Seeing God's Goodness

First Job!

2012-01-28T02:43:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of getting to shoot a friends vacation rental this evening! I learned so much, being my first time shooting indoors without the ease of good natural lighting. I used tricks similar to these to help me get enough light into dark places. I still struggled and didn't get any photos I really liked of the living room because of the harsh lighting coming in the windows. I'm going to need to go shoot a few more pictures in them morning when the light is pointed the other direction. Here are some previews.

Dinking with online editing software

2012-01-27T15:26:00.002-07:00

pixlr.com

I had no idea that free online photo editing was available - it does many of the things I do in Photoshop and has some fun automatic edits and retro things!

3 Foot and Glassy

2012-01-23T00:18:00.003-07:00

Technically it was more like 2 foot and windy - but it was such a nice evening. Our friends that live in our building have invited us out to their surf spot multiple times and it just hasn't worked out for us to join. This weekend we committed and had such a nice time. It is a whole group of friends that has children and surfs together at Pine Trees. We all brought potluck food and took turns with our spouses surfing. The waves were smallish and I wasn't sure that I wanted to paddle out. Then my friend talked about taking the kids out. We had Autumn's life jacket, but hadn't taken her out before so I wasn't sure about it, but wanted to try! My friend showed me how to paddle with her on the front of the board and took her on her first wave. No standing is involved, so it is a bit more like boogie boarding on a surf board, but it is a fun ride! Autumn crawled over to my board and we rode a few more. Daddy headed out, I think mostly because he was nervous - but it turned into a really fun family surf session! After a few more waves Autumn asked to surf with Aaron and so we switched boards and she rode with him. We even paddled together and they rode next to me while I popped up and rode one in. It was so much fun and she just loved it! Even the water in the face as we'd paddle back out didn't bother her. She's a charger! We have no photographic evidence of the surf session or the whales on the horizon as the sunset! It was such a fun evening with new friends, fun waves, and whales - definitely makes us want to keep going back for more!

Kamakana Playground

2012-01-22T14:46:00.003-07:00

Pursuit of fine photos...

2012-01-21T22:55:00.004-07:00

I have a little dream to be able to run a side business of taking affordable professional family photos at the beach. I got my first DSLR camera today, which is the same as my mom's, so I put it together and headed to the park! I'm hoping to study and practice and see nice improvement in my photo's over the next year! Here's day 1!

Autumn 2 years 4 months

2012-01-16T19:32:00.010-07:00

Autumn, instead of a detailed monthly report of your development I think I'm going to switch to intermittent "A day in the life of Autumn" written/photo journalism reports!

Today we had so much fun. You ran into our room at about 7, crawled up in our bed, snuggled for about 2 minutes before you started asking questions like. "Mom and dad, did the sun come up?" Daddy final crawled out with you when you requested cereal. Once you got to the living room, you became much more interested in doing puzzles than eating. I got up and went to change you and asked if you would go sit on the potty. You didn't want to, so I had Elmo doll go and try. You decided to as well and made a little pee pee in the potty. We then ate breakfast and said good bye to daddy. We had a girls day out planned! As we walked out the door you shouted, "bye daddy" and gave him a skype hug (which he couldn't see)! On our way to Waikoloa the sky was so clear we could see all the mountains. They are volcanos - which you adorably call 'lavacanos.' We talked about them and when I said, "That is Hualalai." You asked, "We live on that lavacano, right?" "Yes, we do." Lately you've been trying to figure out where we live. We talk about Kona, the Coffee Villas, and the volcano mountain we live on and our island. It is pretty complex stuff for a two year old. We started talking about family and you asked if they live on their island. It is good logic - if we live on an island - they must too! I tried to explain that they live on a continent, but it is just a bit too complex for the time being. You do recognize the Big Island on a map of Hawaii and always ask us, "Is that our island?"

We got to the Hilton public parking and walked in. You wanted to see the dolphins first so we walked that way. You spotted pink flamingos that I didn't see and haven't noticed before. After checking them out you wanted to touch all the statues of animals and people. It was a theme for the morning! We got to the dolphins and they were doing programs where people got to be right down with them. Surprisingly you had no interest in watching or being the one down there right next to them. We walked over to the other holding ponds and watched the mamma and baby for a bit. That didn't last too long before you wanted to ride the train. They have a light rail and boats for guest to use to get around the property. The plan was to right the train out and take a boat back - but the boats we're going to start running until after we left. We walked out to the grass and played for a while on a cabana before you decided you needed a snack. We changed your diaper in a gazebo before hoping on the train back to the lobby. We rode the elevator one last time before heading to the car and then to Arby's for lunch. We practiced saying Arby's a few times as you kept calling it Ardy's. (-: We shared a roast beef sandwich, curly fries and water before we went out looking at flowers and coy fish. We even found a little train to play with. We then went in the hat store to look around. You busted through the door and yelled, "Are there hats in here?" Everyone laughed and commented on how cute you were. I thought you would fall asleep as soon as we got on the highway, but you were still awake as we approach Kukio, so we drove to Kukio Beach to see if there were turtles to look at.

It was a great stop, you loved walking along the sand beach looking for shells, there were plenty of turtles and I got to see a whale splashing on the horizon. We even got to sit and watch a turtle climb down the beach out to sea while another one climbed up to take a rest.
On our way back to the car Kait called and you played nicely 'driving,' honking and crawling around in the car while I caught up. We hit the road and you were out in like 2 minutes! You slept for the drive home and then woke up as soon as I took you out of the car. Thought you might transfer, but no luck. We came in and you cuddled for like 3 minutes before looking up and me and saying, "can we go play." We played for a bit after getting cleaned up. You love playing with your little people, you even had them all sat up in chairs around the play table when we went to play. You move them around, have them talk to each other and take care of each other.

We had such a fun day! Love you baby girl!

Astonished

2012-01-14T16:07:00.003-07:00

Today at lunch Autumn made a totally random comment about using knife to plant plants. I figured that she must have seen Tutu do that at daycare and said that my grandma used to plant her plants that way. Autumn asked, "Grandma Nona?" I explained to Autumn that she hasn't met this grandma because she went to heaven before Autumn was born. Then she asked, "Does Grandpa Alfred have dollies?" We said that yes there are dollies at their house. Then she asked, "do they have hats?" Our jaws dropped because she must be remembering the last time we were at their house - in July. Yes, they do have hats. Grandma has a couple of dolls that stay on the couch that have crochet hats that Autumn plays with when we are there. She kept going, "and they had a stunk?" A what? "A stunk" Oh, a skunk. Aaron, Autumn and Grandpa drove the 4 wheeler around and there as a recently dead very stinky skunk that she remembered. I continue to be in awe at her little memory - I never dreamed that she would be able to recall specific memories from 6 months ago back when she was 21 months old! She remembers lots of other things that surprise me, but this is the first time it has been something a long time ago that we haven't talked about since. We aren't going to be able to slip anything by her... (-:

The Future?

2012-01-13T17:21:00.002-07:00

God knows the future - and it is a good thing because we sure don't. We live a funky life, one that is not real settled. We have secured housing through May 31st, one way tickets to go see family in Maryland and then... we have no idea. We have hopes to settle and feel like one community is home base. It is looking more and more like Kona is where we will put in some deeper roots. But the timing is unknown. God's provision of income sources, desires for me not to work much for another chunk of time, desires for where and when we have our next child all play heavily into what our next move is. I think we'd like to take a summer mainland break and then head back to the warmth of "our island" (that's what Autumn calls it), but the above factors muddle that idea. So Lord, one day at a time help us see your will and direction for our family.

Super Excited about this movie!

2012-01-04T22:26:00.001-07:00

2011 Year End Review

2012-01-02T01:35:00.015-07:00

2011 is over! Seems totally crazy. A year ago we were in Pullman, WA just starting our next adventure away from Colorado. We had a 16 month old who slept in a pack and play, only had a few words and was still nursing 3-4x a day. Now we are in Kona and have a 2 year 4 month old that talks in full sentences, sleeps in a big girl bed and is learning to swim. It has been a full, blessed and wonderful year. Thank you Lord!

Here is a summary of where we were when and what we were doing.
January, Feb and 1/2 of March we were in Pullman, WA. We lived in Kaitlin and Phil's 1st level for about 6 1/2 weeks and in a farm house with a family for the other 4. I worked 4 days a week at a nursing home in Colfax helping older folks get better and Aaron worked many many hours on a project for Group Publishing in a closet office. Although very cold and fairly stressful with us working a lot, being away from Autumn more than we were accustomed, we look back on our time in Pullman with smiles. We pretty much attribute this to the amazing time we had bonding to the Watson's - sharing fine meals, going swimming, shopping and just living everyday life together. We sure miss them!! The other perk was that we made money for our Hawaii/Asia adventure.
In mid-March we took off on a 6 week adventure. Aaron's best friend and his wife live in Myanmar and so we thought going to see them in SE Asia was an opportunity not to be missed. Since frequent flyer miles could be used for 1/2 the miles to get to Asia from Hawaii, we decided that would be a good starting, hang out with friends and finishing point for our 10 days in Asia. We started by flying into Maui and seeing our dear friends there, then onto Kona to reconnect with our ohana there. Our amazing former landlord in Kona let us stay in our old apartment for free for almost 3 weeks - it was a treat to have our own space for the first time since before Christmas. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and soaking in the sun. We had shipped our green car from Washington in preparation for our move out to Hawaii in July. We didn't know that we were going to end up in Kona for the 2011-12 school year, but this time sure made us miss it and talk more about what it would look like to move out here. We wrapped up our time in Kona, packed our car to store for a few months and headed to the airport. Off to Asia! Here is my very lengthy journal entry about our time in Thailand and Myanmar. On our return we spent 2 days in Waikiki relaxing and adjusting to the time change, 1 day in Molokai and then a few days including Easter with the Hassell's again in Maui. All in all we were gone 43 wonderful days.
We returned to Seattle, flew to Pullman, spent a day with the Watson's and packed the other car to drive back to Colorado. We drove through Utah and spent a couple of wonderful but chilly days catching up with Connie and Ryan. It was so cold and Autumn just wanted to play outside! We arrived in Glenwood Springs, hugged on Papa and Nana for a couple of days, unpacked our car headed for NoCo. There we reunited with Aaron's family before hopping on another plane to Maryland to see my brother's family and our friend's in Arlington. Here are some crazy stats (ones that Aaron has no intention of us ever repeating) From April 8th until May 13th we didn't spend more than 3 nights in any one bed, we were on 19 different airline flights and drove about 1300 miles. Praise the Lord for safe travels and thank you so much to the 7 families that hosted us!! We love you all and feel so blessed that we got to see everyone!
We spent the rest of the summer jumping back and forth between NoCo and Glenwood Springs spending time with friends and family. Amazingly, because Aaron just needs phone service and internet to work, he pretty much worked everywhere we went except for in Asia. Up until early June we had assumed that we were being placed in Maui for the 2011-12 school year. The OT gal that took over in S. Kona schools when I left in 2008 informed me that she was moving to an early intervention position. We waited patiently for weeks and finally on July 1st found out that I had received the contract placement back in my old position. We were so excited about this for a few reasons. We consider Kona our Hawaii home, and although Maui would have been nice we felt like it would have been another 10 month vacation from real life and being able to integrate ourselves into a community that we plan to make part of our life for a longer time. Also the job in Kona is less stressful, most of our friends are in Kona and we honestly just like life on the Big Island better. YEAH - we were so so so excited!!!
Mid July we started packing up, shipped our second car and got ready to be gone for 10 1/2 months. On July 20th we flew to Kona and got a ride to our car (thank you Ang for being our taxi/rental car :-)) Unfortunately the car wouldn't budge... after one mechanic made us certain we'd need to tow it, Aaron's brother and our Kona Mechanic convinced us to hit the gas harder as it seemed likely that the brakes had rusted. Luckily they were right and we were on our way with no ill consequences. We started the process of figuring out priorities - food, housing, daycare, belongings... it was a long few days of looking at housing/condo rentals with the complexity of nap times, snack times and tantrums. We made it through without permanent damage and secured a top floor condo 3 miles from my work and a few units away from some friends. The next weeks were filled with yard saleing, thrift store shopping and craigslisting to find everything we needed to make it more homey. Luckily beds and most necessary kitchen items were found during the first weekend!
Aug-Nov.: We've been living a mostly routine life of work and Autumn going to daycare. We celebrated 8 years of marriage with a night in Waikoloa, had Aaron's brother and our niece out for a bit, I completed my first Olympic sized triathlon, celebrated Autumn's 2nd birthday on the beach and I turned 30. I also started volunteering at the Christian pregnancy center in town by helping Thursday nights and teaching pregnancy nutrition and infant safety classes. We've had a fair bit of illness which slowed us down, taught Autumn deeper compassion for pain and unfortunately we're still dealing with aftermath. We haven't made it to the beach as much as we'd like and are still figuring out navigating island life with a 2 year old. We've spent some time with friends and look forward to more of that in 2012.
December: Family month! Aaron's whole family got to spend a week at the Aulani in Oahu. Aaron and Autumn got to join them for the week and I got to go for a long weekend. It was a nice time with a lot of time spend on the slides, hot tubs, on the beach and in the lazy river. They had great entertainment with shows, story tellers and crafts. Autumn thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her Grandma, Papa, all the cousins, Uncles and her Aunt! We all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for an afternoon, then dinner and the Ha Breath of Life show (which was amazing). The last night Aaron, Autumn and I met Jeremy and Camry in Waikiki for all you can eat sushi and everything else under the sun buffet. Yum yum yum! Autumn even enjoyed the octopus!5 days after we returned to Kona, we packed up and met my parents for a week in Kauai. This is the last of the major islands we had yet to see. It is called the garden isle for good reason - both for the beauty and the intermittent and random showers. All the islands are so different and beautiful! Kauai is certainly a treasure! We had a great time exploring and relaxing, Dad and I even got to do a helicopter tour - so spoiled, what a treat! Autumn really loved shoulder rides with Papa, bath times with Nana and all the other time with extra attention and playmates! We all flew back to our home on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas enjoying special gifts, cooking and playing at Kua Bay. We ended the year in Waikoloa enjoying our last condo stay after seeing a bunch of turtles at Kukio Beach!
Na Pali Coastline from the Helicopter

All in all it has been a pretty dreamy year with a lot more adventure than we ever imagined having with a small child! We continue to learn, grow and have God shape our hearts. Our compassion for the poor and suffering and our world view continue to define who we are and what we want to spend our lives doing. We really sit with a blank slate for the coming year. We will continue to dream and let God sort out where and what we will be doing a year from now.

2011 Reflection Questions:

1. What was the best thing that happened to me this year? Do I have to choose 1? Getting to spend so much time with Kait, my life long dream of seeing Thailand, getting to spend this school year in Kona

2. What did I do this year that I'm really proud of? Completing an Olympic Triathlon, being more generous financially

3. Who did I really help? My clients at the nursing home and my students

4. Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me? During our fight with MRSA I really appreciated the calls and check ins from friends and family - there are many of you.

5. What are the top three lessons I learned? I need to spend more time having fun with Autumn, I need to be less controlling (this one is so so so hard, especially after the MRSA), face to face time is so valuable.

6. What increased my happiness and joy this year? my husband and daughter

7. What's something I got through that was really tough? our awful experience with a MRSA infection on Autumn

8. What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2012? I wouldn't necessarily call it avoiding - but I would really like to spend more time in the Word of God this year.

9. What character trait did I develop most this year? Patience with difficult 2 year old behavior- it is slowly but surely developing...

10. What new people did I meet that are now in my life? the Teagues, McNeills, Tresters, Erin and Natalie

A few fun adventure stats from 2011:

Number of nights in hotels/condos/bungalows/resorts - 39
Average price we paid per night - $31 (thanks to heavily subsidized family vacations)
Number of nights staying with friends/family (rent free) - 79
Individual Airline Flight segments - 29
# of employers - 4 in 3 states

Goals for 2012!

1. Get pregnant again
2. Spend 20 minutes 5x a week in God's word
3. Spend more time learning Aaron's business so I can work for him some
4. Keep a prayer journal 3-4x a month
5. Surf 3-4x a month until I'm 15 weeks pregnant (when ever that might be)

Conversations with Autumn

2012-01-02T01:15:00.002-07:00

I've been trying to write our 2011 year end review in my head - but tonight I wanted to write down some of the things Autumn's been saying.

Tonight she pooped at the restaurant and on the way to change her I asked if she felt herself needing to poop and if she could have told me to take her to the potty. Her response was, " Mama, they don't have potties in the restaurant."

Trying to get her down for bed tonight she crawled up to cuddle with me and laid her had on my chest and said quietly, "Mamas milk?" (side note, she has not said a thing about mama's milk since I weaned her in September) I told her I didn't have any milk anymore, it went away when she turned two. Then she asked, "milk come out of your nipples?" I replied, "not anymore." She said, "Daddy has milk?" "Nope, only mommies have milk for their babies. Like the baby dolphin was drinking her mammas milk tonight." (she wasn't there when this happened - so I'm still clueless where this all came from.) Autumn, "Oh, babies drink mama's milk. I'm still a baby." Me, "But mommy doesn't have milk anymore." "Okay." Off to dreamy land she went.

Today at the beach she say some birds pecking in the sand and said, "The birds are eating the sand.... (pause) that is pretty disgusting."

Papa came and sat next to her on the bench, "Papa be careful and don't fall off." Papa said okay. "Don't fall there or there or there or there (pointing) and not on to the ground either."

Autumn got a really cool layered body puzzle with an educational book with it from her aunt, uncle and cousin. She has done the puzzle about 40 x since Christmas and has us read the book each night. One of the pages talks about the body taking nutrient from our food and getting rid of the rest. Expecting to get to explain more to her, I asked, "do you know how are body gets rid of the rest?" She quickly replied, "We poop!" I asked everyone there who taught her and nobody knew. It is a mystery how she picked that one up!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:16:00.002-07:00

26 and 27 1/2 months

2011-11-21T23:50:00.006-07:00

Baby Girl - I knew a time would come when I would fall behind on monthly updates - maybe it is because life is busy or maybe all the changes and your milestones have naturally slowed a bit? The last couple of months have been busy, fun and unfortunately also full of illness. You are going on your 5th straight week of cough and sinus drainage. I think you keep catching new virus' and there are plenty to go around right now. The fact that you are cutting your 2 year molars and want your fingers in your mouth makes it hard. This last week you got a fever and then broke out in a rash - Rosela. As always, you take illness by the horns and it doesn't slow you down a bit. You haven't been sick enough to visit the Dr., thank goodness, as we would like to keep you as far from antibiotics as possible for awhile. The yeasty beast has yet to leave us alone - it has been a long hard battle, but someday soon we hope we will beat it.

Okay - enough about being sick - here is a snippet of your life at the moment.

Events: In October we went to a reef talk event, a pumpkin patch party, had dinners with the Simanjuntaks and Keisers, you ran the Keiki loop at the Run for the Dry Forest, and dressed up as triathlete and hula dancer for halloween. In November we celebrated Mommy's 30th birthday, went to a Hula competition in Waikoloa, and the Coffee Parade with Becca and Calvin. We got to spend Thanksgiving at a condo on the ocean side and spend time with good friends. So far in December we went to the light festival in Holualoa and saw baby Jesus at the Nativity and you got to spend a week in Oahu at the Disney Aulani with your cousins, Grandma, Papa, Uncles and Aunt. Five days later we went to Kauai with Nana and Papa and stayed 100 feet from the ocean. To say the least - we are all a bit spoiled and trying to enjoy every minute of it!

Personality: You continue to be free thinker - you have a lot of 'good ideas' and want to do things the way you think is best. We enjoy seeing your independence and creativity grow. This personality trait also leads to a bit of trouble when your good ideas are dangerous or obstinate to what we need you to do. Just this week you've started to yell no and stop at us while you swat at us if we ask you to do something you don't want to. All I can say it isn't doesn't end well for you. Hoping you figure out that it isn't a good idea soon. Most of the time you love to giggle and play and really are a great bundle of joy. You take great joy in loving and taking care of your babies. You have are very gentle and sweet with real babies and animals. You love to color and have started saying "now a w, k, l and a, x ..." as you scribble. You like imaginative play with your babies and little people. You spend huge amounts of time having them live out life.

New Phrases we hear all the time now: 'Right Now,' 'I have a good idea,' 'but I need it', 'just one more'

The other day you were trying to convince me to give you a clean disposable diaper for your babies and told me, "But I need to put a night diaper on Lily."

At the condo we were in the pool and a young girl about 7 or 8 got in hear us. You said, "What's that?" I said, "You know, you tell me." "Mama it is a girl." "Yes you are right. Can you ask her her name?" After a pause you said, "Mama she doesn't have any words."

In Oahu you would ask daddy, "where are my girls (Addy and Camry)?"

At the park in Kauai you look at the chickens and say, "Sorry chickens, we don't have anything for you."

You are quite the communicator and can pretty much describe and explain everything you need to. You can tell me where you have pain, how you want or do not want your food. You see things out the window of the car and tell me about it - stop signs and lights, buildings, trucks, motorcycles... You ask a lot of questions - what's this, what's that, did you hear that, what you did? On occasion you will spontaneously say thank you for things and you are working on please and sorry. You can read several of your books from memory and know many of the words to many books if we pause to let you fill in the blank. You love videos and we try to limit you to one show a day. Curious George, Dora, Care Bears and Shawn the Sheep are your current favorites. You continue to amaze me by how many wh questions you are able to answer. The last few weeks you go down for naps and bed time very easily. You just need a baby, a book and a blanket.

Foods: Since we are fighting yeast still - we are trying to limit sugar and gluten products. You love pasta, but luckily you like quinoa and rice noodles as a substitute. A typical lunch can include avocado, cheese, yogurt and granola, banana, applesauce, lunch meat, Okanawan sweet potato, rice noodles. You will sometimes try our food, but don't like anything saucy. New foods the last couple of months are fried calamari and little octopus. You really enjoyed both! You eat really well and although you may not eat right with us at meal time, you get plenty of calories to keep growing! Your pick of the week is 'cake.' Whole grain rice cake that is - love it!

Motor Skills - you are really trying to learn to swim - you jump in over and over and over and over - hold your breath and wait for us to help you up for a breath. If you are kicking and scooping really well you can almost get your head above water. With your water wings on you can cruise pretty well, only needing an occasional nudge or flip. In calm waters, you cruse in and out with the pull of the waves even when your feet are not touching.

Discipline and potty training - Timeouts quit working. You seem to really understand that when you do not listen or do something we've asked you not to, that a baby or toys will go in the closet. It is rough on all of us, but really the only consequence that seems to make an impression. You have gotten into quite some trouble with your crayons at home and a pen at the Aulani. Your experimental tendencies far out way your fear of trouble. You have a pretty strong willed and we are sure it will serve you well in the future. For right now we just have to help you learn the rules, how to be a good listener and how to be safe. Potty training comes and goes. Before you went to Oahu you were going pee in the potty 2-3 times a day. Now you have no interest again and you even put your potty chair in the closet. Soon enough you will want to use the potty and wear big girl underware. I told you this and you replied, "But I'm little mommy." Soon enough I'm sure you will become more interested.
We love you sweetheart and are so blessed to spend each day with you! We love you all the way to the moon and back everyday!!! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Improved Granola

2011-11-14T01:34:00.004-07:00

Here is my newest version - I think I like it the best so far

Mix 2 eggs, about a cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil

Add in 1/3-1/2 cup oat bran and milled flax

Mix rolled oats in until it is the consistency of granola

Bake on cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Let cool and then mix in 1/3 cup raisins, 1/4 cup dried apricots, 1/4 chopped mac nuts, 1/4 cup chopped almonds and as much shredded coconut as you like. Stir in honey to desired sweetness or none at all.

