Willing 'Ohana

2nd post of the year

2012-01-29T22:13:00.001-08:00

I found Kalei like this one night. He was so tired he fell asleep on the stairs.
This is on New Year's Eve. Liko was having fun with some poppers.

The two girls were throwing them all over the sidewalk.

I just thought it was a funny pose for him. He's totally knocked out.

I cut Kalei's hair last week. It was getting pretty long. My dad has been the only one that's cut his hair. I couldn't wait for us to go to Maui or for him to come here so I did it. It turned out pretty good.

Kamalu wanted me to take a picture of him since I was taking a picture of Kalei.

Kamalu likes to pose for the camera. He's got some pretty funny poses.

This month has been pretty busy with school and everything. I've been getting a good amount of subbing jobs. Starting tomorrow, I'll substitute teaching everyday until the 15th of February. Then I pretty much am calling it quits. I'm just hoping that I'll make it until then. If I don't, then that's okay. I just want to make as much money as I can before the baby comes. My c-section is scheduled for February 28th. I'm hoping that I have her before that. I've already been having contractions. I'm trying to wait them out so we don't have any false alarms. I'll be 36 weeks or full term next week Tuesday. She can come anytime after that. Hopefully my next post will be of her and some pics.

Kainoa is on the job hunt. He's applied to several different universities to be the NCAA Compliance Coordinator. One of those universities is BYUH. It's a new position for them since they never had a coordinator before but luckily Kainoa did an externship there. He has an interview tomorrow. If he gets this job, then that means we can continue to live here in Hawaii. That would be nice. He's applied to UVU so if he gets that, then it's back to Utah. I actually don't mind where we end up, as long as we can have a place of our own. We're crossing our fingers and saying our prayers that everything will work out.

Ku'uliko just finished 2nd quarter as a 1st grader. She's excelling in her mathematical skills and her reading skills. Sometimes Kainoa and I are surprised at the words she knows. Like the other day, she was eating a cinnamon roll and she said it was delectable. Funny kid.

Kalei is enjoying school as usual. He's learning a lot and everyday he amazes us at the things he knows. Kamalu is talking a whole lot more. More like singing all the time. That kid is sometimes too loud. Oh well. Now I have to watch my mouth around him. One morning we were sitting next to each other eating breakfast. I did something and said, "Oh crap." He looked at me and asked, "Mommy, what is crap?" I had to stop myself from laughing. I told him to not say that word and that it wasn't good. He pointed to my breakfast and said, "That not good?" I told Kainoa and he started cracking up.

That's about it for us.

Starting the year off right

2012-01-01T01:10:00.000-08:00

So it was my goal this past year to read the Book of Mormon at least once. I ended reading it twice this year. I finished at about 9 pm tonight. I had about 1oo pages that I had to read within the week and I didn't think I would be able to do it but I did. I'm so happy that I didn't give up and kept reading. I'm going to make my goal to read it at least twice this year as well.
Another goal is to control my gestational diabetes with diet and exercise. I just found out this past week that I had to go in for a 3 hour glucose test. I've taken one before when I was pregnant with Kalei. I only had gestational diabetes with him and now this baby girl. I failed the 1 hour glucose test and passed the fasting test. Because I failed one, they made me do the 3 hour one. It was killer. I had to fast from midnight the night before and go in and get blood drawn. Then I had to drink the lovely orange flat soda. Then come back every hour for three hours to get my blood drawn. I got my blood drawn 4 times and luckily my veins cooperated. I've had to get blood drawn out of my hand because my veins would turn or they couldn't find a good one. Well I got the results of the test and I failed 2 of the 4 tests so I'm considered a gestational diabetic. Boo! Now I have to prick my finger 4 times a day and report my numbers to my doctor. I just started yesterday and my numbers are great. I'm not taking any medication just eating better and exercising. I'm going to try not to gain any more weight the rest of my pregnancy. We'll see if that happens. I've already gained 25 lbs. If I go over that, then this will be the most weight I've gained with any baby. Yikes! Kainoa and I are making it goal to be healthier together this year. Wish us luck!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T22:38:00.001-08:00

So Christmas was great this year. It was Kamalu's first Christmas in Hawaii. We all had a wonderful with family and friends.

This would've been our Christmas card but I took it the week before Christmas and already ordered other pictures. Oops! Kainoa's always making funny faces in the background to make the kids laugh. That's why they're looking up.
The girls put on a performance of several Christmas songs. The boys wanted to join in of course.

On Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandma Kaluna's house in Pearl City for dinner with the family. It was good to get together with everyone. The kids had fun playing with their cousins.

Every Christmas Eve, the kids get to open one present and it's always pajamas that they wear that night. Kainoa dressed up as Santa this year in his homemade Santa suit.

Everyone was thrilled except for Kamalu. He was freaking out big time. He kept trying to get out of Santa's lap. It was pretty funny. I had to tell Kainoa to pull down his beard a little so Kamalu could see that it was just Daddy but obviously that didn't work.

I wish I had taken more pictures of Christmas morning. It was so cute. Kalei came up the stairs and went straight to this horse and hugged it. Good thing it was for him. He was so surprised and happy.

Kamalu had just woken up so Kainoa had to help him unwrap his presents.

The kids received a lot of presents, probably too many, but I just loved seeing their smiling faces as they opened them. Kainoa spoiled me too. He got me two pairs of earrings, a watch, a blouse, a purse, and shoes. He has such good taste. And for our Willing Family Secret Santa, Emi picked my name. She got me a purse, an iTunes gift card, and a watch/jewelry set. I also got a panini maker from "Santa" (my in-laws) and a cute shirt and purse from Shaun. Thanks to everyone for the gifts and goodies.

We went to church and the kids sang a couple of songs with the Primary. They were really good in church. Thank goodness. Kamalu even fell asleep.

After church we had linner (late lunch/early dinner) with Nuna and Uncle John. We had some 'ono Hawaiian food-laulau, chicken long rice, lomilomi salmon, poke, kimchee, poi, and haulolo (haupia/kulolo). Everything was soooooo good.

We really enjoyed ourselves. It was so nice to be home this year. I'm so grateful for all the blessings that we have received this year. I already know we'll be receiving a precious blessing next year. 2 more months until baby gets here! Yay!

Willing update

2011-11-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

So of course I haven't posted anything new on this thing in ages. Here's some things that have happened to us. Here's the kids in front of the house with their Tutu and their cousin Kaitlyn. Liko was Draculaura, a Monster High character. She doesn't really what Monster High and I don't either. Her cousin Kaitlyn is really into it and wanted Liko to dress up like her. Kalei was a pirate and Kamalu was supposed to be one too. He was kind of sick and we managed to change him into his army pajamas. The kids had fun treat-or-treating and Mommy and Daddy raided their goods.
At the beginning of November, I celebrated my 30th birthday. Yup, I'm 30. I feel old but at least I feel that I have accomplished a lot in my 30 years. I'm married and have 3 kids and almost 4. I've been a crew member on the sailing double-hulled canoe Iosepa, served a mission in a third world country, been married to my sweetie Kainoa for 7 years, survived 27 hours of labor with Ku'uliko, 16 with Kalei, and a c-section with Kamalu. It's been a great 30 years with it's ups and downs.

Ku'uliko was a Super Raider (Good Citizen) for the month of October. They had an assembly at school to recognize her and the other Super Raiders this month. She was so happy and we were so proud of her. She's all sweaty in this picture because their assembly was outside. It was a super hot day.

Our kids are sometimes pretty crazy. Here is Kamalu showing his true colors.

At first Kamalu came upstairs the other night wanting to put on Kalei's backpack. He said he wanted to go to school like Kalei. Then next thing you know, all three kids were dressed up and pretending they were going to school too. I just love when they have fun playing together.

Thanksgiving was a good day. We had lots of food, the traditional stuff-turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, salad, rolls, and pumpkin and apple pie. I made the mashed potatoes, rolls, and apple pie. I love apple pie with vanilla ice cream. My weirdo husband will only eat it with chocolate ice cream. I thoroughly enjoyed all the food.

That night my sister-in-law Leimomi and I went to Windward Mall for some Black Friday shopping. I went to Macy's first and scored some deals on toys and clothes. Then we headed to Toys R Us and got more toys. Then to Children's Place and got more deals on clothes. We got back at about 3:30 am. Then I went back out to Windward Mall at around 9 am to Sears and the rest of the mall since it didn't open at midnight.

Then we went to the Windward Mall again yesterday to take the kids to watch Happy Feet. They loved it of course. It was actually a really cute movie. We also went shopping again. In our Willing extended family we picked names. We did our shopping for that yesterday. I think I'm pretty much done with all my shopping now I just have to wrap and send out everything.

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend. I love the Christmas season. This year won't be a white Christmas here. Liko was a little sad about that. I am too but I'm happy to be in sunny weather. Until next time, a hui hou!

September 11th

2011-09-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law posted on her blog what had happened to her 10 years ago and I thought I would do the same.
I woke up to my alarm early in the morning and heard faintly on the radio about the World Trade Center. I seriously thought I was dreaming and still asleep. So I went back to sleep and woke up a little later. I headed to my Hawaiian language class and we watched the news. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I also kept thinking how blessed I was to be alive. A month before that my family and I took a trip to New York. We were there only a month ago. I kept thinking that as the world-changing events were happening. Then when I looked at the pictures I took on that trip, I realized that I had taken a lot of pictures of the Twin Towers. I even bought a Planet Hollywood shirt that had the Twin Towers on it. Had we put off that trip as a family, we would never have seen those buildings. I remember my mom also asking us a couple of times if we wanted to tour the buildings but we said "no." Of course I wish I had taken her up on that.
Last night I was watching a special about a photographer that took pictures of the aftermass of 9/11. She went and visited the people that were in her photos. It was really touching. One of them said, "We're not the heroes. We just were the helpers. The heroes were the ones that lost their lives that day." I am grateful for all those that sacrificed their lives and those who continue to put their lives on the line for our country.

#4 is on the way!

2011-08-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the 3 kids with Tutu Kaluna.
With Great-grandpa Teruo

With Great-grandma Kimiko

Ku'uliko on her 1st day of 1st grade.

So of course I'm still a slacker. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. About 2 weeks ago, I took a home pregnancy test and it came out positive. So #4 is on the way. Wow 4 really? Am I nuts? I must be if I'm adding to the madness that's already present in my life. I think I'm due sometime in April. I'm really tired and the morning sickness has been all day. I can never decide what to eat because I'm not sure what will not make me nauseous. Hopefully this only last for my first trimester but who knows. I had it for 5-6 months with the boys.

We just got back from Maui last week. We were there for 10 days staying at my mom and dad's. I flew by myself with the 3 kids. They were really good on both flights. People kept saying, "Boy, you have your hands full." Jokes on them 'cause my hands will be getting fuller.

It was a nice trip. All three kids got haircuts from my dad and I got a haircut at Regis. We swam a lot in my parents' pool and spent a lot of time with my brother Chad and his family. The kids just loved spending so much time with their cousins. Liko had her first sleepover. Well she attempted to sleepover the night before but got too scared. Then the next day Camden (who's the only boy) sleptover our house and Liko slept over their house. Camden enjoyed his time with the boys and Liko enjoyed her time with the girls.

I guess that's it for now.

Kalei's birthday

2011-06-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Kalei's birthday was on the 7th but I'm only posting pics now. Oops. He had a fun birthday. His Aunty Momo made him a crown. He wore it the whole day and I think some of the blue dye rubbed off from his sweat.

This is a classic Kalei face. I wanted to get a nice picture of him smiling but this is what I got.

Blowing out the candles. We're all on a diet so I made sugar free brownies. Luckily you couldn't tell they were sugar free at all.

He got a lot of cool presents. He got all kine themed stuff. Thomas undies, magna doodle, Cars 2 undies, shirt, and book, Thor shirt and yoyo, and Toy Story house slippers. My in-laws couldn't decide on what they thought they he would like so they got him all of them.

We went to swim at Papa and Nuna's pool in Kailua again. Kamalu loves the water. So do Kalei and Liko.

We visited my Grandma Kaluna yesterday in Pearl City. The kids enjoyed themselves. It was good to spend time with her. She gave me some of her 'ono mangoes. I can't wait for them to get ripe so I can eat them.

Some more

2011-06-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

So this past week I barely lost 2 more lbs. Kainoa didn't lose any since he was out sick and didn't really work out. He's been working out double time this week though. He's been walking the Malaekahana bike path with us and he even biked to Subway in Laie to get his lunch the other day. I'm so proud of him and happy that he's doing so well.
I'm excited for my mom and family to be coming in a couple of weeks. I told her that I need new clothes since I'm losing weight. She said she could kind of tell when we skyped on Sunday. I've also been getting comments at work so I'm glad that it's at least showing now. I haven't been this weight since before I had Ku'uliko. I'm pretty happy.
I was a little bad today because we made funnel cakes at school for the class. I had three. Yikes! So I just finished a workout and will do another pretty soon to make up for all those calories. Kainoa and I have been pretty good at not eating junks and having soda once a week. We love the new Skinny Cow candies. The chocolate peanut butter wafer bar is so good and it's only 120 calories.
Sorry no pictures again but I'll post pictures of the kids next time. Hopefully I can write down next time that I've lost more weight.

Weight loss update

2011-06-15T00:56:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share our weight loss progress. Kainoa lost another 5 lbs. even though he was sick and didn't work out that much. I lost another 2 lbs. I've been working my butt off and I'm glad it's paying off. So far Kainoa's lost 10 lbs. and I've lost 5 lbs. in 2 weeks. We have my family reunion coming up next month and we're hoping we'll be looking skinnier by then. I keep staring at Kainoa's face because he's already looking skinnier. So we better keep it up.
That's it for now. Til next week.....

It's Summer!

2011-06-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yay for summer! Now can the sun please stay out. It's been off and on rainy. Hopefully that's all done and it'll stay sunny out. So for Memorial Day we went to Kainoa's grandparents' house and swam in their pool. Here's Ku'uliko and Kalei on the ride over there. Liko loves to pose for the camera.

Kamalu didn't want to come into the water at first but then he decided to come in with all his clothes on. He ended up having a blast.

Of course Ku'uliko just loved swimming. Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of Kalei swimming. Oh well. Next time.

One day the kids wanted to have a picnic and watch a movie. They really enjoyed eating in front of the tv.
And here's Kamalu after he ate his chocolate pop tart. Kanak attack. Bruddah was knocked out.

So Kainoa and I have kicked off our summer on a diet. We're really going to do this together this time. We posted our goals on the wall so we can see them everyday. We've been exercising twice a day and being strict with our diets. I've been jogging a lot and I have to do it while the kids are taking their nap. I also got these DVDs with Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. They are killer. So far I lost 3 lbs this past week. I saw Carol, my cousin David's wife today and she said that I look like I lost weight. Thanks Carol for noticing! Made me feel really good and that I'm seeing some results. Hopefully Kainoa and I will meet our goals.

HOLY SHNYKEES!

2011-05-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Holy Shnykees (sp?) is right. I've been such a slacker with my blog. Not even sure if anyone reads it but I'm doing this to pretty much keep my journal going. How do I blog about the last 4 months without writing a novel? I figured I'd just blog about it through pictures. So here it goes......

Here's Kalei and Kamalu on their favorite ride at Windward Mall. Other than the mini train ride they have going around the mall. This one costs 50 or 75 cents for the two of them whereas the other one cost $3 a person. We're at Windward Mall pretty much every weekend. We can't stay on this side of the island all week long. They know us well at Maruki-tei since Kainoa loves the teri beef plate there and the rest of their food is super 'ono.

