Evenings At the Park

The girls and I have been spending all of our evenings at the park.  It's been too hot during the day to go, especially with Hadley.  There isn't really any shade and it's not fun when you feel totally hot and miserable.  After we finish eating dinner and I get everything cleaned up we head down to the park.  Riley is always thoroughly excited.  Tonight she decided to take one of her baby dolls with her.  Riley told me that baby wants to go.  So who am I to argue with that?  The weather has been wonderful in the evenings.  Nice and cool with a fantastic breeze blowing.  I like to take Riley in the evening, not only because of the weather, but because she wears herself out before bed.  This has been a must the past few days because Trey has been out of town for work.  Trey is normally the one to chase Riley around at night and get her nice and tired for bed.  The easiest way for me to do it is take her to the park and let her run around with the other little kids that are playing.  We normally stay for a hour, sometimes longer depending on Riley's energy level.  She has actually been really good when I say it's time to go home.  I can tell when she's looking worn out and ready to walk back up to the house.  Playing at the park makes the night go by faster, especially when Trey isn't here. 

Riley can now climb this ladder all by herself.  Everytime she does it she is so proud that she claps for herself and jumps up and down.  She's getting so big!  I use to be a nervous wreck when she'd try to climb this ladder.  It seems like just yesterday that she was way too small to even try and now she does it all on her own.  Miss independent!

Look What I Can Do!!

Hadley was sitting on the floor playing with her toys just like every other day.  She scoots all over the place, but still hasn't gotten the whole crawling thing down.  Hadley will get up on her hands and knees and rock, but then she just falls on her face.  I guess Hadley figured she'd forget about trying to crawl and try something else.  I was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher and I looked over to check on Hadley and saw her standing up, holding onto the couch.  What?!?  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Hadley was definitely proud of herself.  I ran and grabbed my camera so I could capture the moment. 

Then Hadley decided she was going to stand with only one hand holding her up!

And then she lost her balance and fell!  Look at her disappointed face!  Gosh, I love her!

Hawaiian Island Twisters

Today Riley officially started in her gymnastics class.  We will be going every Monday morning.  It's only a 45 minute class and I think it's perfect.  I wasn't exactly sure how today was going to go because of how reserved Riley was in the beginning of the trial class.  I was sure hoping we didn't waste our $100 to register her for the month.  The class started with songs again, including the hokie pokie and a couple of others.  Riley, once again, wanted nothing to do with that part of the class.  She sat on the floor and watched me dance to the songs!  At least one of us was doing it!  Once the dancing was over it was time to play on all the different equipment.  Riley was stoked.  She screamed balls and ran over and jumped into the ball pit.  Go figure!  That's exactly where she went during the trial class.  I told her we had to take turns and let the other kids jump in and much to my suprise she said "yep mommy" and got out without a fight.  Riley went over to the balance beam and enjoyed walking on there and falling off too!  She climbed through the tunnel, and even let me help her attempt a kart wheel.  I was more than thrilled that she didn't try to get back into the ball pit and played at the other stations. 

We headed over to the other room with the giant trampoline.  Riley was in heaven.  She was super excited to be jumping on the trampoline.  Last time she only did it once and this time she couldn't get enough!  Riley also did some hula hooping.  She still wouldn't swing on the rope, but she did voluntarily jump into the foam pit.  Riley had a blast today and I'm so excited that we enrolled her in this class.  I am looking forward to next Monday morning.

Hadley even joined in on the action!  Of course this little monster wouldn't stay in her stroller.  So I had to sit her on the floor while I helped Riley do her activities.