10 years

2011-11-09T23:00:00.002-07:00

The picture on the left is when I was 21! On the right is yesterday - my 30th birthday! (both with flowers from my honey!) Still looks like me (-:

Good Bye 20's, Hello 30's

2011-11-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in my 20's! Another decade has past - my third here on planet earth. I will never again be in my 20's... kind of strange. This may be a long one, but I have a lot to cover - this has been a really fantastic 10 years.

Things I learned in my 20's:
Life really is about serving my Lord
Friends are seasonal - but the really great ones stick around for a life time
A good marriage is wonderful, humbling and a work in progress
The benefits of hard work are almost always worth the effort
Children are a treasure from God
Parenting is the most rewarding, yet hardest and most stressful job I've ever had
There are a lot more people out there than I thought, that think nothing like I do
God will always take care of me - even if it doesn't look like what I think it should

Things I've accomplished:
Bachelors and Masters Degrees with honors
Becoming a home owner
A little World Traveling - England, Zambia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Thailand and Myanmar
Longs Peak 10K - 10,000 foot elevation gain in 45 miles on bike/ hiking in about 17 hours
Olympic Triathlon - .9 swim/ 24.8 bike/ 6.2 run
Giving natural childbirth
Starting my own tiny small business

Random Stats for the 3rd Decade:
# different places I've lived: 14
States I've been to: 31
National Parks I've visited: 11
Different airplanes I've been on: 94
Adventure Sports I tried: 3 (bungy, skydiving, rock climbing)
Employers: 9

Best Times:
Studying Abroad
Getting Married
Traveling - US and abroad
Having and raising a child

Hardest times:
Africa
The first year of marriage
Watching friends and family grieve
Watching my child be in pain

Big areas I'd like to grow in:
Be more Humble
Be less Judgmental
Be more Gracious (especially with my family)

The last 10 years have been completely amazing! God had shaped me, spoiled me and helped me to grow into a better person. He still has a lot of work to do in my heart - but the growing up I did in my 20's was quite dramatic. I went from a wandering, not sure what I was going to do with my life single - to a committed wife, mother and medical professional. Quite a transformation! I've learned that other than commitment to my God, family and friends, I'm not super committed to anything else. I've still never had long term committed job and I quite enjoy contract and PRN work. I enjoy a non routine, routine life. I thrive on change and challenges. I enjoy helping people and helping them get more out of life. I enjoy teaching and still have serious interest in health and nutrition (this is carry over from the teen years). I enjoy seeing the world, experiencing culture and talking to people who see the world through different lenses than my own.
Although life has been really good, life is still hard. I now think it is supposed to be that way - the hard and awful moments in life shape us more than all the others. They shape our passions and help us to focus on the goal of serving the Lord and getting to heaven with others. Pain and suffering makes us compassionate, more loving and helps us to focus on what really matters in life. I pray that what ever pain comes my way, that I don't let it numb me, but that I let it push me forward.
Adulthood is full of joy, hardship and a lot of responsibility. I look forward to the next decade and know God has so much to show me and so many ways to use me for His glory.

Goals for the fourth decade:
Serve the poor
Mentor and be mentored
Spend more time in the Word of God.
Be a more gracious parent and wife
Teach

Teaching Classes!!!

2011-11-03T22:01:00.003-06:00

Pregnancy Superfoods

2011-11-01T19:25:00.002-06:00

Here is the Superfood list I compiled for the class I'm going to be teaching - thought I would post it! (and for those that might wonder, I'm not currently pregnant - praying for God's perfect timing)

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/pregnancy-superfoods
During pregnancy, healthy foods provide the optimum mix of baby-building nutrients. Starting in the second trimester, you'll need about 300 additional calories in your diet every day.

Here are some choice foods to add to your pregnancy diet, making those extra calories count by providing a variety of nutrients that benefit you and your child.

Beans: Chickpeas, lentils, black beans, and soybeans supply fiber, protein, iron, folate, calcium, and zinc.
Enjoy: In chili and soups, salads, and pasta dishes; as hummus with whole-grain crackers or in roll-up sandwiches.

Beef : Lean cuts of beef, such as top sirloin steak, pack protein, vitamins B6, B12, and niacin as well as zinc and iron in highly absorbable forms. Beef is also concentrated in choline, required for brain development and peak cognitive powers
Enjoy: Add lean ground beef to pasta sauces, use in tacos, as burgers, in stir-fry dishes, and in chili.

Berries: They're packed with carbohydrates, vitamin C, potassium, folate, fiber, and fluid. The phytonutrients in berries are naturally occurring beneficial plant compounds that protect cells from damage.
Enjoy: On top of whole-grain cereal, in smoothies made with yogurt or milk, in pancakes, and in salads. Layer yogurt with berries and crunchy whole-grain cereal for a dessert parfait.

Broccoli: For the folate, fiber, calcium, lutein, zeaxanthin, carotenoids to foster healthy vision, and potassium for fluid balance and normal blood pressure. Broccoli also contains the raw materials for vitamin A production in the body.
Enjoy: As part of pasta and stir-fry dishes, steamed and topped with a smattering of olive oil, pureed and added to soups, or roasted: chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces, coat lightly with olive oil and roast on a baking sheet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until tender, about 15 minutes.

Cheese (pasteurized): Cheese supplies concentrated amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium for your bones and your baby's, plus vitamin B12 and protein (use reduced-fat varieties, such as Cabot 50% Light Cheddar to save on calories, fat, and cholesterol).
Enjoy: As snacks with whole-grain crackers or fruit, sprinkled on top of soups, in salads, sandwiches, and omelets.

Eggs: supply the gold-standard of protein because they provide all of the amino acids you and your baby need to thrive. They also include more than a dozen vitamins and minerals, such as choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Certain brands supply the omega-3 fats baby needs for brain development and peak vision, so check the label.
Enjoy: In omelets and frittatas, in salads and sandwiches, in homemade waffles, crepes, and whole-grain French toast, as snacks, hard-cooked, or scrambled.

Milk: It's an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D -- bone-building nutrients mother and child require every day. Milk also packs protein, vitamin A, and B vitamins.
Enjoy: Plain or flavored, in smoothies made with fruit, over whole-grain cereal and fruit, and in pudding. Prepare oatmeal in the microwave with milk instead of water.

Orange Juice (fortified): Orange juice with added calcium and vitamin D contains the same levels of these nutrients as milk. Plus, orange juice supplies hefty doses of vitamin C, potassium, and folate.
Enjoy: Plain or frozen as pops or ice cubes, as part of smoothies.

Pork Tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast, and it serves up the B vitamins thiamin and niacin, vitamin B6, zinc, iron, and choline.
Enjoy: Grilled, broiled, or baked.

Salmon: For the protein, B vitamins, and the omega-3 fats that promote brain development and vision in babies.
Enjoy: Grilled or broiled, use canned salmon in salads and sandwiches.
Sweet Potato: Sweet potatoes pack vitamin C, folate, fiber, and carotenoids -- compounds your body converts to vitamin A. They also supply potassium in large amounts.
Enjoy: Baked, sliced cold, cooked, peeled potatoes for snacks and side dishes, mashed with orange juice, and roasted: slice washed sweet potato into wedges, coat lightly with canola oil, and roast on a baking sheet at 400 F, until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Whole Grains: Enriched whole grains are fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins, iron, and zinc. Whole grains contain more fiber and trace nutrients than processed grains, such as white bread, white rice, and white flour.
Enjoy: Oatmeal for breakfast, whole-grain breads for sandwiches, brown rice, wild rice, whole-wheat pasta, or quinoa for dinner, popcorn, or whole-grain crackers for snacks.

Yogurt (plain greek, plain low-fat or fat-free): For the protein, calcium, B vitamins, and zinc. Plain yogurt contains more calcium than milk. Read the label for protein and sugar content – not all yogurts are made equal.
Enjoy: Stir in: fruit preserves or honey, fresh or dried fruit, or crunchy whole-grain cereal. Use plain yogurt to top cooked sweet potatoes or to make smoothies.
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD on January 08, 2010

Additional power foods:
Papaya: An excellent source of vitamin C (300% DV). It is a very good source of folate (28% DV) and potassium. In addition, it is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin K.
Enjoy: Add slices of fresh papaya to your morning cereal, lunch time yogurt or green salads. Cut a papaya in half and fill with cottage cheese, crab, shrimp or tuna salad. For an elegant meal, place slices of fresh papaya over any broiled fish. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47#howtouse

Spinach: Spinach and other dark leafy greens are loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamin K and iron. It's also rich in vitamin C, fiber, carotenoids, lutein and bioflavanoids.
Enjoy: Sinach makes a delicious salad. Add the green leaves to your sandwich or saute it for stir fries, eggs, and pastas. Frozen spinach can be baked into casseroles or stirred into soups. Freeze and add to smoothies, baked goods or cereal – you can’t really taste it.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm

Peanut butter: offers the nutritional benefits of thiamin, niacin, potassium and zinc. It's high in the protein and also offers some iron. It also provides a source of healthy fat, a better option than butter or margarine which don't have the nutritional side benefits.
Enjoy: It makes is a great snack or breakfast treat on whole grain toast and crackers, on apple slices or celery.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm

Shrimp: Seafood is delicious and nutritious, but many varieties aren't recommended for pregnant moms due to elevated mercury levels and other chemicals. Shrimp, however, is generally considered safe. Shrimp are an excellent source of low fat protein, selenium and Vitamin D.
Enjoy: They're also versatile - easy to prepare and serve in stir-frys, pastas or even on their own with some cocktail sauce. Just don't eat it raw. Save the sushi or ceviche for after the babies are born. http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm

Your body does what it is trained to do

2011-10-30T10:56:00.001-06:00

I ran a race I probably should not have today. I don't regret it, as I wanted to see the area of the island it was on. It was absolutely gorgeous with mountain and ocean views, singing birds in the dry forest and nene all over the start/finish area. I'm also glad I didn't get too hurt. As I painful climbed (maybe 1/2 jogging and 1/2 fast hiking) the 1200 feet elevation gain, I kept thinking "I should not expect to feel any better than this because I haven't really trained." I have maybe done 5 runs since the triathlon on Aug 28th, the longest one being about 4.5 miles. I kept my heart rate up the whole time, but didn't push too hard. I did get over zealous as a down hill runner was catching me and I tried to speed up only to roll my ankle (-: Luckily it wasn't too bad and was okay if I kept a moderate speed running. Anyway - back to training. I keep coming back to how important time usage is. I will become what I train to be. My main rolls in life should dictate my time use. I feel like I've been pretty okay at mommy training, health training and job training - but my child of God training and wife training have been lacking lately. Today was a nice reminder from God about the importance of these things... may I spend more time training with appropriate effort towards all the most important roles in life God has given me.

Passion

2011-10-28T01:46:00.003-06:00

I've recently started volunteering on Thursday evenings at the Pregnancy Center here in Kona. The gal who runs it came to our church a few weeks ago and said that they needed volunteers. I instantly new I desired to help, I wasn't sure in what capacity, but I could feel God tugging on my heart strings and I had excitement about it. The first day we did the initial interview to see what might be a good fit for my skills. I would be allowed to train to do ultrasounds because I'm an OT, but because we're trying to get pregnant I decide that wasn't a good fit (there is research that ties excessive exposure to miscarriage). Based on my interests and their need we decided I would train to do earn while you learn, a program where costumers can earn gift cards to Target while watching informational videos on an array of topics and hopefully teach a few classes on other nights. Everyone learns to do all the office tasks and so my first couple of weeks were spent doing that. Last week I got to sit in on an initial interview and that was good. I won't be here long enough to train to be a full on peer counselor, but may need to do the initial intake if no one else is there to do it when I'm there.

This brings us to today and my passion. This evening I showed up and the other volunteer said there was an Earn While you Learn couple there, would I like to do it with them? Sure, why not - learn while I go. I got everything set up and the next lesson on her list was one without a video. She asked if we could do one with a video, since this was her SO's first time attending. The next video was SIDS - reducing the risks. Unfortunately and fortunately this is a topic I know well. I'm well versed and read on the most recent findings. The video was fairly outdated as it showed loose blankets over young infants and crib bumpers. The information was pretty good, but I'm going to try and find one on the most recent recommendations for the center. I was able to print out the firstcandle guidelines to supplement the information. After talking to the director, she asked if I would like to teach a regular class on SIDS prevention at the center. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share my passion for life saving information in our community. The more I've thought about it, I think I want to pair it with a pre-natal nutrition class. Hopefully this will work out!

25 months

2011-10-09T23:32:00.007-06:00

Autumn, the first month of your 2nd year is now complete. It has been quite a rough month for you in different arenas - but you are none the less happy through it all! You are more compassionate, seem to understand prayer better and have made many cognitive and motor gains.

Firsts:
Independent prayer
Swimming with arm little swimmers
A more serious medical issue (you can read about your battle with MRSA in mommy's journal)
"Rock climbing" at Kua Bay
Reading books you've memorized
Sitting forward facing in the car seat - you've now puked 2x on windy roads, so although you have not maxed out the backwards weight limit - we turned you forward. You made it almost 25 months backwards.
Kona Carnival

Things you love:
Your babies Lily and Nancy
Outside play - beach or park
Running
Shoulder rides
Looking in the mirror
Ketchup (nuggets and homemade fries are really a ketchup delivery method)
Cow Milk
Puzzles
Reading
Singing
Cuddles
Brushing your teeth
Doing anything on your own - dressing, puzzles, toys...
Curious George and Dora

Things you dislike:
Getting in the car seat
Us talking to each other or others - you start shouting "Autumn talk to her mommy!"
Using the potty
Going to bed or nap - you say "It's not nap time" over and over when it coming soon
Saucy (spicy) things

Stories -
Logic - You had to take a lot of medicine this month and much of it was quite yucky. A couple of time you just didn't want to eat your medicine applesauce. After different attempts and a lot of time telling you is was important, I finally decided I'd try logic - I said "Baby, if you don't take your medicine your ouchies will get big and hurt more again, so you need to take your medicine to make them go away." You frowned and said okay and promptly ate all the applesauce right up.

One of your friends had an ouchie about a week after yours had healed up. I explained to you that she was having pain and needed us to pray for her. Everyday you prayed for her without prompting and you bring her picture to us off the refrigerator and explain that she has an ouchie and needs us to pray. At church on Sunday the pastor started to pray and you loudly said - "We need to pray for 'your friend'." She has been on your heart ever since we told you. Now you pray each night, "thank you for making 'my friend's' pain go away."

We went hiking with our friends and we spotted a large worm. You promptly wanted closer to look at it and then grabbed a stick. I didn't stop you because I was curious what you had in mind. You poked at the worm and it went crazy squirming furiously. You jumped back and scurried away. Although it was a bit scary - you still have fun telling us about the worm and how it went squirmy when you poked it.

We love you sweet girl!! You are full of life, love, curiosity, and adventure!
Mommy and Daddy

MRSA

2011-10-07T01:03:00.009-06:00

I have several posts brewing in my head - but thought I better go back and put up the info on MRSA that I've been promising.

Here is a PubMed article if you are interested in reading about the bacteria it's self - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004520/

It lives everywhere around us. Here in Hawaii, if a doctor thinks you have a staph infection it is treated as if it is MRSA because it is not worth throwing antibiotics that are unlikely to work at it. Our urgent care Dr. explained that staph has been evolving ever since modern antibiotics were created, but MRSA really scared the medical field in the mid-2000s because they were running out of synthetic options. He said about 2/3 of staph infections in Hawaii are MRSA. Now there are more synthetic options, but the bacteria is likely to adapt and resist them soon enough. Now they are even seeing resistance to the strongest drug vancimycin - VRSA. Roughly 25-33% of people have staph living on their skin, in their nose or under their finger nails. Here in Hawaii it is far more prevalent - articles I've read blame the moist, year round warmth and out door lifestyle. It can live in the ocean water, sand and other public places for months with out dying on its own. I read it can live on a blanket for 6 months - icky. Most of the time it doesn't bother us. Our immune system and the good bacteria on our skin kills it before it is a problem.

Unfortunately for us, one got past Autumn's defenses. I've racked my brain trying to find the exact cause, but the closest I will ever come is a few guesses. The night before we saw the 'pimple' the first time we had been at the beach and she had pooped in her swim suit without telling us. She had a mostly healed yeast infection and rashed up from the poop. These two things meant she had openings for the MRSA to get in. Where the MRSA came from??? The beach, our bath tub ... we will never know.
Here are the links to more details on our personal battle in chronological order:
Weird Bump
One Day
Healing
Slowly but Surely

If I had known it was MRSA when it was a pimple I likely could have treated it with prescription muriprocin cream, essential oils or manuka honey - killed it an moved on. Because we didn't know what it was we waited, watched and finally went to the Dr. 5 days later when it was too late to kill and move on.

Modern Medicine - this little bought with MRSA has made me really mistrusting of the over arching medical community. I believe it is too much about money and not about enough about the good of the people. (friends and family - please know that this is not about the service delivery and more about the bigger system) Big Pharm has way too much power over what gets into our mouth and bodies. I've scoured the internet and almost every personal story out there goes something like this - got MRSA somehow, took antibiotics, synthetic antibiotics trashed the immune system, after a full course, the antibiotics clear out of the system, MRSA comes back, back on antibiotics... over and over and over. Most of the stories tell of multi-year battles with MRSA. I won't go into the biology - but modern antibiotics do not seem to do the trick for a lot of people. More disturbing is that THERE ARE natural antibiotics available - but the doctors don't promote. There is even good research for some of them - but because the FDA has not approved their use yet - we battle in a stupid cycle with poor modern antibiotics against an ancient bacteria and let our health go to pot. I'm ready for integrated medicine - where the natural paths and physicians work together to create better health for all of us. At this point - although I acknowledge the benefits of the modern medicine - I think the natural paths are pointed in a better direction. Again - in a perfect Tara world - it would be integrated.

EVERY person I've read about has only found long term relief from external MRSA with essential oils and/or mankua honey.

Here is some of the research I've found if you are interested:
http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/contents.shtml
http://www.thieves-secret.com/mrsa.htm - has a link to the research PDF
http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/essential_oils_bacteria.shtml

So - my game plan is certainly not to wait and see if MRSA shows up again. We are fighting it by doing these things:

After the infection on Autumn healed up I sanitized our entire house. Hot water, bleached and hot dried all of Autumn's clothes, all our bedding and towels. I sprayed Lysol fabric cleaner on the couch and rugs. I bleached the bathrooms. The more I read the more I believe that I don't need the toxic chemicals to protect ourselves.

I've made natural sprays for both bathrooms (1/2 vinegar 1/2 distilled water and 2-4 drops of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil and Be Young's Defense blend) - we use it for weekly cleanings and spray in the tube after each use. A word about the tub - this is where we wash all the staph exposure from the day off. I'm sure most of our drains would test positive for it. We will now be persistent to kill anything in this bacterial hot bed. I used to let Autumn shower with me - and it is completely possible that she got the infection while sitting down in our shower at my feet. )-: Unfortunately mother/daughter showers are a thing of the past, as even if our tub is sparkling, I'm washing my ickies down to her. Even though the risks are low, we've been doing it for months - after this horrid experience I just can't.

I used roughly the same recipe to make hand sanitizer for the diaper bag and my purse. And the same recipe for a spray down after beach showers.

I got 16+ medical grade manuka honey for us to use as neosporin on our wounds and anything that looks like it could be a potential problem. If something looks suspicious I will likely alternate between putting the manuka honey and Defense blend mixed with olive oil on it. From what I've read either should do the job.

I've been rubbing one drop of the Defense blend with olive oil on Autumn's feet at night. I'm not quite ready to have her ingest them like www.staph-infection-resources.com recommends. But if we deal with another infection you can bet your boots that Autumn will be taking funny tasting applesauce everyday.

During bath time I put a couple of drops of Defense and tea tree into epsom salts and add them while the water is running.

I bought Dr. Bronners tea tree castile soap to use as shampoo and body soap. I'm in the process of switching to all homemade or all natural products in our home.

This weekend I'm going to make manuka honey antibacterial hand and body soap.

I'm also planning to get a diffuser for the oils - Aaron really hates the smell - but it kills the bacteria it in our carpets and everywhere - so we'll have to figure out a method that works for both of us.

I'm officially a happy germaphob... sigh... (-:

If a pimple that kind of looks like a spider bite shows up at your house...

(Common sense warning: This is what I plan to do - but this information is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding any medical condition)

The day it shows up action is needed.

I plan to treat it with either manuka honey, manuka oil, Manuka ointment, one of the essential oils shown to kill MRSA or a blend of them.

I plan to put a few drops of the treatment on an enclosing band aid (like a circle one with the pad in the middle) and apply to the spot. Reappling a new treated band aid 4-5 times a day. Additionally, I'd use hot compresses 4-5 times to draw the infection out. If it grows at all after starting to treat it, I'd go to the doctor and have it tested to see what it is we are dealing with.

Surrender

2011-10-03T02:33:00.002-06:00

This was the theme of the women's retreat I attended this weekend. Before the thoughts escape me, I want to recap what God laid on my heart.

Definition of Surrender:
1. To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion.
2. To give over or resign (oneself) to something, as to an emotion:

Surrendering ourselves to the Lord means - giving up my dreams and desires to follow His will for my life. Trusting Him that His plan for my life is better - even if it is harder. Obeying Him so that I can know his will and He can use me to His full desire.

Practically this means - making a routine of daily devotions (I'm not very good at this even though I've experienced the great benefits when I do it), developing mentoring relationships both directions, pouring the heart God gives me into people who need it.

God slowly develops surrender in us, it isn't easy and it is a daily battle. Our main lessons revolved around Esther. In the end, she followed her call in life knowing that the consequences could be death. It worked out in her favor, which is not always the case, but she had to surrender to the Lord in order to follow His will for her life - which was to save many Jewish lives.

I like to be in control, a lot. Surrendering my hopes and desires on a daily basis is very much a work in practice. I remember getting the news that they had hired under my contract and we would be moved away from Kona in January of 2009. I cried and struggled why God allowed this. I pouted in Maui (please don't hate me) because it was hard and I wanted to be near my friends. I think I pouted a lot because it wasn't my choice. Although I maintained my old friendships, I really believe I missed out on valuable ministry opportunities because I choose not to connect and put effort into the place God had put us. In the scheme of life being moved is so minor - God had gifts for us there. He had things to teach me - looking back, learning to surrender is one of them. Sometimes we learn best from failures and natural consequences.

This surrender becomes absolutely necessary at the turning points in our lives - AKA the really hard and crappy times - when we have no control. We all get different lots, our pains and sufferings are all different and unique. However, these turning points in our life test our faith - our surrendering ability. Do we trust God when the world falls apart and it is not as it should be? I feel in this sense my faith has had very little testing, my refining fire up to now has been very gentle. I don't know my lot in life, but I want to be a women like Esther who will surrender myself for God's greater purposes.

