Johnnie and Angela

Blog Change

2017-01-20T12:33:00.002-08:00

I have restarted this blog on a new platform with a new look and a new name. All of the content on this blog has been copied to the new blog.

a Lot & a Couple ~ www.alotandacouple.com

Happy 6th Birthday to Dulce!

2015-07-18T13:00:00.002-07:00

Today is our sweet Dulce's 6th birthday! We adopted her when she was four months old from Ratbone Rescues, just a month before we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. She has been with us almost through our entire married life, here for all of our adventures. She is our first baby, she is spoiled, and she will forever be referred to as a "puppy" in our house.

Have I ever mentioned how Dulce got her name? It was "Snow" when we adopted her but we changed it. Dulce means "sweet" in spanish and Johnnie proposed to me while we were staying on a resort on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. The name fits her well, as she is a very sweet and loving dog.

Dulce is well trained, has free reign of the house at all times. We have yet to get her a doggie door for our new house so for now she lets us know she wants out or in with pawing and a sharp bark at the door. Every night before we go to bed, she goes out to pee and secure her territory one last time before coming in for a bedtime treat.

She has a dog bed in the living room that she naps on during the day. She also has a dog bed on the floor in our bedroom but often sneaks out to sleep on the couch in the middle of the night (she's not allowed there during the day). The minute she hears one of our alarm clocks, she jumps up on our bed to kiss us good morning. She likes to get her cuddles in with us in before CC wakes up.

Dulce loves soft beds and blankets, getting baths, small toys that squeak, Nylabone DuraChews, and circular braided rawhides. She loves food and will do anything for a treat. She is very patient, she travels well, and she would never run away even if we left the front door open all day long. She loves us as much as we love her.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We wish for you many, many, many more years of adventures with us!

*******

“The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.”

~M.K. Clinton

Moving, Traveling, Waiting

2015-02-16T10:43:00.002-08:00

Traveling and waiting... this is our life right now. We are enjoying it but we're also anxious for it to be over. Alas, there is still more traveling and waiting to do. Life has felt so temporary for the past year, living in multiple different houses with most of our things in storage, which is why it's hard to continue waiting now when a glorious end is in sight.

Johnnie's new assignment is taking us to Valdosta, Georgia. It's a large town (population about 56,000) at the very bottom of the state. Wikipedia defines the deep south as "those states and areas where cultural elements most often thought of as "Southern" exist in their most concentrated form." Valdosta is the deep south. It is southern through and through, and it has a small town mentality. It's quite the experience for a ~~yankee~~ Pennsylvania girl like me and I think I'll have some fun blogging about it.

Valdosta is not new to us. We actually lived there for over three years before heading to South Korea where I started this blog. Johnnie's squadron was moving there and I was in the process of moving myself so I decided to change my plans and also move to Valdosta to give our new relationship a chance. Things obviously worked out well between us! ;)

We spent over three years in Valdosta so we know it very well. Johnnie was the A10 East Demonstration Pilot so he got to know many people in the community and state. I taught elementary school there for over two years so I know hundreds of people myself. The classes of 5th graders that I taught my first year there are currently seniors in high school - that's crazy to think about and I'm afraid I won't recognize any of them if I see them. We adopted Dulce while we were living there so she is also very familiar with the area and the wildlife there... squirrel!

When we first heard we were returning to Valdosta, I wasn't thrilled about it. Three years there was long enough and we were not sad to leave. It's not that it's a terrible place, it's just that it's very southern and there isn't much there. It's a town of dollar stores, Walmarts, banks, churches, and unhealthy (but delicious) food. It's also the land of swamps, red ants, and alligators. Luckily, it's less than a two-hour drive from Jacksonville (for great shopping) and it's driving distance to many other great locations in the south (cities, beaches, mountains, Disney, etc).

On the plus side, Valdosta is a family-friendly town, the houses are affordable, we know a lot of people there, we already know our way around, and we know what to expect. It's going to be a much different experience for us this time around since we're now older, we have a child, and we have four extra years of worldly life experience under our belts.

We left Hawaii in mid-January. We packed up our suitcases, piled up a ton of things for donation and trash, and had Royal Hawaiian Movers pack up everything else. Royal Hawaiian Movers were a great group of guys who did a fantastic job preparing our things for shipment across the ocean. Our things got back to the mainland quickly and are already in Valdosta waiting for us.

We bid farewell to our Kailua house with no tears (glad to leave the house that I was allergic to), dropped Dulce off at a kennel, and went to the Aulani Disney Resort for a week. This resort is pretty amazing and was such a relief from our previous living conditions. It is an expensive resort but staying on weekdays and having a military or local discount both helped substantially with the cost. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable week. It helped us feel like we were leaving the island on a high note. We did have a few small sad pangs of "good-bye Hawaii" but after three years, we were more than ready to leave and left the island smiling. Hawaii is a much better place to visit than it is to live.

We flew on a Delta flight direct from Honolulu to Atlanta, which was almost a nine hour flight. CC did pretty well on the flight. We put her Diono Radian RXT car seat on her seat between ours and she sat in it for about seven of the nine hours, sleeping some and watching TV some.

We landed in Atlanta early in the morning so we started a brand new day thrown headfirst into a five-hour time change. It took us all, especially CC, an entire week to fully adjust. CC cried when we walked out of the airport into the cold air. She never felt such cold before and I hadn't felt it myself for three years... I didn't miss it. We enjoyed a stay with friends for a night in Atlanta to relax and recover from the long flight. The next day we drove to Valdosta (it's almost a four hour drive) to start our house hunting adventure.

We actually already own a house in Valdosta from the last time we lived there but it's small and it's a great rental property so we don't want to move back into it. We originally planned on renting a house this time around but after the bad rental conditions we put up with for the past few years, and with the great prices of the houses in Valdosta, we decided to purchase a home instead. Being familiar with area, we already knew the exact neighborhood where we wanted to live and what would be best for resale in the future.

We met up with our amazing property manager who showed us over a dozen houses and we also met with a contractor to discuss building a house. It was a lot of fun and made us feel like we were on an HGTV show! Due to time constraints, we ultimately decided against building. In the end, we narrowed it down to two houses: a brand-new construction home that was near perfect but not on a very nice lot, and a slightly older home on the perfect lot/location but that needed some updating. We would have a house either way so with nothing to lose, we went in with a low offer for the older home and after a little negotiating, we got the house for over 13K under the asking price! That gives us more money to put toward the updates we want done.

After the last house we lived in, you can be sure that we had a very thorough inspection done to check for mold, bugs, and any other issues - the house is perfect, thank goodness! We then brought in a contractor to discuss renovations. The major projects will include a complete remodel of the kitchen, painting all of the walls, replacing all of the flooring, and a complete remodel of the master bathroom. Stay tuned to this blog to see all the before and after photos!

With the remodeling and the amazing lot and location, this is sure to be our most favorite house that we've ever lived in! We are beyond excited for this, especially after four years of rentals. As a bonus, I found out that our new next door neighbor is a friend I used to work with, and that we have many friends who live nearby in the same neighborhood! Hawaii was actually quite a lonely assignment therefore living among so many people we know makes me incredibly happy. As I said, I wasn't thrilled when I first heard we were heading back to Valdosta, but higher powers have been showing us that we are meant to be there and that this is going to be a very good assignment for us. :)

We were only in Georgia for a week to find our house and then our traveling and waiting journey continued. Johnnie left the country for some work-related training (that's actually enjoyable and a nice break for him) so CC, Dulce, and I went to visit family and friends until he returns.

Our first stop was Indiana, where we are stayed with my best friend and her two young children. This was the first time CC saw snow and she preferred to look at it through a window rather than be out in it. She had no interest in going outside, especially since there were two other kids and lots of toys to play with inside. During our first week here, we all got really sick. We were so rarely sick in Hawaii that I forgot how miserable it feels. Once we started recovering, we started having fun. CC didn't have a lot of interaction with other kids in Hawaii so being there was really good for her. She had a blast playing with her friends every day. She learned to play with others and to take turns with toys.

I had fun reconnecting with my best friend and shopping! I'm in the process of building an entirely new wardrobe. I wore the same shorts and tank tops for the past three years so most of them got tossed. All of the cold-weather clothing I had from before we moved to Hawaii was sizes too big since I've toned up and lost weight since I last wore them. The task of reinventing my personal style is fun but intimidating! It's a slow process.

After three weeks in Indiana, we drove to Pennsylvania to visit with my family. We will be here for a couple of weeks before Johnnie returns and we all head down to Georgia. I love seeing my family but this weather is miserable. I think we'll save all future visits for the warmer months from now on.

Once we return to Valdosta, we'll have to stay in a temporary location for a while until our house renovations are complete - it's no fun but it's necessary. I know that all of this waiting is just going to make the end that much sweeter, but it's still hard to wait.

We are very blessed to have this time to visit with friends and family, especially since it has been almost two years since we last saw most of them. Still, it's not easy living out of a suitcase, being off of our normal schedule and routine, and being long-term guests in other people's houses (and being in this winter climate). I'm anxious to get to Georgia so I can find a new doctor to work with on my health issues. I'm also eager to get there because our bodies are revolting against the cold and dry indoor air: CC's eczema has flared up and my hands are continuously cracked, bleeding, and painful. I really hate snow and freezing weather - thank goodness we're moving south!

Traveling, waiting, traveling, waiting... keeping the faith that everything will happen in due time.

"Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting."

~ Joyce Meyer

Still Here

2015-02-01T13:00:00.001-08:00

I'm still here, I just took a hiatus from blogging for a while. Shortly after we moved from the North Shore to Kailua, I began experiencing physical and mental issues that were baffling and debilitating. I didn't have the motivation or the mental clarity to blog about it and I was overwhelmed with where to even start. I spent all my free time researching and trying everything I could to fix myself. I felt so incredibly broken and hopeless. In December I got some answers that helped steer me in the right direction and in January, after we moved from the island, I got even more answers. Now we've been away from Hawaii for a couple of weeks and I'm finally feeling my normal self beginning to shine through once again. I'm not healed yet but I'm on my way.

To be honest, the entire past three years have been rough. We were living in Hawaii so life should have been great but it wasn't all rainbows and beach time like you might imagine. Our time there was nothing like we thought it would be. There were plenty of good things but just as many bad. It was a love/hate relationship. Sure, Hawaii is absolutely gorgeous but I didn't love living there. You have no idea how guilty I feel about not loving it when everything and everyone told me that I should. Living in Hawaii is vastly different than vacationing there. I've found that if I said anything negative about it, people responded with "but at least you are in Hawaii!" So I tried to keep the complaining to a minimum and kept the blog posts focused on CC and the positive things.

Housing and health were our biggest struggles. I was newly pregnant when we arrived in Hawaii. We stayed in temporary lodging for two months before we finally got a house. Johnnie was gone a lot during that first year and almost missed CC's birth which happened 3 weeks early because I was induced with sudden severe hypertension. I battled my blood pressure for over a year after that and I still have to check it regularly. Johnnie deployed for 6 months when CC was 6 weeks old. That was just about the time I started developing severe postpartum anxiety that lasted for about 10 months. The severe anxiety, along with the deployment, being so far from family and friends, and everything that comes along with birth, a c-section, recovery, and caring for a new baby... honestly, I was so miserable that entire first year and things that I thought and felt were so terrifying that it still upsets me to think about it. I ~~never want to~~ can't go through it again.

When CC was about 7 months old, she developed a small spot of eczema on her face that became severe and uncontrollable, covering her face, arms, hands, and legs. It was heartbreaking and it baffled all of her doctors and specialists. Dulce was also having issues with recurrent yeast infections on her nails and also with cracked and bleeding paws that wouldn't heal. It was a very difficult time and I spent every free moment on the internet searching for answers that I never found. I was inundated with so much "helpful advice" every single time we left the house that I purposefully kept it off the blog and Facebook (I'm an expert in Photoshop) because I didn't need more advice coming at us from that angle as well. Our house was build on the old Hickam flight line which was highly contaminated with petroleum and who knows what else. We weren't made aware of this until after we moved in. We were warned not to even touch exposed soil. Dulce didn't even like going into the yard. We assumed that the contamination had something to do with CC and Dulce's issues but there is no way to know for sure.

Last January, we decided to move off base so we could experience "real" Hawaii living for our final year here and see if it might help both CC and Dulce's persistent and puzzling health problems. We left our big new house that had central air and a garage and moved into a tiny beachfront vacation rental on the North Shore.

The house itself was great, although it had some issues due to poor upkeep, and we loved the location. It was a short drive to work for Johnnie, I walked on the beach every single morning, and we spent most of our time outside on the large deck overlooking the ocean - I cherished our days there! As an added bonus, CC's eczema started healing and was completely gone within a few months! Dulce's paws also completely healed! The hassle of moving off base was worth it just for that. We can't say for certain that the soil contamination at the other house had anything to do with their issues but it's a pretty big coincidence that they both got better after we moved.

