Pedernales Falls

Today Nico went back to Maui. Ry hung on him and begged him to move to Austin. I think he thinks that we told her to do that, but nope... it's all her. She loves her uncle to pieces! So maybe on the plane ride back to Maui he'll think about everyone here in Austin who loves him and that Maui just isn't "home" anymore.

The other day we took a road trip out to Pedernales Falls - a beautiful park not too far out of town. Let me tell you... I was AMAZED. It was spectacularly beautiful. I am really excited to go back and spend more time there. Next time, a picnic lunch is in order and hopefully a warm day when we can go swim!



below: The grandparents with their littles!






below: Ryenne adored the park! She collected shells, skipped rocks with Nico, got sand in her shoes, and did a wonderful job hiking!







below: There is a gorgeous beach area with sand and the kids kicked off their shoes and played. Kai LOVED this. He decided he wanted to pick up rocks and throw them into the little spring. He'd take the big rocks and lick it, kiss it, and throw it. It was adorable.



Now one of the funniest things about this trip was that I took out my camera battery and charged it before we left. The entire drive up I was so proud that I charged my camera! And then we get there and guess what??? I forgot my memory card. DUH. Talk about a "dork moment".

Peter was sleeping during our outing so for the next one we'll plan it when he can come along.

Christmas!!

Let me start by saying that my aim for Christmas photographs was simply to capture it. No glamour, no artsy fartsy... cause the downright truth to Christmas morning is that it is not kind to adults.

Ry woke up right at 6am 'itchin to go downstairs and shred open every gift she could get her hands on. It took a monumental effort to get her to lay in bed with me until 6:30 when Peter got home. I was tired. Peter was tired. Gams & Pops and Nico were all tired. Yes.... you will see in these pictures that we are all exhausted, but it was a FABULOUS, magical, beautiful morning.























These are just a handful of the many images from our morning. We had so much fun opening each gift one at a time... a great chance to savor each one and teaching Ryenne lessons of enjoying what she has before moving onto the next thing.

Among her favorites were a fishing pole from Uncle Nico and a Candyland game to play with me when Kai takes a nap (she's a cheater!).

Kai had a wonderful time putting chocolates in his mouth, playing with his Leapfrog table (a hit!) and anticipating his new bike from Gams and Pops.

We feasted on the beloved Christmas Morning Breakfast... only bestowed upon us once a year and I am kinda sorta thrilled that Peter is lactose intolerant and can't eat it so I can savor all the cheesy goodness myself. Is that bad???

After the gifts were opened, the kids were ready for their naps. Gams, Pops, and Nico all left to go get some rest and Kai went down and I laid down with Ryenne for a nap. It rejuvenated me for the rest of the day.

Gams, Pops, and Nico came back in the evening and we grilled up some Filet Mignon while Gams whipped up savory mashed taters and green beans. It was fabulous. We were all full and happy when we realized we had no dessert but it didn't matter because the dinner was so fabulous. I think we all went to bed in a food coma.

It was a wonderful Christmas. The only thing that could have made it any better would be to have Koa and the Maui Dagupion's here with us. I think that's on order for next year!

Merry Christmas... Mele Kalikimaka!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a fun day. Ryenne asked all day "Is it Christmas yet???" and I could see the excitement bubbling up in her as the day got shorter and she realized that Santa was coming that night.

As usual, I didn't take enough pictures. I'm bad. I did get some shots of Ry making Santa some cookies on the big camera. I'll go download the images from the little camera in just a minute.







She also drew Santa a picture with his cookies and eggnog. :)

We had a wonderful dinner with everyone... a deli tray with various cheeses, crackers, meats, and Nico brought over King Crab legs which were DEVINE. Ohmygosh... so good.

Ry was a stinker and would not go to sleep. She ALMOST caught me putting out presents. Eeek... that would have been terrible if I had been caught. She did finally go into a sleep coma with deep snoring and I had a wonderful time filling the stockings and putting gifts under the tree trying to be sneaky. It is fun!!

Just too sweet...

Kai Boy and Daddy on the couch.... precious.

All the trimmings

Last night we got the Christmas boxes down from the attic and decorated our tree. Our poor Christmas tree was bare for over a week. It was a week full of littles trying to climb it. Ryenne pretty much understood what the tree is for ("for presents to go under, of course!") but Kai being the boy that he is decided it was meant for him to climb on, to hide behind, and as her personal doo-doo spot.

"Where's Kai?".... "Oh, he's behind the tree making poops in his diaper!"... yes this has been our week! heehee

We put on Peter's favorite Christmas Album - a DJ had taken all the golden oldies and re-mixed them into new sounds. It's fun and funky. And we couldn't help but look at each other and giggle when Pops says, "What's wrong with this CD? It sounds like it's skipping and the beat is all messed up??" - yes Pops I know you're reading. It was hilarious!!

Ryenne was thrilled to put the "ordaments" on the tree and I followed her by moving them from close to the ground to high up the tree. We didn't even get through half the box of ornaments before we stopped.... just couldn't put more on that tiny top half of the tree!