Surrendering my Children - this can't escape my thoughts and is on my mind often. Last week I was listening to Christian radio on my way home for lunch and the guy was talking about worry and our children. Just getting past our MRSA horribleness - I'm an admitted germaphob. I wonder if I'm doing everything I can to prevent pain like that again. I got chills as he spoke and knew God wanted to speak to me through him. Essentially the point was that we should put reasonable safe guards in place to protect our children, but we can't trust our safe guards - we can only trust the Lord. When we trust the safe guards we worry because they are not fool proof - things can still go wrong. When we do our very best and trust God, we do not need to be anxious. The risks are no different and God is in control either way. He tells us in many places that worry is not good - to give Him my anxieties because He is in control. He gives and he takes away - God allows these things and He is no less in control. I can't live my life scared, anxious or paranoid. God has many other thing he needs my mind and heart to be focused on and focusing on fear and worry has serious side affects. A spirit of fear is not from the Lord - Trust in the Lord. Surrendering is a big part of me giving my children (Autumn and future children) to God. (I want to acknowledge that this is my limited understanding, is certainly simplified and is what I needed to hear at this time in my walk - in no way am I trying to be trite or insensitive to others struggles)

God take me and use me for your will! I trust you and can therefore surrender everything to you.

More thank yous...

2011-09-30T01:43:00.002-06:00

Tonight Autumn wanted to pray again - in addition to "thank you for God, Jesus, Daddy and Mommy - she was also thankful for Jackson, biting (hopefully she meant learning not to bite), Dora, Elmo, George's Kite (curious George), Daddy's kite, and praying

First Prayer

2011-09-29T01:14:00.003-06:00

We've been trying to be real good about including night time prayers into our routine the past month or so. I wish I could say for the past 2 years... our routine used to be to nurse her to Brahms Lullaby in Hawaiian, and she was usually out before I finished. We have been trying to be real good about bath, snacks, teeth, books, prayer and then lullaby. Sometimes Autumn wants to pray and so we help her by having her repeat us. Tonight I asked if she wanted to pray and she said yes. I asked if she wanted help and she said no.

Her prayer went something like this - "Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for God, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for Daddy, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for making my owie better, Thank you for making my owie better, Thank you for making my owie better, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for Daddy, Thank you for Mommy, Thank you for making my owie better, Thank you for Nana, Thank you for Papa, Thank you for Ella, Thank you for toys, thank you for Lily, Thank you for kitchens, Thank you for Nana, Thank you for Josh, Thank you for Josh, Thank you for Lisa, Thank you for Josh and Lisa. Thank you for Ella. Amen"

Maybe on Tuesday?

2011-09-25T19:21:00.002-06:00

This morning I was on the potty and Autumn walked up to the door and asked, "Where is my potty mommy?" I replied, "I put it away until you are ready to start using it to go peepee and poop." She pause for a moment and said, "Maybe on Tuesday?"
Here's hoping that on some Tuesday someday soon she will start being interested in the potty for toileting again.

Slowly but surely

2011-09-24T13:04:00.004-06:00

Wednesday Evening: Dr. Webb looked at it and decided it was looking good enough that the wick did not need to be put back in. Phew... No needles, no pokes, no cutting. Autumn was quite relieved that we quickly put her diaper right back on. Once her diaper is on she is quite alright in the Dr. office. He had gotten the lab results and confirmed what we thought, it was indeed MRSA. He explained that in Hawaii about 2/3 of staph infections are MRSA. It lives everywhere - on the risk lists you are at risk if you go to stores, schools, the beach, public places... Ummm... I know very few people who are not at risk. 1/3 of us has staph living on our skin all the time, it just doesn't usually burrow done and cause problems. So here in Hawaii it is possible that about 2/9 people has MRSA living on their skin. Yikes... I will post what I've learned about staph and MRSA in another post soon. Autumn just happened to be one of the unlucky ones to have it full on attack her. )-: Had we know what it was the first day we may have been to prevent all the pain and suffering of the past week.

Anyways, back to the Dr. visit. We found out the antibiotic that she was put on on Monday is the best one for killing the particular strain of staph she has. Praise the Lord. The Dr. instructed us to finish the sulphmethoxazole and then gave us another 5 days script for the clindamycin. We didn't need to do the shot that was for the strep again and the Dr. insured us that we would not be creating any antibiotic resistant strains of strep by not taking more, as strep lays over and dies very quickly and Autumn has other antibiotics killing bacteria. I've also read since then that the clindamycin is the best one for getting into all the cells. It is a heavy duty drug - used only for the "most serious infections" according to an article I was reading on antibiotics. He also said it wouldn't be a bad idea for Aaron and I to treat our nasal pharinx and finger nails with prescription ointment and Autumn's nails too. Although not a guarantee, but this would increase the likelihood of killing MRSA if one of us happens to be colonized.

The red spot under the original abscess was not shrinking as quickly as I liked, but the Dr. didn't think there was anything that could be removed at this time. We just needed to keep watching it. He said that unless it looked worse or something was off - temperature, temperament... we should take a day off and come back for a follow up on Friday.

Being our first time in 5 days without picking and hurting, we decide to celebrate with dinner at Krua - one of our favorite Thai placed in town. It was a nice relaxing reprieve. We also went to Walmart to get some supplies and try to get her prescription filled. We found out, per insurance requirement, we couldn't pick it up until Friday. Funny since they aren't paying for any of it.

That evening it kept looking slightly better, but then after a big poop, little red spots showed up )-: Yes, another yeast infection. I put the 1% clotrimazole on to see if I was right. Being on so many antibiotics and her not telling us when she soiled her diaper I was expecting it. It responded right away and looked better. I didn't see any on the abscess sore, so just put the ointment around it. Off to bed, we thought. It was like 10pm and Autumn was still bouncing off the walls. Her bed was still next to ours and after her night time routine, singing more she was still bouncing from her bed to ours, crawling on me, kicking our bed... after ample warning I moved her bed back into her room. After putting her in her bed twice as she was crying and crawling out, she finally settled down and we all slept.

Thursday: I have a full day of student's on Thursday's and so I was gone the full day. I tried to set Aaron and Autumn up with to do lists - when to take each antibiotic and ibuprofen, to eat pro-biotic yogurt... I'm glad Aaron appreciates the lists because I need to feel like I'm helping when I can't be home with her. I called every two hours and Aaron identified more red bumps on the abscess sore - I told him to get the fungal cream on it asap and every diaper change and it went away. Should have known, but I didn't want to put anything more than I had to on the red angry sore. We made it through the day with no temperature and just a slightly more whiney than normal Autumn. Praise the Lord! The red spot looked much the same and at one point looked like it had a golden crust on it. We hoped that was the body sucking the infection up to the surface of the skin.
This night I stayed up until 12 reading as much about MRSA and ways to control it as I could. I found some good information and look forward to sharing it. I even found a blog of a family that struggled with MRSA for over a year - in and out of the hospital and on medication almost non-stop. She has figured out how to manage their sores and outbreaks without needing medications for almost 2 years. I'm now in touch with her over email as I has some questions about her strategies.

Friday: The spot below the abscess was still not looking as good as I wanted it to. We decided to take her in for the follow up in the am in case there was something they needed to lance. Autumn fell asleep in my arms in the waiting room and woke when we got in the exam room for her temperature. It was 98.8, about a degree higher than her norm. I showed the Dr. the pictures we'd been taking of the changes and then I held Autumn while she took a look. She was please by the improvement and explained that the red spot and what we were feeling below the abscess was likely a spot where the staph had started to grow, then the body went to encase it and then attack it with white blood cells. Once the antibiotic started working, there was and is now dead tissue and other junk in there that needs to heal and may even push to the surface. She didn't think there was a very great likelihood that it would need lanced. We were grateful and hoping she was right about it all. We got home, got her med in her and I took off back to finish up my day at work.
That evening I started the prep work or

Saturday (Today): It looks better, but the progress is slow. Slightly smaller and less red. The spot below seemed softer today and less red too. We spent the entire day sanitizing the house. We washed every toy, book and doll in her room, cleaned the rugs (not the carpet yet), washed all the sheets, towels and clothes in hot bleach water, scrubbed and sanitized Autumn's bathroom and the kitchen, Aaron washed the horizontal blinds., sanitized the couches, chairs and table. I never dreamed trying to sanitize our whole hour could take so long. Tomorrow I still have plenty more, but the things I was most worried about are done. Her diaper bag, my purse, all the stuff we touch all the time - it is all bleached or wiped with 99.999% killing wipes. I'm most worried that we may have spread it somehow when treating her wound. Hopefully what we did got rid of most of the bacteria living in our house. We normally get about a B+ when it comes to house hygiene - we do a pretty good job, but after reading around how to best keep your home clear of staph, we will be stepping up our game. I plan to wipe down door nobs, computers, cupboards with trash cans and such most nights, we will do single use towel, change hand towels daily, spray our tubs with 10% bleach after every shower and clean the bathrooms 2x a week. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm concerned that Autumn may have got introduced to the bacteria in our tub. Like I said earlier, it lives everywhere, and we will never know exactly where the MRSA came from, but it is worth a try to prevent what we can. We will also try to come in and wash our hands first thing when we get home. Oh, that reminds me - I need to sanitize both our cars too. Sigh.... I know I'm being crazy, but it all seems worth the effort in case some of it helps. I even sanitized our belts. They are the only thing we touch before we wash our hands after using the toilet, but never get washed. The germaphob in me is raging right now. So that is where we are, Autumn is healing and I'm trying to figure out how best to handle future problems with MRSA and cleaning the crap out of everything around us.

Healing

2011-09-21T13:25:00.002-06:00

Tuesday: We held our ground and it didn't look any bigger. The red spot below the original infection was still red and puffy and concerning. We went into urgent care at 1 to have them look and see if we needed to do anything else. It was a different doctor and she thought she needed to remove the wick from yesterday, saline rinse the wound out and put another wick inside. We decided putting lidocaine in would be less traumatic. Autumn's reaction this time was much stronger with kicking and screaming before anything had even happened. Sigh.. Again I held her top and Aaron helped hold her legs and the doctor was able to get the numbing stuff in. She got the job done. I tried to sing, but my tears made it hard. Once she had a diaper on and knew we were done, she able to calm down. Uhh.. but then we still needed to get the antibiotic shot in her leg. They put a needle on that was too small to let the antibotic out and so they had to stick her twice. Not quite as smooth or sure handed today, but we got the job done. They gave her a small stuffed puppy and that cheered her up. She said thank you and blew kisses when we left.

Her poops have gotten progressively softer and last night she got poops on the end of the wick. Best thing would have been to cut that part off. We tried to figure out how to get this done and she completely freaked out. Shaking and crying. Explaining to her that it would not hurt, did not help and so we gave up, pulled it out at bit and decided he couldn't hurt her any worse as she is packed full of antibiotics. Poor girl... hoping she trusts us again someday.

We went to bed encouraged that her fever had stayed low or gone all day and that it might look a little better.

Wednesday Morning:
She woke up and cuddled. I told her we needed to change her diaper and she decided she needed a shower like daddy. After daddy got out, I bleached and vinegared the tub and rinsed it really well. She took a nice long shower and was pretty upset when I took her out. First look at the infection spot and it looks better -less swollen and the red spot below is shrinking. Covered it up and headed to get food and antibiotics and pain medicine in her. The Ibuprofen was easy to get in her, but the c-biotic in the applesauce was very difficult. Finally she ate it after explaining over and over that it was to get rid of her owie. I headed to work. When I got back she ate 2 things of probiotic yogurt and then I went to change her and discovered she was supper poopy. )-: It had coated the wick - so I just pulled it out. The hole is quite big - so I'm not worried about it closing up again before we go back. The red spot is less, but localizing in one spot. Eager to hear what the Dr. thinks. We get Dr. Webb back today. Cleaned, bandaged and diapered... We will head back down after my afternoon meetings in Hookena. Until then, we keep hoping and praying that she holds ground or improves. She is happy and playing in her room.

One day...

2011-09-20T00:05:00.002-06:00

closer to the end of this thing. We are emotionally exhausted. Poor Autumn had to endure another lancing this afternoon. The previous incision had closed up and the infection grew and spread again. Her temp has gone up and down since yesterday evening and there is now pink spots above and below the main infection. This time he made a much larger incision and another smaller one up by the original owie. He packed a wick into the cavity so it could not close up and would continue to drain. He put a shot of antibiotic that would kill strep in her thigh and gave us another prescription to add to the one from yesterday. Now we wait.... like yesterday, he said that progress would be holding it off for the next 24 hours - not to expect a true reduction.

The wound has drained a lot and maybe looks smaller and softer. The pink spot above the infection is gone, but the one below looks worrisome. As long as her temperature stays below 103 we will head down to urgent care again in the morning to have them take a look at it. The doctor said as long as she doesn't go into febrile seizures than there is no reason to take her to the ER, as they won't do anything more for her than is already done. Tomorrow the lab results will let us know for sure what we are dealing with - what type of staph, or the really rare case that it is something other than staph. On Wednesday they will have the results telling us what type of medication (if what she is taking isn't working) is going to kill the stupid stuff.

Praying that the medication she is on is effective, that her temperature stays down and that we all keep our sanity.

Tonight - I'm very thankful for modern medicine, the means to access it, and the caring knowledgeable doctors we have had.

I'm thankful for our general health, I have a new deep sympathy for parents with children with long term painful medical problems. I can not even imagine having to do this on a regular basis. My baby has experienced more pain this week - she is resilient, I know... but watching her be in physical pain is probably the very worst things I've ever had to do.

Bright moments through these days -

Last night I told Autumn that when the sun came up it would be daddy's birthday. This morning I was up making birthday goodies, when I heard her cry. Her bed is next to ours right now. I walk in our room and she was sitting up looking at Aaron and said, "Daddy, the sun came up! Daddy the sun is up!" I said - go give daddy birthday kisses - which she was happy to do!

I worked until noon this morning and met her and Aaron at urgent care. I walked through the door and was greeted by a big smile. I had picked her a plumeria and brought it to her. She happily took it and gave me a kiss. She looked down and paused for a minute and then looked up and said, "Mama, how was your day? Mama, at work, how was your day?" Made my heart melt.

While talking to Aunt Lisa - Aunt Lisa was asking her about her birthday and how old she is. She was trying to say second and then said "and no more mama's milk." This is the first time she has mentioned mama's milk since her last mama's milk the night of her birthday. It was just a matter of fact - she had her second birthday and that meant no more mama's milk. Not one second of being upset about it. Love this girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weird bump = staph )-:

2011-09-18T17:31:00.003-06:00

What a traumatic morning. If you have a queasy stomach, you may not want to read this... I'm not giving every detail as I don't really want to remember all of it.

Things to remember even if you don't read on - if a sore isn't getting better or you have a temperature go get medical assistance. Staph can be life threatening if not taken care of, but usually very easy to get rid of if caught soon enough. Staph is really common here in Hawaii and not uncommon else where. It lives on 1/3 of human's skin or in the nose. It presents it's self in different ways - but if left untreated can get in the blood and cause permanent damage or death.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000863.htm

I think I last wrote when it was still just weird. Thursday afternoon we took her to a pediatrician who said he thought it was indeed staph. He gave us a prescription for antibiotic ointment, instructed us to use hot compresses to bring the infection to a head and said we needed to push the infection out. He said it was possible we'd need to bring her back in on Monday to have it drained. Friday morning pus came to the surface and we pushed it and a little came out. At lunch time more came out and then before bed it looked real nasty and we even got a bit of a hard core piece out. Poor baby, to squeeze on it meant having to holding her down. About two inches around the sore got really swollen - but it was really difficult to tell what was general swelling and if we got the infection out. Yesterday it stayed about the same all day - but her croupy cough got worse, she had a 99.1 temp and she puked on our way to the Paniolo parade. We turned around and spent the day at home. More compresses, no changes, but she start limping every now and then. After bath, I pulled her bed into our room as I wanted to monitor her through the night. It didn't look different, but a fever would mean that we had lost the battle. I had made up my mind that we would go to urgent care in the morning regardless of a fever as it looked so red and angry. I woke throughout the night and felt her head. At 3 she crawled in with me and slept on my arm. At 5 I woke up and felt her and she was burning up. At first I thought (hoped) it was because she was tucked close to me. It woke her up and she said "Autumn naked." I knew I was wrong and got the thermometer. 100.5 - not good. I got the Tylenol, gave it to her and we headed to the living room. From 5-8am we watched movies and did puzzles and her temp went down to 98.5. We got ready to go and arrived at urgent care at 9:05 and were 3rd in line )-: We finally got in at 10:30 and her temp was now 102. I thought I might have to beg for antibiotics but the doctor looked very concerned. He decided it needed drained to get the infection out. I was relieved but also realized the moment was going to be very traumatic for all of us. He needed to put local anesthetic in, get a sample and then drain it. I held Autumn's head on my arm, leaned over her, holding her down and singing "He's got the whole world in his hands" in her ear. Aaron held her legs down and it took about 7 minutes for the whole procedure. I'm not sure she could feel much, but knew what was going on and cried/screamed the whole time. Poor Autumn and the poor child in the waiting room. He got a whole bunch of pus out, cleaned her us and bandaged it. We got a prescription for sulfa antibiotics, gauze, tape and instructions to change the dressing when wet. She fell asleep on my shoulder before we even got out of the exam room and slept for 4 hours. I did get her awake enough to take children's advil and her antibiotic when we got home. Every time I checked her temp it had come down. Now she is eating and playing and just very sore. We have a check up appointment tomorrow and hopefully it is looking better and responding to the medicine. Please Lord! We are ready to be done with this.

Sigh....

2011-09-15T00:53:00.002-06:00

Today has been one of the harder ones. Aaron and I had a rough morning. Autumn still has a weird bump in her diaper area. Then I show up to day care and they tell me that Autumn has been aggressive to the other kids - biting, scratching and even broke the skin on another child yesterday and today. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????? This does not describe my child at all. Not to say she is not capable of such things, but what is going on? They said she was doing it to protect toys and she would walk up to them and attack them for a toy. Where did she learn this behavior? Where is the adult supervision proactively preventing it?

My gut was to just tell her that we would not be returning, but I thought I best talk to Aaron first. This adds to the list - Autumn has been there 10 days - the first week she got a huge bruise on her head from the swings, a yeast infection (not being changed often enough), and sunburned. This week she came home with 2 scratches on her diaper line that they couldn't explain and didn't notice and then today's aggression news. We are done! Inconvenient, loosing the rest of the money we paid for the month and completely relieved to be walking away. We were hesitant after the first 3 days to even pay for the next month and now I wish we had just walked away then. So hard to predict. First we need Autumn's basic needs better taken care of. Second she must need better supervision at this time to properly learn to interact with other children. Biting and scratching can not be tolerated and she needs someone right there to instruct and teach her. I don't want her to experiencing being the aggressor when it is possible no one has eyes on her - no more no more. The couple has 5 toddlers and one infant in a fairly large area - there is no way she is being watched all the time.

We will be headed to the doctor's tomorrow. The red bump in her diaper area is a bit more red and not healing. It is looking much like the staph pictures of a boil. )-: Hopefully it is the easy to kill kind. I need to quit reading about it... MRSA is nasty, nasty stuff.

I must go to bed and try to actually sleep.

Unique

2011-09-14T01:38:00.002-06:00

Truly unique things about Autumn:

She loves cream cheese - but only on top of toast (that she does not eat) and eaten with a spoon.

She loves my arm pits - in the car she asks for them, when we cuddle she tucks her hands as deep into them as I'll let her. Yes - a bit gross, but kind of sweet too.

She loves made up songs and even made her own up the other morning. It was with Aaron, so I'm not sure what her lyrics were - but she asks me all the time to sing .... tree, monkey, Nancy (her baby) and anything else she can think of. She usually likes what I come up with even if it lacks all good song qualities!

Randomness

2011-09-11T17:51:00.006-06:00

It's nap time and I had a minute to look through and edit some photos! Ones that got forgotten and would have likely made the cut for previous posts and updates.

Denver Butterfly Pavilion!

Rosie the Tarantula!

Hugs good bye!

Grandma's sand box

Update on life -
Well, I'm now the mother of a weened two year old! Crazy and exciting! She is my pride and joy - we have so much fun!

I'm going to start volunteering at the Pregnancy Center here in Kona on Thursday evenings. Will likely be teaching Christian classes on pregnancy and parenting! Super excited about this!

Finding a routine - before the triathlon, I just tried to get as much exercise in around work and family time as I could. Two hour bike rides in the early am, swims, runs... I'm happy to move on to a more relaxed exercise schedule - but have to get the momentum started again. Thinking 1 swim and 2 runs - one shorter and hilly and one longer each week. Aaron wants to start exercising more too! Excited to find a healthy groove for the family!

Another family member - I haven't been real secretive in telling people that we hope to add another member to our family soon. This being said, it will be interesting how well I can keep the secret once we know we are pregnant but not yet ready to tell the world! I'm not really good at secrets, but we will likely want to hear the heart beat before we tell everyone the news. I'm really excited and eager to have news to this share. We are ready - God is in control.

Scary - yesterday we went to Kua Bay for sunset. Nothing really bad happened, but close enough that we will never again have Autumn on the beach with any water coming in and out, without her in a life vest. I took that stance when we were here on vacation in March/April and kind of laxed up here as we've really only played in calm bays and keiki ponds until yesterday. We need to know that if she gets pulled out of our arms or someone turns their back, that she will be on top of the water and be easy to spot and rescue! Sigh....

Even though we had another "power of the ocean" moment - we did enjoy dinner on a beautiful beach, Autumn loved the water and rock climbing behind the beach. We then went to the county fair at old airport - got to see a Hawaiian concert, the animals, watch the lights, see some side shows and ended with a funnel cake and reggae!

Beauty of Skype

2011-09-09T01:31:00.003-06:00

Tonight for Autumn's birthday when we got home we Skyped with all the grandparents and the cousins that live near grandparents and weren't in bed yet and had the great grandparents on the phone! So cool that we can live 3300 miles away and Autumn's family can still see her, sing happy birthday, watch her get excited about her gifts - and that she can see them too! After singing and present time, the grandparents were able to watch her play with her new toys. It isn't the same as in person, but it is a good replacement when the other isn't a possibility!

Autumn's birthday was jam packed - @ daycare she shared birthday muffins (she requested muffins), after work we skyped with family for muffin cake and presents, then we had dinner and play time with our friends that live in our building! Autumn was so very excited about all her gifts - happy family toys, clothes, poodles, cookware, puzzles and bath stickers! She had gotten so excited about a snow globe that cousin had found while she was here - so I found her one. She opened it before our dinner guests arrived and handed back to me and said, "Momma, you can have it." Well folks, you win some and you lose some. At least she isn't old enough to be mad that we didn't give her something she wanted. Over all it was a great day! Tomorrow we look forward to a little beach party with some friends and opening the rest of the gifts she received in the mail. She received a lot of facebook love, a special video from her aunt and cousin in Maryland and sweet texts and messages. She is truly one loved and blessed girl!

Last Mama's Milk

2011-09-08T20:38:00.001-06:00

I've been telling Autumn all month that her birthday is her last time to get mama's milk and then there will not be anymore. It just feels like the right time. I think she would nurse until she was 5 if I let her. This is her official last step for her from baby into toddler-hood. Hoping for the best, tonight is it and tomorrow night might be a bit traumatic.

Addendum: Night one - told her before cuddles that mommas milk was all gone. We read Good night Hawaiian moon from the book and then cuddled to the lullaby like every night since she was born and she never once asked for momma milk. She went to bed happy and calm. It was a birthday miracle! Praise Jesus!

TWO

2011-09-06T00:53:00.008-06:00

Baby Girl - you are two today! I'm scared that as fast as these two years went by that soon you will be 16 and we will only have two more precious years with you! This past year you have gone from a baby to a little girl. You are no longer an extension of us, but have your own ideas, wants, emotions and actions. Like daddy says - "there are 3 personalities in the room now!" A friend asked us if it is the terrible or terrific 2's. My honest answer is that it is very much both, switching from moment to moment. Emotions run high in both directions. I kind of feel like you have been two for a few months now! But today it is official!

