Random things

Here are some random pictures that I've been taking. Our friend Sheldon Carvalho gave the kids Hiki no t-shirts. Ku'uliko wanted to wear hers today so I figured I'd get a picture of all of them in their shirts. The first picture is of Liko. She fell asleep like that on our couch. She was so proud of the outfit that she wore today. Her Tutu and Man (Kainoa's parents) gave it to her. Also, the pictures on the bottom are of her helping me make meatballs. She loves to help me in whatever way that she can. She's going to be my little sous chef. She loves watching the Food Network, especially Rachael Ray. Kalei is still crazy. He's climbing up onto everything. Now he doesn't need anything to help him climb onto the bar stools. We have to be careful because sometimes I find him on the counter or on the table. Kamalu is doing good. We had an appointment today and they weighed him without his clothes on. He's 12 lbs. and 22 7/8 in. long. He's in the 75%. I would've thought that it would've been higher. I also weighed Ku'uliko because she came with me and she weighs 28 lbs. At least she's gaining weight.

I'm so proud of Kainoa. He finishes his first year of law school tomorrow. He has a paper due and then he's done. He had 3 finals this semester and we're so glad that those are over. He still has his externship to do but no more classes for the rest of this year. Yay! He's doing his externship at the BYU Athletic Compliance Department. It deals with the NCAA rules and regulations.

I guess that's it for now. Take care.

At the park

The weather's been really nice so I decided to take the kids to the park. It was a nice walk. Kamalu and Kalei were in the stroller and Ku'uliko walked. She got tired on the way back but we made it there and back. The kids had lots of fun on the swings and playground. Kalei kept going too close to the sidewalk by the road so we only stayed for 1/2 an hour. We went and said hi to some horses that were across the street. Kalei didn't want to leave. He loves making horse noises. When we came back, we found some boxes that my mom and Kainoa's parents sent us. The kids opened it up and both of the boxes had Thomas the Train toys in it. Kalei loves them. He loved them so much, he fell asleep holding one. Everyone had a nap after the park. I hope the weather stays nice so we can go for walks again.

New pictures of Kamalu

So I noticed that I didn't post any pictures of Kamalu the last time. We had a home visit this past Wednesday and the lady weighed him and he was 10 lbs. 14 oz. I can't believe how much weight he has gained and so quickly. I guess I can since he's been eating tons. It's like he's constantly eating. I noticed that Kamalu is filling out the 0-3 month sleepers that he has. He's way too big for newborn size stuff already. I actually put him in a 3-6 month sleeper tonight. It's not that big on him. Well I'll keep taking pictures and putting them up here so you all can see how much he's growing. A hui hou!

Happy Easter and Ku'uliko's potty success

I just posted some other pictures but so much has happened and I haven't kept this up to date so here's more pictures. We had a good Easter yesterday. I woke up early and made bread dough so Ku'uliko could make Easter bread or as she calls it, "bunny bread." It's something my mom used to do with us when we were kids. I figured I would keep up the tradition. She had so much fun and she was so proud of what she made.

Then we colored eggs. Well she did. Kalei wasn't all that interested and he kept dunking his hands in the dye. Ku'uliko was again proud of what she did as you can see in the picture.

We went to Kainoa's sister's place for Easter dinner. We had ham, chicken, and the works. I made a hot spinach dip, green bean casserole, and cinnamon rolls. The food was ono.

We weren't able to do an egg hunt because we were too busy. I ended up doing the egg hunt today. Ku'uliko had so much fun finding the eggs in our house. Kalei stopped after the first one he found and started eating the candy. She counted her eggs and took out all the candy. It was so cute. Then she hid the eggs again so she could find them. She did it all day. It kept her busy.

So as you can see in one of the pictures, she was only in panties, no pants. She's been using the potty since Thursday. I'm so proud of her. It's been a long and rough road for us but she's finally doing it. Yay! She's had only two accidents since then. We've gone to Walmart, the library and to church with only panties and she's stayed dry. She actually used the bathroom at church twice during Sacrament meeting. I was surprised that she wanted to sit on the "big" toilet and that she wanted to go potty in a different place other than home. We've been giving her stickers to put up on a calendar that we have hanging on our wall. On Saturday she was going a lot and had 16 stickers. She's doing such a good job and she knows it too. She's proud of herself and it makes us so happy.

I'll keep you updated with everything that happening with us. I'll be better this time.

Party of Five

So we're a party of five. Crazy huh. I think it's going to take me a while to get over that. It's still shocking to me.

Well lots has happened since the last post. Kamalu's piko fell off when we were in the hospital. I gave him his first bath the day we came home from the hospital. He had a lot of sticky residue on him from all the medical tape. He didn't enjoy it that much. It was a little sad that we broke a tradition. My grandma Kaluna Yuen gave my brothers, me, Ku'uliko and Kalei our first baths. I wish she could've given Kamalu his but he had to settle on me to do it.

Our Kamalu is growing so fast. As you can see he's getting some chub on him. When we first got to the hospital he weighed 9lbs. 1oz. and when we left he was 9lbs. 9oz. Then when we went to the doctor the following Monday he was 10lbs. He's definitely growing. He's talking a little now, well cooing. It's really cute.

