After the Rain

A favorite past-time during rain - sleep!!

 Kai Boy fell asleep on the couch and he still reminds me so much of a baby. He is growing and getting smarter, but he still carries around little baby habits that remind me how very little he still is. He still curls up his feet like a newborn, which I find adorable - but I don't know if this is normal for an almost 4 year old?

Our garden getting lots and lots of water!

Ry making me a fruit salad in the play room

They still love their kitchen!

 This afternoon it finally starting clearing up. Peter headed off to work and Cruz took a nap. I took the older two outside to help me weed. TONS of weeds came up in the past couple of days. We filled an entire rubbish bag with weeds. And our Hydrangea bush gave us some gorgeous flowers and our tangerine tree gave us five oranges with a bunch more on the way.

We decided we should eat some pineapple and paint. So the watercolors came out all over the table already covered with folded laundry (cause that's how I roll). We took the top of the pineapple and planted it in the garden. We'll see what happens!

Ry using her stamps from Gamz

Then little man Cruz woke up from his nap.

Headed to Napili in just a bit.

Wowzers

So I've been eating Paleo for almost a month. I LOVE it. Most of the time I love it. Occasionally I miss some bread and pasta. But on Cruz's birthday I gave in to cinnamon rolls (which were amazing) as well as lumpia and other no-no's and went to bed feeling really sick. Anyway... I have a significant amount of fat that I need to lose, especially around the mid-section and I think it's time to take care of this. It's really hard to exercise at home because Cruz and Kai try to climb all over me and it's frustrating. A lot of people who eat Paleo also do this exercise called CrossFit. So I went and checked it out today. Every day it's a different workout and you try to do it as fast as you can. I did it at 8am this morning. It is 6:30pm and I. AM. POOPED. It kicked my butt in a good way.

Actually, I started a second blog to track these goals and progress. You totally don't have to follow it - it's more for me than for anyone and will probably feature more swearing than you normally hear from me. You can find it here.

I am going back next week for three days of training to get familiar with all their moves and then will start two days a week after that. If you google CrossFit before and after photos, it's pretty amazing.

Cruz's Birthday

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Cruz's birthday morning video (with a sneeze)


And his birthday cake - yummy cinnamon rolls made by No Ka Oi Cinnamon Rolls




Ryenne has been working on her Team UmiZumi game on the ipad - it's a math game and she completed the whole thing and got a key to the city award. She was super proud!

And for Cruz's birthday he was baptized at Napili Bay by Aunty Anela. It was a little like the Clampets going for a baptism. We even forgot Ry at home and had to go back and get her.

And I thought it was gonna be Kai making silly faces...

Cruz showing Aunty Anela the buttons on his shirt.

Cruz and Aunty Anela with DonDon in the background.

We all ate way too much and had fun. Cruz was EXHAUSTED by about 3pm. He rubs his elbow or his pico when he's tired. Had to catch these moments of my "baby" falling asleep.

Love you sweet baby boy.

Dear Cruz...

Dear Baby Boy Cruz,

Today you are two and I find myself wondering how this time has passed so very quickly. I remember two years ago today in such vivid detail. You were even a gentle soul coming into this world in probably one of the easiest births on the planet.

2010 was a very hard year for Mommy, and whenever I think of 2010, you are the light - the good thing - that came out of that horrible year.

I love the way you love your Daddy. I love the streak of mischief you're developing, the way you hug me, the way you rub your elbow to put yourself to sleep. I love how your favorite pair of shoes is your blue boots and you yell "Boots!" whenever it's time to leave the house. I love the little cleft in your chin. I love the way you are obsessed with anything with wheels - but mostly race cars and trains. You love to dance and you love the ocean with a fierce passion. You are going to be a water boy for life.

Your Daddy and brother and sister and I love you so much. We are so thankful that you came and surprised our family. Though I am sad that you are not my tiny baby, I am overjoyed that you are my big boy and I look forward to our many adventures ahead. I love you big boy so very much! Happy Second Birthday!

Love you always and forever to infinity and beyond,

Mommy

Your Blue Boots

You and your crazy brother and sister

Two Silly-Heads

I love your wispy hair.

Checking out the train yard.

Mommy and Ryenne made your shirt.

Ry was supposed to be my helper...

Don't know what big brother Kai was doing...

Not quite sure what was going on here either...

Little Man in front of the train.

