Getting There

Hadley is getting stronger and stronger everyday. I sat her on the floor the other day just to see what she would do when I let go of her. Much to my surprise Hadley held herself up. She was slouching over a bit, but didn't fall over. I walked away from her to get my camera, came back, and she was still sitting in this position! I was so proud. She stayed in this position for about 10 minutes. I wouldn't consider this sitting up, but the fact she can hold herself up like this is pretty impressive to me. Riley got a kick out of Hadley sitting like this too! Hadley is rolling over now. She's been rolling over consistently for about a week now. It's so exciting to watch my girls develop!

Just for Po!

A few days ago I blogged about my nightmare of a day I was having with Riley. I included a picture of her in time out and crying. All I have heard from Po(aka Mr. Kevin) is "don't you make that little angel cry!" Okay, Riley is normally an angel, but she manages to bring out her devilish side once in awhile. Today was an excellent day with my sweet little angel Riley! I managed to grab a picture of her while she was smiling. I wanted to share this with Po since he was having such a hard time looking a the picture of her crying! I know he's not use to seeing a crying Riley because I normally just blog about the happy times. I just thought I'd add a little bit of my hellish days to the blog for more of a variety for you to read! Lesson learned...no more pictures of that sweet innocent angel Riley crying!! It's just too hard for grandparents to look at!

I would like to announce that this sweet angel is now saying "excuse me" and "thank you." It's the sweetest thing in the world to hear!! I LOVE IT!!

A Nice Afternoon

The girls and I joined some friends and headed over to Hickam Air Force Base to grab some lunch at a place called Wright Brothers. My friend Erika had told me about this place(which is nothing fancy, just a little deli/grille) and mentioned how it was on the water and that they like to go feed the fish afterwards. I thought it would be fun for all of us to go with the kids since we had never been. It was the perfect afternoon to go. The weather was beautiful and the kids were having a blast feeding the fish and enjoying the fresh air. While feeding the fish we got to see some crabs and a nasty water slug. That slug was huge! It literally gave me chills just imagining being in the water and having a giant slug slither across my feet. YUCK!

Riley made me a tad nervous with her "no fear" attitude while feeding and looking at the fish. She liked to get close to the edge to get a good view of all the aquatic life. I'm pretty sure Riley wanted to jump in the water.

(THIS PHOTO HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO MY BROTHER CALLING ME LOOSE LIPS. I ONLY HAD IT ON HERE BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING COOL TO SEE. BUT I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE THE CAUSE OF SINKING SHIPS!)

I thought it was pretty cool watching a sub head out to sea. You aren't suppose to take pictures, but I had to snap one! I had never seen a submarine heading out. You probably can't see but there are sailors standing on top of the sub. We also got to see a ship coming in but I didn't get a picture of that due to a dead battery in the camera!

I was trying to get a picture of all of the kids. I don't think it ever works out for anyone when they attempt a group shot with kids. This was the best I got! Notice Riley who is complaining that her shoe has mud on the bottom of them! She likes to play in the dirt but doesn't like it when the dirt gets on her.

My dear little Hadley enjoying her afternoon outdoors!

Please Be Over

Have you ever had one of those days that you wish you could just climb back into bed, pull the covers over your head, close your eyes and not wake up until the next day?? That is how I felt all day yesterday. It was a miserable day for me and that's putting it nicely. Riley was in a mood that she just wouldn't come out of. (It frightens me to think about her moods during puberty!) She was whining all day and throwing tantrums left and right. Hello miss almost 2 years old. Due to all of the tantrums it seemed like Riley was in time out every 5 minutes. And while Riley screaming Hadley is just being an angel. Then once I get Riley to act civilized again it seemed like Hadley would start crying and fussing. I knew why Hadley was cranky though. It was due to her shots the day before and the fact that she's teething. Seriously though, when you have either one or the other child whining all day you want to throw your own tantrum. I was honestly considering throwing myself on the ground so that I could kick and scream like Riley had been doing all day. I thought perhaps it just might make me feel better. And maybe if Riley saw how ridiculous it looked when someone else threw a tantrum she might stop. Instead I just counted to ten(about a billion times during the day) and took a deep breath and tried to make it through the day without losing my sanity. It was finally nap time and I was so looking forward to some peace and quiet. I was preparing to take a cat nap myself. Too bad Hadley decided she only needed a 30 minute nap. What?? Hadley normally sleeps for 2 hours in the afternoon. I almost died when I heard her wake up. I tried for a half an hour to get her back to sleep and she wasn't having it. As a matter of fact she was laughing at me most of the time! I plopped her in her jumperoo so that I could fold laundry and load the dishwasher. I was keeping my fingers crossed that Riley woke up in a better mood. Riley woke up and my fingers crossed didn't work. I took the girls outside for some fresh air in hopes that would chipper Riley up. It worked for awhile...a very short while. Riley finally chippered up when she got to eat some mac n' cheese for dinner. Then she was even happier when she got to go to the store with daddy. I was super happy when Trey took her with him. It's days like these that I wish I lived in MD so I could just drop grumpy pants off at the grandparents house! Bedtime could not have come soon enough for me yesterday. Put a fork in me because I was so done!!