The stockings are hung on the stair banister with care.... they look great staggered up the staircase like that.

Kai went to bed nicely last night and so did Ryenne. For the first night in a while, she didn't fight me. I slept really good and it didn't even bother me that Kai boy got up at 6:00am this morning!

Today is Christmas Eve! A day of total and complete excitement for tonight Santa visits. This could quite possibly be my favorite night of the year!

Ranting like a lunatic....

I'm 29 weeks today! Due date is March 9th but we're all starting to take guesses as to when this babe will decide to arrive. My guess is February 21st and Gams' is February 16th and Peter's is February 15th.... why so early? Well I'm measuring 5 weeks big AND the due date is only from a measurement at the ultrasound.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic here.

So I usually go online to find out what is happening with baby that week... how big he/she is, what is developing, ect. I find it interesting.

Well I am now finding it EXTREMELY annoying at websites that think they're being cutesy by writing crap like this:

Your Pregnancy: Week 29
Among the many perks of becoming a new mother is having someone other than yourself to shop for (a big plus when the jeans you like are $100, but a cute onesie can be had for a mere $6.99). So if you're feeling out of sorts about your ever-changing body but have a shopping itch you need to scratch, indulge in something mini and adorable for your new babe.

Now I may be a frugal Mama, but who the heck spends $100 on jeans?? I've never had a $100 pair of jeans in my life! And it doesn't even mention that you can get a onesie for $3.99. A $6.99 onesie is pricey in my book!

It's so annoying to read commercial crap like this when you want information on what's happening with your body and the babies body. Grrrrr.... okay rant over.

More Things...

I haven't been online in the past few days because P3 has really been kicking my butt. Well actually, a combination of P3, Ryenne, and Kai kicking my butt.

Ryenne has not been sleeping well and has night terrors most nights. I am now just about fully recovered from an episode where she kicked me in the sides and the kidney. I am feeling SO much better now. Kai is teething again and is a little Opihi boy. (For those that don't know what an Opihi is, it's a limpet that sticks to the sides of rocks at the ocean). And P3 feels like he/she is getting huge and I'm just exhausted by the end of the day!

But anyway, since school is out for Ry, I figured it would be fun to have a get together with her friends and it's so awesome that she chose good friends and they have awesome parents! So Katie and Graham came with Jackson and Hogan, and Nicole and Sherwin came with Bella. The kids were all gated into the living room and the adults could actually have fun conversation! We all ate waaaay too much and it was so much fun.



Last night was movie night! Pops, Peter, and Uncle Nico (who I need to get pictures of) went out to the movies last night. Kai did not want his daddy to take a shower:



But he then decided it was okay if he got to stand on the table:



And dapper looking Peter before heading out with the boys:



Gams came over and we made popcorn. This was the first time the kids saw popcorn being popped. They were both totally in awe!






More adventures - withe Uncle Nico - coming soon!

Christmas at the Birth Center

On Saturday we went up to the Birth Center for their Christmas party. It was so much fun! They had a little holiday train for the kids to ride, food, face painting, balloon animal making, and of course... Santa!

Santa was very special... the sweetest one ever. Even Kai didn't cry when Santa held them both!



Mom got this picture of me and the "Opihi" on the little train. He was scared!



A little girl has a dragonfly balloon!!!





She's a butterfly princess!!



Gams and Kai Boy. Thank goodness Gams came! It would have been really tough without her there!

The Start of Something New!

I will admit it... we are in credit card debt up to our eyeballs. On Maui it got to the point of charging groceries and the electric bill. It's a hard thing to muster up and admit, but I'm at a point in life where I feel I need to own it and deal with it.

So I'm going to begin 2010 with plans to get ourselves out from the shadows of debt. I have a plan. Peter's on board. I have a 2.5 year plan and we'll be free of the plastic. In fact, the plastic has all been cut up and accounts closed. It feels GOOD!

28 Weeks!

We went and had our prenatal appointment yesterday. The birth center had their Christmas tree up and the kids had a great time pulling off ornaments and playing with a giant reindeer and snow dog.

The appointment was good. I am up 3 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight which is GREAT. I am measuring BIG. I measured 33 weeks... so 5 weeks ahead. But that could very well be just because it's the third baby!

The baby is moving around like a fiend in there. I am still tripping out that we are going to have another baby. People ask me if I'm freaking out. But honestly, what good would freaking out really do? No... I'm much more of a "roll with the flow" type of person. And an eternal optimist. So I KNOW that everything will be just fine and I'm not scared or upset. My heart is big enough to handle it.

We had a wonderful afternoon out and put up our Christmas tree last night. My brother Nico is arriving tomorrow and we are overjoyed to have him with us for Christmas here in Texas. It's going to be a very special holiday indeed!!!

For the hair...

