Whaaat? It's NOVEMBER?

One day, it's a warm August morning and I'm getting ready for the first day of school... next thing I know,  it's cold and we're in the middle of November! Where did the time go?  Gosh, pretty soon, BJ will be 2 years old! Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?

Well, today, I decided I would post some recent pics of BJ.  I've been putting off blogging, mostly because I'm lazy to upload pictures onto my computer. *Cough cough* What a terrible excuse.  Ooooh well, we all have to start fresh somewhere.

Here are some of my fave events from the past couple of months...

Happy November Everyone!  I'm excited and looking forward to decorating my house with holiday decorations!! This is the first Christmas in our new house. :-D

BJ's Animal Sounds

BJ at 18 months making animal sounds.

The Loss of a Friend

Hi Everyone,

Yes. I am still alive... but my blogging heart was not for a very long time.  This summer, my husband's family lost a beloved sister, daughter, aunty in Sonya Chin Alo Alder.  She was my husband's aunt and she lost a long battle with breast cancer... To me, she was my motivation and inspiration as a blog writer, and when she passed away, I felt like I lost my way.  It's not fair to blame Aunty Sonya for my writer's block, but my conversations with her pushed me to write my blog entries.  When she was gone, I couldn't think of topics, or even motivate myself to write.  I'm really sorry if I lost connections with all of you, but it was so hard.  I didn't even want to check my amauimommy e-mail. :-(

Then, one day last week, I was trying to find pictures of BJ, and I realized I couldn't find any recent ones.  I immediately got mad at myself because I wasn't documenting his growth.  Plus, Aunty Sonya would be sad to learn that I wasn't keeping up with my blog.

I'm going to try to push myself to write more now, for Aunty Sonya, and for the rest of you who are out there and maybe I don't know that you are reading.  Thank you for your patience as I revamp my blog and start over again.  Love you all, and love you Aunty Sonya.

TracePoo

Throwing Up

{warning} Kinda gross entry coming up but I had to talk about it:

Honestly... I thought that diarrhea was pretty gross... But I think vomit might be worse.  At least with diarrhea, it catches in the diaper (most of the time).  Lately, BJ has been having mucus and we think it's because he's been teething.  His mouth is full of teeth!  Anyway, last night as BJ was lying in our bed, I heard him choke on his mucus and make a heaving sound.  All of a sudden, I hear a mountain of water (and other nasty things) come flowing out of his mouth.  Let me tell you, cleaning up vomit at 11 o'clock at night is NOT FUN.  HJ and I decided we should sleep downstairs on the couch because we didn't want to wait for our bed to dry. :-/

And then, BJ and I were hanging out on my bed again today, and I heard him start choking on his mucus again so I quickly picked him up off the bed... and he threw up all over me! I mean, I'm glad that he didn't throw up on the bed again, but having a yogurt/sausage mix all over your clothes is pretty gross, even if it's your child's throw up.

Yaaaah... not a fun two days.

In happier news, have you signed up for my giveaway for 500 business cards?  I have another giveaway coming soon so stay tuned! <3

Getting Dirty

BJ and I got to hang out yesterday now that I'm home for summer, so we went to water my parents' yard because they were away on vacation.  While we were there, I realized something extremely important. 

Sometimes... it's important to learn how to stay clean....

And sometimes, you just have to plaaaaay and get dirty.....

Ooh! A lemon in the muddy water!

Hmm... I see this muddy water.

Okay I'll go swimming in it and just shower later...

And sleep on the car ride home.

Realization - Toddler Status

Just today, I realized that BJ is no longer really considered a "toddler". Even though he's only (almost) 15 months old, he runs around like he owns the joint, eats regular table food, talks up a storm, and is basically a small, tiny person.

Wow.

I have a toddler as a son.  (Some of you are probably rolling your eyes and going "DUH"... lol)

He's no longer a baby:

No.  He's a full blown toddler:

I love him but seriously, he makes me feel old. Time flies way too fast.

A Day at Keopuolani Park

Family fun day at Keopuolani Park in Kahului.  (There is a great park with 3 large jungle gyms for children of all ages.)

Running on the little toddler jungle gym

Trying his best at the downhill swing

Enjoying the swings

My favorite picture of the day - Pure joy

BJ's First Beach Day!

