I found time...

......time to finally update the family happenings from our "Aspinall Grass Shack".

First things first: Today I make 31 Weeks!

The midwife said surprisingly our baby boy had dropped low a few weeks prior to my 3rd Trimester, which explains the more than usual bathroom breaks. I feel WAYYY huger than I am in the pic above. Some pictures are hit and miss, but yes I have a BIG tummy and I ain't gettin' smaller anytime soon! Nights have been ridiculous. I can't get comfortable & our sons moves so much and constantly kicks my ribs. I usually don't fall asleep until 1 or 2am. Plus, Mahie has been waking up lately through the night crying. Both James & I sleep in every morning until 8am.

We have been doing the usual, which is work & be with Mahie. On our VERY GOOD days we'll have family scripture reading, we really are trying. We do good with family dinner prayer, because Mahie will sit at the table and fold her arms to wait. She never forgets, lol, only us adults do because we're starving or so caught up with our day. We wonder if she thinks folding her arms means "I'm ready to eat/hungry", haha.

We realized that I could possibly give birth in 7 weeks! Since I was induced at 38 weeks with Mahie. Crazy. We haven't even bought anything for our son. There is ZERO boys anything in our house. I tried twice at both Ross and Target to pick up boys onesies, and instead left with a huge bag of clothes for Mahie. I'm just NOT in the mood or slightly interested to buy boys anything. Seriously. The ONLY thing that's been on my OBSESSIVE shopping mind to own this pregnancy is....

Why do they have to be so frackin' expensive. And why didn't I just invest in one from my 1st pregnancy. Anyways, I'm in love with their new line above. I've already researched where to look out for these beauties for cheap, but maybe James will give in & surprise me. Or just let me use his card to get it, hahaha. But no for real, I love that it comes with a built-in changing station. It looks small, but its pretty deep and big.

I'm so glad the weather has turned rainy & cloudy. Usually I'm irritated with wet weather, but being pregnant changes everything. I've actually welcomed cold showers through out the day. I'm getting really excited for Fall & the holidays. I'm thinking of making a pirate costume for Mahie. We're trying to teach her how to hook her pointer finger and say Arrrghh! Too bad I may not even enjoy that night with her because I'm due to be in labor that day!

James has gotten back into his gym routine every night after work. I try to go on walks every so often and do prenatal pilates when I can. It helps to lower my glucose levels. Lately however our eating habits have been way off the healthy charts. It's so easy to give in.

Well, Mahie is screaming for attention and trying to climb on my lap/pound on the keyboard, so we'll catch up again later.

Here's a clip of our little kolohe princess discovering the RECORD button on my iphone, she even moves the camera angle to be on her, lol.

isnap week

Laying in bed, in front of a huge fan blasting on ONLY me, I realized my phone accumulated so many photos over this past week. I follow a blog, where a mom posts the happenings of her week just through iphone photos. Seeing as I need to clear my phone album {before it climbs back to 500+}, I thought to share the "isnapshots" of our week. I've jumbled them together, or else it would've been a looooong post.

MONDAY-TUESDAY

The beginning of the week was kind of a blur. You could say I was still recovering from the Maori Festival Weekend, and so back to the office grind it was. The usual same ol' phone calls, clients, sales leads, etc. However, things were shaken up a bit when we made a trip to Alamoana and stopped by the Disney store. The only thing Mahie cared about were the display tunnels. Sorry Mickey. 

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On the way home Starbucks made my dream come true, when they added peppermint to my iced double chocolate chip. {why didn't i think of this earlier?!} Does anyone remember Gloria Jeans? The coffee shop wayyy before Starbucks, used to be downstairs next to the center stage at Alamoana. Anyways, they used to make my favorite iced drink: Mint Chocolate Bomb! MmmMmm! It ALMOST tasted the same, almost! 

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Lastly, I FINALLY started the first book of Scott Westerfeld's series: the Uglies. I bought the entire series when I got hooked onto Divergent, but hadn't found time to read. So far it's interesting, a very quick read & typical YA fiction.....and yes, my 28 weeks baby boy tumtum!

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY

Both days felt like one, since they revolved around my pregnancy & limited my time at work. Third trimester is here, and I've felt sluggish, sleepy & sore! Laying in bed really didn't help, so James surprisingly dragged me out for a drive to Haleiwa for some Storto's. Letting some breeze hit my face was the cure! We had an extra swimsuit packed and so Mahie got a few dips in at the nearby beach with the hot hula girl gracing the wall. 