It was a furnished vacation rental so we put all our things into a storage unit and looked forward to living a simple life for a year. As it turned out, it was an extremely poorly run vacation rental. All of the bedding, towels, and kitchen items were unusable so we had to get some of our things out of storage to use. Living beachfront meant constant wind and salty humid air. It ruined everything that we had outside within a few weeks. Even things inside the house had a salty coating on them and began to rust. Worst of all, the owner was c-r-a-z-y and the property managers didn't do much to help. We were paying a lot to live there and the owner was inconsiderate and uncooperative. She kept making things worse for us and after five months, we had enough and decided to break our lease and move (which we were legally allowed to do because the landlord was not holding up her end). Our large security deposit was held for no valid reason so we actually had to go to court to get it back, which we did successfully.

We moved from the North Shore to a house in Kailua. The house was larger, cheaper, only a few minutes walk to the beach, and walking and biking distance to everything in Kailua. The landlord was super sweet, lived right next door, and was fine with only a six month lease that we needed. The house looked great and most of our things fit but some things still needed to stay in the storage unit (which I'm now very thankful that it was all in a safe, clean, climate-controlled location).

Johnnie left for six weeks right after we moved in. Within days of him leaving, I came down with some sort of intestinal bug that lasted for five days. CC never got it so I assume it was something I ate. A week after that, I had the worst PMS ever and then I suddenly started having full-blown panic attacks. I had three or four panic attacks every single day that lasted for about an hour each. I could barely function to take care of CC, Dulce, and myself. One morning I had to call our sweet landlord to come over and make CC breakfast because I couldn't get off the floor. I couldn't even drive two miles to the grocery store without having an attack. Every little thing about life felt completely overwhelming. With only a few friends on the island and all family an ocean away, I felt stuck and every day seemed impossible to get through.

You couldn't possibly know or understand how terrifying a panic attack is unless you have ever experienced one for yourself. It literally feels like you are going to die. There are terrifying physical symptoms (including all the ones of a heart attack) as well as intense unrelenting feelings of fear, adrenaline, panic, and anxiety. Irrational and uncontrollable emotions and thoughts raced through my head. I felt like I was losing my mind and going crazy. Every thought, emotion, and feeling I had felt exaggerated and wrong and there was nothing I could to stop or change things.

The panic attacks came out of the blue and they were so frequent and so severe, that I thought something must be wrong with me. I refused to believe it was "just stress". I had severe anxiety for a long time after CC was born but no panic attacks, so why now?

Besides the panic attacks, I was having a ton of other symptoms that included frequent shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and constant heart palpitations. A sweet friend drove me to a walk-in health clinic on base so I could get checked out, since I couldn't drive there myself. I had basic blood work done but it was all normal. I had thyroid and iron checked but that was normal. I had B12 and folate checked and the B12 was actually high. They did an EKG but that was normal. I even wore a heart event monitor 24/7 for two whole weeks but that also came back normal. So I got no answers from all of that but at least I know I have a healthy heart now!

The panic attacks lasted for one monthly cycle, then I had horrific PMS once again, and then just as suddenly as they started, the panic attacks stopped. What the hell?! That made me start thinking that everything could be related to a hormonal issue. Although the panic attacks stopped, the anxiety continued. I was filled with high anxiety every single day, all day long. It was unbearable but at least I was functioning better and able to drive again.

Occasionally I would have a non-anxious day only to sink into a very low depression, feeling like every ounce of happiness was sucked out of my soul and would never come back. I was a mess. To top it off, I had a few scary reactions to foods I normally ate which made me assume that my dairy allergy had gotten worse.

Back story: When I was 30, I had a few scary reactions to uncooked dairy. Within 10-15 minutes of eating/drinking, I get a lump in the back of my throat and it becomes extremely painful and difficult to swallow even my own saliva. I can still breathe but I can't swallow at all. It was terrifying but since I was breathing okay and had no other symptoms, I never went to the hospital. From then on, I assumed that I had a dairy allergy but I was never officially tested for it. Over the years, I found that I could eat butter and most cheeses without a reaction and I was also okay with things containing dairy that were cooked. I haven't had ice cream or yogurt for seven years now! After CC was born, I had some new reactions to goat cheese and other dairy-containing things I had been eating prior, so I cut back on dairy even more.

With new reactions happening, I started avoiding all foods that contained or may contain dairy. My high anxiety made this worse, to the point where I became terrified to eat any food that I didn't make myself. It's difficult to know if dairy is an ingredient in food prepared at restaurants. For example, did you know that the raspberry vinaigrette dressing at Quiznos contains dairy protein? Me neither, until I had a reaction from it. My diet quickly became the cleanest it's ever been - nothing packaged or processed, no artificial or chemical ingredients or preservatives of any kind. I even started baking our own bread.

This change in my diet did not help my anxiety level. However, I did notice after cutting out all traces of dairy that my lifelong digestive issues went away. That made me think about my younger years and made me realize that regardless of whether or not I'm allergic to dairy, I am obviously lactose intolerant. I wish I would've realized it sooner!

I finally got an appointment to see my primary doctor with the long list of symptoms I was experiencing: panic attacks, anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, extreme fatigue, difficulty sleeping, feelings of complete overwhelm, uncontrollable fears and thoughts, no libido, short menstrual cycles, heavy and painful periods, severe PMS, bloating, gas, indigestion, increased food sensitivities, hair loss, itchy skin, swollen joints, congested sinuses, headaches, itchy painful eyes, sensitivity to light, random body and muscle pains, heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, and so forth. These were all new or exaggerated symptoms since we moved into the Kailua house.

My primary doctor listened to me explain my symptoms and to the concerns I had about a hormonal imbalance due to the cycle of panic attacks. He refused to test my hormone levels because he thought the tests are unreliable. His professional opinion what that my symptoms were "just a normal part of my body changing as I get older". WHAT?!?! I'm not a doctor but I know that a sudden onset of panic attacks and all the other symptoms are not a "normal" part of anything! He offered to write a prescription for antidepressants and birth control pills, both of which I refused. I wanted to find the cause of my symptoms, not just take some pills to cover them up.

He was no help at all and really made me feel like everything was just in my head and that I must be going crazy. He said to come back if I changed my mind on the prescriptions and suggested I see the clinical psychologist in the office. Thanks for nothing. I did actually go see the psychologist a few times but he was of little help as well, only offering the typical relaxation techniques and also suggesting antidepressants and birth control pills. I also went to the nutritionist who was also no help at all. With our insurance and our quickly approaching move, I couldn't just go find another doctor so I really felt stuck and helpless.

One thing I did manage to get out of the whole ordeal with some persuasion, was a referral to an allergist so I could at least get officially tested and figure out my food issues. I had to wait two months for that allergy appointment.

In the meantime, I tried hard to relax using all of the techniques that the popular self-help articles, books, and websites suggest: yoga, massage, acupuncture, meditation, deep breathing exercises, gratitude journaling, positive thinking, stress reduction, etc. I also learned how to crochet and completed a complicated paint-by-number project to keep my hands and mind busy. I listened to many self-help podcasts while I painted. In one podcast, I heard Dr Sarah Gottfried talk about her book, The Hormone Cure. Parts of her own personal story sounded so much like mine that I immediately bought the book and devoured it. According to her questionnaires and checklists, I absolutely did have the hormonal imbalance that I suspected, and likely adrenal fatigue as well. Her protocol suggests balancing everything in the most natural way possible - with diet and supplements if possible, then with herbs and other things if needed. Following her suggestions that fit with my symptoms and it did make a difference - very minimal if any PMS now, my cycles are a normal length again, my hair loss stopped, and most importantly, I started sleeping through the night again. I was feeling better physically and hormonally but I was still having the severe anxiety. (Waiting for that allergy appointment didn't help with that.)

Allergy testing happened in December. Nothing about it was what I expected. I thought I'd just get tested for dairy and a few other things but they skin pricked me for 78 different things, mostly food items but some non-food things. The doctor was ancient - he seriously looked and moved like he was 100 years old, straight from a nursing home. Since I had to speak louder and slower than normal, I didn't feel like I could have a good conversation about all of my concerns. He also simply eyeballed my prick reaction measurements instead of using any kind of ruler which made me question the accuracy of the test. I'm sure that he's extremely knowledgable since he's obviously been in practice forever but the whole experience left me uneasy with more questions than answers.

Allergy skin testing isn't completely reliable. In fact, 50 to 60% of positives are usually false positives. However, if something reads negative, then it is likely to actually be negative. My results? It showed that I'm mildly allergic to pretty much every single food that I eat on a regular basis. It also showed that I'm mildly allergic to cats, dogs, and glycerin. It showed that I'm moderately allergic to vanilla, buckwheat, dust mites, mold, cockroaches, and candida. Dairy only showed as a mild allergy which I expected to be much worse.

They gave me a small shot of epinephrine at the clinic, a prescription for an EpiPen (because of the symptom I get when eating dairy), and an order to get blood drawn for an allergy blood test. My bumps and redness all went away by that evening and I wondered if the whole ordeal was even worth it. The next day, I had three spots flare up again with swelling and redness - candida, mold, and cockroaches. The candida spot continued to grow for another day before it started to go down. There was still a red spot remaining there two weeks later and then it peeled like a sunburn before disappearing... strange. My allergist never answers the phone and they haven't returned the messages I left so I never got answers about it. You can bet that I'm changing my health insurance when we move so that I can choose my own, more reliable doctors and allergists.

The re-flareup of the candida allergy prick spot made me think I had an issue with it. I didn't know anything about candida and was surprised to read that I did have a few symptoms of candida overgrowth. It made sense, especially after the bad intestinal bug that I had a few months before. That research led me to information about leaky gut which I found I had many symptoms of. I was eating a very clean and natural diet but it did contain a ton of fruit, gluten, and grains which was surely feeding the candida and making the leaky gut worse. I immediately started an anti-candida diet, avoiding all forms of sugar (including fruit), gluten, all grains, starchy vegetables, alcohol, and caffeine. I also avoided all the foods that I was potentially allergic to, as shown by the allergy test. (I have some super strong willpower because I'm desperate to fix myself.) I then learned about the GAPS diet so I started adapting to that. I make bone broth and drink it with every meal. I also started taking a high-dose probiotic. I have since then been adding in advice and recommendations from the book Clean Gut by Dr. Alejandro Junger and from the website of Dr Josh Axe.

Shortly after changing my diet, my anxiety started going away! For the first time in six months, I regained my mental clarity and started to feel somewhat normal again. Despite feeling better mentally, I was feeling worse physically. I assumed some of the physical discomfort was due to candida "die-off", which is side effects from the toxins candida releases when they die. The thing that concerned me most was that my blood pressure went up. It had been holding steady at 110/70 and it jumped to around 135/85 - still "normal" enough but I was uncomfortable with the sudden change being that I've had blood pressure issues in the past. I started adding in green juice, berries, nuts, and almond butter. This made me feel better physically and my blood pressure returned to normal. The diet I'm currently following is not permanent, although some of the healthy changes will be. I will be adding foods back in slowly, watching carefully for signs of reaction or inflammation.

I just got the results back from my blood allergy test last week. These results are much more clear and concise than the skin prick test, although they are not 100% reliable either. Almost all the foods that the prick test said I'm allergic to, the blood test said I'm not - thank goodness! The only foods that turned up as a positive IgE response were wheat, gluten, and egg white. Luckily those things rated as a "low" reaction. I suppose however, that when I was eating a ton of homemade bread every day and also eggs on a daily basis, that I was exacerbating the inflammatory response in my body. Coincidentally, I ate a ton of wheat and gluten (to keep my milk supply up) and egg whites (CC ate the yolks) during CC's first year which may have had an impact on issues I had at that time.

I was surprised to learn that all dairy proteins tested as negative because I know that I have a reaction to it. I have another theory regarding that reaction that I'll get tested for when I can.

Two things showed up as a "very high" IgE reaction in the blood test: cockroaches and dust mites. Testing for a mold reaction was not done in the blood test although I'm assuming it would be high as well based on the prick test and how it re-flared like the cockroach.

That brings me back to the Kailua house we were renting. It was older (built in 1961), had no air conditioning (other than two small window units in the bedrooms), and the wood slat windows didn't close so they let in the wind, salty humidity, and bugs. It was miserably hot this past summer - I was literally dripping sweat 24/7 for months. Parts of the house were falling apart, there was water damage and a musty smell in multiple locations, and the roof leaked in spots, so I would guarantee that the house had mold. My allergist said Hawaii has the highest concentration of dust mites of any state so I know that was surely an issue as well. Finally, the house was infested with cockroaches. They all came out when we turn off the lights at night and we had to clean up their poop and egg sacs every day. We had to keep all food in the fridge or in plastic containers and couldn't use anything without first checking it for poop and chew holes. In other words, I was allergic to that house. No wonder I was having so many new and crazy issues living there!

