Satisfied

It's Halloween morning. Ryenne woke up early because she's so excited about trick or treating tonight. It's been on her mind since we went to Buda the other day. This is the first time that she really 'gets it' and it's magical to watch.

I started this blog back in 2005 with the hopes of keeping friends and family in the loop as to what we were doing and watching the kids grow. But I've realized that this blog is really for me. It feels so good to have this record of the kids growth, my feelings and thoughts, and little glimpses into my life that have passed.

Our lives are so 'in the now' that I often forget little details. Just the other day I had a freakout because I couldn't remember exactly how Ryenne's newborn cry sounded. And silly as it sounds, it was a memory that I didn't want to fade away but had. It feels so good to go back in time to a date and see pictures of the kids and remember how I felt. Our minds hold onto big events. The day Ry was born, the day Kai was born. But the 3rd day or the 26th day is a distant memory.

I don't know if it's just the pregnancy or just me as a person growing into my role as MOM, but I find myself pondering things a lot lately. I find myself thinking how material things of the outside world don't matter one little bit. I find myself so happy, so overjoyed, at the life that we've made here in Austin. I love dancing with Ry and Kai to her favorite Taylor Swift song and leaving all the dishes in the sink. They can wait. Time flies too fast to miss a beat.

I'm so happy that my husband is my very best friend and that he encouraged me to do what I love to do even though I go through dry spells and sometimes it's hard financially. We get through it. Love is amazing.

Later tonight we'll get the kids in their costumes and do some trick or treating. Gams and Pops are coming over and it will be a fun evening! Life is good.

Randomness

We had a great night out in Buda last night trick-or-treating along Main Street with Ry, Kai, Jackson and his family. I have some pictures, but I am just too swamped to get them up right now. It's been a busy week for photography (yay!) with another busy week next week as well. This is good since I had payments to the birth center due! It's always something...

This morning Kai has figured out that the rubbish can is so much fun. First he put his diaper in and started clapping. Then he put his pacifier in. Then he ran into my office and grabbed files which he dumped. The office door will now remain closed and I think I'm moving the rubbish can into the laundry room. I hope he doesn't start throwing things in the toilet. Sometimes Ry forgets to close the door after she goes.

We went grocery shopping the other day and HEB had eggnog and peppermint flavoring for coffee. I think this "officially" starts my favorite season. The kids both loved the eggnog and my coffee now has a festive flair!

Should be a wonderful weekend! Halloween tomorrow and Peter's birthday on Sunday. I hope Ry doesn't ask about a pumpkin. We went to the patch but didn't buy a pumpkin. She hasn't asked about it yet. I think she's more excited for candy.

Even Snack Is Entertaining!

My Kai Boy... already a toddler!

pumpkin patch!

I had a little mini-session with a cute 4 month old at a pumpkin patch Friday afternoon. The kids and Peter came along and we snapped a few cute shots before my clients arrived.

Kai kept trying to pick up the biggest pumpkins. It was really funny!

And this was really the best I could get of the two of them together. As soon as Kai sat down he gave his "Kai Boy Face" and then got up and took off. It's so hard getting them to sit together!!

I did it...

I have been going back and forth on whether or not to cut Kai Boy's hair. For some reason, it grows longer on the top of his head and it is now at the point where it lands directly in his eyes. Unless, of course, I do a comb-over and then it hardly ever stays.

I had a hard time deciding because I love the little baby hair whispy's. But it's to the point where it's bugging him and I can't put it in a ponytail on top of his head like I did to Ry.

So this morning I cut off just a little bit so it's not in his eyes anymore. It's not quite straight, but it works!! I might need Gams to help me clean it up a little bit. Picture later!!

FISHING!!!

Ry has been asking to go fishing for quite some time. I am not much of a fisherman myself... I only like to eat fish. And even then, only when I can't see them staring at me. Nice, clean filet's only please!

The opportunity came up for us to go fishing! Pops awesome clients invited us out to Rosanky to go fishing on their ranch. We drove the hour and a half through beautiful country and arrived to a beautiful afternoon with a breeze.

Ryenne had a ball!!! She loved fishing itself, but like mommy, did not want anything to do with touching the worms or the fish. :)



We were in this really neat gazebo. I had to keep a good eye on Kai cause the dock didn't have any railing. I didn't want the baby boy to go tumbling off. He kept me very busy chasing him!



It's called "FISHING" not "CATCHING" ... took us a little to hook a fish!

And finally we started getting bites!! Dennis, the owner, helped Ry catch all her fish. Here is the very first one she caught, and the final fish of the day... the BIGGEST one!



Poor Pops got skunked. No fish for Pops. But we sure did have a great time and we all were sooooo tired when we got home!

while I was away...

Peter got a couple great shots while I was away and I only now saw them on the little camera!!