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Thursday was the One-Hr glucose test {irritating}, followed by a checkup. I got scared at first when they couldn't find my son's heartbeat, but only because he's already positioned low. No wonder I pee more w/this pregnancy. AND my iron is low, that explains the day before. We stopped by the Koa Pancake House because I was starving, and then captured one of Mahie's longest and funniest tantrums ever. You can see her trying to explain her dramas to me (in baby talk), and whine, and then she tries to kiss up to me until I point out that her Dad is taking pictures of her being naughty, which ultimately pisses her off. And both James & I just laugh.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUN(TODAY)

While I was at the office, James took Mahie to her 15month check-up where she got 4 shots! OUCH! When they picked me up for lunch, Mahie seemed proud to show me her "Owies" aka bandaids and her sticker from the nurse. She got an ice cream cone too. Poor babies & their million shots.

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Saturday, Mom had a yard sale & Isaac and Kiana drove down from Kalihi. Kiana brought these yummy pregnancy snacks made of almond butter, oats, etc., they were good! It was such a hot day, so eventually we made a run to Stortos and a late stop at Hukilau. 

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Another scorcher today! We each didn't mind taking a cold shower. Mahie actually had fun & didn't shiver. And where did our annual Sunday drive take us to? Well none other than Walgreens-Kaneohe! I love this store & can walk around forever just looking at everything. Maybe because it's a different setup than other typical Hawaii drugstores, but Mahie and I had some fun. Until she got cranky & we called it quits to head home. 

That was our isnap week. I'm really looking forward to Summer being over & the Fall holidays to arrive! Still considering if I should do maternity shots for this belly. Wish they had a sleeping pill for pregnant women not being able to knockout at night. Nighty-night!

28 Weeks: LATE NIGHT ON MY MIND

This morning BOTH of our iphone alarms woke us up to make the drive out to Castle Hospital for my 28th Week checkup and Glucose test. I seriously wanted this part of my pregnancy to get over with because 1) having to fast after midnight 2) my mouth/throat is soo dry when I wake up 3) I wake up super hungry but cant eat 3) I barely sleep for fear of missing my alarm & getting stuck in traffic...

It turned out that YES, everything above happened, minus the traffic. We arrived early, my appointment wasn't until 8:45am, however the nice nurse got me on the orange drink at 8:15am. The nice nurse actually got into it with another "niele" nurse next door, who made a big deal that I had arrived early and was being seen/serviced before my appointment. I guess another woman was scheduled at 8:30am, and Miss "Niele" Nurse wanted my Nice Nurse to wait to give me the drink.....well, Nice Nurse didn't budge, or care and gave it to me anyways, haha. 

I didn't have a negative experience with last pregnancy's glucose test. Some friends I've heard threw it up, or couldn't handle it. If anything, I welcomed a cool drink down my dry throat. The nurse was surprised at how fast I gulped it down. Do women take their time? My motto: get it over & done with, lol. I didn't pass my first test last time, so hmmm....NOT looking forward to the three hour if I need to.

I saw a different doctor than usual, as my other was on vacation. I assumed my weight gain was pretty ok, until the doc said I had gained "a little more than she likes". Which is kinda weird, since I feel/look smaller than I was with Mahie at this time. Even with fitting clothes. Plus my usual doctor had always given me positive feedback & encouragement at each appointment. So I guess you could say her words dampened my morning glow. But then I guess it made sense when she asked if I ate a lot of fruit (which I had been), and she told me to totally cut it out of my diet because of sugar intake, even my whole wheat breads & milk. Which are basically everything that WIC encourages you to eat, LOL, so ironic right?

Controlling sugar intake= preventing having a "big baby". Mahie was an 8pounder, and the medical staff was like WHOA!!!! (irrits) But then on the other hand, I had friends doing the Whole Foods+Organic+Zumba+Yoga thing, and they had bigger babies than me! 9pounders, 10poounders and some needing emergency c-section. My conclusion to all the future Mama's, don't let your emotional hormones take over and allow what doc says to make you feel :( :( Yes, be healthy/active as possible or like me, how much your laziness & first child will allow, but its okay if you're not a Preggo Fitness Fanad. Only YOU know your body & progress. Everyone else is going off of charts. & like I said about charts, my doc made that whole "sh-peal" about my weight gain, but was surprised that my son measured exactly on track: 28 weeks.

It's usually around this time, or pretty soon, that my sugar levels start to act up (like the end of my last pregnancy). It's just how my body is when I'm pregnant I was told. Some women can eat all the junk they want and sit on their couch.....and their sugar levels are fine. Me? If I eat more than a half cup of rice with the most healthiest foods throughout the day plus exercise, my sugar still shoots threw the roof because of that rice. It sucks. But I mean, eating healthy is better for the baby and you right! I still cheat at times with oreos/milk or a cold peppermint double choc chip at Starbucks. But now its back to business, because October will soon be here! (Yay Fall Holidays!) Glad he'll be out before Thanksgiving!

If anyone has some yummy healthy combinations they know of, drop a line please! I get so bored with my food, that I have to try different things. AND I LOVE trying different things.