This is a shot of Riley during one of her zillion time outs of the day!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was sleeping nicely last night until Riley began screaming at 3am and came into my bed and didn't go back to sleep until 4:30am. Pregnancy should come with a warning label!! Just kidding, I wouldn't change a thing!

Check-Up Time

Sunday Hadley turned 4 months old. I couldn't wait to take her in to her pediatrician so I could find out how much she's grown. Healthy Hadley is now 23in long and is weighing in at 16lbs. 15oz. She is still only in the 50% for height and tipping the charts in the 97% for her weight. I honestly love having big old healthy babies!! When Hadley was being weighed the nurse referred to her as a little chunky monkey. Then we met Hadley's new pediatrician(due to lay offs her other pediatrician is cutting back on hours so we have a new one) who just couldn't get over how healthy Hadley was! Dr. Miley kept commenting on all of Hadley's rolls and how precious she was. I like this new doctor!! Dr. Miley also said that she was surprised Hadley didn't have a rash on her neck because of her double chin. I then had to be honest and tell the doctor that Hadley does get rashes on her neck but I just put diaper rash ointment on her neck at night and they go away. Dr. Miley said that is the exact thing to do...perhaps that year of nursing school taught me a thing or two! Or maybe that was just common sense. So after the doctor visit we had to walk across the hall and take Hadley for her 4 month immunizations. YUCK!! I seriously dread this part of the check ups. It doesn't get any easier to watch a needle go into your baby's thighs. Normally she would've only had to receive 2 shots because one of them contains 3 medicines. Unfortunately for us they ran out of that vaccine and had to give them all separately. This meant Hadley got 4 shots. My poor girl. I was quite upset at the thought of getting 2 more shots than normal but what are you going to do?? Hadley screamed bloody murder and Riley was saying "Mama, Mama...owie" and rubbing her own thighs. Immunizations completed and we headed to the pharmacy to pick up some infant Tylenol for my poor little pumpkin poo. As we waited for her prescription Riley gave Hadley some love to make her "owies" feel better. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that at the 6 month immunizations there won't be so many jabs into Hadley's thighs!!

Absolute Cuteness

I know I talked before about putting Hadley in Riley's crib after nap time but it seems that Riley has been waking up before Hadley and insists on going to get Hadley with me. And of course Riley has to get into Hadley's crib with her and give her all the love in the world! Riley was having a good old time playing in Hadley's crib, dancing to the music from the mobile. She cracks me up! Even though these pictures don't really show it, Hadley is all smiles when her big sister is in her crib. As a matter of fact, Hadley is always smiling whenever Riley is around her. I'll send Riley over to Hadley when she's crying because 99% of the time the crying stops once she sees Riley. I love it! Riley is such a huge helper to me. I didn't know an almost 2 year old could help out so much with a new baby. Seriously, Riley unloads the dishwasher for me, throws things away, gets me diapers, picks up something I've dropped, finds things that I've misplaced...and the list goes on. I am so blessed to have such a great family! I'm also happy to announce that Riley has really begun to talk. She was saying some words, but not too many and definitely not when you asked her to. Now she just spits little sentences out of nowhere. For example, "I want shoes on", " I want shoes off", "I want dad/mom", "Hello sister", "where is it"...just to name a few! Our friends were even surprised when they heard Riley outside actually talking. And the best part was they understood what she said! Oh, and Hadley rolled over today!! I can't keep up with all the different milestones going on!

A Little Bit of Hadley

I'm thinking that the torture of teething has begun for little miss Hadley. She has been fussier than normal which is completely awful. She is gnawing on her hand whenever she is awake. I thought at first maybe she was just really hungry but when I'd try to feed her she didn't want anything to do with eating. Hadley has one teether that she likes to use. I think it's because it's easy for her to hold and get into her mouth. This blue teether is pretty much the only thing that has been soothing her teething. Even though it hasn't been that long since Riley started teething, I really forgot how awful the process is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Hadley's teeth come in quickly. Teething took forever with Riley and she's actually still getting new teeth. Phew...no wonder I have so many gray hairs on my head!