Grandma's visit to Austin!!! I wish I could have been there to hang out with her too. I think everyone had a great time. Peter got this image on the camera's timer. But it was waaaay zoomed out and I really didn't want to show my messy house. LOL



The inseparable duo of Ry and Jackson at the Buda Fire Dept gathering in Jackson's neighborhood. They love fire trucks!!

Fun Things

I am not much of a crafter. I can't sew. Crafty ideas don't just "come to me". So I'm very grateful that the teachers at Ryenne's school are so creative and come up with great activities.

Ry brought home this pumpkin today. It's so neat they got to decorate with feathers and pom-poms and yarn!

And as promised... the Christmas letter going to Santa Claus from the munchkin!!!

The silliest things

We started the day with an interesting request for an October morning,

"Mama, can I write a letter to Santa Claus?" Ryenne asked. Of course I thought her head would be spinning with the thoughts of pumpkins to choose and candy to "tricker-treat" for later this month. But Ry is definitely obsessed with Santa and the promise of a sparkly tree with gifts delivered to little boys and girls' who listen to their parents.

We picked out a green piece of paper and I told her to tell me what she wanted to write. Then she decorated it herself with her crayons and a marker.

I will take a picture of it tomorrow. It's filled with the sweetest little three-year old requests:
Jewelry Box
Princess Fishing Pole
Candyland Game
Magic Wand

and a few other things. But her eyes sparkled when we went over the list and I am so happy to see that magic in her eyes. These next few months will be fun indeed!

Fun at Zilker Park

I love Zilker Park. It's been far too long since I took Ry and Kai there. It was just so hot this summer. But today it was a brisk 60 degrees and we met up with our friends Katie, Jackson, and Hogan and took a ride on the Zilker Zephyr Train. I would have loved to take pictures, but just imagine holding a 3 year old, a 1 year old, and a camera :) Makes for an interesting time. hehehe

Anyway, it was pretty funny getting Kai dressed. He is usually Mr. Nakey-Pants around the house. Always just a diaper and MAYBE a t-shirt. So this morning when I was dressing him he was looking at me like I was crazy. "Pants, what the heck are these?" it looked like he was thinking.

I figured I'd put him one of his super cute shirts from SuperSweetCreations that I'm supposed to photograph and haven't gotten to because it was so hot. Well sure enough... he really didn't want to pose for pictures. He just wanted to play. What else should I have expected?



Ryenne had so much fun playing with her buddy Jackson. Jack and Hogan are such cute little guys. Pretty soon Hogan will be walking around and then me and Katie are in BIG trouble!!





Zilker Park has so many great things... the train, an amazing view, and a really awesome playscape.


I'm so proud of Ry on the balance beam! So much more graceful than Mommy!!



The kids loved playing with all the little pebbles. See the purple nail polish? We did that last night. Ry is on cloud 9 cause she picked out the color herself at Target.

Okay... so I tried to bribe Kai to let me take some shots of him with his awesome shirt. Bribing with chocolate goldfish that I found in the diaper bag.... yeah... not so flattering to the shirt but definitely cute nonetheless!



And one last parting shot.... Kai on the stairs. I think he liked the stairs with the rail better than the playscape itself. Up and down, down and up.... and then we came home and had chicken noodle soup which Ry spilled on herself. So she dressed up in her new purple dress from Grandma.

19 weeks, 2 days

I can't believe I'm almost half way through P-3's pregnancy. Peter and Ry are convinced it's a girl, so we'll probably just start calling my tummy Mari already. I still don't have a feeling either way, but so far the pregnancy is more similar to when I was hapai with Kai. Ryenne made me more sick. LOL


19 weeks, 2 days

In all honesty though, the tummy looks seriously bigger by the end of the day. Gravity at work!

And here's a few of me and my lovebug while Ry is at school today

Home!

I am HOME!!

I flew out of Maui at 5:11pm. Hawaiian Airlines took me over the North Shore of Maui. I saw Kuau Cove and Haiku and the beautiful coastline. I cried. And I realized that I was crying because I don't know when I'll be back and because I am so mad at Maui and yet still love it so much. Maybe it's like a small child that has to learn some lessons before growing.

I landed in Honolulu at sunset and saw the sun setting over the ocean horizon. This is one thing that I miss in Texas... that globe of the sun setting over the water. Truly breathtaking to behold.

And I flew out at 7:15pm on Continental Airlines. This was the first ever trip I have taken with Continental and I must say that I was very impressed!! The plane had 8 bathrooms (which I visited often), each seat had it's own personal screen with a variety of movies and shows to choose from with a remote, and they fed us. Actual dinner. On the ride to Hawaii they fed us lunch and dinner (even with salads!) and going back to Texas we got Dinner and an early morning muffin. The planes were very clean and they had a lot of staff on board. Impressed.

