The Pause Button

I feel like we just released the pause button. Two years passed by in another world for us and now we are back in our house, with our car and our dog. It is a little weird - although things have moved forward here too, many things are the same.

We have spent the last week and a half working on getting our house the way we want it - new paint, new carpet, fixing things, building things and sorting through our belongings and trying to figure out where to put them and what to get rid of. I kind of liked that for 2 years everything that I needed fit in a Honda Civic and then in 6 suitcases to Hawaii. I'm trying to figure out what to keep because I already own it and what I really never needed or used. It is a mixed blessing being an American. Blessed in that "stuff" is not what we lack - and cursed because we really don't need that much and would likely be better off without all of it.

Okay - moving past the stuff...

It is nice to be back - seeing family, friends, the snow capped mountains, thunderstorms, mountain sunsets ... I remember why we loved it here and why we want to raise our family here. It is an unusually wet June, everything is so green and lucky for us the tornados are mostly staying south and east. The cool weather has been nice - I'm gearing up for being 7,8 and 9 months pregnant in the hottest part of the summer (-:

I haven't taken pictures since we got home, but the baby is growing! I'm nearing 30 weeks now and look forward to meeting my delivering Doctor on Monday. The baby's kicks are getting stronger and more frequent - but I think he/she is still on Hawaii time, being most active if I stay up late. The other morning Aaron said he could feel the baby kicking while I slept and wondered how on earth I could sleep through it - I'm not sure, but glad I can.

The baby room is begining to take shape. Aaron's mom and I washed a sea green over a blue green and I love it! It almost looks like the water at Makalawena and the theme will be sea turtles. My mom found a turtle quilt in Waikiki over a year ago that she wanted to get for me "when I got pregnant." I guess her wishful thinking worked. We've set a twin bed up in there and still need to dig out the baby treasures my sister in-law gave me to put in storage before we left.

Starting the 3rd trimester in Kona

It is hard to believe that I'm now 27 weeks along in this adventure to mommyhood. My baby bump keeps getting bigger and I've gotten more comments in the last week. "When are you due? Ahh, you look like you're having a great pregnancy. There's a baby in there!" Luckily no one I don't know has felt the need to reach for my belly to rub it. I'm not yet sure what my reaction will be the first time this happens. Our baby is now over 2 pound and around 15 inches long and starting to open his/her eye lids and suck his/her fingers. Every now and then I feel light jolts that I'm pretty sure are hiccups and not kicks. It is so fun!!!

Aaron and I are now enjoying our last Hawaiian days in Kona with friends. We spent a wonderful 3 days at a resort in Waikoloa relaxing, snorkeling and taking long walks. Here in Kona, Aaron's enjoyed surfing while I photograph and we've gotten to see many people for last hi and goodbyes. We look forward to more surfing, beach time, kayaking, caving and stand up paddling before heading back to our land locked mountainous home. I have to be honest - it was easy to leave Maui. But being back in Kona - seeing friends, doing the activities that we most enjoy here - leaving this place for good might be a little bit tougher than I anticipated. I know that moving back to Loveland is the right thing and we are so excited to rejoin life with our family and friends and play in our Rocky Mountain back yard - but Hawaii will always hold a special place in our hearts. A place that will draw us back for vacations at the least and will make us truly appreciate the gift it was to spend a year and a half enjoying comfortable tropical living. For myself I wanted to make a list of the physical things I will miss most. So here goes in no particular order -

1. Ocean sunsets and long sunset walks on the beach
2. Butter avocados the size of your head
3. Surfing
4. Seeing or swimming with beautiful fish, manta rays, eagle rays, green sea turtles, whales and dolphins regularly
5. Never being cold
6. Never really getting too hot
7. Picking oranges, tangerines, bananas, and other yummy things from our yard
8. Following the volcano activity and being close enough to go take a peek if something is happening
9. Kealakekua Bay
10. Flowering trees everywhere
11. Green lush tropical forest
12. Big crashing waves on the shore showing their power
13. Being tan all year long
14. Feeling like exercising all year long
15. Experiencing the feel of a Colorado fall day at 5000-8000 feet
16. The smell of flowers and jasmine as you walk around
17. Trying new fruits I've either never seen or heard of before - rambutans, mountain apples, apple bananas, lilikoi, jack fruit, guava, bilimbi, bread fruit, cherimoya, jaboticaba, lychee, passion fruit.
18. Endless supply of pineapple, fresh bananas, papayas and avocodos year round

Our ocean side cabana at the Hilton Waikoloa, getting off the commuter flight from Maui, our deck, Aaron surfing Kahulu'u, me and the baby swimming with a turtle

Luxurious A/C and the last days!

We are all moved out of the condo and sold our car.  If buying the plane tickets did not do the trick in making this move feel real - then being back down to 2 suitcases each, needing a rental car and living in someone elses house should do it!  The perks are that our awesome host Dr. Hassell keeps the house nice and cool and that our rental car has A/C too.   I kept complaining about how ridiculus it was that people would not even come look at our car when I told them the A/C was broken - but I have to admit that it is a real nice luxury.  

Everything at work is wrapping up nicely.  Not too much left to do - a few meetings and quite a bit of paperwork and then I can walk away!  I think school may be out for the rest of my life. Being an OT in the school system just isn't for me.  I won't go into all the details - but I will walk away with mixed feelings about the whole thing.  At least I learned a lot - both about the system and about myself as a therapist.  

Off to Kona here soon - can't wait to relax and enjoy our friends and play in the ocean.  Then back to Colorado to move home!  I look forward to seeing many of you soon!!