Happy Sunday Sleep Training

Nainoa is going to be 4 months in no time and the older he gets the harder it is to help him fall asleep.  I spent a lot of time reading a book called Save Our Sleep - by Tizzie Hall, his first month and decided to try to teach him to "self-settle."  The books definition of self settling is: "Going to sleep without aids, such as rocking, patting, feeding or even the use of a dummy (pacifier)."  I've read in several different books that healthy sleep encourages healthy growth, poor sleep habits get worse as your baby grows, there is no better time than now to sleep train, and that the use of sleeping aids (rocking ect.) is a bad idea if you don't plan on continuing it in the long run.  Will I be able to rock my son to sleep for half an hour when he's 6 month?  Probably not!  He's already getting so heavy.  He's like a mini rice bag. :)

I don't follow the directions in any book word for word.  But I'm beginning to think I should.  I try to let him cry it out for a while but it's getting harder and harder.  There are times when I can tell he's falling asleep, even though he's still protesting, but someone will come along and try talking to him, or tell me to pick him up.  It's hard.

Anyway.  I was really upset when I started this blog earlier today, but now I just feel happy that my baby is sleeping.

We had breakfast this morning at Papa 'Ole's and then came back home.  This is when I was having the sleep drama.  Drama drama drama!  Then we went to Sunset and watched the Triple Crown.  Some crazy huge waves today!  We ate at "Kahuku Farms" on the way home.  HOLY MOLY!  You have to eat there.  We had a veggie panini, banana smoothie and the best grilled banana bread.  They only have one panini and it has tomato, eggplant, zuccini, lettuce, and mozzarella.  SOOOOO GOOD.  The banana bread is probably the best banana bread I've had in my life.  It's on the mountain side of the kahuku stretch across the shrimp farms.  The best thing about their food is that everything is FRESH. They farm all of the fruit and veggies they use.  They also sell jams, jelly, and bath/body products.  They have a page on facebook if anyone wants to check it out.  So good!  Their smoothies are made with REAL fruit, and they are only $5!  Angels Ice Cream charges more and they don't use anything that's fresh!  Even the ice cream and sorbet at the farm is fresh and homemade!  Good times.

Happy Sunday!  I can't believe my baby is still sleeping!  This makes me very happy.

Thanksgiving in the Raider Nation

Thanksgiving was a blast!  The food was delicious and I thought to myself several times, "I should go and get my camera and take a picture of all this food!"  But no.  I rarely ever listen to myself when food's involved.  My brain shuts off, I fill my plate and start to grind.  It was onolicious!  I thought we were going to make laulau but instead my mom made lupulu!  Here's a little recap of all the food we had:  Turkey, stuffing, ham, rice, mashed potatoes, potato salad, lupulu, taro, sausages, shrimp in white sauce and tomoatoes, poi, dinner rolls, edamame, cranberry sauce, cupcake with guava frosting, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and lots of hawaiian sun juice.  Soooo much food and there were only 8 adults and 5 children.  Today is sunday and we are still eating the leftovers.  Such a fun day hanging out with the nephews and neice.

Every year before we bless the food we go around the room and state what we are thankful for.  Unfortunately I missed this part because I had to go in the room to feed little Nainoa.  I was a bit bummed that I missed hearing what the kids had to say, but Tim filled me in.  A few cute ones:  Kamani said he was thankful for everyone helping him with school (several times), his bike, being looked after, he's getting a lot better about speaking in front of everyone.  I came out of the room when Nainoa was done feeding and they had just finished blessing the food.  Rissa made everyone stop so I could say what I was thankful for.  I didn't want to take up everyone's time so I just said, "I'm thankful for my family!"

MY FAMILY.  I can't believe I have my own family now.  I have a husband and a sweet little boy I get to take care of, and love everyday.  I feel so blessed, grateful and so happy.  There aren't enough words, and I don't have the skill anyway, to say how much I have and how much it means to me.  I've always wanted to be a mom and everyday it is better than I ever could've imagined.

Here's a list of a few other things I'm thankful for.

PRAYER.  I don't do it enough.  In fact I rarely do it, but when I do I feel a sense of comfort and peace.  I've come a long way from where I used to be spiritually, but I know that God loves me no matter what and that he hears me when I pray.  I'm not sure why this was the first thing that popped into my head but it was.

Our MAZDA5.  I love our car.  It gets us where we need to go, fits our boards and runs so smooth.  We've had a few issues with it already, but I am still really grateful for it.

My Puter.  (My computer)  I knew I should've bought that Apple Care.  I will always be an Apple user from here on out.  (Unless something better comes along)

LOCAL SLIPPERS.  No need to explain this one right?

FOOD.  GOOD FOOD.  GOOD COFFEE.

HARRY POTTER.

BEING AN AUNTY.  It's da best!  Yes. DA BEST!

SURF.  My favorite form of exercise.

And last but not least KAHUKU FOOTBALL!  Lol.  The day after Thanksgiving was the state finals and of course Kahuku won.  I got to hang out with an old friend from high school and we went driving after the game and honked our horn as we drove past people on the road.  We watched the game on tv and it was so fun!  Our community really comes together when we are cheering for and supporting our team.  This is what I love the most about our community.  My sister went to the school to help celebrate and welcome the boys as they returned victoriously to the school.