We had a family outing on Sunday and went to the beach!  Being that we are from Maui, you would think we would go to the beach more often, but this was BJ's first trip to the beach and he's 14 months old! haha. The real reason is because it takes so much to pack up towels, water, extra clothes, sun screen, hats, chairs, etc... We've just been way too lazy.  Plus, I'm a freak when it comes to the sun since I've heard so many horror stories about skin cancer, so I've been pretty protective about going outside.

Still... since we are in paradise... we decided to give the beach a try and had a great time on family fun day.

Please excuse the embarrassing photo.

We decided to go the Sugar Beach in Kihei and we loved it!  You could park right next to the sand, so your car is in full view. Plus, there were lots of shady areas for us to sit on the sand and make sand castles.  I was surprised... he didn't even eat the sand!

When we first took Bj into the water, he started crying because he was scared of the waves.  No, not just cried, SCREAMED. When we took him out a little deeper, though, he enjoyed the calmness of the water and mommy splashing water on daddy. hehe.

Overall, I'd say Beach Day was a success... and we need to have them more often!

Healthy Eats

Before I had BJ, I had an image in my head of how I would be the perfect mother - and one of those attributes included feeding baby healthy, homemade foods, and sitting around the dinner table eating a family meal together.  Of course, when reality set in and time became involved, BJ started eating more and more take out and frozen meals. *Sigh* I'm imperfect.  

A recent outing at Burger King

Today, HJ and I set a goal for ourselves to be better about our entire family's eating habits.  We've been eating out way too often, and have been teaching BJ that take out and fast food is okay to eat daily.  His favorite food is French Fries and if he sees one of us eating french fries, he'll cry out in frustration because he wants to eat it too.

Sooooooo I went to the library yesterday and borrowed a book on homemade toddler foods, and I realized that in reality, it's just adult food without the salt!  After my realization, HJ and I went to the neighborhood supermarket and purchased fresh meats and veggies, and I plan to make dinner at home every day this week.   I'm really excited.  I have also fallen in love with our slow cooker... a true best friend for a busy mom!!  You just place your food in the pot before you leave the house, turn the knob to low/high heat, and voilà, your food is done when you get home from work. I love it!

I hope that you are all eating yummy meals with your families, and if you can share tips with us, I would love to hear from you.  Wish us luck. :-)

The Next Child

I'm an only child... and it can be rather lonely sometimes.  I watch siblings interact with each other and I feel sad sometimes that I will never have that connection with someone as I get older.  This is why I want Jacob to have sibling(s?) who are close in age, and I feel most only children feel the same way.  The sad part about this is that childcare is extremely expensive, so I don't think we'll be able to afford another child for awhile.  I wish that we could have another child soon, but it's just not in the cards. *Sigh*

Just some random thoughts...

Entrepreneurship

I want to own my own business.

Seriously.

I just don't have a craft that I'm good at. And I think that's a major part of owning your own business, isn't it?  Actually having something to sell.... Yah. I'm sure that would help.

I like to think I'm diverse and can do many things okay, but I'm not GREAT at one specific thing; that one thing that will make me have my own business.

If any of you have any ideas, please share.  Thanks! :-)


By the way... Jacob now says "Basketball" and "I love you"... which sounds more like "basetball" and "wovewoo"

Vocabulary

BJ's been pretty verbal lately.  He'll walk up to us, point to something, and saw a word or two... sometimes even a long length of sounds that seem like a sentence.  The most difficult part is that sometimes, he doesn't actually say words, even though he thinks he is. He gets really frustrated if he's talking to us but we don't understand him.  I think it's a really difficult stage that he's in right now because he knows what he wants but it's hard for him to verbalize it.

BJ talking to mommy

  Here are words he can say at 14 months old. (He turns 14 months on the 9th)

Jacob... how old are you - "One" - As he holds his index finger up, symbolizing the number one
"Down"
"Yah"
"Wow"
"Hi"
"Hot"
"That"
"Mom"
"Bow-wow-wow"
"Mum-mum"
"Nice" - Just learned this one
"Wa" - like water

There might be a couple of more words he can say and I'm pretty sure I'm missing some.

I think this is a pretty good list for 14 months old; especially since "No" is not in there yet. Hehe. He does something different every day.  It's amazing how much information a young child can retain!  The brain is an amazing organ. :-)

Poop

Okay this is one of those posts that most people don't want to read about... but I thought I should catalog this in BJ's blog because it's something that happened to him and I promised to write everything that happens in his life.