Elder Kaahanui Blog

Need a break from the usual Mommy & Crafting Blogs?

My little brother has been currently serving in the Angeles, Philippines Mission. We are TRYING our best as a family to keep everyone updated about his field progress out in the hot third world :)

Check out his Missionary Blog below:

http://elderkaahanui.blogspot.com/

We love you little brother!

Pukana Week

Holy busy-tired-pukana-poi-filled-justmade7months- weekend!

It was the 2012 Te Manahua Maori Competition. On Friday night the Polynesian Cultural Center hosted New Zealand's top female vocalists: (R-L above) Ria Hall & Maisey Rika. I honestly didn't know who they were, but glad that I had the chance to meet their upbeat personalities and hear their smooth golden voices. Seriously, they are very talented and you can tell how much they love to sing.

The night wouldn't have been as fun & hilarious if PiPi from KCCN FM 100 wasn't MC-ing. He was a show all on his own as soon as he showed up in the Green Room. He's a true local & definitely no shame at all. I think it's great when PCC or BYUH brings in acts internationally or even from the other side of the island, because it exposes our neighborhood to outside personalities & backgrounds that are VERY different than the usual Kahuku Red Raider/Mormon norm. Can you tell that my "7months" mark is blowing up my cheeks!

Here's JJ Rika, Maisey's cool little brother, who came along as her guitarist, helper, etc. He was really nice and reminded me/made me MISS my own little brother,  currently serving in the Philippines. One of the requests of our VIP Kiwi guests was to stream the rugby finals: Chiefs vs. Sharks. While his sis & Ria were out performing & signing for fans, he sat in the room explaining the game to me & the kitchen assistant. Very nice, but I was soo bored. Well, until he mentioned Sonny Bill Williams, or like the old Maori lady screamed, "HONEY" Bill Willams!!!

It was cool that when Maisey & Ria came in, they and their entourage started talking about the game in fluent Maori!

Today, on a bright and early sunny Saturday, was the last day of the festivities. It was pretty long for just a few groups that entered. Nonetheless, very entertaining to watch, especially when friends are performing.

Little Trey peeking over at me!

I'm reading to relax this Sunday, my lower right back has suddenly started bothering me!

Official Little Swimmer

Today was my little swimmer's LAST DAY of swim class!

Here she is with her teacher (family childhood friend) Rachelle.

Swim sessions for her age group started at the end of July, which are twice a week and 15 minutes long (attention span of a toddler). She loved her first class and kicked the entire time in my arms. On her second day she didn't want Rachelle to touch her and whined if she got too close. Third day, I didn't know that they encourage parents to not enter the pool. But for the young toddlers it was ok if they wanted to. I didn't want to get wet, which left Mahie crying off and on throughout her class with just Rachelle. Fourth day, we stayed home to recover from our colds. Fifth day, I climbed in, had Mahie swim to Rachelle and slowly edged my way out, she saw me and waved. Since then, Mahie went straight to Rachelle but started to demand to play with the water toys rather than do her swim exercises, lol. 

 Not even waiting for me to take off my slippers!

And today, as soon as Mahie saw Rachelle, she screamed and ran to her at the poolside, jumping up and down on her toes. Even I was surprised at how excited she was to swim. She sat on the pool steps and jumped out to Rachelle with wide open arms. It was so cute. But sad too, as soon as she got comfortable, we were pau!

It's been a fun learning experience at Gunstock Aquatics. A lot of people thought I was wasting my money, thinking Mahie was too young to get anything out of the swim classes. But my daughter proved those haters wrong! Although of course, she can't float on her own and still needs parental help/supervision....she CAN do some impressive water skills for her age. Plus it was a fun "Mommy & Me" activity. I think parents should never hold the age of their children against their potential of learning & experiencing the world around them. There was another little girl in Mahie's class time that kept struggling even though it was her second or third session, but her Mom keeps signing her up and cheers her on the entire 15 minutes.
*My learning experience: if I'm going to continue signing my kids up for things, I need to learn to COMMIT also, lol. (As in getting them ready & showing up on time, I did, but some days we cut it close for being lazy)

After her last class was done, and I had to PULL her out because she wanted to stay...Rachelle congratulated her with a treat and Level 1 Completion Certificate (so cute, lol). Below is everything that her age group learns and is expected to complete before advancing. She's done it all, and just figured out how to blow bubbles instead of drinking/choking, haha.

Like all Mommies, I'm so proud of my baby girl. Not only of her physical abilities, but of her social skills with listening to her teacher and interacting with the other toddlers/children in the pool. Sometimes I get so impatient with her at home, but when we're out in public, I'm surprised that she behaves better than the kids around her. Whew!

A little clip of her last class! We'll be at the free swim at BYUH pool =]