I got into Houston early in the morning and then rode to San Antonio where Peter and the kids were waiting. I opened the car door and saw both the kids staring at me with huge smiles. Ry screamed "Mama!!! I missed you!" and I hugged her so tight. Kai boy was smiling and grunting and I kissed him and sat between them and held their hands on the way back home. Peter so kindly waited his turn for his greeting until I had some time with the kids and could brush my teeth :)

It's so funny being gone for eight days. My mind thought of the kids so often, and yet, to see them in person the imagination doesn't even come close to their beauty in person. And they had even grown. My amazing kids...

When we got home I was exhausted. I have the hardest time sleeping on planes. So off to bed I went. Peter tucked me in and made the room dark and I slept for 3 hours. It felt so good!! I had dinner with the kids and went to bed with Ryenne. I slept for 10 hours last night and feel refreshed today. It's a new day. And I'm back home.

Going Home!!!

Austin here I come!! It's bittersweet. On the one hand I don't know when I'll be able to come back to Maui, but on the other hand I'm ready to say goodbye and go home to my family and to Austin... the new place that I love.

I don't know when I'll be able to come back to Maui again... I think it might be a while. But I'm okay with that. I think I'm leaving my childhood on Maui, and forging on with creating new memories with my husband and children in Austin. I'm happy.

Dinner with my brothers

When Nico invited me to Mama's Fish House, I totally jumped at the chance. The mango wood from our Haiku house went into the restaurant and I had been waiting to see it. We asked Koa to join us and it was so nice having dinner with the two of them. I can't even remember when we have all sat down to dinner with each other. It's been quite a while.

We ate a wonderful dinner and laughed and enjoyed the evening. It's so cool that the mango wood from the backyard of our house is now in one of the worlds most famous restaurants!

The BEST!!!

I just sent Peter a text saying "I love you" before I head off to bed. And his response makes me smile. I can't wait to get home!!

Hawaii, you suck.

There is no doubt in my mind that we made the right decision to leave Maui and start our life in Austin.

Sure, Maui is beautiful. Sure it will always be my home base and hold the memories of my childhood and my falling in love and starting a family. These things I will always have.

But it's taking a slippery slope to be a really tough place for future generations to grow and thrive. I actually don't know how it will be possible for high schoolers to be able to stay and make a living and create a home for themselves.

The newest debacle is "Furlough Fridays". The state is so short on money that they have decided to attack the education system. Teachers will get a 7.9% paycut (aren't they already some of the lowest paid teachers in the country?) and 17 furlough days will start in the coming weeks.

This is bad for several reasons. Teachers don't make enough money to survive the high cost of living in Hawaii. Many hold second jobs to compensate. And now the state cuts their pay MORE? And.... Hawaii has one of the shortest school days in the country (serious, 1:15 on Wednesdays the kids get out) and now they're taking away 17 days of education for Hawaii's keiki. Not to mention that parents who work one and two jobs per day are now going to have to find a place for their kids to go on furlough fridays. And to top it all off, music academy's are jumping in offering a place to go at $40 PER KID PER DAY.

Seriously... for Hawaii's kids... HAWAII YOU SUCK!!!

SORE!

Oh boy... I just know I am going to wake up sore tomorrow. Today's wedding was absolutely beautiful and very worth the trip (by myself) to Maui to photograph it.

I dragged Jean Marie with me. She was a wonderful assistant and I let her loose with the second camera to experiment. It's awesome she's expressed an interest in photography.

We are both going to wake up sore though. I am out of practice for long weddings! Want to see a sneak peek?? Take a look over at the Mariah Milan Blog.

the newest Dagupion

My new niece, Jasmine Rey Dagupion. She is a tiny peanut and so very sweet!

A pretty flower

Forgot to put this in the last post. It's the flower that greets me in the front of my in-law's house.

a beautiful morning

I woke up at 6:30am and laid in bed for a few minutes. I brushed my teeth, changed, and dialed home. My awesome mother-in-law answered "Good afternoon!!" and I got to hear of Ry's playdate this morning and of Kai taking his nap. Ry got on the phone and said, "I miss you mama. I want my kisses." and her sing-song voice filled my ears with happiness. What a beautiful start to the day.

After talking with Marissa and Ry, I walked across the street to Napili Market and picked up my Itoen can of coffee and a chocolate Long John - yes $5 for one doughnut and CAN of coffee. Not an actual mocha or anything. Just a can that is $1 in Texas.

Anyway, I gathered up my book and my camera and drove down to Kapalua Bay as the sun just started coming over the West Maui Mountains.

It was early and the tourists hadn't yet descended on the beach. Aside from a few early divers, I had the whole place to myself.

I got this image just as I was walking onto the beach.



I got my toes nice and wet. My stomach isn't so big yet that I can't see my feet. Here's my toes in the sand, with my belly in the way, and my brand new pedicure.