If you are wondering why we would rent a place like this to live in, remember that it looked great when we moved in, and it was in an amazing location. It wasn't a shack, it was a 1.6 million dollar house with rent and utility costs that would make you cry. But hey, at least it was in Hawaii and we were by the beach, right? Riiiight... I don't want to put up with that even if it IS Hawaii. Most Hawaii houses have doors and windows open constantly because electricity is so expensive. Many houses do actually look like shacks (compared to houses on the mainland). The average person/family in Hawaii would not be able to afford the house we lived in. I think it's safe to assume that cockroaches, geckos, heat, and humidity are things that most people are willing to deal with in order to live in "paradise".

When you are constantly exposed to an allergy, your body stays in a constant state of inflammation and cannot function or heal itself like it should. CC's eczema and Dulce's paws couldn't heal when we lived on base because they were continually exposed to something that was aggravating them. My mental and physical health deteriorated in the Kailua house because I was living among things that I'm highly allergic to. Living in Hawaii has been rough on all of us, health wise. I am so relieved in so many ways to be done with that assignment and back on the mainland!

I believe that everything happens for a reason, though sometimes the reasons take a while to show themselves. Dealing with CC's eczema was awful to go through but caused us to completely change our views on food, ingredients, household cleaners, chemicals, etc. Dealing with my own allergy issues was almost unbearable but changed my views on food and allergies even further, and has sparked a passionate interest in allergies, gut health, and healing through diet. Dealing with bad rentals and living conditions has changed our views on what is truly important to us and what we want for our family. Our lives and habits are completely different now than they were three years ago and we are much better off for it.

"All disease begins in the gut."

~Hippocrates

Happy 2nd Birthday to Cameron!

2014-09-19T17:24:00.001-07:00

Monday, September 8, was CC's 2nd birthday! We kept things simple this year and had a small cookout party at our house the day before with only a few friends. The theme for her party this year was her favorite television show, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with simple red and yellow decorations and supplies.

I made CC's birthday party invitation myself using Photoshop and images I purchased in a digital set on Etsy (here). I also used the same images from that set to create the cupcake toppers using card stock paper, double-sided tape, and toothpicks.

I made the cupcakes for the party myself. We are a clean eating family so I wanted something yummy but natural. I have a dairy allergy so I also wanted something I could enjoy as well, besides the fact that we actually don't have any dairy in our house, other than cheese, to use in a recipe.

I used a dairy-free white cupcake recipe from the blog Veronica's Cornucopia (here) and the cupcakes were AMAZING! They were rich, moist, and delicious. This is seriously going to be my go-to cupcake recipe from now on.

I found some all-natural, dairy-free vanilla icing (Cherrybrook Kitchen Vanilla Frosting) and all-natural sugar sprinkles at our local Whole Foods. I was pleasantly surprised with both! I put the icing into a large ziplock bag, cut off a small piece of one corner, and piped it onto the cupcakes in a circular motion.

CC doesn't actually like very sweet things, mostly because she hasn't been exposed to them much, so she wasn't a fan of the sweet icing but she did enjoy the cupcake. She loved hearing everyone sing the birthday song to her and has been singing "happy to me" ever since then :)

CC needed all of the characters on her cupcake :)

We gave CC a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood themed present that included:
Book - Goodnight Daniel Tiger
Book - Meet the Neighbors
Book - A Ride Through the Neighborhood
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Trolley
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Friends Figures Set
Tabletop Hardwood Blocks

On Monday morning, CC's actual birthday, we woke early and went to the Aulani Disney Resort for the Disney Character Breakfast. This is a gorgeous resort on the south-western side of the island. You do not have to be a guest at the resort in order to go to the restaurants there. Reservations are recommended.

There was a huge buffet with a wide variety of food options that should appease even the pickiest eaters. There were three characters (Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy) that walked around the entire time we were there, stopping at all the tables multiple times for photos, autographs, and laughs. Goofy was CC's favorite, he made her giggle every time he came near.

Our waitress brought out a tiny birthday cake with a candle for CC and we all sang to her.

CC was slightly overwhelmed with all the people and noise - she was quiet and observant but we could tell she enjoyed it and had a great time. The breakfast crowd was full of tourists, ~~primarily~~ all Asian. Although the breakfast is geared toward children, there were many couples without kids and quite a few honeymooners. Disney is HUGE in Japan, seemingly more so for adults than for kids.

There was an ukulele musician who walked around strumming and singing the entire time. She led multiple songs and activities that children were invited to participate in. CC volunteered to participate in a few of the activities.

We walked around the resort for a while after breakfast and met a couple more Disney characters. I don't know if CC will remember this day at all but it was a fun one and great way to celebrate her 2nd birthday!

*******

"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever."

~Walt Disney

Family Friday: 23 Months Old

2014-09-02T17:08:00.002-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post. I involuntarily took a break because this was honestly a really rough month physically and mentally and I didn't get much of anything accomplished. This post is about her, not me, so I'll leave the details for another day. I did at least get these photos done, even if they sat on the memory card for the past 3 weeks.

This month CC and I went to the Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park near Kaneohe for her photos. This is a buddhist temple that is a smaller-scale replica of the Byodo-in Temple in Japan. It is open to the public daily for a small fee. The temple and gardens are a beautiful and peaceful place to spend some time.

The last time we were here, CC was only 6 months old! What a difference a year and half makes! I had no idea at that time that her head would erupt in a mound of curls!

At 23 months old, CC is still wearing size 4 diapers, mostly size 2T clothing (some smaller), and size 6 shoes. Being summer year round here, we really get a lot of use out of her clothes since she can wear them until she outgrows them instead of just until the season changes. There are some things she has been wearing for over a year now! She still has a few 12 and 18 month shorts and skirts that still fit. It depends on the brand, not all sizes are created equal.

CC still follows the same eating and sleeping schedule. She has been eating 4 times a day and sleeping 12 hours a night since she was 5 months old. She started coming into this schedule on her own around 4 months and I just made sure she stuck with it. Consistency was key and it still is. If we want a happy toddler, then she needs to stick to her schedule (within reason).

There is a small gift shop on the temple grounds where you can purchase a small bag of fish food. If you are military, you get a bag of food for free! CC had a great time feeding the fish and birds. She threw out one pellet at a time... thankfully we weren't in any hurry!

CC still loves her pacifiers. They are definitely a comfort item now and an addiction. I'm not going to make her quit them cold turkey yet but we are limiting them to only the crib and the car for longer rides. There have been a few times in the past month when CC really wanted her paci. When I tell her she could only have the paci if she's in her crib, then she wants in her crib so she can suck it! She sits quietly in her crib for about 20 minutes, gets her sucking fix, and then wants out to play again.

CC is still primarily babbling when she speaks but she is constantly learning and adding new words to her vocabulary. Most notable for month 23 was that she started saying yes and no instead yeah and uh-uh. She also started saying please ("eese") consistently and unprompted. She introduces Johnnie and I to everyone who pays attention to her as mama and daddy. She knows her name but has not said it yet.

CC loves her babies (baby dolls and stuffed animals) and loves seeing real babies when we're out somewhere. She still loves Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and watches an episode of that almost every day. She loves to "write" with pens, markers, crayons, and colored pencils. She also loves to brush her teeth and would brush them all day long if I let her!

Soon CC will be 2 years old! We are having a small casual cookout with a few friends to celebrate. Johnnie's parents will also be here for a visit.

For the past year, I've been referring to CC by number of months instead of simply saying "She's 1." I know this annoys some people (usually those who don't have children) but there is such a HUGE difference between a 13 month old and a 23 month old despite both technically being "1". This has been such an incredible year for change, in both her looks and her abilities. Once she turns two, I will stop counting by months.

I will also be stopping the monthly photos when she turns two and consider this project complete. I'll still take random photos as often as I always do but I'll leave the official photo shoots to once a year. This was actually an extremely difficult project and I'm honestly glad it's about over. CC is not a cooperative photo subject (notice how few photos in this post actually show her face?) so these photo shoots were quite stressful to accomplish. I'm glad I have these monthly photos and I hope she appreciates them someday. I also hope that she will eventually cooperate for photos, or at least look at the camera :)

*******

"The key to happiness is letting each situation be what it is

instead of what you think it should be."

~ Mandy Hale

Family Friday: 22 Months Old

2014-07-30T12:12:00.002-07:00

We were a little late with this month's photos. We moved at the beginning of the month, then stormy weather rolled in, and then I was sick for a week... I'm getting caught up just in time to take more photos!

For this month's photos we went to the Kawainui Marsh Trail in Kailua. This is a 1.3 mile long path for foot, stroller, and bicycle traffic only. There is a paved sidewalk next to a gravel road about the width of a car. We saw a lot of people walking their dogs, jogging, and riding bicycles. We didn't notice any bugs on the evening we went but people we talked to said that gnats and mosquitos can be really bad at times. The views are great but there is no shade so going in the morning or late afternoon is best.

At 22 months old, CC is still wearing size 4 diapers and mostly size 2T clothing. She is wearing size 6 shoes. I haven't measured her height or weight lately but she is definitely getting taller and leaning out some. Her hair is growing and getting lighter, although I'm pretty sure she is destined to be a brunette. It is still as curly as ever!

CC still has a bedtime of 7:30pm and sleeps for about 12 hours. She takes an afternoon nap everyday, usually from 1:30 to 3:30pm. She has stopped crying at nap time and bedtime now. She throws her selected baby dolls into the crib, goes in willingly herself, and then goes to sleep without a fuss. Easy-peasy... finally!

CC eats 3 meals and 1 scheduled evening snack every day. She has started occasionally wanting a mid-morning snack which I do give her when she asks.

CC drinks water all day and always has multiple cups sitting around the house. I'm amused by that because I have always done that myself, even when I was young. CC does not like plain milk of any kind. For calcium, she does eat a lot of cheese and I make her smoothies with breakfast made with either almond milk or coconut milk (because that's what I drink myself).

CC is such a little person at the table now. We never bought a high chair for her. Instead, we used the Inglesina Fast Table Chair so that she would be more a part of our meals (besides the fact that high chairs are big and take up a lot of space). She used the Inglesina for a year, until she was about 18 months old, and then we switched to the Graco Blossom Booster Seat. The booster was short lived, she only used it for about 3 months. She loves to put her baby dolls in it now and play with the buckles but she refuses to sit in it. She wants to sit in a normal chair like everyone else.

CC drinks from either a real cup or a cup with a straw now. She can also drink from normal water bottles. She uses real metal silverware (I bought some small sized real forks and spoons) and she occasionally use real plates (our salad plates are the perfect size). All of these changes make eating out at restaurants so much easier since we no longer have to take any of our own things along.

CC's language is still a lot of baby babble but occasionally she'll say things in plain English. She understands everything and follows directions extremely well. Her list of words she uses on a daily basis is growing. Her top most-used words are uh-oh (something's wrong), uh-uh (no), yeah (yes), agua (water), and more (still accompanied by the sign language). She is starting to say please and thank you (also still usually accompanied by the sign language).

CC says Dulce (deh-see) and has picked up a few things on her own in regards to Dulce just from watching me. For example, CC calls for Dulce by yelling her name and smacking her lips (trying to mimic the sound I make); when we leave the house, she tells Dulce to be a "guh goo" (good girl) like I always do; and when Dulce rolls in the dirt, CC says "bah goo" (bad girl) and shakes her finger.

CC still loves music and loves to dance and sing. She plays her keyboard and other instruments every day. Her favorite toys right now are her "babies" and her shopping cart. She loves to color but still needs supervised with writing utensils. She still loves to read and looks at books quietly by herself. Lately, instead of wanting me to read to her, she gives me a book to read while she reads her own book beside me :)

CC watches a TV show once a day. Last month she couldn't ever decide which TV show she wanted to watch. This month it is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood every single time. She loves that show! I honestly love it too - the characters are cute, relatable, and diverse (some are animals and the rest are people of different races), there is a lesson of the day that is sung often throughout each episode, the show really focuses on feelings, the content is very relevant to toddlers and preschoolers, and it is educational!

CC still throws tantrums and she screams when she gets frustrated. Fortunately both of those things are short lived once I give her the understanding and words that she needs to describe her feelings. The Happiest Baby on the Block was my lifesaver when CC was a newborn. The things I learned from Happiest Toddler on the Block are a huge help now. Below is a great video clip of the author Dr. Karp on the Dr. Phil show putting his advice into action. You do feel like a moron at first but it does actually work, especially if you use it consistently. It is now second nature for me to start most things I say to CC (even in normal conversation, not just tantrums) with "You want..." or "You don't want..." which lets her know that I hear her and understand her. This almost always calms her down quickly during a tantrum or prevents one altogether.