Flower Power

On the 21st, which was Monday, Hadley turned 7 months old.  Really?  This means I have two more months to finish losing my baby weight and that my youngest daughter will be 1 in five months.  How is it possible for time to pass me by so quickly?  Yesterday, Hadley had her second tooth pop through.  It's the other bottom front tooth.  I'm hoping this means I will get a few days of a non-fussy baby.  At least that's what happened after the first tooth came through.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping I get lucky with a happy girl the next few days.  I'll even settle for one day!  Hadley has been getting into crawling position for sure.  She is up on all fours rocking back and forth.  The fact that she can't crawl yet doesn't stop her from getting around.  She is a mover and a shaker even if she's not a crawler.  Hadley rolls and scoots to get to where she wants to go!  It's so funny to watch.  Hadley is now doing the cutest thing ever!  Whenever you blow kisses to her she blows kisses back.  I don't know how she learned this little trick, but she did!  I think it's just from watching all of us blow kisses to her.  We all love watching her blow kisses, including Riley!  Riley thinks it's super funny.  Hadley can also now pull herself up into standing position when she's in her crib.  YIKES!  Time to move the mattress to a lower position.  She's getting so big! 

Riley is getting so big too!  New words and sentences are spilling out of her mouth on a daily basis.  I can't even keep up with the words anymore.  I do know that she will repeat almost anything that comes out of our mouths.  Yesterday I was working on counting with Riley.  I was trying to teach her 1 through 10.  After our little counting session all she kept saying was 8, 9.  It was rather amusing.  I kept wondering what happened to 1 through 7, but I'll take the fact she knows 8 then 9.  Potty training is still going on.  Riley has been voluntarily sitting on the potty, but not going on it yet.  I've been trying to get her to sit on the potty when she has to poo because I can always tell when that's happening.  Lately though she goes and hides or does it when I'm in the middle of feeding or changing Hadley.  She's a smart little cookie!  I'm not worried about it though, she'll go potty on the potty when she's good and ready.

I love the fact that Hadley lets me put headbands on her!  She doesn't grab them and try to rip them off, she justs wears them.  A friend made Hadley a couple of headbands and I think they are absolutely adorable.  I think I need to figure out how to make them and do it myself.  Perhaps it could be my new hobby. 

Father's Day Weekend

Friday was Trey's command picnic at the Bellows.  Unfortunately this year Trey was on duty so he had to be there extra early to set up for the party.  This meant I had to get the girls ready for the beach and load up the car all by myself.  It wasn't too difficult just a little exhausting.  As I was driving out to the Bellows is was pouring down rain, almost so hard that I couldn't see the lines on the road.  I was thinking to myself that it was not going to be a good day for the beach.  But once we arrived at the beach the rain had stopped and it was nice to have the cloud cover because it wasn't so hot.  We ate some burgers and chips and then Riley headed for the water.  After about an hour in the water, Riley discovered the bounce house and spent the rest of her time in there.  Unfortunately Trey had put my bag back in the car which had my camera in it.  I was much too lazy to walk all the way to the car so I didn't get any pictures at the picnic. 

Saturday started a little hairy for us because Trey was in a yucky mood.  I took the girls down to the park and he washed our cars.  Once the cars were nice and clean Trey seemed to perk up a bit!  Then his friend Mike came over and that cheered Trey up, so I knew the day would be good!  The guys wanted to go to a car show at the Aloha Tower so the girls and I joined them.  I didn't realize how hot it was outside until we started walking around the car show.  Phew, I was looking for shade every chance I got.  I was so thankful that I had put sunscreen on the girls or else they would have fried!  I was carrying Hadley in the Baby Bjorn and she passed out.  My shirt was totally stretching out because of how sweaty her and I both were.  It was nasty.  Riley hadn't napped and was getting tired from the heat and walking all around and we decided we better find a place to sit down, cool off, and eat.  We discovered that the Aloha Tower had some nice waterfront restaurants.  Yay!  I love when we discover new places.  We ate at Gordon Biersch's.  At least I think that's what it was called.  It's another yummy restaurant where they brew their own beer.  So that Budweiser that Trey wanted to order wasn't on the menu!  After we sat down I felt really lethargic.  I gulped down some ice cold water because I think I was completely dehydrated from the intense sun.  We all ordered something to eat and then Trey asked me what I had ordered.  I was so out of it I couldn't even remember.  When the food came out I had just ordered a cheeseburger, go figure, but it was completely delicious.  One of the best burgers I had ever had.  Trey had shrimp tacos which were delicious too.  Mike is now vegan, so he ordered asparagus, beans, and some fries.  Riley chowed down on her giant grilled cheese.  Hadley woke up from her little snooze just in time for me to enjoy my dinner.  Despite the heat we had a lovely afternoon. 