BJ has been having diarrhea.  Not just diarrhea, actually, but yellow, watery, icky diarrhea.  I feel so bad for him... It's been going on since Sunday, the day that he had his fever, and at first we weren't worried because we thought it would go away just like his fevers, but they haven't gone away yet.  Today, HJ and I were nervous because it's the 5th day and he had 3 dirty diapers in the early morning so I called the doctor's office, and the advice nurse said it sounded like a virus and to just make sure BJ stays hydrated.  Really?  Is that all?  I'm sure he's fine because he's acting normal, but it's still nerve-wracking when something about him isn't normal. I hope things get better for him soon.  The nurse said a virus could last as long as a week, so... I guess it's just a matter of drinking lots of water/pedialyte and waiting. *sigh*

PS:
I am saving you from pictures tonight because no one wants to see the gross diapers that I have seen the past couple of days. YUCK. hehe...

PPS:
If BJ reads this 20 years from now, or worse yet if his future girlfriend reads this 20 years from now, I feel bad for him. :-P

Baby Fat

Ugggh... just came back from running.  Today is the 4th time this week that I went running and I'm pretty proud of myself.  I'm finally trying to lose the fat I gained while pregnant with BJ. It's weird.  I'm the same weight as when I got pregnant, but my body definitely does not look the same, lol. 

HJ told me not to post the fact that I'm trying to lose weight because then people will know and hold me accountable... but I think that's part of the challenge.  If I fail, well, everyone will know I did, and there are lots of people out there in the world who have failed at dieting at one time or another.... so I'm going to share my experiences with it.  Hopefully, the outcome is positive and not negative. :-)

The first day, I thought I was going to die.  I only made it half way down the road. How embarrassing, right?  Well, today, I made it all the way down the road! (And I'd like to think my street is long, lol) 

I think a large part of my problem is that I need to eat less desserts and food in general.  It's hard because now that BJ is eating table food, whenever I feed him, I take a couple of bites of his food... I just have to be more disciplined with the amount of calories I take in.  However, I'm taking baby steps and going with the exercise first. :-P

-----

In BJ news... he had a fever all day yesterday and this morning, so I had to stay home from work to take care of him.  Before I had BJ, I wondered why teachers got 18 days of sick leave throughout the school year, but I realize now that it's for days when not only you get sick, but when your children get sick too. 

HJ and I don't know whether BJ has fevers from being sick or from teething, but either way his temperature was pretty high.  Don't fret though, it's all better.

*Side note: WeeMasonMan's Mom made a comment in my last post that there's a curse in the blogging world, and if I posted about BJ sleeping through the night, it's most likely he wouldn't anymore.  WEELLLL, after the fevers, BJ stopped sleeping through the night. HAHAH. (The laughing is for the curse, and not the fact that BJ had a fever.) Gosh darn, I wish I had known about the curse ahead of time. :-P Well, he seems like he's feeling better today, aside from being clingy, so I am hoping he will be sleeping right through tonight since I have to go to work tomorrow! I'm going to cross my fingers and hope he sleeps. 

Phew I went from no posts at all to severely long posts. lol. Bye bye all~

Sleeping Through the Night

To all mommies out there... when did your babies start sleeping through the night?  I've heard that some babies have slept through the night since they were born.  For others, it took a couple of years.

BJ's sleeping pattern wasn't too bad for us.  For the first few months, BJ would wake up once every two to three hours.  Since then, he'd sleep at around 8 and wake up once or twice a night.  It wasn't too bad; nothing I couldn't handle. (I say "I" because HJ didn't really wake up with him during the night, lol.) It's weird because I'm usually a very heavy sleeper, but since BJ was born, I would wake up as soon as I heard him.

In the last week or so, BJ has been sleeping through the night and my sleep-deprived body has been extremely thankful.  I think I can finally say that BJ sleeps through the night... WAHOO!  He usually sleeps between 7:30 and 8:00, and wakes up around 5:30 - 5:45am.  Then, he goes downstairs with daddy until I wake up for work.  I thought I was getting used to waking up in the middle of the night, but now that I've been sleeping for long lengths of time, I realize how important it is to be able to sleep right through without being waken.  So excited!!

In other news, I realized I haven't posted a picture of BJ in a while.  I haven't posted in so long, I forgot to mention BJ started driving:

Okay, Okay, I'm not really driving... YET.