Some people talk about the Terrible Twos while others swear that two was fine and that it's the Terrible Threes you have to worry about. Every child is different... we'll just take it one day at a time and see how it goes!

*******

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up

is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."

~Phyllis Diller

Family Friday: Across the Island

2014-07-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in our last blog post, we moved again! We must be crazy to live in three different houses during one assignment! It certainly wasn't the plan but we couldnt foresee the problems that we ran into. We loved our little beachfront North Shore house but the owner is extremely difficult, inconsiderate, and uncooperative, and the property manager honestly didn't do much to help us out. We were lied to often and had to fight to get basic maintenance issues fixed and even then, it took a long time and most of the things were only half fixed. We were not being difficult. I mean, the front door should have a working lock and the roof shouldn't leak, right? Especially for what we were paying in rent. I'll get into it more in another post but for now I'll just say that it is a huge relief to be out of there.

We were very fortunate to find another great house to move into, owned and managed by a super sweet and helpful lady, and with a short term lease since we'll be leaving at the beginning of the new year. The new house is in Kailua which is a perfect beach town on the eastern side of the island. It's the kind of town with a ton of little stores, restaurants, and coffee shops, and people jogging, riding bicycles, and carrying around surfboards. It also has one of the prettiest beaches on the island with the gorgeous turquoise water.

Our new house is HUGE compared to our beach house. The beach house was TINY, furnished, and crammed full of the owner's belongings. This new house is large, open, and empty. Both houses have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, but this house has at least double the living space.

Most of our belongings were in a storage room since the other house was furnished. This new house is completely empty so we were able to get things out of storage.

Before everything went into storage in January, we sorted it all and made a large pile of things to sell. We lived very minimally at the beach house and it was really refreshing! When I started unpacking the storage boxes here, I realized that we still have a lot of things that we don't need. Living a minimal life for a while really changes your perspective on things! I went through everything one more time and added a lot more to the "for sale" pile. It is so freeing to have a simple, uncluttered home! Simplifying your belongings is simplifying your life. It really is only necessary to keep what you need, use, or love. It is not easy to get to that mindset, however, it took us five months of living without!

This one room pictured below is bigger than the entire kitchen/dining/living room of the other house. The carpet in the photo is an 8'x10' to give you some reference.

Our new house was built around 1960 and has that flair to its architecture and details. I really love the wall color that is throughout our new house! It is not something I would've ever picked myself (I'm more of a classic neutral wall kind of person) but it is so bright and beachy that it makes me happy just looking at it :)

We traded the ocean for a pool in our new backyard. Pool service is included with the rent so it really is a pleasure to have, especially during this hot summer. I LOVE our backyard! It is large and surrounded by a wall, has a large grassy area, palm trees and other vegetation, and it's so private! We can't see any of our neighbors or their houses, we can only see the green trees, the blue sky, and the gorgeous mountains. It's a pretty good trade off for the ocean view of the last house!

Early morning view, opposite the sunrise - I love those mountains!

CC loves the pool! We couldn't go into the ocean at our other house due to the coral and waves, but a swimming pool is perfect! To be honest, I do worry about having a pool and a toddler but therefore I am extra vigilant of knowing CC's whereabouts at all times. Thankfully, CC has always followed directions well and she especially does by the pool.

CC loves to stand, sit, and splash on the shallow steps of the pool. She loves to sit in her baby float and occasionally she'll let me hold her in the water.

Dulce hates swimming and avoids water at all costs. We have a pool at our house in Georgia and she fell into it the very first night we brought her home. She was terrified and that may be a factor in her feelings toward water now.

I gave Dulce some pool survival training as soon as we moved into this house. She needed to know where the steps are in case she ever goes in or falls into the pool. The first couple times I dropped her in, she freaked out, swam to the nearest wall, and held on for dear life! But after she learned where the steps were and that she could get out, she went for them every time no matter where in the pool I put her. We practiced until she was swimming calmly. She may never get in again but I feel better knowing she won't drown if she does.

Dulce has spotted skin under her pure white fur that becomes very visible when she's wet!

Dulce is in her glory in this backyard! We haven't had a backyard like this for almost 4 years. It actually took her five days before she realized all the freedom she now has and how much space she has to explore! She is outside constantly, running around, hopping through the bushes, and chasing lizards and birds. She is one happy dog!

This house is perfect except that it is very hot during the day (so was the beach house) but it doesn't cool off at night like beach house did. Thankfully there is an air conditioning unit in two of the bedrooms which makes it more comfortable for sleeping. During the day, we sweat a lot. Jumping in the pool in the afternoon helps cool us down.

We didn't give up beach living entirely! We aren't beachfront now but we are a very short walk and the beach here is gorgeous! I thought that I'd really miss it but it's actually nice not having the constant saltiness that coats, rusts, and ruins everything.

Dulce and I don't get morning beach time as often as we used to but when we do, Dulce still likes digging for crabs. The beaches here are bare. There are very few seashells in Hawaii but on the North Shore I enjoyed finding rocks and coral that looked like hearts and letters. There isn't anything to find here so I'm glad I kept a collection from the last house.

There are a lot more people enjoying the beach and water here. There are always people surfing, wind surfing, boogie boarding, swimming, kayaking, running, and walking.

What I love about Kailua and the location of our house is that there is so much within walking distance! We can walk to church, to restaurants, to stores, to the library, the post office, and to beach parks. We can even walk to Whole Foods (it takes 13 minutes) which excites me to no end!

We were here for the 4th of July and walked one block to see a parade, then we walked to a great Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, and then walked to the beach by our house to see fireworks over the ocean! I absolutely LOVE having the convenience of having everything nearby and not having to drive. There are many bus stops nearby as well which will provide CC and I with some fun adventures soon!

It's a shame that things turned out the way they did with the beach house but we really are lucky in a way because now we will move from here having experienced life in three vastly different areas of the island! This part of the island is definitely my favorite for living! No regrets. We are very glad that we moved off base, we are glad that we lived on the North Shore, and now we're glad we are living here. Live and learn and enjoy the ride!

*******

"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."

~Jim Rohn

Family Friday - June 26

2014-06-30T23:53:00.002-07:00

How is it the end of June already? This year is flying by! Perhaps it seems to be going even faster than normal because we know that our time in Hawaii is coming to an end. We are due to leave the island within the first couple months of the new year. It will be a few more months before we find out where we're going next but the possibilities are certainly occupying our thoughts.

CC has turned into little miss opinionated lately. She has strong opinions about what she wants to wear now (though luckily she's still open to suggestions) and she also has opinions about what I wear! There are some days where she will pull at my shirt and say "no, no" and then take me by the hand to my room where she opens my drawer and picks out a different shirt for me to wear. I'm not exaggerating! I don't usually comply unless it's a hot day and she picks out a tank top :)

She also has strong opinions about TV shows now as well. Sometimes we start 3 or 4 different shows before she agrees that one is suitable enough to watch. Lately she has been watching Curious George, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Sesame Street (but she hates the Elmo's World portion of it). We watch one show before lunch most days.

CC's new favorite phrase is "How 'bout... " When we ask her any questions concerning what to do or what she wants, she enthusiastically replies "How 'bout (baby babble)? How 'bout (more baby babble)?" She is trying to make suggestions but we can't understand the babble so we give her some options and she says yes or no.

She has also developed an interest in photography this week. She carries around my Olympus Tough camera and points it at things, saying "cheeeeese". Once she learns how to actually take photos, I will write some posts featuring her work :)

CC has had some pretty epic tantrums lately. It's almost always when she is tired or hungry and I tell her not to do something or I don't do what she wants me to do. She will stand, red faced, and scream as loud as she can, and then she will cry like it's the end of the world. Funny thing is that if something distracts her for even a second, the screaming and crying instantly stop... until she remembers that she was in the middle of a tantrum and then quickly resumes.

CC still loves to dance and now she likes to hold our hands and dance with us. We even got Dulce in on the fun a few times! Luckily "dance with me" (me holding her paws and taking some steps) was already in her trick repertoire so she doesn't object too much.

CC has a head full of curls that makes her hair look a lot shorter than it is. It is actually well below her shoulders, it just seems to curl tighter the longer is gets!

We have been busy in the past week because we're moving! Yes, again! And no, we're not leaving the island yet. We love our beachfront house on the North Shore but we have been dealing with an extremely difficult, inconsiderate, and uncooperative landlord since we moved in. Things have gotten worse lately and we've had enough so we're moving out.

This is a sudden move - certainly not planned. At first, it was pretty devastating to think about leaving this house but then we realized that this a great opportunity to experience yet another very different part of the island! We were blessed to find a great house in Kailua on the east side of the island to stay in for the remainder of our time. The house is clean and it's empty so we will be able to get all of our things out of storage and live comfortably. It is considerably larger than our current rental, it has a large enclosed backyard (perfect for Dulce), an in-ground swimming pool, and it's only a few minutes walk to a gorgeous beach with turquoise water and white sand. Best of all, the owner is amazingly helpful and friendly!

This is an easy move since most of our belongings are in a storage room. I have been packing up what we can so that the moving company can get in and out quickly. CC has been helpful, trying to assist me with the packing :)

Dulce loves life here so she's not too happy about the changes going on. She doesn't yet know how much she's going to love her new backyard! She has been grumpy this past week and tried to unpack her things as I was packing them.

Here on the North Shore, we see sunrises and sunsets. The sunrises are over land, as are the sunsets for half the year. On the east coast, we'll miss out on sunsets but we will see spectacular sunrises over the ocean every morning - the photographer in me can't wait!!

Kailua is a pretty amazing town with a lot of shopping and restaurants, and the nicest beaches on the island. It is vastly different from the quiet, laid-back, hippy lifestyle of the North Shore. We are certainly blessed that in this one assignment, we get to experience living in three very different parts of this island. We will leave here with no regrets.

I am really going to miss our ocean view and having the beach in our backyard. I am thankful for every day that we lived in this house, despite the difficulties we put up with.

Ocean view + sunset + wine = happiness :)

When I started this blog three+ years ago, I put the tag line "Life is an adventure every day" at the top under our title. That's actually not how I always looked at life up to that point but I wanted to, so I vowed from then on to change my attitude and believe it... it's been a process. Life is far from perfect but it is a hell of a lot more enjoyable when you have the right attitude. This quote is a good reminder of that:

Count your blessings, be thankful everyday, and know that everything happens for a reason.

*******

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour."

~Author Unknown

Big Island Day Trip

2014-06-26T02:49:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Johnnie traveled to the Big Island (the island that is officially named "Hawaii") for a two-week work trip. If we could drive on water, it would have only been a 2.5 hour drive to get to him. Since we don't have an awesome car-boat, we flew on Hawaiian Airlines from the Honolulu Airport instead to spend Father's Day with him. The plane was large and comfortable, and the flight only took 40 minutes. This was a fun day-trip adventure; we were gone for about 10 hours.

I honestly feel that life with a toddler is exponentially easier than life with a baby. Take this day trip for example: I took Cameron and a lightweight backpack - that was it! No need for a carseat, stroller, baby carrier, bottles, baby food, blankets, burp rags, baby toys, or the billion other things that babies need. This was a very simple, easy, and enjoyable trip off the island!

Our day trip backpack contained: diapers, wipes, one outfit change for CC (just in case), a straw cup, snacks, a pacifier, sunglasses, my wallet, my phone, and CC's Barney doll.

CC walked herself through the airport and onto the plane... actually, she was skipping and hopping at times :) She LOVED seeing airplanes up close and seeing all the little carts speeding around outside.

CC is under two years of age so we got an "infant in arms" ticket for her. The plane was not very full on our trip to the island and the two seats next to mine were empty so CC sat there for most of the flight. She sat down and buckled herself in and waited patiently with her pacifier and Barney the entire time we were taxiing. She moved over to my lap for the actual takeoff. She whimpered a bit as we were climbing in altitude, unsure of what was happening but once we leveled out, she returned to her seat and looked at the in-flight magazines for the remainder of the trip.

Johnnie picked us up from the airport in a rental car with a carseat. CC's carseat is still rear-facing in our car but we put the rental carseat facing forward. This was a new experience for her and she was pretty amazed by all that she could see out of the side and front windows!

Our first stop was a coffee shop for some lattes and then we headed to the Historic Kailua Village to explore for a while before lunch.

We had a delicious and enjoyable Father's Day lunch at The Fish Hopper restaurant with a great table overlooking Kailua Bay.

After lunch we went to the Kamakana Playground at the Harold H. Higashihara Park located at 78-7300 Kuakini Hwy. This playground is HUGE! Johnnie and I were just as excited as CC to play on it!