I have thick hair and so does Ry. I was using the Garnier Fructise giant bottle from Costco but was running low. I was at Walley-World and picked up the Suave Biobasics for $3 for a 32 ounce. It's supposed to be like Biolage.

LOVE IT and it smells good! New shampoo and conditioner for us! YAY! And it's cheap. Even better!

TIRED!

This is what happens when a little girl is all tuckered out from a session of playing tickle with her daddy!

Kai Boy likes to jump!

At this moment...

At this moment, Ryenne and Kai are sitting on the couch together - next to each other - giggling at the mice on Cinderella. It's a wintry day, the house is gloomy, and they are sitting in the golden light of the lamp looking as cute as can be. I just had to jot it down so I don't forget.

lots and lots

Lots happenin today but I didn't take any pictures!

Well firstly... I had a photo shoot Sunday night and I lifted a heavy bench and I knew I shouldn't but I did anyway. I was really sore yesterday and then today I started spotting and I have just been pushing myself far too much. So my midwife said to take it easy. Hard to do when two kiddos want to be carried and loved on all the time!

The drywallers came today and finished out the texture on the loft. Ry was at school and me and Kai were stranded in his room. We played for hours on his rock-a-boat, in a tent, and on his baby swing. He had so much fun he pooped himself out and took a two hour nap.

The loft is looking AMAZING. I can't wait to pick out paint colors! Really, really awesome!

Peter is FINALLY off after a six day work week so we had a special dinner tonight for Pupu. Gams ran out and got me chicken last minute since I was so out of it. I made chicken adobo and rice (mashed taters for me) and Peter made Pupu's special saimin with eggs in it and a beer. We lit Pupu's candle in the middle of the table. All of us were together and it was so nice. Gams even brought over chocolate fudge! So we all talked and enjoyed and ate. It was really nice.

Peter is helping with the kids so much this afternoon and evening! It is nice to be able to rest my body a bit. I am sitting in bed right now and I don't think I can even move a muscle!! Maybe I'll get a foot rub if I play my cards right. :)

Love Bugs

Just to make you smile today...

a brilliant idea

Kids are so smart. More smart than we ever give them credit for.

Grandmama Plauche' sent the kids an amazing book - The Night Before Christmas - and when you turn the pages, it plays her reading the story. Ryenne is in total awe of this book. It's her new treasure. She holds it gingerly, tells me "never press the buttons, it will erase her voice", and doesn't let her brother hold it "you'll break it Kai!".

So I just had to laugh when she came up with a brilliant idea at storytime last night:

"Mom, why doesn't Grandmama read me The Night Before Christmas and you rub my feet?"

SMART!!!!

Festive!

These are a bunch from the past few days. I have been trying to organize and backup all of the thousands of images I have of the kids. I am uploading over 5,000 images to Shutterfly for "just in case" backup in addition to my external drive. Hopefully someday I'll be able to create a book for the kiddos of this blog.

But in the meantime, here are our adventures from the past few days!

Before the freeze it was relatively nice - 60's - so we went on a grocery trip to HEB. Would you believe this is how dark it is by 5:45pm? Kai was over the moon that he got a balloon like his sister.


A rare moment of the two monkeys together. It is SO HARD to get pictures of them together.


The other night we took a visit to the Four Seasons to look at the Gingerbread village in the lobby. Ryenne loved it!



And of course they have an amazing Christmas tree setup. Ry asked "Who is going to open all those presents, Mama?" So sweet! And I keep telling Peter not to slouch in our pictures because I look like a giant next to him. Maybe next time?



Then the other night we were listening to music on the laptop and just putzing around and we look over and Ryenne fell asleep right on the table listening to music!



And finally... our morning. We went to Ry's school this morning for Breakfast with Santa. We had pancakes and sausage and orange juice. And Ry got to tell Santa what she wanted. She was sooooo excited to go today! Kai was a booger the entire time. He didn't want to sit with Santa and didn't want to eat. He is such a creature of habit. Only wants his high chair. But it was really cute and fun and we came home and put Daddy to bed.

One More Angel in Heaven

We had a strange night last night. Ryenne couldn't sleep and we just felt like something wasn't "right". The phone rang at 1:20am but I didn't answer it. When Peter came home this morning he let us know that "Pupu" - Grampa Florencio Dagupion - had passed away.

Pupu led a full life. And we knew that it was coming, but one cannot prepare for these things. I spoke with my mother-in-law this morning and was comforted in knowing that Pupu left us peacefully with people around him who love him. My heart aches for Nana, who was married to him for over seventy years and I'm sure is feeling lonely right now.

When Peter and I first started dating, Pupu had already had a stroke, and I didn't get to know the active Pupu that Peter remembers. Pupu helped raise Peter as a child, and he has so many memories of him that are near and dear. I feel so bad that I can't send him to Maui to grieve with the rest of the family. But I am comforted that Nana has so many family members to be with her and support her. And I hope they all know how much we are sending our love.

Heaven has one more angel. A beautiful soul who will watch over us all. I'm so glad Kai got to meet him back in August!