Getting Ready for Halloween

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins. Hailey wanted nothing to do with cleaning the guts out of the pumpkin, but she did like making the animal faces in her pumpkin (a Mr. Potato Head concept). My brother Mike came into town for a few days and joined in some festivities with us. We got a large enough pumpkin to put Kailee in! She loved it and just sat there so contently!
Tiffany, Mike and I took the 5 kids to the library for a Halloween event ...it was pretty lame though. They did have a haunted house set up, but Hailey was scared enough by the people walking around in costumes!

Farmer Hailey and Scarecrow Kailee

We are going to Trick-Or-Treat tomorrow with the Stampfer Pirates. Hailey and Kailee are little Nemos. We've talked to Hailey a lot about Halloween and the fact that Colin and Rylee are going to be pirates and not to be sad that she isn't a pirate too. We almost didn't make it out to Trick-Or Treat last year because she was so distraught over wanting to wear Jackson's doggie costume instead of hers and then she wanted his Elmo shoes too! Holding the Elmo shoe captive!
After Trick-Or-Treating...checking out the loot...take a look at her shoes

Rain, Rain Go Away

We had planned on going to the pumpkin patch this weekend, but the rain kept us away. We attempted to go on Saturday despite the looming gray clouds as we were getting ready and sure enough just as we were pulling up it started to rain. We hemmed and hawed and even out of the car debating whether to go or not and then decided to try again tomorrow. It's in a field of dirt, so not only would we be wet, but Hailey would inevitably be muddy not to mention trying to keep Kailee dry. It's rare to have two dreary days in a row in Hawaii, so we thought we try again Sunday, but we woke up to more rain today. It's sunny out now, but the mud-factor is keep us away. I know we are party poopers, but at least Hailey is too young to realize what she is missing. I know people look at us like we are crazy when we have a complaint about living in Hawaii, but we do miss out on some of the fun holiday traditions that just don't seem the same when you can do them in flip flops and shorts. So, we are going to be boring and get our pumpkins from the grocery store. We joked about bringing the video camera into the store and still letting Hailey pick out her pumpkin! I feel really bad for the pumpkin patch owners. There is only ONE pumpkin patch on the island and it's only open 4 days...last weekend and this weekend. I'm sure they didn't get the turn out they expected. :( Leevi is bringing the 'store' pumpkins home with him today, so we will carve them tonight and I'll try to get pictures up tomorrow.

Halloween Candy Recalled

Not sure how much truth is in this, but why take the risk...

HALLOWEEN CANDY RECALLED
(you can verify this on snopes: http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/coins.asp
There is a new warning put out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.... Sherwood brand Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate coins are being recalled due to the fact that they contain Melamine, the ingredient in milk product that has caused many infant deaths in China. These candies are sold at Costco, as well as many bulk and dollar stores. please make sure to check your childrens halloween candy and DO NOT LET THEM EAT THE PIRATE COINS (you know the ones wrapped in the shiny gold foil) and please let other parents know about this!

Sweets for the Sweet!

I'm certain this baby weight would come off a lot faster if I didn't have such a sweet tooth!!! They say breastfeeding burns so many calories, but they also don't mention how hungry it makes you!! I could control myself during the pregnancy, but now I feel like I'm always starving!! I only have about 10-15 more pounds to lose, but the only thing lost right now is my motivation to get my bum out the door and walk...part of it could have to do with the fact that we live on a hill and the thought of pushing the double stroller up it just makes me want to stay inside and bake cookies!! :) I'll get there soon enough! Thank goodness there isn't a Coldstone Creamery conveniently down the road!

No, we don't have mice...Hailey's donut from my much needed coffee run!She got bored with her donut and decided it needed some flare!
Sugar cookies with LOTS of sprinkles!

Who is Who?

The Kids!

Tiffany and I were finally brave enough to have a playdate with all 5 kids. It went off without a hitch, so I'm sure there will be many more to come. We haven't yet attempted an "outing" with all of us like we used to do before the babies came and we are just staying low key for now at one of our houses. Colin and Hailey can sometimes go at it like a brother and sister would, so playing the referee while tending to the newborns can sometimes be a challenge we weren't yet ready to face. They played great though and we even managed to actually sit down all together at lunch! Here are some pictures we got of all the kids.

Mason (3 weeks) Colin (3 years) Rylee (18 months) Hailey (2 1/2 years) Kailee (3 weeks)

I knew Hailey was making a face in this picture, but we had no idea that Colin joined her until we scrolled through all the pictures when we had finished. I told them to "smile nicely" and this is the response we got! I LOVE it!!