I sat in the sand, and read my book. I had promised myself that I was going to save the second half of the book for my flight back home. But I love to read, and so I've found myself going back to it and reading until my eyes hurt. And with the morning being so lovely, I found myself reading yet again.



After reading for a good hour, I put my book down and stretched out on the sand, covered my feet with sand, put it on my legs, and stared out over the ocean.

The waves lapped against the shore. Tourists started to arrive. No breeze. The smell of salt started to be replaced with the smell of Hawaiian Tropic fake coconut and shiny tourists. The empty beach started showing colors of various umbrellas and neon colored boogie boards and foam noodles.

It was time to go.

I gathered my things and walked the path back to the parking lot. What a beautiful, quiet morning. I will be back at the beach Monday morning.

Observations

This is going to be a rambling post...

When I flew from San Antonio to Houston, I sat next to a sweet couple celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary. The woman shared stories of her children growing up and their move from Mexico City to San Antonio long ago. It made me smile.

While I was sitting in the Houston Airport eating my breakfast, I was surrounded by businessmen blatantly flirting with waitresses even though they were married. Everyone in the airport was dressed "to the nines" with complete faces of makeup on.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out on my 8.5 hour plane ride that Continental Airlines provides a full meal and snack service. I was actually well fed.

I was dumb enough to watch the movie "My Sisters Keeper" on the flight. I was crying so hard that the stewardess had to come ask me if I'd be alright.

When I arrived into Honolulu, the humidity hit me like a ton of bricks.

Everyone wore slippers, shorts, and as skimpy a shirt as possible.

I woke up to my nephew crying this morning. Papa had gone to work and his parents wouldn't get up to play with him. I fed him, cuddled him, and took him on a date to the coffee shop where I bought him chocolate milk with whipped cream. Then I took him to lunch later and we watched koi fish in a pond. Later we drew trains on paper.

My heart aches for this boy, this sweet boy, who is plunked in front of the tv until grandma and grampa come home day after day and ignored by his parents. I hope they find this and realize that they are missing out on a great boy. I wish I could win the lottery and buy them out and adopt him. Peter and I could give him so much love and attention in Austin.

If I were a rich woman I would have my photography be a hobby and do fun things with the kids everyday. I hate being away from them. I feel like an empty shell without them.

Just exactly how I'm feeling...

Like a Buick!!!

I am now 18 weeks OFFICIALLY. We went for our anatomical ultrasound the other day, but it was really crappy because they wouldn't allow us to take a video of baby moving around and they gave us one really crap picture. But we did see the baby moving his or her arms around and even waved at us. It was pretty cool. I guess now it kinda, sorta feels REAL. Maybe I have been off in lala land while puking my brains out.

And the image below is from a totally gorgeous baby shop in Fredericksburg called Beaulah's. Seriously the cutest baby shop I have EVER seen. I have a few pictures going into the November issue of Austin Pregnancy Magazine, so I'll keep the rest secret for now.

Kai Boy is ONE!!!

My dear, precious, baby boy has turned one. I find myself in awe at the past year, his growth, his love, his laugh... It all seems to be passing so quickly.

I remember the day he was born so vividly. I remember being so scared to have a little boy because I didn't know how much different it would be than Ry. But he made it so easy for me... he is such a happy baby!!

We woke up with morning snuggles. Peter came home from work and got him out of his crib and brought him in our room for playtime on the bed. We wrestled and tickled and Ry and Kai loved it.

Ryenne had school and so after we dropped her off, me and Kai went to the store to pick out a cake. They had a really awesome yellow one so we got that. Then we came home and he slept for his three hour nap.

We had a wonderful afternoon. I had an afternoon meeting with a client - of course it was the ONLY day that would work for them grrr - but while I was out I stopped by Target to pick up a toy for him. As I stood in the toy section, I realised that this is the very first toy I have ever bought him. EVER. Ryenne has always had so many toys and when Kai was born he got a few toy gifts. Even for Christmas... he got a bouncer, not a toy. But I have never bought him any toy before. I could just be hormonal, but I stood right there in the middle of Target and bawled my eyes out.

I picked out an awesome truck for him and headed for home. We set up the backdrop in the driveway and attemted the cake smash. Kai was more interested in the lemon that was on top. But Ryenne and our friend Auni helped eat some of the cake and fed him frosting. It was very cute.

We had lasagna for dinner and Kai cleaned his plate. He didn't even drop any on the floor for the dogs! He had his birthday cookie, and then we opened his truck and birthday cards from Great Grammie and Grampy and Great Grandmama. He loves his truck. Ryenne loves it too!!

I think he really enjoyed himself. I feel bad that I couldn't provide a huge birthday party for him to celebrate his first year. It's such a milestone... his very first birthday... But I know that he was happy and that is all that really matters.

Here is my darling boy on his very first birthday...