Sisters Only

Fridays are normally David's and my date nights. The kids go over to Mom & Dad's (Keaka also sleeps there, and occasionally Mateo does, too), and David and I go out to dinner, go shopping, catch a movie, or even just stay at home and spend quality time together. 

This past Friday, however, he scheduled overtime and worked late, and had a late dinner with a few friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. Soooo, I took Talia out on a sisters-only date. 

We went to an old favorite, Japanese restaurant, Tsuru's (now known as Sono Bana). 

We got there shortly after they opened for dinner, and little did we know, it happened to be Happy Hour!!! YEEEEHAWWWWW!!  -no, ya crazy, we didn't get crunk off sake... But you BEST believe we did take advantage of their 1/2 off sushi rolls lol. 

Two orders of Fried California Rolls

Shortly after getting our sushi, they brought out our entrees- Makunouchi Bento. Sooooo so deliciousssss... 

Miso soup (not pictured), salad (not pictured), tempura, tonkatsu, chicken teriyaki, noodles, beef stir fry, rice, and your choice of sushi or sashimi. 

I finished most of mine... Couldn't finish my noodles and a few of my tempura. Talia took a lot home hahah. That happy hour sushi we started out with almost did us in before we even began haha! 

How full we were after leaving

We were disgustingly stuffed. Sore and all, but it was so worth it haha. We did some shopping afterward to walk it off LOL. We definitely need to hana hou when Kels is pau with school and comes home!!! 

4 Keiki, 4 Times the Fun

This past week, we had the pleasure of having watching our nieces, Marley & Oakley, while their parents went on a Cali trip!  Though it got crazy at times, as naturally it would with two 5-year olds and two 2-year olds, we had a blast! Here are some things they did: 

Ate sugar cookies: 

SLEPT: 

(Or got up early to watch cartoons)

Played dress-up (a lot... Shoulda taken more pics!!):

(Complete with Princess Jasmine hairdos):

Played Tea Party with Aunty Stac:

Bought red lipstick and stick-on nails, and did self-makeovers: 

Played with just about every toy in Mateo's room (hahah):

Ate Gogurts: 

Each morning, I let the girls choose any hairstyle off Pinterest (haha), and did it to their hair. This was Marley's favorite part about getting ready each day lol. AND they wanted pictures, haha:

In addition to all of this, we went to the Burger King and played in the jungle gym (ok, Keaka didn't- pretty sure she's afraid of heights or something LOL), played with Rajah (our dog), went to church, went to Settlers park, went shopping, learned a hula, ate at El Gallo Giro, watched Frozen, and played. A lot. I really wish I had been better at taking pictures of everything else that went on!! Next time! ;) 

Some funny things & observations: 

-Conversation between Aunty Stac & kids:

Me: "who likes ice cream?"

All kids: "MEEEEEE!!!"

Me: "who likes chocolate ice cream?" 

All kids: "MEEEEEE!!!"

Me: "Who likes vanilla ice cream?"

All kids: "MEEEEEE!!"

Marley: "Well... Actually, vanilla ice cream just tastes like.... Like.... COLD."

-How to Pronounce "Big Al's" According to 5 Year Olds:

Keaka: "Big isles"

Marley: "Big owls"

-Oakley: (After singing Happy Birthday to herself)- "Happy Birthday to Oakies!! ...NOOOOO! My mama took by birthday hat!"

-Taking Four Kids out in public was not nearly as crazy as I thought it would be!  In fact, it wasn't bad at all! 

-Listening to the kids (who were watching Frozen), totally BELT OUT "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" and "Let it Go." Pretty priceless moments right there. :) 

Needless to say, we had so much fun, and miss having those two girls around!!  Mateo keeps walking around the house saying, "Oak, where are youuuuu??" Haha. Can't wait to see them again! 

Little Superheroes

One of our Idaho ʻohana had a baby lūʻau for their grandson, Koa, last weekend. It was superhero-themed, so "superhero attire was preferred!" I sewed some last minute costumes for Keaka & Mateo.... Can you guess who they were?

If you guessed Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls & Goku from Dragonball Z, then you're correct!! (Haha, hopefully that's what you guessed!)

The party was CUTE as can be! The decorations were awesome, they had a shave ice truck, 3 bounce houses, tons of food... It was so much fun! They even had superhero capes and masks for all the kids, along with a goodie bag!

 Since we were performing a good chunk of the time we were there, I didn't get a chance to get a ton of pictures unfortunately. But here are a few: 

Some decorations! 

Superhero Cake pops

Centerpieces 

Keaka playing 

Mateo lol 

The night ended with superhero fireworks all in honor of Koa! It was awesome, loved every minute, spent with our Idaho ʻohana! Hauʻoli lā hānau e Koa!! 

David, Stacie, & Keaka Would Like You to Meet.....

 Mateo Konaleohanoahoihi Kawika

IT'S A BOY!!!!!! 

 THE GORY DETAILS:Labor & Delivery 

(skip this section if you don't wanna know, haha!)

