you love who you serve . . .

Yesterday, Ka'imi had her 4 month check up - she is just average for head and height, but in the 75th for weight.  Still my biggest baby so far.  She has also been different than the boys in that the immunization shots seem to bother her more.  Not only do her legs get sore (and she cries whenever I bump or move them), but she gets some pretty mean fevers. Last night she was burning up.  At 3:00 I went down stairs to get the Tylenol (why can't I ever find it when I need it? ). I gave it to her, though she coughed up most of it because of the cold she also has.  I sat there on the bed with her.  I felt so bad for her. She had the fever, sore legs, congestion and her first diaper rash.  I just smiled at her and stroked her head hoping she'd feel my love.  She just laid there looking back at me.  I had a thought. One day, this little girl will be the one taking care of me.  It made me that much more grateful for family relationships.
I am enjoying every moment of being the mother of this little girl and my three boys.  Some days I wonder if it'll ever end, but most days I feel like I could keep it like this forever.  Happily, happily, forever is a part of what our family will be : )

mom

Last night, in the middle of the night, I woke up to Kyle talking on the phone.  He said a couple things in a sleepy voice and then hung up.  I asked what was wrong and he told me his mother had a stroke and was in the hosital. His sister, Noreen was going to text to let us know how things were going when she got to the hospital.  It was hard to sleep after that for both Kyle and I - we had nightmares of the worst.  I was exhausted though and could only manage a prayer of, "Please bless Mom.  Please Bless Noreen." In the morning, the first thing I did was look at Kyle's phone for a text.  It said she was doing better and almost back to normal.  I was relieved.

After we were all up, Kyle decided he wanted to fly out to be with his mom.  I wouldn't have it any other way, so he got a flight and tonight he flew to Los Angeles.  I have spent the day thinking about the family I married into.  It has been emotional since the MRI they did to check for the strokes (it ended up being 3 mini ones) showed either a cyst or a tumor near her brain as well.  I can only imagine how Kyle is feeling right now.

It seems in the world's world of humor there is a category just for mother-in-laws.  I have never really understood why.  Yes, people are all different, and gaining a new family takes adjusting, but I never have liked the idea of any mother being ridiculed. 

I have a great mother-in-law.  She amazes me in many ways.  She is an amazing hard worker, frugal and yet extremely giving.  She always asks about my mother and siblings.  And I know she loves her children very much.  Above all, I have her to thank for my wonderful husband.  Why should she deserve any less than the most respect from me?

I have also thought about my wonderful sister-in-law.  She moved to CA a few years ago.  We were sad to have her family leave, but now I am so glad she is there. She also amazes me with the size of her heart and her strength. I guess in a crazy way there has been a good thing come as I realize how much I love this family I married into. 

Again, prayers are needed.  As of right now, mom is scheduled for brain surgery in the morning to remove the mass.  And pray for Kyle - first Ka'imi and now his mother.  My heart hurts for him.
Love you, Kyle.

Ka'imi - 4 months

Ka'imi at 4 months:

• is completely a momma's-girl.  She will be crying when someone else is holding her, but stop the second I take her. 

• gives the best good-morning smiles.  It is the first thing I see everyday.

• enjoys watch her brothers play and run around.

• knows that she has a back-up source of food.  When she is done on one side she tries to sit up to get to the other side.

• sits up well with support

• loves making bubbles with her spit : )

I adore this picture.  I am working on a new look to my photography website - here's what will be on my splash page.  I have decided I love her the most in pale pink.  She is a beautiful, beautiful baby. 

Stadium of Fire

 

I have always wanted to go to stadium of fire.  This year we decided to do it because Carrie Underwood was coming.  We are closet fans of American Idol and have always loved Carrie the most.  So, we got tickets for ourselves and left the boys and Ka'imi with my mom.  We parked far away (hoping to not get caught up in traffic).  It was quite the walk, but fun to be together.  

I really enjoyed the concert.  My only complaint was that we were just sitting there.  It was a concert and not one was enjoying it.  Just watching it.  Carrie did an incredible job - her voice is amazing even live.  My favorite song of hers is Temporary Home - I was happy she sang it tonight.

I was not a fan of the fireworks right above my head.  It was loud, my neck hurt trying to look up so much and there was a ton of smoke.  So we left before the finale to beat the crowd.

It was fun, though I am not in any hurry to go again : )

sumertime

Just some fun pictures to remember the summer so far.  Below are the boys eating homemade watermelon popsicles.  I just blended watermelon, key lime juice and a little bit of sugar.  It was super yummy!

One of Sepa's favorite things to do is find "rolly pollies." It is so funny because he always looses them because he forgets he's holding it.  Don't you love the real-ness of this shot with all the dirt and markers over his arms?  Boys : )

As soon as the weather warmed up, Kekoa was determined to learn how to ride his bike with no training wheels.  It has been fun to see his determination.  Today he officially can ride his bike  :  )  I didn't get a picture, but here he is in his biking gear.

