Update

Hanalei...2 years 5 months

My cute girl! She is a little sponge. She talks nonstop. Some of the things she says make me laugh. "Oh my gossshhh" "thank you, welcome" "I want to watch Icky Mouse" this one I hear all the time.

She is finally loving nursery and runs to the nursery leader screaming "aunty!" when she sees her at church. I catch her singing ABC's or twinkle little star but she rarely will sing on demand.

She is my little mom lately. She is really getting into her dolls, one in particular she named baby Sophie. She nurses sophie, puts her to sleep with a blanket and feeds her in Waimea's bumbo. She will put baby Sophie in her room and say night night and blow a kiss just like I do to Hanalei. It is so sweet.

SHe has her opinions, yes she does. And she has decided she doesn't like baths, brushing her teeth, and going to bed. They still happen but man does she throw a royal fit!

Potty training is going great!

Hanalei got some underwear from

Grandma that actually fit her little bum.

This is our new Kitty Pineapple.

We rescued him from the Dole plantation, hence the name.

Daddy made this awesome toddler book shelf for Hanalei.

She can find and put back the books all by her self

Hanalei playing with a baby chick we rescued.

He didn't make it. Hanalei's first lesson on death

We stopped on the way home from Church to look at the turtles.

There had to be 10 turtles that day.

One of Hanalei's favorite things to do is color in her "Art Studio"

We set up a spot under the house where she can use her markers.

She makes a huge mess but its okay cause she's under the house.

Notice her seat is a skate board.

My nude model. She loves to wear my shoes around the house.

This time she happened to be naked. I know it is strange

for some to see so many pictures where she is naked, but it is

stinking hot and we have been potty training so clothes come off a lot.

how cute is her hair by the way?

Hanaleis is seriously so good with Waimea. She plays with him,

fetches toys and diapers, and does this high pitch baby talk that is so cute.

Waimea...6 months

18 lbs...hello! He is in the 80% for his height. He is my big boy! He is such a good baby. Happy and a smile that could melt butter. He loves his family. Hanalei and daddy are easily the only things that could distract him from "dinner with Mom". He is talking his own talk and he sounds like a boy, deeper sounds. He can roll around now, and is super strong.

He is eating all sorts of yummy baby foods and cereal. He loves rice crackers and mommy's milk.

I love this picture! He loves this cat!

Pineapple is really good with him.

Even when Waimea tries to eat him.

This is Baby Sophie.

There due dates were 6 days apart but Waimea

came early so they are almost a month apart
It's fun to watch them learn and grow together.
Rice cereal. Not sure at first, but lovin it now!

Play-doh fun!

Everything is in the mouth now.

I am just waiting for a tooth to show up.
He loves his toys and freaks out when he drops them.
My hawaiian baby. Flower in his ear, he is spoken for by mommy!
I am gonna have to beat the girls off of him he is just too cute!

As for Rusty and I we are doing great too. We both can roll over and are 99.9% potty trained. I wish I could say I slept through the night but Waimea makes that pretty challenging. We are loving our little family and our wonderful life.

It's Potty Time!

In the past I have given half hearted attempts at starting potty training with Hanalei. I had my excuses: New baby coming, a big family trip, horror stories from my friends own potty efforts. Well, the time has come.

We started last week and Hanalei is a champ. We watched some videos on YouTube. She was pretty excited about elmo being on the potty. I made a sticker chart that we both decorated. It was time. That first day was pretty messy and lots of tears. We got through it.

Can you tell which part I decorated and which part Hanalei did?

She often gets herself up on the potty and

comes running out to me screaming,

"I did it!"

Outside is where she prefers to do number two

Getting rid of the evidence

If we stay home and just hang out she is 100%. Two Sundays in a row she has been accident free at church which is a huge accomplishment. She gets a little distracted at friends houses and has had some accidents in those situations.

We are still working on poop. She has done it probably three times in the potty. Her preferred spot is out in the yard somewhere. I don't recall getting a dog, yet I am constantly picking up poop. She has come a long way. Not too long ago she would cry when she needed to poop, so I am just happy that there are no more tears.

She is pretty proud of herself, and so are we.

She loves purple anything,

and purple underwear are now at the top of her list.

This might be my favorite picture of all time.

Yosemite with the Rueckerts Part 1

Our trip started off a little hectic. Rusty left his carry on at the gate in Honolulu. So before we could meet up with his family we had to go shopping. Why didn't I forget my bag!? He had two pairs of underwear. Needless to say, we did a lot of laundry.

The first night with the Rueckerts we stayed at this cabin.

Don't you just love this swing?!

While Rusty went off on a grand adventure with his dad, Spring and Rondi,

Kendra and I walked around the village with the kids.

I am sure Kendra and I were more tired after our day

We were constantly surrounded by amazing views.

Here Hanalei points out yet another waterfall.

Cool picture of my daredevil family

Plenty of rocks to climb and fall off of

Yosemite Falls behind them

Waimea along for the ride

Probably Hanalei's favorite part was the bus.

She was very excited to ride probably because

she wasn't strapped in a car seat

We took the bus a lot

Both of my kids were troopers, sleeping when they could

The roots of a giant sequoia

When we saw the deer hanalei was done hiking.

We sent the others ahead to see the sights and

we enjoyed a family of deer

What's the sign for deer?

We told her that they were a family. So she kept saying

"Daddy deer, Mommy Deer, Brother Deer, Sister Deer"

She is adorable

Five gems in this Picture.

One Giant Sequoia, Two deer, and Two Cute Boys

Can you tell they are ready for a REAL nap

Check out the size of that pine cone...and that baby!

While we waited for the bus to take us back,

Hanalei played on these tree stumps

Typical boy, teasing the girls

It was a fun adventure.

We are excited to do it again when the kids are older

Which baby is it?

One of these babies is Waimea and the other is Hanalei.

Don't judge me for putting my little boy in a dress.

It is ammo for when he becomes a sassy teenager.

Summer is here!

It is staying light a little later these days and Hanalei loves to just go play in the sand. We snuck away one evening and were treated to an amazing experience.

The view at three tables was treat enough

But a monk seal decided to nap on the beach to really make the night great

Hanalei acted as if this was a every day thing.

She was completely in her own world until the seal did a big snort.

Then it had her full attention

Me and my "BIG Baby"

She likes to be called BIG lately and in most cases

Big Baby is pretty accurate.

The sunset was perfect just like our night