No-No Nine's (Months)

Today my little baby makes N-I-N-E MONTHS! (crazy)

What's up with Miss Mahie at this age? hmm...it's called the "No, No, (I said NO Mahie) Nine's!"

Nine Months means:

-NO clean house (Dvd's, shoe's, laundry, pots n pans...EVERYTHING is pulled out onto the floor)

-NO early sleeping anymore (as in she plays until 10pm, she used to knock out at 8pm)

-NO early mornings either for this girl. I cause trouble & poke her in the morning & she grunts
-NO gum smiles, 5 or 6 on the top, 2 on the bottom and counting!

-NO 12 month and under clothes...geez

-NO bare feet, we finally started putting shoes on her since she out & about in her walker

-NO quiet house, the baby talk has gone louder & never ending

-NO patience, esp. when it comes to food.

-NO size 3, but size 4 diapers

-NO turning my back for a second!

-NO staying put in one spot, this girl is mobile and pretty soon is about to start walking

-NO open doors, or she'll try to push open the screen door, or wonder into another room

-NO fear! Seriously, I told James that I feel like we have a little boy! This girl loves to play rough, laughs when she bumps, falls, rolls into a wall, basket, couch, anything! She runs her walker into any nearby object. She loves the water & splashes until she chokes for air. She screams if you try to hold her back. She scratches other baby's faces off and then claps her hands smiling. If you're sleeping on the floor, she'll crawl up & slap your face. And she has a deadly pinch. OUCH! (Ok, i know what you're thinking...it's because she's part Samoan!!!) JUST KIDDING, but you were thinking it!

*ALMOST NO...

-Formula: We haven't used a lot of formula lately, which we thought would never happen. But Mahie loves to drink water, especially with a straw or straight from the cup. She drinks pretty good now. The sippy cup is still a fail. She thinks its a toy.

-Baby Rice cereal: She's moved on to bigger and better things like....WIC jars, mashed fresh fruits, Gerber snacks (thanks Nel), and anything we eat and we smash up & give it to her.

I love my little girl. I need to measure her sometime because she is soo tall with killer legs (literally). Her hair has also gotten long and more curly. Mahie is a very smart (but very mischievous) little girl. When you say "byebye" she'll wave. She'll say Mama and crawl to me. She'll roll her hands in circles to mimic her Grandma singing 'The Wheels on the Bus...'. She also knows when her Dad is going to scold her when she's near the front door or holding one of our slippers....she'll side-eye him and keep crawling  until he gets up, and then she'll dart under the table to escape him, haha. 

What a cute but naughty little girl, haha. FYI, if you come visit us...we keep the house messy until Mahie knocks out for the night, there's no point in cleaning when she's awake.

*Starting to plan her 1st Baby Luau =]

Happy Nine Months Mahie Kau'ipuaonalani Fonofili!

texas sheet cake

We've got some news to share! Today James and I were set apart for our new callings in our new ward. James was called as a Sunday School Instructor and I was called as the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency. So exciting! 

One of the counselors in the bishopric (a very good friend of ours) approached us at the Back-to-School Ward Party at the Game Center last Friday night. I was surprised for a minute and then got really REALLY happy, even though I was trying to keep my cool. Already in my head I was thinking about my new calling, the children and who the other sisters were in the presidency. And then I stopped, came back to reality and laughed at myself. Not because I was being a weirdo and trying to plan anything & everything connected to my calling BEFORE I was even set apart...but because of Heavenly Father AND because of my Boss , but more a good friend, Larie.

So around maybe Thanksgiving-ish, I told Heavenly Father, "Look I need a calling, and a GOOD one please!" Obviously I didn't say it that way, but basically I got straight to the point with HIM. And...HE gave it right back at me just as quickly. (My interpretation of HIS answer): "How am I suppose to give you a calling when your scriptures are collecting dust, your ward attendance is 'anykine', your new visiting teachee's don't know you exist, you can barely walk down the street to the temple"....basically a humble BLAST! Don't get me wrong, I didn't go inactive.....just lacking and being lazy. So then I tried to work on improvements here and there (still working on them), and then I realized why I wanted a calling: to become closer to my ward family. 

