Self-portrait

I forgot to post this last week. Kekoa decided to draw a picture of himself. Kyle said he went back and forth from the table, where he was drawing to a mirror to get it just right. It is accurate with his favorite black shirt, jeans and black shoes. When he wears a cap he likes to turn it to the side like that. I think it is all pretty cute. Kekoa - he loves to draw and cut out his pictures.

: )

Today, while holding Ka'imi, I heard her laugh. It was the chuckle that comes when babies are halfway between being awake and asleep. I wish I could always remember the way that it sounded. It honestly was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my life. Have you ever heard something so beautiful it made you cry?
I have been doing my best to get back into the swing of things and keep up with my house, etc. But then I remember how fleeting this time is and all I want to do is hold her and enjoy the moments.

My Set Up

Here's a post in the spirit of remembering my boys at a young age. They love to get there toys positioned in a certain way. Then they call me over and say, "Mom, look at my set-up!" Kaika is so cute, torn pants and all.

picture perfect

Here are a few more newborn shots we did the last couple days. I am trying not to have regrets with the pictures I wish I had gotten. Seriously, could she be more beautiful?

Remembering Today

I want to remember my little ones and what they did today, March 19, 2010

Sepa - cried to hold baby Ka'imi. So I let him (with me right there of course). After a while I asked if he was done. He said, "No, mine." Two years old for sure.

Ikaika - enjoyed eating the orange chicken for dinner. He said, "Mmmmmm, Mom, this is good. We should share some with our neighbors because they don't have any."

Kekoa - did his first animated picture. A guy lifting weights. The weights on the ground on the front of the paper. The weights lifted on the back of the paper. He flipped the back and forth to get the animation effect.

Ka'imi - our little sweet pea is one week old today : )

'Imi

I finally had a chance to do some pictures of Ka'imi today. The day after she was born she broke out in some major baby acne. It finally cleared enough to do pictures. It took quite the effort and I know why people pay money to get these things done. Whew. But I think these turned out pretty cute. Or maybe it is just that I think she is just so darn cute herself : )

Our Love Note

I wanted to share a little more of my thoughts and feelings about Ka'imi's birth, rather than just a report of what happened. So here it is.

When I was on my mission (10 years ago - can you believe it?) a companion and I had this saying that certain things were love notes from Heavenly Father. We thought of it as evidence in our lives that Heavenly Father truly is aware of our lives and loves us. It is a little thing or big thing that happens and we remember and realize that He delights in His children and loves them.
Well, I have decided that Ka'imi is our love note. We couldn't be more thrilled to have her as part of our family. I think about what has led us to this point and I know the timing of it all was in Heavenly Father's hands.

A few weeks ago as I approached my due date, I was somewhat stressed about when she would actually be born. I wanted so much for Kyle's qualifying exams to be over with first, but I prayed that she would come at a time that was good for her and for our family. She couldn't have come at a better time. Kyle was done with his exams, got things tied down at work, and the president (his boss) was going out of town for a week. With this timing Kyle was able to have 8 working days of paternity leave. I honestly thought I'd be lucky to have him a couple days.
The labor and delivery couldn't have gone better. It was the best experience of the 4 deliveries. I am recovering well and Ka'imi is perfect. Love note.

Other thoughts . . .

I am sure from my many posts it is no secret that I adore my three boys. I couldn't love being their mother any more. But there really is something special about having a daughter. It goes way beyond the excuse to buy pretty girl clothes and make hair accessories.

As background I have to share an experience. Three Christmases ago (6 months after I had Ikaika) I was sending out our yearly Christmas letter. One of the people on my email list was my biological father who lives in Mongolia. I have never met him and we only started communicating through email when I was in college. His response to my letter was a bit surprising. He thanked me for the letter but wondered why I would wish him Merry Christmas when I knew he wasn't a Christian. That began a series of emails where I tried to share with him how even though we didn't share the same faith we were both trying to live good lives and do good in this world. Those emails led me to think a lot about who I had become because of the influence of my mother. My life would be completely different had I been raised by my father. I also thought of the roles that mothers and fathers have in rearing children. By divine design it is the mother who is responsible to teach her children. As much as Kyle tries and does try to spend as much time with the boys as he can, I simply am with them 10 times more than he is. I thought about my sons and how though they would have influence in families of their own one day, it would be their wives who will teach their children. It was with this realization that my desire to have a daughter of my own became so real and meaningful. I wanted a daughter so I could raise a mother. When I hold Ka'imi in my arms I am honored and humbled to be her mother. I honestly pray that I will do it right and in a way that Heavenly Father will be pleased.

Being a wife and mother has truly been the most meaningful and satisfying part of my life. I love my husband. I love Kekoa. I love Ikaika. I love Iosepa. And I love Ka'imi.

Coming Home

We came home Sunday afternoon. I had lots of family there to welcome us. Here are a couple more pictures so you can see just how cute this little girl is!

Doesn't see look like she belongs to this handsome Daddy?
She'll have in wrapped around her finger in no time...

Here is the first picture of the three boys and their new sister. I promise they are more excited about her than their faces show.