This playground is at about 1,300 feet in elevation. Since we spend most of our time at sea level, the altitude made me feel short of breath after being there for a while. CC seemed to be fine with it but then again, she can't really speak to let us know! I felt better once we returned to a lower elevation.

We left the playground in time for CC's nap. She was so tired from running around and climbing that she fell asleep soon after the car started moving.

We took a long scenic drive to let CC nap. We relished in the vastness of the landscape and the open road with virtually no traffic... it was such a welcome sight after living on a crowded island for the past 2+ years now!

Some of the land was practically glowing with bright and vivid color...

while other areas were rough, volcanic wasteland.

When CC woke up, we stopped to browse at a Crocs store in the Queen's Marketplace in the Waikoloa area. CC tried on a few pairs of shoes and fell in love with these pink ones. Once they were on her feet, they weren't coming off. The sales clerk cut off the tag so she could ring them up and CC wore them for the rest of the day (and every day since then).

Johnnie flew home with us at the end of the day! This flight was more crowded so CC sat on Johnnie's lap the whole time. She did fine on this trip but was more unsettled since she couldn't move around as much and she got angry when she couldn't put the tray table down until after take off.

We may take a trip to another island this year but that will be as far as CC will fly until we move from Hawaii. It's at least a 5 hour flight to the west coast of the mainland and we don't care to go through that with a toddler until we absolutely have to.

*******

"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind."

~Seneca

Family Friday: 21 Months Old

2014-06-17T00:48:00.002-07:00

For Cameron's 21 month photos, we went to the Wahiawa Botanical Garden... twice, which is why you'll see Cam wearing different shoes in these photos. The first time (the pink shoes) we went with a sweet friend and we had a great time exploring but I didn't get any photos that I could use for her monthly number photo (notice all the scowls with the pink shoes below). She and I went back the very next day (the white shoes - she insisted) and got the photo above within the first 5 minutes.

The Wahiawa Botanical Garden is in the town of Wahiawa, near the center of Oahu. It is free admission and open daily from 9am - 4pm. The garden is 26 acres but only a small part of that is stroller and wheelchair friendly. The rest of the garden has steep ramps, stairs, and uneven surfaces that would be more fun to explore with older children than a toddler. The flat main area of the garden is gorgeous with wide paved pathways. There is a large variety of plants and trees with plenty of shade, making it an enjoyable place to visit.

At 21 months old, Cameron is wearing size 4 diapers and mostly size 2T clothing. She just barely fits into her size 5 shoes, starting to fit into size 6 now.

CC's sleeping schedule is still consistent. She is in bed by 7:30 and sleeps for 12+ hours. She also takes one 2 hour nap a day in the afternoon. We always put her to bed with some dolls of her choice, a couple of board books, and a couple of pacifiers. She reads the books before falling asleep and when she wakes up, she happily plays with her dolls and reads until we go in to get her. She has been crying less at bedtime lately, and has even told me when it was nap time a few times now!

When CC is tired, she throws tantrums. She hits things, throws things, gets clingy, cries, and does things purposefully to get my attention. The tantrums don't really bother me and don't last long because I know they are simply her way of telling me that she needs sleep or at least quiet time to rest. She is always a different child after a nap.

Cameron eats four times a day (three meals and one scheduled snack) with no snacking in-between. Because of this, she eats really well at meal times. She drinks a lot of water throughout the day but still won't drink milk or juice. She does enjoy drinking thick liquids like fruit smoothies and Naked Juice.

Cameron has mastered drinking out of a real cup in the past week. We have been using Avent Natural Drinking Cups for months now which drink like a cup but are non-spill. At first it was easiest for her to drink out of a very full cup which allowed her to tilt her head down instead of tilting the cup up. It took her a few days to figure out how much to tilt the cup up to avoid spilling the water or pouring it up her nose. Now, she can easily drink regardless of how much liquid is in the cup. We have the Munchkin Multi Cups which are the perfect size for her little hands and mouth.

Cameron talks constantly and is very expressive with her tone of voice. She mostly speaks in her own language but at least once a day, a perfect English sentence comes out! For example, today she was eating dinner and she looked at me and said "Mama, where's daddy?" perfectly clear and understandable! The other day we were walking and came to a parked car that was sticking out onto the sidewalk. Dulce and I walked around but Cam stopped, looked at the car, patted it, and said "'scuse me" before walking around it! It seriously blows my mind when she does this - it's like a translator switch was flipped in her brain and makes her speak another language.

Cameron understands so much and she is understanding in two languages! My Spanish is limited but I've been consistent with it since she was born and it's paying off. For example, I can ask either "Where is the dog?" or "Donde esta el perro?" and she will answer either one without missing a beat. Her first official Spanish word is agua (water). She asks for agua to drink and points out agua whenever she sees it.

Cameron also sings all the time. She sometimes makes up random melodies but usually sings her favorite song - the Barney "I love you, you love me" song. Many times when I'm sitting on the ground, she'll come up behind me, wrap her arms around me, and sway me side to side while she sings the Barney song to me - it's seriously the sweetest. thing. ever!

Just to clarify... the Barney song as sung by Cameron goes something like this:
na, na, na
na, na, ne
uh, uh, uh
na, na, na

I need to get it on video one of these days :)

Cameron loves her dolls! She has a favorite baby doll (Hasbro Baby Alive Luv N Snuggle) and a favorite stuffed animal (Barney). She pretends to feed them and give them drinks, she pretends they cry (she makes a fake cry sound) so she can pick them up and comfort them, and she puts them in her shopping cart and pushes them around. It's so cute to watch and makes me extra aware of how I treat her because she's using that as an example as how to treat her baby dolls!

Cameron's hair is growing and getting lighter! Thankfully it is really easy to care for. Once it is wet, it drys naturally into curls. I wash it every second or third bath (unless it is needed sooner) and comb it with a fine-toothed comb to get every knot out. In between washes, I spritz it with water and use a wide-tooth comb. We recently got some detangle spray to use as needed which works pretty well.

I really, truly love being Cameron's mom and I really feel successful at it now. I am a much better mother now than I was when she was little. I do not miss those tiny baby days at all, nor do I wish that time would slow down now. I am so excited for each day that CC grows, changes, and learns new things. I love watching her develop into the person she's going to be, and I feel blessed that I can travel alongside her on that journey.

*******

"Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming."

~ Haim Ginott

Family Friday: June 6

2014-06-09T01:59:00.001-07:00

We live on the beach but we don't actually get in the water ~~much~~ ever. There is a lot of coral along the beach that is exposed during low tide and high tide brings some pretty powerful waves. I've never been a water person anyway and we still enjoy the beach as much as we can every day. Despite not playing in the ocean, CC loves playing in water elsewhere.

It rains a lot more here than where we used to live on the southern part of the island. CC gets excited to see the rain, which is usually a torrential downpour that we stay out of. A couple of weeks ago, we had a calm summer rain that she enjoyed playing in for the first time. She loved every minute of it and got completely soaked! Watching her was pure joy :)

I often give CC a bowl of water with some utensils. She loves to "cook" like I do, stirring and scooping the water and whatever else she puts into the bowl.

On this particular day, it didn't take long for Barney to end up in the water. She stirred him around for a while and then swapped him out for Baby. I put a towel down since Barney was dripping water everywhere. CC could have been making dinosaur and baby stew, or she could have been giving them a bath... we may never know.

She did eventually take them both out of the water and then spent time carefully cleaning them each off with a wet washcloth (which added even more water to them). I rung them out and hung them up to dry when she moved onto her next activity.

I let CC take the lead with her playtime and never interrupt her thought process when she's involved with something (as long as she's safe and not hurting anything, of course). If she wants to put her dolls in water, I let her because they'll be dry by morning. If she wants to pour water on herself, I change her clothes when she's done. It's all a learning experience.

In the two photos below, CC had dumped out the remaining water so she could sit on the upside-down bowl. She wanted more water to give Elephante a bath and started pouting when I said no. I'm actually glad that I caught one of her pouty faces on camera - they melt my heart as much as her smiles do :)

Another activity we did this week was painting with water. I'm not sure that our neighbors would appreciate sidewalk chalk on the driveway we share so instead, I filled a beach bucket with water and got my two largest paintbrushes.

CC had a great time "painting" the cement and watching it change color with the water. We walked with our bucket and brushes down the street and she stopped every few steps to paint something new... the sidewalk, rocks, metal manhole covers, flowers, plants, fences, and she even painted Dulce (who wasn't too happy about that). It started off as a simple idea for clean fun but it turned out to be a great sensory experience that she really enjoyed!

My favorite activity with water is sitting in the sand and watching it. I am on the beach every single day. Our time here is limited (we're already discussing next assignment possibilities) so I'm trying to enjoy it, take as many photos, and make as many memories as possible. I wish I could bottle it up!

*******

“Play is the highest form of research.”

~Albert Einstein

Family Friday: May 30

2014-06-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Johnnie's parents have flown back to Seattle after a two week visit. CC had a great time interacting and bonding with them. Wherever we live, we tend to only see our families once or twice a year so we treasure that time together as much as we can. Despite the distance, I wouldn't trade our life for anything. I love that CC is experiencing different cultures, people, food, music, climates, etc, in the most formative years of her life. I really believe that it will help shape her into a well-rounded, open-minded, and understanding person. It has certainly changed me.

I was going to include photos from all of last week but decided to stick with our recent weekend getaway. Johnnie and I took advantage of having live-in babysitters by sneaking away for two nights over Memorial Day weekend. We love CC to pieces but we haven't had any alone time (other than a few dates) for about a year. Short trips and date nights are things we have to do more often - it's good for our minds and our relationship.

I once read the advice somewhere of how it is especially important to nurture your marriage after having children, to always keep it a top priority. Kids grow up, move away, and live their own lives. If you don't keep your marriage strong while your kids are there, what will you have left after they leave?

We spent the weekend at Bellows Air Force Station, between Kailua and Waimanalo on the east side of the island. Bellows AFS has the same baby powder sand and turquoise water that you see in Kailua. There is a section of Bellows Beach that is open to the public on weekends. The rest of the beach, the lodging, and amenities are only accessible to military ID holders and their guests.

On Bellows AFS, there is a Subway restaurant, and 24/7 convenience store, a snack bar, and a pub for all of your food and drink needs. There is also a gas station, a launderette, and recreational equipment rentals.

For recreation, there is a miniature golf course, basketball and tennis courts, disc golf, sand volleyball, golf driving range, paintball, and the gorgeous beach complete with bath houses.

There are tent and RV campsites, rustic camper cabins (with no electricity or water), furnished cabins (with a kitchen and all basic amenities), and condo units (like a hotel which includes air conditioning).

We rented a furnished cabin for our two-night stay. It was a little like upscale camping. The cabin was clean and the bed was fine but the rest of the furniture (there wasn't much) was uncomfortable. There was no air conditioning but there were ceiling fans. Towels, linens, and kitchen supplies are all included but so were many insect roommates. There was no luxury but it was certainly good enough for lounging around and enjoying the weekend together.

We had an oceanfront cabin near stairs that led down to the water. There was a small sandy beach below the stairs during low tide that disappeared during high tide. The large recreational sandy beach was only a short walk away.

We live on the north side of the island where we can't see the sun rise over the ocean. So despite being on vacation, we woke up very early both mornings to watch and photograph the sunrise.

Johnnie had fun making time-lapse videos each morning with our GoPro camera while I took photos with my big camera on a tripod. We both took some photos with our iPhones as well and ended up with two different views of each of my favorite photos:

Early Morning at Bellows Beach:

17mm, f/22, ISO 100, 0.8s

Sunrise at Bellows Beach:

19mm, f/22, ISO 100, 0.5s

Sunrise over the Mokulua Islands (the Mokes):

20mm, f/22, ISO 50, 5.0s

We had absolutely nothing to do all weekend and it was glorious! Johnnie went kayaking, I sat watching the ocean and doodled in a sketch pad, we ate and drank, we went for a walk, we played in the water, and mostly we just relaxed (physically and mentally). It was a fantastic getaway!

After checking out of our cabin on Monday, which was Memorial Day, we stopped by the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in the Punchbowl Crater on our way home. It is always an incredible place to visit but was extra touching to see on Memorial Day with a flag and a lei placed at every grave. The cemetery is the resting-place for almost 53,000 veterans (and eligible family members). Veterans from all over the country, from all the different wars, some known and some unknown - we are thankful for their service and sacrifice.

*******

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."

~Robert Orben

Family Friday: May 23

2014-05-24T00:29:00.002-07:00

We have had an enjoyable and relaxing week! Johnnie took time off work to spend with us and his visiting family!

We didn't have any big plans for the week so we spent a lot of time here at the house. But when you live on the beach, there are not many reasons to go elsewhere! The weather has been great (though a little hot at times) and ocean has been extremely calm. When the water is calm, a lot of people come out to swim, kayak, paddle board, and fish. Johnnie and his dad enjoyed an evening out on a two-person kayak this week.