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day!  This was Trey's first Father's Day with 2 kiddos.  Riley and I went out and got daddy his favorite breakfast...McDonald's!  Yes, we go all out here in the Prewitt house.  After breakfast Trey and the girls had some fun wrestling around.  It was so fun to watch all three of them playing.  Trey put Hadley on top of Riley and then they were rolling all around.  It made me a bit nervous at first, but then Hadley start giggling so I knew it was all good!

After playtime we all got ready to head out for a movie.  I don't know who was more excited, but we were all stoked to go see Toy Story 3!!  Riley loved the first two so we knew she'd enjoy the third one, especially since she'd get excited and jump up and down when she saw previews for the movie.  We saw the movie in IMAX 3-D which cost us a pretty penny.  The movie wasn't showing in anything but 3-D and the only time that was convenient for us was in the IMAX theatre.  Who knew taking a family to the movies could cost you $75??  It was completely worth it though.  Trey, Riley and I all loved the movie.  I was so proud of Riley for wearing her 3D glasses too.  She did so well during the movie.  Riley sat and ate her popcorn and the special treat that daddy got her, reeses pieces!  Riley stood up for the last 20 minutes because she was tired of sitting, but other than that she lasted the whole movie!  Hadley fell asleep on my lap for the majority of the movie.  I don't know how she slept with how loud it was, but she did!  We had some friends over for dinner to finish our day off.  It was a wonderful day and weekend.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Father's Day! 

Free Trial

Trey and I both agreed that we needed to sign Riley up for some sort of activity where she could play with other kids her age.  Especially because her good friend Elyse moved and her other friends are in California for the summer staying with their grandparents.  I know Riley has to be sick of just playing with momma, dada and sister!  I did some research on the internet to find some places I could take her for gymnastics.  I decided to take her to the one closest to our house, Hawaiian Island Twisters.  They have a parent/tot class for kids ages 1-3.  I thought with the energy that Riley has and all the jumping and summersaults she does around the house that gymnastics would be perfect for her.  We went this morning for a free trial class.  It was really nice because it was a small class.  Riley was excited to go play. 

The class started with a little song and dance.  We did the "Hokie Pokie" and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes."  Riley just stood there with her arms crossed and stared at everyone else like they were crazy.  By the time the songs were done Hadley was screaming in the stroller so I had to go grab her and hold her for the rest of the class which was a little bit distracting for me because I couldn't interact with Riley like I would've liked to.  Once Hadley calmed down Riley ran and jumped in the ball pit with lots of excitement.  Then I finally got her out of the ball pit, which was no easy task, and onto the balance beam.  Then she crawled through a tunnel and ran back to the ball pit!  It was time to go into another room to jump on a trampoline so I had to drag Riley out of the ball pit once again!  Riley enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and did very well with waiting her turn.  Then the kids got to swing on a rope.  Riley wanted nothing to do with the rope.  She was being very shy today around everyone.  It takes a little bit for Riley to warm up to new people which surprises me with her outgoing personality.  By the end of the class she was warming up to everyone including Coach Melissa who Riley wouldn't let touch her in the beginning!  There was a huge foam pit for the kids to jump into.  Riley kept jumping up and down, but wouldn't jump into the pit.  So I gave her a nice nudge into the foam pit.  Once she was in there she loved it.  Riley gets to start her session on June 28th and she'll get to go every Monday morning.  I'm sure she'll get more active and social once she gets to know everyone.  I'm looking forward to our Monday morning fun with gymnastics class!