Here's my little character Kamalu. Doesn't he look like one of the characters from Fat Albert? He's my little singer except sometimes his singing is way too loud and it doesn't matter where he is. He just belts it out. This is Ku'uliko on her first day of school. She went from only going to preschool in Utah to attending Kahuku Elementary as a junior kindergartener. She knew her letters and most of their sounds before but now she's full on reading. She's been working so hard and doing so well. She's only been in school since the beginning of February. She was a Super Raider (like good citizen) last month. She'll be skipping kindergarten and moving onto 1st grade next year. We're so proud of her and all that she's accomplished.

Here's the kids enjoying the sun and the pool.

Kamalu celebrated his 2nd birthday on March 8th. We celebrated it here with just the family and then celebrated it again with his cousin Sophia in Maui.

We went to Maui at the end of March and Kalei got a haircut from Grandpa. He stayed still for most of the time. He got a little inpatient at the end.

The kids went Easter egg hunting on Easter morning. They enjoyed it so much. Don't you just love Kamalu's outfit. He's been only wanted to wear his t-shirt and diaper around the house and hates changing out of his pajamas into what Liko calls "dayclothes." He screams and won't take his pajama shirt off. At least he changes when he bathes.

Here's Ku'uliko and Kaitlyn in their pretty Easter dresses. Kamalu just had to get in the picture. He wouldn't move.

Here we are on Mother's Day. It was the rainiest day ever. We were soaking wet at church. I straightened my hair for nothing. Oh well.

This is Ku'uliko and Kaitlyn on the morning of their big May Day performance.

Ku'uliko was a cheerleader. We had to pay $20 for her costume but at least she gets to keep everything.

Sorry if I'm a little biased but the kindergarteners were the best. They did an 80's theme. Someone built a delorian and they had two boys dressed up at Doc Brown and Marty from Back to the Future. They went back to 1985. Half of the girls did Lisa Lisa's "Lost in Emotion" and then Liko and the rest of the girls did "Hey Mickey." I didn't even know they were doing that song. Then the boys performed a number from Beat Street. Then they performed Thriller all together. Liko was amazing. I didn't know she was such a performer. She knew all her moves and was on cue for everything. We were so proud of her. I'm so glad my mom was able to come and all the rest of the family.

Here she is with her zombie/vampire teeth.

After May Day, we went to Windward Mall and had lunch. Then we stopped at Papa's grave. It was his birthday. That's Kalei's namesake. It was nice to visit him.

And that's our life in a huge nutshell. Until next time, which hopefully won't be too long from now...a hui hou!

We're on the move

2011-01-07T15:32:00.001-08:00

So if you haven't heard already, we're moving back to Hawai'i. We just decided last week and we'll be out of here before the end of the month. Kainoa has been under a lot of stress and decided that he wants to transfer to UH. So we'll be staying in Kahuku with his family until we find a place of our own. We've been selling all of our stuff on KSL (a popular classified website). We're trying to rent out our place. We had a showing last night and have another tonight. Hopefully we find someone soon. That's the only thing that's holding us back from leaving. My cousin Jared hooked us up with 4 buddy passes on Delta. We prayed about this and know that this is what we need to be doing at this time of our lives. I was a little doubtful about us leaving but everything has been falling into place.

We will miss the Todds, Kainoa's aunty, and all our friends that we made here. Even though we're sad to leave, we're getting excited to go back. I can't wait to get out of this weather. Our kids have been getting sick a lot. That's another reason why we can't wait to get out here. We'll probably be leaving in the next two weeks and definitely before the end of the month. Thanks to everyone that has helped us with this move.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope this Christmas is a great one for all of you. We're hoping ours will be a good one as well. We're all sick with the cold. I've had it for the past two weeks so I finally went to the doctor today and he gave me some antibiotics and a nasal spray. I already feel a little better. The kiddies have been coughing lately. It's not as bad as it was a couple days ago. Kainoa's sick too. Not fun. We're crossing our fingers that we'll be somewhat recovered for Christmas. Liko's teacher asked her what she was going to do over the Christmas break and she told her that she was going on a playdate with her daddy. Kainoa promised that he was going to take her to see Tangled. They haven't gone yet because they're both sick. She keeps saying, "I feel better Mommy. Can I go to the movies with Daddy now?" Hopefully they can go sometime next week.

Kainoa is one semester away from graduating. I still can't believe how fast it's all gone by. We're not sure what's going to happen yet. It all depends on where he can get a job. I was fine staying here but now I'm really wanting to go back home. I don't know. I think it's the Winter blues that are hitting me and I'm getting homesick. Maybe it's because I'm sick and this past week it snowed for almost two days straight. We'll see what happens.

This year will be the first year that we'll have our own little Christmas. At least Christmas morning. We usually spend the night at my sister-in-law's but we're not this year. Usually Kainoa's parents and family are here but not this year. We were supposed to have a big Christmas Eve dinner but we cancelled it since everyone's sick. I still think it'll be nice to have our own Christmas morning to open presents. This will be our first since we've been married. I'm kind of excited to start our own traditions.

Here's the picture that we sent out in our Christmas cards. Kainoa was making funny faces in the background and the kids were cracking up.
We went to Temple Square with a bunch of friends a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a family pic. Too bad Kalei is blocking his face.

Our friend wanted to take a picture of us and I think I'm laughing because I'm standing on something and trying not to fall off. Yes I'm still that short compared to Kainoa when I'm standing on something.

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Apple turnovers

2010-12-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

So I decided to make some apple turnovers tonight just for fun. I had some leftover Granny Smith apples from Thanksgiving. I wanted to improve my crust-making skills. I have to say that it came out really flaky. The key is the Crisco and ice cold water. Liko really enjoyed hers with "whup cream." I'm excited to eat another one tomorrow. There goes me trying to lose weight. Oops!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-11-28T21:40:00.001-08:00

Little Kamalu a day after he got 3 staples on top of his head. Kalei pushed him down and he hit his head on the TV stand.
You can kind of see them in this pic. He screamed when they put them in but pretty much slept the rest of the day. I felt so bad for him.

Always showing his 'opu.

Trying to take a pic for the Christmas cards. Not sure if we'll be using this one but we'll see. Took us a while to get it.

This would've been perfect if Kalei wasn't wiping his nose and was looking at the camera.

Then Kamalu was pretty much done with taking pictures.

Me and my buddy.

Well this Thanksgiving weekend was a great one. My brother-in-law, wife Emi, and daughter Moani drove from Oklahoma to visit. We had a lot of fun spending time with Emi's family, the Snows and Kainoa's sister's family the Todds. We slept over in American Fork for two nights. Kamalu kept us up all night on Wednesday because he was constipated. He was happy after that problem was resolved.

On Thanksgiving Day my sister-in-law Ilima and I were busy cooking. She pretty much made everything-turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green salad, and rolls. I made pumpkin and apple pie and the sweet potatoes. Everything was 'ono.

Our Black Friday shopping started at midnight. Ilima and I went to Walmart. It was crazy. We started at the towels. This stupid guy was pushing and shoving so he could get armfuls of towels. He was part Polynesian, I think Samoan or something. I was mad so I said to him, "Eh, you no gotta push." He just ignored me. Why you gotta make us brown people look bad? Not saying that I'm super brown but I have a little tinge of brownness. I was giving him stink eye big time.

Anyways, I did get some good deals at Walmart. We came home from AF a little later and Kainoa pretty much kicked me and the kids out of the house so he could write a paper. So being the crazy deal snatcher that I am, I went to Costco, University Mall, and Walmart (again) with the kiddos. I went to Costco just to get diapers because the $6 off coupon expired today. It was super crowded. Now that the new shopping carts at Costco are a little taller and me being the short person that I am, it's harder for me to see where I'm going. Steering that dumb cart was challenging in the sea of people.

Next to University Mall...Tai Pan Trading Company (home decor store), Macy's and Toys R Us Express. I tried going into other stores with my double stroller but gave up. I got some pretty good deals.

Then to Walmart. It was still crowded and I got there at about 4pm. I picked up a few more things and left.

On Saturday we went to the Instacare and got Kamalu's staples removed. He has a pink scar and he screamed when they removed them but fell asleep in the car as we headed back to American Fork to watch the BYU vs. Utah game. I made some Korean style drummettes aka crispy shoyu chicken and some potato mac salad. Well the game was so sad. BYU made some mistakes but the refs were pretty dumb on a call that should've been reversed. Poor Mitch Payne. He was awesome all night and some player didn't do his job and his last kick was blocked. Oh well. You gotta say that they played well considering how they started off this season. Wish we could've ended on a win but maybe next year.

It snowed all last night and most of this morning. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." We still need to put up our Christmas tree. We'll do it sometime this week. Kainoa's been so busy with school and it's not going to get any better until the semester's done. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. Until next time...a hui hou!

New Bread Recipe

2010-11-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

Last week we were running out of bread, so I decided to look for a new recipe online. We love Grandma Sycamore bread so I tried looking for a recipe for it but couldn't find one. I did however find a recipe for someone's grandma's recipe. One loaf came out super nice (the first picture) and the others came out small kine different looking. I only have 3 loaf pans and they're all different. One's glass and the other two are metal but different brands. Maybe I should invest in loaf pans of the same brand. Anyways, the bread came out super good so I'm sharing the recipe. I came out lighter than most recipes I've tried. It's probably because you have to let it rise 3 times. Good luck to all you that try out the recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
8 cups bread flour

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar, and 4 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, and let sponge rise until doubled in size.
Gradually add about 4 cups flour, kneading until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
Punch down the dough, let it rest a few minutes. Divide dough into three equal parts. Shape into loaves, and place in three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch greased bread pans. Let rise until almost doubled.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes. The loaves may need to be covered for the last few minutes with foil to prevent excess browning.

The Haps

2010-11-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Yes I know I've been out of the blog world for way to long and I've promised to be better but didn't keep that promise. But here I am now blogging again. A lot has happened during the past two months.

In the beginning of October my mom came over to attend General Conference. While she was here we took the kids to pick their pumpkins in the pumpkin patch close to our house. They enjoyed getting in the dirt and looking for their pumpkins.

There was a little petting zoo next to the pumpkin patch. The kids had fun feeding the animals.

It was Ku'uliko's 5th Birthday on October 26th. Here she is in front of her preschool wearing the birthday crown she made on the first day of school. She wore it all day.

Two days before her birthday we had a little birthday dinner with the Todds, Granty Heather, Uncle Shaun, Uncle Teren, and Uncle Ben. I love Kamalu's face in this picture.

The kids rode the train at Provo Towne Center. They loved it especially Kalei.

Here we are on our 6th anniversary. We went to the Portuguese Kings of Comedy Show with Augie T and Frank Delima. We were cracking up the whole time. We stayed at the Marriot right there in Thanksgiving Point thanks to my parents, the Todds, and the Lindseys. It was first overnight stay without the kids.

Here's Augie T signing our DVD.

The boys loving giving each other hugs.

Here's Kamalu. He loves saying, "Cheese!" He's speaking a whole lot more.

Only Kamalu looked at the camera. The others were too busy watching TV.

We celebrated Liko's birthday again with our friends at their Halloween party. I don't have any pics of the kids in their costumes because I forgot to bring it to our Ward Party. I'll have to get the ones our friends took. Liko was Jessie, Kalei was Woody, and Kamalu was Bullseye from Toy Story. I made all their costumes. It was hard work and I wish I had taken pictures of them.

Here I am with some friends-Melissa, Priscilla, Raiann (sp?) and Tammy. I changed out of my costume. I just wore Kainoa's clothes including his shoes.

Blowing out the candles on my cookies and cream ice cream cake. Good thing that all 29 candles weren't in the cake or it would've melted the cake.
Me and the kiddies. The two boys have the same mouth. Then there's Liko posing. It was good birthday weekend. On Friday we went to the BYU/BYU Hawaii men's basketball game. BYU Hawaii didn't win but we still had fun with our friends the Settles, Lindseys, and Silvas. We were able to get a babysitter (thank you Hoku).
Then on Saturday we had a BBQ at the Settles' home and it was good fun just to get together again. Of course we enjoyed some good food as well.
Yesterday was a good day too. Kainoa made me breakfast (oops! We didn't fast). We had portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice. I also got an extra hour of sleep because of daylight savings time. Kainoa also got me some roses which is all I really wanted. Later that night, the Lindseys surprised me with ice cream cake.
We have been really blessed to be in our new ward and have been able to meet and get to know two really great families from Hawai'i, the Lindseys and the Settles. It's nice to get together so we're not missing home too much. We always have tons of fun together. I was telling Kainoa that I wouldn't mind living here permanently if he could find a job here just so we could stay close to them. Of course we would go home to visit. We still don't know what's in store for us yet but as soon as we know we'll let you know. That's it for now. A hui hou!

Just plain lazy

2010-08-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone. It's been over a month since the last time I posted. I will post pictures next time cause I'm just plain lazy right now. Here's a short update about us...
Kainoa just started his last year of law school this past Monday. Yay he'll be done in April. Not sure what will happen after graduation but the plan is to move back home.
I switched to part time this past week as well. I'm working only 20 hours a week but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm able to do so much more during the day. I work 7pm-11pm on Monday through Thursday and 8am-12pm on Friday. It's been going well so far.
Ku'uliko will start pre-school next month. She's so ready to go to school and she's getting so excited. She had to get a shot this past week before school started. She was so scared because when she did her testing for school, they pricked her finger to test her blood for lead. I don't know what the nurse there was doing but Liko bled so much. So she freaked out a little when she had to get her shot. She cried after and was limping around but she's totally fine now.
Kalei is speaking more. He's also becoming such a bully. He'll push Kamalu down for no reason or pinch Liko. I don't know what to do. I put him in time out and scold him but I don't know what else there is to do.
Kamalu is running around all over the place. He speaking a little more. Kalei and Liko love telling knock knock jokes and Kamalu cracks up at them. He just started saying, "Knock, knock" today while doing the motion with his fist. He's getting big so fast.
That's it for now. Hopefully I can get those pictures posted soon.

Park City

2010-07-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted pics in a while so I'm making up for it. Here's the kids playing in their house in their room.
I love this pic of Kamalu.

I made char siu and lup cheong manapua one night.

I wish you could see Kalei's face a little better. His expression is so funny. We had him open a present when he first woke up on his birthday. It was a Buzz Lightyear shirt. Can you tell that he loved it?

Blowing out the candles on his cake. I freehanded the alien from Toy Story. It came out okay.

Last week Saturday we drove up to Park City to meet up with my parents. They stayed in Las Vegas a couple of days before that and then drove down. We stayed with them until yesterday. Here's the kids on a mini merry-go-round at the Tanger Outlets. 50 cents went a long way. The kids loved it.

Here's the boys waiting outside the theater. We watched Toy Story 3. Kalei and Liko loved it. Kamalu had a nice nap during the movie.

Here's us on the merry-go-round right outside my parents' timeshare. Liko was asking us to ride ever since we got to Park City.

Liko loves posing for pictures. Do you see me in the background? They had horses that were really low for the little ones. My calves were burning.

Here's us in front of my parents' timeshare, the Marriot Mountainside.

Here's our little ham Liko

So I tried to get all of the kids to look at the camera at the same time. That was pretty difficult.

