Siblings

Alohi and Po'okela are continuing to learn how to play, share, and show each other how much they love each other.  We have come a long way since the first time Alohi met him.  This picture is from day two in the hospital. Her reaction was not prompted and captured at just the right moment.

Man we have come a long way so far. Now when he screams, she tries to comfort him and she looks so grown up.

I know there will be many more moments like this that will continue to exchange and I am sure there will be times when he comes to her rescue.  There is nothing like siblings and the ups/downs that will be experienced. 

Thank you to Jeff & Syndi Moore at Capture 1000 Words for capturing these moments for us!! 

Po'okela 13 months and counting

I am a little late with the post, but on the actual day I was down with a stomach virus.  So anyways... I have time now while the kids are asleep.

What can I say about Po'okela....
For starters, you just started standing up without needing anything to help you up.  You aren't walking... but I know my days are numbered for when you do start walking.  Your favorite thing about standing is the falling down part because it makes you laugh a ton! Another new thing you do is push cars, trucks, anything that you can slide on the floor to make it go.  Occasionally you make a vroom sound and it makes me smile because you are all boy and then I pray about the moments that are in the future that you try other boy things and give me a heart attack.  But for now I just enjoy the moments we have. You like to throw things, which is no surprise.  We are working on not throwing your cup and fork when you are done eating.

Speaking of eating you love to eat! I can't believe how much food you can put away. There are times you eat more than your sister, but she has gotten a little picky.  No matter what you are eating like a boy.  There isn't really anything that you don't like.  You occasionally don't want to drink your milk, but then you guzzle it down after a nap or 2 hours later.  Yes, for those of you that care... I am weaning Po'okela or I should say he is weaning. I dropped the day time nursings but was hoping to hold on the the morning and evening nursing for a while longer, but yesterday after a minute of nursing you pushed me away. He didn't want to have anything to do with nursing and it kind of broke my heart. But I know you will be fine and I will need to continue to let you grow into the man you are supposed to be. So today was your first day when I didn't even try and you were completely fine.  We will see how long you like your evening nurse.

You have found your voice. You say "dada" for dad and "mumm mumm" for food and occasionally you say "maaa" which I would like to think it is mom, but most times you see me after I have been away for a while (MOPS meetings, church nursery, etc.) you start crying.  There are times I think you are trying to say other things, but it is mostly jumbled together.  Signing has gotten better and you have learned please.  It is still a work in progress, but it is coming along.

Here's a few moments that have been captured in the last few months...

 Ice cream is one of his favorite things to eat!

 Along with pasta.

Pushing and walking and chewing... you are great at multitasking.

 Check out how much he has changed in this chair.

I love my silly boy!

Po'okela's Party

Yep, we had two parties for our kids this year. Why because we had one in Scottsbluff and one in OKC.  Alohi really didn't get a party here in Scottsbluff other than cake and skype calls with grandparents to open presents. Here's the link to her Princess party. Then Po'okela got to have his first luau with Nana & Papa in Scottsbluff.  But we were in OKC for his real birthday and wanted to celebrate with our friends there! So we had another party and we got to visit with all of our friends.

I didn't get pictures of the food or much of the decorations because I was busy running around and the party started right at nursing time, so I was in the apartment nursing when most people started to show up. Which led to no pre-party pictures... Oh well.  We had a pool party at the apartment clubhouse and pool.  For food, we had a hot dog bar and frito chili pie (because I forgot Po'o couldn't eat hot dogs and didn't want to change the menu).  At our hot dog bar we had the following toppings: shredded cheese, nacho cheese, chili, ketchup, relish, mustard, onions, sauerkraut, pickles, bacon bites, jalepenos and I think that is it.  For sides we had a variety of chips and watermelon.  The kids had a goodie bag bar that included: cheddar whales, raspberry fish, worms, bubble wands and squids (punch balloons).  I used most of the same decorates from his first luau, so I didn't have to do much work there.

Thanks to this lovely lady and her hubby for providing extra decorations and cooking the chili (which I thought at one point Rylan would drink).  We love these two!! Thanks Zada and Chef for all your help!!! We love you guys!

Here is the few pictures that I snapped of all of our friends enjoying the party.

After lunch we sang happy birthday and had some cupcakes. Here is the cake! I loved how it turned out and so thankful that I have the opportunity to make the kids their birthday cakes, instead of buying them.