Liking the Greens

I would think by now that I would stop expecting Hadley to like the same things that Riley did when she was Hadley's age.  I don't know why insist on comparing them because they have proven to be two very different babies.  I am still introducing new food to Hadley.  It seems like this process takes forever because she has to eat the same food for a week to make sure she doesn't have any allergies to what she's eating.  The newest food is green beans.  I had been putting this one off because Riley refused to eat them.  I remember Riley just spitting them out and crying.  Riley didn't like peas either.  She wasn't a green food lover.  That is one of the reasons I started Hadley out with squash, because it was Riley's favorite.  Hadley seemed to enjoy the squash too.  She's also liked bananas and sweet potatoes.  Hadley is a big fan of green beans though.  I was completely floored when I tried them out with her a few nights ago.  I was expecting her to gag and cry.  Instead she smiled and opened her mouth for more.  Hadley isn't a big eater, but she eats more of her green beans than anything else she has eaten.  I was delightfully surprised!  It was funny though because Riley came over to see what I was feeding Hadley, took one look at the green beans and said "EEEEWWWW!"  I had to laugh.  Riley's opinion on green beans obviously hasn't changed. 

Salon Trip

So after going 4 months without a haircut I finally got one today!! I was in desperate need of one for sure. I really couldn't decide what I wanted to do with my hair. I was thinking maybe I'd keep growing it and try something new since I've had short hair for the past 4 years. Hadley reminded me why I don't need long hair with babies. Hadley is constantly grabbing my hair and pulling, HARD!! She actually hurts me when she gets her little paws on my hair. I decided with my two girls and the hot summer Hawaiian heat, short hair is the only way to go for me.

I scheduled my appointment early in the morning so that Hadley would be napping for most of the time I was gone. I didn't want to have to worry that she was driving her daddy crazy. Hadley is a tough little cookie to handle and is normally only satisfied if I'm in her sight. I showed up to my appointment about ten minutes early and since I was Vincent's first appointment he took me right away. I was super excited because that lead to an extra long shampoo! I always get a head massage when I go for my haircut and I could seriously just sit there all day. It was so very relaxing. I almost fell asleep until Vincent started asking how the kids were doing. What? I don't want to talk about the kids, I'm enjoying time to myself which doesn't happen often. Then it was time for the hair to be cut. I was sure to inform Vincent I wasn't a fan of the bangs he gave me last time so we needed to let them grow. The bangs he gave me last time were the biggest pain in my ass. I couldn't stand them and had to wear bobby pins everyday to keep them out of my eyes. They were those stylish bangs that swept across your face diagonally. But every time I blinked my eyelashes touched my bangs. I couldn't stand it! Vincent always takes his time cutting my hair. So after an hour and a half I was finished. I felt so completely refreshed. My poor hair was in desperate need of that cut. It is actually a little shorter than I was expecting, but I still love it. I think Vincent knows I don't get to the salon very often so he better cut it short so it will last awhile!!

As I was leaving the salon I looked at my phone and saw I had 2 missed calls from Trey. I also noticed that I missed these calls 20 minutes into my appointment. Uh-oh was the first thing that came to my mind. So I call Trey to find out what was the matter. He called to tell me that Riley had a poopy diaper. I'm not really quite sure what I was going to do for him seeing that I was getting my hair done! That's my husband for you! Is it bad that I enjoyed the fact Trey had to change a poopy diaper?? I seriously change 2 a day. So there is no sympathy for him when he has to change 1 a year! Thanks Trey for changing your daughters poopy diaper! Such a good daddy!

Just For Laughs

I took this video the other day of Hadley. In the middle of her eating she was getting restless so I was trying to cheer her up so she would finish her sweet potatoes.