The kids had fun swimming in the pool. We all got a little sun. I was trying to get a little darker. I took off the whole week so I could spend time with my parents. They're leaving on Tuesday but I start work again on Monday. We did a lot of shopping today and I got my hair cut. I also visited my workplace to drop off some goodies and show my parents where I work. Liko came in with me and everyone just loved her. She just soaked it all up and wants to go back.

It's been a great week and I'm sad that it going to end soon. It's so nice to be with family and be able to spend time with them.

We're still alive

2010-06-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Sorry no pictures this time since I'm lazy. Yes, we're still alive. I've been so busy with work. It's been kind of crazy. I'm putting in about 40 hours a week. I enjoy the people I work with and I get to practice my Spanish. It's been improving. It's kind of sad the situations that these people are in. We take calls for Bank of America for people that are going into foreclosure and are trying to modify their home loan. A lot of people get upset and are desperate because they want to stay in their home.
It's been a little difficult being away from the kiddies and Kainoa. Kainoa has been such a great stay at home dad. He's been doing all the cleaning and everything. During my first week, he had changed up the furniture so everyday I would come home and the house was different. I feel bad that when I come home I pretty much put the kids to bed. They still run to me when I walk in the door and yell, "Mommy, you're home. We missed you." Last week I fell asleep crying because it was a little frustrating being at work and not being at home. I think I feeling better this week. I know that I'm away from home because I have to be. It's still a little hard to accept but it's for the best right now.
That's about it now. I'll post some pictures soon since it'll be Kalei's birthday next week. He's turning 3. I still can't believe it.

Outdoor fun

2010-05-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Heritage Park in Springville and had a picnic. The kids had so much fun playing on the playground. We've always passed by the park but this was our first time there. There's the playground and a nice covered pavilion. It was still a little chilly even though the sun was out.
There's this little bridge that goes across a creek but the creek was dried up. Liko wanted to take a picture here. Here she is posing with her cookie in her hand.

Then we fed the animals at a farm right by our house. They have some pretty cool animals. Here are the yaks. They kept fighting over the food.

They have llamas and alpacas.

The kids enjoyed feeding the animals. Well this goat kept stealing all the lettuce from all the other animals. He kept ramming into them. So mean.

On Saturday we went to their cousins' house. We went swimming. The kids had a blast. Kamalu was screaming at first but then he got used to it and didn't want to get out.

Kalei's floaties weren't working too well for him so we borrowed a vest. He looked kind of funny but he was having fun.

We slept over that night and went to church with them on Mother's Day. Kainoa and Emma made breakfast for us. Then Kainoa grilled some kalbi short ribs and hot dogs for dinner and I made potato mac salad. That was all I cooked that day. It was nice to be able to relax for a little bit. We also had an ice cream cake from Aunty Heather.

Luckily I didn't gain any weight from the weekend. I did the workout Insanity last week. It was the plyometrics workout and I was dying. I only did it once last week because my muscles were so sore afterwards. I ended up doing another workout DVD I have and went jogging for the rest of the week. I did the Insanity yesterday and today and yay, I'm not as sore. Shaun says if I keep it up, I'll see results pretty quickly. I hope so. It's a 60 day program so we'll see how it goes. Kainoa has also started working out this week. He has a schedule all worked out.

I haven't started working yet. I'm getting a little frustrated but I checked up with it. I'm hired but I still have to wait. Bank of America is trying to find a place to have the training. The lady that hired me asked if I would like to do some other work in the meantime. I said, "Of course." So hopefully something works out. Kainoa's been applying to some jobs and I'm going to keep looking.

I got a job!

2010-04-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

We had a dinner at our house to celebrate my cousin Melia graduating from BYU. Her parents, her friend Jhordan, my uncle Gordon and cousins Jared and Jordon came.
It was a nice get together and we enjoyed having people over. Kainoa finished his last final the day before so it was nice to have something with the family. To celebrate him finishing finals, his aunty took us out to dinner at Yamato's. It's a Japanese Korean place. It was so nice just to sit and eat a dinner that I didn't have to make. I was able to relax and the kids actually behaved really well. Kainoa ordered the deluxe bento. It came with so much food. It was so 'ono.

Kainoa wanted to take a picture of me like this. I didn't realize my hair looked this. He said I look like a real Utahan in this picture. I had a clip in my hair and I guess my hair was pushed up because of how I was sitting.

We were watching the NBA playoffs and this is how Kamalu was watching it. Too funny.

Yes, I got a job. I'm so excited. I hopefully start next week. I'll be a bilingual customer service representative for Bank of America. I'm actually employed by this employment service in Provo. They get hired by other companies to hire their employees. It's full time and I get benefits. I'm going to work up until Kainoa goes back to school in August. Hopefully I can keep working while he's in school. They said that they're more flexible with bilingual employees' hours so I'm crossing my fingers. The pay is pretty good for over here. At least I'll be getting paid more than my last job. I hope my Spanish isn't too rusty. They said the calls will be easy. I'm so excited. We definitely need the income and Kainoa might get a job too. We'll see. Thanks to everyone for all the support. I really appreciate it. Especially to Kainoa. He really helped me believe in myself when I went in for the interviews I've had. I get so nervous but he coached me through the questions that they would ask. Thanks Honey!

Mochi and flying kites

2010-04-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

So my friend Becca mentioned on facebook that she ate some of my mom's mochi on Girls' Day and since then I've been wanting to eat some. My mom always made mochi for Girls' Day and Boys' Day and other occassions. It was always way better than the store bought kind. So I asked her for her recipe and bought the ingredients yesterday. I couldn't wait to make it so I did it today. This is the tri-colored kind. It took a while to make because you have to bake each layer for 15 minutes but it was so worth it.

Oishi!

So it was nice and sunny today so I took the kids out for a picnic. I had made spam musubi for Kainoa to take to school (yes, he went to study at school on a Saturday). I packed the musubis up and some other stuff and layed out a blanket on the field behind our house. I brought out some bubbles and Liko and Kalei had so much fun. After we came in, Liko kept saying how much fun she had and hoped we could go back outside again. So I told her if there was enough wind we could fly their kites. This is a picture of her and her neighbor friend Cassidy flying her kite.

Here's Kalei flying his kite. He had just woke up from a nap but was ready to go. Kainoa put these slippers on him (Liko's old ones). He was struggling to walk with them on which only made us laugh harder. He kept letting go of the handle. Of course I had to chase after his kite so it wouldn't fly away.

Here are their kites-Yo Gabba Gabba and Ariel. They were only a dollar at Walmart.

I love how Kalei is concentrating so hard and Liko's not.

I was glad to get some sun today but now I'm pooped. I've been better this week at working out. I know I haven't posted anything about the weight loss thing in a while. Probably because I haven't lost that much more weight. I haven't been good with the whole diet thing but I really stepped it up this week with exercising. I did the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD. It kicked my butt but I lost a pound this week. Yay! I'm trying to get back on track. I have gone down a size(almost two) in my pants since I started working out so I'm happy about that. Hopefully I can report back with good results soon.

Fun at the park

2010-04-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

It kind of sort of warmed up. The weather is warm one day then rainy or cold the next. I'm getting tired of it changing so much. Hopefully it'll stay warm soon. On this particular day it was pretty nice so we walked to the park. Well Ku'uliko and I walked and the boys rode in the stroller. Liko was getting tired on the way back so stuck her on the handlebar and carried her.

They had so much fun on the swings.

Kamalu pulling himself up to watch TV. Yes he's still wearing his Christmas pajamas. They still fit so they're still used.

I put Kalei's hair in a ponytail one night just to see what it would look like. Pretty funny. You can't see it too well in this picture.

Here are the kids dancing to a song on this new song on Nickelodeon "Team Umizoomi." They love this show and I'm glad because they learn a lot of mathematical skills.

Not much going on here. Kainoa is almost done with his second year. He just finished taking two finals and has two more next week. I'm so happy that he's almost done.

We're both looking for jobs. I've applied to different places. I had an interview with a daycare place but that didn't work out. I just got a call back from a position where I could work from home calling people about fire safety classes. Sounds good to me. Hopefully they call me back with more details.

That's all for now. Until next time.....

Easter

2010-04-10T12:00:00.001-07:00

We spent the night before Easter at the Todds. The kids colored eggs and made rice krispie chocolate dipped eggs. Here's Ku'uliko and her cousin Hailey.

Kalei kept saying, "Egg. Blue." He had fun dying the eggs.

Here's Ku'uliko on Easter morning.

Kalei looking at his Yo Gabba Gabba kite. I love his face in this picture. He was so excited.
Kamalu was so busy playing with his bendable Easter bunny. He ignored all the other goodies.

So this past week was crazy. My Aunty Pearl, Uncle Gordon, and cousins came down for Conference. I went to the mall to meet up with them on Thursday. Ashley told Liko that she had a surprise for her. I was thinking that it was probably a toy or something. Then when was about to pay for the kids' lunch my mom came up behind me and offered to pay for it. I was so surprised. It was so unexpected. Aunty Pearl offered her a buddy pass thanks to my cousin Jared that works for Delta. She stayed until this past Tuesday. Thank you Furtados for the best surprise ever. It was nice to have my mom here for a little while. I know she wants to come back already and I told her that she has to bring my dad next time. While she was here I drove up to Park City with my cousin Melia. It was my first time to Park City. The outlets were great. We were hit by a chunk of snow that was fell from the roof of a store. Jared just laughed at us, along with all the people passing by. It was funny but it hurt. Then when we were at Old Navy a girl approached us about having Liko do commercials and stuff. She gave us her card. They actually called the other day but I told them I better wait on the audition until Kainoa was done with finals or when Melia can come with me (they approached her too). We'll see what happens.

Kamalu is finally standing up and cruising around. It took him a while but it looks like he's getting more comfortable with that and hopefully will be taking his first steps soon. He's 13 months now. I think Kalei started walking around this time and Ku'uliko took her time. He's eating more table foods and loves teddy grahams, beans, rice, vienna sausage, and macaroni and cheese. He's still drinking formula from a bottle and doesn't like whole milk yet. Hopefully he'll start drinking it soon. My other two don't drink milk. Liko will take it in her cereal and chocolate milk and cocoa but Kalei refuses to drink it. No wonder they're so small.

That's it for now. Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter and the General Conference weekend.

March Madness in the Willing home

2010-03-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Here's just some pictures of our family and our crazy house. Kamalu got a bubble blower for his birthday from the Sanchez's. The kids love it.
Ku'uliko driving a bus at the mall. Everytime she sees a bus she says, "Hey that's the bus that takes me to school." I'm not sure why she says that since she's never ridden a bus before.

Kamalu loves giving kisses.

Kamalu posing with his sister and Kalei was too busy eating his bread.

Kamalu blowing bubbles.

Kamalu loves eating rice. There's a piece on his eyelash.

Kanak attack

Wearing their Easter outfits since they won't be able to wear them next Sunday since there's General Conference. Don't you love Kalei's face?

What a handsome buggah.

Well not much to talk about. Kainoa's getting ready for finals so he's constantly studying. His first final is in 2 weeks and he won't finish until the 21st of April. I can't wait for it to be over. Then he only has one more year left. Yay!

This past Saturday we had to replace all of our brakes and rotors. I should've called my cousin and asked him to help but I know he's busy and didn't want to bother him. Let's just say that it was pretty pricey. We've been looking for jobs online and hopefully we can find something soon. I just want us to be able to make some money so we can pay off all of these expenses. I hate stressing about money. Hopefully this will all be over soon. I had a job interview today for a daycare assistant. I hope I get it. The pay isn't the greatest but at least I can have the kids there with me. It's a little far away but we'll see what happens.

Kamalu's Birthday Party

2010-03-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Kamalu!

We celebrated Kamalu's birthday on the 13th at my sister-in-law's house in American Fork. My mom came earlier during the week and Kainoa's mom was here before that. It was nice to have them here and to have all our family and friends come. Of course there was 'ono food and the cake turned out great. I baked it and my mom decorated it. I wanted to help decorate it too but I was too busy cooking. Oh well, next time. And...it snowed! There was a snowstorm when he was blessed and we were joking about how Kamalu causes it to snow.

Liko helped Kamalu blow out the candles.

He wasn't as interested in the cake this time around. He took a nap up until this point of the party.

Liko and his cousins helped him open his presents. Thank you to everyone that came. It was a fun party and Kamalu enjoyed it.

Not a very flattering picture of Ku'uliko but it sure is funny.

Kainoa's brother RJ and his wife Emi and their daughter Moani moved to Oklahoma a couple days before the party. They have helped us so much since we've moved here and made Utah feel more like home. RJ got a job there so that's why they left. It was really sad but we're happy for them. Emi is the sister I never had and I'm going to miss having them so close. We miss them a lot and hopefully we can make a drive down there sometime soon.

Our family has been sick and I feel bad for my mom and mother-in-law who probably got sick from us. We took Kamalu to the ER because he was wheezing one night. Turns out it was croup and he's doing so much better. Ku'uliko and Kalei have colds and so did I. Kainoa is getting sick now too. The kids are not coughing as much as they were before, thank goodness. I think I got sick because I wasn't getting enough sleep since I was taking care of the kids. I'm feeling a whole lot better, just a little congested. I cannot wait to have us all healthy again.

My mom left this past Wednesday and Kainoa's mom left yesterday. Now we're alone. Not alone but it was sad to see them go. I hope that they can come back soon. Well at least I know that they'll be here in a year when Kainoa graduates. Hopefully someone can come before that. I miss home and wish I could go back but that's not possible right now. I'm hoping Kainoa can get a job in Hawaii after he graduates so we can move back. I'm crossing my fingers.

Happy 1st Birthday Kamalu!

2010-03-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Monday March 8th was Kamalu's birthday. We're going to celebrate it with all the family and friends tomorrow but I figured Kamalu should get some cake on his actual birthday. His sister and brother helped blow out the candles (one for good luck).

He thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is my favorite picture. I have a better one on my phone but he just loved using the spoon. I've never really seen him eat with a spoon. He usually just plays with it but this time he put it to use.

He kept wiping the frosting off on the high chair.

This was the end result. I shouldn't have given him a bath before this. What was I thinking? I gave him another one and found frosting up his nose. He had his fun though.

Before eating cake. I noticed that I don't have too many pictures of myself with Kamalu. Not the best picture but it'll do.

And I don't have too many of Kamalu and Kainoa but this is the pose that Kainoa chose.

He had an appointment earlier that day and received 4 shots. One on each arm and leg. Poor guy. He knocked out on the ride home from the doctor's. He's 20 lbs. 14 oz. and the dumb nurse measured him wrong. According to her measurement he shrunk a half inch. I forgot to ask them to measure him again but wouldn't that just be assumed that you would do such a thing. Lame. At 9 months he was 29 inches. We'll see what he's at next time we go in for a check up in 3 months.

Kalei was looking at the Toys R Us ad because there was a picture of Thomas the train in it. He fell asleep reading it.

The Willing brothers

Kainoa's birthday, Moani's blessing, and sleepyheads

2010-02-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Last week Friday was Kainoa's birthday. Happy 27th Honey! We had a dinner at the Todds'. I made meat jun, won ton, potato mac salad, and an ice cream cake. Ilima made yum-yum chicken and rice and the Sells made a green salad and fruit salad with fruit dip. Everything was really good. Kainoa was a little sick. He had the stomach flu earlier that week and was trying to enjoy the food as much as he could. Poor thing.