Here's a link to my sister's vid.  Freakin' fireknife dancers. Lol.
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150390547341577

Hawaii 5-0

Monday night was really exciting for us.  Episode 10 of hawaii 5-0 was finally airing and we were having a bbq dinner to celebrate with Tim's friend Gary and his family while we waited for the show to start.  What and why were we celebrating? 

Because Timmy and Gary were in the episode!!! :)  They spent a whole week and a half working as "special extras" and they also got paid to do a few stunts!

I watched it online the day after it aired and snapped a few photos of Tim and Gary.  They were part of "Seal Team 9" and went on a rogue mission to rescue McGarret in North Korea.  (aka Kualoa Valley)
In the picture above the guy in green had to say to Tim & Gary, "load 'em up ladies!"  Tim told me they had to do that scene 10 times!

The shot above: there's Tim flexing his cannons. Hahaha.

Seal Team 9 and the 5-0 task force running from the helicopter into the jungle.  Tim looks over his shoulder to check for enemies and so that I could snap a photo of him.

Gary's leading the charge.  He's actually an ex-seal.  He's what I like to call "Tim's boyfriend."  They always hang out and go surfing together and I'm so glad Tim has a friend that lives on our side of the island that he can surf with.  And there's Danno's (Scott Caan) blond head near the back.  Last but not least my sweetheart bringing up the rear.

Tim said it took all day to do this scene.  They had to film the clearing of the rooms several times.

Above:  They ambushed Wo Fat's little group.  Tim said this scene was really fun filming.  They had real AK47s and had to open fire on all of these big trucks.  They were shooting blanks but it was still really exciting for him to play Rambo.

Yay!  They rescued McGarret.  Now time to rush to the chopper.  There's Tim again at the back!

The helicopter took off with Gary and Tim sitting with their legs hanging out the door.  Tim told me he had so much fun sitting in the chopper.  He actually has a slight fear of heights so I was surprised that he shot this scene without being harnessed/hooked into the helicopter.  He just informed me that none of them hooked in for this scene because they didn't have enough time.  Crazy!

So in this scene they aren't hooked in...

and this one too...

and this one too...

Hahaha Tim lets on the right.

"Tim, In a few simple words how would you describe your experience?"

"It was good fun."

So if you missed the episode and like watching the show you can catch it online at CBS.com.  I really enjoyed seeing Tim on tv it was so fun.  A few people sent me msgs on Facebook and I want to save their msgs on the blog so I don't have to hunt them down on my fb page.  I got msgs from my classmate Vili and gf Jenn.  They live in the mainland and wrote to me before I even saw the episode.  I was so excited because we weren't sure Tim would be in a lot of shots.

Anyway, it was a good night with some really good food and awesome company.

Hot Date

Today I went on a hot date with my hubby and our little Nainoa.

First we stopped in Haleiwa to pick up some coffee from the Coffee Gallery.  Yes.  Tim is a coffee addict.  I'm his apprentice.  Nainoa might be getting some in his breast milk but I only drink the amount my doctor said is okay and several studies have proven that if you drink 1 cup a day your baby is unaffected.  I was so tempted to grab a burrito from Cholo's since we were parked right in front of it!

We arrived at Kapiolani park around 1:30 and I fed Nainoa in the car.  Tim had made friends with a few guys who play on the BYU rugby team and they invited him to play a game with them in town.  The game was kind of slow and boring, but watching my hubby was exciting.  I like watching him run and tackle people it was the "hot" part about our date. "Woohoo!  Go honey!  Frack! Just don't get injured out there because we don't have any health insurance for you yet!"  Yes.  I was saying this out loud while I watched him play.  :)

We went to dinner at Uncle Bo's.  If you haven't eaten here you MUST!  It's frickin awesome!  We ordered the Shaken Beef, Cajun Seared Ahi, and last but not least the Warm Spinach Salad (which comes with delicious little pieces of bacon, feta cheese, and topped with walnuts, strawberries and the most delicious strawberry vinaigrette dressing.)  There were so many other things on the menu we wanted to eat but we knew that our eyes were hungrier than our stomachs.  We ended the meal with a Oreo-Haupia Mud Pie.  It's basically a slice of ice cream cake featuring a haupia ice cream and kona coffee ice cream on an oreo crust.  ONOLICIOUS!  I wanted to take pictures of our food but I only succeeded in taking a picture of the first dish they brought out.  It was a crappy picture and I didn't bother to retake it because I was already shoving my face.

Last but not least we drove into Waikiki, I ran into Honolulu Coffee Co., while Tim and baby waited in the car, and picked up some yummy lattes.  YES.  Tim is a coffee addict and has one after practically every meal.  I'm starting to become a coffee fanatic too.  I'm still amazed that I can tell the difference now between good coffee and starbucks.  I'm not putting starbucks down but they really are only a small step above the McDonald's Cafe.  Crap.  I think my husband has turned me into a coffee snob. Lol.  No matter what though, I will always LOVE Starbucks' whipped cream!  Now that's ono!