I'm not gonna lie, James and I never developed a relationship to our previous TVA ward. We tried when we first moved in as newlyweds, but I think it's because that ward was majority JUST newlywed couples, that everyone kinda kept to their own. Plus we were in a weird(dumb) ward boundary, where our bottom floor was in a total different ward from the top floor and FARRRRRRR away from the building where the rest of our ward members lived. So basically everyone got close out yonder except us, the L-building outcasts, lol. (At least we lived closer to the laundromat). I remember the stories my parents had experienced about being so close to their TVA neighbors, and how they had become some of their best friends after college graduation. Well, it didn't work out that way with James and I. But this new ward we're in, it just FEELS RIGHT...everyone talks to us as if we've known each other for years! I'm not hating on my other ward, I'm just glad change came when it did!

So anyways, I got a calling (AND A GOOD ONE TOO, haha)...and I've told Larie at work that I had been praying for one & sha-bam here it is! I met Crystal who was called as Primary President and she's awesome and gorgeous. We're both so excited to start! And our little girl's are almost a month apart  and both start with "M". But I'm also very happy for James too. I'm glad he got called to be a teacher (although I think the news is still sinking in, haha). He is one of those church members that KNOWS HIS STUFF gospel wise. He is very good at speaking, organizing his thoughts and getting to the point in a NON-boring way, haha. Totally NOT one of those people who share an experience and you're like, "Ok, how was that connected to the lesson?" or "Class ends in two minutes, why is this guy still talking!"....Don't act, we've all had those thoughts! So whoever ends in A-L, we have been blessed with a wonderful Sunday school teacher!!! And don't worry, I'll be there to give him THE EYE if times up :)

In celebration of our new callings and Mahie FINALLY knocking out for her overdue nap, I made some yummy Texas Sheet Cake. Recipe HERE!

However, Mahie preferred to eat bubbles instead, a tub full:

 So here's to new callings (and ALL callings), yummy texas sheet cake, and baby bubbles.

love ashlyn, james & mahie.

grandma's french braids

At birth Mahie could wear a baby clip.

At 3 months I had to put her hair in pigtails to clear her face of curls.

At 4 months a big pony tail and a single braid.

Then at 7months til now, Grandma has been having fun french braiding Mahie's twangy curls.

I think by the time her 1st birthday comes, her hair will probably be at her shoulder! Seriously, she's been blessed with a head of hair!! It's the first compliment people give when they see her ;) Mahie never sits still for me when I barely brush her hair...only for Grandma <3

Chinese New Year 2012

We celebrated Chinese New Year at my parent's house. We also gathered to visit with my Uncle Kerwyn from the Big Island, and Aunty Ulu & cousins Ulu & Kama from Ahuimanu area. It was such an enjoyable & relaxing family evening. The center of attention was of course Mahie in her little traditional chinese top & bottoms as a gift from her Grandparents when she was born back in April. Then over the weekend my parents traveled to China Town in Honolulu and got her a child's chinese sterling silver bracelet with those jingle balls, a chinese printed hand drum (that got annoying) and the traditional lycee!!! So cute yah with her pig tails, like a little Chun Lee, haha. Mahie represented the Hawaiian-Chinese side in all of us Ka'ahanui's....if you're confused, FYI every Hawaiian is a little part SOMETHING ELSE, however the good looking one's are part-Chinese...and the even BETTER LOOKING ONES are part Chinese but MOSTLY Navajo, *hint hint!

I haven't seen my Uncle & Aunty for a while, since everyone's either busy at school or work, but it was so nice to "talk story". What Hawaiian family doesn't. We decided on planning a Ka'ahanui family outing on a local ghost tour (ahhh!) and to visit my Uncle Kerwyn and his wife in Kawaihae, Kona side of Big Island, some time this year. Can't wait.

My little Kau'ipuaonalani is getting so big & mischievous. I love her so much. I haven't met someone who doesn't! Oh, and for dessert we had a Chocolate Haupia CAKE from Napolean's Bakery in Alamoana.....it was ono, fo' real, go buy it NOW!

What's in Mommy's Bag?