Then two days later, RJ and Emi blessed their baby Moani. It was a beautiful blessing for a beautiful baby girl.

Here I am with Moani. She's such a cutie. She's a cute mix of her mommy and daddy. She looks a lot like RJ but has some of Emi's features.

She's getting chubby and I love it. Ku'uliko and Kalei were really chubby babies but Kamalu wasn't as much. I guess it's because he was taller. We just found out not to long ago that Emi and RJ will be moving soon. We've been trying to spend a lot of time with them before they go. I'm really going to miss them, especially my sister-in-law Emi. She's been my best friend since we've moved here and really helped Utah feel like home. Since I don't have any sisters of my own, she and her sister Darah have kind of adopted me into their family and treated me like one of their sisters. We've gone on some girls only days out and it's been so nice to get away from it all and just talk story. Of course I'm sad but I know that this move will be good for them. Hopefully we can visit them during the summer.

Here's my silly boy Kalei with his Thomas the train cape that Ilima made for him. He loves it.
So I've been taking pictures of my two boys in funny sleeping positions. One night Kalei was crying after dinner because he wanted to eat a Rice Krispie treat. 2 minutes after I gave it to him I found him like this. He took one bite and fell asleep. He's still holding up a full sippy cup. Guess he wanted to make sure that no one took it away from him.

Here's Kamalu on the floor. I was doing the laundry and he was staring at Shaun playing his PS3. Then Shaun called me over because Kamalu had fallen asleep like. He's holding a fork from Ku'uliko tea set. He was so tired.

Then I found him like this yesterday. So cute.

This was Kalei last night. He fell asleep eating his dinner. He took one bite and was out.

I'm finally better from my cold so now I'm back on track with exercising. I did the entire DVD for the Biggest Loser Boot Camp yesterday. I think I did the whole thing once last week. I was getting frustrated yesterday because I had to pause the DVD like 10 times because of all the interruptions from the kids. "Mommy, I need this or Mommy help me." I wanted to scream but I finally got through my workout. It took me twice as long to do it and now my muscles are sore but I feel good that I perservered. Seriously working out with three kids is challenging. I was trying to do my push-ups and Kamalu was trying to crawl under me. Then Liko wanted to exercise with me but kind of got in the way. Oh well. That's my life and though it can be frustrating at times, I'm happy that my kids want to spend time with me. That will probably change when they become teenagers so I better enjoy the time I can spend with them now.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

So our Valentine's Day went well. Kainoa and I celebrated it on Friday. Shaun watched the kids for us (the first time he watched all three). It was nice to be alone for a little while. We had lunch at Wingers (the best wings) and then did a little shopping. Kainoa got me some lotion from Victoria Secret's. Endless Love was my favorite scent for a long time and I've recently switched to Sweet Daydream. It smells soooo good. I love it. Then we went to Walmart and Kainoa told me to pick out my own flowers. Of course I picked out beautiful ones.

On Valentine's Day, I made an awesome dinner....steak, crab legs, grilled veggies, cheddar garlic biscuits, and homemade ice cream sandwiches. I really enjoyed the meal.

Ku'uliko was feeling under the weather so Kainoa bought this for her for Valentine's Day. Kalei was jealous but Ku'uliko shared. I guess I was supposed to buy something for Kalei and Kamalu because Kainoa said they were my valentines.

This Elmo balloon is taller than she is.

Kamalu loves to pose for the camera. He's my future BYU football player.

Here he is waving hi. I still can't believe that he'll be turning one in 3 weeks. My mom and my mother-in-law are coming for his party. I'm excited to see them. I wish my dad could come but he's too busy with work. I wish my father-in-law could come too but he's busy with work too. At least the grandmas will be there.

So I'm been a little sluggish with exercising ever since I had the stomach flu. I recently got sick with a sore throat from Kainoa but I'm getting better. I finally did the entire Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD workout today. It kicked my butt but I feel good that I got some exercise in. I haven't lost any weight but just maintained. Hopefully I can get all my energy back and get back into the groove. I'll keep you posted.

The boys

2010-02-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

My little cutie pie Kamalu loves to take a bath. He loves splashing the water and he loves playing with Ku'uliko and Kalei when they're all in the bathtub together. I still can't believe that he'll be turning one next month. This past year has gone by so fast.

Here he is in the kids' playhouse that's in their room. He loves to play with Ku'uliko and Kalei. It's kind of nice because I'm able to get things done around the house when they're playing together.

Here's Kalei in the bathtub. I'm trying to capture his hair that looked like a mullet but you can't see it too well here. It was wet on the bottom and dry on the top. His hair is getting pretty long but you can't tell because it's so curly. Just like Liko's hair.

Well I've been working out and trying to eat healthy for a month now and I've lost 7 lbs. Well some of the weight was from the holidays and all the junks I ate but I haven't weighed this much since I was exercising after Ku'uliko was born. I pretty much gained 3-5 lbs with each kid so I'm so happy to be seeing some results. I still have a ways to go but I'm getting there. According to my height, I should be 104 lbs. I was 104 lbs when I was a freshman in high school. When I came back from my mission I wasn't even that light so that's not my goal. I'm just looking to lose at least 10 more pounds if possible. The exercising isn't too bad. I'm finding the time to do it so that's not the hard part. The hard part is eating healthy. I'm trying to eat less and eating healthier foods. I've cut out a lot of snacking so that's helped a lot. I'm been cooking a lot more ground turkey and I was a little reluctant because I didn't think Kainoa would like it but he doesn't mind it at all. Last night we had tacos but I used ground turkey and he and Shaun really enjoyed them. I should've been using ground turkey this whole time.

This past Monday I was feeling horrible. I was throwing up and had body aches and chills. I haven't had the stomach flu in a long time. I couldn't hold anything down and my body hurt so bad. It only lasted 24 hours thank goodness but my body's been out of whack. I lost a pound or so because of it so that's good. I haven't done any hard core exercising since because I've felt exhausted so I'll be getting back into it next week. I'm fine now and no one else got sick (cross my fingers). Just my luck that I got it.

That's about it. I guess I'll be blogging about my weight loss now and hopefully I can keep it up. Wish me luck.

Cousin Moani

2010-01-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

We invited Emi, RJ, and their new baby Moani over for lunch today. We had our version of Cafe Rio-steak, fish, and shrimp tacos, strawberry limeade, and pineapple upside down cake. Everything was muy delicioso. It was nice to spend time with them and of course eat good food. They moved to Cedar Hills after Christmas which is about a half an hour away from us. We try to see them every week if possible.

RJ took off Moani's clothes to wake her up so she would eat but she was too busy observing everything around her.

Ku'uliko and her cousin Moani. It looks like Moani is punching her in the face.

And of course Kalei had to get a picture with her too.

So Kamalu recently turned into a one nap boy. I found him like this the other day. One minute he was playing and the next he was asleep in the doorway of the kids' room. So funny. He's been sleeping better at night too. We'll see if he continues doing this.

As for everything else, I've been trying to exercise everyday. I've lost 4 lbs. and hopefully I keep losing more. It makes me feel so lame for not being more consistent before. I'm using the Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD and biking on our recumbent bike that we have in our room. It's been going good so far. The hardest part is eating healthy. I've been trying to cook healthier too. Kainoa's lost 5 lbs. as well. We're supposed to have a Biggest Loser Challenge with all the Willing family but we haven't weighed in yet. Hopefully we do soon.

Baby Moani

2010-01-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here's my brand new baby niece Emoani Kaleihulumamo Willing. She was born on Monday the 11th at 5:07 pm. She was 7 lbs. 2.6 oz (3 oz.) and 19 inches long. That was the first birth that I witnessed other than my three kids. Emi invited me to come knowing that I don't have any sisters of my own. I got to the hospital at 2pm and Emi was fully dialated an hour later. She pushed for 2 hours. What a trooper. Moani is such a cutie. I got to hold her today. She's teeny compared to Kamalu. As I saw her being born, all I thought was, "I really want another girl." We're not going to try for another one until September so I'll have to wait.

The proud parents, RJ and Emi. I'm so happy for them.

My little rockstar.

My silly kiddies.

Kamalu, my little cutie

The holidays with the Willings

2010-01-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Making snow angels

At Circus Circus on the carousel. We stayed there when we drove down for the Vegas Bowl. It was fun trip.

At Sam Boyd Stadium for the game. We were freezing. I don't think I was even that cold at a game in Utah.

RJ's last game as a BYU Cougar.

On the phone with Dad. He wasn't able to come. Emi wasn't there either because of doctor's orders. That was the only junk thing about the trip.

There's a person in our picture that shouldn't be there. The right corner. What a bozo.

Kainoa dressed up as Santa this year. His dad did it last year but since he wasn't there Kainoa had to step up. We have a tradition of having a Mary and Joseph dinner on Christmas Eve. Stuff that Mary and Joseph would have eaten. Then Santa came and gave the kids one present-pjs. They wear them that night. Ilima made all the kids their pjs. Kalei wasn't too thrilled that Daddy was Santa.

Liko thought it was funny.

Kamalu played with Santa's beard. He looks pretty bored.

Opening presents on Christmas morning. This one is from Ama and Grandpa thanks to Walmart's site to store shipping.

Kamalu joining in on all the fun.

Liko was so happy to have gotten this book. The simplest things make her happy.

My little stud posing. This is from my mom.

All the cousins together.

Tutu and Kamalu before she left for the airport.

This was a fun holiday break. We had a blast in Vegas and at the Todds. We ate some ono food. Played a lot of games and had a lot of laughs. It was great and now it's back to normal life. Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We love you all!

My little werewolf

2009-12-07T22:51:00.001-08:00

Here's my little werewolf with his six pack and sharp teeth. I was changing his clothes and decided to take some pictures of him like this. He looks so tall.

Ku'uliko is always wanting me to take pictures of her and Kamalu.

Kalei pushing Kamalu's hand away.

My karate kids.

He looked super handsome in this new outfit from my mom but he didn't want to take a picture.

He loves putting hats and beanies on by himself.

This past week has been pretty good. Nothing too exciting. Kainoa has been studying for his finals. He has his first one on Wednesday and his last one next Wednesday. I can't another semester is coming to an end already. Yay!

So we found out yesterday that BYU is going to the Vegas Bowl. Kainoa's mom, sister Leimomi and Kaitlyn will be coming. We're kind of bummed that his dad won't be making it but at least most of the family will be together for Christmas. We're excited for everybody to be together.

It's been snowing. It started snowing Saturday and hasn't really stopped. We woke up yesterday morning and there were inches of snow on the ground. It was so pretty and sparkly. I wanted to go and play in it but didn't. I'm looking forward to playing in the snow this year. I didn't really get to go sledding last year because I was pregnant with Kamalu. Should be fun this year.

That's it for us this week. Take care.

Go Cougs!

2009-11-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

So these pictures are in order of most recent to last week. I'm too lazy to put them in the right order. Saturday was exciting. BYU won in overtime to Utah. 26-23. What a sweet game. I wasn't there for the game but I met up with everyone on the field. It was so crazy with all the people rushing the field. I can't believe that I went with the kids but it was fun. Coach Mendenhall presented all the seniors with blankets and we got to meet him. Well I've met him before but it was super special to be there for RJ. Emi gave him a McDouble and Coke lei and I made him a spam musubi and Cheetos lei. We saw some people eyeing down his leis. Moreso the McDouble since I'm sure not a lot of people knew what the musubis were.

The profile of the starting center for BYU.

At home before the game. Everyone's wearing BYU shirts.

Kalei eating pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day. I had no idea he liked pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving was great. All the food was so good. Ilima made the turkey, mashed potatoes, and the rolls. Mom made a ham. I made the sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and the pies-banana cream, apple, and pumpkin. It was fun to be with all the family. Kainoa's parents came down for the last two BYU games. It was nice to have them here with us.

I love Kamalu showing his teeth in this picture.

The boys in matching shirts.

Kalei being his cute kolohe self.

Some funny pictures

2009-11-20T22:41:00.000-08:00

So here's some pictures of the kids being their silly selves. Not much has been happening. I've been trying my best to eat healthier this week but I haven't had a whole lot of time to exercise. I was better with the exercising last week. Now I have to stop making excuses and be better so hopefully I can lose some weight.

What else? Hmmm....two words, NEW MOON! I decided on Monday that I was going to try and read the first two books again before the movie but I got distracted. It was Wednesday night and I was halfway through Twilight when I gave up and started reading New Moon. I wanted to finish it before the movie so I stayed up until 2 am this morning and I finished it. That's the fastest I've ever read a 500 page book.

We watched the 2pm show today. I'm not a hardcore fan so we didn't go to the midnight showing but I figured we should still go before it gets too crowded. We got to the theater at 12:30 and we were the second in line. Our showing wasn't too crowded. We took Kamalu with us while Shaun watched the other two kids. He was so good during the movie. Hardly made any noise unlike a little boy that sat right next to Kainoa with his parents. Anyway, the girl that stood in front of us in line said, "Oh, you have such a good husband." I know. I know. She tried to get her husband to come but he wouldn't. I was like the one of the very few that wore a Twilight shirt. The only reason I have one is because my in-laws gave it to me for my birthday. Anyway, I totally enjoyed the movie. It was awesome. It was all that it was hyped up to be. New Moon is my least favorite book out of the series so I wasn't sure how I would like the movie. I thought that they did a really good job fitting in so much of the book into the movie. There was action. Werewolves and vampires. The fighting scenes were great and Aro was freaky. That's all I'm going to say about that. Hope everyone that wants to see it can go.

Birthday fun and Kamalu at 8 months

2009-11-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm getting older. Not quite 30 but getting close. Kainoa made me breakfast. Then he picked up some pizzas for lunch during the football game. He got me flowers and the new Wii Fit Plus. My sister-in-law Emi and Kainoa's aunty came over to watch the game. BYU played Wyoming. 52-0. What a shut out. It was an awesome game. Everyone was on top of their game. RJ played well of course. And if anyone watched it, no, the false start was not on him but on #60.

After the game we tried out the Wii Fit Plus. The new games are so much fun. It gives you a pretty good workout.

Then we went to Old Navy. They had a great sale. 50% off all their outerwear. I also had a 30% off thing (stuff and save). I got a pretty styling coat for $25. I was so happy because I also found a pair of jeans that fit really good that I won't have to hem. It's so hard for me to find pants. Kainoa and I have the opposite problem. I can never find pants short enough and he can never pants long enough.

We ate dinner at Yamato's. It's a Japanese/Korean BBQ restaurant. I got shrimp and vegetable tempura and teriyaki beef. It was pretty good. We'll have to go back so I can get the curry. I tried some of Kainoa's aunty's and it was super 'ono. Then we went to the store and Kainoa got me a cookies and cream ice cream cake. That was super good too.

It was a great birthday. Thanks to everyone that helped make it a wonderful day.

Kamalu turned 8 months today. I can't believe that he's that old already. He's my roller. He doesn't crawl but rolls to everywhere he wants to go. That's a picture of him in our hallway. He loves to talk. Every morning he wakes us up with "Dadadada." He loves his baby food and eats it at least twice a day. He's super smiley. He loves his brother and sister even though they are sometimes rough with him. He doesn't like sleeping in his crib but he'll sleep on a fold-out Backyardigans couch that we put next to our bed. He loves to give drooly open mouth kisses. He's my little Asian baby. Well at least he looks more Japanese than the other two. We love our baby Kamalu!