The drive home was really nice.  I love the conversations we have and just spending quality time hanging out with my best friend.

Oh snap.  I forgot to mention Tim got a haircut and now looks like he's in the military! BAHAHAHAHA!!!  He saw me type this and still agreed to pose for a picture.  That's just one reason why I love him so much.  He's so much fun!

Happy Birthday Titas!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister Krisann Moleni!

I love this picture of her and her girls.  See how pretty she is?  And her little girls look just like her.  

I love this picture because I'm so proud of my sister for all the things she does.

She's a great hardworking mother, finished her schooling, bakes and cooks the best out of all of us, very active in church, and she's just a good person and a really good example to me

I also love this picture because I sent those dresses to my nieces! ;)

Little King

Someone's getting chuuuuuuuubby!!!

We've been having so much fun together I can't believe how fast time is flying.  In a few days Nainoa will be 3 months old.  We went to our WIC appointment yesterday and he weighed in at 12.5 lbs!  We didn't get to measure him to see how long he is, but he is getting chuuuuuubby!  He has recently started getting his hands tangled in my hair, and he is always looking around jerking his head in every direction so that he can try to figure out what made that sound.  It's so funny.  He loves being sung to, especially the Slippery Fish song, but any song will make him smile and sometimes even scream!  He's really starting to talk A LOT now.  It's fun to try to introduce new sounds to him and see the puzzled look on his face.  His facial expressions are priceless!  He tries to imitate some of the noises.  He tries to imitate "hiiiii" and once it almost sounded like he was saying, "okay."  I know, I'm probably just an over excited mother.  He fusses when he wants something, like if he's in his bed and wants to be picked up and doesn't see us.  He makes noises but as soon as he sees his mom or dad he gives us the biggest grin!  Being a parent is so fun.

We've been going out to the beach a lot and taking drives to haleiwa and I think it messes with his sleeping schedule.  So today I'm taking it easy in the morning and then we'll go for a surf in the late afternoon.  Yesterday we were at the beach and we stood Nainoa up on my surfboard in the water.  We didn't put him in again.  Hmm... I think I forgot to mention that last week Saturday we put him in the ocean for the first time!  He didn't like it because it was too cold.  Anyway he was so cute standing on the surfboard and I put his feet in the water and sand, which he didn't seem to mind.

My grandmother was here last week and I finally uploaded the photos.  

Tutu-Nana.  She's a pro at rocking Nainoa to sleep.  Im really glad she got to hold him as a baby.  She's the most fit 73 year old person I know, maybe the only 73 year old I know, and has more great grand children than she can remember.  She stayed with us for about a week after finishing a little trip up to Utah with my mom.  Side story:  My neice Nava scolded her mom for calling out "grandma!"  Nava said, "MOM! That's not Grandma! That's Tutu-nana! That's Tutu-Nana!" So cute!

Four generations in one photo

And here's the rest of the fam with our token haole walking around the house with no shirt on!  Love you Timmy!

Life is so fun and so sweet with this little guy.

November 15, 2011

I had such a long day today.

Nainoa woke up 3 times in the middle of the night last night.  Ridiculously unusual. (He usually sleeps through the night or wakes up once for a "dream feed" then he goes right back down.)  I fed him and put him back down to sleep.  Unfortunately I didn't burp him as well as I should've.  He didn't feed very well for the rest of the day and around the 3pm feeding he threw up on me several times.  Like... 12 times!  It was crazy.  These weren't little spitty sessions, oh no, this was major throw up.  I probably could've filled a whole D-cup with it.  That's a lot of baby throw up!  It didn't help that we were sitting in the car, in the hot sun, in the Ala Moana parking lot.

We went into town to put Tim's computer into the MAC store, did some Christmas shopping, and had lunch in the Japanese food court in Shirokiya.  You know they have a beer garden there everyday from 5:30-8:30!  Crazy Japanese imported beer for really cheep.  Too bad, I don't like beer.  It's yucky!  I love shirokiya.  It reminds me of being in the little shopping centers they have in the japanese train stations.  I miss you Japan.

Tim went surfing when we got home and I fed the little king again while watching desperate housewives online.  This is the last and final season.  The girls are getting old! Lol.  Nainoa ate very well and did some very good burps with minimal spitting up.  We had some really good tummy time together and a really nice chat.  He's growing way to fast.  In a few days he will be 3 months old!  He's such a special little person and I love seeing his little personality coming out.  

Later in the evening we watched Hawaii 5-0 and saw a preview for next week's episode.  TIM'S IN THE EPISODE SO LOOK OUT FOR HIM!!! :)  He's one of the navy seals.  Woohooo Honey!

It's now 1 a.m. and I'm just finishing up a letter I'm writing to the admissions review committee for UH West Oahu.  I'm applying for school but b/c my transfer gpa was so low they needed a letter of recommendation and a letter from me.  It's finally done and I'm soooo tired!  BUT I hear my little Nainoa starting to stir and now I'm wondering if tonight will be like last night.  Knock on wood and good night neverlaaaaaaaand!