Alohi helped brother blow out his candle!

Po'okela didn't mind because this is what he got....

I think he liked it!

After cake we opened presents!

Then everyone headed down to the pool!

We had such a great time! Thank you everyone who was able to make it and celebrate with us Po'okela's first year!

Mix of Happenings

Here is a mix of things that have been happening....

Rylan turned 30 right after we got back from OKC.  We went to a steakhouse while we were in OKC to celebrate, but I still like to do something special at home. I made his favorite, noodles (egg noodles with chicken broth), mashed potatoes, chicken strips and a small salad (which was mostly for me because of a starch full meal). For dessert, I decided I was going to make creme brûlée.  I thought it would be hard to make, but it was super easy I now I am wondering why I've gone to restaurants and paid them $7+ for them to make it for me.  I used Pioneer Woman's recipe that you can find here. It tasted so good!! Normally Rylan request a custard pie and has to eat it by himself because I not the biggest fan of custard pie, but creme brûlée sign me up! It is his new favorite dessert and has requested this in the future instead of custard pie.  Here is the picture of the final product, minus the torched sugar because I didn't have a torch.  

Now, the kids have been having tons of us.  We have been playing the the basement centers and can read more about that here. I know they miss their toys and different things we got used to doing while in Scottsbluff.  Po'o has found out that Hoku's crate is a great hang out, minus Hoku of course!

We are back to our library visits every Thursday morning! Po'o likes to crawl in the tunnel seats and Alohi LOVES the dress up clothing. Especially the princess stuff, but has found a ballerina costume that she likes to wear too!  We actually have met a mom from MOPS there and had a great time going to lunch. It looks like we will be having lunch twice a month after library time, so I will get some adult time in too!!

I love waking up and snuggling with these two!! Alohi actually has a small bed beside our bed on the floor. She hasn't been adjusting well to being back to the house and dads been out of town, so occasionally wakes up scared. Instead of having her wake us up as well as her brother, we put the bed down. Now we wake up with her on our floor, but everyone gets a good nights sleep.

We got to go to a gender reveal party and Po'o sported a mustache in hopes for it to be a boy... and it is a boy!! We are so happy for Sara and Isaiah!

And how can these two not make you smile on a busy laundry day!  I don't know how I got laundry done while working full time!

Last day in OKC and Pit Stop

On our last day in OKC, we stopped by Lakeside Womens Hospital to see Alohi's friend Adelynne and meet her baby brother Benjamin Chase! Alohi and Adelynne ran around the room trying to be as quiet as possible not to wake Ben up. We were so glad to meet Ben! 

Thanks to our friends, they introduced us to a new milkshake at Braums. Hot Fudge Milkshake! Yum!! At our last Braums stop in Salina, Kansas we tried one and it is very delicious.

Our travels went fine and it was fine. The kids did great and Rylan & I got to listen to a Podcast a friend had suggested we listen to. On our last day we took a long pit stop outside of the Ruby Tuesday's parking lot (which has become the restaurant we stop at for lunch on day two of driving on our way back).  Kids got to play, run and chase Hoku or better Alohi drag Hoku around the lease. It was such a relaxing stop and the grass was so green!

 Hoku just laid down in hopes to stop running with Alohi.  

I think next time I am going to ask Rylan if we can go through Colorado.  I think... maybe... We will see...

Other OKC Activities

We spent at least one day every week this last month and the OKC Zoo.  So many animals, lots of fun, and most of all our kids LOVED the time spent there. I have a bunch a pictures of just the different types of animals that you can see at the OKC Zoo, but who just wants to see animals when you really want to see the kids interacting with the animals.

One of Alohi's favorite spots at the zoo is the splash area. Po'okela got to get wet too, but wasn't ever happy when other kids splashed him.  We normally ended our morning at the zoo here after a picnic lunch.

 The other favorite thing was that Po'okela started noticing the animals! He would look at the animals, pointing and best of all getting a close experience.

 We did go in to the bird exhibit and fed the birds.  Alohi didn't care for the birds swooping down on her (she doesn't like flying things) and Po'okela tried to touch the bird, but bird thought his finger was food which led to a bite.  The bird on my shoulder nibbled on my earrings, necklace and neck.... totally kept freaking me out!!  We did visit the zoo with different friends too and super sad we won't be able to go back and visit once a week for the rest of the fall.