Now Kalei says, "Cheese!" when you take his picture. That's what he was doing in the picture but his mouth was full of crackers.

Well I'll post our Easter pictures next.

Home sweet home

Looks like a ref after a field goal attempt saying, "It's good."



Hooray, we're home. It's so good to be home. Ku'uliko and Kalei were so cute when we walked through the door. I love when they're happy to see me.
Here's a couple of pictures of Kamalu in his cute hospital gown. His IV was in his right arm. They had to tape his hand and arm to this padded wooden board to keep it in place. He has little circle patches on his cheeks. Those were for holding the oxygen tubes in place. He stopped needing oxygen the second day we were there and I didn't get a picture of that. For some reason, I thought I had left the camera at home. He was such a good baby despite all the tubes and wires that were attached to his little body. All the nurses said he was such a cute baby. I kept thinking, "Yeah, I know." Nah, but of course I think he's super cute since he's our son.
Well thanks to everyone for all their prayers. Hopefully he won't need to go back for any suction treatment but if so, it's okay because it'll only help him get better. I'll keep you updated.

Kamalu's Blessing

Here are some pictures that we took after Kamalu's blessing. I love the way that Ku'uliko is posing in the group picture. What a ham! My mom made Kamalu blessing outfit. She's made all of the kids' blessing clothes. She's made them for all of her grandchildren. It's a nice tradition.

We were so happy that so many people came to support our little Kamalu. He was such a good baby during the blessing. I think that all of our kids had their eyes open as they were blessed.

We are still in the hospital and we'll hopefully leave tomorrow. He still congested so he needs the suction treatment. Other than that, the doctor said that he could've went home today if he didn't need the treatment. He's been doing good with everything else.

I really miss Ku'uliko and Kalei. I've been here all day and night. Kainoa goes home at night since only one parent can sleep here. Kalei has been sick so I didn't want him coming to the hospital. Ku'uliko visited us along with Kainoa's mom. She was so worried about Kamalu. It was so cute. My mom came and visited yesterday too. She left today and I wish we didn't have to be in the hospital when she left but she said that she'll probably come back in the summer. I hope so.

Well that's it for now. Hopefully the next post will be from home. A hui hou!

Back in the hospital

Well we're back in the hospital. Kamalu has Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) which caused him to also have brochiolitis. It's kind of like brochitis but it's an infection of the smaller tubes that carry air to the lungs. We noticed that he has a little bit of congestion last week but we figured it was nothing. His cousin was sick and so was Kalei and I tried my hardest to distance Kamalu from them but that was difficult when they just want to give him loves all the time. RSV is not as serious in older kids or adults as it is in infants because we can blow our nose or spit out the mucus. Sounds gross huh. But because Kamalu can't do those things, it has to be done for him. That's why we're here. The nurses and doctors need to suction out all the mucus so he can breathe better.
I took him and Kalei to the doctor yesterday. I was concerned because Kalei had a fever and Kamalu had a cough. Good thing I went. The doctor found a ear infection in Kalei and what looked like pneumonia in Kamalu. When the doctor told me Kamalu had pneumonia and he had to be admitted to the hospital, I just broke down and cried. It's hard not to blame myself because of all the "what if's." I felt like a bad mother. Kainoa reassured me that it wasn't my fault and made me feel better.
We came to the hospital yesterday and right away they took his vitals, started an IV and gave him oxygen. He was grunting a lot yesterday which is a sign of him struggling to breathe. It was pretty scary to see all these tubes and wires stuck in and on our baby. Also as we were walking into the Pediatrics unit we saw other children who had IVs and who were sick. I did not like seeing them like that. I felt so sorry for them and then to think my own son was in the same unit. I kept praying that everything would be okay.
A funny thing is that the resident doctor here used to go to BYU Hawaii, Spencer Chun. I never knew him personally but we both saw him around school. He's been so nice to us and we appreciate having someone local talk to us. At least we know that Kamalu is in good hands.
So far he's been really good. They suction him before every feeding. He screams and it's hard to watch but every time they do it, they say that he's improving. They took him off of oxygen this morning and he's been doing fine.
I'm really grateful that Kainoa and his brother RJ worthily hold their priesthood. They gave Kamalu a blessing yesterday. I know that Heavenly Father will protect our little son. That's why we gave him his name. Thanks to all of our family and friends that have been praying for him. I'll try to keep you updated on his condition. Hopefully it will only get better.
P.S. Kamalu was blessed on Sunday. My dad was there and that really meant a lot to me. Kainoa gave Kamalu a wonderful blessing and we had a lot of support there. My parents, Kainoa's mom, his sister Ilima and her family, RJ and Emi, his aunty Ruthie, his aunty Heather, the Sanchez 'Ohana, the Bowers, and Uncle John Maumau. We also had a lunch afterwards where Chad Schumacher and Sheldon Carvalho came. It was a really nice get together and thank you to everyone who was there and helped make it a special event.