Ku'uliko's 4 and Halloween

2009-11-04T00:34:00.001-08:00

So we had an eventful week last week. Ku'uliko turned 4 on the 26th. I made homemade pizzas and a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (that's what she asked for). We had RJ and Emi over.

Then Kainoa and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on Thursday, the 29th. It's been 5 years. Wow! Even I can't believe it. 5 years, 3 kids later.....We didn't want to wait to have kids after we got married and Ku'uliko came along. I still remember our first anniversary. We got back from the hospital the day before. My mom cooked a steak dinner with all the fixings. We ate the top of our wedding cake which was still really good. We were staying with Kainoa's family at the time. His dad brought down their CD player and some music and Leimomi brought out some candles. And somehow Kainoa managed to get me some roses and a card. I didn't even get him anything. Or maybe I did. I don't even remember. This year he got me a deep fryer. It's a fancy one. Not the ideal gift for an anniversary but I like it. He likes it too. I got him some tall tees. We watched Couples Retreat with Kamalu. It was hilarious. Shaun watched Ku'uliko and Kalei. Then after our movie we dropped Kamalu off with RJ and Emi and went to Red Lobster for dinner. We just wanted a little time alone and Kamalu is going through that separation anxiety stage. Hopefully he'll get over it soon. It was a fun day.

Then on Saturday we went over to the Todds in American Fork. We had dinner there. Ilima made dinner in a pumpkin which is one of their traditions. It was really good. Then we went trick-or-treating together. It was fun to have the kids together. It was a little difficult walking with all those kids but it was worth it. Kalei walked for a little bit and then he rode in the stroller. I felt silly trick-or-treating with his Thomas the train bucket. Kainoa and I wore Michael Jordan jerseys. Of course it looked like a dress on me. RJ and Emi dressed up as jocks and wore their letterman jackets. It was a nice night. Kamalu was a little fussy because it was little chilly for him but he eventually fell asleep. Shaun stayed home to hand out candy and he said only 3 kids came by. I thought there would've been more. If they were smart, the kids would've raided our condos. It's a lot of homes in one place. More candy. Come on now. Oh well they missed out.

Well that's it for now. Until next time, a hui hou!

Halloween!

2009-10-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

So here are some random pictures of the kids. They were trying on their beanies. Pretty soon we'll have to start using them. It's supposed to snow on Tuesday.

Here's a picture of the pumpkin I carved on Friday. It took me about an hour and a half. I printed off a picture and traced over it with a pencil to make indentions. Then I carved it out. I had to do the eyes freehand because it was hard to figure it out with the picture. It was really fun and I almost want to carve another one.

Well last night was a sad one. BYU lost. I actually went to the game with Kainoa, Emi, and Shaun. Emi's sister Darah and her husband watched our kids for us. It was fun to be there but I wish they could've won. RJ played well. I wish the coaches would've taken him out and put the backup center in. Then they could've let him play at left tackle or right guard. Somewhere else on the offensive line so that the quarterback could've had better protection because he wasn't getting any.

Tomorrow is Ku'uliko's real birthday. I still can't believe that she's going to be 4. Kainoa and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary on Thursday. Now I'm feeling old. I think we're probably going out to dinner or something. I'm craving some Red Lobster. I'm also excited about taking the kids trick-or-treating on Saturday. Ku'uliko is going to be a fairy, Kalei-Thomas the train, and Kamalu-a tiger. I'll post pictures of that for sure.

Ku'uliko's Birthday Party and Vegas

2009-10-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

So we've been quite busy recently. First of all, my aunty Pearl and cousin Jared Furtado came to stay with us on Thursday the 1st. They came down for General Conference. Then my mom came the next day. Kainoa's parents were still here so we celebrated Ku'uliko's birthday early. Her actual birthday isn't until the 26th. We'll probably celebrate it again but just us. I know she felt left out this summer when we celebrated Kalei's birthday 3 times.

Anyways, we had a party for her at her cousins' house in American Fork. Thank you to everyone that came. She really had a good time. There was 'ono food of course. Ku'uliko wanted to eat "brown chicken" (teri beef) so I ordered some meat from the Springville Meat Company (the local butcher) and soaked it in teriyaki sauce. I have to order it there because you can't get meat sliced that thin at the grocery store. I also made crab cream cheese won tons, and potato mac salad. Kainoa made the spam musubis. Kainoa's mom made chili, hotdogs, and pumpkin crunch. My mom made her spinach dip and clam dip and decorated the castle cake. I made the chocolate frosting for the cupcakes and decorated the Happy Birthday cupcakes and Ku'uliko's cousin Emma decorated the rest. It was a My Little Pony party and she got tons of My Little Pony stuff. She was so happy and had so much fun playing with her friends and cousins. It was a full house. Here's the guest list: Ama (my mom), Tutu and Man (Kainoa's parents), Bumpy (Kainoa's Aunty Heather), the Todds (it was their house), Uncle RJ and Aunty Emi, Aunty Pearl and cousin Jared, Kainoa's cousin Nalani and her husband, the Sanchez's and Melia, the Snows and Fredricks (Emi's family), the Po'uha's, and Uncle Sheldon and Uncle Lono. I think that was everyone. It was a great party and Ku'uliko enjoyed herself.

My mom was able to get us tickets for General Conference. She went on Saturday and we got to go on Sunday to the afternoon session. It was awesome to be in the presence of the prophet and the church leaders. The choir was awesome as well.

I'm going to rush through the rest of this since Kamalu just woke up and I'm typing this with one hand. Kainoa had the next week off from school so we drove to Vegas with all three kids, my mom, and Shaun. Our Explorer has a third row but it was pretty tight. The kids did so well on the ride there and back. They did it without a DVD player. Of course we stopped in St. George to go to Jack-in-the-box. We met up with some family friends, the Monsons, and talked story. Kainoa was driving pretty fast so we made it to Vegas in good time. We stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel. We got a good deal. We shopped at the outlet mall the next day. Then we played tourists on Friday. We walked a lot. We went to the MGM, the M&M's and Coca-Cola stores, and the Miracle Mile shops at the Planet Hollywood. We met up with my good friend Lehua that night and ate at this place called Hash House-a-go-go. The portions were huge. Then on Saturday we took the kids down the Circus part of the hotel. We played some games and saw a circus act. My mom stayed at the hotel with the kids and we went to the football game with Lehua and Shaun. It was an awesome game. BYU 59 UNLV 21. RJ played so well. The highlight was getting phone calls telling us that we were on TV twice. They even did a close up on us. It was so funny because I stood up right as they did the close up. I had no idea.

Anyways now we're back to normal Utah life. I was enjoying the warmth of the sun down in Vegas. It was kinda chilly when we got back. The weather was better today thank goodness. I'll be posting more pics soon. That's it for now. Adios!

Happy Birthday Tutu and Aunty Emi!

2009-09-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

So this past Saturday was my mother-in-law's and my sister-in-law's birthday. They went to the football game (yay for BYU!) and then we met them for dinner at the Art City Trolley Restaurant. It's this great diner that's in Springville. They came over after for cake and ice cream. They have the same favorite cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I made the cake while they were at the game. Then everyone slept over. It was fun just spending time with each other. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my mother-in-law and father-in-law came on the 19th to watch BYU's three home games. It's been fun having them with us. They've been taking turns staying at everyone's house.

Here are some fun pictures that I've taken over the past several days. The kids love having their Tutu and Man over. We had linner (lunch/dinner) at the Todds yesterday. We had beef stroganoff (Emi), mochiko chicken (me), broccoli salad (RJ), potato mac salad (me), and cake (Emma). There's a picture of the cake that Emma made. She did such a good job. She worked so hard. So cute.

So I went to an Instacare center. It's like a mini ER which is really close to our house. The doctor looked at my ears and took some blood. He says that I have vertigo, dizziness that is caused by an inner ear infection. It pretty much feels like everything is spinning as I move my head from side to side. It's been pretty tough. It'll go away or sometimes stay for hours. The only thing he gave me was a motion sickness medicine which makes me drowsy. I haven't been taking it because it makes things worse. My lab results from the blood tests came out normal but they said that I should follow up with my primary physician if it continued which it has. So I'm going to my doctor tomorrow. I hope they can find what's causing this because it really is getting irritating and painful. I haven't been able to drive and I try not to carry Kamalu if I feel it coming on. I even quit my job because I haven't been able to work. I just hope I get better soon.

Well when I figure out what's wrong, I'll update this. Take care.

GLEE!

2009-09-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm so grateful that I didn't have to work tonight. I worked last week Wednesday and missed the new show Glee. It's my new favorite show. I love it. Kainoa and Shaun love it too. It's too funny. So I'm not working next Wednesday so I'm excited. If you didn't know already, our family is into musical theater. All three of us kids performed in at least one musical in high school. Chad did Grease. I did Brigadoon and a Musical Review. Shaun did West Side Story. When we went to New York in 2001. We went to 4 shows. It was awesome. So Glee just brings back lots of memories. "Don't stop believing..."

Okay so this is what's been going on. I've been working 2-3 times a week. Kamalu has been getting fussy with Kainoa but they've been surviving. A girl at work quit so it's the scheduling has been rough. So lame.

So I'll explain the pictures. This pictures of all three kids took forever to take. It's always Kalei that turns away or looks up. Then there's a picture of Kamalu with his cousin Emma. We went over to her house, The Todds, to watch the game on Saturday. BYU killed Tulane 54-3. Now they're ranked #7. Crazy. Kainoa's parents are coming this Saturday to watch the next three home games. We're excited for them to come.

Next there's pictures of Kamalu and Emi's nephew Wes. He's about 2 weeks younger than Kamalu. They were having fun looking at each other. I went over to Emi's parents' house for her sister-in-law Dani's baby shower. It was so much fun to be with other women.

It was funny and scary because the next morning I woke up totally dizzy. I couldn't walk straight. The room was spinning. Every time I turned my head, I would get totally dizzy. I had to crawl to the bathroom. I drank some water and Coke but I threw it up. So Kainoa's aunty came over (she's a nurse). She took my blood pressure and everything looked okay. I felt better after I ate something. I'm okay now but sometimes I get dizzy every so often. So weird. Kainoa said I had too much fun at the baby shower and was joking with me that someone slipped something in my water.

Okay so I caught Liko like this in her room. She was sipping on tea and reading her book with her feet propped up. It was too funny so I took a picture of it.

Well that's all that's happened with us. Take care everyone.

Go BYU!

2009-09-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

So all of these pictures were cute and I couldn't decide on just one so I put them all up. I took this after the big game this past Saturday. BYU won! BYU 14 Oklahoma 13. We watched the game at the Snows and it was a nail-biter. We were cheering so loud. My brother-in-law RJ made his debut as the starting center. He's started before but not as center. He was awesome. The whole team did awesome. The O-line gave the quarterback great protection, despite what a lot of people said. They went up against the #1 defense in the nation and Max Hall only got sacked once. Our defense did a great job as well. After the game was over, Kainoa and I were still in shock. We couldn't sleep that night. The polls came out today and BYU is ranked #9 in the nation. They jumped from #20 to #9. One of the ESPN commentators put BYU as one of his top 5 teams. It's about time that BYU get that respect that they so fully earned. Well we still have the rest of the season but that was a phenomenal start.
Here's Kamalu in his BYU shirt. It was actually Kalei's that RJ and Emi gave him for Christmas but it was too small. It's a 18 months shirt but it fits Kamalu pretty good. We just went to the doctor today for his 6 month check-up. He's 17 lbs. 10 oz. and 28 3/4 inches long. He's in the 54 percentile for his weight and 89 percentile for his height. When the nurse measured his height, she said, "Wow, he's tall." Yeah, I was thinking the same thing since his head is almost all the way to the top of his carseat. We might have to buy him another carseat soon.
That's our Willing update for now. Take care everyone.

New pictures

2009-09-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

So here are some funny pictures. The first is of Liko showing that she's three. Then there's my brother Shaun eating a piece of BBQ chicken pizza that I made a couple of days ago. We wanted to show how thin the crust was. Then it was my bro-in-law RJ's birthday on Tuesday. This is the cake that I made him. He plays for BYU and I figured this cake with pump him up for their first game this weekend. Here's a picture of Kamalu trying to scoot around. He still hasn't gotten it yet but it'll slowly come. Then the last is of Liko and her jerry curl hair. It's here Michael Jackson hair. The things she learns.

I've been a little busy this week since I went back to work. I worked on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. It's been pretty good so far but Kainoa has been having a hard time with Kamalu. Hopefully he can get Kamalu to take a bottle. He'll take the bottle from me but I guess it's different coming from Daddy. He's been a little more fussy now that his second tooth is coming in. At least he likes eating his rice cereal and baby food.

Well that's all that's been happening with us. Tomorrow's the big game, BYU and Oklahoma at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

All kine stuff

2009-08-26T22:46:00.001-07:00

So there's all kinds of things happening to us. Here's an update on our family. The first picture is of us coming back from Ephraim. Liko wanted me to take a picture of her.

The biggest zuchinni is from our friend Julie and the bottom two are ones that I grew in our community garden. I made zuchinni bread for the first time with the big one. It came out pretty good. It was kind of like carrot cake so I made a cream cheese frosting. I've been trying to cook different things. Like today I had some pork steaks that I didn't know what to do with. I stuck them in the crock pot and put in some spices, brown sugar and diced tomatoes. Then I made some flour tortillas and we had tacos. It was really good. I've been wanting to make this kind of sweet and savory pork for a while and I finally figured out how.

What else has been happening? Kalei has been speaking more which is such a relief. He loves to sing. Just today he was singing the ABCs. Of course some of the letters were pretty jumbled but he got most of them. I've been trying to teach Liko how to read and write her ABCs. She still gets mixed with some of them but she can pick out letters pretty well. She can definitely read the letters BYU and she can read you every letter in Walmart. Can you tell that she been exposed to these things a lot?

Sad news, I just found out today that because Liko's birthday is after September 1st, she will most likely not attend Head Start. I was very disappointed but it was my fault for not turning in her application sooner. They said that they give first priority to 4 year olds. Man, late birthdays really suck. I should know.

Kamalu has been growing fast. He is growing out of his clothes. I think I'm going to have to buy 12 months clothes already. He only turns 6 months on Sept. 8th. He is loving his rice cereal and veggies. I haven't tried giving him any fruit. I'll give him some next month and start giving him meat as well. He has WIC checks for jar food so that'll save us a lot of money considering how much he eats.

Kainoa just started school on Monday. He has been studying so much. I think his schedule is a little better since he's home more but Mondays and Wednesdays are hard for him. He has a 4 hour block of classes plus he goes to school earlier so he can study. He came home with a headache today. Poor thing.

As for me, I've recently got into couponing. My friend Kieiki took me to a little workshop with this amazing lady Amy that gives these classes on how to save money on groceries. I've been getting into it and I've been saving a lot. I love saving money. I even get things for free. Like the other week I got 2 regular packs of Huggies diapers for $12. It's great!

I also am going back to work. I start next week. I'm just going back to Motherhood. That was the easiest place to get a job and they had an open position. I'm not getting paid much but it's pays better than a campus job that Kainoa could get. He says it's better because he can study while watching the kids. We'll see how things go. I'm going to miss my kiddies, especially Kamalu. Hopefully I won't miss any of those milestone achievements that are creeping up just around the corner.