This post is way over due. During last mid-semester, I was digging through my bag looking for something important...I ended up forgetting what I was looking for because of the amount of random stuff I had. I would come across an old movie ticket and reminisce, or my daughter's pacifier and be like, "There it is!", or a melted lipstick and get heartbroken (I'm a makeup addict). I thought, hmm I SHOULD DO A POST ON THIS! Since it takes me FOREVER to find something in my bag. James gets annoyed not only because I have a huge messy bag, but that I own TONS of huge messy bags and seem to lose track of personal items scattered among my collection. LOL. And mind you, my bags are hanging everywhere, even in the car, or at my parent's house.

The current mommy bag: mainly for school but it contains half of our house at times.

I got it at forever21, and I liked its slouchy-ness & the feel of its faux leather. It's pretty! My school-work-lunch box and half diaper bag, lol.

And its contents:

I think I can name everything:

1. School Binder

2. WIC Folder

3. Maika'i Rewards

4. Mistreated wallet

5. Mini-Mac blush brush

6. Chump change & dollah-dollah bills

7. Zebra hand mirror

8. wth? a diaper!

9. Phone

10. School Planner

11. Makeup Bag

12. Makeup that is never put back in my cosmetic bag

13. tampons & panty-liners (given)

14. Whole Natural Almonds? lol

15. Employee kukui nut lei & pcc i.d.

16. contacts eye drops

17. BYUH Planner (must!), pens I forget to return, receipts, coupons, movie stubs, Babies R Us cards, baby socks...the list goes on & you get the idea. There was actually more that I had to take out to use, lol (lost accessories , pacifier& sunglasses)

I've since down-sized to a little side purse. Still on the hunt for a turquoise color. It's little-ness keeps me & my husband sane when trying to locate my phone, keys & important i.d.'s...and it's easier not having to haul around my heavy loaded mary poppin's bag. I guess I've always been that girl who wanted to have random things on me, JUST IN CASE. lol. Still getting used to my little purse.

What's in your bag??

Toys for our Tot

Within the past two months, Mahie has accumulated a bunch of "BIG GIRL" toys that have helped her reach those physical milestones: sitting, crawling, standing, walking. She is a very rough baby. Continuously runs her walker into the wall, scratches everyone's face, bumps her head & cry-laughs, crawls over anything, pulls up on things and lets go on purpose...geez this girl. She has no fear and does what she wants, whenever she wants. 

When she started to 'bear crawl' around 6-7 months, I decided to get this rolling ball before Christmas to encourage her crawling. It basically looks like a colorful freaky eyeball, haha, it has a little playful voice that sings when it rolls. It also has different shapes as buttons, so when baby presses them it either says the shape, or animal picture on it. It comes with batteries, so once you turn it on...music plays, it lights up...and it'll roll every once in a while by itself so baby can crawl after. At first it freaked Mahie out, but now a month later she totally loves it. It does get annoying though because if you forget to turn it off, you'll hear the ball say, "Goodbye" or sing, "Why don't you come and play with me"...lol, in the middle of the night!!

While we were in Samoa she got her crawl down, but decided she'd rather try to stand, lol, and pull her self up against things. We were all like, can you crawl first. But no, she wanted to TRY walking already. And her steps aren't teensy weensy ones, but rather huge lunges. I tell you she isn't afraid. She gets mad if you hold her hands and don't keep up with her giant steps. Sooo....walkers are like almost $50 at Walmart & Target. But thanks to Margie, I was able to take her walker off her hands for $10. Once Mahie was in, she didn't want out. Hill and I took her outside, and she kept trying to walk off the sidewalk. It's so funny watching her lean forward and try to walk on her toes.

