Who is Who? Part II

Here are the girls at around 2 months...who is who?

Our So Called Guard Dog...

Leila can seem very intimidating by her bark and appearance, but she's the biggest wimp you'll ever meet! She's scared of just about everything...including fireworks. She'll climb up on your lap if she hears them. For some reason people were setting off fireworks for Thanksgiving (who knows??!!) and Leila just climbed right up on me when the girls and I were cuddling. Leila is quite the cuddler anyway, but especially when she's scared and did I mention that she weighs 70 lbs!!?? Not exactly your lap dog! Leevi says that I made her that way because I treated her like a baby when she was little! :) Unless you have a dog of your own you can't quite understand the attachment...I know I never did until we got our "Bubbalou" or "BubbaYou" as Hailey says! Thankfully for New Years this year will are having a little gathering at our house and will be here with her. Typically in the past, we've had to shut all the windows and turn up the t.v. for her! :)

Gobble, Gobble...

We have a busy Thanksgiving Day planned with three separate house hops...a T-day brunch with some close friends, the main Thanksgiving dinner with our large Hawaiian Ohana, and then dessert at Tiffanys. Two of the houses are within walking distances, so maybe that will help with some of the guilt as I go for that second helping of dessert! :)

Hailey Fishing

On her own, Hailey made a fishing pole out of a broom, dog leash, and dog collar and went fishing off of our back deck. I thought it'd be cute to capture the imagination of a 2 year old so I grabbed my camera. I was watching my friend's son for the day, so little Gavin makes an appearance in the video...

Hailey's Vocabulary

I think Hailey can speak pretty well for a 2 1/2 yr old, but I know I can understand her obviously much better than other people since I'm around her all day. Even I still need to use context clues sometimes to figure out what she is trying to tell me! She's quite the jabberjaw, but she pronounces a few things with the wrong first letter. It's not that she can't pronounce the beginning sound because she'll say it in other words. For example she says "Nore" for "More" but I know she can say the "m" sound because she says milk and momma. Anyway, her are some of the funny ones....


We have a kid's basketball hoop out back. Hailey says, "Basketball Poop"


She knows that Santa lives at the North Pole. Hailey says, "North Hole" I'll say, it's Pole..."paa" "paa" . Hailey will repeat, "north Hole, paa, paa" Or I will say, "More, ma, ma" and she'll say, "Nore, ma, ma" :)


I guess she'll get it eventually! :) One more word that she gets wrong is Animal...she says Amimal. She'll scream for me out back when she finds a slug or worm...."Mom!!! Come see the aMimal!!!"

Missing Fall

Many of my friends have been b****ing (I mean blogging) about the weather back home and it makes me really miss it out here in Hawaii. We do have "seasons" in terms of muggy, hot or rainy, "cold" weather. It's been getting really cold at night (60's) and I LOVE it! We have AC, but try to keep our windows open year round because of the crazy electric bill. We can usually make it through the summer months and the winter months are a breeze. Leevi was laughing at me the other night because I closed up the back windows when we were watching t.v. because I was cold. Your body does adjust and I'm sure my skin is a little thinner since we've lived in this warm climate for so long.

Our weather report for today excites me though...we had rain all night (I love sleeping with the sound of rain). It's still raining this morning...we didn't have much planned for today. Leevi was thinking about golfing or taking Hailey to the beach, but we'll have to figure out something else. Usually when it rains in Hawaii it doesn't last all day or typically you can drive to a different side of the island and find sunshine. Not today though, I'm pretty sure everyone is getting soaked. I feel sorry for the tourists who spent so much money to get here and it's crappy outside.

We can get our taste of winter on the Big Island. At the top of the volcano in the mountain it gets so cold at night the military lodge/cabins have fireplaces. We can get sunburnt during the day and then come home at night to the smell of fireplaces...I REALLY miss that!

It's tough to get in the holiday spirit wearing flip flops and shorts...we'll just do lots of decorating. We are going to pull out the Christmas stuff next weekend and hopefully get our tree up. Since Leevi is deploying to Afghanastan in January we will really have to go overboard on the festivities this holiday season!

