Happy 3rd Birthday Katie!

Praying before her birthday dinner.

Katie had insisted she wanted a Power Rangers cake. I searched high and low, but could not find one - thankfully! So instead I went with something pink and girlie. 

Her birthday presents this year all followed suit - very girlie! Disney princesses, tiaras, make up, jewelry, Rapunzel dresses, clothes, and only 2 power rangers :)



The Return of the Soo Soo Berry

Its time once again for a visit from the Soo Soo Berry. Even though both Katie and Logan were the same age when we said good bye to their soothers, Katie seems so much bigger/older and I can't believe we let her keep it this long!

Every night when we check on Katie before we go to sleep she has her soother in her mouth (where as Logan had barely used his at the end - maybe only when he was hurt or upset). We were a bit worried about how Katie would handle the visit from the Soo Soo Berry. But thankfully Logan was a great helper and got Katie all excited for her "getprize".



 

Mark helped Katie hang her soothers in the tree for the fairy to come and get them and then bring them to new babies who need them. (Just a heads up to the Bouwman and Brandsma babies - Katie may try to take back "her" soothers when you're born.) The kids then went inside and camped out infront of the window waiting for the Soo Soo Berry to show up. Mark had to explain that she is very shy and wouldn't come until no one was looking. So we distracted them with a bath.



And sure enough, after their bath the Soo Soo Berry had come and gone - the only evidence of her was the "getprize" left hanging in the tree. (You dont even understand how badly I wanted to dress Mark up in Katie's fairy wing costume and take his picture. haha)

Katie was thrilled with her new stuffed tiger. That soother fairy is one smart cookie. She must have known about the on going war in our house over the white siberian tiger stuffy Logan recently got. Now the two kids play peacefully together with their tigers, Namaste (named after the white siberian tiger in Hilo) and Kimberly (named after the pink retro power ranger).

5 Months

Mom's propping me up on the couch for pictures again, so it must be that time. I am now 5 months old. I guess I'll humour her and put a big smile on my face. If I have to. I do smile a lot, though I like crying better. I've learned that if I cry and cry and cry mom and dad have to hold me. Sometimes I cry so much that mom starts pulling out her hair - that's pretty funny.

She also gets pretty upset when I wake her up in the middle of the night. I'm not actually hungry, I just miss her and want to snuggle. Sometimes I wake her up three times a night - I just love her so much!! Mom keeps trying to give me a soother to suck on - but my fingers are so much better! I love to slobber all over them.



Mom and Dad also keep trying to get me to roll over - what am I? A dog? I'll roll over when I want to roll over! And they keep giving me all these colorful toys to play with, when really, just give me my blankie to suck on and I'm happier than a fat kid in a candy store.

Mommy hasn't taken me to the doctor at all recently. Thank goodness! I was getting sick of that place. I feel really healthy and am outgrowing all of my old clothes. They've started calling my Chubbers, which is really mean. It's all diaper. And Mommy keeps fussing over my hair - I guess it's finally starting to grow back. She keeps worrying that its turning red - not because it looks red at all, but because of my stubburn streak and bad temper. I am her child after all. Grandpa says its payback for all the times Mommy was naughty for them when she was little.

I think its time to throw a hissy fit again, that or poop so much it explodes out everywhere - thats always fun and gets a good reaction from mom. Plus I get to play in the tub then, and I love the tub! See you next month!

4 Months

We just got back from Carson's first check up with the pediatrician. (FINALLY!) She was very happy with Carson and how well he is doing. He weighs 16.5 pounds and is between the 75th and 90th percentile for weight. For height he is on the 50th percentile, and his head is on the 75th percentile. His latest chest xray (taken just before we left for Hawaii) showed his thymus to be shrinking in size and his upper right lung still partially collapsed. Dr, Jackson looked at the xrays herself and she isn't concerned about the lung at all. She says it was so hard to see on the xray that if they weren't already looking for it, they'd never know - plus his lungs sound nice and clear. Dr. Jackson still wants to stick to the oncologist's plan of follow up chest xrays and blood work. However, instead of monthly she feels comfortable doing them every 6-8 weeks.

