steaming hot hippo

i have a large baby boy inside of me and i hope he wants to come out soon because it is TOO DANG HOT up in here.

several months ago when people would ask me my due date and i would say, "june 5th" - without fail everyone would say, "ooohhhhh, good. right before it gets hot." and i would enthusiastically nod and pat myself on the back. way to go me. i planned this perfectly.

well, it's plenty hot.

i cant sleep right now because every time i lay down i feel like i might suffocate from the weight of this baby, the humidity, and the heat.

and the fan is on full blast!!

thomas is all wrapped up in the blankets and sheets, poor man. he jokingly told me recently that he feels like he's been living in a wind tunnel. :)

so, son no.2, if you are listening or reading this (how would he be doing that?? stick with me people.): please come soon.

please!

i promise to take you for sunday evening walks on the beach with me and amby. it's fun. you'll like it.
i'll even let you sample the rocks you pick up along the way. i swear, i'm cool like that.


see you soon!(?)!!!!!!!!

love always,

hippo mama

remember that recipe book we all made????

the lovely sheila rich has emailed me a major change to her coconut mochi recipe!! it's in the back of the book- kindly write in the change please. and echo, liko, rachel....etc. remember when i was all sad about the mochi i tried to make for amby's 2nd birthday party???? this is why it didnt turn out!!! haha- apparently you need 2 cups of WATER for the recipe to work (as opposed to no water at all). what a relief.... i was SO CONFUSED as to what i did wrong. haha. ok, here it is:


Coconut Mochi (Pink kind)
4 c. mochiko
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. water
1 can (12oz.) coconut milk
red food coloring

Combine dry ingredients. Combine liquids and add to dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Mix in food coloring. Pour into lightly greased 9x11 pan. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. Turn off oven and let sit another 15 minutes. Cool, cut into strips with plastic knife. Roll in cornstarch. Cut strips into pieces.

dear middle aged men and women of the world,

i really hate to let you down, but no, no i do not watch american idol or dancing with the stars.

please stop asking me.

all of you.

i know you are just trying to make conversation, but i feel like i am failing you miserably every time i have to break it to you... i am not interested in either of those shows.

the idols are the same thing every season in my opinion (a bunch of tools) and the "stars" are NEVER ever actual stars.

in fact, when ever i do catch a glimpse of a commercial of the show or something i usually recognize the dancer they perform with more easily.....

sorry.

but you continue to enjoy it all. that's fine!

it's not like i'm too cool or anything. i like to watch the hills and so you think you can dance... so i'm no better really. :)

take care of yourself.

love always,
stephanie

another thrilling update

mostly i just dont want diana to bite all her nails off- how on earth is she going to paint them unconventional colors (remember when i would amuse you with my color choices diana?) if there are no nails left to paint?!?

welp, in a last minute bad choice, i took ambrose to the doctors with me on wednesday afternoon and he was in RARE form and as they were taking my blood pressure he was sitting on my lap trying to tear the band off my arm and SURPRISE SURPRISE my blood pressure spiked.

so,

they made me stay and do all these tests to make sure the baby was ok.

and then they made me come back again this morning (and it sounds like i missed a really fun beach day as a result! sad.) and do some more tests.

i didnt WANT to actually HAVE hypertension.... but.... i'll admit, i was thinking: "WHOO HOO! let's induce me and get this baby OUT!"

but, just as i thought, it looks like i am ok. whatevs.

so,

i go back tuesday to check it all again and thursday for a regular appointment and friday is my actual due date.

so: ONE MORE WEEK!

unless i have contractions again, but i have decided NOT to get my little hopes up.

ONE MORE WEEK PEOPLE.

sitting around... and waiting.... like this.

what will i be doing in the meantime?

getting ready for my in-laws to return on monday, ambrose has some preschool stuff planned next week and every other spare minute i am sure i will be laying right under my bedroom fan in my underwear.

so call before you come over. or not. ha!

false alarm?

i thought maybe just maybe i was gonna have a baby last night so i didnt worry too much about writing my entry for oliofolio.... but here we are this morning and there is no baby and everything seems as it was before.


so i quickly wrote this right now in explanation of what happened and i like it. it's not anything that would be published anywhere, but it is now a page in our story.

and who doesnt love a little flight of the concords anyway?

images of an ideal holiday and baby buns.

we got stuff done, we relaxed, we ate a bunch, we spent time together, we hosed off naked in the front yard........


beaching it up and making some friends along the way:


unsqueaking doors so we can spy on ambrose when he sleeps (one of our favorite pastimes) without waking him
and taking all these newborn clothes and more and organizing them into this cute little dresser for a certain baby-to-be (that's the dresser thomas painted up all quick style for me one morning. the color makes me very happy.)


