A Date and A Party

I got to have a lunch date last week w/Ame.

Oh boy, school lunch is soo yummy!?

Ame was soo proud to have her mom there.

She held my hand and made ME feel special.

I know I won't get many more opportunities

like this one (at least where SHE is proud to have me there),

so I am enjoying them while they last!!

Ame has some crazy friends, just like herself!!

Saturday we got to go to our friend
Kade's 4th birthday party
(he is sitting next to Ash).

We had pizza, games, cake & ice cream

AND a pinata. What more can you ask for

at a party?! We always have fun when we

get together with our good friends the Jordyns

(and the Tongs)!

Happy St Patricks Day

Kaipo came home from preschool yesterday

with these crazy glasses and explained

that they were to help him find

the leprechaun. So what kind of mom

would I have been, if we didn't put

those glasses to good use.

So we made Ash some glasses too

and we headed outdoors on a hunt...

we didn't find a leprechaun, but we did

find a bag of goodies

Ash's favorite licorice...rainbow

Kaipo was SUPER excited to find

3 dollars, one for each of the (older) kids

The kids enjoyed lots of GREEN stuff throughout the day.

First-it started with Green Eggs and Ham, at the request

of Ame and Kaipo, who after like 2 bites said they were

FULL! Should have made it easy with good ol' lucky charms!
The boys also had green (lime) yogurt, green jello, green

apples & caramel dip, green juice...

and that is where it ended. Around lunch time

Kaipo had a stomach ache, which lasted the rest of the day.

Maybe mom went overboard with the GREEN food???

I am hoping that is all it was, and not really sick.

We shall see how the night goes and how Kaipo

feels in the morning?!

But I think they had a Happy St Patricks Day anyway?
*************
And here is Kaipo's leprechaun picture

he drew before our hunt.

Quite a scary guy WITH his pot of gold!

MORE fun!

While Ame was at school and Ash was taking a nap,

Kaipo and I had some FUN with Nalu.

We put him in the bouncer swing for the first time.

He had so much fun, just bouncing and spinning

around and around and around!

I really forgot how exciting this age is,

with the introduction of soo many

NEW things and just more & more fun!

Another BIG Step

I picked up some rice cereal the last time we were at the store

and thought one of these days we'd introduce it to Nalu.

The other kids have been asking everyday

if we could feed it to him, so today we did.

And he was LOVIN' it!!

I think he's going to be a BIG eater...

It is funny how with your first child
every NEW thing is so exciting and you
as the parent just can't wait for each new step.
But with each additional child, I hate to admit
(and hope I am not the only one who feels this way,
or else I will feel REALLY bad), but it just feels like
ONE MORE THING that takes time.
And that is definitely how it feels with starting to feed
the baby REAL food. But I have to say with Nalu
it feels exciting all over again. Maybe because
this is probably our last, I am just appreciating
everything so much more!!

4 month news

Nalu was actually 4 months old last week,

but we didn't go to the Dr. until yesterday,

so I waited to find out all of his stats.

His height: 26.5 inches (95th %)

His weight: 15.4 lbs (70th %)

Those are the same percentile numbers as

his older brother Kaipo. We will find out Ash's

in a few weeks when he has his 3 yr. checkup.

Nalu had a rough night, ran a pretty high fever

(I am guessing a side effect from the immunizations)

but this morning he is all smiles

once again!

And he decided to ROLL OVER

for the first time, from his back to his stomach.

I just can't get enough of this sweet, precious
boy. He is constantly just melting my heart!!

new addition update

Our Nephew, and the kids OLDEST cousin,

Kekoa

is living with us now.

The good news I shared in Relief Society

today was about him and the fact

that he is so great with my kids

(hurray...a live-in babysitter) and it is

soo great to have adult conversation

throughout the day!

He is such a polite, good mannered,

helpful, friendly kid. We are

all enjoying having him around!!

our very own...

We have our very own STAR in the family!

Ame's school put on the musical

WILLY WONKA.

The week prior to the performance

they had a drawing contest

and Ame's picture of the Bucket's Shack

WON, which meant it was the picture

displayed on the overhead during the show.

Ame was also part of the musical,

as one of the Oompa Loompa's...
They had A LOT of before & after school practices,

but all their hard work payed off

and they did an outstanding job!

her brother was soo proud of her.

He really wished HE could have been part

of the the show as well

(next year buddy)!

I was very impressed at how well this

production was put together, and the

incredible amount of time and PATIENCE

the coordinators had to make it such a success.

Way to go Ame. You continue to be a STAR

in our family and we are soo proud of YOU!!

new addition...

We have a new addition to our family.

More to come...

Bumbo

After all the RAVE about these Bumbo seats,

I broke down and bought one.

I actually found it on KSL for a great deal,

so I thought it would be worth a try.

He seems to like it...

we shall see if it is REALLY as good as everyone says,

as we try it more and more!

He's 5

Saturday was Kaipo's birthday and he is FINALLY 5.

He has been anticipating this BIG day for a long time!

Thanks to my family for buying him this

awesome BIG KID bike.