Personality wise, Carson is a very happy little boy (for the most part). He can still throw a temper tantrum, but those are usually fixed with either a diaper change, nap or feeding. By far his favorite activity is chewing on his hands. He is a fountain of drool (no sign of teeth yet however). He's very good with his hands and can grab toys with no problem and instantly put them in his mouth. When we got home from Hawaii we pulled out the exsersaucer for him. He's still not 100% sure what he's supposed to do in it, and usually just ends up sucking on the edge of the seat. But as long as he's stiting upright, he's happy. He always wants to see what's going on and be part of the action. Sleep wise... Carson is a great napper. Everyday he has a morning and afternoon nap usually for 2 hours each. Somedays when he's a bit more tired he will still sneak in a half hour-45 minute nap around dinner. Over night... over night... oh Carson, you're lucky mommy loves you. Over night we are still going only 3-4 hours. We occaisionally have a night where Carson will sleep 7 hours, but those are very few and far between.  



Last Day

Our last day in Hawaii was spent packing, tidying up the condo and swimming in the pool. We had such an awesome vacation! We saw a lot of new things and revisited all of our past favorites. None of us were quite ready to come home yet - though I think us 5 could stay forever! We joked with the kids often about if they wanted to move to Kona - both Logan and Katie eagerly said yes, but we had to ship Duke over. (And I'm sure Duke would also LOVE it here!)

Katie's love of water was by far the biggest surprise this trip. She was a fish! She mainly played on the steps of the pool by herself, but always begged people to go swimming with her. 

Logan surprised us the last day by NOT wanting to go to the pool. He was pouting because his cousins left earlier in the day to continue their vacation on Oahu. 

I can't really complain about how Carson behaved on vacation. He did have a couple of crying fits - but for the most part he did very well. I don't know if I'd do it again though as vacationing with a baby isn't much of a vacation. Mark and I joked on the way home that we now need a vacation from our vacation. Being up everyday at 5:30am isn't very relaxing and we never had a moment alone just the two of us! haha. 

But these two loved it so much. It was awesome watching them boogie board, play in the sand and swim in the pool. I also loved how happy they were playing with their cousins.

Goodbye Kona - until next year? (I can dream, can't I?)

Road Trip!

We headed out early this morning for a road trip to the other side of the island. Our first stop was at Waipio Valley for a quick photo opp. Mark swears he saw a whale in the water below - I couldn't see anything but others also thought they saw shadows of something large.

Afterwards we headed south to Akaka Falls. The boys did a whirlwind tour of the falls, running almost the entire way. Katie was being a bit more difficult and kept insisting "I can't walk daddy!" So poor Mark had to carry her almost the entire way. Carson and Carter stayed and napped in the van with Grandma.

Our next stop was supposed to be the Pana'ewa Zoo, but it started to rain - and pretty hard. So we detoured to the nearest Pizza Hut for lunch. Pizza Hut.... *drool*. (I may have just ordered pizza hut for dinner haha)

The rain finally let up and we were able to carry on to the zoo as planned. We had such a good time at the zoo. There were so many different colored birds and exotic animals - including anteaters, lemurs, turtles etc. (My favorite part of the zoo - it was FREE!)

The kids LOVED the playground at the zoo and burnt off a ton of pent up energy. 

Logan's favorite part of the zoo (and what he was looking forward to all trip) was the White Siberian Tiger - Namaste. Namaste was HUGE.



Everyday at 3:30 they feed the tiger. They lock him up in a pen at the back of his enclosure and give him his dinner of a raw chicken stuffed with all sorts of nutritional goodies. We got to go right up close and watch Namaste eat. Half way through he dropped his chicken and started snarling at us. He then let out a roar that startled even the adults! Definitely today's highlight!

Katie loved the peacocks that freely roamed the zoo. She wasn't afraid of them at all and kept running up to every one she saw to talk to them.

