Itʻs a great Pumpkin PATCH Charlie Brown

The one and only Pumpkin Patch on the islands. Me and the girls got to go and check it out with another friend and her girls... The most exciting part was getting there. Hereʻs the breakdown:
4 girls under the age of 4.
whiny and sick with colds
The whining began for snacks 15 mins into the hour and half ride
Had to stop for the first potty break for the older 3 girls at a starbucks (the fourth is still in diapers)
Then we got lost 10 mins before arriving at destination
1 girl had to poop an hour into the ride
WE stopped at a gas station to fill up, use the bathroom, regroup yada yada yada
The bathrooms were closed for cleaning and would take 20 mins to be done. (at the gas station)
The little baby (mine) finally woke up
She doesnʻt like carseats AT ALL she screamed and cried
So I nursed and fed her (at the gas station)
The girls attempted the bathroom once again at the gas station (SUCCESS)
We spent a total of 45 mins at the gas station.
Finally hit the rode again and arrived at the one and only Pumpkin Patch 10 mins later
As other friends of ours are leaving or have left the one and only pumpkin patch
So we played by ourselves at the one and only Pumpkin PATCH

We took pictures to remember the exciting day at the pumpkin patch... yes the one and only







BUt no worries we will most likely do this again next year!! Life is an adventure that we donʻt want to miss out on!
I canʻt wait to puree the pumpkin and bake goodies with it... It will make that day ALL the more worth it

In Honor of Halloween

Pretty sick right!!

Donʻt worry people it was only a strawberry...
I love it when babies can start to eat. Itʻs a beautiful mess. She loves to eat bananas, gauva, apples, peaches, pears, green beans, carrots, peas, avocados, mangos.... yes she has had all of this and more but only after turning 6 months. Iʻm pretty adamant about waiting to give my babies real people food because itʻs a step towards weaning or AWAY from me!
I know I need to let my children grow up and be their own person but they are only babies once and that time that they are completely dependent on you flies by much tooo quickly. So I hold on as long as I can.
But when I do let go it makes for great pictures, here is more of the strawberry slaughter.






Hereʻs a throwback picture of Chioma as well. Just for fun!

Make new friends & keep the old

Chioma is our social butterfly. Her first word was "HI." So needless to say she has this desire to always be surrounded by "her friends" regardless of how much older they are than her. So many days if we go for walks or go to the park she believes that we are going there to play with "her friends." Her little face is so sad when she gets to the park and her friends are not there... Then the questioning begins "Mommy whereʻd my friends go??" Makes me wanna cry. But this post is to show Chioma and what she does best... Making friends

This is a pic of Chiomaʻs best friends in NY getting ready to eat her birthday cake right before bedtime. Oliver and Aolana will forever be good friends to our CJ! you donʻt get much better friends then these guys.


Here she is at a birthday party spreading frosting on a cookie with her new friends from her nursery in our church.


Hereʻs Chioma and Noe one of her favorite new friends here. I think itʻs because they are both into the same things like princesse,s and disney characters, and getting their own way, and hugging their little sisters. But they are so cute because they get so excited to see each other every sunday at church. IT looks like they are just meeting for the first time in this pick but I guarantee Chioma is just trying to get some of her snacks. HAHA


Chioma and little Gwennie who taught Chioma how to jump into the pool from her trampoline... so fun!


Chioma, Gwen and ʻDeli emptying the water from the pool that they should be playing in. OH well!


My favorite pic of Chioma and her best buddy Lana on the last day they saw each other. They have been buddies since the day they were born...Actually lana was in the room when Chioma was born that should say something about their bond. Chioma got to see her this last week on skype and for the next 2 days she kept asking me if she could go to Lanaʻs house...sad face I just choked up and said we donʻt have money to fly to NY to see her but one day we will get to see her. Hopefully her mom will get here soon (wink wink April)

A tired daddy

Brian has been in school full time and working part time since the day after we moved to Hawaii. It really feels like there has not been much of a break for him except for the 4 days that he got in between summer term and fall semester. Currently he gets up at 5:30 am to make it on time to his 7:30 am Tongan class. And then if he works that same day then we (meaning I donʻt cause the girls are asleep) donʻt see him until 10:30 or 11:00 pm that night. But he does his best to spend time with the girls when he is home even if it means the time together is sleep time.