A BIG Con of Hawai'i

Okay.  So I know I talk about living in paradise.  For the most part I do.  Hawai'i is absolutely beautiful and the weather is mostly perfect.  We have some of the best beaches in the world.  The kids get to play outside everyday of the year if they want, unless it's raining!  However, I don't really feel like I'm living in paradise when I find cockroaches in my car!  I just got chills typing that sentence.  A couple of weeks ago I was getting Hadley out of the car and saw a baby cockroach on her carseat.  Eeww!!  I knew right then that wasn't a good thing.  Whenever you see a baby cockroach you know that there are plenty more around.  I've spotted 8 more cockroaches in the car since that incident.  I've killed probably 4 of them.  They are quick little suckers and I can't always smash them fast enough.  Yesterday driving home from the grocery store I saw one crawling across the passenger seat.  I FREAKED out!!  I slipped my flip flop off and wacked it!  I am now refusing to drive my Tahoe until Trey bombs the car.  I can't drive around wondering if a cockroach is going to be crawling on me or my girls.  When I'm driving I seriously feel like they are crawling all over my body.  I am constantly rubbing my legs and arms because it feels like I have little legs crawling on me.  I'm also constantly checking the girls out in the backseat to make sure they don't have any on them.  So that's enough cockroach talk.  I just thought I'd enlighten everyone on life in paradise.  It's not always the best, but it is pretty darn nice!  I'll keep you posted on how many dead cockroaches we find after Trey bombs my Tahoe.  Stay tuned!

Hadley 411

I'm excited to announce that Hadley got her first tooth yesterday!  I knew it was eventually going to happen, especially with how fussy Hadley has been lately.  I'm just glad that one finally popped through.  It makes Hadley's cranky attitude a little easier to tolerate knowing that it's for a good reason.  I've been using teething tablets to help ease her pain.  Lately those haven't been working as well as they did for Riley so I've added some baby tylenol in the mix too.  Today has actually been a really tolerable day.  Hadley has been in a much better mood.  I hope the rest of her teeth follow quickly so that Hadley can be in better moods more often!!  Yay for Hadley getting her first tooth!  Just another milestone and reminder that she's getting bigger!

Sunday Family Funday

After Hadley's morning nap Trey loaded up the jeep and I got the girls dressed and ready for the beach.  Riley had been asking for the water everyday and since we didn't make it to the beach last weekend we decided it would be fun to go there today.  We drove out to our favorite spot, the Bellows.  On the drive there it started raining and there were terrible dark clouds ahead of us.  Trey and I were laughing and thinking maybe this wasn't the best idea.  But it's Hawai'i and the weather changes in the blink of an eye.  Luckily when we got to the beach the sky was clearing up and the sun was breaking through.  It was still a little overcast when we got there but it was nice because it wasn't too hot.  We didn't go to our normal spot at the beach.  Instead we hit up a little lagoon area that we always say we should try next time.  Well we tried it this time!  As you can see in the picture above it's just a really shallow area of water that was absolutely perfect for the kids.  Plus we could walk right past the rocks and go into the ocean if we wanted.  It's hard for me to go into the ocean these days with Hadley needing to be attached to my hip at all times.  Today was actually the first time that she sat in the water.  I've dipped her feet in before, but the water has been chilly.  Today the water was nice and warm and Hadley seemed to be a fan.  She just sat in the lagoon and splashed away at the water.  Hadley was enjoying herself until she realized that sand doesn't taste very good.  She kept picking up loads of sand and shoveling it in her mouth.  I kept trying to grab her hand before she attempted to put the sand in her mouth, but the second I looked away she's have another handfull.  Oh well, a little sand will never hurt anyone, right?

Riley loved the fact that we were at the beach.  She was an even bigger fan of the lagoon we were playing in because she could just wander around without having Trey or me telling her to come back.  Shallow water is the best!  Riley played in the water for 3 hours straight! 

After a few hours at the beach we packed up camp and headed home.  On the way home we decided to just stop through Waikiki and grab some dinner because Trey and I were both exhausted and I didn't feel like cooking.  Trey wanted to go to one of our favorites, The Yard House.  After waiting there for 15 minutes with two tired and hungry children and two tired and hungry adults we decided to go elsewhere.  Not to mention the restaurant was playing the basketball games and it was extra noisy inside.  We could just tell it wasn't going to be a good combination.  We walked down the street a little bit and found a non-crowded cheeseburger joint.  Absolutely perfect for our tired and hungry family!  We'd got our food quick and didn't disturb anyone.  Of course both the girls were very well behaved so if there had been anyone around us I'm sure they wouldn't have been bothered.  We all felt better after chowing down on some food.  We headed home and then finished the evening off playing outside.  Then it was bathtime and bedtime.  Ahhh! 