Milestones:
Sleeping in a big girl bed with blankets, a very small pillow and a pool noodle under the sheets to keep you from falling out (Thanks Kaitlin!!)
One leg leading skipping
"What's wrong with the internet?" the complexity of your questions grows everyday
Answering some why and what happened questions
Sometimes spontaneously saying 'thank you' for appropriate and funny things
Pretending to go places (like the store) with your babies
Playing hide and seek (you can hide, count to 10 and say "ready or not here I come" and sustain looking for us with assistance)
Identify a triangle, circle and oval
Sometimes you know red, pink, yellow and blue
You imitate lines, squiggles, and circles and say now I draw a chicken then scribble. The other day you drew an oval and said "it's an oval."
You will 'read' books to us that you are familiar with.
Just this week your interest in jigsaw puzzles developed and you can put together pieces if I set them up one at a time or it is the only piece left.
You put clothes on that I lay out for you, they just might be backwards or inside out though.
You put on your own Velcro shoes - just not always on the right feet.

For the past several months your biggest change is your ability to communicate. We are so amazed by what you can tell us. Everyone comments on your cute little voice. In the car you were upset about your stickers and I said to and hand them to me and you responded - "Mama I can't, dropped them." You talked non stop on the phone with your great grandparents today. Telling them the pool was closed (our community one was) and that daddy went to the big pool. You talked about the birds and the trees. Later I asked you what tomorrow was and you said "my birthday." I asked how old you would be and you said "2!" You have the vocabulary to describe almost everything you see or events around you. You learned the words other and somebody this month. "Mama, that is somebody's car." or better yet at the grocery story pointing "That is somebody." You will ask, "can I have the other or different one?" You know what under, on top of, next to, and turn it mean. You want to know where everyone is. The day after Uncle Jeremy left, your new day care antie was able to understand "Uncle Jeremy back in Colorado." Tonight we took separate cars to the pool and you asked, "where'd daddy go?" I told you, you asked again, so I asked you where he went and you replied "Daddy in silver car going home." You enjoy singing and know most of "Twinkle, twinkle." You will start a song or say part of it requesting that I sing it. Yankee, Twinkle, baa baa, Jesus, monkey. You also enjoy giving me a topic and having me make up songs. "Mama sing _____" We sing some pretty funny things. When it is raining, you sing "it's pouring and snoring."

Things you love -
Nancy - your plastic baby that we finally named. She goes everywhere with you - bath, bed and the beach if you insist. You dress her, change her diapers, feed her, put her in time out and love on her.
Popsicles - the homemade fruit kind
Monkeys and Curious George
Puzzles
Reading
Playing with friends
Swimming (you can kick, paddle and sometimes come up on your own to get a breath)
Cuddling
Being carried when were out and about - especially shoulder rides

Things you dislike -
Using the potty
Being told no or that we don't have something you want
Occasionally you just don't want a diaper on - this is problematic considering that you also don't want to use the potty.
Other people talking to me - you will start shouting "Autumn talk to her Mama!"
The sun in your eyes
Sand in your shoes
Bug bites

Potty training: I thought you were making progress in being ready. In Colorado before we left you had 4 successes in one day. Right now you don't want to sit on the potty, but you want to wear big girl underware. We've tried a few times and now have decided to put the underware away for awhile until you are willing to try to sit and go on the potty regularly. You love your Elmo potty book and we read it almost every day at your request, but you just are not yet ready to be fully trained and we don't want it to be stressful or a fight.

What you go to time out for: Screaming and disobedience
You put your babies in time out and say "listen, listen." We usually explain what you have done wrong, have you say sorry and then repeat what you are or are not supposed to do. You definitely get it and sometimes even put your self in time out.

Where you have been in these first 2 years - Loveland - Roosevelt, UT - Glenwood Springs - Denver - Portland, OR - Billings, MT - Pullman, WA - Washington DC area - Grand Junction - Zion National Park - Las Vegas - Death Valley - Mammoth Springs - Yosemite National Park - Lake Tahoe - Lasson National Park - Red Wood National Park - Salem, OR - Olympia, WA - Mt. Rainer National Park - Pullman, WA - Helena, MT - Yellowstone National Park - Kona, HI - Maui - Pullman, WA - Olympia, WA - Seattle, WA - Maui - Kona, HI - Phi Phi Islands, Thailand - Krabi, Thailand - Yangon, Myanmar - Bagan, Manmar - Bangkok, Thailand - Waikiki, HI - Molokai - Maui - Pullman, WA - Boise, ID - Glenwood Springs - Loveland/Fort Collins - Washington DC area - Colorado - Kona, HI

Although the emotional 2's are in full force, the joy you bring to our family is beyond our wildest dreams. You are spunky and bright. The world is full of wonders that you want to explore with your eyes, hands and ears. This last week you have been asking where the moon is and talk about up in the sky. You will spontaneously tell us you love us, cuddle and snuggle with us and give us big kisses!

Thank you for who you are Autumn! We are so proud of you and look forward to exploring the world with you and watching you grow up in it!!

We love you,
Momma and Daddy

THE RACE!

2011-09-04T20:18:00.005-06:00

I know it is blurry - but it the only picture we have of all 3 of us!

Life is seriously moving along too quickly. All of a sudden it was the night before the race. We had a great week with Aaron’s brother and our niece in town, but it has been seriously busy. I had been planning to sneak in my 20 minutes of each run, bike and swim during the week – but there really was no good time. I got 6 days of ‘rest’. I think the more difficult thing was that my focus was so far away from the race. I wouldn’t go back and change it, but we just might say it wasn’t ideal for being mentally prepared for the race. We had a wonderful time playing, celebrating Camry’s birthday, seeing the stars at Mauna Kea and even did a complete circle around the island Friday and Saturday. I took off from Volcano on Saturday after lunch and gave myself 2 hours to get to Kona for the mandatory race meeting. I thought that was plenty of time, but should have left 20 minutes sooner. It turned out to be fine and I only missed a few minutes of the meeting. I got my race packet, got my arms stamped with my number and headed back home where everyone was. We headed out to one last dinner before taking Jeremy and Camry to the airport. It was beautiful sitting on the deck of the Royal Kona Resort overlooking Kailua Bay. We headed to the airport a bit late, got them on their way and headed back home. Autumn fell asleep at 7:15 in the car and transferred into her bed and she slept the rest of the night. I packed my bike up in my car and headed to Angie’s to leave the bike there to load in the truck and eat some quinoa pasta. We talked about random race things, the craziness of the week and our excitement for the morning. I left at about 8:30 to get all my other race things together. I’m glad I looked up a tri packing list on line, as my brain was not up to the task of figuring it all out. Swimsuit, goggles, cap, sunscreen, bike helmet, gloves, shorts, shirt with number pinned on and a snot rag, socks, shoes, towel, running shoes and hat, wash cloth to carry and another sunscreen (there were 2 transition spots).

My biggest mistake – not thinking about what I was eating the 2-3 days before the race and especially Saturday. We had pretty much been on the go since Thursday and so we had eaten out many of the meals. Sushi, Thai, eggs, burger, quesadilla’s… My digestive system really needs fiber and eating out doesn’t usually provide this without a lot of conscious focus on ordering the right thing. I knew my system was backed up a little bit – but it hit me Saturday night that I was going to have to proactively get things moving to be comfortable for the race. Ughh.. Saturday night before bed I had a cup of decaf coffee and ate applesauce with flax meal and bran. Expected some results and didn’t get them. Woke up with a stomach ache, had weird dreams and finally crawled out of bed at 4am. Decided prunes and regular coffee was my best bet to be able to race on an emptied system. I was right. Once I knew it was working I also had a small shake with berries. I was a bit worried that I’d crash from the coffee since I don’t usually drink it – but it ended up being okay.

I got my stuff together, put on my suit and warm clothes, then hopped in the truck with Angie and Isaiah. 5 ½ hours of sleep and coffee and prunes for breakfast– thought this could be pretty interesting! We parked and got our bikes set up. We drove over to the Keauhou Beach Resort where T2 and the finish line were to set up our running gear. We caught the shuttle back over to the bay and I made a pit stop. At this point I was getting a little nervous I’d over done my ‘medicine.’ The sun was coming up and we hung around prepping our bike stuff a bit more, putting on sunscreen and talking over our nerves. We went to the water and warmed up a little bit before the start. They were starting us in waves.

Us women got pink caps and put at the end of the wave line. Kind of weird since many women swim faster than the guys. Oh well. After the first two waves of racers took off, we swam out to the start to tread until the start. It was a nice warm up. I think about a 1/4 mile just to get to the start. No turning back, here we go! A high five with Angie and "BANG!" Race gun went off and so did we!

Swimming in the ocean with a bunch of other people is interesting. My goal when I started training in May was to swim as much of it as I can in free style. I think I transitioned to breast stoke about 5 x, mostly to look ahead and only once to rest. I felt like I did a pretty good job of staying with the pack, but I definitely slowed up when little bubbles got too close to my face! The water was stunningly beautiful and got really cold the last 1/3 of a mile as we must have been over some freshwater outlets. I got to the finish and ran up the coral in path in 34 minutes and 49 seconds. I put a watch on my wrist and started at the gun so I'd know where I was at for total race time. I was happy, as I wanted to swim it in under 35 minutes.

Transition 1 was the most challenging transition - your wet and have so much bike gear to get on. After pulling my shirt on, my shorts on and having also put on gloves, hydration backpack, helmet, sock, shoes and sunglasses - I was a bit envious of those who had a tri-suit on and just threw on their shoes, sunglasses and helmet and took off. I also was rightfully worried about 1.5 hours in the sun after swimming. I quickly put on another layer of sunscreen on my arms. After I was on the bike I remembered that I didn't lube my legs - too late now! Up the big hill I went.

The race starts off at the bottom of Kamehameha III Road and climbs up to 650 feet in about 2 miles with 4-6% grades. This was the 4th time I had rode the hill in the last month and if felt about the same as without the swim, just long and slow. They stopped all traffic for us - it was awesome! No stopping, slowing or thinking about cars! They even closed the steepest part of coming down the hill into town - so we had the whole road to ourselves! I honestly don't remember much passing or getting passed - I think maybe 6-10 people went by me and I passed a few. I tried to push my speed, but honestly zoned out a bit. I wish I had focused on using my up swing a bit better - oh well - I did just keep going!!! Getting to OTEC felt pretty good - the first 13 miles. It felt a bit up hill and so I thought getting back into town would be easier - wrong! The wind was straight in our face and I struggled to go 14 mph. At about this time my back got tired and my bum was starting to get really numb. I looked forward to getting on Alii and feeling close to the next transition. We rode down the big hill on Kaiwi and didn't have to stop at the signs - so much fun! Once on Alii I tried to crank but hung out around 17-18 mph. I was happy with that and felt pretty good when I got to the transition. I hoped off, ran to my stuff, racked my bike, took off the backpack, switched shoes and put on another layer of sunscreen. I got to the start of the run and the lady sent me back for my race number I forgot to put on my front - opps. Okay - now I was on my way. Switching from biking to running is so hard for my legs. It is like they don't work right. I think running backwards might be easier and possibly faster! Other than the lead legs I felt okay. Right after you start the run - they run you up a wicked 150 foot incline in less than 1/3 of a mile. Most people were walking up it and I had decided I wasn't allowed to walk any of the run. I didn't go much faster and my calves were on fire. The next 6 miles were certainly going to be interesting! Once at the top of the hill I tried to stretch my stride out, but really my legs decided the speed they could go and I followed their lead. Mile 1 passed and then it felt forever to get to mile 2 - even though it included the down hill. Surely my watch was lying! At that point I decided that not walking and finishing was sufficient for success - 11-12 minute miles were going to have to be okay. After the downhill they ran us out on a lava trail run for a mile or so. I felt lucky to have not rolled my ankle - I didn't really train for that terrain and it is a bit different than the road! From the lava until we got back to the bay we ran on either grass or the golf cart path along the ocean. The scenery was stunning! I had to keep reminding my self to look around and enjoy it! After we ran through the Sheridan, we ran towards the bay and then just for fun they ran us up a little path straight up hill and back down. It was pretty, but I could have gone for a loop around the flat parking lot instead. Next we went across the little bridge, through the sand volleyball court, next to where we exited the swim and up Kam III. WHAT - I have to run up Kam III - it was only a couple of minutes, but ughhhh... at mile 4, this about did me in! One last golf course crossing and the finishing line couldn't be too much further. I smiled and gave shakas to the cameraman and got really excited to hear the people at the corner of the golf course and Alii say a 1/4 mile!

I could tell there was someone close behind me and decided I didn't want to be passed. I think was likely the fasted section of the race for me - I even passed a guy once I was on the hotel grounds. I'm glad I didn't fade and was able to keep the faster pace all the way to the finish line!! My watch said 3:19 and my official time was 3:20:09! The gal behind me was 6 seconds later and actually in my age group - now I'm doubly glad I didn't let her pass me! (-: Aaron, Autumn, Tosh, Angie and Isaiah were there to greet me at the finish! Done! I made it!

I knew stopping wasn't a good idea. My body wanted to collapse and my brain wanted to keep moving. After a few minutes of hugs and stretching we gathered our stuff to take to the truck and get a shower. Luckily it was a long walk and then we showered at Kahaluu. My body appreciated the walk and although tired - it didn't hurt too bad. I really wanted a massage and I really wanted food - food won! We laid out the grass mats, piled our plates with food (only the racers got food included) and shared! We watched the top finishers awards! Angie got 4th in her division (which ended up being same as mine, we later found out) and got a lei and bracelet on the podium!! So so cool! So proud of you Ang!!!

My thoughts! Why an Olympic triathlon? I'm not real sure to be honest. We life gaurded the race Ang did in 2008 and there I said I'd like to do one someday. Angie and I have talked about e-training together for one over the past several years and it didn't happen. We were going to shoot for the April 3rd Waikoloa Lavaman - but Aaron's wisdom that training while working full time in the winter was unlikely to be successful was heeded. Angie called me in mid-May and said lets do the Keauhou Lavaman - and I signed up and paid that day. We were a go! It was perfect timing - I'd have time to train when I wasn't working too much over the summer in Colorado and we'd be close enough to do the event in August. (at the time I signed up we thought we'd be moving to Maui, not Kona) I was also excited because it would be before I turned 30 or wanted to start trying for another baby.

Total Mileage since May 2011

Total miles biked : 267

Total miles run: 86.4

Total miles swam: 10.3

I knew an olympic triathlon is quite a race - not something I'd be able to do without proper training. It is hard enough to be a challenge, but not outside of the realm of possibility. When people ask me how it was I respond by saying that if it had finished after the bike I would have touted about how easy it was. After the run, I find the race nothing other than difficult and character building. It certainly gets to go on my list of 'most challenging physical things I've ever done.' I don't see my self getting too much more into the triathlon scene any time soon - as it is a time sink - but it is a really nice balance with the 3 sports. I felt like my body was both more worked and more rested while training than when I have done only running. Who knows what the distant future holds??? You can't help but wonder in your mind if your body could be capable of doing a 1/2 ironman or even a full one! (-:

8 years

2011-08-15T01:20:00.003-06:00

Last weekend Aaron and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! We celebrated as a family in the Waikoloa area and scored a sweet condo for Saturday night. Saturday we drove up, check in, played in the pool and then went to the Hilton for dinner next to the dolphin pond. Autumn had a lot of fun watching them come up and down in the water! She's been there before, but this was the first time she really been able to understand and watch them so intently. We settled in for the night and then spent all morning playing in the nice complex pool all morning. Since 12 pm is check out and we were going to meet friends at 2:30 we decided to head up the Kohala coast while Autumn napped in the car. It was very beautiful and Aaron and I had a chance to just talk about life and plans for the future. We finished in Waimea by getting coffee - Autumn woke up as we went through the drive through by saying "Autumn want some!" (-: We headed to Beach 69 to meet up with our friends and meet their newest addition! It was a lovely weekend and I am so blessed by the last 8 years with my partner in adventure!!!

Autumn Stories

2011-08-15T00:45:00.004-06:00

While they are in my head!

Lately Autumn has been only showering - she will not get in the bath this week. It is a typical routine for her to call for her dad to get her when we are done. Tonight when shower time was over, she quietly said, "Daddy come get me." and then proceeded to the edge of the tub and yelled at the top of her lungs - "Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron."

This morning at church we told Autumn she would stay and sing with us and then we would take her to play. After the last song while the song leader was praying she whispered in my ear "Mama go play." I whispered back "After we finish praying." She affirmatively said "Amen." (-: She did go nicely to nursery without any fussing.

Wave Charger - yesterday we spent nearly the whole day at the beach and below our staked out area on the beach was a little Keiki pond. Tosh and another friend were down there body surfing and Autumn wanted to join them! Aaron and I took turns helping her catch the whitewash over and over and over!

T minus 2 weeks

2011-08-14T22:43:00.003-06:00

Mid August is here! I'm two weeks into the school year and can hardly believe how fast the time is going! I knew training would be more difficult when I got here and it has been - but I am feeling ready for the big day. I've now hit all my race day mileage for each event separately. I'm very glad I was able to get in as many miles in Colorado as I did - otherwise I'm sure I'd be feeling a bit overwhelmed and intimidated. I've been able to get longer workouts in here, but fewer each week. This week I was able to bike and run pieces of the real course - I rode up the 650 foot bike climb and ran the biggest hill of the run - they are steep, but not as bad as I thought they would be. I feel pretty good about the nutrition, but need to sort out when is the best time to eat snacks on the bike. I think I'm going to end up swimming in my one piece suit and then pulling on bike shorts and a shirt for the rest. Here hoping for a cloudy cool race day - sunscreen just doesn't stay on me! I'll keep working on my tan the next 2 weeks! (-: It has been really really good for me to have an agenda to exercise - but I'm excited to reel back a bit for a while! Two more weeks of tapering workouts! Oh, and my two tri buddies just got engaged to each other! So there should be all sorts of exciting energy to carry us!!!

HERE WE GO!!!!

23 Months

2011-08-09T00:57:00.004-06:00

Autumn, another month has blown by and we have a precious few weeks before you are an official 2 year old. This has been a big month for all of us - including long goodbyes with family, moving to Hawaii and starting full time daycare for the first time. As usual you did great with the transition! The first few days were rough on all of us - but you endured viewing 5 rentals in one day, long shopping trips and the run around it takes to get a house set up. Only a couple of tantrums - and really we all felt like having them - you are just young enough to get show us the real emotions we all had on the inside! You absolutely love your daycare and we are so sad that we will have to transition you again soon because Auntie Joy got a job at the hospital. You have so much fun there and always are in a good mood when I pick you up. It is such a relief that you like it, as it hasn't been easy for momma to let you go.
The last week was the beginning of a more routine life for our family and we are all enjoying that. Even before that you have pretty much kept a schedule of a 9 -10 hour night and one 1.5-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. You mostly sleep through the night, but have streaks when you get up at 4am and need cow's milk or a cuddle. In Colorado we went to bed late and got up later and here in Hawaii we go to bed early and get up around 6am. You spend every waking hour playing, playing, playing!

Skills you have!
Jumping
Easily count to 12 (when we say let count, you count 1 to 12 and then start over)
h-z of the alphabet song - for some reason you skip straight to h
everything that comes out of your mouth is 2-8 word phrases and sentences. Tonight you were fixated on not giving Tosh a hug when he left. "Autumn not give Tosh a hug. Autumn being shy."
You love pretend play - kitchen, babies, house... Luckily we found these types of toys at yard sales and so your room is packed with many imaginative play opportunities. You put diapers on your babies without help and tell the daddy in your house what the baby needs. It is so much fun to watch you.
You can dress your self. Shirts, pants (not the zippers/buttons), socks, and shoes. It many not be perfect, but it gets on!
Easily get in and out all the doors (we have to dead bolt the front door)
"read" to your babies
Mostly stay upright walking in a 2' pool and can kick and scoop (beginning swim) for 5 seconds.
Understand little and big
You want to use knifes and drive the car - sigh... it could be a long 14 years (-: Probably your number one start to a tantrum is when we get in the car and you want to drive.
You know all your friends and family by name
You know 'in' 'on' 'above' 'under'
Knows temperature "momma is it hot?" "is it warm?" "is it cold?" "No...." In shower "too hot" or "too cold."
Drinks pretty well out of a cup - occasionally still spills.
Eats with fork and spoon using fingers to put food and the utensils. But you must have the utensils!
You are a girl that knows what you want (and how to change your mind repeatedly too) you tell us how to play with your toys, how to help you and how you want things done and who you want to do what.
"mama get Autumn's drink, Dada unbuckle Autumn..." We are trying to train you to be more flexible... as you get pretty upset when the wrong person helps with a task.

Favorites: Swimming, beach, dressing, diapering and strolling your dolls, playing house, playing kitchen, cuddling, helping, eating (cream cheese, fruit, rice and raisins/craisins are your current favorites - but you eat about anything), Tosh, singing, running, climbing, dancing.

Dislikes: Transitioning to bath time, going to bed, getting in the car (sometimes), leaving the beach or pool.

Autumn, we love you so much! You are so wonderfully made and bring us so much joy! The other day we were having family cuddles and you grabbed our necks and said, "Love you guys!" You melt our hearts! The next year will be an adventure and we look forward to all the fun we will have in Hawaii with you!

Love,
Mama and Daddy

22 Months

2011-07-09T14:31:00.006-06:00

Autumn, you are changing so much everyday! You have 2 more months before we celebrate your 2nd birthday and that just seems plain crazy! We have spent the last month between Glenwood Springs and Northern Colorado. You have spent precious time with your grandparents, great grandparents, family and Colorado friends. I didn't do a great job of writing down your firsts this month - but things I can think of are your first independent somersault and your first time eating with chop sticks. You did quite well with the tops of the sticks still attached! You also got your first 4 wheeler ride in Mesa with Great Grandpa Alfred.

Activities this month:
Going to the top of Trail Ridge
Going to the park with friends
Meals with many friends
Amelia’s 2nd Birhtday Party
Ashton's swim meet
A weekend on the Mesa with Great Grandpa and Grandma
Going to the community center pool in Glenwood with friends
4th of July with the Brown Family
Riding the North Shore Loveland Train
Hiking in RMNP
Lee Martinez Farm

Your language had just exploded even more this month. You come up with thoughts on you own and describe everything! On our 6.5 mile hike the other day, you talked for the first 2 hours almost non-stop. “Autumn touched the rock, Autumn touched the tree, it’s a man, it’s a woman, there’s some rocks…” It was awesome! You enjoy talking on the phone and get quite upset if I finish a conversation sand don’t let you have a chance to talk. You’ve had quite lengthy conversations with your grandmas and Angie. Nana asked you what you were doing on the phone a couple of weeks ago and you said matter of factly, “Autumn in carseat, daddy driving and mama back here.” You are getting pretty good at describing the things around you, some of your feelings (“Autumn sad..”) and telling us exactly what you need. We can usually figure out what you are saying and you have persistance to keep trying if we are not getting it.

Pretend: Your world of play had also grown this month. You absolutley love taking care of your babies and the doll house. You spend hours dressing, changing, rocking, moving and playing with dolls and figurines. You put them in time out, talk about them being sad and asking them what is wrong. It is fun to stand by the door and listen to you as you play!