Happy Easter Everyone!! <3

Inspired By a Friend... Hi C-Sensei~!

I was chatting with a friend today, "C-Sensei", and we were talking about part-time jobs... Wouldn't it be nice if there were a part time job out there that you could work from home with little effort and could make some money just to help out for little things? He mentioned that he used to write and enter contests for some blogs... Then, I came to the realization that I already have a part-time job... duuh, my blog!  Okay, I don't really make money with my blog, but it provides me the happiness and passion that I have been seeking lately.  In reality, I WISH I could find something that allows me the opportunity to make some side cash, but I really need to find what makes me happy, which is spending time with my family and blogging.  

Of course, it's been hard to find the time to blog since my teaching job has demanded a lot of my time lately, but I'll make time. I have to because it gives me sanity in this CRAZY teacher-world.  Actually, I think I found the most perfect time for me to finish what I need to do:

Both boys are out like a light and it's now time for mommy to get some work done.  :-)  Hope everyone out there in the blogging world has been doing alright. I'm back! (Again. Or so I hope!)

First Birthday!!!

Happy First Birthday BJ!!  Mommy and Daddy love you sooooooo much. <3

It's so hard to believe that a year ago today, you were born.  You have grown so big so fast.  Your first year has been so special for us, and we want you to know that you are the joy of our lives.

Mommy's Birthday

Mommy's birthday was on Wednesday, March 2.  (Mommy meaning me, hehe.)  It's hard to imagine that a year ago on March 2, I was being induced at the hospital.  I don't think I had my blog back then, so most of you probably don't know that I was induced twice at the hospital because I had pre-eclampsia.  The first time was on my birthday, March 2... but I guess BJ wanted his own birthday because I was at the hospital for hours, until 11pm, and did not dilate one bit no matter how many contractions I had.  The doctors gave me a few options but HJ and I decided to go home. It was quite a tiring birthday.

Then, the doctors decided to schedule another induction on March 9, and that's when BJ was born. :-)

In hindsight, I'm glad that BJ has his own birthday.  My birthday has pretty much already become in the shadows since we share the same month, but sharing the same day would have probably made me lose my birthday all together!  Last year, many people told me that it's good BJ wasn't born on my birthday because he needs his own special day.  However, I think it's the other way around.  It's good that BJ wasn't born on my birthday because I need my own special day.  lol.  I'm not trying to sound selfish but if it wasn't for Facebook, I think most people would have forgotten my birthday all together. Hahaha. Everyone will always remember BJ's birthday, but mommies need their own special day too. lol.

Okay, enough complaining.  I actually had a really great week.  My parents had a cake for me the weekend before, my students all sang my happy birthday several times (one even baked me a cake) on my birthday, HJ and BJ took me out for a nice dinner and ice cream, and I had another cake with HJ's family today!  It was a birthday week for me!  I'm really spoiled and loved. :-P

Now it's on to BJ's birthday week!!! Wish me luck as we prepare for his family party..... :-)

Field Trips and Such...

Sigh... I'm getting a little bit too busy and I think I'm a bit overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, I double-booked myself and now can't have a one-year party for BJ on the day that I wanted. :-(  We were going to have a mini-family barbeque on March 12, but I forgot that I agreed to go on a field trip with my students, so now we're planning for a Friday evening with just immediate family.  HJ and I decided we'll have a larger 3 year old party for BJ since we'll probably have more money saved by then.  (I mentioned before that we just bought a house... yaaah. We are now true penny-pinchers. lol)

Speaking of saving money... I went to Oahu for a business meeting the other day, and I realized how much I miss travelling!  The last time we went on a family vacation was when we went to Philly and Vegas when BJ was 4 months old, and that feels like a long time ago.  Plus, it was pretty hard to travel with an infant who did not want to drink from a bottle.  Now that BJ is a little older, I wonder how it would be... Of course, we won't be able to go on a vacation for a long time, but it's nice to dream. haha. I wonder where our next family vacay will be!

Japan... California (Disneyland!)... Canada... New York... the possibilities are endless!

Dear Mommy, I Love To...

Dear Mommy,

I love to....

TOUCH things!  

Not just any ol' thing, but mostly things that are important to you.  I also loooove playing with your students' homework and crinkling them up. It's pretty fun.

Love, your playful son,

BJ

Stress Relievers...

