GUMBALL

TODAY was relaxing, fun, early, sleepy, hot, late, rainy, bright, hungry, snacky

i got to hang out with my mom & little brother

interesting combination

we picked up aaron from his job at a motorcycle shop near iwilei costco

made him hold our shopping bags, fill up gas, put air in the tires, buy my mom pizza
basically everything the youngest child gets bossed around to do

but he knows we love him

he was a good OBEDIENT sport

we met MR. GUMBALL MACHINE

& after looking at this picture

I realized that "I" look like a gumball machine

little brothers are cool

they will always be cute & little in your eyes no matter what age!

Healthy Me, Healthy Little You

I am OVERJOYED, HAPPY, RELIEVED, THANKFUL...James & I returned from a baby checkup just a few hours ago and were given the wonderful update that our little girl is HEALTHY: the right size, right heartbeat, and energetic activity.....

This may seem like a normal update, but over the past few weeks I had been in & out of the hospital, numerous doctor's appointments, various yucky blood tests, ultrasound tests, diet tests, prescriptions...and I've been very committed in doing ALL/EVERY thing that the doctors have said to do (which at times were hard, stressful & emotional) and today's appointment seemed like a little pat on the back. A "Good Job" and "Thank you" from my body, and of course a reminder that morning, personal & evening prayers are answered.

I'm healthy, She's healthy, Daddy's happy :)

Her active heartbeat:

Kung Fu Crunch Time

I can't believe I pulled off another PROCRASTINATED paper. I don't know why I do this to myself every time. I find myself more distracted by Facebook or online shopping during research paper Crunch Time! I finally submitted it at 11:44pm, it was due before 12 midnight, phew! Poor James, had to chase him out of the bedroom twice so I could concentrate, but he knows I love him & was stressing so he came back a third trip with a vanilla ice cream cone.

The Aspinall Home has been blessed with the joys of little Asher and Richard (of course Rose too!). We had a relaxing Sunday attending church together, having a late lunch, some yummy dessert and lounging around watching Ip Man and The Labyrinth.

Here's Asher boy showing us his kung fu strength:

Yes, his Uncle James was definitely encouraging his Kung Fu excitment....

triplets

INTENSE!

Farmer James

So James quit school and decided to become a Farmer full-time. This is why you haven't seen him around campus for a while.

jk.

It's just one of our funny moments captured during our walks

And here I am, ready to give birth:

Of course, fooling around at our baby appointment.

I'm glad Castle has a clinic here in Kahuku so that we don't have to drive out to Kailua every month, and now every two weeks. It's kind of ghetto since it isn't their actual owned space, but its beyond convenient so we aren't complaining. Plus it's not like I'll be giving birth there. 

Found out we're having a BIG healthy baby, very active heartbeat :)

It was exciting to fill out our hospital forms, so we don't have to worry about it later when I check in for labor. 

Dinner was YUMMY!

I made baked tomato chicken, courtesy of KraftRecipes, although I tweaked the entire recipe to my own liking. 

James & Rose said they loved it :)
Also Richard & Asher will be here from Washington, I hear wedding bells!

Now the VERY-opinionated Aspinall Brothers can have a cook-off for Rose, Asher & I.

Leaving Laie @ 6:30a.m. tomorrow for Honolulu...

Good night, keep Japan in your prayers

xXxoOo

...counting down!

32 Weeks, Day 2

3rd Trimester

55 more days to go!

I begin seeing Dr. every two weeks.

Baby's fetal position is beginning to turn.

James was shocked to see 'something' move right across my tummy

Definitely some kicking & painful jabbing
Baby hiccups are fun to watch

Waking up more in the middle of the night

Increase trips to the bathroom

water, water, water

Sausage toes + Kankles

xo

Tsunami Survival Round 2

So I don't know why people are complaining that, "nothing happened!", honestly they are all idiots. What got me the most was hearing how there were people standing on the beaches at Waikiki, waiting for the wave, Really? Think of those in Japan who WISHED they had TIME to evacuate, to prepare food/water, to make sure loved ones were safe...I'm glad Laie was blessed with time.