Johnnie's family spent a morning at Shark's Cove doing some snorkeling and scuba diving. We joined them afterwards for lunch at the Shark's Cove Grill across the street from the cove. There wasn't very many people there but there was a wild chicken running around that CC loved chasing after!

There was a little curly haired boy running around hitting everything (his mother was doing nothing to stop him) and while we were eating, he came up behind CC and whacked her on the head! Of course his mother came over and apologized. She tried to get him to say he was sorry and made the excuses that he was a "free spirit" and "he's not quite 2 yet". Really? Because CC is the same age and we don't let her go around hitting things and people. This is the second time I have heard people here blame their children's bad behavior on being a "free-spirited North Shore baby." As if living on the North Shore is a valid excuse for letting your children act however they want in public.

Johnnie and his family spent an afternoon at the nearby Waimea Valley. CC had a blast running everywhere and exploring before passing out in the stroller for a while. I enjoyed time alone at home (which is a rare treat) and got caught up on some things.

We also all took a day trip over to Kailua this week which is as least an hour drive with no traffic. CC slept the entire way there and the entire way home (which took us over an hour and half with some traffic).

First we stopped at the The Food Company for lunch - it was a small place but had pretty amazing food! Afterwards we went to Kailua Beach Park and enjoyed the baby powder sand and clear turquoise water for a few hours.

CC had so much fun running around the beach and playing in the sand. She loves to destroy the sand castles we make :)

I certainly enjoyed sitting with my toes in the soft sand. I was able to relax a little (and even close my eyes for a while) since Johnnie's parents were there to help watch CC. We spent a little time in the water but mostly just relaxed on the beach.

If you notice, we went through two bathing suit changes for CC during the day - thank goodness I was prepared! Swimming diapers are meant to contain, not to absorb, which makes things extra messy.

Johnnie went kayaking with his sister and her boyfriend out to the Mokulua Islands. They were gone for a couple hours since they got out and explored one of the islands. I love our beach on the North Shore but the east side of the island is pretty spectacular and always a great place to spend the day!

*******

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."

~ Robert Orben

Family Friday: May 16

2014-05-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Johnnie has been gone a work trip for the past three weeks and just got home yesterday. This is the first time CC has seemed to really understand that daddy was gone and was coming home. She has been playing with her Daddy Doll more than she ever has before and she got so excited when I told her that he was coming home!

Johnnie's parents and his sister and her boyfriend all arrived yesterday as well for a long visit! We went from a very empty house to a very full house! CC is very glad to have her daddy home and it didn't take long for her to warm up to everyone else. She always has a good time with visitors and loves the attention.

CC has started singing this week! She loves music, loves to dance, and loves to play her instruments so singing was the only thing left to add. Every word of her songs is "la" but there are definitely melodies that she makes up herself. She has a lot of musically and artistically talented relatives and I'm anxious to see if she inherited those talents. At least she inherited the love of those things!

We picked up some colored pencils recently to add to CC's art supplies. The bonus is that they don't write on surfaces as easily as crayons and markers do. CC loves to draw but has proven that she cannot be trusted unsupervised with writing utensils... yet.

She still loves to read and sits for a long time reading all of her books to herself.

We don't go out often and when we do, it's usually to go grocery shopping. Cameron loves shopping with me. When she rides in the cart, she likes me to hand her things so she can put them in the basket. If the store isn't crowded, I'll let her walk by herself and she likes to help me push the cart and carry our reusable bags.

We do almost all of our grocery shopping at Costco and at the Commissary (the military grocery store on base). Our Costco has a fantastic selection of fresh and organic fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. and some are even locally grown. Those two places have the cheapest prices on the island. Groceries really are as expensive as you might have heard. In the regular grocery stores here, one gallon of milk is $7 while a half gallon of organic milk is $7. A tiny bottle of olive oil is $15 and cereal is $6-7 box. I am very thankful the Commissary and Costco have more reasonable prices!

When we go onto base to shop at the commissary, we'll often stop at our favorite playground or meet Johnnie for lunch since we're there!

When we're home, we go outside everyday whether to go on walks, to ride in the wagon, or to play on the beach.

*******

"You can shake the sand from your shoes, but not from your soul."

~unknown

Family Friday: 20 Months Old

2014-05-13T19:00:00.003-07:00

This month we took photos on the beach that is our backyard. There are large volcanic rocks nearby that CC loves to climb on and sit on. She and Dulce have a lot of fun on the beach!

At 20 months old, CC is 31 inches tall - she grew one whole inch in the past two months! She wears size 4 diapers, and size 18 month clothing (though a most of her shirts are size 2T), and size 5 shoes (but will soon be a 6).

She likes doing everything by herself and only wants help when she can't do something alone or if she's tired. For example, she likes walking up stairs all by herself if there is a wall or railing to hold onto, she likes to buckle herself into her booster seat for meals, and she likes to take her bib off by herself when she's done eating.

CC's sleeping schedule is still the consistent. She is in bed by 7:30 and sleeps for 12+ hours. She also takes one 2 hour nap a day in the afternoon. We always put her to bed with a doll, a couple of board books, and a couple of pacifiers. She reads the books before falling asleep and in the morning she happily plays with her doll and reads until we go in to get her. When we put her in her crib at night or for naps, she almost always cries like its the end of the world. However as soon as we shut her door, she always stops crying within 30 seconds... little faker :)

Her hair is getting longer but you would never know it from the curls. Her hair is well below her shoulder but the ringlets keep it looking short. The ringlets in the back are just curling tighter the longer it gets so it be a long while before her hair actually touches her shoulders.

CC eats four times a day (three meals and one scheduled snack) with no snacking in-between and drinks a lot of water throughout the day. Because we don't snack, she is hungry at mealtimes and eats really well. She will eat almost everything I give her so I try to give her a variety. I recently discovered that she loved sliced cucumbers and steamed Kale but she still does not like potatoes and is not a big fan of squash. CC's diet has always been very clean because I really want her to develop healthy eating habits and a healthy lifestyle. She will eventually have the freedom to eat whatever she chooses but for now she can only eat what I give her so I make sure it's the best possible. Wanting her to eat healthy, having to prepare her meals, and not having her snack throughout the day has all positively affected my own diet and way of eating.

CC talks constantly... in her own language. I am always trying to get her to say new words and often she will repeat something back to me. However, she is not adding those words to her everyday spoken language yet. Still, she will carry on an entire conversation with you if you keep responding to her. I say a lot phrases like "wow, really?", "that's interesting, tell me more", "I know! I totally agree with you!", and "what else can you tell me about that?". I can only imagine the conversations we'll have once she actually starts speaking English :)

Despite not using any real words, her inflection, facial expressions, and body language (and the fact that I'm with her 24/7) makes it pretty easy to understand what she is saying. Her questions are most recognizable because of the enthusiastic way she asks them. She has her phrases that almost sound like the real thing, such as "what was that?", "who is that?", and "where is it?". When she is looking for something, she walks around with her hands out saying "hmmmmm" over and over - cutest thing ever!

CC didn't watch any television until she was 18 months old. It's recommended you wait until 2 years old because "toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and caregivers for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills." (source) I interact with CC all day so I don't feel that one TV show during her I'm-tired-but-not-tired-enough-for-a-nap time before lunch is going to hinder her growth or development. She loves watching "her shows" and gets so excited watching them! We mostly watch (on Netflix) Caillou (all episodes), Barney (the Let's Go to the Zoo, and the Sing and Dance episodes), and Curious George (all episodes). Spanish versions of Caillou and Barney are available on YouTube which we can also watch on our TV. I love watching the same episodes in both English and Spanish! My spanish is limited so the shows are the best thing available for exposing her to fluent speakers. It reiterates the spanish vocabulary I use with her and is teaching both of us new vocabulary.

CC is starting to throw tantrums. She throws herself (gently) to the floor or against a wall, she throws things, and she scowls at me but despite all of that, she still wants me to hold her. Her tantrums are almost always when she is tired or hungry. She is a new child after a nap or a meal.

CC still loves books, music, dogs, cats, airplanes, purses, rocks, baby dolls, and stuffed animals. She loves dancing, playing her instruments, climbing, cleaning, playing with water, and taking Dulce for walks. She likes brushing her teeth (but doesn't like when I do it for her), she likes getting baths (but hates getting her hair rinsed), and she follows directions really well.

She is an amazing little girl who brings joy to all of my days :)

*******

"Let all that you do be done in love."

~ 1 Corinthians 16:14

Family Friday: May 2

2014-05-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I took a four-day trip to Kauai with Laura and her mom. That means that Johnnie and Cameron (and Dulce) had some wonderful daddy-daughter bonding time!

They even went on some dates out for dinner! ♥

There was big excitement when a Hawaiian Monk Seal decided to sleep the day away on the beach right in front of our house! This the second time Johnnie has seen a seal on our beach and I've missed it both times. This is the first time that Cam got to see one and she was really excited! I am so glad that they got to watch it sleep, roll around, and then shuffle its way back into the ocean. I am also very glad that our sweet neighbor was out watching it with them and took lots of photos that she shared with me!

While our guests were here, we went to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet where I saw a hammock chair that would go perfectly on the empty hook hanging from the ceiling above our deck. The vendor told me I wouldn't find a better deal anywhere ($90) so of course I went home and ordered one on Amazon (which included pillows and free shipping) for less than half of his price. The chair was waiting for me when we returned from Kauai. It is amazing. Cameron loves it as much as I do!

This is my happy place. I am so thankful for every day we spend living here.

A couple days after returning from Kauai, we said good-bye to our guests. Laura was here for three weeks and was more like a roommate than a guest. She worked on her computer for eight hours a day so there was no change to our life at all and I appreciated the help and company when she wasn't working. Cameron had a great time with Laura and her mom and searched every room for them often for a few days after they left.

I got out my painting supplies last week and painted some beach rocks for no particular reason other than feeling crafty and the fact that painting, coloring, and doodling are things that soothe my mind.

I have a bad habit of not putting things away when I'm done so after looking at the painting supplies on the table for a few days, I decided to let Cameron have some fun with them. And no, I still haven't put them away... maybe tomorrow :)

This is the first time Cameron has ever used any kind of paint - who needs finger paints when you can start with acrylics? The paper she painted on is Canson Acrylic Paper which is heavyweight, textured, and doesn't buckle when wet. I think she had more fun mixing the paints on the palette than actually painting the paper. I had a container of baby wipes next to me that easily cleaned up any misplaced paint on her or the floor around her.

Not bad for a her first painting masterpiece at almost 20 months old! I see a bird flying in the upper right corner, breaking free from turmoil. Genius! Of course every mother thinks their child is a genius, right? :) I will definitely get the paints out periodically to watch her art develop. When I was in grad school, my final project for an instructional technology class was creating an interactive computer program that taught about the stages of artistic development in children. Therefore, I know what to expect with children's art and it will be so much fun to see it develop in real life!

My weekend getaway to Kauai was fantastic and rejuvenating. Time away (even if it's just to a store alone) is important for any stay-at-home mom because it's the only time you can truly turn off your mind from the constant go-go-go mode of mommyhood. Life here is quiet but always busy. I am enjoying the days alone with my girls for another week until more guests arrive. Our time in Hawaii is limited so it's best that family visits while they can!

*******

"Every day you are alive is a special occasion.

Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God."

~Mary Manin Morrissey

Hapalua Half Marathon

2014-05-04T18:29:00.005-07:00

April 13 was the Hapalua Half Marathon in Honolulu. My running buddy, Laura, made the trip to Hawaii to run it with me. This was my 7th half marathon, Laura's 12th, and the 5th one that we have run together. Both of us have goals of running a half marathon in every state, so we try to get together once a year to run one! We always color coordinate our race outfits. This year, for the first time, we got the exact same shirt and sports bra (from Kiava), and had the same color running skirts though they were different brands (Laura's was Kiava and mine was Nike).

Our past half marathons - Virginia, Texas, Washington, and California:

The Hapalua Half Marathon was an awesome race to run and it was incredible because there is no reason we should have done as well as we did! It was the fastest half marathon that we have run together yet, I felt amazing the entire time running, and we were barely even sore the next day. Why is that incredible? Because neither of us trained properly for this, we didn't get enough sleep the night before, and we fueled our race with beer and cookies.

