will continue, because nobody likes a stinky boy.

Sharing the Joy

Kawika makes the cutest noises, I swear. I've been trying to take videos of him more frequently because he changes SO fast.

This video is cute because he's being kind of a ham for the camera. K does his screech that he's recently become so fond of. It's a little ear-piercing, but he thinks it's a riot. :)

The Season

I just had a moment of... clarity? Gratitude? I realized how truly fortunate I was and I'm quite humbled while now pondering the many good things in my life.

I wanted a hot meal, so I got in my car that I didn't have to pay for (it was a 10 year old hand-me-down, but still), and drove to a place that took a small amount of my money and handed me a hot meal through a window so that I didn't even have to get out and get rained on to pick up this meal that I didn't have to prepare. Then I drove back to my office and had a brief chat with my supervisor (that I like and respect, who likes and respects me) wherein she agreed to approve my taking some college courses in Business Administration & Management, so that my tuition and fees get reimbursed by our employer. I then got a call from my loving, supportive (if sometimes immature) partner & the father of my beautiful son, where he offered to pick up our son after work so I didn't have to go out of my way.

How fortunate am I? How completely awesome is my life? How different is it for people born in poorer countries, or to poorer families? No, I don't have gold-plated toilets, or fly first class while taking multiple vacations a year, but I do get vacations. Paid ones. I do rent a decent-sized home that has room for myself and my family. And I don't have to fight for food, or clean water, or the right to do what I want when I want.

No, life isn't always fair or just, not even for me, but it could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm going to try to remember that more frequently from now on.

STOP INTERNET CENSORSHIP

For those of you who do read my blog, I have an important message I'd like to share with you.  Please read the infographic below and if you care about the right to free speech online at all, I urge you to visit www.americancensorship.org to read more info and/or contact your local representatives to help stop this bill before it's enacted into law.  We cannot allow this!!