Everyone has stress and people have varying methods of how they relieve their stress.  Some get massages, others take a sip of wine/beer, but all find their own way to relax.  Lately, my form of relaxation has been to play with BJ.  I could be having the MOST stressful day at work, but when I come home and see the smiling/playful baby, who's not much of a baby anymore but more of a toddler, I can't help but smile and feel happy.

This is BJ playing with his new toy.  The balls wind down the spiral plastic piece and gets shot out of the hole at the top.  In the short span that I was gone from the blogging world, BJ has learned to play with his own toys!  He loves musical toys and balls, so this toy is perfect because it has both! :-)  (No, I am not conducting a review of this product. BJ just really loves it. lol)  I told myself I wouldn't purchase random toys for my future babies b/c I want to save money... but I ran across this toy at a big-box store and just HAD to get it.  Oh my; I sound like a spoiling mommy don't I?  I just couldn't help it.  When BJ gets older, I'm going to have to work on not spoiling him and being more strict.  For now... toys, toys, toys galore. hehe.

Today, the most amazing thing happened.  BJ was hanging out at the bottom of the staircase and I was about 15-20 feet away.  He stood up, let go of the railing, and walked to me!!!  I was so shocked I started yelping and screaming; hooting and hollering. hahaha.  It's amazing how quickly babies can acquire tasks and learn new things.  I wish I could still be learning at the rate they do! I think I'd be a genius. ;-P

One Year Party Planning

It freaked me out as I typed the title above, because if I'm blogging about BJ's one year party, that means it's coming soon!!! AAAAARGH.  I don't really know what it's like on the 'mainland' aka the Continental US, but in Hawaii, a one-year old's baby party is a huge deal. When people used to ask me before BJ was born if I was going to have a one-year party (aka Baby Luau), I used to say, "Of course not!  The baby's not going to remember anyway."  However, now that BJ was born and we have been a 3-person family for a little over 10 months, I can totally see why families stress the importance of having it.  +He's a precious child...It's going to be his ONLY first birthday, so why not have a small get-together with loved ones?  Plus, I've heard that it's good luck to celebrate his good health. So why not? hehe+...

(Well... I can think of a couple of "why-not" reasons, like the stress of planning and costs involved, but I like to stay away from thinking negatively. haha)

[Doesn't BJ sound spoiled? I always said I wasn't going to spoil my first-born. Oye]


There are a lot of things you say you would/wouldn't do when you become a parent, and all of those things go out the window once you become a parent. 

Anyway, I'm getting off track... I was supposed to be talking about his one-year party! lol... So we're going to have it at the new house and it's going to be kind of like a housewarming/baby-one-year barbecue.  I know the character theme we'll be using, and that's about it... and it's only two months away! Ahhh.  I have to start planning soon, but I have been so stressed about the move that I haven't had the time to think about his party. Well, hopefully we'll be completely moved in by this weekend, and that should give me some time to officially start party planning.  *Cross my fingers that the weather remains sunny.*  There was a chance of rain tonight. Eep.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Annnd I'm back! Seriously this time. New HOUSE!!!

Woohoo, I'm back. No joke this time. I can finally announce something that has kept me from blogging all this time.  (No... I am not pregnant. Ha!)  HJ and I are finally HOMEOWNERS! We have been so busy and stressed trying to figure everything out, that I made a executive decision mentally take a short hiatus from blogging to minus one thing off of my checklist. I am so sorry for not coming on and keeping in contact with all of my "blogging friends", but I really had to concentrate on house things. :-/

Some of you know what the cottage we were renting looks like, and it's not a very large space.  HJ, tiny BJ, and I survived just fine in it.  It's a small one bedroom cottage with a semi-large walk in closet and laminate flooring.  However, now that BJ is almost a year and crawling, it felt like we were living in a mini-cardboard box... Plus, BJ had a difficult time crawling around on the hard floor.  We realized that we had to leave the cottage that was once cozy and move on to a higher-priced, comfier location.  (Is comfier a word?)  HJ: "And at least our son gets a room now!"  We are really excited and ecstatic!  YIPPEEEE. (Sorry, I couldn't control myself. haha)  So this three-day weekend will be spent cleaning and moving into the new house. I was so excited to start my day today that I woke up at 3:30am. hahaha. Now that it's 6:30, I think I can get up and get ready to move. Wahoo!  See you all soon!  Pictures coming later....

Oh... and BJ says Hi!:  +9fo+r119-888888885