You are SO BIG.

I love you Cruzito - Happy Birthday!

What your sister thought of the photo shoot....

Last Day

I was sitting on the couch scolding Ryenne. I don't know what's up with her today. She is being really whiny and horrible. I think it's too much sugar and wheat - little does she know her diet is going to change drastically (but that is a whole other post).

I have been stressed today. The kids have been extra whiny and fighting in the car all day as we ran errands for Cruz's party. Cruz crawled up onto my lap and nuggled me. My great big baby boy came and slept right on my lap as I stroked his hair and whispered, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." and I realized this is the last time in my life I'll have a one year old baby. I really wanted to embrace this last night with Cruz as a one year old and feel like Ry is trying to steal it away. But I did have my moment with Cruz all by myself and I needed that today.

Vent.

I am usually quite positive - most of the time anyway. But today I just need to vent to get a few things out of my system.

I'm planning a very small little vow renewal in June for me and Peter. I'm super excited about it. And I thought it would be fun to look at a bridal magazine while I was waiting for my wax appointment last week. And it was RIDICULOUS. The rings, the cakes, the frou-frou. It was over the top. And then the section where you could "ask the expert" had me rolling my eyes in the middle of the waiting room. "Is it ok if my flower girl is wearing ivory while I'm wearing white?" WHAAA? OMG! "I'm going to an engagement party, should I avoid wearing anything white?" HUH???? The world of wedding planning is ridiculous. There are forums and sites dedicated to crazy people. And that's what brides to be are... CRAZY PEOPLE. No wonder I hate photographing large weddings. I like photographing small little getaways where I don't have to deal with CRAZY PEOPLE!

And this one I've been holding in for a while... also photography related sorta. You know those frilly headbands people put on baby girls? I HATE THEM. Hate them with a passion (the headbands, not the babies). They are the most ridiculous looking things ever. Phew... been holding that one in for YEARS. I HATE BABY HEADBANDS! I feel so much better!

Leap Day

Yesterday we were talking about Leap Day - how it happens only once every 4 years. We had fun saying we were "leaping" off of things - the stairs, the chair, ect.

We were also looking forward to yesterday because we had a beach date with Pat and Landon and Shaun and Christine and the kiddos.

We headed to Launiupoko park after school and stayed until dark. We leaped into the water and off the rocks. It was spectacular.

My big Cruzer Boy. He already loves surfing.

Cruz laughing with the boogie board

Waiting for his "wave"

Kai was all about his surfing as well.

Ry preferred the ring. She could hop through the middle too.

Kai can stand on the board!

Ry lounging

Handsome Mr. Almost Two Years Old

Belle the Pitty Bull

We got one of us this time too!

Today we were talking about how we can't believe Cruz is going to be two on Sunday. Just can't believe it. Me and Ry just made him a special shirt this afternoon. You'll get to see it on Sunday for his party.

I got a very special card today from Crystal. Loved what it said!

Gotta love living in the NOW. 

And I am putting a web advertisement on a photography site for Maui. They asked for a picture of myself and I wanted a good one and always wanted to take one next to a spray painted "Inspire" on the old Paia Sugar Mill. Went down there with Peter and he snapped these for me. :)

See the streak of grey hairs???

This one from the cell phone.

INSPIRE!!!! Love it!

Peter took the boys to Napili for tonight and I have Ry all to myself. Headed to Kahului for a little girlie shopping.

What is it about Hawaii?

Crystal asked me and Nico a really big question, "Aside from the obvious beauty, what is it about Hawaii that makes you want to live here?"

This took some thought. Sometimes I have to process things for a while before I can eloquently write it out - because I'm much better at writing than speaking. :)

Obviously Hawaii is beautiful and I feel like many elements of it's beauty are engrained on my soul. Not just something I want, but something I NEED on a daily basis like I need oxygen. I need salty air. I need sugarcane. I need mountains. I need to know exactly where the ocean is even if I don't get in that day.

Beyond that, it's a way of life. I think living here you are required to live in the moment. You are on an island. While people are bustling away during the grind of mainland life, we just sit back and let it ride. Everything will be ok.

I found that in Austin, the grind really got to me. Everyone competing for who has what first, new cars, new boats, new vacations, summer camps... the list goes on and on. It's always planning ahead. Working hard and then playing hard.