Our poor dog...

Our poor dog, Leila, puts up with so much from Hailey. She has an amazing tolerance level and I'm sure it stems from Hailey feeding her! Hailey's latest torture method is to put an old collar and leash on Leila and "walk" her around the house. Leila just looks at me like, "I hope you give me an extra treat for this!" She's such a great big sister!

From the Mouths of Babes

Hailey casually walked up to me and said, "I have a little bum. You have a big bum." I laughed to myself and thought, ok that's true, but asked her if she could pick a different body part, so she replied, "I have little feet. You have big feet." Again, not something I like to be pointed out. One more try....she says, "I have little boobs. You have big boobs" That game ended quickly and I changed the conversation! :)

Kailee is 2 months old!

Here's a video of Kailee smiling and sneezing...she's got these crazy cartoon-like sneezes. She reminds me of Donald Duck. We can't believe she's 2 months old already! I thought Hailey was a pretty easy baby, but I think Kailee has her beat. I feel like she still sleeps so much during the day and I always worry when nighttime comes wondering if she'll be awake all night, but (knock on wood) she's been wonderful through the night. I'm usually only up twice and she eats and burps and I'm back in bed in less than 10 minutes.

Happy Veteran's Day!

To my husband, father, all of our military friends and relatives, and to the families that make the sacrifice...THANK YOU! Happy Veteran's Day!

Kailee sporting her USA outfit (thanks Amber and Madison!)

Hailey wearing her favorite pajamas...a t-shirt from Leevi's work...they are called the Watchdogs, so Hailey calls it her Doggie jammies. She wasn't sleeping in this picture, just not willing to cooperate! :)

Daddy and his baby girls

Leevi's one lucky man...

His "first" baby girl...(Baby Leila almost blends into the blanket!)

Hailey's first day home from the hospital...

Kailee's first day home from the hospital...

So snuggly...

Family Date Night

Leevi and I took Hailey (and Kailee) to the premier of Madagascar 2 last night. She loved it! She likes the original one and had seen previews for the 2nd one, so she was really excited. We'd taken her to a grown-up movie when she was a baby, but this was the first one that she would remember. She did great sitting through the movie and when we were getting back in the car afterward she asked us if we were going to take her back tomorrow. It's so fun at this age where we can finally start doing more family things that Hailey will appreciate and yet Kailee is still so young it's easy to bring her along for the ride without having to provide any entertainment/distractions. Here's a video of us waiting on Leevi to get home from work...

Oh so innocent...hopefully!!!

The girls and I were at the Stampfer's house the other day and Hailey was playing with Colin's doctor kit. (You know where this is leading, right?!!) Tiffany and I overheared Colin say, "Hailey, check my belly. Hailey, check my wee-wee" We both looked at each other and said, "What did he just say?!" Of course we didn't make a big deal about it, but Tiffany advised Colin on appropriate body parts to "check" and those to avoid!!!

I suppose since we are on the subject, I could tell you about a similar story from Hailey a few months ago. I was babysitting a friend's son who was a few months shy of a year old. Hailey was helping me change his diaper and says, "Colin has one of those" (pointing you know where) and then to add to it she says, "Colin has a big one"

Can't Do Without...

I missed placed my cell phone the other day and it got me thinking about everyday things I can't do without! I'll start with my cell...

We don't have a house phone, so my cell is my line to the adult world when I don't feel like conversing with a two year old! It's also great for the quick text message to Leevi to ask him to bring milk home!Caffeine!

Although I don't feel too exhausted in the mornings, I do like a good cup of coffee! I have to time it around Kailee's feedings but I can usually squeeze in a cup of coffee and a small coke in the afternoon...I tell myself that one of these baby cokes can't be that bad! :) My Blue Water Cup...

To compensate for the caffeine intake and soda I do drink a ton of water. We have a few of these big tumblers that I use at home. It's never far from reach. Hailey's Staple Breakfast...

Hailey loves these little pancakes...I love them because they are cheap, fast, and not messy (she is naive to the fact that pancakes taste great with syrup!) She usually has them for breakfast and they are easy to take in the car if we have something to do early in the morning.The Computer...

