4 Months!

 

 

 

Abby! You have been here with us for 4 months and this one has been so enjoyable!  You are mostly a super happy baby enjoying playing with our toes and looking at and talking to people! You love to stand up in our lap, reach for and manipulate toys and pulling and looking at anything with in reach.  The other day I wore my shell necklace and you cooed and cooed at it!  The other day you were 10 pounds 13 ounces, so you are likely close to 11 pounds.  Your sleep is all over the place – but you usually string at least 7-8 hours at night. Sometime it includes a nice 5-6 hours and sometimes you are up every 2 ½ hours.  Your naps are short but sometimes you surprise us with a nice 2-3 hour one. Like your sister did, you usually nap best in your carseat. You continue to reject the bottle or any type of pacifier.  Mommy going back to work will be interesting!

It has been another very busy month for our family!  We spent a couple of nights with your Great Grandma and Grandpa Carvers and celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary in Mesa.  Then we reorganized and packed up at Nana and Papa and headed to Loveland to spend some time with the Browns and friends.  We are in transit for our big move to Hawaii. We’re excited to introduce you to island life and to our friends and community in Kona in a few days.  On your 4^th months birthday we had a big party with friends in Loveland.  You have met a lot of people this month!  Uncle Chad got to come for the anniversary celebration and then you met the Hanfts, Patricks, Eklunds, and Alsums for the first time at our going away again party.  You also met cousins Dave, Kim, Morgan and Kiley, the Osborns and Burkes this month.  

Biggest Milestone: On the 25th you started belly laughing - I wasn't there, but sister dripped water on you in the bath and you busted up. I have some of the  laughs on video! You've been getting closer and closer and we’ve been waiting for it to happen! You haven’t really given us another big laugh, but gave some smaller ones to daddy the other day.  Your smile is contageous and big!   We love you sweet Abby!!!

It's Happening

In less than a week we board a jet plane headed for our island home.  Seems crazy, a bit surreal and so so so exciting!  I just read a post I wrote a year ago about our plans to head back after the 2012 Holiday's and the time has come.  It is a funny thing moving to Hawaii - nooooo one has sympathy for us (which they shouldn't, but if we were moving to Oklahoma or something the comments would surely be different)!  I can't really explain why Hawaii has grown on our hearts - and it isn't purely because of the idealistic weather, warm ocean and year round outdoor play activities.  It is our community, where we belong - we really feel it is where God wants us for the foreseeable future.  We hope and plan to make nice long visits to Colorado when we can and will miss the family and friends we have here. 

Here are the details.  We land Feb 9th and stay with some dear friends that have room for us until the 16th.  I hopefully do an orientation day at my new part time job on the 11th if my background check clears in time.  We are pursuing a rental at this place - Kanaloa - which is walking distance to my job.  I'm feeling blessed and crazy spoiled that it is in our price range!  Other units the same price are not nearly so nice, on the ocean or this close to my work. My good friend will check it out on Monday and give the thumbs up or down - if it looks good it should be ours starting the 18th.  Hopefully we can get settled and find a new groove that works for all of us as we are going to try to not use daycare and have me go in super early.  It should be interesting (hopefully better than we are currently imagining) for Aaron with Abby in the morning.  She is currently not taking a bottle very well and I will be gone for about 4 1/2 hours.  If it doesn't work then I will likely split my day and go back during afternoon naps to finish my hours.  Off we go!!!!  Praising the Lord and trusting him with our next steps!  (oh I forgot to mention that I'm still researching my dream of building a small home on Walua Rd.  - the lot I want is still available - we will be oh so busy if we are able to get that underway!)

Good Bye 2012 and Hello 2013!

2012 Reflection Questions:

1. What was the best thing that happened to me this year? Meeting our 2nd baby girl and the huge amounts of time we have got to spend with family and friends!

2. What did I do this year that I'm really proud of? A second natural birth, relaxing a bit more about money, deciding Kona will be our home

3. Who did I really help? My students in Kona and house projects for my parents (they have been so generous to keep us and I've had fun decorating, fixing and adding here and there!)

4. Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me? My mom - she is my closest friend (other than Aaron of course)

5. What are the top three lessons I learned? Life is to short to sweat the small stuff, I still need more Grace toward others and myself, Life is so good

6. What increased my happiness and joy this year? My family

7. What's something I got through that was really tough? I don't think I would consider anything to be really tough this year

8. What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2013?  Eating right - pregnancy/nursing consumption will need to end 

9. What character trait did I develop most this year?  Contentment

10. What new people did I meet that are now in my life? Hogans

A few fun adventure stats from 2011:

States visited: 8
Nights spent in different cities: 18
Days with the Watsons: Not enough (-: 11





Goals for 2013!

1. Back to pre-pregnancy weight
2. Spend 20 minutes 5x a week in God's word
3. Buy or build in Kona
4. Work part time
5. Surf 3-4x a month
6.  Run a 10 k in under 60 mins

Happy 3 months Abby

Christmas - Addy wanted you to try on some doll clothing (-:

Christmas Morning

Belated Christmas with your new Lei's Grandma Nona made

Pretty Girl!!

Family Christmas Photo 2012

Oh - mom...dad...

Santa Train - Georgetown

Grandpa Alfred's 80's birthday celebration

Snowing out side

16th Street Mall Downtown Denver Horse Drawn Santa Sleigh

 Abby! You are now 3 months old and growing growing!  You've nearly made it to 10 pounds - you weighed in at 9 pounds 12 ounces this evening!  You are my tiny tot!!  You are a good baby - mostly eating, sleeping and dirtying diapers!  You have been very tolerant of all the moving about and activity of the Christmas season. Everyday we get to see a bit more of your personality as you calmly coo and kick in our lap. You have a soft laugh when I tickle your neck and ribs.  As the month went on you spent more and more time awake and happy and engaged in face time as well as handling and looking at toys. Unfortunately you have spend the entire last month with a minor cold - it hasn't been too bad except for the couple of days it went in your lungs.  Nana got us an Angel Care monitor for Christmas that would alarm if you stopped moving - it has been nice to have since you have been sick. You have very little patience when you are hungry and go from sleeping to outraged in about 10 seconds.  You are mostly a momma's girl - you do let others hold you, but it is highly dependent on your mood. This month you have decided that the breast really is best and need a fair bit of convincing to take a bottle with pumped milk in it - but you are eventually giving in, even if it takes a few tries.  You are a sweet sweet girl and we love you so so so much Abby!!

Fun things you have got to do this month!
Light Parade in Grand Junction
Go to Grandpa's 80th birthday
Ride the Georgetown Train and have lunch with the Watson's
Spend an evening in downtown Denver and ride a Santa Sleigh
Christmas and Christmas Eve with the Browns
A belated Christmas celebration with the Carvers
Kick your feet in the Rec Center Swimming pool in your swim suit

 Abby on top - Autumn below

The Brown family cousins

Autumn 3 and 1/4

August: Today at the swimming pool you decided to be Mermaid Keanna - you modified your swim moves and then tried flipping like your cousin. On your own you successfully did a front flip 2x.  One of the times after 'mermaid' swimming you came up and said, "I did a Braxton Hicks!"  Your grandma and I laughed hysterically and we know what you've been hearing lately!

                                                             You at  4 months and 3 years

In the bath tonight you were playing with toys and named the sea star ditsy and then said, "This is her mom, she is an occu therapist!"

"I'm cooking some mistakes for us for dinner!"  (aka steaks)

October "I have a new baby the size of a rock.  She is an automatic baby."  M: "What is an automatic baby?"  A: "Oh she eats and poops, that is an automatic baby."

On the Gondola on the way down from the Halloween safety fair a gal joined us.  You talked her ear off, mostly about the scary lady in a mask that offered you candy and then yelled 'boo' as you grabbed for it.  She was terrifying to you. 

You were talking about how your little girl doll would grow up to be a man and I asked why you thought that would happen and you answered, "well Papa says he used to be a little girl."  I explained that Papa was teasing you that he has always been a boy.  You would not believe me until you asked Papa yourself.