With the New Year, we decided to have dinner AT THE DINNER TABLE. (lol) TVA is so small, and for a while it was just James & I, so we grew so accustomed to sitting on the couch eating & usually watching Glee or something. Now that Mahie can sit on her own, we thought "it's about time to introduce manners", haha. I debated for a while between a high chair, or table booster seat. Obviously Inglesina won my heart. And i love the colors they came out with this year. (I get excited over baby products, yes I do major research) I totally would've bought the lavender one, but, you never know if the next bebe is a boy! <-------not for a WHILE fyi =] Anyways, not only does it let Mahie sit with us at the table, but it's super lightweight, sturdy and easy to travel with to Grandma's house or the restaurant. You just fold it. Considering how pretty it is (lol), it's not leaving my house. Man, Inglesina should seriously hook me up with something free since I'm basically advertising their product! lol. Speaking of products, Mommy's out there: Inglesina or MaClaren umbrella strollers??? (We left ours in Samoa for baby Wilhelm)

*Time to turn off that dang ball!

The Descendants

MLK Day was SUPPOSE to be cleaning day (we still haven't put everything away since returning from Samoa)...and then just when I was getting in the mood of cleaning, my Dad calls and offers an outing to the movies. We finally got to see The Descendants. If you remember, I posted about reading the novel and really enjoyed it. The movie was really good, especially the background Hawaiian music. George Clooney could totally past as a local Hawaiian with his aloha shirt. He totally reminded me of my Dad, and throughout the movie my Mom and I kept saying, "He looks like Dad from that angle...semi-gray wavy hair, the facials, the Reyn's aloha shirts and slippers." 

If you haven't seen it, go watch it! It may seem kinda weird if you haven't read the novel, but I definitely recommend it. I also liked that it portrayed a real image of Hawaii, with real problems.  (I cracked up at the opening scene when they showed the homeless in Waikiki and the Hawaiian aunties w/choke gold bracelets camping on the beach). 

 -"My friends think that just because we live in Hawaii, we live in paradise. We're all just out here sipping Mai Tai's, shaking our hips and catching waves. Are they insane? Do they think we're immune to life? How can they possibly think our families are less screwed up? Our heartaches, less painful?"

The younger daughter was annoying, but they seem like a typical rich hapa-haole family, private school kids, and an old gorgeous house in what seems like Nu'uanu, etc. I only know this from being around tons of private school girls when I danced for Halau Mohala Ilima, where us 'public school' hula sisters were the minority. So the daughters reminded me of all my hula sisters that were half haole/half hawaiian (but mainly japanese) and attended Punahou (Rich brats, jk jk jk, they were my friends). Anyways, 2 Golden Globes. Beautiful scenery, music, storyline, and closing scene where Matt King (Clooney) defends his Hawaiian heritage even though he knows he's been raised haole  ("can barely speak pidgin or hawaiian") & privileged. Both funny & sad. Must See!

28th at Makino Chaya's

Happy {28th} Birthday James!

Our morning began with the traditional breakfast in bed treatment and singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy. Mahie was more interested in trying to reach for the breakfast plate. I then brought out the birthday gifts and Mahie went to work helping her Dad shred everything apart. It's really hard to spoil my husband materialistically (lol) because he'll see a 'brand label' and would rather return it to save the person their money. There were no if's-and's-or-but's allowed this time since he deserves to be spoiled AND MORE. Some of his prezzies:

 

New watch (overdue), new clothes & DH shirts from isaac, a hat, and socks from Mom. James was very shocked when he opened all of this gifts and I told him he deserved it for being a wonderful husband & father.

We attended sacrament in our new ward which was once BYUH 14th but is now BYUH 5th. And then I took James to Makino Chaya's in Aiea for some yummy asian buffet. 

Mahie loved eating the banana's off our crepes & some papaya's. 

Looking forward to celebrating more birthdays to come...love you James!

Identify Yourself At The Capitol!

DISTRICT 8 IDENTIFICATION PASS

*I just realized they only kept my maiden name, haha

I LOVE READING. When I came across this book and its series over a year or so ago....I was in love. I enjoy reading these types of story lines or themes. I was VERY upset when I realized 'Mockingjay' was THEE very last. absolutely last. no joking last. Ugh. And then towards the end of my pregnancy, I saw early previews on YouTube of a movie to be released in 2012! Yay!! Well of course, in my opinion I always believe the books are way better than the movie, but I'm still planning on attending the midnight premiere. With or WITHOUT James.  Get your identification pass yo!