Routine: Your nap schedule is nice right now. You almost always take a 1.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon. You eat 4-6x a day and must be going to spurt up soon because you eat and eat and eat. One night before bed you had ½ cup of cottage cheese, ½ cup of whole greek yogurt, fruit, peanut butter toast and I think a couple more things! You still sleep about exactly 9 hours at night, which means bedtime is between 9-10pm so we don’t have to get up at 5-6am! You usually get up between 7-8am and for about a week this month got up in the middle of the night each night. We just had to go in and tell you it wasn’t time to get up and you would lay back down. Maybe it is the 4 I teeth coming in, but who knows.

Playing with others: You are getting better with others, but still will cry out if somebody touches something you think is yours. This becomes difficult when you own the playground (-: Over all you are doing better with it and with some verbal help loosen up and will play with others. The other night we went to some friend’s house and they have a 2 ½ and 5 year old. We hardly saw you guys other than to check in! You played with dolls, on the play equipment, with sidewalk chalk (which ended up on the house )-: ), and on the scooters/tricycles… you had so much fun!

We love you so much and are so so proud of you! This next month we get to move to Kona as a family and we’re so excited to watch you grow and grow and play with you on the beach and in the ocean! Mommy has a couple more weeks with you before she starts working again and will soak in every last minute!!!
All our love,
Mommy and Daddy

Life is a Mystery

2011-06-28T23:33:00.003-06:00

Luckily I don't have to stand alone - but man it is torture waiting for all the detail of our move to Hawaii to pan out. It is both a blessing and tough to know a bigger layer of details.

As of right now - we are penciled in for the OT position in Maui. I have been very clear that if anything opens up on the Big Island, that we want it. The OT that replaced my position 2 1/2 years ago resigned in Kona a few weeks ago. There might be an Oahu DOE OT that wants the job which would dash our hopes. If she ends up not working out, oh just how long will it take them to offer it to my company as a contract? School starts in less than 5 weeks and we leave for the islands in 22 days. Will everything pan out for us to get to be back in Kona?! We'd be happy either way, but if Kona opens up we really would like to hold out and wait for it. Sigh..... things I want to do and can't are schedule shipping our car and getting temp housing where we will be to give us time to find a place we like.

Will keep trying not to get too antsy or anxious and just wait for an answer one way or the other!

** YEAH! We found out on July 1st that we get to move to KONA!!!!

Healthy Popsicles!

2011-06-28T22:39:00.003-06:00

On the way home today Autumn asked for a Popsicle - something she has only had a couple times! I told her we may be able to get one at the store later. After nap she asked again - I really didn't want to go to the store so I stuck a stick in a frozen banana and called it a banana Popsicle! She loved it! While she was eating it, I mixed up Greek yogurt, whole milk, banana, strawberry, blackberries, spinach, cinnamon and oat bran. Poured it into what I had for a mold and sticks and put it in the freezer. Before bath time she asked for a Popsicle and got to try one - they passed the test - she loved it!

Thailand and Myanmar Travel Journal

2011-06-18T16:51:00.005-06:00

Before the thoughts, details and emotions from our vacation have escaped me -

April 8th and 9th: 7381 miles and 5 cities in about 23 hours.
Left Kona at 7am - we're very excited for family vacation, Aaron has been working a lot and we will get time to relax and adventure together! Angie graciously picked us up at the crack of dawn and took us to the airport. Managed to slim down to 2 carry on suitcases and the car seat. Upon arriving at the airport we realized I accidentally left all of Autumn's juice, my watch and necklace at the apartment. Although we were very excited for this big adventure, we are always sad to be leaving Kona - our friends and the mild tropical ocean climate. Also we were realistically nervous about all the air travel, time zone changes and foreign cultures.

We arrived into Honolulu a bit late but had plenty of time to go check in at the gate and eat breakfast. Unfortunately we thought we had time for more - as I needed to pull some info off the internet and we called family. Neither of us checked the boarding time and I thought we left at 10:15 - I take full responsibility for being the one who is supposed to know our flight times and the fact that we almost missed our plane that indeed boarded at 9:10 and was going to leave at 9:40. We were about 1/6 of a mile down the terminal near the food and internet when the agent that had checked us in came around the corner saying - "your plane is leaving, you need to run." That we did with bags and baby - as we ran we could now hear the intercom system repeating "Aaron Brown, Aaron Brown please return to gate 7." Huff puff huff puff we got on the plane which promptly pulled out of the gate - disaster avoided - praise the Lord they hunted us down and we didn't even want to think about how this would have affected our next 4 connections if we had missed our flight to Japan!

Flights to Thailand - Depart 7 am on the 8th - Kona to Tokyo to Beijing to Bangkok - Arrive 11:50 pm on the 9th.

We had open seats next to us on all our international flights - which was super nice! We were only able to have the car seat with us on the first flight to Japan on United. We were on China Air the next 2 flights and although she gave us the extra seat, the request to bring our car seat on board was lost in translation. (as we later found out - they do not use nor understand Western carseats in most of Asia and our request to use it was usually denied even though we had empty seats all around us. One flight they let us take it in the cabin but made us turn it forward and then on one flight from Bagan to Yangon they let us use the car seat properly rear facing - all other flights we had to check it)

I was hoping to see more from our window of Japan and China - but visibility was minimal. The air in Beijing was very dirty and then it got dark. We had to go through security once in Kona, once in Japan, and then in Beijing we had to go through immigration and security. The TSA agents in China were very friendly and actually held Autumn for us as we dug for the DVD player and our ziplock bags of liquids.

Our game plan was to try and sleep on this last leg to Bangkok, but Autumn had napped earlier and it was only a 4 1/2 hour flight - so we didn't end up getting much more sleep.

April 10th - A long day to Phi Phi Island.
We landed around midnight, went thought immigration and then to get our carseat - luckily customs only checked people who claimed things - we could proceed to finding the shuttle to our hotel. After asking at an information desk, we quickly found the shuttle and headed to our hotel. The staff was amazingly friendly and helpful, even at 1am! We took showers and crawled into bed around 2am. Unfortunately Autumn thought is was more of a nap and was wide awake again at 4am. Her and I got up, walked around, checked email, let family know we made it and eagerly awaited the 6am breakfast. You know you are a bit comfortable with the tropics when to sit for breakfast and have no problem just squishing the ants on your table instead of trying to find a table without them. The breakfast was a simple egg and lunch ham dish with toast and coffee. We needed to head back towards the airport at 8 to catch our flight to Krabi. We packed our bags back up and then met up with our friends for Aaron and them to eat breakfast. It was wonderful to see friends that we hadn't seen in ages and know that we would get to spend the next 10 days adventuring around beautiful locations in Asia together! The last time we were all 6 together was at Todd and Alissa's Wedding in Pennsylvania in 2006.

Getting to the airport was smooth, getting a boarding pass for Autumn was not so smooth... for some reason even though we had paid for Autumn's ticket, it took them about 40 minutes to figure out how to check us in with her. After a brisk walk and a short bit of running to obtain water and juice we were at our gate just in time. We sat next to a kind British woman and talked about real estate, politics, travel and about Krabi. We landed, obtained our luggage and headed out to figure out how to get to the pier. A bus said it would get us there for a few dollars a piece. If only it had been that simple - the bus dropped us off at a ticket office a distance from the pier - after some odd discussion and no real resolution - a truck took us to the pier. We got some lunch and sat around at the chairs in a lobby next to a ticket booth for our boat. We were getting quite close to the time of departure and decided to look around a bit more, as no one had showed up to the booth - there happened to be a second booth farther in the pier where we were able to check it and get on the boat. It was a large boat and luckily there were a few seats where it was cooler for us to sit. Autumn slept from the time we got on the bus until a few minutes into the boat ride. The views were foggy from the humidity, but it was beautiful! We pulled into the pier on Phi Phi island around 3pm. Our last transfer was a walk to our jungle bungalow - a hotel worker hauled all our luggage on a cart through the little town to our rooms at the Chunut House. We checked in and cleaned up in our rooms before heading to the beach for dinner.

Phi Phi island is a a fun little island - the main little town of Ton Sai is between the two beach bays (Ton Sai and Loh Dalam) in the center of the island between limestone cliffs. It has a real island feel with activity booths, dive shops, clothing vendors, massage booths, restaurants, people walking around in swim suits, and stinky trash... (-: Technically there are no roads and most of the island is either concrete brick roads or dirt baths. On a morning walk I found a concrete road and saw a few vehicles. Most of the community uses bikes and carts and a few have scooters to transport materials. In 2004 the huge tsunami in this area tore the infrastructure of this island to pieces. About 70% of the buildings were destroyed and an estimated 4000 people died. Much of it was cleared and rebuild in 2005 by two independent organizations. Over 27,000 tons of debris was removed in and around Ton Sai. After talking to a British gal who worked at a dive shop I found out that the whole island is owned by 5 Thia families and the shops are mostly color coded - ie the green booths are owned by the Chi family... From our bungalows the beach was a 5-7 minute walk in any direction on the paths to the beaches.

It is still April 10th! After cleaning up we headed toward the town and ended up at the beach! A pleasant surprise. We took Autumn's clothes off and let her wade in the warm water. It was beautiful! We stayed close there and got some dinner on the beach - we were all so happy to be settled in one place - even if only for a couple of days. We found out that Holy Basil Noodles are very very spicy - but delicious!

Maybe I shouldn't write about this part - as it would be okay to forget it... (-: Oh well... I caught a cold right before we left Hawaii. I got more and more stuffed up each leg of our trip and spent a lot of time at the sink to trying to get my nose un-stuffed. This stinking cold was a nuisance the entire trip going from stuffed up to runny runny to a nasty cough. Luckily it didn't keep me from doing anything, only from feeling 100%. Only in the past couple of days have I been feeling even 90% )-: Stinko for the 3 1/2 week old cold!

April 11th: Jet Lagged and hiking.
Autumn did not sleep so well - she got up at 2am and I let her play in the shower for 45 minutes. We slept on and off until 5am, but I was so stuffed up that even after I got her back to sleep at 5am, I cleared my nose out and then went for a walk. I ended up on the Ton Sai beach watching the sun come up and light up the boats and rocks in the background.

I headed back to the bungalows long before any of the others awoke. The next 6 mornings breakfast was included with our room - at the Chunut House this was either a fried or scrambled egg, a croissant or toast, tea or coffee and fruit. Simple but filling and tasty.

The plan for this day was to hike around the island and check things out. After breakfast we took off for the view points which were up several long stair cases and walk ways. The views from the top really were breathtaking. Gorgeous beaches nestled into the cliffs, green palms, bushes and flowers everywhere! From there we chose to go down the back side of the island to the beach on the other side. After viewing huge spiders, spiky trees and maneuvering around the steep root filled path - I believe we ended up at Loh Ba Kao Bay. A beautiful stretch of beach much like Tonsai - just with many fewer hotels and people. We hadn't planned to swim, but the water was too inviting to not hop in anyways!

We hiked back to Loh Dalam for a nice lunch next to bay. The nice thing about beach restaurants was that Autumn could just hop on the 'floor' and play in the sand while we finished up eating. We attempted to find some ice cream (an american style ice cream shop would make a killing here) - and then went back for naps. For dinner we ended up on Ton Sai overlooking the harbor. It was a delicious meal - I got the papaya salad - a spicy dressing over stringed young papaya. On the way home I got a young coconut to share with Autumn - Mmmmm.

April 12th: Another early morning and lots of ocean.
When the light finally came through the windows, I put Autumn in the Ergo, grabbed the camera and headed out the door so Aaron could get more sleep. The gal at the front desk suggested a shorter hike that would not be as far as the top view point. I took the road I thought she was suggesting and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. After seeing chickens and goats - Autumn fell back asleep. I finally saw a sign for the view point and kept going. I crawled up some rocks, and who knew - I had found the road/trail to the top view point going around the town instead going straight up the stairs. No wonder it took forever. It was well worth the workout - it was gorgeous with the sunrise light hitting the cliffs and eliminating the leaves and flowers!

Back down for breakfast and getting ready for our all day adventure on a longtail boat on and around the Phi Phi islands. A longtail boat is a Southeast Asian boat that uses a car engine for the motor. Ours held about 20 people and had a nice shade cover over the seats. First stop: Monkey Beach. Humm... all sorts of nasty, hungry, demanding monkeys all over the beach - interesting, but I think I may have been just as happy watching from the boat. All 7 of us walked ashore with confidence and then got charged by a couple of larger monkeys who were staring at Autumn. I can firmly say those monkeys would have gotten a beat down had they come any closer - the human guys had their chests puffed and were ready to protect.

Next stop was some snorkeling - Autumn fell asleep in my arms, so Aaron and I took turns. The water was nice and warm and the fish plentiful. At this point I must admit that south Kona has ruined me for water clarity. Due to the lava rock land scape, I'm not sure there is a tropical location with as good of visibility. So, although it was beautiful - the water was not super clear. I only got a few minutes in the water - so I was eager for the next snorkel stop after lunch. We stopped on a long beautiful sand beach and ate our chicken fried rice with spicy soy sauce lunch which was included in the excursion. Autumn slept a bit longer in a chair that happened to be under a shade cover we found.

After lunch Ryan and Aaron headed out for a bit more snorkeling and Autumn and I went for a swim. We got back on the boat for our last snorkel spot about a mile off shore from Ton Sai beach around a teeny tiny rock island. I got a bit more of a snorkel and really enjoyed looking at some fish and coral I had not seen before. We then headed out to look around a few other islands with Vikings ruins, beautiful canyons and beaches.

Our last stop was Maya Bay. WOW - this has to be one of the most idealistic beaches in the world. It is no wonder it was the chosen location for film makers to film "The Beach" - the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio movie. It is a baking power beach, sea green water with huge limestone cliffs that shade the beach and make the water a more comfortable temperature. For some reason the air is not as humid (probably because the water is not as hot) and it is just really comfortable.

What a great way to finish up an amazing ocean day! On our way back to Loh Dalam we stopped to watch the sun go down and did a little jumping off the bow!

We headed back to our bungalows for our nightly routine of cleaning up and going to dinner. The night before we had walked a different direction and spotted some fancier restaurants and we decided to give one of them a try! We sat right on the harbor and ordered mostly seafood. Fried calamari for appetizers and I think I had shrimp massuman curry. Delicious!!! It was a bit late for Autumn - she did her best, needed a couple of walks and then fell asleep on our shoulders on the way home.

April 13th: A transfer day and first day of Songkran festival.
We ate breakfast and packed our bags to leave Phi Phi. The gentleman that helped cart our luggage to the ferry terminal covered it in a tarp as it was the first day of the water festival. I walked down the street to swim in the ocean before breakfast and got sprayed down with a water gun. If you want to read more on the history and significance of the water festival here is a link. We worked our way through town - having an umbrella and a baby in my hands seemed to help a little! The guys and Autumn hung out on the pier while the gals shopped around. I bought Autumn 3 tops that I just love and some magnets.

We finally got on the ferry and headed back to Krabi. Upon arrival at the Krabi pier - there are many people eager to drive us to our hotel. Figuring out which van to get in that was included in our ticket price took a bit of time. Finally we were on our way with a gal from England and her 12 month old. This was the slowest taxi ride as traffic was backed up for miles for the water festival. Although we did not get soaked, we got to watch the full extent of the water fun had in the streets. People filled huge drums of water and put them in the backs of trucks and then 8-20 people would pile in the back of the truck and throw water on people as they drove around. The sides of the street were also lined with people throwing water on cars and pedestrians. Young, Middle and Old... everyone was involved. After over an hour in the taxi, we finally made it to our resort - Emerald Garden. It really was a lovely garden with a nice pool. We originally were placed at the back of the property where they were doing loud construction. We asked to be moved to the front and got rooms that were a bit more quiet for our stay. It was worth it even though we ended up moving our stuff during a downpour. We all got some lunch from the restaurant on premise and then played in the pool for a while. We enjoyed a nice evening in and ordered pizza. We were excited, as Autumn had a crib of her own for these 3 nights in Ao Nang. It was a bit small, but with the right set up seemed like it would be okay. I don't remember it being a bad night - so we must have gotten some rest!

April 14th: The Jungle.
We arranged for a taxi to take us to Khao Phanom Bencha National Park north of Krabi. Our driver was a guy in the military that had recently returned from the jungle between Myanmar/Burma and Thailand. It is an area run by rebels and very dangerous. He was a bit confused as to why we were in S. Thailand and wanted to go to the jungle. Between fighting and medical problems - of the 72 men he went into the jungle with - only 15 returned. They were there for 6 year and had no leave. He had a seven year old son that he had not seen since he was one. He had some interesting perspectives and told us about the work he would be doing as security detail at the Kings Palace soon. Would be interesting to know if it was all true - as we had no reason not to believe him.

Alissa had picked Khao Phanam Bencha because she really wanted to do some hiking. When we arrived the rangers informed us that most of the park was closed due to the massive flooding that had occurred the week before. Days of rain did a lot of damage to the entire region and killed 60 people along river basins. This did somewhat affect our plans - but we were still able to hike into waterfalls, wander around cool trees and vines and even see a water monitor high up in a tree. It was a fun day with a very yummy lunch at the little park cafe! Autumn spent most of lunch playing in the grass and on the hill with mommy and Aunt Alissa. New discoveries were grass whistles and running down hills! When we returned we all went for a swim - Autumn watched us go off the diving board and insisted that she too must give it a try!

That dinner we had the most amazing Indian food I had ever had! I ordered ginger chicken and naan – so so so delicous! Aaron ordered some potato naan that was pretty out of this world as well. It was one of the two places where Autumn allowed the staff to play with her. A gal walked around with her and let her ‘ride’ on a few scooters, it was wonderful to be able to enjoy our food peacefully!
April 15th: Railay and Coconut Shakes.

Up for another delicious buffet breakfast. Everything under the sun - rice, omelets, meats, cakes, cereals, toast, croissants, yogurt, juices, fruit... by far the best breakfasts of the trip! This day was our beach day and boy did we pick a beautiful one! We took a long tail over to Railay Beach for the morning. Railay is often on the list for top beaches in the world and there is a good reason for this. It was absolutely gorgeous! The one last thing I had wanted to do in Thailand was sea kayak around little islands and caves. As we neared the shore I saw kayak rentals and decided we had to go out! We had even done a practice run in Hawaii to see how Autumn would do out in the kayak. We found some shade to lay our stuff down on, put on the sunscreen and went to play! Liz and I went up the beach to take photos and everyone got a nice last soak in the beautiful green waters! Autumn had her first Popsicle and we basked in the sun! The only bummer was that there was something small stinging us - jellyfish maybe? The sting didn't last, but it was painful and irritating.
Aaron, Autumn and I headed out in the kayak (200 baht - about $8.00 US for an hour). As we rounded the corner there were caves and little islands! Exactly what I had pictured!!! We stopped at a little beach to play and then headed around the little islands. Autumn fell asleep in my lap and we headed back to the beach. It was perfect.

When we got back to shore the tide was going out and so the cleaner crabs had come out! Each group of balls is a crab that is removing sand from a hole, putting it through their system and popping them out as perfect little balls.

We then worked on getting back to Ao Nang - the guy wouldn't take us until we had a full boat - only 2 more people. Todd and Ryan finally convinced him to take us with some extra baht, as Todd and Alissa needed to get back to pack up and go to the airport.

We split for lunch and Aaron, Autumn and I ate at a Thai Kitchen right on the water. It was so so yummy and I found my favorite drink - a young coconut shake - blended coconut milk, the flesh and ice put back in the coconut! Absolutely the best drink I've ever had! I had a second for dessert!

We went back to the resort to clean up and take another swim in the pool. I went into town for a little shopping and then met up with Aaron, Autumn and the Brackens for dinner at the same Thai kitchen. I honestly had more fun taking pictures of the sunset after shopping than shopping. I got some postcards, pillow covers, a swimsuit cover and a few other things.

We went to the same Thai Kitchen with Ryan and Liz for dinner and it was just as yummy! I had another coconut shake!

April 16th: Transition to Yangon

We arrived in Yangon right at the end of their water festival.

Short report - yummy breakfast, taxi to airport, flight to Bangkok, lunch at Bangkok airport, flight to Yangon, taxi to Todd and Alissa's apartment seeing the last of Myanmar's water festival and then dinner out to a Myanmar dinner. Some good and some interesting tastes. Winner of the night was their papaya shake - papaya blended! Alissa, Autumn and I took a taxi back to their apartment while the others went to check out a pagoda. I should have put Autumn to bed much sooner, but when we were finally ready for bed I shut off the lights and put Autumn up on the bed and somehow she crawled off... bang... lots of crying and one huge knot on her head )-: We checked her eyes which were dilating correctly and called the medical facility that Alissa was familiar with. The doctor wouldn’t talk to us unless we came in, so we passed. Liz did some massage, we found a night light and rearranged the furniture. Back to bed for a few hours - our flight was at 6am, which meant a 4am wake up call! Ouch!

April 17th: Early up, Airplane, Gorgeous Oasis Resort:

Autumn slept well, still had even eyes and the egg sized knot on her forehead had gone down significantly. Four am… I always feel queasy when I get up that early, but up and off we all went. Autumn fell back asleep in the car seat, we were able to find a taxi at o’dark thirty and we got all checked in. It was the domestic side of the airport and quite simple. I don’t think more than a few dozen flights go out daily to a handful of locations. Autumn did well until we had to sit and wait for our flight. I think she wanted down and didn’t want her shoes on. After we got her shoes on she stomped around screaming at the top of her lungs for a few minutes. Luckily their were stairs and after she calmed down I was able to get her interesting in going up and down, one of her favorite activities. We got on the smallest plane of the trip and headed to Bagan with a handful of other people. Our trip was arranged with a local travel agent, so all we had to do was pay the archeological fee and then find our taxi and head to the resort. We were welcomed with fruit drinks and able to check in at 8am! Nap time!! The grounds were breathtaking! Plumeria, bougainvillea, perfectly trimmed soft grass and a lovely saline pool. Mid morning the others headed out to find bikes to ride around New Bagan and we took naps, all of us! It was glorious! After our naps we met of with everyone and headed to a place across the street for lunch – many interesting foods they did feed us. A couple of the chicken dishes were good and the lamb was pretty good as well, but a few others were, well… interesting and a bit bitter or oily.

I’m afraid this is the meal that started the travelers stomach issues with Autumn and I – never horrible, but our tummies were not right. The afternoon was filled with pool time followed by Todd and Alissa babysitting so Aaron and I could take the bikes out with Liz and Ryan. We headed through the dirt roads of New Bagan and to a temple they knew we could climb up. The people lived in thatched homes raised off the ground. The view from the top of the temple looked out on thousands of temples. Bagan is an ancient palace city where over 2000 Buddhist temples were built sometime between 1000 and 1200 AD. My reaction was similar to what I thought it might be – amazed at the architecture, but saddened by the idolatry.

We then rode the bikes to the place on the river the others had spotted earlier in the day. This seemingly uneventful dinner turned into quite the evening to remember! We watched the sun go down as people on the river did their laundry and fished, enjoyed the drinks on the porch and then Todd , Alissa and Autumn showed up. Autumn had fallen asleep on the way and received the royal treatment. The staff brought a couch from somewhere to lay her on and then between doing things the waiter would fan her. The sun went all the way down and after asking when the puppet show began, the waiter stood there for a few minutes and then said, "The puppet show begins now." And we all walked over to a new table to receive our dinner while watching a marionette puppet show! It was awesome!!! After the puppets, we got a Myanmar Xylophone show. Autumn was enthralled! After it was all done we walked the bicycles back and walked to our room in the oasis.

April 18th: Temples, Pagodas, Temple Vendors and more Temples

The morning began with a delicious buffet breakfast complete with Myanmar style juices served in big bowls with crazy wooden ladles. Part of our package while in Bagan included a day long mini bus driver escorting us around from temple to pagoda to temple. It was an interesting cultural experience – although the pagan idol environment was sad – the art and creativity put into each structure was amazing.