Prior to Wednesday the 14th, I was trying my hardest to get the baby to come out so I wouldn't have to be induced--house work, cleaning the garage, attending my baby shower (haha), walking, running, skipping, (k, maybe not the last two)..... NOTHING.  Once Tuesday night came, it sunk in that I was going to be induced, and I wasn't really looking forward to it.  David and I went to sleep REALLY late...  I guess the nerves, excitement, and anxiousness totally got to us.  Well, more to me. LOL.  

The alarm went off at 6am, so I got out of bed.... andddddd MY WATER BROKE!  Yeah, thanks for breaking AN HOUR BEFORE I'M SUPPOSED TO CHECK IN.  Jerk water. lol.  But we got ready, got to the hospital.... got all set up....

I must say, I had THE BEST NURSES EVERRRRR!!  No, seriously.  Noreen & Carissa were freaking AMAZING.  I almost cried when they had to leave after taking me up to the 8th floor to recover LOL.  ANYWAYS, I just can't express enough how great they were.  Our entire experience at St. Luke's was bomb; I couldn't have asked for better.

Labor this time around was only 8 hours--  less than a third of what Keaka's was!  I did end up getting an epidural-- once contractions got really bad LOL.  I'm pretty sure it helped me progress faster, though. But they kept my Pitocin very low; my body did most of the work on its own, which was great!! 

Once I was fully dilated, my doctor had me do just a few pushes to get baby to come down more, since he was still pretty high.  She told me that since we didn't know the gender, she was gonna pull baby out, and face "it" towards David and I so we could see the gender first before anyone else.  So after pushing only 3 times, there the baby was-- she faced him to us, and we were SHOCKED to see that it was a BOY!!!  

Then the tears started flowing...

Holding my son!

My First 5 Thoughts: 

1.  Thanks & praises to Jah for the angel before me (and for labor being over!)

2.  Wait...... What?!?! OH MY GOSH, it's a BOY?!

 3.  He looks exactly like Keaka, just chunkier!  He is freaking beautiful....

4.  So happy to share this moment with my amazing husband.

5.  Me and David make some DANG good looking babies! hahah!!  

Proud Daddy holding his boy

 Born at 4:29pm, he weighed in at 7lbs 6.4oz, and was 20" long.

 

 WHAT'S IN A NAME?

 We named him Mateo Konaleohanoahoihi Kawika. Yes, it's "long" or whatever... But it all means something special.

Mateo-- Matthew in Spanish.  We wanted something to reflect his Mexican heritage.

Konaleohanoahoihi--  His voice of authority and respect.  Mateo's middle name, to reflect his Hawaiian heritage.  David and I actually got this name from my grandma while I was in labor, haha! 

Kawika--David in Hawaiian, after his Daddy. :)

  

A few hours later, David went to pick up Keaka so she could meet her new sibling.  We were pretty worried that she'd be disappointed that "he" wasn't a "she"...but the second she walked in and saw him, she fell completely in love, asking, "Is that my baby brother?" and said, "I love him SO MUCH!" Ohhh goodness, so, so sweet.  Seeing the love in her eyes for her little brother as they met for the first time was the most precious thing ever. 

*On a side-note, Keaka had a hard time saying "Mateo" the first day or two, and kept calling him "Material" LOL... Why?!  I dunno, cause I'm pretty sure material is harder to say than Mateo. 

 Crazy kid!

  The next morning, a photographer who's contracted through the hospital came in to do a photoshoot with our baby boy. These are some of the pictures.... and OF COURSE, we had to order them, because OF COURSE, the photographers do a great job and it's hard to say no to pictures of your child, right?!

As our family grew bigger last week with the addition of our son, we couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of love from our Heavenly Father & our Savior.  We are so happy, and feel totally blessed and honored to have Baby Mateo in our 'ohana.

Blue or Pink... What to You Think?

Saturday, March 10th I had my baby shower at Bill & Kim Taylor's house, thrown by my Mom and sisters.  It was a lot of fun! Everyone who came got to make a special onesie, diaper cloth, and/or contribute to a blanket for the baby.  It was AWESOME to see everyone's creativity!  We ended up with some really, really cute stuff, and I can't wait to see Baby put it all to use!

 

Directions

Supplies

Guests getting instructions from Mom

Gettin' their creativity on!

A few of the onesies/diapers:

By Cherise

By Michelle

By Kaui-- front

By Kaui-- back

By Meghan-- front

By Meghan--back

By Aunty Cece

Blanket for baby

Cloth diaper by Galeais

Da Food

  We had chicken salad croissant sandwiches for our light lunch; fruit pizza bar for dessert (which I totally have no pictures of, dang it lol); Favors were cute little personal apple cobblers!!

 

 

A HUGE MAHALO to everyone who came and helped out, especially my family, for throwing it, the Taylors for allowing us to use their home, and Galeai's for helping with prep and for the dessert!  (FYI, thank you cards will be going out soon... in case you were wondering where yours is, haha.)