watching the channel 2 news after the first Oahu siren rang

I never take emergencies lightly, better safe than sorry...especially since we live next door to the ocean, we have a bride-to-be to marry off in 3 weeks, and a little spirit that needs protection. Thank you to mySELF for packing my hospital bag early, James & I were set with all the essentials that I had stuffed in there! Definitely a time saver. Next: Food & Water [check!] James & I have been very obedient in building our food storage, thanks to WIC, COSTCO & Maika'i Savings Coupons. It's funny how everything I've thrown into our shopping cart on random trips to Walmart, etc., (battling the opposition of James saying, "We can get that next time...") were our smallest but greatest benefits: flashlights, candles, matches, first-aide kit...you know, all the little things you don't get unless you're going camping haha. In a few minutes, our car was packed w/all the necessities needed for 72hrs-plus (with Rose included).

our time-saver hospital bag

  Although some people in TVA just went to the second floor, or to the Cannon Activities Center, I wanted out/away of BYU Campus. Plus I felt safer with my parents since they've lived and gone through many Hawaii natural disasters/warnings and are just ma'a (experienced, familiar?) when it comes to these situations.

my parents & siblings packing the cars before taking off

What I am also very grateful for is the special friendship my brother Eric has with his friends, which are more like brothers to him, brothers to my siblings & hanai sons to my parents. Whenever I've had car trouble, no more car & need ride :), wanted to leave school early, or simply asked if I was doing ok, one of these guys would always seem to be THERE. It is also a blessing now to know their wives, girlfriends and chubby cute babies...

some of them at my reception

Anyways, times like these where no one's sure if disaster will strike, all of our families come together, and we head up to the mountains just past Kahuku, and keep all of our cars together.

Tiana & BJ's SUV, Brenson's truck, Des's truck, Eric's truck....

Benches, chairs, blankets are brought out, food is passed around, conversations start up...its like our own little get-together as we listen to the radio for updates. We have babies bundled up sleeping in their mommy's arms (Tiana is the cutest mommy ever), grandparents resting comfortable in the cars, pregnant wives talking story over a bag of chips and crackers (it was fun laughing w/you Cari), my brother and his friends setting things up, Dad making sure everyone's situated...and yes even our lovely jack-mormon's grabbing some free coffee :) So all in all, we were safe and that's how things turned out in the end, no harm done....except maybe to my attendance the following morning since BYUH was the ONLY school that didn't close, but that's a whole different night of venting :)

March ALMOST Madness

So I am very proud of the few little additions Ive made to our home. I felt our hale needed to be revamped in little ways, so thank you Kapolei for providing ALL the necessary shops to make this happiness come true. Seriously Kapolei is expanding so quickly and almost looks like the mainland in some aspects. Plus it's never crowded over, but you get your 'mokes' that make their way out of the boonies of Nanakuli and Waianae side...I'll just leave it at that because I'm cracking up and am coming off as a snob LOL. So anywho-ser, I love my new bathroom decor, bedding, kitchen accents and bedroom accents. Our home is FRESH, haha...

On Sunday James & I ordered take out from Cheesecake Factory since we needed to head to the airport later on. From now on, I will always just order take out from there, because they make it in like 15minutes & you can then enjoy your dishes on some of the gorgeous couches around the Royal Hawaiian or Waikiki. It was a fun evening with James, we tried acting like tourists. We gobbled everything up in like a minute, saved my red velvet cheesecake for later and zoomed off to Delta Airlines.

Rose arrived from Aussie Aussie Aussie & she was more than happy to be back in the states :)

Rose is getting married to James older brother Richard, the first week of April. Woohoo, definitely an exciting countdown, which is going by quickly! I love her dress, so elegant, lace everywhere!!! She came back from a hair consultation & I grabbed my veil so we could play around with some looks, so fun.

March will be bringing more of our Aspinall family members back to Laie for another round of wedding celebrations. Hence, I wanna get as much of my house cleaned/organized for them & any baby stuff before the crazy wave of Finals, last days of Work, Family members hits & I'm stuck stressing to do things last minute.

p.s......speaking of waves hitting....the news going around is that Hawaii is under Tsunami Watch due to 'an 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Japan', I'm just waiting for my Daddy to tell us what to do haha, love living so near the parents.

Hospital Bag

As the semester, work and my pregnancy draws closer to the end, James and I have been setting things aside for our hospital bag. As you know, you're not only packing for yourself, but for baby and of course your darling husband too....

Any Suggestions?

p.s. the newest excitement at this stage: "baby hiccups"