I’m sure we visited some of the more commonly visited sites and there were art and handcraft salesmen and women on each grounds, in the temple halls, on top of them and in the streets. Looking at the handcrafts and bargaining was actually my favorite activity of the day. We had not had much time for shopping in Thailand and so we were able to get a few souvenirs through out the day. The minimum wage for a laborer in Myanmar is equivalent to 50 cents a day and so the beautiful handcrafts were very cheap. The whole topic of Myanmar and other 3^rd world country’s economy (or the concept of world economy) is much more complicated than I can wrap my head around – right or wrong – we just have to trust that they would not be selling the stuff for that cheap if they could sell it for more elsewhere.

Blonde girl, blue eyes and Myanmar culture – Autumn got mauled this day with calls, unsolicited touches and even gals trying to take her out of our arms to hold her. Our response was to politely decline or ignore the attention. By the end of the day Autumn’s response was to swing her arms yelling “NO” and “mama mama.” She had mild stranger danger before our vacation and from this day on she doesn’t even really tolerate strangers talking to her from a distance without an uncomfortable glare or burying herself into our shoulder.

The climate in Bagan is very hot and dry – we went back to the hotel for a mid-day cool down, rest and swim. We had a lot of fun in the pool again! Autumn is a little fish and was getting much better at holding her breath. We were unable to max out her comfort level of being underwater – she would stay under bobbing for 5+ seconds, come up and say “more, more, more!!”

We cleaned up and headed back out to climb to the top of a temple for sunset. Autumn wore her new Myanmar shirt and enjoyed watching the horse carts and climbing the stairs. We went to an Indian restaurant that Todd and Alissa had been to before and shared many delicious dishes under the stars. Autumn was completely exhausted and finally crashed in the car seat in the van.

April 19^th: Rest and Transfer

We had all day at the resort to rest, clean up, pack and relax before heading to the airport. We took full advantage – only leaving to get lunch and some snacks and drinks for Autumn. We did walk around a local market with colorful spices and foreign fare. Lunch at a local diner was interesting, but certainly did not help our stomach ickies. Our friends had left the resort much earlier to go to another location in Myanmar. We took our taxi to the airport and made the flight back to Yangon just in time for sunset. We figured out getting a taxi and making our way back to their apartment for the night. We had Shan spicy noodles from the restaurant downstairs, packed our bags and tucked in for the night!

April 20^th: Back to Bangkok

Another early call, up and at em back on the street to hail a taxi to the Yangon airport. Checked in, shared an egg dish and fancy coffee at the café and boarded our plane. We got back to the hotel we had stayed at 10 days ago around 10 in the morning. We knew we had the day and I had received a tip from a friend that the Bangkok Zoo was worth a visit. We also knew it was on the other side of town and were not sure how we were going to get their. After some discussion with the hotel guide, we knew we would not be using their services – he wanted to charge us the equivalent of $50 to get there and back. We started to walk down the road for some lunch and a taxi pulled up to see if we needed a ride. I decided it would be worth asking what he would charge to get us to the zoo. He said 200 Baht so we decided we’d just get lunch at the zoo. Once we got in he made a phone call and said “here, talk to my friend, he knows English.” Oh dear, he doesn’t have a clue where we want to go! To top it off we decided we didn’t want to carry the car seat all over the zoo and so we were not sure where we were going to end up and Autumn was in our lap. Aaron spent 5 minutes on the phone with this guy … “no not sue, the zoo.” Finally some comment about monkey’s seemed to do the trick and we were pretty sure he told our driver that we wanted to go to the Bangkok Zoo. We decided that where ever we ended up we would stay there and have fun. It was neat to see more of the city and then before we got to the zoo we drove by palace grounds. We are pretty sure that the grounds could be fully self sufficient with cows and everything. So…. We did end up at the zoo! After some yummy street food we went to check out all the animals. Autumn had a great time looking at everything… she would say “more ______“ (which ever animal we had been looking at) and we’d say say “let’s go look at the ______” and she’d say “name of new animal” and then we saw monkeys and for the rest of the day she wanted “more monkeys!” Then the torrential downpour! Not knowing whether it would last all day or not, we continued walking to see animals in the rain. At this point we were pretty glad we did not have the car seat in tow.

They allowed you to buy potatoes to feed to the Asian Elephants! Well, as you can tell by the shear terror in Autumn's face that it wasn't quite a hit! The elephant proceeded to rip the whole basket out of my hand while Autumn screamed at the top of her lungs! It was good fun! (-:

We did finally find shelter in the seal show stadium until the rain slowed. After seeing many crazy mammals, snakes and birds – we decided to take a tuk tuk to dinner.

The head tuk tuk guys new of a great seafood place – and said it wasn’t too expensive… The ride was slow and in traffic, but the restaurant was very very nice. The prices seemed high, but okay so we stayed. More cashew chicken and yummy curry, Autumn played with the waitstaff’s children, checked out the lobsters and crabs and played on the multi-tiered staircase! It was delightful and a total splurge – a bit more of one than we thought. Aaron told me how much they charged us and my mouth dropped – some how taxes added another $20??? Oh well, too late – we had already hailed a taxi and were on our way back to the hotel. The tip from the kind waitress to use the meter was very helpful – the trip back was only 250 baht. Off to bed – our adventure in South East Asia was wrapping up.

April 21^st: A long day (literally) flying home

We made our way to the airport in Bangkok and checked into our Thai Airways flight to Tokyo, went through immigration and boarded. They gave us 3 seats in bulkhead (with the wall in front of us so we had like 3 feet of leg room)! Thai Airways is now our favorite airline – the food, service, equipment and comfort was top notch! We had 3 ½ hours in Japan to play in the children’s area and eat some dinner. I also got dad some amazingly yummy Japanese fudge! One more flight and we’d be back in America – Tokyo to Honolulu was pretty uneventful and we were able to get a little bit of sleep. We landed at 8am on the 21^st – essentially the same time and day we left Thailand many hours earlier! We took a sketch van shuttle (I think sketchier than anything we had ridden in, in Asia) to our hotel! Thankfully they let us check in at 10am and got us a crib! I had scheduled 2 days in Waikiki for us to adjust to the time change and relax. We had a nice time, ate some Hawaiian and American fare, played in the ocean and watched a great fireworks show. We were somewhat able to adjust to the time change – but it really took about a week for us to be tired at the right time. By the time we got to the mainland Autumn was pretty well adjusted, just in time for us to got out east to see family!

Final thoughts: This was certainly a trip of a lifetime – getting to see far off, completely foreign places and people. It is not a trip we would have done by ourselves and are totally thankful for our friends who wanted the same adventure and to do it together! God is amazing – his creation never ceases to amaze and thrill me! His provision, mercy and graciousness as we traveled about was more than we could have asked for! God is Good, Life is Good and let the adventures continue!

Vacation Stats
5 cities - Bangkok, Ton Sai, Ao Nang, Yangon and Bagan
12 flights (Kona to Honolulu to Tokyo to Beijing to Bangkok to Krabi to Bangkok to Yangon to Bagan to Yangon to Bangkok to Tokyo to Honolulu)
16257 total miles
2 Resorts, 1 Hotel, 1 Bungalow and our friends apartment
9 beaches
Sit down meals: 8 Thai, 2 Indian, 3 Myanmar

Learning more about nutrition

2011-06-17T21:46:00.004-06:00

History: I've spent the last 15 years trying to eat healthy and take care of my body. I learned a lot about nutrition in the 90's and got skinny in middle school - but nutrition became an unhealthy obsession. In high school to compete in basketball it was better that I bulk up and not be so consumed with calories. I still ate pretty healthy but ate enough to put on muscle and was my heaviest (sans pregnancy) my senior year after 4 years of weight training and high school athletics. In college I watched what I ate, but never really had any specific goals - lower fat and moderate calories, but not skipping desserts. I became more interested in alternative sports such as backpacking, climbing, biking and hiking. I still ran occasionally in spurts, played rec basketball and soccer, Frisbee and other fun things with friends. In grad school I exercised fairly often with Kaitlin doing weights, runs and a few swims. Again food was not a focus, but not to be ignored either. While in Hawaii I made a few changes that I think are more healthy - I try really really hard not to buy any products with high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated fats. During pregnancy and breastfeeding (which has not ended yet) I did and have done a better job of balancing healthy fats - such a cottage cheese, yogurt with fat, nuts, and using a bit more oil when I cook. I also try to feed us more whole fruits, veggies and grains.

What I've learned that I wish I had known in high school - as I've been reading about triathlon training nutrition I now believe optimal performance and muscle tone comes when you eat properly right after an exercise session. My goal is not weight loss - but greater endurance and speed and after a run/bike/swim/hike... your muscles have depleted their store of glycogen and need replacing. This advise is mostly for people who are exercising 5-7x a week - if exercising less your body is recovering the lost glycogen on the days you take off. If you wait too long after exercising the benefits are not as great. Experts recommend eating a carbo/protein appetizer within 15 minutes of finishing exercise. Ideas for the post workout appetizer are - a few slices of turkey/tuna/chicken on a bagel, a fruit/greek yogurt/milk shake, chocolate milk, peanut butter toast, cheese and crackers, dried nuts and fruit, sushi (bananas, potatoes and raisins have higher potassium).

Happy Birthday Grace

2011-06-14T21:41:00.003-06:00

Today is Grace's 3rd birthday, she is the daughter of my very close friend. All week tears have dropped from my eyes as I think about her coming birthday. Grace is in heaven with Jesus and is terribly missed here on earth. My brain is not really capible of grasping the loss of a child. This post is me processing some of my thoughts on life pertaining to the things Grace and her life have taught me.

Grace is unmerited favor, to be loved and favored without earning it. Grace is the greatest gift God gives each one of us. Being gracious is something that does not come naturally to me, but is the way God desires me to live. When I think of Grace I try to remember my calling to be gracious.

Life is unpredictable and fragile - loss makes me want to hold on to things tighter and also not as tight. Being acutely aware that life can change in a second makes me want to balance between cherishing people more deeply because they here now and also give them to God now in my mind. I'm sure this is a defense mechanism but it is what works for me. I say I love you to my friends and tell my family I love them more often. I want to live a life full of love, caring deeply about people and caring less about things.

Heaven - I know myself and everyone around me has a certain number of days to live and those should be lived out fully for the Lord. The knowledge of this makes me long more deeply for the day that I'm in Heaven worshiping God in a world without suffering, grief, pain and loss. The older I get the more people in my life I will loose, this is a certainty - heaven is where we meet again and the only place where life will be complete.

Each year on Grace's birthday my friend desires to remember and honor Grace's life by toasting balloons with a special reading. We celebrate her life and also grieve that she is not with us. We love her and miss her. I want Autumn to know the Watson's oldest child, who she was and who she is. To share in someday better understanding the gift of life and sting of loss. It is complicated, life is complicated - I hate that Grace isn't here - I hate the sting of death - I hate that my friend doesn't get to watch her little girl grow up. We will remember and honor Grace through out life and today will always be her special day.

How I use my Chinese Prefolds

2011-06-12T09:10:00.004-06:00

I got my prefolds when I bought this kit - http://www.littlefornow.com/item_255/Bummis-Cloth-Diapering-Kit-Organic-Prefolds.htm

I now use my bum genius all in ones as wraps and not pocket diapers because of a butt paste incident. You could put the prefolds in the pocket as well or inside of any other type of wrap.

I've used other folding techniques and this is just the most simple. Click on the image to see a larger view.

21 months

2011-06-09T17:26:00.002-06:00

Autumn you are fast approaching 2! This month has been active and full of fun!
We started the month out in Maryland visiting your cousin, Aunt and Uncle! You had so much fun playing and interacting with Eric - with the toys, at the park, in the pool, at the Naval Academy, the Arboretum, and Longwood Gardens. He had a lot of fun watching you too!

We also got to go see Uncle Ryan and Aunt Liz for a couple of days in Arlington! We used all public transit and did a lot of walking - you did pretty well being content in the stroller. The one whole day we had, you and mommy walked 13 miles all over DC - at the zoo, to Georgetown and back to Arlington. At the zoo you especially like the monkeys again and the Pandas.

Back in Colorado we have spent some time in Fort Collins/Loveland and in Glenwood Springs. You really enjoy playing with all your grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. You know them all by name and frequently ask for them when we are away. Ella is back with us and although you enjoy doggies - you have your fill sometimes and want nothing to do with them. We've been at Zach and Marc and their puppies Cypress and Talla the last 2 weeks. The puppies like to give you kisses and steal your toys and you like to read 5 Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and play Angry Birds with Marcie!

You love the park, puzzles, to dangle at the park and on things in the house, taking care of your babies, helping to cook, reading books, watching Curious George and Sesame Street and bath time. What ever we are doing, you want to be helping! At Grandma and Papa's you absolutely love playing in the outdoor play house - you have spent hours in there in the last 2 weeks. You cook, hang out the window and run in and out the door - always closing it both directions. At Nana and Papa's you like riding in the wagon, doing all the puzzles, playing with the babies and riding the scoot toy.

We spent a day at the Denver Zoo with friends and had so much fun! You napped on the way down there and lasted 6 hours walking around the whole zoo! Again the monkeys and great apes were your favorite! You also enjoyed seeing the other animals - other favorites were the elephants, frogs and alligators!
I tried to write down moments through out the month and this is what I recorded -

May 15th put your socks on independently
You have started saying sorry, sorry at mostly appropriate times. The other day you screeched and then follow it with "sorry!" It was pretty funny.
For the first time you like riding in the stroller.
You feed yourself with a fork and spoon pretty well now.
You pulled Eric's high chair down on top of you and fell out of it forward. You like to climb on every thing you can.
You are getting better at sharing - this week with your cousin Addy you took turns sharing the Hula Hoop without too much drama. (although this is when the screeching "sorry " thing happened.
You have started to put your sandals on, but they do not always end up on the correct feet
May 25th you spontaneously counted all the way to 10 at the pool.
You explained your whole thought - after you had eaten a snack you didn't see me and went to daddy and said "Daddy play, momma gone."

Your language and comprehension continue to amaze us. You talk to yourself as you play and so it is fun to hear what you are thinking. You repeat everything we say to a point that we have to be careful what we say in front of you! You're words are clear and you continue to speak in 2-5 word sentences that are getting more and more complex.

Your go get 'em attitude goes with you everywhere. You now tell us "self or Autumn do it" when you want to try something without help. When we returned from Maryland you insisted on lugging the rolling suitcase to the curb! Your have so much spunk and energy!

Time outs continue to be a fairly effective way to help teach you that screeching/screaming and touching things you are not supposed are not okay. Most of the time you are great - but there seems to be certain things like the doggy door that are just too tempting.

Autumn you are such a bright and beautiful little girl! You light up our world and bring joy and smiles where ever you are!!! We are so proud of you!!

Love,
Momma and Daddy

Simple Granola

2011-05-31T15:28:00.004-06:00

Autumn has been on a granola kick lately - she loved the Trader Joes Ginger Granola. We don't have anymore - so I've been mixing peanut butter and rolled oats and she likes that too. I decided to give toasting some a go and it turned out great and with a whole lot less sugar! I didn't measure anything - so it is all an estimate - add more oats if it is too wet or more peanut butter if it is too dry.

Add 1 cup rolled oats, 1/4 C ground almond, 1/2 C no sugar peanut butter, 1/8 C dried and sugared ginger in a bowl and mix well.

Add 1 egg

Grease lipped cookie sheet and spread mix out

Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes

Addendum: I tried adding cinnamon and ground ginger in another batch - good stuff!!

Join Me - Need Encouragement!

2011-05-25T15:18:00.003-06:00

I don't normally address my blog posts to readers - but this one is to you my friends! I've found in life that I'm most motivated when I'm accountable and encouraged! I've committed to do an Olympic length triathlon at the end of August! I'm doing it with a good friend and that helps! But I wanted to send this message to see if anyone wants to join me and to ask for encouragement! I know you will not likely be able to do the same race - but sign up for one in your town. A 5K, 10K, fun run, swim and run, bike ride, sprint triathlon, olympic triathlon... anything that will help you to get your groove on and meet some of your health goals! Your goals can be anything - even to walk a 5K if it will get you walking is awesome!

I've created a log on blogger that I will use to track my workouts - check in on me, make sure I'm making forward progress!! Even if no one reads it - knowing it could be read will help me stay accountable to my goals! http://keauhoulavamama2011.blogspot.com/

Pulse Moments

2011-05-25T13:53:00.003-06:00

I received this in an email from Livestrong this afternoon - I think it can be applied to health, faith, relationships, and work. In context of the Sunday sermon I heard this week - "We are here to glorify God," this letter is great motivation to see the pulse moments each day and make the choices that will give God the glory! Choices to love the Lord, to serve and love others, to take care of our bodies, to be humbled, to do our work as if it is for the Lord! Be set free to live in God's pulse, to let him be the strength in your life and be a story of His success.

“The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Really, it’s a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free.” -Charles R. Swindoll

Discover Your Strength

It is said that the only thing that can stop you is yourself. For most people, this is interpreted as an overrated motivational non-sequitur; a blind statement that underscores the variability and uncontrollable nature of every day and every situation. But it's also an accurate assessment of what it takes to be successful. Life is unscripted, which means you're guaranteed to be thrust into situations that are mentally and emotionally challenging.

These are what I call pulse moments. They represent who you are at your core and they vary from important decisions to small lifestyle choices. They are, quite simply, a test of your heart and desire.

My most recent pulse moment happened this morning. After three days out of the country, I returned to my normal routine of 5 am workouts. As I found myself in the gym, my mind was still in bed and my body was lacking motivation. And yet I still made sure to continue my workout and become a little better. The surroundings might have been different, but it was a choice we all face: Push on or go home. Eat better or slip up. Dream of a promotion or settle for something less.

In isolation, the decision to go easy isn't the problem. Missing this morning's workout wouldn't have turned me into a pile of mush. Just as adding dessert won't destroy your diet or taking a day doesn't represent a lack of ambition. But if you're hitting cruise control every time a moment becomes difficult, then you are stopping yourself.

I encourage you to embrace pulse moments and even create them. If we've learned anything from our amazing success stories, like Angel Hall, your mindset is the secret to achieving your best body ever. It's also what helped our editor, Sarah Metzger, change her eating habits and create a new lifestyle that motivates others to be healthy.

At some point, you have to become tired of using life as an excuse. Sure, it won't be easy. Your heart rate might elevate, you'll feel anxious, nervous or even frustrated. But these are the raw human emotions that will lead you to push a little harder. Focus a little more. And claw towards something you didn't think was possible.

So tell me: What's your most recent pulse moment? And what are you doing about it? Confronting your challenge is the first step to becoming unstoppable.

Adam Bornstein (@BornFitness)

Photo Update!

2011-05-25T09:09:00.004-06:00

Fun with stickers at the Baltimore Airport

Double Juice!

DIA - yes, she insisted on hauling it all the way to the curb!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Autumn's "smoozy"

Put on my jacket and go for a ride!

Disciplined

2011-05-23T22:44:00.002-06:00

Disciplined: To train by instruction and practice, especially to teach self-control to.

Colossians 2:2-4 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Oh dear! I'm afraid that many areas of my life lack discipline. I care not to admit how few times in the last two years I have opened my Bible or quieted myself to meditate. Every time I have attempted to start an exercise routine since Autumn was born, I have gotten a nasty cold and given up.

Time to start - my good friend invited me to start training with her for a triathlon at the end of August. After a short painful run this evening it is apparent that I have my work cut out for me! To finish the race well I will need to work hard, push through pain and build my muscles and endurance. I love the references the Lord uses in the bible to compare races and our faith!

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

So - physical training and faith training - they are meant to be a regular part of my life all the time. It isn't easy - it takes instruction, practice, and self-control (perseverance)! So, here's to being more disciplined! The race is August 28th, training started today! My goal is to not only be ready for the race but to build healthy physical and faith habits that will continue on past race day! Lord I am yours - help me to be more disciplined so that you can use me more effectively to bring you glory!!!

Unbroken

2011-05-19T21:32:00.004-06:00

Autumn has started to say unbroken instead of unbuckle when she wants out of the highchair or car seat. It is a cute replacement of words but struck me as I put her in the car today.

Some days more than others I see pieces of myself that are so broken. I really desire to just be unbroken. That my own personal fights with my flesh would just go away and I could live in complete joy and peace all the time. That I would love everyone like 1 Corinthians describes. Sigh... God please continue changing my heart to be more unbroken.

I love this one!

2011-05-18T22:19:00.005-06:00

I captured this on a fairly isolated beach in south Molokai a few weeks ago! I love it because the hole in the lava rock was big enough to capture both the sand and ocean!

Longwood Gardens - Kennett Square, PA

2011-05-15T11:13:00.008-06:00

I think this is the closest to heaven I've experienced - sans the streets of gold - the variety and magnitude of flowers, trees and other plants was most phenomenal! Lilies and hibiscus' the size of Frisbees, an Italian water garden the size of a soccer field, spiky, string, waxy and delicate flowers! Acres and Acres of green, an idea garden, water fountain shows, 30 foot tall carved trees and enormous tree houses! Here are some of my favorite photos!

20 Months

2011-05-09T07:28:00.010-06:00

The month of adventure and visits!

Autumn you have been phenomenal this last month! On the first day of your 20th month, daddy, you and I took off on an adventure of a lifetime! We had been in Hawaii and flew to Thailand and Myanmar for 10 days of pure adventure with some good friends... 12 flights, stays in 5 cities and 16257 total miles flown. Our first day was 4 flights and about 23 hours of transit time and you did awesome! We had to go through security 3 times, immigration twice, take buses to the terminals and you just went with the flow. Your favorite activities while we were abroad were the ocean, uncle Ryan, swimming pools, stairs, escalators, putting clothing on and off, movies and walking.

Luckily most places we were accommodated these interests! When we got back to Hawaii we got to spend a couple of days resting on the beach, spending time with Tutu, Uncle, Steve and Marie and then traveling back across the country to see many friends and all of our family. Yes all of them! We arrived yesterday to Washington DC to spend some good time with your Uncle Chad, Aunt Christie and cousin Eric - as it may be a while before we get to see them again.

Firsts this month: 6 word sentence - "Thank you Daddy for the toy." Going to another country, jumping off a diving board (with help), kayaking, getting babysat at a restaurant, sitting on a motorcycle, riding a TukTuk, speaking another language - you learned thank you in Thai - Kop-khun-ka.

Common words/sentences: Different book, different Elmo (movie), where are you?, Hi puppy, Autumn's ______ (could be anything - toy, baby, chair, carseat, food...), More _____(food items, mommy, daddy, other people, swing, slide, play, No_______ (hair, brush, bed, eat...), outside, inside, everybody everybody, change baby, and read book. You grab our leg and say "mommy/daddy play." and drag us toward your toys. You have full conversations as you play but I can't alway understand them. You know your animals now and even say "cock a doo doo." You spontaneously say 'thank you' at appropriate times, and 'sorry' - but not always at the appropriate times. You've started to say "yeah" to things you want! It is so cute... "uhh YEAH" with lots of emotion.

Motor and Growth: I'm not sure how much bigger you have gotten, but your cloths and shoes are no longer fitting. When we got to Colorado we went and got you new shoes and jackets. Nana had taken care of the clothes already! You now wear mostly size 6 shoes and 24 month or 2T clothes. Some of your 18 month old clothes fit, but they won't for much longer. You continue to get faster and more smooth with your running and climbing. Playgrounds, couches, highchairs, steps, benches and anything you can climb on are a lot of fun!

