Move over Michael Phelps!

We've had the hot tub since before Hailey was born, but I guess we've never thought about her going in it. She's such a big girl now! :) The temperature is set to a "warm bath" degree and she loves it! She calls it the "big pool" as opposed to her "small kiddie pool". Leevi has been teaching her how to blow bubbles and dunk her face in the water and how to blow out when she "swims" under. She's never had much fear of water and we are so fortunate that we live in Hawaii and can go to pools, beaches and the waterpark year round. I know Leevi is just dying for the day when she can go tandem surfing with him! The video clip isn't the greatest because it was dark out. Maybe I'll replace this video if I can refilm her one time before sunset!



Hailey at 5 months: Our first family "vacation" to Kauai...she had just learned how to sit up that week. What a chunk!!!

Our favorite "kid" beach, Ko'Olina

Hailey at 20 months: Our vacation to the Big Island when we thought Leevi was going to deploy!

At the waterpark...that slide is just as much fun for her as it is for us... it's pretty fast!

Pretty, Pretty Princess

I've got some old makeup I'll allow Hailey to play with (if she must) while I'm getting ready myself. She really did herself up tonight before we went to Chuck E. Cheese. The pics were taken before I got her ready, so her wild hair really adds to the "look"!

Our little Picasso!

Hailey was playing with her playdoh the other day and created a masterpiece!!! She came to me and showed me the "Nimo" fish she had made! I thought it looked perfect, not to mention that her imagination was able to visualize that. I think she was as shocked as I was! I thought it was too cute and needed to be saved. I added the stripes today and she loves it! We'll put it in a special place in her room. :)

Can't believe I'm sharing this...

This blog might be a little too personal for some, but it's a cute story, so I figured what the heck. Hailey turned 2 1/2 this week and most of you with 2 year olds or who have raised a two year old know how independent they like to be! Hailey has been potty-trained since right around her 2nd birthday and finally started pooping on the potty too. That's all wonderful (it'll be great buying only one set of diapers!!!), but the problem comes when you hear the infamous words of a two year old "I'm a big girl. I can do it myself!" Up until a few weeks ago she was very content with allowing me to help her "clean up" when using the bathroom. Now, it's a different story and she wants to complete the entire process (yes, it is a process) on her own. The "personal" part of this blog gets embarrassing when I have to describe how we are teaching Hailey to wipe. Those of you women or those of you with little girls know that you have to wipe 'front to back' put prevent "issues" (Enough said!) Well, we've been telling Ms. Independent to "wipe down, wipe down"...I'm a broken record in the bathroom! Well, at a lunch date with a friend and her kids yesterday Hailey is cleaning up herself (again Ms. Independent) and as she is cleaning her face she is saying, "Wipe Down! Wipe Down!" :) At least I know she is listening!!! :)

The Backyardigans!

A few weeks back I was at Party City getting some balloons for a baby shower and saw this "life size" helium balloon of Pablo from the Backyardigans! I couldn't resist getting it for Hailey (it's taller than she is!) She LOVES it...and surprisingly Pablo still has some life to him after more than two weeks.

The Backyardigans are a Nick Jr. cartoon with 5 backyard friends (animals) who go on a make-believe adventure everyday. The really neat thing about it is that they sing cute songs and their dances are really choreographed by human dancers with some type of computer animation gadgets on their arms and legs to create the cartoon. We've got two "Yardi" CD's that we listen to in the car...Hailey gets quite flustered when I don't sing (and dance) along!

Here a pic and video of Hailey and Pablo...in the picture she was singing the Barney song to him..."I love you. You love me...." Don't know what she was repeating over and over in the video..

Hailey's Many Ensembles!! Part II

I'm continuing from a post a few weeks back about Hailey loving to play dress up. I've added four more pics...two with Hailey and two with her dressing up Leila. Leila is such a good sport...

Leila was looking at me like, "you know I deserve an extra special treat at dinner tonight!"

Hailey asked me to take a picture of Leila with this outfit: mouse ears and Hailey's beach coverup!

My Handyman Hubby!

I always blog about Hailey, but Leevi should definitely get some attention for the amazing work he did out back this weekend. In Hawaii, homes are ridiculously overpriced with your neighbors on top of you and a barely there backyard. Over the past two years that we've owned our house, we poured money into the upkeep of our tiny yard...originally with sod, then seed and sprinkler systems, etc. The dog's pee keeps killing the grass...Leevi will replant or fertilize the dead spots and while that is regrowing, Leila will pee in new spots! Anyway, long story short, we decided to put a deck in and leave her a small strip in the back to do her business. Leevi built decks in the summers throughout high school and college, so he was pretty excited to try his hand at the craft again. The size of our backyard doesn't allow for a "Home and Garden" style deck, but the simplicity is perfect. I couldn't believe how fast he was able to get everything finished. I did my best to contribute here and there with my big belly and the chore of keeping an interested 2 year old out of the way. Hailey and I did have the job of putting the thousand screws into the holes that Leevi drilled. Hailey really was quite helpful until I noticed that when she ran out of screws instead of getting more out of the box she was taking the ones I had already put in and moving them to her empty holes! :) I tried to take a few before, during, and final result pictures throughout the weekend. We got the hot tub filled up again and Hailey and Leevi went "swimming" when it was still pretty cold! We are going to keep the temp. mild, so I can use it too...maybe it'll even help me through the labor! :)

The grass leveled and the foundation started...

Curious, very curious...

Helping sweep up the mess...way past bedtime!

Helping putting the screws in...if you look closely you can see them in the many rows in front of Hailey's feet (same color as the wood). It started sprinkling, so she HAD to get her Nemo raincoat!

Relaxing in the cold hot tub!

Marshmellow treat after a hard day's work!

Surprise! Oh my....

Parents always say that their little girls/boys grow up so fast! Well, as Hailey was getting ready for her bath tonight we found a surprise in her underwear. No, it wasn't a poop or pee accident...it was...a panty liner! Oh my!!! I guess she's a little too observant!

Kids Say the Darnedest Things Part 2

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Here's the second addition to "kids say the darnedest things". Most of these are daily sayings from Hailey....

**Whenever something is in her eye (dust, eyelash, etc) she comes to us and says, "There's a bug in my eye"

**Hailey still likes to be held a lot but since I'm getting late in my pregnancy I tell her that "she's too heavy and it hurts the baby in my belly." Well, lately she has been bringing me her baby dolls to take from her and repeating that exact phrase with a look of fatigue on her face as she rubs her belly.

**A related phrase I say to her when she asks to be picked up is that "my hands are full"...she'll often want to be carried up or down the stairs but I'm usually dragging groceries, laundry, etc. up/down so often she'll be playing and come to me loaded up with toys/babies and say, "I have my hands full!" :)

**Again dealing with her eyes: She says often, "My eyes hurt", but with her accent/slur it sounds an awful lot like "My a#$ hurts"

**A few days ago she was messing with Leila and pulling her tail. Leevi told her to stop or he'd pull Hailey's tail...she replied to him, "I don't have a tail. I have a bum." :)

**Today getting ready for her nap, she called to me from her room wondering where I was. I called back saying I'm in the bathroom and I'd be there in a minute. She replied back, "O.K., take your time!" Haha...it's amazing on how quickly they pick up on phrases! :)