On October 2nd you became a big sister!  You eagerly awaited Abby's arrival and love your roll as big sister!  You love to give her kisses, try to get her to smile, talk to her repeating anything I'm saying to her and holding her for a short time - you don't really have the patience to hold her for long.  You ask lots of questions and ask what she is saying when she coos.  I hope you are always as kind and endeared to her your whole life! You are very excited at the prospect of Abby being a little girl and getting to share a bunk bed with her.

November: Your dad was watching a show about Rockefeller and talking about accomplishing things by the time he's 37 and you said, "Oh dad, just be a waffle."

When you start to be a pill doing things you should not, you will start to say, "Oh mom, I'm just being funny."

You said that you were going to marry a friend and I explained a marriage is between a girl and a boy like Jackson or Carson and most importantly that you marry a man that loves Jesus. You asked, "Does Carson love Jesus?" I answered yes and so you said, "Then I'll take him."  You've talked on an off about marrying Carson ever since.  Just the other day you told me you were 18 and so I said I guess you need to leave for college. You said, "No, Carson will be older and I'll be older and so we'll be married and live in Oahu."  Oh dear, the boy drama begins!  You enjoy playing pretend weddings with your daddy and I and then go get you picture book so we can look through the "wedding" album after the ceremony.

Abby filled her diaper and I said, "Hello poop!"  You thought it was the funniest thing and laughed for at least 10 minutes. Now you enjoy saying it when we hear that familiar sound.

As part of the recreation center's Halloween party we got to go ice skating - you thought it was so much fun and by the end was able to skate with the walker without help! You grinned ear to ear most of the time we were there and I think would have stayed all night!

You passed your first swim lessons with flying colors!  You are so comfortable in the water and had no problem doing everything they asked - head under, supported floating and supported front stroke...  You seemed to really enjoy it!

You enjoy and frequently use the words - particular and actually

You went through a stage of pretending to be my mom and then responding, "no I'm your mom, I don't have to do that." when I would ask you to do something - let's just say this didn't go over very well.

You had your first dentist visit and did awesome - letting them take x-rays and clean your teeth! They are in wonderful shape because you brush and floss every day!

We set up for Christmas and at the beginning of decorating you said, "this is the happiest I've ever been!"  You have really enjoyed every aspect of Christmas and ask a lot of questions about Jesus.  You helped with 3 trees - ours, Aunt Laurale's, Great Grandma's, set up lights with dad and made a gingerbread house with us.  On the 1st we got to go to Grand Junction and watch the light parade. You sat next to your cousin Taylor and sat in my lap. You really enjoyed watching the floats!

We met Grandma and Papa at the Children's Museum and you had so much fun at the fire station, building, with the balls, in the grocery store, dancing with tap shoes and running around in the trees. You even took an Ukulele lesson and was the lead singer for 2 songs! You are so self confident.  We then went to the Spaghetti Factory and got to sit in the train car.  You asked everyone that came by for chocolate chips and then at the end of the meal shouted to our waiter in the distance, "I'm ready for my Popsicle now!"   It was a wonderful day!

Things you enjoy - dressing up and roll playing with your babies and stuffed animals, your notebook to write clues in, coloring, drawing, crafts, collecting anything someone gives you - even fabric scraps, roll play all day long as families we know ("I'm Ashton and you are Lisa"), talking - there are times you hardly take a breath for a whole hour, dressing up and changing clothing, parks, swimming at the hot springs with Papa, swimming anywhere, running around, princesses (you've now watched Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella), Micky Mouse, and Busy Town buddies.

Autumn, you are our sweet, sassy, wonderful, fun loving, thoughtful and full of energy girl! We love you more than words and tell!!