The Report

On Friday morning (4:25am to be exact), I started to feel the contractions. After an hour and a half of lying in bed and then getting up an moving around, the contractions continued and I decided it was real labor. Perfect timing in my opinion. (I felt better about being induced, knowing she would have come today anyway and that I did not "rush" her out.) We got things ready, fed the boys and headed to Provo. On the way, the hospital called to let me know they had a room and nurse ready for me. We made a quick stop at Kneaders (my only craving the whole pregnancy was this last minute run for french toast) and dropped the boys off. We checked in to the hospital ready to meet our little girl. I have decided that my labors are slow at the beginning, but when it is time, it happens super fast. I was still only a 2+ when we checked in and started some Petocin. But when it was time (happily after the epidural), I went from a 2 to a 10 in just over 30 minutes - and it was time to push. One contraction later, she was born. It was official, a princess joined our family.

Ka'imihaleakua (Hawaiian for "Seeker of the House of God")
Hozhoni (Navajo for Harmony and Goodness)
Reyes

We will call her Ka'imi (Ka-ee-mee).

I love these roses we got from Grandma Delphine and Grandma Annette.

I struggled with a round of nausea from the pain medications. Sadly, I wasn't up to taking more pictures of her while we were in the hospital. But there is surely more to come : )

Our Princess

Ka'imihaleakua Hozhoni Reyes
March 12, 2010
7lbs 11oz 19.5 inches

Enjoying my Boys

When I went in for my prenatal appointment on Tuesday, I went ahead and scheduled to be induced on Friday (tomorrow). It just seemed to work well with Kyle tying things up at work (hallelujah, he gets a week+ paternity leave), getting the boys taken care of, and planning all around. So, knowing today was the final day before the big event, I decided to spend the morning with my boys. I didn't worry about any cleaning except the breakfast dishes. I let each of the boys choose an activity to do and I spent the time enjoying them. I know tomorrow each of our worlds will change and there will be someone else needing my time and attention. I am so excited for a little girl, but I am going to miss in a way it being just me and the three musketeers.
Here's pics to remember the day. The boys took half the pictures. So you get what you get.

Sepa wanted to play a board game.


Kekoa wanted to make paper airplanes and fly them.


Ikaika wanted to make orange cookies.


It was a great morning with my boys. . .

boys + girl

There is a shot I have been wanting to get even before I was pregnant. I saw it on one of my favorite photographers blog. So last night Kyle and I tried to re-create it. It didn't quite work out, but we got these two I kinda liked. If she doesn't come tonight I'm going to give it another try. I should have tried this a month ago - that belly is really out there.

Church Day

This morning as I was trying to get the boys ready for church I realized the next time we would get ready for church, I'd also be getting a little girl ready. I got excited, then nervous, then decided we had to take a picture. I didn't really mean for us to be so coordinated. But don't they look so handsome : )

Daddy Time

To celebrate Kyle finishing his exams, we took the boys to Pirate Island in Orem. The boys had fun playing the games and enjoyed just being with Daddy. They really felt the effect of all the studying Kyle needed to do. They counted down the number of sleeps (aka - days) before Daddy would be done and we could spend this day together. Here are the pics to remember our little outing : )

I Love to Read the Holy Scriptures

Like I said, I am trying to get a number of things done before this baby comes. One of those things is getting caught on on my blog posts. Here's one I have been meaning to post for a while.
As any person with young kids will know, doing family scripture study is sometimes a challenge. We just memorized scriptures for a while, but I didn't feel like the boys were really getting a feel for the stories of the scriptures and the power of their examples. The solution? This.

The gospel art book. I am so excited the church decided to bind it because it makes using it so much easier. I bought the big blue box of pictures from the old version even before I was married. But using it was hard and I was always worried about the pictures getting mixed up. This new book is so much better. We just keep it by the boys bed and when it is bedtime we turn to the next page and I tell them the story of the scriptures in words they can understand. We ask questions and the boys love it. The often want to do "just one more" because they love it so much. The boys are beginning to appreciate and become familiar with the scriptures and I feel like I am doing my job as a mother to teach them. It is a perfect way to end the day.

Around the Corner

With less than two weeks from my due date I am rushing like a mad woman trying to get everything I want to get done. Today was a busy day with two photo shoots, cleaning my kitchen floor (thanks a million Janette for letting me use your Shark), finishing the pink and brown travel system (posted below), and sewing a few burp clothes. All of that might not seem like much, but it seems like a miracle to me considering just doing maintaniance work with three active boys is sometimes all I can do in one day. We even still got in our activity for Craft-Day-Wednesday. Here are the boys with their creations, homemade sling-shots.


Who would think that three empty toilet paper rolls, a rubber band and some duct tape could make little boys so happy? I always know something is a success when Kekoa gives a little giggle as he sees it work for the first time.

Tomorrow and Friday are Kyle's qualifying exams. So far this baby girl has been good and is waiting patiently to come. We just need Kyle to finish and then we are in the clear. But the big arrival of our little princess is just around the corner : )

Combination

What happens when you combine having a girl after three boys, a crazy addiction to the trend of pink and brown and a creative bug that just can't seem to be satisfied?

THIS:





When I look at it I have to laugh thinking it may be just a little over the top. But Kyle got me a few yards of this fun pink and brown damask fabric for Christmas and I had to create something fun. Of course it had to be for baby girl.
I made a matching carseat cover/canopy, a diaper/wipes holder (the first picture is it closed and the 2nd opened), a blanket and nursing pillow cover.
I justify it all with the fact that baby girl will be in our room and I did not get to create a girl-y nursery for her. Good thing I couldn't I guess. But this project was so much fun, and I am going to enjoy every minute of finally having a girl : )

PS. For my sisters (one has three boys as well and the other two boys) - I will make a set for you when your girls come along! : )