The growing Asher.

I don't call him Baby Child anymore, but he'll always be my baby.

 Can you believe he drew this?  It was a month or two or three ago, which makes it even more amazing.  I picked it up off the floor and thought, "Huh, Ambrose doesn't normally draw stuff like this." And then I said, "Ambrose when did you draw this?" He answered that he didn't... Asher did!  It was like learning that Thomas could secretly speak Cantonese all this time and I never knew it.  In other words, it was an awesome reveal.  Asher was so proud of himself!

 Look at those tasty little fingers:

 He's a pensive kid.  Cautious, pensive, and yet silly and impulsive all at once.

 And he prefers to swim by himself whenever we go to our friend's pool.  I nervously hover as near as he'll let me, but he screeches if I get too near.  Good thing he keeps that life-vest on!

I am so grateful for the wonderful time he is having at school.  He was potty-trained in less than a week with minimal incident.  He has a new attitude and is trying out a ton of new phrases and sayings and songs!  I love to hear him sing, sing, sing.  If I can't figure out what he's singing the hand motions he comes up with usually fill in the blanks for me.  His current favorites are, "I like to eat apples and bananas," "The wise man built his house upon the rock," and the Phineas and Ferb theme song... I'll let you guess which one he learned at school, church, and home...

It's a gift to understand your child more.  One I will never, ever take for granted!  He's so smart, this is something he just has to push through and there will be no stopping this boy!  I'm dying to understand all he has to say and I feel like it will happen sooner than we think!

 Oh and this is a picture he drew of me... pregnant.  Thanks son. :)

 He also invented a super handy way to bike and chalk all at once.  It's just not very safe....

I am amazed at how my boys just keep getting bigger, and sassier, and smarter, and how their little testimonies are developing, and how they manage to push all my buttons and melt my heart all at once.  This motherhood thing is never easy, but always a great ride!

who me?

Yes you Asher! You turn ONE today!? Crazy.

What a fast year with a sweet, handsome, feisty, precious, silly, good good baby.

I feel like we are still getting to know you day by day and you are so patient with us (as your older brother requires a bit more attention)- and we all love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE ASHER BOY!

Glad I can call you mine forever and ever. You make our whole family so happy!

and while we're waiting...

whew. i think we finally wore him out. ;)
not pictured: a bunch of beach trips, a heavenly massage from liko, ambrose getting a much needed playdate at the allreds, some quality time with grandma and grandpa, a couple of evening trips to angels for a big bowl of soft serve with all the toppings, and lots of laying around under the fan in my bedroom!

sigh.

im maybe dilated to a two. my due date is tomorrow. my regular doctor is on vacation. her back-up doesnt work mondays and the hospital has been kinda busy so they wont induce me until monday night.

so she said cheerfully, "just four more days!!"

and i thought, "have you ever been nine months pregnant before? four more days= practically four more weeks!"

after an ultrasound it looks like the baby is only a heavy seven pounder or a light eight pounder... so that is good, but she laughed that he did have a big head like ambrose.... im glad she thinks it's funny. maybe she'd like to deliver that big head.

i'm cranky.

have a good weekend.

i'm gonna be walking around my block in circles and drinking caster oil.

no baby, just birds.

anna had some cute little birds hanging over the bassinet when it was hers and i loved the idea.

so, i got the pattern from liko's book:
dont look too closely at the birds on the cover.... those are WAY nicer than mine.

to tell you the truth this project really frustrated me half way through. if i could go back and do it all over again i think i would hand stitch the whole thing.... since i am not a very precise sewer it was really tricky machine sewing that pointy beak and tail.

once i got stuffing and hand stitching them up i was having fun again though and i am happy with the result even though they kind of look like a fourth grader made them.

i made one for ambrose too so he wouldnt be jealous. it's now tossed in with all his other toys somewhere. ;)

well, i have a final appointment on thursday and my due date is friday. we saw the nurse practitioner today so she could make sure my blood pressure is still a-ok and she said she wouldnt be surprised if they induced me soon after my appointment on thursday- maybe even friday morning- since ambrose was such a huge baby. so... we could be meeting this boy before this weekend and that sounds good to me. until then i will continue to float in the ocean everyday and be really impatient. haha! :)

oh yeah, if you want to make your own little birdie-mobile i found a free tutorial on spool that looks really cute and my friends katie and matti have used this one and they both said it was easy to follow.