Other similar good reads:

Cynthia Voight's "The Kingdom Series".......loved each one of them!

1. Jackaroo

2. On Fortune's Wheel

3. The Wing's of a Falcon

4. Elske

Margaret Atwood's, "The Handmaid's Tale"

Principles of Clothing Construction 162

Did I mention that this wasn't just my last semester, but the funnest NON-stressful one I've ever had in college. Every Tuesday night I have a Clothing Construction Class. That's my little 'ole Bernina & station assigned to me above. It so far seems like a fun class of just ladies, excited to improve our sewing skills. There's a lot to cover on the syllabus, but they are topics/techniques that will greatly improve my sewing BEGINNER knowledge.

And our final? a Fashion Show to show off what we'll sew for our final project. Cool right?

My LAST Winter Semester 2012

Winter Semester starts tomorrow at 6 a.m.! Yup 6 in the morning jogging class. So for sure I'll get my running goal accomplished this new year. I'm really happy that my last semester won't be stressful academically, since I finished all my major classes, with the exception of my last Samoan language requirement...leaving me with just electives to make up 12 credits for full-time & Native American scholarships. A friend and I signed up for a Clothing Construction class that's only on Tuesday nights. Then also I got approved to get credit for my internship! Things are looking good for school. 

Work, on the other hand, is a different story. Right before I took off to Samoa, another co-worker had been finishing up his last days in the office. He was the ultimate intern ever, hands down...and I was told a few days before he was done and I had to fly out, that I would be taking over one of his job responsibilities....which I am soooooooooooooo nervous about because I feel very unprepared. He tried to train me in two rushed days, and I got somewhat of the idea of how/what/where/when/why-to do. So Larie, if you're reading this...ahhhh!! :) At least work for James will allow him to  be around home more often. My husband has got a great idea he'll be spending numerous hours on, I hope things will work out and begin to happen soon! I have faith it will. 

Also, today news spread that the TVA wards have been split or rearranged. James and I are now in a new ward with Bishop Akoi, who's children I grew up with in my old family ward. Honestly, we are very excited to attend and be a part of our new ward family, it came at a right time Heavenly Father. 

And lastly, Mahie gave us the biggest scare we've experienced so far. I turn my back for a second and then hear her choking! I don't even know how she got a hold of an old Foodland receipt, but all I see is the corner bitten off. I practically swooped down on her, but then hesitated because I had just been removing my nail polish, but the sound of her gagging naturally forced my finger down her throat and out that paper came. I don't even remember calling for James, but he was right there next to me , alarmed. Even though she vomited all over me, I hugged her tight. Never again. She's fast asleep now in her crib. I let her play as long as she wanted in the tub, I think more to calm me down than her. I'm totally not the perfect parent!

8 Months and Standing

With the rush of the holiday season after Thanksgiving, combined with conflicting work schedules and Fall finals plus packing last minute for Samoa...Mahie's monthly milestone updates have been seriously neglected. I don't even know if I posted a 7month blog, which is sad for journal-ing purposes! Especially since she's been surprising us practically everyday with new improvements or funny little habits. I think the majority of these new & exciting improvements occurred during the two weeks we were in Samoa. One of which was growing a third tooth!

Around 7 months she started bear crawling and now she's finally gotten the proper crawl down, thanks to everyone cheering her on in Pesega. I think it took her some getting-used-to since she's always being held by my family and I guess never really is given a chance to free crawl. She's just loved too much =] But before the bear crawling even came, she already loved standing while holding onto our hands. I posted a video once of Mahie holding onto my Mom as she sat up to stand. So while in Samoa, she'd get frustrated with crawling and would stick her butt in the air to push off her front two hands. Well the final pull up came right before we returned to Hawaii. Now we need to get that crib mattress lowered! Grandma & Grandpa were very surprised at her homecoming =]

 

The cute little things that describe her personality:

-hand clapping

-waving goodbye 

-leaning in to kiss (with her mouth wide open with drool)

-'chocho lips'

-thumb rolls

-combing the ends of her curls

-kicking her legs as soon as you carry her

-blowing her tongue out

-scratching your face!

Love you my 8month baby girl, you are growing taller by the minute!