eating a LOT of these vanilla ice pops that i heard about on my friend carrie's blog


setting up the adorable bassinet that anna refinished for her baby and then passed down to me when she moved. putting it in the new space in our room, which thomas created by doing some serious organizing and re-arranging! i feel like we could successfully host a baby loves disco party in here now.
walking over to taylor's to feed her cat and play with him since she is in maui this weekend.
and then nearly bawling my eyes out as we finally trim the sweaty, fluffy, lovable mess that is ambrose's hair. i loved it dearly, but it is just too hot and someone at church called it poofy. :)

ending the day with a naked rinse off in the yard as the sun sets:
and putting some of the remains of the poof in a nearby birds nest:
you know. just your run-of-the-mill memorial day. :)

one for his brother too....

well, i got bored this weekend because thomas had a late show and some other work to do so i whipped up a baby quilt top for the new child. it matches ambrose's but it is baby sized since boy number two wont be needing a bedspread for a couple of years.

now i am patiently waiting for my mother-in-law to return (june 1st) so she can show me how to put these two quilts together (she doesnt know this fact.... so linda if you are reading this: can you get me started with your quilting frames?)

i got some bright orange quilting cotton to back and bind these babies and it looks really cute. i am so excited to see the finished product and as always, i will put a photo up when i am done!

if you want to learn how to make your own little baby quilt (it is SO much easier than you think!) check out my happy little life- i am so glad she put this up. so helpful!

so close and very far

have you ever felt like you are just sitting around waiting for something to happen with great love, dread, anticipation, excitement, and concern?

so confusing. :)

i'm gonna finish his baby quilt now.

a mighty fine turnout

how fun!

there were so many friends to play with at beach day today - including some new comers

and a bunch of others that came after i put my iPhone away so i could PLAY!

it was a fun day. :)

branching and venturing out

we have been going to the same two libraries for a while now so we decided to go back to kahuku since we hadnt been there in a while.....

and i forgot

that kahuku library is more

about the large, life-sized

stuffed animals and less about

reading a bunch of books! :)

oh well, we had a really good time. we're gonna go back more frequently for sure.

evening adventures

thomas had a show... at hot topic of all places and it started at 7PM which is bubba's bedtime that we observe with the strictest religious devotion (and frankly i think that is why he is such a great sleeper)... but i figured "what the hey. we need another adventure." so we headed out: and call it pregnant emotion or whatever but the sun was setting all along the north shore and i couldnt get a good picture while driving, but i got all choked up: man, i love hawaii. to me there is no better place on earth. it was so beautiful i had to just cry a little and thank my heavenly father for letting me live here. and then laugh at myself... what a cry baby, but honestly i love this place so much. sure, i wish i lived closer to my family and many a close friend, but i cant imagine where we would go. we will undoubedtly leave someday.... but when and where... i dont even want to think about it.

MOVING ON!

we got to the show and ambrose was so so so excited and i am sure SO helpful as the guys were setting up:
he had been talking about "daddy, drums!" "watch daddy!" "marc, uncle tree tree (demitri) tars! (guitars)!!" the whole way there so seeing them in person with all their instruments was like a avid disney channel watcher meeting mickey mouse at disneyland for the first time.
echo and i realized we were wearing the same shirt. this happens frequently since we have been pregnant at the same time two times in a row now. we decided to take this photo:
which is a reenactment of the last pregnancy at the waiamea show:
anyway, the show was great and so much fun
but i think the free balloons from sabarro might have been ambrose's favorite part: oh yeah, that and seeing his real life hero in action. ambrose was in heaven!

aloha friday beach day location change

big waves at ke iki tomorrow so we're gonna go here:

instead (alligator pond 9:30am-whenever). hopefully the tide will be this low and we can have our very own sid the science kid tide pool lessons. :)

spread the word and see you there!!

ok all done!

and dash it all... i'm really proud. i just feel like i am still trying to uncover this mystery that is sewing... so when things work out i cant help but grin from ear to ear. i showed some of my friends the bag this morning before i had put the bindings and handles on and now i am embarrassed that i did that because it really wasnt much to look at then but now it looks pretty good. anyway, without further ado... here she is!

or if i'm feeling a little crazy i can flip it inside out and have the lining show. and yes, that would be my first real pocket there. i even measured out the space to fit my iPhone perfectly:
and just so you can grasp the hugeness of this bag- here is what it looks like on... although perhaps this isnt an accurate representation of what it will look like when i have two kids because my watermellon stomach dwarfs everything right now.... but just know, this bag will be able to hold it all.


and here is ambrose modeling the bag... he wanted to wear it around until it came time to take photos.... maybe he knew i could blackmail him someday with purse pictures and he didnt want to appear too excited about the idea. ha! maybe he's just trying to be aloof and high fashion......

well, that's all for now. hooray for trying new things!