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

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?

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.

if you cant find me

it's because i am holding on to every last second with ambrose before he becomes a big brother and it is all happening way too fast.

hope you had a happy mothers day. my present will be arriving as soon as we find it. have you seen that sewing cabinet in weekend sewing by heather ross? it's like a computer desk with doors but you keep all your fabrics, notions, machine, cork board with ideas...etc. in it and so you have all your stuff in one place (instead of all over the house like me) and little crawlers cant get into cords because you can just shut the door. mine will be olive green with antique light blue on the inside. mine will have a fold out extra desk.... mine exists.... somewhere.... i swear. I'M EXCITED!

ok, me and the boy are off to the beach and maybe out to lunch. i made a countdown calendar (3 weeks and 4 days but who's counting) and each day has an adventure for the two of us. we're savoring every moment around here but we are excited for the future too.

an excellent surprise

i didnt want to have a baby shower for this second baby because i am just having another boy and i didnt want people to go to a lot of trouble...etc. blah blah blah.

so, what do my excellent friends do?

they have thomas take me for a long walk/playground family excursion saturday morning and when we get back we find this waiting for us.

it was PERFECT. delicious food, minimal to no shower games, and some great people to hang out with.

thanks taylor and dee for organizing it and to everyone who came.

i felt loved. :)

you would be proud dad

i didnt ignore easter this year. you told me years ago that i was the easter bunny now but it was too much work for me. :) i like holidays. i dont know why i can never get my act together for this one. so, this is what foodland had to offer at 8PM the night before and so this is what we got!



and here's big mama in her thrift shop easter dress. look out!

24 weeks

here you go mama.

and i am attempting to make something for thomas for valentines day. it could be really great or maybe it will just be sad. let's hope not. either way... it's the thought that counts right?

it's sweet and touching...

but you know you might be pregnant when the beginning of finding nemo, when marlin holds the fish egg in his fin and says:

"there there daddy's here. i promise i wont let anything happen to you nemo."

makes you sob and hug your confused toddler really tight.

ah, the emotion.

the three of us had a nap today

me, ambrose, and his baby brother in between.
so far we are all getting along beautifully.

20 weeks today

half way through my pregnancy and feeling good.

i really like: BIG active chubby baby BOYS

and it's a good thing too since that's what we are having again. there is no doubt about it. the first thing we saw on the screen was a little boy part and the doctor said, "yep, no doubt about it-- he is very much a boy!" :)

also, he measures big (just like his BIG brother) and he is VERY very active (just like his big brother was and is).... i feel exhausted and excited just thinking about my future with these two pups.

and as i drove away from the appointment by myself (thomas reluctantly had to head out for work in the other car) i sobbed and sobbed... i could barely see the road... i feel so grateful and overwhelmed to be trusted with these two special boys. i promise to do all i can to help them become the individuals they were intended to be.

festivities

want an onslaught of holiday themed photos? here are some festive things we have been doing over the last week or so.
nsmh christmas party


december lunch ladies at windward mall

family walk down our street to look for christmas lights (check out that baby bump...)


na kamalei end of the session preschool paina





ambrose insisted on taking a picture at the party- this cracks me up (i guess he's trying to show me what he sees up in his face all day long- haha):

honolulu city lights (thomas had the idea to take the family out there one night and ambrose was SO EXCITED the whole time- running from display to display and clapping and saying, "yeeeahhhh!")














and now we have grandpa and grandma hawkins visiting! the fun never ends around here.