I love this man and I love how important it is for him to spend time with his family regardless of what it is we do.
In family relationships Love is spelled T-I-M-E. -Elder Dieter F. Uctdorf

6 Months and counting

Hi all well I turned 6 months and Iʻm doing all sorts of things. I learned to crawl. I eat real food. I crawl around a lot. I play with my big sister. I love to babble. Iʻm pulling myself up on everything, and did I mention I love crawling?? Here are some pics to prove it

Our mini mommy

I canʻt stop smiling when I think about our little Chioma mostly because she amazes me with all the things that she chooses to do. She loves to play like every other kid but even more than play she loves to do EVERYTHING that we parents do. She insists on helping us cook, clean, change and feed Daluchi, put away laundry, start the dryer, wipe things down, sweep, mop, the list goes on and on. I just keep thinking "where did you come from?" here are some shots of Chioma "helping"
When our neighbor is doing yardwork Chioma follows him around and constantly asks "watch doin" and then asks to help him or come with him so I guess he finally decided to let her water the plants. I didnʻt take these pictures the foreign ESL students took them and posted them on her facebook page when she went back to China. I cracked up when I saw them.

ONe day I couldnʻt get Daluchi to eat her rice cereal so it was a shock to me when I turned around and she was eating it from her sister. I just overheard Chioma saying "Now open" and she did so good.



Another time we had some unexpected guests at dinner time and I stopped cooking in order to talk to them. Needless to say Chioma felt it was here place to finish where I left off... she must have been really hungry... oh and the sunglasses she always cooks in style! LOVE our MIni mama!!

Sooo it didn't work

I couldn't figure out how to get the second video from the last post to work so I gave up and will just post a link to the video later.
My mother in law says I need to get more pictures up... so this post is dedicated to her just some fun pics of the girls!!!

Chioma in front of the Laie temple!!

Daddy and daughters waiting at the bus stop


Chioma getting buried in the sand and then quickly going to wash it off of her.



Daluchi's first time playing in the sand

The verdict is still out on whether she likes it or not :)

Chioma's first tattoo

The girls wrestling... a new favorite pastime of theirs



Chioma's sandy baby beach bum... I love this picture!!


Passed out after a long day of playing... this girl can sleep anywhere.


And if you want to see that video from the last post just click on this link it's faster than me trying to post it on this blog
http://gallery.me.com/besoul#100105

The Polynesian Cultural Center

We live 3 miles from this amazing hub of Polynesian celebration so if you ever come to visit us this is a must do!! Also did you know that this is Hawaii's #1 paid tourists attraction? It's an amazing place with lots of talented performers, dancers, singers, artists and great food! We got to participate in a lot of the activities one of Chioma's favorite things to do was use the Poi balls. Below are some of the videos taken while we were there. This first one is of Chioma trying the poi balls
The second video is of a Maori competition where the professional women compete with poi balls.

SISTERS AND BEST FRIENDS

There is something so special about having/being sisters. I am so lucky and blessed to have the sisters that I have, their friendship and love is irreplaceable and I don't know the type of person that I would be without them.




When I found out that we were expecting another girl I was so excited because I know the fun times that you can share with only your sister, and I want so badly for my girls to experience the same excitement and fun from being sisters that I had. The secrets they share, laughs they have, the fights, the boys, the toys, the clothes and shoes makeup and on and on... I know a lot of you may think it's going to be HELL when my girls reach the teen stage of life... and I agree it just may be that but when the time comes to look back at your life and where you have been I know I can say that my sisters were always there at my happiest moments and at my worst moments. So here is a very special shout to my sisters for all you are and do for me!! I know my daughters have a lot to look forward to together because of our experiences. Thank you for it all girls!