Riley and Hadley both received a lei from the hostess!  Hadley wanted to eat her lei!

A Little Sunshine

I'm not going to lie.  My daughters have been driving me bonkers this week.  I think they are having a contest to see who can whine the most.  I'm not sure, but I think Hadley is winning.  There have been moments where I think I'm going to have to check myself into the nut house.  I mean I can only take so much crying.  Then I feel bad for getting so frustrated because I know that Hadley is teething.  It's just when you run out of options to try and soothe your child, I begin to think of ways to soothe myself and the nut house sounded like a good idea! 

Riley likes for Hadley to sit in the play room with her and sometimes Hadley will calm down when she is in there.  Hadley was extra fussy this morning so I decided to put her in the play room with Riley.  Riley gave Hadley some toys to play with and I went into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher.  Everything was nice and quiet and I was regaining my sanity.  Then Riley is yelling "momma, momma."  So I go running in thinking something is wrong.  Instead of running into a tragedy I ran into an adorable moment.  Riley put sunglasses on herself and Hadley and was sitting there hugging Hadley.  It's the little moments like this that remind me why I love being a mom.  I had to capture the moment on camera so that the next time I feel like I'm losing it I can just look at these pictures and remember just how good I have it!

6 Month Check-Up

A couple of weeks ago marked Hadley turning 6 months old!  Even though she turned  6 months on May 21st, I couldn't get a well baby check scheduled until today.  I normally schedule appointments as much in advance as possible, but the time has just gotten away from me.  I can't believe Hadley is already half way to 1!  I mean seriously, does time actually go by this quickly??  I guess it does!  Anyway...to the left is a picture of Hadley the day she turned 6 months!  Her shirt might say sweet, but she sure hasn't been acting to sweet lately.  It's been nothing but crying, crying and some more crying.  My only saving grace is when she's sleeping which hasn't been as much as usual! 

So at the doctors office I had already prepared myself for Hadley to be screaming during the height and weight measurements and for her visit with the pediatrician.  I honestly couldn't remember how she did at her 4 month check-up, but I do remember how Riley has always been since birth at the doctors, TERRIBLE!!  Hadley surprised me though.  She was a perfect angel during the whole process.  She didn't make a peep when I undressed her to get weighed and was quiet again as I put her clothes back on her.  When she was being examined by her doctor she was a little sweetheart.  Hadley was cooing and smiling at the doctor.  I seriously have never experienced that before at the doctors office!  It was wonderful.  Especially after how cranky Hadley has been these days.  The doctor was impressed at how well Hadley was sitting up.  She said Hadley was very strong.  Everything checked out well with my precious girl.  Hadley is now 25.5 in long(50%)  and weighs 18lbs 12.4oz(95%).  It was funny because the doctor assured me that she'd slim down once she started to crawl and walk.  I chuckled!  I mean I don't think my baby is fat so her weight isn't a concern to me.  Riley was the exact same way as a baby.  I love the rolls.  They assure me that Hadley is getting enough to eat.  Sometimes I would wonder if she was eating enough because she only breastfeeds for a total of 10 minutes normally.  There are times she'll go 15 minutes, but that's normally the longest.  Riley use to eat for almost an hour every time, so I didn't know if Hadley was getting enough.  Apparently she is!  Once again I am blessed with another healthy girl!  After the doctor we headed over to the immunization room so Hadley could get her 6 month shots.  I think I'm a pro at this now, but that doesn't make it easy to hear the screams come from your child when they feel that needle.  Hadley had to get 3 shots and screamed like a maniac for all of them!  Once I picked her up and bounced her around for a minute she calmed down.  Phew!  Glad that's over for a few months! 

I had to share this last picture with you.  Hadley looks like a sweet and innocent little girl, but watch out!  Hadley's favorite thing to do is pull hair.  I know first hand that it really hurts, she's strong.  Here she is pulling Riley's hair.  Riley screams and cries everytime too!  Of course sometimes Riley intentionally puts her head infront of Hadley so she'll pull her hair.  I think it's because Riley likes to hear me tell Hadley no.  Sisterly love!