Love, Momma and Daddy

Virgin Coconut Oil and Manuka Honey/Oil

I've been on a kick lately of sharing info on Virgin Coconut Oil with anyone that tells be about things that it might help - I LOVE the stuff!!  There is more and more research on the uses of the stuff - it is liquid gold when it comes to keeping the body healthy. The virgin part is important because it means it is unprocessed and has lauric acid in it ( the same thing that is in breast milk to help babies stay well). I bought a huge jar of it on Amazon when we got to Glenwood Springs and use it with cook, with Aloe on my face, all over my prego belly, on dry skin, in my tea (up to 3-4 Tbsp can be taken to help digestive system health, fight bacteria/virus/fungus in the system), on my baby's skin, in my Neti pot, to fight my 3 year old's external yeast infections (read it can be put on a tampon for this as well in women) and the Ringworm she picked up somewhere last week... and on and on.  I discovered it when looking for options for Autumn's recurring yeast infections after she was on serious amounts of antibiotics with a horrid MRSA infection last year and it has become a permanent part of our lives!

Here is some reading if you are interested
http://www.livestrong.com/article/91044-benefits-virgin-coconut-oil/
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/research-link.htm
http://coconutoil.com/

 Pure Manuka Honey and Oil are likely the most effective staph killers (and good at killing other bacterias as well) - from what I read it is what they use on a wound that isn't responding to any prescription medication in other countries.  Sure seems like we should be using it as a first line of defense instead of creating super bugs that become antibiotic resistant.  I will never go anywhere with out either the honey or oil in tow.  Regular honey is antibacterial on wounds and medicinal Manuka honey is 8-16x more antibacterial than honey.  It is what we put on our band aids instead of neosporin (which is pretty useless against any serious bacteria).  The honey can be used to kill strep throat or taken to kill a bacterial stomach infection. It can also be melted in a neti pot to kill bacteria in the sinus.  If something might be yeast it is best to stick with either the oil or Coconut oil as the sugar in the honey could feed the yeast/fungus. The oil is for topical use only and should be used with caution - http://www.livestrong.com/article/150268-what-are-the-dangers-of-manuka-oil/ 
The oil needs better research for dosing and uses - but it is the first thing I will put on a sealing band aid if I ever see a boil on any of us again
.
http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/203/content.pdf?sequence=1
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/04April/Pages/manuka-honey-mrsa-superbug-bacteria.aspx
http://manukahoney.com/research.cfm?page_obj_id=5&archive=N&article_id=23
http://www.manukaoil.co.nz/manuka_oil_uses.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/141248-manuka-oil-benefits/?utm_source=popslideshow&utm_medium=a1

Abby 2 months

Sweet baby girl - another month has past and you continue to light up our life!  You are so smiley, you have smile after smile for us almost ever time you are awake now.  You don't usually mind having you diaper changed or taking a bath anymore and you can spend 20-30 minutes just awake and happy in our arms or the swing.  You do have a mighty loud scream and hate getting your nose sprayed and suctioned - not that I blame you )-: We've all been sick with a mild cold for the past 2 weeks. You have become quite the mama's girl lately and at times I'm the only one who can calm you.  The milk supply helps, but sometimes you just need my cuddles. You are a pretty good sleeper for the most part and even slept 8 hours in a row one night.  Most nights you sleep 5-6 hours starting between 11-midnight, but are wide awake on both sides of the long stretch.  The long stretch is nice, but a 2-3 hour sleep on either side might be nice! You cat nap throughout the day and usually take a couple hour snooze in the afternoon.  You are most awake in the mornings and starting about 8pm.  You mostly take showers with me because it is convenient and don't usually cry until I put you in a towel at the end.  You had your one month visit on Nov. 13th (at 6 weeks because of insurance) and you were 7 pounds 3 ounces. On the 1st you started a growth spurt and look so much bigger to me - you were 8 pounds 2 ounces this evening (the 3rd), having now surpassed the average birth weight in America.

Things you've done this month:
Thanksgiving with all 6 of your grandparents
A couple of craft fairs where you were ohh and ahhed at a lot
Grand Junction light parade
First hotel stay (the start of your growth spurt and none of us except Autumn slept much)
First sick baby visit - low grade fever with no apparent cause
First Sunday at Great Grandpa and Grandma church and afternoon at their house to celebrate great grandpa's 80th birthday
Time at Aunt Laurale and Uncle Dean's house