Another fun part of summer is that the boys started Hoop Dance lessons.  They had their first lesson on Tuesday.  It made me so happy to see them learning.  I'll post about that more later : )
Summertime = happy times : )

sunday paper

A couple weeks ago, we were interviewed to be in the paper of the Daily Herald.  We visited with the woman writing the article for an interview.  Then she sent us the article to make sure she had names and other things written correctly.  We made our changes and sent it back.   For whatever reason, not all the changes we made ended up on the final print of the paper.  They were not anything too serious, but enough to bug me to the point that I am going to correct it here on our blog :  )

First, just for the record: Delthine should be Delphine and Kekeo, of course, Kekoa.  And I graduated in Marriage, Family and Human Development.

Now the numbered ones:
 
1. This was a line I was hoping would either be changed or left out.  I feel like it doesn't connect with us - neither Kyle or I are immigrants (myself as native as it gets).  I also felt like it made it sound like ours is a rags to riches story. We were neither in extreme poverty and now are no where near being "rich." I also felt like just because we are ethnic the assumtion is made that we come from a low SES.  Anyway - it just didn't sit well with me - oh well.

2. My mother has 7, not 8 children.

3. I served my mission in the middle of school and not after I graduated.

4.  Though it made me seem less crazy, the truth is I have 4 under the age of 6.

5. Again, a phrase that didn't sit right with me. I don't care for the word "daunting."  It is a challenge, but there is no dreading or lack of hope in my situation.

6. We do not visit Hawaii every year - we make it for family reunions when we can, but that is only every few years. 

These might seem like silly changes, but  figure if the newspaper is a form of family history, the record might as well be set straight :)

But overall, lesson learned?  You can't believe everything you read, especially in the paper.  :  )

Here is the color version of the picture we submitted.  They were suppose to have one of their photographers come, but it never worked out.  We did it as Kyle was out the door to fly to Alaska - 8am (!).  His traveling companion took it.  After swapping two heads and Kyle's eyes, this is what we got : )

kissing machine

Today, while dishing out seconds of dinner for the boys I walked into our step stool - I didn't realize it was right in my path.  It hurt so bad and I got a nice bruise from it.  I complained about it for a bit.  We got back to dinner when Kekoa said, " Mom, I am going to invent a kissing machine."  "What?! What do you mean? What's a kissing machine?" I wondered where he could have gotten such an idea from.  "It's for kissing ow-ies," Kekoa replied in all his innocence.  Cute.

Bowling

Today, we took the boys bowling after Kyle was done with work.  It was so fun.  We only did one game, but it was perfect.  The boys were content and amazingly we didn't have anyone complain or cry - not even Ka'imi (believe it or not Celeste!).  It was so cute to watch the boys roll their bowling balls.  Kyle and I laughed when Ikaika's rolling speed measured 3 mph and under and yet he still managed a strike.  Sepa was a great cheerleader and happy to roll just a couple times.  I love time together as a family.

All Better

Yesterday, we finished Ka'imi's last dose of antibiotics.  It is so happy to know we are fully past her eye infection.  I didn't get a chance to post pics earlier.  I didn't really take pictures of her - just a couple with my camera phone.  On the day before her surgery, I finally did one with my regular camera - she just looked so cute in her mini-sized hospital gown.  So here is what I took.

This first picture was one I took before we took her in to see the doctor on Monday.

I took this one, thinking she was still so cute laying there in her hospital gown, even with her poor eye.

This picture was the night before her surgery.  With a couple days of antibiotics, the swelling went down a bit.  Here you see her "hat" (we told the boys that was what it was).  An IV out your head? Yeah.  The nurse had fun taking it out of her hair.  Thankfully, with some anti-adhesive wipes, I don't think she lost one strand.

My sweet mother came to the rescue to watch the boys so I could stay with Ka'imi in the hosptial and Kyle could get some things done for work (and come help me).  And the boys were delighted with the kid-friendliness of Primary Childrens.

Looking at her now, you can hardly tell she had any trouble with her eye.  We went to church the Sunday after we came home from the hospital and almost everyone had no clue the terrible week we had.  She looks beautiful as ever :  )  We count our blessing that we caught it early enough and had such great care that she's recovered with no lasting effects.

Update: On July 2nd, we took Ka'imi back to Primary Children's for a follow-up visit.  With her eye still pooling tears, she is not 100% clear.  So, we just have to watch her close.  I have been stressing about the coming bills from all this - we have great insurance, but extra expenses are always stressful.  So, to make me feel more grateful I asked the doctor what would have happened if we lived 100 years ago (meaning if we didn't do anything to treat it).  His words? "Invariably death."  Because she was so young, the infection would have spread and taken her life.  Scary! It makes me so grateful for the time we live in. I love my little girl and am so thankful she is ours and healthy again!