Endless Summer....I wish

2009-08-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

So we've been trying to enjoy these last few weeks of summer. Wish it didn't have to end. Kainoa starts school on Monday. Bummer. At least his schedule is better this semester.
I've been being a little adventurous with my cooking too. Here's some pizzas I made. I got a recipe for the dough online. I rolled it and tossed it so it came out super thin. I also made my own sauce. Well semi-homemade. I used a can of crushed tomatoes and added some stuff. I had to admit, that the pizza was pretty dang good.

Then a couple of days later I made a roasted chicken and the next day some kalua pig and chicken long rice. Then the Sunday after I made cinnamon rolls. I found a new recipe for the dough and it was super soft and heavenly. I might have to make those again.

This past Tuesday we went to Thanksgiving Point because it was $2 Tuesday. It was so crowded. We went with the Po'uhas and of course Shaun was there too. We went to the Dinosaur museum. I guess it's the largest museum of it's kind in the world. Who knew? The kids had fun and that's all that mattered. I'm not sure if it was worth saving the extra bucks since there were so many people but oh well.

This past Saturday we went to the BYU scrimmage. RJ is doing so good. I'm so happy and so excited that he's going to start this year. He better since it's his senior year. He'll be the starting center. The rest of the team is looking good. I really hope that they do well this year. They have some big games coming up, especially their first game. It should be a great season.

On Sunday we drove to Ephraim to go to our family friend EricRoss Anderson's missionary farewell. We've never been to Ephraim before and had no idea where it was but little did we know that that's where Snow College is. The kids slept in the car so that made it nice.

Yesterday we took the kids to the pool in Provo. We met Wendi Sanchez there with her three kids. Our kids were free and it was $4 for each of us. It was well worth it. The kids had tons of fun. They loved it. There was a kiddie pool where they could swim around. There was a little playground thing with sprays and sprinklers. The kids had fun going down the little slide. We were able to go down the two tube slides there. That was worth the $4. I would've taken pictures but it wasn't allowed. Lame.

Tonight was the Cougar Kick-off. It's like a pep rally for the community. We met RJ and Emi there. It was pretty fun. They were giving out free stuff and it was so cool to see people asking RJ for his autograph. What's even funnier is that a girl actually asked Kainoa for his autograph thinking that he played football. What's even funnier than that is that RJ's coach asked him if Kainoa played football before. They're really short on players on the O-Line. I was telling RJ to put in a good word. I wouldn't mind having Kainoa play football. There's tons of benefits if they give him a scholarship. It would be hard on his studies but it would be worth it. I'm getting way ahead of myself because who even knows if anything will happen.

Okay well I've said enough. I better update this better so I don't have to bore everyone will such a long post.

P.S. Here's a funny video of Kalei singing to his Backyardigans toy. He loves to sing.

Fun with the kids

2009-08-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

So we've been having fun with Daddy. He's home on Mondays and Fridays and the weekends. This past week we had a lot of get togethers with friends and family. On Tuesday RJ, Emi, Feki, Kieiki, and their two boys came over. Of course we had some good food (teri beef, won tons, potato mac salad, sushi rice, and chocolate trifle). It was good to hang out with them again.

Then on Thursday we had Chad Schumacher, Sheldon Carvalho, Teren Taniuchi, and Jocelyn (don't know her last name, one of Shaun's friends) over for dinner. I made mochiko chicken, spam musubi, and yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting. They brought green and fruit salads. I used a new recipe for the chicken and it turned out really good. Kainoa said that I need to add it to my menu. The kids had lots of fun with all the attention.

On Friday we went over to Kainoa's sister Ilima's place to celebrate her husband's and son's birthday. She made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. I made homemade mac and cheese (another new recipe experiment) and Aunty Heather brought cole slaw. Everything was great. We had fun swimming in the pool. All of the kids swam, even Kamalu. We played pool volleyball. That was really fun.

On Saturday we had dinner with Feki, Kieiki, Jude, Namea, Peter Chun and his wife Cris. It was at Feki and Kieiki's Wymount apartment. They set up a volleyball net in their quad. I haven't played v-ball in a while. I got some grass stains on my shorts from diving for the ball. It was fun and a good workout. Of course the grinds were 'ono once again. Feki and Kieiki barbequed some steaks. Jude and Namea brought some chili. The Chuns brought butter mochi. I made spam musubi and california roll. I haven't made sushi in a long time and Kainoa reminded me of that. It was fun spending time with good friends that we haven't seen in a long time.

Oh yeah, that first picture took me a long time to take since I was trying to get all of the kids to look at the camera but I was not successful since of course Kalei is not looking. Also, the last picture is of lettuce that I grew. I planted the seeds in April and my neighbor Jenebie transplanted them into our community garden. I just made a creamy cilantro lime dressing to go with it.

Okay so I noticed that I talked a lot about food in this blog. Sorry if I made anyone hungry.

Finally back

2009-07-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally back home in Utah after 2 months. It was a good trip to Hawaii but it was tough being away from Kainoa. It's so nice to be back. Shaun flew in with me. We got in on Wednesday at 9am. Shaun was a big help on the plane but at one point I was holding Kamalu and Kalei at the same time. My tailbone was killing me. The seats are never comfortable. Luckily the kids were pretty good on the plane. They slept most of the time.
We actually were on the Big Island last week for the Yamamoto Family Reunion. It's every two years in Kohala. Thanks to Mom and Dad, we stayed in a 3 bedroom condo with them, Chad, Kami and their kids, and Shaun. The kids had fun playing together. We were all able to go to the temple on Friday thanks to the Nakilas. They baby-sat my kids and Chad's and they fed us an 'ono dinner afterwards. They are so generous. My uncle Richie was going into the temple for the first time so it was so nice to have all the family there. Then on Saturday we had a talent show and our Yuen 'ohana was awesome of course. Thanks to Shaun and Chad, our choreographers we did great. We did a dance number with a medley of songs-Thriller, Kung Fu Fighting, and Jai-ho. We had a good time doing it and we only practiced a half hour before we went on. We pulled it off.

It was hot in Kona but man, it's hot here in Utah. "I'm melting, melting." Shaun is still getting used to the dry heat. Kainoa surprised me with some improvements to our home. He put up some new pictures and set up beds for the kids so Shaun could have his own room. He also rearranged our room and decorated both of our bathrooms. I'll have to take some pictures and post them. It was so sweet of him. After we got back, we rested for a little while and then we went to Costco and Walmart. The fridge was pretty empty so I had to restock it.

Friday was Pioneer Day. We went with Emi and RJ to Fiesta Days in Spanish Fork. They had a carnival there. The kids rode on a train and a merry-go-round. Then Ku'uliko wanted to ride on the ferris wheel so I went with her. I was surprised that she wasn't even scared. I was getting scared for her. It was going pretty fast and it went pretty high. I'm just glad she enjoyed it.

Yesterday we went to the Provo Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park. They had some pretty cool things on sale. I should get a little stand and sell some stuff. Hmmm...that's an idea. Anyways, I ate a steak tostada. It was really good. After that we went to the Nickelcade in Orem. It was $2.25 for adult admission and most of the games were only a nickel. I enjoyed playing Skeeball. That was my favorite game to play growing up.

Well it's indeed good to be back. Kamalu just woke up so I better get going.

Maui No Ka 'Oi

2009-06-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm here in Maui now. I'm enjoying the Maui life and being back home. It's nice to have the kids spend time with Ama and Grandpa Yuen and also my grandparents and my grand uncle Aichi. It's been lots of fun but of course we miss Kainoa. It's not the same being here without him. I really missed him on Father's Day but it's also been good for us. We appreciate him so much more.
Since we've been here, I, of course, have eaten guri guri, Homemade Bakery manju, and Saigon Cafe food and bought some Maui Built stuff. The kids have really been enjoying themselves. Kalei loves Ama and Grandpa's pool, especially the jacuzzi. He goes round and round in circles because of the jets. It's so funny to watch. He also taught himself to float on his back and hold his nose while he blows bubbles. Ku'uliko is a little more scared now. She used to be like him but now she knows what fear is so she's a little apprehensive when it comes to swimming by himself. I also took Kamalu into the jacuzzi yesterday. I made sure to lower the temperature for him. He was fascinated with the bubbles.
Tonight Kalei accomplished something huge. I took his clothes off to get ready for his bath. After I took of his diaper, I held him over the toilet and told him to use the potty....And he did! It was trying hard not to shake him as I laughed. He was so proud of himself. His face just lit up as he did his business. Then I gave him a high five when he was in the bathtub. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Well that's about it for now. Hopefully I can get more pictures up.

Locked out!

2009-06-08T19:56:00.001-07:00

Our big boy (he turned 2 yesterday) Kalei was being extra mischievous today. I stepped out of the house with Kamalu to get some DVDs from my cousin Pi'i. We were talking for about 5 minutes and when I went to turn the door knob to go back into the house, the door didn't open. I was like, "Oh no!" Kalei decided to lock the door while I was outside. He was crying and I think it was because he knew he did something wrong. So kolohe. So I'm all frantic and Pi'i hadn't left but saw me stuck outside. We were trying to figure out how to break into the house and I was trying to coach Ku'uliko into unlocking the door. She was getting frustrated and kept saying, "I can't do it," and she started crying too. So I ran next door to get some help from the Eskarans. Good thing Aunty Terry and Adam were there. Adam tried to break into the house through a window but as he was about to get in, I checked the door again because I saw that Kalei was there. Sure enough as I turned the knob, the door opened. I was so relieved. Am I a bad mother or what? I asked Liko if she had unlocked the door and she said she didn't and that Kalei did. Wow. Kids do the darnest things, especially my kids. I've recovered from my heart attack and panic attack. Nah but I'm grateful that I wasn't alone when this happened. Thanks Pi'i and Eskaran 'Ohana.

If you're asking where Kainoa was during this whole event, he's back in Utah. He went back last week Tuesday night. He had to get back to do an externship at BYU and find a job. Saying that it's been difficult is an understatement but we're surviving. The kids miss him a lot, especially Ku'uliko. I miss him tons too. It's hard being with the kids and not him. I wondered if I made the wrong decision in staying in Hawaii but he reassures me that this will only help us appreciate each other even more. I do appreciate him more and more each day. I just miss having someone there next to me when I go to asleep and wake up in the morning. I miss how he is with our kids. Tomorrow makes one week that we've been apart. 6 more to go. I'll keep telling myself that I'll be okay.

Twilight, more swimming, and Kalei's early birthday celebration

2009-06-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

So here's some fun pictures and videos. Ku'uliko has been exposed to Twilight a lot since we've been here. Kainoa's mom and sisters are big fans. They have posters of Edward up and pillows and all kinds of stuff. I also have the movie and the soundtrack and I really like listening to Bella's Lullaby. I usually listen to it in the car. She's heard it while she's been here and her Tutu (Kainoa's mom) was watching the movie the other day. She just started singing it out of the blue and told Kainoa that it was "Tutu's Twilight song." It's so hilarious.

These pictures are of the kids swimming at their Papa's pool in Kailua. Ku'uliko and Kalei had so much fun as you can see. The two of them were swimming all over the place. Kalei is a little braver than Ku'uliko. We spent some time with Nuna and it was a really nice day.

Yesterday we celebrated Kalei's birthday a week early. Kainoa is actually leaving tomorrow to go back to Utah while we spend more time here and then on Maui and the Big Island. It was really nice to have a lot of the family there. Thank you to those of you that came. Kalei had so much fun. He loved wearing his Thomas condutor hat. He loved his cake. My mom made it. It was 9 little individual train cars. Kalei ended up putting all the train cars together. He tried pushing them to make them go like a real train. I missed recording that but I did get him making his "choo choo" sounds. The food was really good, the company was great and Kalei was in a good mood. It turned out well. Thank you everybody!

Having fun in the sun

2009-05-30T01:00:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Here's some new pictures of what we've been up to. We've been trying to go to the beach as much as we can. It's a little more difficult with three kids. Kalei just loves the ocean. He has no fear. He's been using his floaties. Because he wears them, he thinks he can go wherever he wants. We went to Hukilau. He had so much fun.

We decided to visit the gravesites of our grandfathers the Friday before Memorial Day. We wanted to beat the crowd. We went to Kane'ohe and visited Kainoa's grandfather's grave (Papa). He's Kalei's namesake so I really like the picture of Kalei looking up to the sky. Then we went to Punchbowl and visiting Grandpa Willing's and Grandpa Yuen's graves. Liko had an accident in the car while she was sleeping. I forgot to pack a Pull-up or an extra panty, or pants (what a bad mother) so she had to wear one of Kalei's diapers. She thought it was silly. It was nice to pay our respects for our grandfathers.

Then we went to the Aquarium in Waikiki on Saturday. The kids really enjoyed it. They liked being able to touch the sea urchins. Well Kalei enjoyed it more than Ku'uliko.

On Memorial Day we decided to go to the beach and have a barbecue. We went to Malaekahana. We got there a little before 9 am to beat the rush. We got a nice spot. It was low tide so Kalei had so much fun walking in the water everywhere. Ku'uliko was by the reef and looked for sea shells and creatures. We had kalbi ribs for lunch which were ono by the way. We stayed until about 2pm. All the kids crashed. It was a long day but so much fun.

That's about it for now. My mom and dad are here so we'll be seeing them tomorrow. We're so excited. I'll try and be better about posting pictures.

On Oahu

2009-05-17T19:49:00.001-07:00

So we're here on Oahu now. We came in on Wednesday at about 6pm. We flew on a daytime flight and that is the last time we're going to do that. The kids were good on the flight from Salt Lake to L.A. The second flight to Honolulu was more of a challenge. Kalei was getting bored and he wanted to move around. Plus, the battery in the DVD player died so he was going nuts. My arms are still recovering from carrying him and then switching off and carrying Kamalu.

Right when we stepped off the plane, the heat and humidity hit us. Whew it was hot. When we got to the baggage claim, we heard Kainoa's mom and Kaitlyn laughing. They were at the waiting for us. It was so good to see them. Then we saw my cousin Jared. He works for Northwest Airlines.

After we got our luggage, we headed to Zippy's. We got Zip pacs (a surf pac for Kainoa) and Napples. Man, it was so ono.

It was the season finale for Lost and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was so tired. The kids went to sleep early.

We went to Windward Mall the next day. Of course we had to make a stop at Maruki Tei and Cookie Corner. I swear I'm going to start gaining weight because we're always eating. Oh well, I better enjoy it while I can.

Kainoa's dad set up the pool in the backyard. It was so hot. The water was nice. Kalei loved it but at first he didn't know what to do. He just stood there and laughed. He kept trying to put his head under. So dangerous.

Then yesterday we left before 8 am and headed to Target in town. It felt like we were back in the Mainland.

So, today we pretty much napped for a couple of hours after church. At least there was some breeze. Kalei has been stuck in Mountain Standard time so he's been up at 5 am almost every morning since we've gotten here. It was good to get a nap in. It's been exhausting. Hopefully he'll get used to the time zone soon so we all can get some sleep.

Well we haven't gone to the beach yet but we'll probably go sometime this week. It's just difficult with three kids but we'll get there. I'm so glad that we came to visit. It's been so nice. Aside from being hot, we've been enjoying it. Poor Kainoa, he's not used to the heat now but I've been okay.

Well I guess that's it. I'll keep adding pictures as things happen.