I started training 9 weeks before the race. A half marathon is 13.1 miles so I should have started at least 13 weeks before. I am an experienced runner but I hadn't run in a few months so I started my training at 1.5 miles and increase slowly from there. I started out strong running consistently for the first 4 weeks and then I got ~~lazy~~ busy and slowed down to once a week... oops! I was supposed to have built up to 11 miles but the farthest I ever got was 5 miles - once pushing a stroller and twice without. There was obviously poor planning and poor training on my part. Laura didn't do much better with her training as the farthest she ran was 6 miles. We are quite the pair of running buddies :)

I obviously don't recommend running a half marathon without properly training for it - my first half was like that and it was a horrendous experience. Laura and I both ran multiple half marathons last year and have been active with other exercise as well so we are both in pretty good shape. Still, we didn't expect to do nearly as well as we did!

We live on the North Shore which is an hour drive from Honolulu with no traffic. We decided at the last minute to book a hotel room downtown so that we didn't have to wake up crazy early to get to the race on time. We got a room for only $100 at the Ohana Waikiki West that was within walking distance to the start and finish of the race - score!

On Saturday we drove to the Hawaii Convention Center to sign in and get our race bags. It was a pitiful race expo with no free samples and very few vendors. After the expo, we went to Sports Authority to get Laura a hat for the race and I got one as well since the rest of our outfits matched. From there we went to Savers, a thrift store, to find some throwaway shirts. We each got a cheap sweatshirt to keep us warm in the morning until the race started. After that, we drove the race course so we would know what to expect. This was the first time I've ever done that for a race and it was very helpful, especially to see the hills that everyone was commenting about online.

The last place we went was to Whole Foods to get things for breakfast. We stocked up on water, whole grain bread, packets of nut butter, bananas, and cookies. The cookies were not on our shopping list but they were from the Whole Foods bakery and were flat, brown, crispy deliciousness that we couldn't pass up :)

The Whole Foods is attached to a mall which has an Apple store. My iPhone stopped working properly the night before so it was the perfect opportunity to get it fixed. Turns out that getting it fixed was quite an ordeal and it ultimately needed replaced... this took hours but now I have a new phone that works!

It was after 9pm by the time we reached the hotel and we still hadn't eaten dinner yet! The hotel has two extremely tiny parking garages that were, of course, full so Laura stayed with the car in a no parking zone while I checked in. We were given a map to park in a garage two blocks away but the map took us to the garage location, not to the garage entrance. We had to circle around three times before we went down all of the correct one-way streets to get us to the garage entrance. The hotel was not the greatest for multiple reasons (including the parking and their bad map) but it was cheap and only for one night.

Once we parked, we walked two blocks back to the hotel to put our bags in the room and then searched for a place to eat. We then found a bar/restaurant within walking distance that was still open and serving food but we had to pay a $5 cover charge because there was a DJ - a cover charge for a DJ in a practically empty bar? Seriously?! We couldn't hear each other talk but we enjoyed some huli huli chicken with rice, and had our traditional night-before-the-race beer.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and chowed down on those crispy cookies from Whole Foods while getting our things ready for the morning. I always run races with sneakers, running skirt, tank top, undergarments, hat, sunglasses, GPS heart rate monitor, iPod Shuffle and headphones, two GU gels (for energy during the run), two pieces of mint gum (keeps my mouth moist), my race bib, my ID, and a $20 bill (just in case).

On the morning of the race, we were slow moving from having stayed up so late. We ate our whole grain bread (yay for a toaster in our room!) with bananas and nut butter... and also had a few cookies. The race started at 6AM. We walked out the door at 5:50 and got to the starting line just as the singing of the national anthem was finishing. There were no corrals for the runners so you could get in line wherever you wanted. We stayed on the sidewalk stretching while the other runners took off. When we saw the end of the line, we realized that we better jump in!

The first 8 miles were flat (except for a small bridge) so it was easy running. It was a cloudy morning which kept the temperature cool which also helped. It drizzled a few times and it rained hard a few times but it never lasted long and we were wearing hats which kept the rain off of our faces. There were drink stations every two miles with both water and gatorade so it wasn't necessary to carry a water bottle.

At mile 9 there was a half-mile hill followed by a level break and then another hill. We walked some of the first hill but ran the second one. Mile 12 was the most memorable and perfect mile that I have ever run in my life! It was all downhill with the ocean to our left, Diamond Head to our right, a huge rainbow in front of us, and wind at our backs... it doesn't get any better than that!

The finish line and post-race celebration was at Kapiolani Park. There were fresh hot malasadas, shave ice, bananas, moon pies, and cold water. The results of the race were printed out and taped up for all to see while we were there. We stayed for a while to bask in the post-race euphoria and then walked back to the hotel, showered, got coffee, and ate more cookies on the drive home. Despite the craziness, this turned out to be the best race we've run yet. I love our race adventures!

*******

"The finish line doesn’t care how many miles you have run, how fast you’ve gone,

how many people you’ve passed, or who may have passed you.

It only cares that you arrive... that you finish what you started."

~FellowFlowers.com

Family Friday: April 18

2014-04-21T00:13:00.000-07:00

My friend and running buddy, Laura, arrived about two weeks ago for a long visit (she's still here and her mother joined us a few days ago as well). She came to run the Hapalua Half Marathon with me and since she works a full-time job via internet, she is able to stay for a while. Having her here has been helpful in giving me the freedom to run errands during CC's naps and having an extra hand to help get dinner ready. It's also nice having a friend to talk to everyday as well :)

I have a ton of photos of CC but not very many of her and I together since I'm the one always holding the camera. I'm thankful that Laura has been snapping some photos of CC and I together in the past couple weeks - they are already some of my favorite photos!

See more on Instagram! http://instagram.com/johnnieangela

CC has decided this week that she loves vegetables again (but still not potatoes) after a month-long dislike of them. I'm glad that was just a short phase! I offer her a fork at every meal and this week she has started using it correctly for about half of what she eats. It has been a process for the past couple of months that she has been figuring out.

We had a well-visit with the pediatrician this week. According to the evaluation, CC is very advanced with her physical abilities and fine motor skills but lacking with her language because she has a small spoken vocabulary (her sign language words do not count). We're not worried about that at all because we know that her level of understanding language is very high and that her spoken language will come when she's ready.

This past week CC has been babbling up a storm. She has very animated conversations with us and is now "reading" her books out loud to herself... but all in her own language. This week she started saying up and can clearly say Laura (which is her first spoken name). She points and yells excitedly when airplanes and helicopters fly by our house and we just realized a few days ago that she is actually yelling "There it is!" when she sees one. I guess that with all the words we say (airplane, plane, el avión, glider, helicopter, Coast Guard) that it's easier for her to simply say that phrase. That is officially the first time she has put words together into a sentence or phrase.

I became friends with Laura when we were living in Georgia over five years ago. She has known Dulce from the time that we adopted her and spent a lot of time with her, often watching her during our frequent out of town trips. Dulce hadn't seen Laura in over three years but she absolutely remembered her! Dulce cried and cried when she saw Laura and even slept on her bed with her the first night. A dog's love obviously knows no time or distance :)

Dulce loves chasing sand crabs and has discovered recently that she can catch them if she digs very deep holes. Every morning she digs holes as deep as her front legs will go and actually catches at least one crab a day. They usually survive but with some battle wounds. Dulce luckily hasn't gotten her nose pinched... yet.

This past week had fun times on the beach...

a long overdue date night...

and evenings of drinks on the lanai watching the sun set into the ocean. I am so thankful for every day :)

*******

"True friendship isn't about being inseparable,

it's being separated and nothing changes."

~unknown

Family Friday: 19 Months

2014-04-12T13:31:00.003-07:00

This month Cameron and I went with a friend to Waimea Valley to take her photos. It was so helpful having my friend along to help get Cam's attention. Cameron was running everywhere until my friend asked her dance... genius! She stopped in the middle of path and started dancing for us long enough for me to get a good photo :)

Waimea Valley is on the North Shore across from Waimea Bay. It is a beautiful area with a gift shop, cultural events, and a farmer's market held every Thursday. For a fee, you can hike the 1.5 mile round-trip paved walking path to Waimea Falls. It is a beautiful walk through lush scenery to a waterfall at the end. There are many dirt and gravel paths that veer off of the main path to lead you through different gardens, an ancient Hawaiian living site, and along a stream.

At 19 months old, Cameron is wearing size 4 diapers and size 5 shoes. She wears mostly size 18 month clothing but some 24 month and 2T things are starting to fit. I can pick out her outfits with little fuss but she wants to choose which shoes to wear. She can put on most of her shoes by herself now.

Cameron loves reading books (with someone and by herself), listening to music and playing her instruments, and dancing (if she hears any music, her hips start swaying). She love all animals (especially dogs), shoes, necklaces, purses, baby dolls, her truck, and her shopping cart. She loves getting baths and playing with water (I give her beach buckets full to play with on the deck). She loves rocks and picks them up everywhere we go and she also loves taking Dulce for walks and holding the leash.

Cameron will now usually give hugs and kisses when we ask. Sometimes her kisses are her ~~lips~~ mouth pressed against ours and other times it is only the kissing sound "mmmwah" in our general direction. Sometimes she surprises us with heart-melting random kisses, hugs, and cuddles.

Cameron's hair is growing and is still as curly as ever. Every morning while she eats breakfast, I spritz it with water and comb it. It dries into perfect little ringlets and curls.

Cameron wanted to help me push the stroller through the park instead of riding in it. She loves to help me around the house and do whatever she sees me doing.

Cameron seems to understand almost everything she hears but her vocabulary is still limited. I imagine that she is simply absorbing everything right now and will start spitting out complete sentences some day. Her most said words are this and that. She is constantly pointing at things saying "This?" or "That?" and we tell her what it is. When we say something that she doesn't understand, she will say "What?" with perfect clarity and a little attitude.

Cameron sleeps at least 12 hours each night with a bedtime of 7:30pm. She takes 2+ hr nap during the day, usually in the afternoon. At our old house she slept in footed pajamas because of the air conditioning. It is a lot warmer here so we recently got her some new big girl pajamas - the cute little matching sets of tops and bottoms. On cooler nights she wears a sleep sack over her pajamas.

We always put her to bed with a doll, a couple of board books, and a couple of pacifiers. She will often look at the books before falling asleep and in the morning she happily plays her doll and reads until we go in to get her. She still needs the pacifiers for falling sleeping, both at night and for naps but we don't use them during the day unless we go out somewhere.

Last month Cameron was on a vegetable strike but this month she has willingly eaten a small variety of veggies and I discovered that she loves veggie burgers. She still won't drink milk but she likes drinking smoothies so I'll make her one a few times a week to have with breakfast. Her most favorite recent smoothie consisted of oranges, pineapple, banana, kale, pineapple juice, and milk.

Cameron is a sweet, independent, and curious little girl who is (usually) a lot fun to be around. Life with a baby was extremely difficult for me so I am thankful that babies grow quickly. Life is exponentially easier and more enjoyable this year and keeps getting better each month. This is is my absolute favorite age yet and really makes me love being a mom.

*******

"These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this"

~Trace Adkins

Family Friday: April 4

2014-04-06T21:28:00.002-07:00

CC is becoming such an independent little lady and is consistently doing more and more things for herself. She spends time each day practicing putting on her shoes (and our shoes). She insists on washing herself in the bath with a soapy washcloth and actually does a good job with some spoken directions from us. She mimics many things that she sees me doing such as "cooking" with a mixing bowl and a whisk (that she gets out of a kitchen drawer herself) and putting on my makeup and deodorant (with the cap and lids on). She is also starting to have opinions about her outfits and decides which shoes she wants to wear.

The book "French Kids Eat Everything" (love that book!) says that if a child doesn't like a food it's only because they haven't tried it enough times yet. I keep that in mind for CC and her new dislike for vegetables. I continue to make and offer different veggies despite the fact that she doesn't always eat them. This past week she actually ate (and enjoyed) grilled zucchini, portobello mushroom, and carrots! The carrots were in a Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup that I made which she couldn't get enough of... especially the carrots in it.

CC still doesn't like drinking milk but will drink smoothies now. Johnnie and I drink smoothies often and CC will usually drink a small cup of her own. We blend together milk and banana with other fruits of choice. We always have large bags of frozen mango, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries in our freezer for smoothie making. Sometimes we blend in other things such as yogurt, fruit juice, kale, spinach, or spirulina powder.

The pearls and the shoes were completely her own choice for this evening walk and she insists on holding the leash :)

Some of our other struggles are becoming easier. CC used to love brushing her teeth when she was a younger but for the past few months it has been a challenge. Lately she has gotten a little more cooperative. While she sucks on the toddler toothbrush that she holds, I ask for quick turns with the toddler toothbrush that I hold and we end up with a pretty good brushing.

Hair washing (or actually the rinsing part) has always been a struggle that CC is also getting more cooperative with. She now lies back voluntarily in the shallow water so I can quickly rinse the suds out. She still doesn't like it and whimpers but at least she no longer screams.

Love those curls!