The night we flew back to Seattle from Maui you walked/ran the entire length of the airport and then ran circles around my legs as we waited for the shuttle. You are learning to scoop and kick in the water and tolerate the water in your ears and on your face better. When we played in the pool at the resort in Myanmar you wanted to be under the water. We were trying to teach you that you needed to let us know if you wanted in the pool. I also wanted you to understand that it wasn't good if you stayed under the water too long. You'd slide in and bob and after an uncomfortable amount of time (5 seconds or so) we'd pull you up and you giggle and say more, more, more. Not exactly the desired response, but at least you were learning to hold your breathe.

Your flexibility and adaptability to wherever we happen to be is amazing! You would fall asleep on a bus and end up on a boat and not care! We have tested your flexibility to an upper limit this month – you have not slept in any one place for more than 3 nights. As long as you have momma and daddy and activities – you are mostly happy! We are certain that you had just as few melt downs as if we had just been home the whole time.

Things you love: The ocean, swimming (scoop and kick), bath time, momma's milk and armpit, walking, stairs, dressing your self, undressing your self, putting on momma and daddy's clothes, helping us, puzzles, climbing anything, playing anything with momma and daddy as long as you have our full attention!

You amaze us, make us laugh, stretch our patience, make us so proud and show us love beyond our sweetest dreams! We love you Autumn Bear!!!

Love, Momma and Daddy

19 months

2011-04-25T01:47:00.004-06:00

(A bit late, written on April 8th - but I didn't have time to get all the pictures together for the post then)

Autumn – you are so much fun! Another month has gone by and you continue to grow, learn and develop into a little girl. Physically you’re a little taller, your hair is now long enough to braid and the last of your front 8 teeth is coming in. You continue to be a little go get’er - running more, walking backwards well, easily climbing up on things like furniture and lava rocks, you are starting to try to jump and can easily manage most easy fasteners (ie nothing is safe left down at your level – you will figure out how to open it). Your language continues to blossom – you are using more and more 3-4 word sentences and can label many things from memory. You easily complete the ABC puzzle and ask us to sing you the ABs. When I ask you to find certain letters, you know about 10 of them – Z, S, L, A, B, D, O, P, U, X. You’ve got it down that A is for Autumn and that you are Autumn. It is so cute – we ask ‘who’s Autumn’ and you point to yourself and say “I’m Autumn.” You now know the colors green and purple some of the time and love building structures with the large size legos. You like to listen to us sing and almost always ask for “more sing.” The other day you asked for “Jesus” – to sing Jesus Loves Me and at the table you will ask for “more amen” after we pray ! So precious!

Inspired by a friend - here is a word cloud of your verbal language at 19 months. These are the words you use on your own - as you can repeat almost everything.

The “OCEAN” - Autumn, you love to play in the ocean and it is one of your favorite words! The other day daddy and I took turns playing with you and surfing and when we went to get back in the car, you pouted and protested saying “More Ocean!” We went back to a calmer area to watch the sunset while you kicked around in the sand and in the water. You like to wade, pick up sand and rocks, be held while sizeable wave hit us, watch the hermit crabs, kick and splash, sitting on the surf board or really anything that includes the water. Tutu took us to the Maui Aquarium and you loved getting to see all the sea life – fish, turtles, jelly fish, sea horses and so much more! You went on your first whale watching boat – and although it was hard to be held for that long and you really didn’t see the whales – you had fun. Mommy and Daddy are so excited to see your love for the ocean grow as you are able to enjoy it in different ways the bigger you get – learning to swim, surf, snorkel and all the other fun things!

Favorites – babies and Elmo are still favorites – but not as much as a focus as in past months. You can spot monkeys in stores and books and ask nana to see her monkey puppet on skype. Other favorites include - the ocean, taking cloths and shoes on and off, juice (which is mostly whole milk these days), papaya “paya”, pineapple, rice, cheese, infant car seat carriers (to play in and out of), fasteners, saying no, a yellow sun hat, showers and baths and looking in the mirror. You love to “play” – you will now come grab our leg and pull us toward your room saying “play, play!” This is supper cute, but hard on daddy when he needs work.

Dislikes – being told not to do something, getting into your own carseat to go anywhere – even the ocean, putting on shoes or clothing that you did not help pick out, getting your diaper changed, bug bites – they ‘itch and hurt.’

Most of the time you are pretty sweet – but here are some things that have gotten you in trouble lately. Pulling on the mirror (or anything in the home that we’ve asked you not to touch – computers, space heaters…), sticking things in the toilet, getting on top of the table, screaming in a store because we didn’t get you something you wanted, throwing food on the floor because you are mad it wasn’t what you wanted, touching the trash or recycle and occasionally biting mommy. This month we have had to start implementing firm time outs and you understand. It isn’t very much fun for any of us, but we know that it is what we need to do to teach you right from wrong and obedience.

Autumn we adore you and are having so much fun being your mommy and daddy! Mommy is so happy she is done working full time until August so that we get to play together often! The first day of your next month we leave for our biggest family adventure ever! We are going to meet Todd, Alissa, Liz and Ryan in Thailand and travel to Myanmar! Although we are a bit anxious about many hours on plane rides, sanitation and such things – we are so excited to share our love for far corners of the world with you at a young age!

We love you sooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!

Mommy and Daddy

2011-04-11T09:04:00.001-06:00

Phi Phi island is amazing! Hiked to the top of the island and then to a remote beach today - everything I dreamed it to be! (-:

Playtime

2011-04-03T18:09:00.005-06:00

Since I don't have internet in the evenings (or really except when we stop at different hot spots - like I'm sitting in the Safeway parking lot loading these).
I've been playing - A new card collection! (-:

Where is our home?

2011-03-10T21:19:00.005-07:00

Our little life is fun but different. I get looks of confusion every time new people we meet try to figure out where we live.
Here is a typical conversation -
Other Person: "So, where are you from?"
Me: "Well, we came from Colorado and have a house there we are renting out."
Them: "So you will go back there?"
Me: "Someday, but not for a while."
Them: "So then where are you going?"
This is where I hesitate - it sounds too dreamy or something. Like I'm being prideful or boasting - but I want to be honest too. But I certainly feel spoiled that the honest truth does sound dreamy.
Me: "We'll we are going to Hawaii and South East Asia before we spend the summer back in Colorado with family."
Them: "So you will move back to Colorado?"
Me: "Kind of, were just there for the summer and then going back to Hawaii for the school year for me to work in the schools. Our goal is to live in Colorado and Hawaii."
Them: "That sounds nice. Why do you want to be all over the place?"
Me: "Partly because we enjoy traveling and partly because that is how we've figured out how to make our finances work."

Of course the answer to the last question is quite a bit more complicated, travel and finances kind of sums it up. Seems strange that traveling around can be more financially stable than not? I guess it is mostly true - but it is also true that we could buckle down, try to find jobs somewhere and be stationary. But then we'd loose all our flexibility - one location, Aaron possibly being salary and working 50-60 hours a week and little vacation time. So we must choose between stationary, stable and committed or flexible but somewhat unknown. Right now it is taking both of us to make things work for insurance and finances. Aaron can work from anywhere and has been really blessed with plenty of work for his business. I can find contract or PRN work almost anywhere and make more money doing that kind of work. More money for less time is very appealing at this stage in life. So right now we are choosing flexible and adventurous over stationary. We really feel our hearts belong in two places - Colorado and Hawaii, but to make this possible we have to be a fair bit more flexible.

Although it is a bit of a crazy life and certainly strange and very foreign to most people - it is a life we like. Everyday I'm very thankful that Autumn goes with the flow and is happy where ever we are! The best thing about the little adventure we started at Christmas time, is that everywhere we have been and will be going includes really great friends and family! Sharing life and experiences with those you love is really what life is all about! Well, second to following what Christ has for us! We are excited to see how God will use our flexibility in this life to serve Him. We do not have a clear picture or calling, but are ready to follow what he lays before us each step of the way.

It will be interesting how this life will turn out and where home will eventually be! What will we do for school for our children? What will work look like when we fall into more of a pattern of living in both places? Where will we live? Will we try to buy a home in both places? Time will tell our story!

Christchurch Update

2011-03-08T17:29:00.006-07:00

Christchurch has a special place in my heart. During a semester abroad in 2003, I lived about 10 miles outside of the city - but we spent a lot if time in town at the park, at coffee shops, shopping and such. It is such a beautiful city with truly lovely people. Seeing the City Center in rubble breaks my heart. I still have several friends that live in and around Christchurch - all of which are okay. Please continue to pray for the city - here is an email sent today by my friends that live just outside of the city.

Here's an update on the current situation in Christchurch, and our part in it. It is two weeks yesterday since the earthquake struck, and very obviously it is still a very big part of everyone's life here. Aftershocks are continuing on a more or less regular basis, and some of these have been fairly strong, with an occasional one up to about 5.0. After the first quake in September more than 5,000 aftershocks were recorded so I guess we are in for quite a few more yet. While most do no damage, they are nevertheless unnerving and emotionally draining.
We escaped lightly from the quake. This time round we had more damage than in September, with some movement of the house, cracks (mostly hairline) in both outside and inside walls, and doors not shutting. The concrete area in front of the garage also has a few new cracks. Our biggest problem was a burst water main pipe into the house. This prevented us from having a continual supply of water, but we could turn it on for short periods to have a quick shower or do some washing or flush the toilets. This has now been fixed so we're back to normal in this regard, though still boil all drinking water. Our electric power and sewerage system were unaffected.

Tim's house on the other side of town (Avondale) is a mess. It has multiple serious cracks and still has no power, water or sewerage. 98% of the city has power and water and about 80% has sewerage so his is right in the middle of the wrong place. There was also a lot of liquefaction (sand and silt coming up through the ground) in that part of the city and it took a couple of days to wheelbarrow it from his property onto the road, from where it was later removed by the city council. At this stage Tim is still living in his home while he awaits assessment by structural engineers. I would not be surprised if the house is deemed not repairable.

At the moment the death toll stands at 166, but this is expected to rise to nearer 200. Several of these were overseas students who were studying in a language college that collapsed. An estimated 800 buildings in the Central Business District are flattened or so badly damaged that they will have to be demolished. The centre of the city will remain out of action for several months. While there is a lot of work to be done before final decisions are made, many houses will have to be demolished as well. Currently they think about 10,000 will be involved.

Many thousands of residents have left the city, mostly on a temporary basis though some have permanently relocated. About 500 university students have gone to Australia to do their first term or semester of studies. Some schools have reopened, some are awaiting repair, and others will need to be replaced. This has caused huge problems regarding schooling. Some students have been relocated to schools that are open, other schools are sharing facilities with one school using the premises in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Many businesses have been lost and about 9,000 people have lost their jobs. Several churches were also destroyed.

While many are understandably traumatized by the events, the people generally are in good heart. There has been tremendous pulling together to get done what needs to be done. Several thousand students mobilised and took their spades and wheelbarrows to remove liquefaction from people's properties. Churches and other groups are daily providing thousands of meals for those without power or water. And many people from around the country are also helping in many ways. Providing free accommodation for those who need a break away, fund raising, etc.

You will doubtless have seen much of what has happened on TV. I understand that, as is to be expected, the most dramatic of pictures and scenes are the ones that have been given the greatest prominence. While these are true, life continues, though in a rather different and more restricted way. We will get over it, however long that might take, but in the meantime we appreciate your continued concern and prayers.

Here is a rather dramatic photo taken of the city just moments after the earthquake struck.

1 and a half!

2011-03-04T17:57:00.006-07:00

Wow! Autumn you are one and a half and time is not slowing down! We have had a fun month - your last one living on the Palouse. We moved out of the Farm house and back in with the Watsons. We spent a weekend in the mountains and lakes of Northern Idaho and you and mommy drove to Olympia to see our friends Oli, Laine and Kevin. You were a trooper - we were in the car for 6 1/2 hours, sat at the shipping dock for 2 hours, in the airport for another 2 and flew back and you never shed a tear. We stopped in south Seattle and walked around the mall and ate at the Rain Forest Cafe! You loved all the monkeys and birds up in the trees and got to sit next to the fish tank for dinner.

In general your life is pretty similar to last month except that we have been sick the last week and so you have spent extra time with mommy. You have spent many days playing with Kaitlin and Mara and really missed them while they were out of town for the weekend. I told you they'd be back on Sunday and when they got here you excitedly said "Mar back!" Hopefully you will get well soon and be able to play with them again before we move.

The TV: You continue to love Elmo - no other monster or character catches your eye quite like Elmo. We have been letting you watch your Elmo movie more often and you seem to really be able to follow what is going on. You have also become interested in watching the TV when we are watching something as well, which you never used to do. It is interesting to hear what you have to say about it. Daddy was watching Karate Kid and you kept saying eye, eye when the little girl and boy were shown. Below you are holding the $2 Elmo we scored at the goodwill.

New Skills: Your interest of the month has been clothing. Taking it on, off, doing zippers, snaps ... One morning instead of waking and crying you took your pajamas and diaper off. You really like working the zippers on your jamies and jackets and want to be able to start them. Last week I was trying to get you dressed and you took your clothes to the step, sat down and tried to put them on yourself. You would not let me help you. You were able to string your legs into the holes, but finally accepted my help to pull them up. The shirt - well, we just left it off for a while because you couldn't get it on and wouldn't let me help. One of the babies has a dress on and you've been unsnapping it, removing it and then asking me to put it "back on."
You've mastered your 26 piece letter puzzle. It totally amazes me that you are able to locate where all the letters go and you can also pick up many letters and know which picture goes with it. If you pick up the M you say milk, W you say wagon, L you say lion... I'm not quite sure what is next for puzzles as I think the next step is large set in jig saw pieces - maybe we'll give it a whirl just to see!

Language: You continue to explode with your vocabulary. We were at the store and you label things as we walk by them - bread, apple, cado (avocado), sawbeay (strawberry) ... it was so cute. You talk in 2-4 word sentences and try to repeat us all day. You also went through a strong 'no' week. Saying 'no' to everything - it was usually a fairly nice no, but we are glad it has worn off a bit. You said "I lub you" for the first time on Valentines and say"baby lub," which is what I call you. You enjoy saying "bye bye and night night" to everything.

Sleeping: You went through a couple week streak of taking 3-4 hour naps most days, but now you have a cold and napping has become a challenge again. It is also fairly common that you will play with your books and babies in your crib 30-60 minutes before falling asleep. You are sleeping most of the way through the night again, only occasionally do you need cuddles around 4am and then will sleep until 6:30 or 7:30.

Autumn you are such a joy and adventurous spirit! We love watching you figure out this world! This next couple of months you are going to see so many new things - we will be traveling to Maui, Big Island, Thailand, Myanmar, Oahu and Molokai!! We can't wait to enjoy the beaches, ocean waves, new foods and good friends with you!

Biggest Hugs and Kisses,
Mommy and Daddy

Too Many Details...

2011-02-24T01:03:00.003-07:00

Details - so many details... Although I complain none that we are getting to travel all over, even with a toddler - my brain stays up at night spinning through the details and trying to work them out. What paperwork do I need to ship our car, which car seat should I take where, will our passports get back from the Embassy of Myanmar in time, how can we have our computers in Kona but not take them to SE Asia when we will not be returning to Kona, what stuff should we leave where, how will I get to the airport when I drop off the car, what has been paid for and what has not, where will we be each night and how are we getting there, will the new noise that the mechanic can't figure out in the car we are shipping on Sunday please go away, when are we going to have time to do our taxes . . .

We will be living out of 2 rolling suitcases and a diaper bag for 45 days. I'm so ready for the warmth and adventure and I'm also ready to have my brain take a break from so many details. We have 17 more days here in Pullman, 9 more days working at the nursing home. I'm ready to only have Autumn and my part time job of planning life - not my full time job and the other 2. I'm maybe getting a bit tired and cranky (-:

Haiti

2011-02-22T23:08:00.002-07:00

This is a blog on Haiti that I follow - here is a powerful post on children who are thriving!
http://brittanyinhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/02/one-year-later.html

Take Offs and Touch Downs

2011-02-20T18:56:00.005-07:00

This is evidence of the craziness that is about to begin! We will be traveling partly for business and mostly for pleasure starting here soon. Oahu to Bangkok is on Frequent Flier miles. Starting Feb 28 Autumn and I drive to Tacoma and then fly back from Seattle to Pullman. In Mid-March we start our tour of Hawaii and Asia from 'Pullman to Maui via Seattle,' 'Maui to Kona,' 'Kona to Bangkok via Oahu, Tokyo and Beijing,' 'Bangkok to Krabi,' 'Krabi to Yangon via Bangkok,' 'Yangon to N. Myanmar and back to Yangon,' 'Yangon to Bangkok,' 'Bangkok to Oahu via Tokyo,' Oahu to Molokai for a day and then on to Maui,' 'Maui to Pullman via Seattle'. In Late April we drive to Colorado and then go visit family in Baltimore in Mid May.

Opps... I had said 23 but it is only 22 take offs and landings!

17 Months

2011-02-04T23:48:00.010-07:00

Baby girl - you are looking more like a little girl everyday! This has been a fun month full of physical growth and huge gains in your vocabulary and other skills! Everyday we are amazed by what you understand and the things you can do.

A typical week - you spend 2-3 days a week with Aunty Kaitlin and Mara, Mommy has you Wednesdays and weekends and Daddy plays with you 1-2 days a week. Mommy and Daddy are working a lot right now.

The first half of the month we were living with the Watson's and now we are staying with a nice family on a farm outside of town for 4 weeks. You really enjoy all of them - including their puppy Buddy and Kitty! You are still a champ when it comes to transitions - you really enjoy yourself and exploring where ever you are.

This month your language exploded - you repeat everything and are able to tell us many things. I can't even begin to list your new words because there are too many. You really love us reading to you and you have more patience to let us read the pages before you need to turn them. Your over all patience and ability to wait has improved as well. When we ask you to - you can say "help please" "good night" "thank you" and many other 2 word phrases. Your other new interest is puzzles. About a month ago you did your first set in puzzle totally independently and so I bought you a 26 piece alphabet puzzle thinking it would be challenge for months. Today you put in about 10 of the letters by yourself and totally amazed me! You can have so much fun entertaining yourself. After you were done with dinner tonight, you went into the living room and played with your toys until we were done as well. After diner you brought all the letters from the puzzle and slid them through a tiny crack in the doors one at a time - and then sent them all back into the living room under the door! You do have an agenda!

You have a new love as well - although babies are still a hot item - your love for Elmo grows! So funny of all the characters - why Elmo? Uncle Phil got you a Elmo video and you enjoy the occasional treat of getting to watching it! In addition to watching Elmo, you love to Skype with your grandparents and watch the videos I made of your first year. The computer just became even more appealing - you run up to it thinking someone might be there to talk back to you!

That growth spurt we were hoping for happened! Your shirts are getting to short and you now weight 21 1/2 pounds! Favorite foods - berries, pasta, rice, organic mac and cheese, juice (whole milk/juice), avocado, yogurt, cheese, pizza, cheese straws, peanut butter, peanut butter crackers, kiwi, oranges, apple sauce, olives

Sleeping - you have become a power napper! One Sunday you even took a 3 hour nap! We love it! At night you do okay - but still occasionally wake up 1x needing cuddles before falling back asleep. Since we hop around so much right now I always go check on you if you are crying at night and let you know we are here. About once a week you really fight going to bed with screaming, but eventually fall asleep. Sometimes a pep talk after a few minutes of crying will settle you down to fall asleep peacefully. Lately when it is time for bed you stall by asking to 'eat, eat, eat.' I will take you down for yogurt or avocado before your bedtime story and song. I really don't think you are hungry and just stalling bedtime - but it is more calories!

Time out - we started implementing time outs this month. Although you are a very well behaved little girl, you do occasionally take thing from Mara or disobey and short time outs seem to work to let you know what behavior is not okay.

About a week ago your 5th grade friend was playing with you and came in saying you need to go potty? Then you came in too and said 'potty' - so I took you in and you peed on the potty! So far it has been a one time occurrence, but maybe a glimpse into the near future I hope. I'm also trying to teach you to pinch your nose when you poop to let us know that we need to change you, as right now you don't let us know and don't stink - which is not so good on your skin )-:

Baby Girl - we are so so so proud of you and love you so so so so much! You are so much fun, full of spunk and energy! One more month and you will be a one and a half year old! Totally crazy!

Hugs and Kisses -
Momma and Daddy

And a special thank you to my Iphone photographer! (-:

Parenting

2011-01-23T22:59:00.004-07:00

After discussing parenting tonight - I continue to ponder and pray about my roll as a mother. Up until the last few months, my roll has been to love and care. Showing Autumn she can trust me to care for all of her basic needs. It is a wonderful thing, easy to enjoy simply pouring out love and soaking in cuddles. Then the will... first it was a look, "the don't you dare take that from me" look. Then the stiff body protesting getting into the carseat, the yelling, then the tantrum, now the "no, no, no!"

This parenting thing is tough and I know it has only just begun. I'll be honest, my mind already jumps to the future and dreads the teen years. (I've dreaded parenting the teen years since I was a teen) Then my mind jumps back to the present - how can I help Autumn be safe, honest, caring, compassionate, loving, faithful... She understands nearly everything I say now, but her ability to follow through, go against her own desires and obey is very very difficult. She has my personality - she is strong willed and curious. Safety is far from her first priority (since she is far too young to predict or understand many consequences) and she is so mobile. Yesterday she got my mascara off the counter and put it on (daddy got to clean that one up - sorry). The other day she fell off the edge of the couch reaching for a desired item. I can tell her a 100+ times not to touch the buttons on the room heaters and she forgets I'm in the room and starts pushing the buttons and startles when I get after her. Ahh........

I say this not because I think she is a bad kiddo, but because I'm realizing that setting boundaries and expectations is so hard and she is going to explore, push and learn. Being 100% consistent is so important, yet impossible. Keeping her safe is difficult. I try hard - but I'm merely practicing, I haven't done this before. We will butt heads and I will make mistakes.

My hope is that we come out in 18 years relatively un-scared - both physically and emotionally. That she becomes a God fearing, loving, compassionate, honest, caring member of society. That I learn and grow in love, patience, and peace.

Children have the ability to bring joy unspeakable and pain deeper than the sea. They will make us proud to call them our own. They will make poor choices that will bring tears and sadness. Lord help us in this journey - we need you foremost.

My Parenting Prayer -
Lord build my faith so you will be the focus of our family.
Lord help me to give you credit for all things so my children see you around them.
Lord help us to be honest so we can meet each others needs.
Lord teach us how you love so that we may love each other more wholly.
Help me to be kind and firm in my discipline so my children will know right from wrong.
Lord help me grant grace and patience- to my children as they learn and for myself when I make mistakes.
Help me to learn, love, laugh and become the parent you want me to be. Amen.

Why I Love Blogging

2011-01-19T22:53:00.003-07:00

Blogging: A blog (a blend of the term web log)^[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

To me blogging is both the creation of my own online journal and the reading of others. My own blog is a way for me to journal about my life for my own record, keep family up to date and interact with my friends.

Additionally, almost every night I come to blogger.com to check and see if anyone has written a post I'd be interested in. Most of the blogs I follow are friends, but I also follow a couple of missionaries and other topical blogs that interest me. Through written updates, pictures and video clips I maintain contact and get to know my friends in a way that is otherwise not possible. I'm often encouraged in my walk with Christ from others posts and am able to pray for needs that I may have otherwise not known about! I also learn new things about parenting, crafts, cooking or what ever happens to be on other people's minds. Like tonight I learned about how cutting diary has helped several mommies significantly reduce the fussiness of their babies and read a verse on God's comfort that is very applicable in my life right now too.