Home

2009-05-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

"I'm going home, back to the place where I belong..." I love that Chris Daughtry song.
So yes, we're going home. Yay! Thanks Mom and Dad! My dad called me on Wednesday and said that he could fly the kids and me back with his points/miles. He said we just had to pay for Kainoa's ticket. We didn't even have to think about it twice. We got online right away and was able to find a really good priced ticket, $425 roundtrip. We're flying out next Wednesday to Oahu. Kainoa is staying until June 2nd. We're going to celebrate Kalei's birthday while we're there. Kainoa will come back to Utah and I'll be staying there. The kids and I will fly to Maui with my mother-in-law in June and I'll stay there until July. My family has a reunion in the Big Island in mid-July. Then I'll fly back with the kids and my brother Shaun. He's moving up here with us. So Kainoa and I will be separated for about a month and a half. It's a long time and I hope I'll be okay. I think it should be fine since I'll be at home with family. We almost were going to be separated this summer because Kainoa was thinking about doing his externship in Hawaii while I stayed in Utah. I'm glad he was able to get one here in Utah but now it'll be backwards since I'll be in Hawaii. It'll give us practice for next summer when he actually does his externship in Hawaii.
I'm so excited! I started packing the kids' clothes on Thursday. It'll be a good trip. We were talking about how we need to plan out our time there with what we want to eat and where we want to go. We're going to the beach, that's for sure.
For those that are back home, call us up or we'll call you and hopefully we can get together.

A day at the zoo

2009-05-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

We had really fun day yesterday. We went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. It took us about an hour to get there but it was so worth the trip. The kids really enjoyed themselves. We invited RJ, Kainoa's brother to come with us. When we got there, we had a little picnic and Ku'uliko loved it. Then we went to see the animals. They all sat in their strollers. Kalei was so good. He didn't complain at all. Ku'uliko rode in the stroller and walked at the very end but she was really good. She was so proud of herself. She kept telling us, "I went to the potty at the zoo two times." We put her in a pull-up just in case but she kept it dry.

There was a merry-go-round and train there and of course she said that they were her favorite part of the zoo. Not seeing the animals, just going on rides. She wanted to ride on the zebra on the merry-go-round. So she did and Kalei rode on the ant-eater. She said that the zebra is her favorite animal.

We had a close encounter with a giraffe. He came right up to the fence and stuck his head over it. Ku'uliko got pretty close but was getting a little scared.

Towards the end, we went to the cougar cage but we didn't see it at first. Then Liko started calling it to come out and it did (the last picture). She and Kalei were so happy.

To finish off our zoo experience, we rode the zoo train. The kids enjoyed it so much. Kalei kept making train sounds the whole time. We saw some bison and Kainoa noticed that there wasn't a fence around them. They could've come right up to us on the train but they didn't.

We really had a good time and I'm so happy we went. It was nice to have Kainoa there with us. Ku'uliko's been having so much fun spending more time with her daddy now that the stresses of school are over for now. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

P.S. Yes I did cut my hair this past week. It's really short. I haven't had it this short since high school. I told the stylist that I wanted a change and this is what she did.

Random things

2009-04-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-13T22:49:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Owwweeee!

2009-03-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

So Kamalu is now two weeks old and he got circumcised on Monday. Ouch! They don't cover that in the insurance so it had to be done two weeks after he was born. It was kind of weird because Kalei got circumcised in the hospital. I felt so bad for him. They asked if we wanted to watch and we both looked at each other and said, "No thank you." We went back to the room after it was done and Kamalu was screaming. I'm so glad I wasn't there to watch. He's doing good though. I don't like changing his diapers because it looks like it hurts.

Well for some good news, Ku'uliko, Kalei, and Kamalu have a new cousin. My sister-in-law Kami (Chad's wife) just gave birth to a little baby girl yesterday. Her name is Sophia. She's so tiny...5 lbs. 7.2 oz. She was born 3 weeks early but Kami and baby Sophia are just fine.

We have a full house now and it will get even fuller on Friday. Kainoa's mom is staying with us now. My mom has been here since the day before Kamalu was born. And my dad is coming on Friday. I'm excited to see my dad. We don't always get to spend a lot of time with him because of his busy schedule with work and church. He's only staying until Tuesday but that's better than nothing. Kamalu is getting blessed on Sunday so that's why he's coming.

Well I guess that's it for now. Here are some new pictures of Kamalu and the rest of our gang.

One week old

2009-03-16T20:36:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures. Kamalu is one week and one day old today. That went by pretty quick. We're doing good. He has a little bit of jaundice. He has to do phototherapy which is a big box with a bright light that he has to lay in. He gets too squirmy so we've been sunbathing him. It's weird because the doctor didn't even suggest sunbathing but it's been helping. That's what we had to do with Ku'uliko and Kalei. Maybe it's different in the Mainland. I don't know. He's still a little over what the normal level of bilirubin should be so hopefully it'll decrease with more time in the sun. In one of the pictures of him laying in the sun, he is actually smiling. I've caught him laughing and smiling in his sleep. It happens when he's in R.E.M. sleep. He's definitely dreaming of something good.

Speaking of sleep, he hasn't been too good at night but I have to say that it is getting better. At first, he was eating almost every hour but now it's spread out more like 2 to 3 hours. I'm getting a little more sleep now. Let's just hope it gets better.

As for my recovery, I'm doing good. The incision is still tender but I've been walking and I'm been fine. I just can't carry anything heavier than Kamalu. That's been hard on Kalei because he wants me to carry him. I miss being able to hold him but now he turns to Kainoa or my mom. I think he's a little jealous too. He's really rough with Kamalu so we have to really keep an eye on him. I don't think he means to. He just wants to be able to play with him already.

Oh yeah, the last picture is of Ku'uliko and Kalei riding their horse and unicorn. I've caught Kalei on numerous occasions sitting on top of his stuffed animal horse. It's so funny. He loves making horse noises. He's pretty good at it.

Well I better get some sleep while Kamalu is sleeping. I'll be posting more pictures soon.

Our baby boy

2009-03-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. For all of you that don't know, we had our third baby on Sunday March 8th at 4:05 in the morning. He was 8 lbs. 1 oz. (our biggest baby yet) and 19 inches long. His name is Kamalu Kapanemaikalani Teruo Willing. Kamalu means the protected or safe. When I was 20 weeks pregnant I had an ultrasound that showed that baby's kidneys were slightly enlarged. This meant that he either had a blockage that would lead to surgery, he could have Down syndrome or it could fix itself. We prayed and prayed that he would be healthy. At 32 weeks I had another ultrasound that showed that his kidneys had fixed itself. Thus the name Kamalu because he was protected by Heavenly Father. Kapanemaikalani means the answer from heaven. He truly is because of his good health. Teruo is my grandfather's name.
I went to the hospital at about 12:30 am Sunday morning because I was having contractions. We had picked up my mom Saturday morning and went shopping and I think that's what kickstarted it. When I got to the hospital they said that I was only a centimeter dialated. I couldn't believe it because it felt like I was farther along. They monitored me for an hour and I was in extreme pain. They checked me again and I was 5 centimeters. I was praying that whole time that something would happen because I didn't want to get sent home. The nurse told me, "Looks like we're going to have a baby." I was so happy. Right after that they gave me an IV and an epidural. Everything happened so fast. It happened within about 2 and 1/2 hours. Because of daylight savings time we lost an hour and he was born at 4:05. I had a c-section this time because of the difficult delivery I had with Kalei. It was a little scary for me but everything went smoothly. It felt weird but I prefer having a c-section over delivering naturally any day. Kainoa was able to see the baby get pulled out. They asked me if I wanted to see but I refused. Kainoa said that when Kamalu was delivered he started peeing on everyone. He was screaming right away. He received an Apgar score of a 10 (the highest). He screamed the whole time I was getting stitched up. We were so grateful that everything went fine and that he was healthy.
We just got out of the hospital a couple of hours ago. I figured I better get this sent out as soon as possible or I'd forget. Kamalu is such a blessing. He's so calm except for when he gets hungry. The kids are doing really good thanks to my mom. She took care of them while we were in the hospital. She came right on time. Ku'uliko always wants to hold her baby brother. Kalei wants to play with him already.
I'm doing fine. It's a little sore still but I'm surviving thanks to the pain medication. We just want to thank everyone for all their prayers and support. Hopefully I can send more pictures as time goes by. A hui hou!

Still waiting....

2009-03-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

So I'm still pregnant as most of you know. I'm 39 weeks today-the longest I've ever been pregnant. I think this baby is trying to break some record or something. Tuesday is my scheduled c-section and I can't wait. I think everyone knows how impatient I'm getting. I'm trying to be better and just go with the flow but sometimes it's hard to withstand all the pain. I keep praying for patience and relief. I've made it this far so what's a couple more days, right? 4 more days...I can do it. I'm supposedly scheduled for 11:30 am but it could get moved up. I'm thinking by noon we'll have our baby boy. I keep trying to picture in my mind what he'll look like. Is he going to look like Kalei or Ku'uliko or maybe he'll be blonde and blue eyed? Who knows? We know for sure that he won't be born bald. At 32 weeks I had an ultrasound and you could already see wavy hair all over his head. We shall see.

We're excited because tomorrow we'll be picking up my mom from the airport. The kids are excited, especially Ku'uliko since she understands what's going on. It'll be nice to have my mom here to be another person to support me and to help me with the kids. A girl needs her mom at times like these.

Well I guess if I don't post anything for a while, you'll know why. I'll try and get pictures on here as soon as the baby comes. This blog has been kind of like my pregnancy diary. Sorry if I bored any of you with all the details. It's been kind of fun in a way...at least for me. Thanks to everyone that's been so supportive of us and this baby. A hui hou!

Valentine's Day and Kainoa's Birthday

2009-02-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

I guess I kind of forgot to write about Valentine's Day. Well Kainoa gave me an early present and let me go to the mall by myself to get my hair cut on the Monday before Valentine's Day. I've been complaining about how long it was and I haven't cut since we've moved to Utah (about 7 months). I cut about 4 inches off. Then we had our date the day before Valentine's Day. We went to eat at Red Lobster. I ate my entire meal-salad, snow crab legs, jumbo coconut shrimp, and a baked potato. I felt good to be able to really enjoy a meal. Then we went to watch Paul Blart. It was so funny. I was scared that I was going to have contractions from all the laughing. Oh yeah, he also got me roses, chocolates, and a teddy bear. It was so sweet.
Kainoa's birthday was on the Thursday, the 19th. That morning I ran to the store with the kids and got him a giant chocolate donut for breakfast. Then we were able to go on a date. We ate at a Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos. It's an all you can eat barbecue place. We ate so much. I had a passion fruit lemonade. It was sooooo good. They even sang to him and gave him ice cream. I'm glad he was able to enjoy himself. We watched "He's Just Not That Into You." It was good but not the best.
Then we were able to celebrate with his family the next day. We went to his sister's place and met up with his brother and wife and ate Papa John's pizza. I didn't realize how good their pizza was. I made him a cake and we had chocolate ice cream from the BYU creamery. If you like chocolate ice cream, you gotta try this. It's the best. I think it's even better than Haagen Daez. We watched Madagascar 2. It was fun to spend time with the family.
As for me, still no baby yet. I'm hoping soon. The doctors said that if I go into labor now that they would deliver me. I'm hoping that that happens really soon. Anyways, I better get going. That's the latest for us.

False Alarm

2009-02-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

I hate having contractions that lead to nothing. On Sunday I started having contractions with back pain at 5:30pm. I wanted to wait it out to see if they would go away but at around 9:00pm I started having chest pain as well. We called Kainoa's brother and his wife to come over and watch the kids. We left the house at around 9:30 and good thing Ku'uliko was already sleeping. Kalei was still up but a little sleepy. I was worried that he would cry all night or something like that. We got to the hospital and the chest pains had stopped but I was having contractions 3 minutes apart and they were getting closer and more intense. They monitored me for a couple of hours and saw that my contractions weren't going away even after they started giving me fluids through and IV. Then they gave me a shot of morphine to ease the pain and hopefully stop the contractions at around 11:30. I was still having contractions and I could still feel the pain. I was pretty uncomfortable and then finally the contractions eased up at around 4:00am. The doctor said he didn't want to deliver the baby yet and that he wanted to give the baby a little more time to stay in the womb. I was pretty disappointed and frustrated since that's not what the other doctor told me a week ago at an appointment I had. So we finally checked out of the hospital at 5:30am. What a waste of time. I was even dialated, maybe just a fingertip but nothing more.
I went to the doctor again today and I'm close to a centimeter now. The baby's head is down but hasn't dropped yet. He told me that they would like for me to get to at least the beginning of next week. If I go into labor at that time, then they would definitely deliver the baby. I guess that's good news. I'll just have to "take it easy." That's what they told me that I have to do. I'm always thinking, "Yeah right. Do you want to baby-sit my kids so I can 'take it easy.'" That's a bunch of bologna. Well I'm going to do as the doctor said to the best of my ability. Kainoa has this week off of school so he's been helping a lot around the house and I'm so grateful. My mom will be here in 2 and 1/2 weeks. Pretty soon. Well I guess that's it for the drama that I experienced this week. Hopefully my next post will be about our baby being born but who knows. A hui hou!

35 weeks and counting

2009-02-06T22:10:00.000-08:00

So this baby is coming soon. In a matter of weeks. It's crazy. I went to the doctor this past week and they said that if I went into labor after I was 35 weeks then they wouldn't try to stop the contractions. They would just let me have the baby. I'm 35 weeks today. So I guess anytime now. I've been having some intense back pain like back labor and some contractions. I never had that kind of back pain except for when I was really in labor with my first two. We'll see what happens. I packed our bag for the hospital and the kids' bag too just to be ready. We're going shopping tomorrow to get a crib and carseat. It just seems so surreal that this is all happening already. I've been waiting and waiting and now I won't be waiting too much longer. My c-section is still scheduled for March 10th but I really think that I won't make it that far. I really would like to try and have this baby naturally if he comes early but we'll see if that's even an option. I will try and keep this thing updated but if you don't hear from me in a few weeks, you'll know why.

Baby #3

2009-01-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

So here's a picture I took of my ultrasound picture since we don't have a scanner. It's baby's profile. You can see his little fist by his face. This was about 2 weeks ago. I'm 34 weeks today. It's getting closer and I can't wait. This baby has so much energy. He seriously is kicking non-stop. Sleeping is difficult with all the movement but I'm managing. Anyways, just wanted to share that with all of you.

Silly kids

2009-01-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. Ku'uliko loves to make funny faces for the camera. Kalei has been catching flies in his sleep. The video is of Kalei giving kisses to Ku'uliko and shoving her face away. He can be so rough sometimes and so can Ku'uliko. They both don't mind.

These past couple of days have been rough for the kids. Ku'uliko threw up on Monday night, all Tuesday and yesterday morning. I took her to the doctor and he says its a stomach flu that's been going around. She had a fever and she wasn't eating much. It was a little scary but she's fine now. Then Kalei was throwing up all last night. I don't think it was the same thing. He's okay now but I'm pretty sure that it was caused by him eating a crayon after he had finished eating dinner. It was pretty gross. Kainoa gave them both a blessing. They're fine now and we're grateful for that.

Everything is going well. Baby is constantly kicking and making me uncomfortable. Just 6 1/2 more weeks to go. I can't wait. My mom's coming down on the March 7th so I'm so excited. My dad will also be coming down later in March and Kainoa's mom is coming on March 20th. It's going to be great having the family around. Hopefully I'll make it to March 10th for my c-section but if I go into labor before that then they'll deliver the baby. I've never carried any of my kids for longer than 38 weeks so we'll see. I'll try to keep this updated. A hui hou!