CC has such a good time playing with Dulce every day and Dulce usually appears to enjoy the attention. Dulce is an extremely patient dog with CC and puts up with almost everything she does to her. CC is getting better at being gentle with Dulce although we still occasionally have to remind her not to grab her tail or hit her with things. One of these days I'm going to see Dulce run past me wearing a dress :)

This past week I bought an Olloclip 3-in-1 Photo Lens for my iPhone and I am loving it! The lens fits onto the corner of your iPhone and has a wide angle, fisheye, and macro lens. Although I have a pro DSLR, I tend to use my iPhone most for everyday photos. The Olloclip takes phone photos to the next level and is so fun to use!

I always edit my iPhone photos with apps on my iPhone before posting them online. By the way, I'm still going strong with my 2014daybyday challenge on Instagram! My two favorite photo editing apps are PicTapGo and Afterlight. Sometimes I only use one of those apps, while other times I use both. Afterlight has some neat filters but is best for for cropping, straightening, sharpening, and adjusting specifics. PicTapGo allows you to layer filter upon filter (and adjust the opacity of each one) to create some fantastic looks.

*******

"The whole point of taking pictures is so that

you don’t have to explain things with words."

~ Elliott Erwitt

Swimming with Sea Turtles

2014-03-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

I had been looking at the ocean in front of our house for two months without getting in it. I'm not a big fan of water and didn't want to go in alone. When my brother and his wife were visiting recently, I finally had someone to go snorkeling with and someone else to watch CC. I'm thankful for the opportunity and we had an amazing time!

When the tide is low and the wind isn't too strong, the water is calm and perfect for snorkeling right in front of our house. The coral around this island is not very colorful but there are a lot of colorful fish to be seen. The numerous giant Green Sea Turtles that we saw were an added bonus. It was such a surreal experience to swim alongside them!

I had a waterproof Olympus Tough TG-2 camera with me to take photos and video. I was disappointed with the quality of the photos and video at first until I changed the AF Mode to Spot in the camera's menu which made all the difference. Not bad for a little point and shoot camera!

*******

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to

moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides, and follow the sun."

~Anonymous

Family Friday: March 28

2014-03-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

If you follow us on Instagram, you'll know that we had guests this past week! Our house is a small furnished rental with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. The guest room is the smallest of the three bedrooms and there wasn't much that I could do to it. I got all new bedding for the two twin beds and added some of our own items to maximize the usefulness of the small space.

My brother and his wife were the first guests in our beach house and flew all the way from Pennsylvania to be here. Cameron last saw her aunt and uncle almost a year ago when we visited my family in PA. She had such a good time with them all week and it was an incredible opportunity for her to get to know them (and them to get to know her)!

We have been living in this house for two months now but I have never gotten in the water yet. To be honest, I'm really not a water person - I'd much rather look at it from land than be in it. I've been building up the courage to go snorkeling but didn't want to do it alone. Luckily, my brother was excited to join me and his wife was more than happy to relax with Cameron on the beach.

We were thrilled to discover that the best snorkeling in the immediate area was directly in front of our house! The coral isn't very colorful but we did see a lot of colorful fish. We also saw many giant Green Sea Turtles and swam right alongside them. It was the most amazing and tranquil experience! I took photos and video with my waterproof Olympus Tough TG-2 camera. My next blog post will be all about swimming with the turtles to showcase the photos and video that I took.

We took a family hike to Kaena Point, which is the westernmost point of Oahu. This is a five mile round-trip hike on a dirt road along the coast. Many people try to travel this road with their four-wheel-drive vehicles but it is rough, muddy, and can be dangerous. At the end is a fenced bird sanctuary that you can walk through to get to the point (no dogs allowed). We saw a lot of whales and the scenery was gorgeous!

We took a trip to Waimea Valley which is on the North Shore across from Waimea Bay. This is a scenic area with a gift shop, cultural events, and a farmer's market held every Thursday. For a fee, you can hike the 1.5 mile round-trip paved walking path to Waimea Falls. It is a beautiful walk through lush botanical gardens to the waterfall at the end. Swimming is allowed with a lifejacket (provided for free) and there are life guards on duty. My brother and his wife jumped in and swam to the falls. Johnnie and I will do it next time :)

We live on a beach but it's still nice to go to other beaches from time to time for a different view, different sand, and different weather. My brother and his wife had a couple beach days to themselves, going to Waimea Bay and to Magic Island, and we took one family trip to Bellows AFB Beach. Bellows has the most gorgeous turquoise water, beautiful scenery, and the softest baby powder sand. Cameron had a blast playing in the sand and knocking down the sand castles.

On our last day together we took them on a tour of Ford Island to see the Pearl Harbor memorials (USS Utah, USS Oklahoma, USS Missouri, and USS Arizona) and then drove through Hickam AFB to have an oceanside dinner with a view of Diamond Head. It was a lovely day that ended with a sad good-bye at the airport. We are thankful that they were able to make the trip to visit us while we are stationed here.

We had such a fantastic week with them and wish they could've stayed longer! We have plenty of photos to help Cameron remember this time with them.

*******

"'Ohana means family - no one gets left behind, and no one is ever forgotten."

~Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, Lilo & Stitch

Family Friday: 18 Months Old

2014-03-19T18:12:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that Cameron is one and a half years old already! Life is certainly getting easier as she gets older, although taking her monthly photo is still a challenge. I need her facing forward so that I can Photoshop her onesie and it would be nice to have her looking at the camera and smiling.

We tried two different locations last week to get this month's photo... the first location was the pergola structure Haleiwa Beach Park which looks pretty from a distance but is actually quite run down. Cam was not a fan and did not want to be there. The second location was simply a old scenic dirt road nearby.

I knew I didn't get any good photos of her looking up at the camera that day so I had plans to go back and try again... which is why this blog post is late. We never did get the chance to go back because of the weather but after finally going through the photos that I already took, I fell in love with one despite that fact she is looking down.

At 18 months, Cameron is approximately 23 lbs and 30 inches tall. She is wearing size 4 diapers, mostly size 18 month clothing, and just moved up to size 5 shoes (her feet are finally growing).

Cam got her first two teeth when she was 9 months old. Now, nine months later, she has all of her teeth except for the second set of molars that should come in during her 2nd year... although at her rate, she may get them sooner than later.

Cameron eats three meals and one snack a day. She is a fantastic eater and will try most foods but she is not a fan of most vegetables. She especially hates potatoes (all forms of) which is funny because that's the food I ate most while I was pregnant. She also no longer likes carrots which used to be her favorite food! To make sure Cam eats some vegetables, I make veggies muffins (such as these Whole Wheat Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins) which she will happily eat and ask for more. Cam drinks water all day but does not like to drink milk or juice. Thankfully she loves cheese and fruit so I make sure she has those things at most every meal.

Last month, Cameron weaned herself off of bottles. In this past month, we have packed away all bottles and sippy cups. Well, all sippy cups except for one... we kept out her Tommee Tippee Lil Sippee Trainer Cup because it "drinks like a cup" and she loves it. We switched over to cups with straws (for example, First Years Take & Toss Straw Cups) and to the AVENT Natural Drinking Cups which are spill proof but are exactly like drinking from a real cup.

Cameron sleeps 12+ hours every night and takes one 2 hour nap during the day. I'm not sure she actually sleeps the entire night but at least she doesn't wake us up crying. Occasionally I will wake up to her laughing or talking to herself at an odd hour in the early morning. Lately Cam has been trying to put off bedtime... needing one more story or needing to get one more toy to sleep with. It could go on all night so we have to say good-night and leave the room. She cries for about a minute and then settles down to go to sleep.

Cameron's most said words right now are hi, wow, no, this, that, and uh-oh. When she sees a baby (in a picture or real life) she says awwwww and when she sees food she says num num. She knows which animals say roar, meow, woof, and moo, and thinks every other animal goes ah ah ah.

Cam is doing great with her physical coordination. She can wave, clap, dance, climb, walk backwards, spin in a circle, march in place, ~~run~~ walk very quickly, and almost get both feet off the ground when jumping.

While video chatting with my parents last week, my mother asked Cameron some questions like "Where is your nose?" and "Where is your hair?" It was cute seeing her answer them but it suddenly made me realize that we have never asked her specific questions like that before! We did finally ask her about everything else... it turns out that she knows her belly, feet, hands, nose, mouth, teeth, eyes, and hair :)

I know that Cameron knows a lot of things but I guess I don't feel the need to question her knowledge or force her to demonstrate her knowledge. She will get enough of that at school someday and I had my fill of it being a teacher. If I say after eating "Let me wipe off your hands," and she holds them out for me to wipe, that shows her knowledge just as well as randomly asking "Where are your hands?" I don't want Cameron to ever feel that it is necessary to tell me the right answer or show me that she can do something in order for me to be proud of her. I am going to try my hardest to nurture her interests and create self-driven motivation so that she can be proud of herself. I encourage Cameron to explore and figure things out for herself, I provide her with opportunities to experience new sensations and ideas, and I tell her about things that I do and things she shows interest in. I know she is absorbing everything and learning new things every day just by interacting with me and the world around her.

Cameron loves to read books, loves her dolls and her truck, loves animals, loves hearing music, loves playing the keyboard and other instruments, loves pushing her shopping cart around, loves purses and shoes, and loves scooping and pouring. She loves taking things out of drawers and she almost always puts everything back, just not as neatly as it once was. She likes getting her hair fixed but does not like brushing her teeth. She mimics a lot of things that I do and things she sees other people do. She give kisses and hugs but only when she wants to which makes her random, unexpected hugs the sweetest thing ever :)

*******

"The more we observe, the more we understand and appreciate the enormous amount and speed of learning that happens during the first two or three years of life. We become more humble, we teach less, and we provide an environment for learning instead."

~Magda Gerber

Family Friday: March 7

2014-03-08T23:09:00.002-08:00

This week we met a group of friends for a play date at the Kaena Community Center park (next to Solomon Elementary) on Schofield Barracks. This was our first time to this playground and I was very impressed by the size and variety of equipment and also by the rubberized bark surrounding it to help cushion falls. Cameron had a blast climbing, sliding, and watching the other kids play! Next to the playground is a splash park that we will definitely try out another day. A bonus to playing at this park is that we can meet Johnnie for lunch afterward or stop for groceries at the commissary - definitely worth the trip for us!

Cameron got a new toy truck this week. We were walking past the toy section in Ross when she spotted it and instantly fell in love. She pushed it around for a few minutes and then put it down to look at some other toys. As soon as she left it alone, another little boy immediately picked it up and handed it to his mother who put it in their cart! Cameron watched them walk away with her truck, arms crossed and lip quivering. Luckily there was another one just like it on the shelf and once she got her hands on it, she didn't let it go. She pushed and carried that truck all by herself from the back of the store to the front. I couldn't say no, especially since she doesn't have any toy trucks or cars yet.

The truck is the Mega Bloks Caterpillar Constructor which is for ages 1 and up. (I'm glad Cam picked something age appropriate!) The Amazon description says it is "the dream truck of all active little boys"... it should say children because girls can obviously love it too! The truck has a large handle for pushing and carrying, and it comes with a small dump truck and a bulldozer. Cam loves putting the little trucks inside the big one and pushing it around. Vroom! Vroom!

The truck adds some nice variety to Cameron's mostly girly toy collection. She is all about wearing shoes and accessories, carrying purses, holding her "babies," and pushing her shopping cart around (filling it with her most prized possessions).

Cameron loves shoes and can put our shoes on her feet all by herself. She has been figuring out how to put on her own shoes and also how to put on clothes. She does a pretty good job!

Cameron's hair is growing thicker and longer which means I actually have to style it daily now. My hair is wavy but it's nothing like Cameron's curls (she gets that from Johnnie). I've learned that you can't brush dry curls or else they turn into a frizzy mess. Every morning while Cam eats breakfast, I comb water through her hair and then let it dry into ringlets. I'm thankful it is that easy!

This is one of those real-life snapshots below... a half-finished picture wall project and things of all kinds sitting around. Cameron is eating sliced pears, french toast cut into sticks, and cheese. There is milk in the cup with the straw and water in the sippy cup. Life is just like that :)

Cameron and I both wake up every morning with crazy hair. I tame Cam's hair with water and tame mine with a flat iron. Fortunately for Cameron, the salty humid air keeps her curls looking great all day. Unfortunately for me, that humid air brings back my waves within an hour. There is nothing I can do with these awkward wavy post-baby bangs except hide them under a headband or plaster them with hair spray every. single. day. and wait impatiently for them to grow out. I like the bangs but they are way too much work. The pictures you saw of me with nice straight bangs... there was half a bottle of hair spray involved there. I can at least be thankful that Hawaii is not fancy (flip flops are considered professional attire here) so crazy hair isn't too out of place.

Life (and hair) shouldn't be taken too seriously when you are on the beach :)

*******

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning."

~Fred Rogers