After the zoo we headed down to Kalapana - a district that was destroyed by lava back in the 90's. When we were here last January there was hot lava flowing right by the pathways - so close Mark melted his sneakers. Sadly this year the flow was far off in the distance on private property - so we couldn't get anywhere near it without paying a fortune for a tour. But it was still neat to see the cool, hardened lava up close. 

The rest of the family stayed until after dark to see if they could see the lava glowing off in the distance. By this time Carson had enough so our family of 5 opted to head home instead. Carson did calm down and we may have managed to sneak in a trip to the Ross in Hilo :)

Mark's Vacation Check List: Complete

Mark really only had one item on his vacation check list, and if you know him, I bet you can guess what it is. Golf. Mark has been looking forward to this since his last round in September. He and Jon golfed the Ocean Course at the Kona Country Club. They had a great morning. Mark shot a 91 and Jon a 96. Mark was a little disappointed that they only got one round in this week. But thankfully Calgary has been having some awesome weather this spring and he'll be able to golf at home soon enough.

While the boys were golfing Sam, Mom, the kids and I hung out around the pool at the condo. (The Dees family went over to Volcanoes National Park). I couldn't take any pictures at the pool today as Mark took the camera golfing. Once the boys returned we headed over to the Hilton Waikoloa to watch their dolphin show. It was a free 15 minute show. The kids loved it.

Mark and I joked that once we win the lottery big we're coming back and staying at the Hilton. It's unreal. Sooooo beautiful.

Katie was getting a bit grumpy and you could definitely tell she missed her afternoon nap. By the time we reached the flamingos (the Hilton has flamingos!) she was done. I could not get a smile out of her for the life of me. Gotta love the stink eye!

Vacation Check List: Complete

I think it's impossible to have a case of the Mondays while you're on vacation. Everyday is a great day.. even Mondays. We started this Monday off with some family photos. Sam had an awesome idea to hire a local photographer to take our family photos. We met him at the beach by the Four Seasons - (which is a very pretty and picturesque. There were also a TON of turtles out on the beach! Which was awesome to see.) Despite his wild crazy hair, he was a super friendly guy and had some great ideas. Below is just one of the sample of the pictures he has already sent us. I can't wait to see the rest!

After our cheeks hurt from smiling we headed back down to Hapuna for another beach day. Mark has just decided to accept the fact that the waves are not near as big as last January and embrace the "baby waves". The baby waves kept the boys entertained all afternoon - I don't think Logan came out of the water once. 

The rest of us found shelter from the wind near the rocks/cliffs. It has been SUPER windy this week, which is a bit of a downer - but at least it provides some relief from the scorching sun, 

 

After the beach we all went our separate ways. Jon and Sam went into Kona for a luau and Dan and Karen for a dinner cruise. Mark and I took our kids into Kona and checked some things off of our "vacation check list". There are several things that Mark and I always like to do while we are on vacation.

1. Go to Jack in a Box. Since we don't have Jack in a Box at home we like to stop there at least once to have egg rolls, curly fries and mozza sticks. It was no luau or dinner cruise, but the kids LOVED it! (Though they're not impressed with their mom taking their pictures 1000x a day).

2. Go to Ross. Carson definitely benefited the most from this trip. I got him some new onesies and little sweatsuits. Katie got a princess cup and Logan got Antonio/Octozord and a mooger (if you dont know, dont ask.) Mark was extremely embarrassed that I was taking this picture.

3. Go to Target. Mark banned me from taking any pictures in Target unfortunately. But there we stocked up on keylime and banana cream pie yogurts, some new Rapunzel undies for Kate and a new dress for me. The ONLY thing I can not cross off of my vacation list this trip is vanilla coke. :(

4. Have a caramel frappe from McDonalds. I don't know why McDonald's at home does not make/sell these. If you want to compete with Tim Horton's you should bring these in to rival their icecaps. They are far more delicious and waaaaaaaaay cheaper.

My vacation check list is complete. If I had to go home tomorrow I could do so without any regrets. But thankfully I still have a couple more days of beaches and sunshine (and maybe another order of egg rolls and caramel frappes. haha)