Answered prayers

2009-01-18T14:35:00.001-08:00

So I had another ultrasound this past Friday and we received some very good news. This was the second time that I went to a specialist. They usually have an assistant or nurse do an ultrasound first and then the doctor does one right after. The assistant looked at everything and said the baby was healthy and doing good and of course she checked the kidneys last. She said that they were normal. Well they actually hadn't changed in size since the last time I went in which was about 2 months ago. So the size that they are now is the normal size. There was just an overwhelming feeling of relief that swept over me. I started to cry. I just kept thanking Heavenly Father over and over again in my mind. It's been so difficult to think that something that I couldn't control was wrong with the baby and now that he's perfectly fine, I feel so happy and so grateful. I know a lot of people were praying for us, especially our families and we wanted to thank you all.
On the funnier side of things, the doctor pointed out the baby's hair to me and said that he already has a lot of hair. I still have 8 more weeks to go so she said that the hair would probably grow even more. Well at least we know that the baby won't be bald. Also he weighed in at about 4 lbs. 13 oz. and I'm measuring a week ahead. I'm not sure if that changes the date of my c-section or not but we'll see when I have my doctor's appointment this week.
Well I just wanted to update all of you with that. I hope that everyone is doing fine. Take care and we love you all.

Long time no blog

2009-01-13T00:08:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. Happy New Year! Sorry it's been so long. We had a very busy Christmas vacation. It was awesome.

First of all, Kainoa's dad and Kaitlyn came down and we all drove to Vegas to watch the Vegas Bowl. We met Kainoa's mom, his sister Leimomi, and the Todds there. We stayed at the Excalibur hotel. We were there for 3 nights. Sadly BYU lost but we were so happy that RJ got to play. It was all worth it. He made a great block that led to a touchdown. He was even highlighted on ESPN. We're so proud of him and excited to watch him play more next year.

When we got back, we spent one night at our house, then went over to American Fork and slept over at the Todds. We wanted to spend as much time together as we could. This was the first time since we were married that Kainoa's entire family was together. We had a great Christmas and New Year's. We even were able to watch a movie. Kainoa's mom wanted to take her boys to watch Twilight. I had no objections. It was my second time watching it. I won't mention how many time his mom, dad, sister, and Kaitlyn watched it =).

It was sad when they had to leave the day after New Year's. It's always sad to see them go. Mom Willing will be back in March but who knows when we'll be able to see Dad Willing, Leimomi and Kailtyn again.

Speaking of March, I'm so excited. I have about 9 more weeks to go with this pregnancy. Crazy huh. I'm really popping out now. People at church were telling me that they could hardly tell I was pregnant before but now I'm starting to really show. I just had a doctor's appointment this past week. Every thing looks good so far. My c-section (yikes!) is scheduled for March 10th. I'm getting a c-section because my old doctor recommended it since my last two deliveries were difficult ones. I'm a little scared of being cut open and for the recovery. My mom should be here before my c-section if I don't go into labor before that. I just worry about the kiddies. I know we have family here that can take care of them but I'll miss them when we're in the hospital.

I don't think I mentioned this before but a couple of months ago the doctor found that the baby's kidneys were a little dialated or mildly enlarged. It was quite a scare for us. It could probably fix itself but if not surgery would have to be done after the baby was born. It's also linked to Down syndrome. We went in to a specialist and had another ultrasound done and the kidneys still look enlarged but just a little. They're just going to keep watching it and hopefully it will be okay. I also spoke to a genetics counselor and she informed me that the rest of my tests came back normal and that I didn't have anything to worry about. Yeah, like I wouldn't worry. I'm doing better now and pretty much left it up to Heavenly Father. I figured I shouldn't worry about things that I can't change. I know that everything will be fine. I have another ultrasound this Friday and I'll try and get back on here with an update. We've been praying and we know that we'll love this baby no matter what happens.

We love you all and hope that it won't take me more than a month to get another blog in. A hui hou!

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures. Some are a little old and some are new. The picture at the top is us at the San Diego State game. It was the BYU's last home game. Then there's a picture of Ku'uliko with pigtails and her tower of blocks. The picture of the kids in front of Christmas tree was taken just a few hours ago. We bought a fake Christmas tree from Walmart the other week and finally bought some ornaments today. We got them all at the Dollar store. Pretty good huh. We like our tree. It's perfect for our place. It's a slimmer tree so it fits perfectly by our TV. Ku'uliko helped us decorate the tree. It was really fun and it was just nice to have this moment with our family. It made me a little homesick thinking of when I used to help my mom put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving was really nice. We spent it with Kainoa's sister Ilima and her family, his brother RJ and his wife Emi and his aunty Heather. I was so excited to eat all the ono food. Ilima made the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and salad. I made the candied sweet potatoes (a first for me) and potato mac salad. RJ and Emi made a mean chocolate trifle. Oh yeah and we had pumpkin and apple pie. Everything was so good. I was stuffed. I think I probably gained some weight from yesterday. I did miss my mom's banana cream pie. Of course I thought of home and all the good food that my mom always makes. Man, being away from home makes you appreciate all the little things. And I was jealous of Kainoa's family that had kalua turkey back home. We had that last year in Kahuku. Oh well, in three years we'll be back home.

The night before Ilima treated Emi and me to the movie Twilight. Okay, so it was awesome. I laughed at a lot of parts because of what I read in the book. I loved the part when Bella walks into biology class and he's repulsed by her smell. Or at least he looked that way. I enjoyed it. Kainoa said he'll watch it with me when it gets to the dollar theater. He, Dan and RJ watched the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace Thanksgiving night. I guess I'll have to watch that one when it gets to the dollar theater too.

Well today was crazy. We were planning to go early to Toys R Us but we ended up getting there at 7am. I guess that's still pretty early. I couldn't believe the line. It started at the entrance of the store and wound around the store. It was insane. It was like waiting in line for a ride at Disneyland. We know better that if we go next year we'll have one of us wait in line right as we enter the store. We really wanted to get something big for the kids because we wanted them to be able to have fun during the winter and keep busy especially when the baby comes. So we bought them one of those hard plastic playhouses that usually goes in the backyard. We rearranged their room and it'll fit just right. We also got a rocking horse that talks and sings. Their cousin Hailey has one and they were playing with it the entire time we were at the Todds. Oh yes and we had to get Kalei a truck. Kainoa's been wanting to get a truck for him. We got really good deals but boy were we tired when we got home. Luckily the kids were pretty good. Kalei stayed in his pajamas all day.

That's the update from our little Willing clan. Well I guess it won't be little for too much longer. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Playing in the snow

2008-11-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

About a week and a half ago it snowed while we were asleep. Ku'uliko was so happy and excited to see snow outside. I figured it would melt by the end of the day so I told her we could go out and play with the snow. Kalei had a runny nose so he stayed inside with Kainoa's aunty. She didn't know what to do at first. Then she finally started touching the snow and playing with it. It took her a little while. She had so much fun. I'm glad we were able to enjoy the snow while it lasted. I can't wait until we can make snowmen and snow angels. Well that's all for now. A hui hou!

Halloween pictures

2008-11-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween was lots of fun. As you can see Ku'uliko was a princess and Kalei was a tiger. Ku'uliko had lots of fun going to the different houses and saying, "trick or treat." It was funny because once she got her candy she said, "Okay, let's go to another house." We carved our pumpkins. I carved the kids' names into the little one and a honu in our bigger one. It came out pretty good. We wanted to represent Hawai'i. Halloween was fun for all of us. Next year should be even more fun with three.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ku'uliko!

2008-10-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

So our big girl is 3. Her birthday was on Sunday the 26th. We just had the family over-the Todds, Granty Heather, Uncle RJ, and Aunty Emi. I made homemade pizzas with the help of my sous chefs Kainoa, Emi, and RJ. The pizzas came out really good. I also made the cake. Ku'uliko wanted strawberry so I made a barn cake and put little horses on it. She loves horses. It was so funny because when we were singing "Happy Birthday" she blew out the candles before we ended the song and everyone said, "Stop!" I guess she got embarrassed because she started to cry. So we lit the candles again and sang fast and then she finally blew them out. She had so much fun opening her presents. She got some pretty cool stuff-Hello Kitty doll house, Backyardigans circus toy, pajamas, books, puzzle, and a play washer/laundry set. She had so much fun playing with all her new toys and reading her new books.

Oh I forgot to mention in our last blog that we know what we're going to have. I had an ultrasound last Friday and they said that it's going to be a.......BOY! We're excited. We were hoping for a boy so Kalei could have someone to play with. Ku'uliko has some friends and her cousin that's the same age but Kalei just plays with the girls because there's no one really his age here. I'm due on March 13th. I'm half way there. Yeah!

I guess that's it until next time. A hui hou!

It's getting a little nippy...

2008-10-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hey all! So ummmm...it's been a while. More than a month. So sorry. I'll explain. So as I mentioned earlier I got a job that's partially the reason why I haven't posted any blogs lately. Then...Kainoa got appendicitis last month. It was pretty crazy. It happened all of a sudden and luckily his appendix didn't burst. We were in the hospital the day of the BYU/UCLA game. He was bummed to have missed it. His surgery went well and we got of there the next day. We stayed overnight and let me say that I totally appreciate all the husbands that stay in the hospital with their wives. I had a little chair that didn't recline all the way and I was pretty uncomfortable with my growing belly. Good thing Kainoa's parents were here because they really helped us by watching the kids. What a way to spend our first night alone without our kids. Kainoa has recovered and is doing good in school. He missed a whole week because he was in a lot of pain. I'm just grateful is was only his appendix and not something worse.

I got an ultrasound last month to find out my due date. My due date is March 13th and the technician said that he's 85% sure that it's a boy. It was little early to see but there was something there between the legs. I'm going for another ultrasound on Friday since I'm 20 weeks now. I went to the doctor yesterday and she said that the baby is sounding healthy and that I'm doing good. I haven't gained much weight. I've gained a total of 4 pounds and I'm 5 months along. Kainoa is worried about me and tells me that I need to eat more. I'm trying. I still get a little sick but only after I eat something. I can't eat too much at one sitting so I'm trying to eat more smaller meals.

Yesterday we had fun. We all went and picked our own pumpkin from a pumpkin patch by our house. It was so cold and windy that the kids didn't really get to walk around but they had fun. Ku'uliko loves pumpkins so she picked out a baby one. She knows that Halloween is coming soon and I'm excited for her to go trick or treating this year. It should be fun. The holidays are just around the corner and I'm trying not to get homesick. It's hard when I have these pregnancy emotions. We'll be okay though.

Kalei is our little monster. He cracks us up with some of the things that he does. We caught him making car sounds when he was playing with one of his little Tonka trucks today. It was so cute. The other day when we were at my sister-in-law's place, I caught him talking to their bunny. I swear he was talking to the bunny for 15 minutes. So funny.

Oh yes, our big girl will be three on Sunday. It's gone by so fast. She really knows that her birthday is coming up. We're having a little party with Kainoa's family. I'm going to make homemade pizza so hopefully that turns out good. She's so excited. She keeps asking me everyday if it's her party. Oh yeah, she also has been going to the potty. Not totally consistent but she's gone almost once a day for four days. It's a start. She pretty much has done it on her own. She's really independent.

Well I better get going. I need to go eat something. Small kine hungry. Take care everyone.

I got a job!

2008-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Finally! I've been applying to different part-time jobs here and there but I haven't heard back from some of them until today. I applied to Motherhood at a mall that's pretty close to our house. That was about three weeks ago and I've been calling them back. It was pretty irritating. The manager finally called me back and offered me a position. I'm excited. It's only 10-15 hours a week but that's pretty much all I need. I'll be working the afternoon-night shift so Kainoa can watch the kids. Plus, a major plus, is that I'll get a discount on maternity clothes. Yeah! I don't even have any maternity clothes now. I sold them all before we moved to Maui. Anyway, I'm happy and excited.
As for Kainoa, he's been busy with school of course. He leaves pretty early in the morning. He's been coming home in the late afternoon and he'll finish his homework at home. It's nice to just have him here even if he's locked in his study.
So I went to the doctor two weeks ago because I was feeling dizzy and I kept throwing up everything I ate and drank. The doctor gave me some medicine for the nauseousness but it doesn't work that well. She said that the reason why I was dizzy was probably because I was dehydrated. She checked my uterus to see how the baby was growing. She said that I was a little further along than 10 weeks. So that would make me about 13 or 14 weeks now. I'll be due maybe mid March but they won't be sure until I get my ultrasound. I was able to hear the heartbeat and the baby is healthy so that was a big relief. I was able to feel the baby move today. It was exciting.
I guess that's it for now. I'll have to post some pictures next time. A hui hou!

To eat or to sleep...that is the question.

2008-08-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well here's Kalei. He can't decide what to do...eat or sleep. He's been doing this for the past couple of weeks. It's hilarious because he'll keep putting food in his mouth even though his eyes are closed.

Numero 3!

2008-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are having #3. Can you believe it? We weren't expecting it but it happened. I took a pregnancy test about 2 weeks ago and it was positive. I took it because I threw up the night before and still felt nauseous the next morning. I cried a lot in the bathroom afterwards. I guess I felt kind of overwhelmed but it's better now. Kainoa reassures me that everything will be okay. I trust him. I know I will be alone a lot of the time during this pregnancy since he'll be studying a lot but I know that I'll survive. Ku'uliko changes her mind everyday about her soon-to-be sibling. One day she says it will be a brother and the next day it will be a sister. We'll see. I'm not really sure how far long I am. I could be at the max 6 weeks, I think. I'll give an update when I find out. I guess that won't be until I have an ultrasound. Well that's the news for now. A hui hou!

What a mess!

2008-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti! Kalei will sit in his chair forever until he has eaten it all up. Then we take off the tray part of his high chair and half of it is on his legs. Then he'll spend another 10 minutes eating the noodles off his legs. I should give him spaghetti more often so I can get more things done around the house. Oh yeah, big tip...we take off their clothes when they eat spaghetti. It eliminates stains getting on their clothes. We learned that the hard way.

Our crazy kids

2008-07-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here's our little sole. He's such a poser sometimes. Ku'uliko likes to pose like this when it's time to take a picture. She's such a ham.

Kalei's birthday

2008-07-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

So I noticed that I've only written about what has happened to us since we've been in Utah. I wanted to mention Kalei's 1st birthday. It was June 7th. We had a Transformers party at Ama and Grandpa Yuen's house. The food was 'ono of course. Mom ordered some stuff and made some sushi, salad, and wonton. Mom and I did the cake. It turned out pretty good. I saw a cake like it online and figured we could copy it. We picked the colors. Mom did all the details and I just filled in between the lines. A lot of people came and it was nice to have Tutu, Man, Aunty Momo and Kaitlyn there. It was a lot of fun. We were so pooped by the end of the day. Plus we had to get everything packed. We left the next day for Oahu. Then we left from Oahu to Utah the day after that. I was so grateful that our kids were so good on the plane. After we took off, Ku'uliko turned to me and said, "Mommy, I want to go sleep." She laid down and was out the entire flight. Kalei was pretty good too.

Well I know this is old news already but I thought it would be nice to share it with everyone. A hui hou!

Our jammers

2008-07-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Our kids love to dance. Ku'uliko and Kalei are too funny. They both are right on the beat. We crack up watching them.

My little destroyer

2008-07-22T15:38:00.000-07:00