Manuia le Kerisimasi

Christmas was a humid-hot, mosquito-bitten, wrapping paper-less, plastic tree, afternoon experience. Samoa added its own twist on the holiday morning, which started off with an early combined ward sacrament at the Lotopa Chapel. It was hot, and I definitely craved for a lauhala fan from the markets after. It's always nice attending sacrament with family and filling up rows of seats. Mahie was passed like a hot potato among her aunties, nana, papa & cousins. Although we all were a sweaty mess, I enjoyed every minute of being surrounded in another language. If only my Samoan language teacher could see me now....well, he'd shake his head at how lost I was in translation. Three semesters, tsk. tsk. haha, I could pick out certain words and phrases though. Hearing no English reminded me of attending church in South America, and deciding that EVERY language BUT English, is so beautiful to listen to; especially when it comes to singing hymns. If one thing I definitely enjoyed from Paraguay & Argentina, is following along in the hymn book.

It was only Sacrament, so we returned home and the kids kept wondering when they could open their presents from Santa. After a few hours, even I started to wonder when they would open them too. I forget why we waited long....but the house was filled with tummy-tasty smells. And then soon we all gathered in the living room around Dad with his Santa hat. The kids went nuts and hovered around him like flies as he passed out the gifts.

Our little Mahie was definitely spoiled by Santa (aka Nana & Aunties in New Zealand/Australia). And I'm glad Santa read our minds and bought her tons of clothes. Mahie is a very long baby and seems to be growing taller by the minute. The new clothes came just in time, seriously a volleyball player in the making. It was cute seeing her enjoy her first Christmas. I think she was surprised that James and I allowed her the chance to rip things apart. She looked at us, then the wrapping paper.....then went to work opening her gifts. Clothes, clothes, clothes (woohoo!), teething toys, bath toys, crib light, stuffed animals, NZ lollies (for James & I haha) and a couple other nick-nacks. Thank you Santa(s)!

The adults had done a Secret Santa name exchange prior to Samoa and we all got some awesome & thoughtful gifts. Mum & Dad received the ultimate gift from James & his siblings: a new MAC computer! Yes it was beautiful and I want one next year Santa. The kids were also cute in doing a pixie exchange between cousins and Mahie got a cute little woven bracelet.

The room was covered in wrapping paper & children trying to play with three or four toys at once. haha, I totally had a childhood flashback! I'm glad that my children will grow up with many fun cousins, loving aunties & uncles, wise grandparents and family-filled events always centered around the Gospel. What a good looking bunch right?

I still missed Christmas back in Laie with my family and all of my Mom's festiveness. I know she truly would have liked all of her kids home (Aaron on his Mission, Us but especially Mahie in Samoa, Ike and Kiana in Kona, and Hills leaving to California)....but their presents made up for it in a way. The secret gift I made for my Dad (who was my pixie), was inspired from Pinterest: I placed it in a long panoramic wood frame. Even I was very proud of my final project.

What was also wonderful and very cool was Ike's gift to Mom. My parents have no pictures of their wedding day or reception, since Dad's best man accidentally destroyed the film, or something like that. Well, Ike went through the storage boxes and collected the destroyed negatives he found and sent it to a guy....who was able to retrieve & restore the lost photos and put it in an album. Everyone said my Mom got emotional when she opened the album and realized what it was. It's so interesting to look at those ALMOST forgotten photographs, especially the one's with our great-grandma Hannah.

I need to always remember to make and give meaningful gifts :) Christmas 2011 was a hit! We miss our Elder Kaahanui, but he's written saying he's totally enjoying the MTC life! Hope you had a moment of happiness during Christmas :) Love us.

Manuia, faafetai!

If you didn't know, we spent our holiday season in sunny Samoa, and are still making our way back home to Laie. If only the internet was to our benefit, we'd update about EVERYTHING. Although with all the family fun we've been experiencing, I doubt this blog would be able to hold all those memories. There are soooo many pictures & funny stories! We'll try to organize our two week trip to share for all our family and friends, who we know have been anxiously waiting! As you can tell by our title, our trip was "very good, thank you" AND MORE!