Hadley isn't really the biggest fan of tummy time or laying on her back, but she's getting better with both positions. She's so funny with tummy time because she scoots herself all around. I sleep Hadley on her belly(just like I did with Riley) and sometimes she scoots herself all the way to the other end of her crib. It's funny when I go to get her in the morning and she'll be facing the complete opposite way from how I put her to sleep. She's a mover and a shaker! She'll probably be crawling before she rolls over!

Make My Day

Being a mom has proven to be the most rewarding job I think anyone could ever have. There are days when I want to rip my hair out from all of the whining, because when one child whines so does the other! But I just take some deep breathes and count to ten and remember to keep my cool. Even though there are stressful moments, the majority of the time are pure bliss! My girls put the biggest smile on my face everyday. They both make me crack up laughing all of the time. Riley has a personality like no other. I think she might just be one of the most love able kids of all time. And Hadley is just pure sweetness. Hadley is now belly laughing and it's the funniest thing in the world. The other night Riley got Hadley laughing and Hadley laughed so much and hard that she threw up. I had just finished feeding her and then Riley was talking to her and making funny sounds and Hadley just couldn't stop laughing. Trey and I were cracking up with them. Then I saw almost all of what Hadley had just eaten pour out of her mouth. And Hadley just continued laughing. These girls make my day everyday. I can't imagine what life would be like without them.

Park Play

One of the best things about where we live is that the playground is literally right behind our house. It's so nice having a playground so close because Riley loves to go outside and play. Unfortunately the past couple of weeks we haven't gotten to go play outside too much. The weather hasn't been very cooperative. It's been raining a whole lot and on the sunny days the wind is blowing way too hard. The gusts of wind have been around 40mph and poor little Hadley loses her breathe when it's too windy. Today was absolutely gorgeous though. There was no rain and very little wind. This meant we could walk down to the playground and release some energy before nap time! Yeah for some fresh air because it definitely makes my babies sleep better! Riley is getting much more adventurous while at the playground. There are a number of different climbing contraptions that she is now trying out. This makes me completely nervous because she will climb to the last bar and then can't reach the last step to the platform of the jungle gyms(or whatever you call them). I'm just waiting for the first broken bone. Trey's guess is she'll have one by the time she's 3. Riley is definitely a little girl with no fear and I'm that protective mom that doesn't want my baby to get hurt! Except I don't think I'm too protective. I was glad to have a wonderful morning out in the gorgeous weather chasing Riley around and wearing her little booty out!

And just in case you missed the latest Baby Bjorn ad:

Isn't it funny that you don't see any ads with screaming babies?? Every ad I've ever seen the babies look happier than ever!! This was Hadley after I was running around chasing Riley. I don't think she appreciated being bounced around so much!! Oops!

Love Bugs

For the most part I am lucky enough to have the girls take a nap together at the same time everyday. Obviously Hadley takes more naps than Riley, but for the one nap that Riley takes I've tried to make that Hadley's nap time as well. During this lovely afternoon nap Hadley will normally sleep for about an hour and a half, while Riley will normally sleep for about two hours. The expression "silence is golden" couldn't be more true! Of course during this time I'm folding/putting away laundry, cleaning bathrooms, doing dishes, and perhaps sometimes just sitting on my bum!

Hadley normally wakes up before Riley so I get her fed. Then once Riley gets up I take Hadley upstairs with me and we greet Riley together. Riley is always super stoked to see Hadley. Riley insists that I put Hadley in her crib with her. They are always so sweet in Riley's crib together that I had to grab my camera to show everyone just how adorable my girls are! Hadley normally just lays in the crib and looks all around while Riley is just hugging and kissing Hadley to death! I hope Riley's adoration for her little sister never fades away!

Riley couldn't be happier that Hadley was in her crib!!

Hard to Please

It's true what they say- no two babies are alike. Let me tell you, Hadley is no easy baby! She definitely requires much more attention than Riley ever has. Riley was and still is the little girl who can entertain herself. Not my little Hadley. She needs someone in her face at pretty much all times. She likes to know you are there and there for her entertainment!! Riley has actually proven to be a huge help in this department. If I'm in the middle of doing something, whether it be laundry, dishes, vacuuming, or getting dressed, Riley will run over to her sister and play with her or give Hadley her binky. It can be frustrating at times when Hadley insists on being held and only wants to be held by me. But then she gives me her big smile or her adorable giggle and it makes all the frustrating moments worth it!!

Please Wear a Tutu!