But I feel like on an island every day is playing hard. It doesn't matter if you have a new car or a piece of sh*t car. We're all in the same boat. Almost all of us are paycheck to paycheck. And when the day sucks you just go to the beach, soak in the sun, catch a sunset, and hope that tomorrow will be better.

Most of us aren't as educated as our mainland counterparts. We usually have kids much earlier as well. It's normal - it's Hawaii. It's a way of life. "Lucky we live Hawaii" not just lucky to live IN Hawaii.

The simplicity of this life is just what I didn't know I always wanted. I am so glad that I did get to experience mainland life to know just what I wanted and return home with a new found appreciation and love for Maui. The good outweighs the bad ten-fold.

Paleo and Nakey Baby

I hate counting calories. I've done it since Cruz was born. It's how I lost 65 pounds (with very few exercise). When I did p90x I gained about 8 pounds (of muscle). Then when Peter came to Maui over the summer we ate at all our old haunts and we went back to Austin and I was too busy and too stressed to count calories. I put on a little more weight. And then I found myself in a rut because good quality food has more calories than crappy food. So I was stuffing my face with cereal and I felt like CRAP and I wasn't losing any weight anymore.

In desperation, I tried two diets. The first was Tracy Anderson's diet (her exercises are actually really great) and it's got a lot of pureed foods and the calories are LOW. She says it's normal to feel like you have the flu for up to a week as your body "adjusts". Ok that was a huge warning sign for me and after the first day I felt even more like crap and abandoned it. That just couldn't be healthy. Then I tried the Dukan diet, which stresses high protein with NO fat and a tablespoon of Oat bran per day. Once you go through A WHOLE WEEK of just protein (no veggies or fruit or carbs) you can introduce Veggies only. And again no fat. After the first day I felt like I was going to vomit. And my breath stank. RED FLAG! Warning! Warning! STOP!

I felt like a failure. This has been such a HUGE journey for me. I honestly feel like a completely different person than the hormonally imbalanced person I was in my 20's. While I am happy at my current weight, I am still considered "obese" according to my BMI. I would really, really like to be in the normal category here.

There just HAD TO BE a way for me to be healthy and still feel satisfied.

I was driving home a few weeks ago and saw a Cross Fit sign in Haliimaile. I didn't know what that was so I came home and looked it up on the internet. It's kinda p90x style exercise - pretty hard core. I don't know if my knees or my arm could handle that (I have a bad rotator cuff) - BUT - on their website they were talking about their food philosophy and it was called Paleo. What is that??? I did some online research. Everything about this made sense to me.

Three weeks ago I dropped all sugar, grains, beans & legumes, and unhealthy fats. I feel AMAZING. I have tons of energy and have been loving cooking things for myself. I also cook this for Peter but he's not ready to go paleo yet. The kids are also not on board with this. But once the bread in the house runs out and they get hungry enough they'll have to eat what I make them *evil laugh*.  So with zero exercise and no calorie counting and eating until I'm full and content, I've lost 5 pounds. This week I'm incorporating dancing back into my repertoire along with a tabata workout twice a week and a sprint once a week.

This is something I am now very passionate about. I feel so incredibly balanced and healthy and like I have the energy to chase my three Littles. Do I still cheat? Yes I do. Occasionally. I do have my coffee mate in my coffee every day. That's about the only daily cheat I have. I did have a friend's homemade cinnamon roll yesterday and there was dinner at Mama's the other night. So I guess you could say I'm about 95% paleo. Super proud of myself. Lower BMI here I come! Want to see other people's success? This site has a thread where a bunch of people posted their before & afters. I found it to be really inspiring.

This is an example of breakfast (though this would be perfect any time of day).

Cabbage, Spinach, Cilantro, Sunflower Sprouts, Portuguese Sausage, Garlic, and Shrimp sauteed in butter with two fried eggs on top

Want to learn more about eating this way? This is a good place to start.

And I promised a nakey baby. Both boys love being naked. Not so much a problem with Kai since he's potty trained, but Cruz isn't quite there yet. He asks to go occasionally but he's not really ready yet. But he's now figured out that if he hides under the table, I can't get to him very fast. So he'll go under there naked and play with toys. It's really, really funny.

And though this house has been crazy, crazy and there have been what feels like a million photo shoots this week, I wanted to get some pictures hung in the living room. My vision is for this big wall to be FULL of important images and sayings. It's getting there!