He has been riding it around the house (with

the training wheels on) NON-STOP, because his dad told him

he had to learn to ride it really good and fast,

then he can take the training wheels off.

He is determined to be a BIG BOY!!

He has a Kindergarten checkup tomorrow

and I am curious to see how he ranks

on the growth charts. I already know he is one tall kid!

We also have Kindergarten Registration this week.

A funny thought about that-

one day on our way to preschool, he said

pretty soon I won't be going to preschool, and I

agreed and said you're right, in my mind thinking

he meant when summer comes & this school year is over.

But Kaipo thought that when he turned 5

automatically he stopped preschool and

started going to Kindergarten. He definitely could

pass for a Kindergartener or even first grader!

Besides his bike he got lots of other fun stuff.

Here are some of the things 5yr old Kaipo is into:

*Legos and Trio's-he LOVES to

build and create things

* Anything superhero
*He has taken a recent interest in sports,

particularly basketball-hurray!

He can put that height to good use :)

*He is quite the artist and has an

amazing imagination

*He loves to play games on the computer

*He feels soo grown up now that he is

learning to read

We had a family party for him at Boondocks.
They rode cars, played lazertag, bowling,
arcade games, climbed around and just had a blast!!
He chose to have a
TRANSFORMERS cake
this year
I wish I could say I was ambitious enough
to make this one, but no I was not!
Thanks goodness for a
cupcake cake. It eliminates the mess
of cutting & serving.
Everyone came away with black teeth and
messy faces, but I think they enjoyed the treat.

I got LOTS of pictures of Ash, because

dad was off with the BIG kids, while mom

was with the little boys. But I really did

not do a good job of picture taking
(I only hope that Karli or LeAnne got

more pics than I did. I am sure they

did of their OWN kids, cuz they

are much better than I at that)

Ash was in HEAVEN with the mini-bowling,

and got several games in, with whoever would play!

I sure hope Kaipo had a great birthday!

We are so proud of him and think he is one amazing boy.

He is so full of energy, curiosity, imagination, and love!

Despite all the frustration & stress he may cause us,

its like the saying Quinn found, by Mark Twain,

that we put on the wall in his room...

My mother has a great deal of trouble with me,

but I think she enjoys it.

We Love you Kaipo,

and wouldn't want YOU any other way!!

to give up or not...

Its been over 6 weeks now of Potty training with Ash. I don't remember for sure exactly how long it took with Ame and Kaipo, but I know by this point THEY were making more effort. I don't know if he just doesn't get it OR doesn't want to. He has only done it on his own a few times, the rest of the time it has been me sitting him on the toilet, where he will go, he just doesn't TELL ME. And to top it off, he whines and cries everytime I say its time to go potty. I ask him several times b4 I take him if he has to go potty, but he always says no. But sure enough when he sits down 90% of the time he will go. I have tried various insentives, if he will just tell me and then go. But he just doesn't seem interested or care much. I normally have him in a pull-up, which is where he deposits most of his poop. I have left him naked a few times, and once was successful and made him go (because he didn't have the security of the pull-up), but the other time he peed all over the stool and floor. So I am just not brave enough to go without.
So my question is DO I GIVE UP OR NOT?
I really don't want to because this is already attempt #2, but my patience is pretty much NON existent at this point.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Sincerely, one frustrated mom (as I am really the only parent handling this challenge)

cheap & easy entertainment

Ame heard us talk about this game we played back

on New Years Eve, so she wanted to try it.

The PAPERBAG game, of course is easy for someone

who is super flexible and can already do the splits. Kaipo tried REALLY hard to follow the rules,

but his flexiblity and coordination isn't quite

that of his sister Ame's.

Ash wanted to join in the fun
they took turns cutting the layers off the bag

and each time Ame picked it up, without bending her

knees or touching the ground, no problem!

Kaipo kind of lost his balance

and didn't really follow the rules of the game

but that's OK, Ame was patient with him

& they still had fun.

Now isn't this some cheap & easy

entertainment?!

MORE Dates

(if you read any of my family members blogs

this will all seem familiar)

Last week Kaipo got KIDNAPPED

by grandma and grandpa to go on a Birthday Date!

He chose to go to the Treehouse Museum

and of course had a blast.

Everytime he tries soo hard to pull this sword out.

He told me when he gets older he will

FOR SURE be able to pull it out.

Good Luck on that one buddy!!

this new addition to the museum, gave quite of few laughs,

from what I was told.

They got to enjoy lunch at McDonalds (Kaipo's choice once again)

and of course including ice cream.

(if you read my moms blog she shared some funny things

Kaipo said and did while on their date)
**********************************

As if this girl didn't get spoiled enough on her own

date a few weeks ago with gma and gpa.

She invited them to come help with her Valentines Party

at school. She was so worried the night b4 that they

wouldn't be able to find her classroom, so she drew them a map

and had me give it to them b4 they went over.

what a funny girl!!

Quinn and I joined others in my family for

a fantastic dinner at

TEPANYAKI JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE.

Great food, entertainment and company!How could we all not feel soo loved

after this exciting week!!