Or more specifically the Internet. We don't get the newspaper, so I do a lot of reading online not to mention emailing, blogging, and posting pictures for family and friends. Burp Cloths...

We kept the burp cloths I used for Hailey, but I received quite a few more as gifts for Kailee. I thought I had too many, but Kailee is a barfer. And I'm not just talking a little spit up here and there! I keep one close by during feedings and we have them layed out on the changing table, crib, bouncer, and swing! Wipes...

Who said wipes were just for cleaning butts? They are great for wiping tables at restaurants, cleaning little hands or even a quick feet cleaning if bath time is far away. I will probably keep them around long after I've changed my last diaper. I love the Costco Kirkland brand...cheap, large, and soft!The Bouncer...

My life saver when it comes to keeping Kailee content. She loves the vibration and naps in this during the day. She not a big fan of the swing, but I'm keeping it around for awhile and keep trying her in it. Someone needs to invent a swing that vibrates or a bouncer that can bounce itself! Blankies and Wawas (Pacifiers)...

Hailey and Kailee both use pacifiers. Hailey started calling it a Wawa when she was about 18 months and it just stuck. I'm not sure when we'll attempt the battle to get rid of the Wawa. Hailey's good about only using it in bed or in the car and it's such a quick comfort. She can keep her blankies as long as she wants! Hailey's Barrattes...

Until Hailey's curly hair finally gets long I'll have to use barrattes to keep the poof down! I should have taken a picture of all the products I use to do her hair...waterbottle to wet it, wide bristle brush, moosse or curl enhancer, and a baby brush to brush the front over. I'll probably have to do the same for Kailee.My Swivel Sweeper...

It's battery powered and great for our hardwood floors. Easy for a daily quick cleaning.Last but not least...The DVR...

I'm not sure how anyone with children can survive without it! We don't watch too much t.v., but we've got our shows programmed to record so we can watch it after Hailey goes to bed AND the best part is being able to fast forward through commericals. Even if I am able to watch the show live, I'll usually find something else to do just so I can save time. The rewind feature is also great especially if I am trying to watch something when one of the girls are awake!

The "Helpful" Big Sister

We had our first potential scare the other night with Hailey trying to be helpful with Kailee. Hailey had fallen asleep on the couch snuggling with Kailee's blanket (Hailey uses any receiving blanket as a "comfort" and Kailee has ones that match her bedding set, so Hailey knows it's hers...not that is really matters) Anyway, when we carried her up to bed she still had that blankie. Hailey came into our room in the middle of the night and said that she couldn't find her blankie. I didn't remember that she had had Kailee's when she went to bed and just thought that hers was lost under the covers or something. I grabbed her a new one from her closet and put her back in bed. When Kailee woke up for her next feeding I went in her room and found her covered up with the blankie that Hailey had originally had!!! THANKFULLY Kailee sleeps sideways in her bed and Hailey was only able to cover up her lower half!

We had a big talk about how she shouldn't go into Kailee's room while she is sleeping and how babies can't use blankie at night because it might cover their faces! I think she got it!

Laundry and Football!

When I was teaching I spent most Sundays grading papers and planning lessons while watching football. Now those football Sundays are spent folding the enormous pile of laundry. The island in our kitchen is a perfect folding spot. With four people having work clothes, beach/hot tub stuff, workout clothes, regular clothes, pajamas and a barfing baby it stacks up fast! Usually I can get it washed and folded but never hung or put away. Yesterday I gave myself a high five for completing it all! BUT the thing that stinks about laundry is that we already had a fresh pile of dirty clothes when I went to bed last night! Ugghhh!!

Trick-Or-Treat

We had a great time Trick-Or-Treating...the girl's Nemo costumes were a big hit! I couldn't believe how crowded it was...I'm sure people ran out of candy. We lasted about an hour and a half and the kids probably could have gone longer, but the parents were done!

The Nemos

Trick-Or-Treat

Hailey and Colin

The Pirates and Nemos (Mason is laying down behind Rylee)

The MacDonalds