It boggles my mind that Riley loves to wear her cha-cha's(dress up shoes) all of the time, but refuses to dress up in tutu's or princess gowns. Riley just hates it! But I always see how cute my adorable nieces look in their tutu's and just wanted to get a picture of Riley in hers. So I tackled Riley to the ground(literally) and got her tutu on her. She definitely fussed at first and then I made a game into it. I started chasing her around and telling her to give me back my tutu. She thought it was hysterical and began running around the house laughing like a crazy person! And of course I tried to take a picture of her but she's so darn fast, I either cut her head off or she was too close up for you to see the tutu. Here's the best I got!

I included this short video that I didn't mean to shoot, but thought it would be fun for you to watch her run in a tutu!!

The Next Travis Pastrana

So my daughter doesn't like to play dress up, but she sure does enjoy going for rides on a dirt bike! Riley literally had no fear on this bike. Trey drove her around and around and around. She was nothing but smiles! And so was her daddy! Trey borrowed this bike from our neighbors and I'm not sure he wants to give it back. Riley was enjoying herself so much Trey is now convinced that he needs to get one for Riley. He's certain he can have her riding by herself by the time she's 3. I'm not too excited about that idea. Can't I keep her my baby for just a little longer?? I like the idea of her being advanced. I just don't know that I'm prepared to watch my first born ride around on a dirt bike at such a young age and crash and hurt herself. I'm a fan of having her learn how to ride a regular bike first! Who's with me?? This is a great bonding experience for Riley and Trey though, so perhaps I should let my guard down a little bit. I'm still on the fence about the situation. I did have fun watching the two of them ride around on the dirt bike though. The smiles on both of their faces brought a ton of joy to me!

I took a little video of Riley riding on the bike. Please excuse my annoying voice!

Almost Two!

Can you believe it?? Riley will be 2 years old in about a month and a half. Goodness gracious! It boggles my mind how fast the time passes me by. The other day I gave Riley a Toys "R" Us catalog that came in the mail. I told Riley to pick out what she wanted for her birthday. So Riley gladly took the catalog and started flipping through the pages. She took her time examining each and every item. I would think most kids would pick out everything they saw. My sweet Riley only picked out 2 things that she wanted: a slide and a storybook reader. I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world that she really only chose things that she really wanted. We were going to get her a slide for Christmas but they were sold out! Riley is a huge fan of the slide. I swear I fall in love with her more and more everyday!!

The Aquarium

Today Riley and Hadley had their first trip to the aquarium. We went with some of our friends from our old baby hui group. It was a really fun time for Riley to be able to play with a bunch of kids her age and get to see some aquatic life. But the aquarium was really nothing to write home about(or blog about for that matter)! The aquarium here is so tiny, you could literally be done with it in 30 minutes. No wonder the parking outside had a 1 hour time limit! However, Riley was super excited to look at all the fish. She actually didn't want to leave, but I could only look at the same fish exhibits for so long! It makes me want to take her to the Baltimore Aquarium. I'm sure she'd LOVE it there. That will definitely be on the agenda for our next trip to MD. It's the little things like that which make me miss home! Despite the size of the aquarium we had a really fun morning. And I enjoyed looking at the ocean walking to the aquarium and then back to my car! I was going to walk the girls down to the beach but the homeless campers were swarming the place and I didn't feel comfortable by myself walking near them. I forgot to snap a picture of all the tents set up so you'll just have to enjoy the pictures of Riley! Not like that will be too hard!

Here is my delicate little flower Riley...climbing up to see the fish!

All of the kids checking out the monk seals.

Tsunami Scare

It was 6am and the alarms sounded across the entire island. I can't even describe to you the feeling I had when I heard the alarm. Completely freaked out! I watched the news Friday night before bed and heard about a possible tsunami, but they didn't make a fuss about it so I didn't really think anything of it. That definitely changed when the alarms sounded. I called my mom and she said she was just about to call me. The coverage on CNN of the tsunami warning was making everyone nervous. We went with our neighbors up to higher elevation to Tripler Hospital. I mean we had no idea what was going to happen. And we weren't the only crazy people up there. There were hundreds of people there with tents and chairs and radios. We were just joining in on the fun!

Here is Riley totally calm and relaxed, wondering what the heck we are doing!! And little Hadley passed out in the tent!

A shot of our neighbors that we went with. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch together as we waited for the tsunami to hit.

At 11am the alarms sounded again. Okay, now I'm totally freaking out hearing that scary sound again. And yet nothing happened. At around 2pm the tsunami warning was cancelled. All of the freaking out what for nothing. We packed up camp and headed home. I was completely exhausted from all of the worrying. I'm glad that nothing happened, but now I'm thinking next time nobody will pay attention and something probably will happen. We were living by the motto: better safe than sorry!