So to those of you who are in my blog world - thank you - I appreciate all of you! We are in this journey of life together!! (-:

Chai Gingerbread Bars

2011-01-12T22:49:00.002-07:00

I made these tonight and they are heavenly!! From a friend of mines food blog: http://mytabletheirtable.blogspot.com

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 tsp of allspice

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp of Chai tea leaves (about 3 tea bags worth)

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt

1 cup of butter, softened

1 cup of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

2 whole eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 cup of molasses

1 TBS of fresh ginger, minced

1/2 cup of golden raisins

Sift together the flour, allspice, cinnamon, ground ginger, tea leaves, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed. Add in the molasses, vanilla, and ginger. Combine until the mixture is smooth. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Once combined, add in the raisins. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan (I like to use the paper from the butter). Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake at 350degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely before cutting. These bars are best cold, honestly! Enjoy!

More Fat Please!

2011-01-11T22:52:00.003-07:00

For most of my life I have tried to figure out how to shop for low fat foods. Although I have always fed Autumn high fat foods, her weight gain had been minimal between 12-15 months and we have been trying to figure out how to add calories to her diet! After cruising the grocery store and reading up, these are the things we have tried to add to her wholesome diet!

She will not drink milk - so after several attempts of adding coco, vanilla, warming it... I thought I would try adding half and half to her orange juice that she loves! White juice was born - she downs it no problem and sometimes I've even been adding heavy cream instead of 1/2 and 1/2. I tried it - it tastes like a creamsicle.
Half and Half - 1 Tablespoon = 20 calories, 1.73 g fat
Heavy Cream - 1 Tablespoon = 51 calories, 5.5 g fat

Butter - on anything!! Mixed in the pasta, added to eggs, on toast, in potatoes, on vegies

Coconut butter is a tasty treat I found at the food Coop here. 1 Tablespoon = 57 calories, 5 g fat I add it to peanut butter on toast or mix in warm oatmeal.

Peanut butter - goes on crackers, on toast, in applesauce, in yogurt - anything really! 1 Tablespoon = 94 calories, 8 g fat

Higher Fat Yogurts -
Greek Gods Pomegranate - 6oz = 230 calories, 17 g fat
Dannon naturals plain yogurt - 8oz = 160 calories, 8 g fat (reasonably priced at Walmart)
Fage Total Greek Yogurt - 8 oz = 300 calories, 23 g fat

I feed her yogurt plain, with applesauce, and in oatmeal.

Cheese - on whole grain pasta, plain, on crackers, cream cheese, cottage cheese... I've even caved and started feeding her natural mac and cheese. She loves it! Aaron made it with 1/2 and 1/2 instead of milk.

Confessions of an obsessive mother: I've had to break some of my rules to increase her diet - mostly in the area of sugar. Up until 3 weeks ago I had tried not to feed her anything with processed sugar, not even cane sugar - only plain yogurt, no sweet treats (cookies, ice cream...). She had plenty of fructose and other sugars found naturally in fruits and vegetables. The flavored yogurts I'm now feeding her, have cane sugar in them and because she has started asking for them when we are eating them, I let her have bites of cookies/ice cream every now and then. I still plan to keep her sugar intake as small as possible, but am trying to be less neurotic about it. I had also decided I didn't want her having processed crackers - and found that rice cakes and veggie straws had way fewer and more natural ingredients. However in the quest to up the calories - I'm now feeding her cheddar whales and ritz crackers as well.

16 months

2011-01-09T13:28:00.007-07:00

Sweet Girl! Another month has slip by and you continue to be the joy of our lives! Much has changed in our life as a family and you just roll with the punches! In the last month we packed up our house in Loveland, celebrated your 2nd Christmas and traveled to Washington state to live for a short time. Your daddy and granddad drove our cars and you and I flew on an airplane from Aspen. You hardly noticed all the change as each day the house became more and more empty. As long as there were some toys or tubberware or boxes to play with you were happy.
We moved out on the 23rd and spent 2 nights with the Grandma and Papa and then with the Lyon's enjoying Christmas! You got lots of fun toys - and even screamed in excitement when you opened a learning turtle from Grandma and Papa and the baby from Heather and Todd. You are busy busy busy - playing with this, hiding that, asking for "dat" and running around! Christmas afternoon we drove to Nana and Papa's for a relaxed Christmas evening and more spoilage! The next day Great Grandpa and Grandma came to visit and spend time with you.
We are now in a new place and you have adjust well. I would even say you have a better routine here, which is nice! You now take a mid-morning nap and then sometimes another one before dinner. Other than mommy having to wake you up to feed you before work, you are sleeping at night like a champ! The Watson's are generously sharing their home with us for a few weeks and then we will be with another family for 5 weeks. While mommy is working full time, Daddy has you 2 days a week and you spend 2 days with Kaitlin and Mara! We are so blessed that you are happy where ever we are!

You had your 15 month check up - not our best visit. The doctor is worried that you are not gaining enough weight and you had an ear infection and had to be put on antibiotics. You had not showed any signs of sore ears - so I'm glad that we happened to be going to the doctor's office. We are not worried about your weight and expect you will have another growth spurt soon! We are also trying to boost your diet with more calories. You now drink 'white juice' (heavy cream and Orange Juice), we add butter, coconut butter and cheese to everything! You ate so much before that it is amazing that you are still hanging out at around 18 pounds - avocados, full fat Greek yogurt and cheese ... lots of food for a busy girl! Keep up the good work - you like most of the food we give you!

Firsts: First train ride (Glenwood Springs to Denver on the Amtrak), first time playing outside in your snowsuit, first time allowed eating treats like bites of cookies and a bite of ice cream, first time on antibiotics (which you loved thank goodness - but after the last dose you got hives, so just like mommy - no penicillin for you!), first time feeding Llamas (with Kaitlin and Mara).

Words! Many new words including bart (barette), butt (button), eat, nun (done), side, tutl (turtle), kiki (kiwi), shoes (which sounds like juice), no, dat (that), Mama (Mara), Elmo (super clear!), buk (book), cheese, kitty, eye, dee (diaper), kiss, dun (down), nada(banana), dow (door),baat (bath), own (phone), ion (Lion), beep (sheep), tee(teeth) .. and others!

Things you love - babies are still at the top of the list, but since moving, Elmo is a new favorite - yesterday in the car you said "Momma?" I said "Yes Autumn," you said "Elmo!" You love to play with your shoes - the third day we were here you took all your socks and shoes and put them on the 2nd stair. You like order - you fix the rugs if they are flipped up. You LOVE Mara's booster seat - for some reason it is far superior to your own. You also love juice and luckily your white juice too!!! You love to knock on daddy's office door! You love the bath - you splish and splash and blow bubbles.

Current interests: Babies, Elmo and Cookie Monster, electronics - remotes, phones, anything with buttons, a foam elmo book, scribbling, swinging, observing, running, being tickled, shoes, climbing, Mara's high chair.

Difficulties this month - you are cutting like 6 teeth (including 3 first molars) and although you are not supper fussy you started biting me )-: You lean into kiss or give goobers and then chomp chomp. You have also continued to become more opinionated about things and throw an occasional fit about things like not wanting to get dressed, or when you get into things you should not be getting into and we remove you, and other not so fun moments. You are also having a hard time sharing - you want everything Mara has in her hands - slowly you are learning to ask please and give her things to play with. You also get pretty jealous if daddy or I are holding baby Mara, but you are getting better.

Although we have hard moments, you are one amazing and wonderful girl! You are learning and picking things up so quickly - watching you grow up is so much fun! We love you very much and are so proud to be your momma and daddy!!!!

Nursing Home

2011-01-07T18:03:00.003-07:00

Well, I just finished my first 4 day in a row stretch of working since June 2009. It wasn't bad - my job is very rewarding even though it is hard work. For another 9 weeks I will be at a SNF (nursing home) in Colfax helping elderly people gain independence.

Hardest Moments of the last 7 days:
Having Autumn cry at the door as I leave and then peer out the windows to watch me drive away.
Having Autumn scream Mommy at the top of her lungs when I hand her off to Aaron at O dark thirty in the morning and have to leave.
Today having my client with a neurological disorder cry because he no longer is well enough to live with his wife or care for himself.
Watching clients decline in function or give up.
Foul odors.

Best Moments (at work):
Being asked to be the primary OT by a family and then the mom said - "if you'd have been here 2 months ago he'd already be doing all these things."
Conversations with clients about their families and lives.
Being told I look 16 by a funny woman (-:
Watching clients gain independence and confidence in order to return home.

2010 Recap

2011-01-01T19:17:00.005-07:00

What an amazingly blessed year the Lord gave us! A year of many unexpected changes and a lot of fun! It was our first year start to finish with a little one and it has been absolutely amazing watching her grow and change into a little toddler!

We started the year out with Aaron working for a small marketing company and me thinking about going back to work 12-16 hours a week. By the end of January God heavily changed our path - Aaron quit his job to start a Web Services Company and I went to work at the hospital down the street PRN. After working 2 days the primary therapist tore his ACL and I could pick up as many hours a week as I wanted (I tried to work less than 3).

In early February we all flew out to Portland for Aaron to attend a Business as Missions conference while Autumn and I checked out the city. For many years we have felt that God may lead us overseas and it was good for Aaron to see and hear first hand how Business and Missions are being used to reach people across the world. Autumn and I also got to spend an afternoon hanging out with a friend and her son along the river and down town.

In March we decide to commit to spending a weekend a month in Glenwood Springs where my parents live with me working PRN at the hospital. It was nice to do lunch with my mom at work a couple of times and we always enjoy the time spent in the beautiful canyon. Nana spoils us, Granddad takes us to the hot springs and red mountain is out the windows! We are also able to help a little bit around their house with projects.

In May Aaron's paternal Grandma Vi went to be with the Lord. We were able to travel to Montana to attend the memorial and visit Aaron's loving family and even meet some family I had not yet met.

June began the summer of travel! On the same day my nephew was born in Maryland, Autumn and I flew together to Washington to celebrate the birth of Mara and honor Grace's 2nd birthday. In July Autumn and I hit the airport again together to see her new cousin Eric! We had a fabulous time relaxing, helping out and also getting to go to the national zoo and fun pub in DC. In August we hit the road as a family! First family road trip - we saw so much, visited many friends and even froze a few nights together (-: Zion to Vegas to Death Valley to Yosemite to Tahoe to Redwood to the Oregon coast to Olympia to Rainer to Pullman to Montana to Yellowstone and home again!

September we celebrated Autumn's first birthday in Hawaiian style and collected 2 full boxes of generous donations to take to the local pregnancy center. A few days later we caught an airplane to Hawaii!!! We dream of being able to share our love of the warm Hawaiian ocean with our children! Autumn absolutely loved the water - hanging from a Va'a splashing, playing on the SUP, running on the beach and into the waves! We all had so much fun and enjoyed all our friends that we miss so so so much!!

October rolled in the second Wacky Warmers season and then until Christmas is a bit of a blur. Aaron has been staying very busy with his work, I continued to work 2 days a week at the hospital in Loveland and doing 1 weekend a month in Glenwood and I some how made about 400-500 hats! I will admit this was done in the wee hours of the night or occasionally with baby sitters - as Autumn is a full time job when she is awake! (-; Aaron and grandparents graciously helped with Autumn while I did 6 craft shows. I learned a lot, bought a serger and will figure out a Wacky Warmer game plan when I get back in 2012.

Until 2012? In about October we sealed our plans to take off again. God lined everything up so nicely - as of right now we plan to be here in Pullman, WA until mid-March, in Hawaii mid-March to mid-April, in Thailand and Myanmar for 12 days, back in Colorado May until mid-July and then on a school contract in Hawaii for the 2011-12 school year. Each stage has it's own purpose - all in all it is a kind of unusual way to live - but we enjoy the life style and it helps to meet our life and financial goals.

We moved out of our home the 23rd and spent a couple of days celebrating Christmas with Aaron's family. We then drove to Glenwood on Christmas day and spend a couple of days resting and relaxing with my parents. On the 27th Aaron and my dad drove our 2 cars to Washington and Autumn and I flew out of Aspen (which was the same price as flying out of Denver - crazy) on the 29th to meet Aaron in Spokane and drive to our new temporary home! We are so so so so grateful to the Watsons for taking us in for awhile! I started work on Wednesday and will be working 32-40 hours a week for 10 1/2 weeks at a local Skilled Nursing Facility. As all travel jobs have been - it is sure to be an adventure!! Besides the somewhat scary winter drive - the rehab manager resigned and had his last day Thursday and the other OT put her resignation in on Friday! Pray for me (-:

Happy New Year!!! God Bless 2011!!!

Moving on...

2010-12-26T09:58:00.002-07:00

Another transition - always exciting and yet quite a bit of work (to narrow a whole house down to what fits in a single car and pack and clean). I kind of thought that after the floors were steam cleaned and we left the house I would feel instant relief or the excitement of change. I don't know if it was because we drove straight to family Christmas time or that there is still a bit of work before we get Aaron and my dad on the road to Washington or that I will be working full time until early March? Or maybe it isn't really feeling real yet - or maybe it is more routine than I would like to admit . We have packed up a home and moved 5 times in the last 4 years.

On our drive to Glenwood Springs last night Aaron and I tried to wrap our heads around what the next 18 months will hold. Getting to spend some precious and rare time with my best friend from grad school, taking Autumn overseas for the first time, and preparing to and hoping to grow our family of 3 to 4. One foot forward into the adventure - we really hope to fully enjoy and appreciate each step of the journey.

Here we go.... Aaron leaves tomorrow and Autumn and I will join him in Washington Tuesday!

15 Months

2010-12-08T23:11:00.005-07:00

Autumn - you are growing into quite the fun and energetic little girl! Everyday you act and look more like a little girl and less like a baby! We are so proud of your determined, busy, curious and loving little self!!

Foods - you pretty much eat everything that we do if it is safe for you. You still prefer fruits, yogurt and cheese - you even loved the pomegranates and cranberries the other day. Right now you prefer to eat about 1/2 your meal in your booster and then 1/2 of it while sitting in our lap. This works with the cleaner food and not so well when you have sauces, peanut butter or anything else messy all over you and us. You also think it is very funny to feed us your food! You are still quite the eater some days and it is surprising that you are still only 19 pounds! Guess it is all that running around that you are doing!

Potty - this month you peed and pooped in the potty!! Sometimes you give indication that you might be needing to use the potty and so we put you up on it. You now enjoy flushing way more than sitting on the seat - might as well get you familiar with the idea!

Bath time - you are a very clean little girl. You love to be in the water and get a bath most nights and then if you can, you insist on crawling in the tub to play with your toys while I shower.

Your favorites!
Babies, babies, babies - real ones, little ones, big ones, doll ones, every color and shape - they are your babies!! We let you sleep with bitty baby - a very small one that I don't worry about getting stuck near your face. But the other night you screamed and screamed and screamed because you didn't get to go to bed with all 3 babies you had been playing with - so I caved and let you fall asleep with them and then removed 2 of them! Right now we are in Estes Park with the Carver family and you are having so much fun looking at and bring things to your cousin Eric!

Zippers - getting into bags, your diaper bag, running the zipper on our duvet cover and shams, pulling zippers down on our sweatshirts and coats...

Books - you have just started a book (AKA ba) phase - you bring them to us and then turn around and sit on our legs, allow us to quickly read/turn through the pages and then go get another. Your favorites are Brown Bear Brown Bear and Shapes with Abigail.

Coloring/Pens/Pencils - unfortunately this often ends in tears because you get a hold of dangerous pens and pencils or start coloring on things that are not to be colored and we have to take them away )-: The other night you went from spot to spot laying down on your belly with a coloring book and crayon - I got pictures and then left that SD card in the reader at Safeway )-:

Music and River Dancing - you have the cutest little dance - it is stomp dancing, but still with a little rhythm! It gives us giggles and smiles every time! We have 2 toys on the refrigerator that when you push their buttons you get farm songs or the ABC's - you push them over and over and over and dance dance dance!!!

New words I can think of - even though we may be the only ones that know what you are saying - you are repeating us more and more! Orange, Copper, Grandma, Open, Down, Ban (banana)...

Opinions - so I'm not sure that 14 month olds should have opinions about what they wear - but sometimes I go to put an outfit on you and you shake your head - so we go pick another.

Agenda - you usually have a plan, we are not always sure what it is - but for example the other day you carried 2 blankets to a spot, went and got 3-4 babies to put on the blanket and then relocated them over and over. You also still enjoy taking things in and out - of anything - purses (now that the zipper is as easy!) , buckets, boxes, baskets... You also like to climb and get in a climbing mood to climb the chairs, on the coffee table, on boxes, steps...

Well... that is about it to describe this month! You also enjoyed your second Thanksgiving with your great grandparents!

We love you Autumn Bear!

Momma and Dada

With Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T21:20:00.004-07:00

Psalm 100:3-5

3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;his faithfulness continues through all generations.

More than a day, more than a moment - a life full of thanksgiving! That is my desire, not achieved... it has been far too easy to be caught up in busyness, rushing from one event, from work to play to work... and to forget to be thankful, completely full of thanks in my heart. To praise Him, my almighty God for all the things in my life - the awe inspiring moments that amaze me, the everyday good, the bad that builds character, and even for the grief that allows me to better see God's heart for the lost, broken and needy.

I have so much to be thankful for!! Amazing Grace from my Savior, my wonderful husband, my delightful daughter, great parents, loving family, really amazing friends, a warm home, ability to travel, health, jobs and so so so much more! God Bless your journey of thankfulness - a warm heart that gives gratitude in all things!!

Wacky Warmers

2010-11-16T19:41:00.004-07:00

I haven't really blogged about the hats this year! Thought I might as well give my website some SEO link juice www.rockymountainwackywarmers.com (-:

I can not believe that I only have 3 shows left for the season! Craziness!!! Last January I had big dreams for this year - street vending in Denver at Bronco Games and Zoo lights, more craft fairs... then in February I took an OT job, my coworker went out with an injury and I picked up extra hours, then I took a job doing one weekend a month in Glenwood. Then we traveled most of the summer and zip zap - it was October!!! O-: Decided I better start sewing! I've been averaging about 50-100 hats a week since the second week of October and finally have a decent selection again! I think I've sold around 100 hats this year - and am hoping to sell that many or more this weekend in Windsor!! We shall see!

So although I didn't go big the season (-: We did get a professional looking website up, I'm doing about the same number of craft fairs and am hoping to come out a bit more ahead plus have a stash of fine fabric in the basement!!! (-:

14 Months

2010-11-10T23:27:00.003-07:00

Another month has gone by - an unseasonably warm Oct/early November! This month was defined by 2 things - climbing and eating!

You have become quite the climber - one morning we turned our backs and you were in your high chair! This last week we have had to start putting the high chair on the table for safety. You love to climb on everything - you made it on top of the coffee table, the dining chairs and many a box. You are our little monkey and you scare me a little. Last week we borrowed a slide for the living room - you are in love with it - running around, climbing up and coming down. Yesterday you climbed up it backwards and today it was hard to convince you to sit at the top and you tried walking down it - this did not end well. Luckily you have not broken your arm or bloodied your nose - I'm hoping not, but that day may come.

This month you also started eating like a champ - you eat everything and lots of it! On several occasions you have had adult sized meals! I think you have grown quite a bit as well, but I haven't measured to see how much. Your favorite continues to be any type of fruit - top is raspberries, but you also really like cheese, eggs, veggie straws, yogurt and kumut puffs.

Other memorable things: You quit crying most nights at bed time when I put you down, you took a 2 1/2 hour nap at Sharon's - but hardly nap at home for us, you say day-day for thank you, bay bay for belly button, goo-goo for good girl (you are so proud of yourself!), mommy is super clear now, up ps for up please, eeee eee - for a monkey, ba ba ba ba - for a chicken, baa - banana - you love to gibber gabber all day long. You've started to hide - if I come to get you, your run and duck behind the bed or toy. You can buckle the car seat (not while you're in it), the high chair and dog harness, and undo most zippers. You opened a Ziploc bag, and love stuffing anything in and out of bags. You've started to sometimes notice when you potty - and sometimes come let us know you need changed.

Favorite things: Bath time, brushing your teeth, eating, climbing, running - it is so cute how you run from place to place in the house, milk, outside, kisses, exploring, getting into everything, helping with the laundry, music, being in mommies arms.
You loved going in the garden and picking tomatoes and cucumbers to eat! (-:

Least favorite things: Car seat, confinement, getting taken out of the high chair when you refuse to sit down, being put down if you don't want to be, some diaper changes.
On the only cold day of the month!

Autumn, you are growing so so so fast! We can't wait to see what the next month brings and all the new things you will be able to do and say!!

We love you so much!
Mommy and Dada

Crazy Time of Year!

2010-11-09T23:06:00.005-07:00

A year ago I didn't really know what I was getting myself into! It is a fun little adventure and will be interesting what becomes of it all - but one thing is for sure - Wacky Warmers makes life crazy busy! Last year I had a 'sleeping' baby and no other jobs - this year I have a running, climbing, and very busy 14 month old, 2 jobs, applying for a third and packing the house up to move again! Yes - life is crazy! I should have been working on making hats all year - but couldn't get going on it until early October! So cut and sew hats after Autumn goes to bed - and try to get the other stuff done through out the day - photos, signs... Then there's the craft fairs - I really enjoy the craft fairs - meeting, networking, learning about other business opportunities and socializing! Good thing I like them - because I have them 4 of the next 5 weekends - and the other 2 weekends between now and Christmas I'm working in Glenwood at the hospital (-: Maybe on top of being crazy busy - I'm a little crazy to sign up for all of this! Oh well... we will make it to Pullman at the end of January and life may not less busy - but I think I will have fewer hats to wear (ha ha)!

Fun Side note! I've always loved taking photos - and ever since Autumn's new born photo shoot I've really enjoyed trying to get good photos of our family (well Autumn), friends and for my business. On Sunday I asked my beautiful HS friend if we could head for Estes and try to get some Wacky Warmer photos! I still have a lot to learn about lighting and angles and stuff - but I think they aren't too shabby!

Halloween!

2010-11-04T20:37:00.002-06:00

Isn't dressing your kiddo up so much fun!? (-: The Friday before Halloween - Aaron's old work had a Fall Fest - I knew that Autumn would be too hot in her Monkey - so I quickly put together a Cindy Lou Who outfit - she was adorable and had fun playing the boardwalk games! Throwing fish, golfing and getting toys!

We've been practicing Monkey noises with Autumn for a few weeks - oh to capture her dressed up as a monkey saying ehh ehh ehh... Anyways... Halloween was fun and although we did not let her eat her candy - Autumn was amused by the silliness as well! We went over to Aaron's sisters for dinner and then hit the streets after a photo op! The best was when Autumn looked up at her ghostly cousin and giggled! All the kiddos looked great and tore up the neighborhood running from door to door - I was lucky to get to every 3rd house with Autumn! She did make a cute monkey!

Barrette Board

2010-10-24T15:52:00.002-06:00

I was inspired yesterday at the craft fair to make this board to hold Autumn's barrettes! I had ribbon hung next to her changing table, but she tugs on it - so this seemed like a more durable option!

Super Easy to make!

What you need -

Thick poster board or an old frame without the glass

Fabric

Ribbon

Something to glue or tape everything together! I wasn't in the mood to get my glue gun out, so I used duck tape!!! (-: No one will ever see the back!

Wrap the fabric, run the ribbon and there you go!!!