The other activity we did at least once a week was spend time at the apartment complex... Nana & Papa got Alohi her first tricycle which folded down and allowed us to take it with us. Alohi is now a pro at riding her tricycle!!

 Po'okela either lead the way or followed her being pushed in his stroller! He loved watching her and they would just laugh. He would point at birds and airplanes.

Thankfully at the apartment, we had access to this lovely pool! I braved the pool with both kids by myself.  Thankfully Alohi learning to swim with a noodle and Po'okela floated along with his baby floaty thing (until it bit the dust... but a little duck tape can fix anything... for a little while).

Lasty... The kids enoyed going to the clubhouse office to get treats from the ladies in there!

I am sure there was lots more that we did, but these were the things we spent most of our time doing!

Mayfair Church of Christ Events

There was a lot going on and a little of nothing this last month. Here are all the fun things we did in the last month with Mayfair.

1- Toddler Olympics
Alohi got to spend the day at the Mom's Day Out for Toddlers having an olympics!! She was so excited to see her friends because it was our first day back in town. I had originally planned a day at the apartment, but decided grocery shopping with one kid sounded better than two and I knew Alohi would have a ton of fun! She had tons of activities that she got to do!! Here are some of the highlights from the day!

 Above: Spoon races with puff ball

Below: Tunnel Crawls

Above: Balance Beam (I think this was her favorite)

Below: Stroller Races

Below: All the kids with Mrs. Katherine getting their stars for completing each activity!!

2- Back to School Splash!
One saturday morning, they had a Splash day for the kids. There were trike washes, a huge slide, and different centers for playing in water.  Unfortunately, a huge thunderstorm rolled in and we spent sometime playing in the gym. The kids didn't mind because they could still play and run, just without the water.  It was a nice day!

 Above: Alohi was the first to go down the BIG slide! She loved it and most of the girls convinced their dads to go down with them! It was fun! Po'okela went down once and wasn't to thrilled about it. 

Below: Po'okela playing in the gym

 Above and Below: Po'okela got to try out new rides!

 Above: Po'okela got to taste watermelon... I think he liked it!

Below: Adelynne getting ready for the trike wash.

Below: My big girl making a splash!!

3- Mom's Day Out (MDO)
Mondays both kids got dropped off at the MDO program so I could get some running around done.  Most of the time I spent getting things for Po'okela's birthday and reading with a cup of coffee in peace.  Wednesdays, Alohi got to go to Toddlers MDO. Po'okela and I got to hang out for the day and even got to spend 2 1/2 hours at the tire place.  I was thankful for the break and I know the kids had fun!

Below: At MDO, Po'okela spent time with these two twins. As you can see, he wasn't too happy with spending the day with girls. But he warmed up, when his buddy Todd came.

I don't have any pictures of Alohi because she was always on the the go.

4- Taste of Asia

This is my favorite time of year... Taste of Asia is held at Mayfair. We have been going for the last 4 years and I love it every time! There are food showcased from the different Asian Cultures found around the city. My favorite place this year was Japan and Korea! They had Japanese Curry and rice... My childhood favorite meal! Korea had the best tasting rice and this meat thing that I never know how to spell.  Po'okela liked the curry and rice and Alohi stuck to her rice and chips.  I know it wasn't a balanced meal, but it only happens once a year. Most of all we got to spend the evening with Memaw & Pepaw and other families from church. 

 Above: Alohi was so excited to take a picture with a "princess" Little Miss Asia. Memaw actually knew the girls father!

Below: Waiting for the OK to get food!

4- Radom things that happen....

 Above: Alohi got to sit with Owen during service... they sat in the pew by themselves until Brian decided it wasn't safe.

Below: Pepaw teaching Po'o about "noodling" or how to stick your hand into a mouth!

4- Braum's Farm Tour

Our last day in OKC, we joined the ladies along with a few other moms and kids to visit the Braums farm.  Braums is so yummy!!  I would list a bunch of random facts, but check it out here at our friends blog and for more pictures. It was a great end to our visit in OKC.  Alohi was most excited to ride the Cow School bus. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside any of the buildings.  So here are a couple from the day.

 Pour Po'okela wasn't too happy... He was so tired!

We love Mayfair and all the things they have planned for family! There will be more things coming about our OKC stay this time!