We can't believe the babies are already a month old! When Tiffany and I found out we were both pregnant and had the same due date we were excited yet realistic in knowing that the chances of us having the babies on the same day would be pretty far fetched...one of us could be 2 weeks early and the other two weeks late and then they'd be a month apart. We had talked about one of us drinking castor oil to induce labor if the other had started naturally, but didn't need to. I had toyed around with the idea to drink it the night of the 19th because I had wanted Kailee to be born on the 20th to match Hailey's date of 2/20 and our anniversary of 12/20. Tiffany had Mason on the 18th and then my contractions started the next morning and I had Kailee that night, so it was pretty exciting that we were able to overlap in the hospital!! Not only are the babies just a day apart, but both of our labors were very similar. Tiffany had to take an ambulance to the hospital because her labor came on so fast and it was rush hour traffic. Kailee decided that she couldn't be shown up by Mason and chose an equally thrilling arrival (see previous post if you don't know the story). What adds to the similarities is that both Tiffany and I pushed for exactly 12 mintues...we didn't realize that until we read the write up from the midwives on our discharge papers.

Tiffany and I at Ko'Olina...about a month and a half before the births

In my hospital room the day Mason was discharged

Too Smart For Her Own Good!

Yesterday Hailey was vacuuming with her Elmo vacuum, but as she was "cleaning" my floors she was chasing Leila around (that poor dog puts up with so much!) I told Hailey to stop once but then after the second time she did it I told her I was going to put the vacuum in the trash. She replied oh so innocently, "It's too big...it won't fit!" I don't think she meant to be a smarty pants; that's just how 2 year olds think...so matter of factly! She got the point though and left Leila alone and moved on to something else! Here's a link to a youtube video of Hailey torturing Leila back when we thought it was still cute. Hailey is about 11 months in the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ii-LR-1khc

Photo Shoot

We took the girls last week to have professional pictures taken...Kailee was great (she slept the whole time), but for Hailey I had to do some serious bribing! She is really shy around new people, so convincing her to sit on the table with Kailee had me pulling out all kinds of tricks. She finally did and we got at least one good pic of the two of them. The pics below are ones I've taken myself and you'll see I still had a hard time getting Hailey to "pose"...I finally got her be serious by telling her we'd go make blueberry muffins when we finish (she really likes the "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" book)

Hailey's First Crush!

Hailey's in love......with Moe from the Doodlebops!!! She gets all school-girl giggley when we tease her that she likes Moe! It's really cute! Moe is the wild one who plays the guitar and break-dances. Hmmm...should we be concerned about that for the future?! :) She loves singing and dancing with the Doodlebops (just like the Backyardigans) and she imitates things that Moe does constantly (playing the drums, wanting to wear knee-pads, etc) She and I saw them in concert a few weeks ago and since then she's been on a Doodlebops kick!

Hailey and Kailee Pics

Here are some pictures I've put together of the girls. I commented in a previous post about how much Kailee looks like Hailey...that was one of the first things I said after Kailee was born. Their weight and length were practically the same at birth, so we'll see if Kailee becomes the little butterball that Hailey was before she started crawling! Hailey had gain almost two pounds by her two week check up, so we'll see about Kailee this Friday!

Hailey is on the left or top in all these pictures...I quizzed Leevi to see if he could tell who was who and he passed! :)

Minutes old...

At the hospital...

About a week old...

Hailey is about a week or two older than Kailee in this picture...

Hailey and Leila Adjusting...

Kailee has been home for just over a week now and the family seems to be adjusting well. We've been deliberate with extra activities for Hailey to make sure she isn't feeling left out with a new baby around to take all the attention. Leevi took her to the waterpark on Thursday and to the UH football game on Saturday. Sunday, she and I went to see the Doodlebops in concert and yesterday she and Leevi went to the beach. She's definitely feeling the love! Leila on the other hand must be feeling a bit left out because two days in a row she has gotten up on the couch and eaten food from a t.v. tray. Leevi left out his lunch when he went next door for something that the neighbors needed and came back to find her pigging out on his lunch. She NEVER does things like that!! And then again today, she ate something of Hailey's that she left sitting out. Leila still gets her walks everyday, but maybe she needs a few extra hugs too! :)

Hailey had a few rough moments the weekend I was in the hospital and the first few days we were home, but overall she's being a great big sister! The bumps in the road we've had were her just being stubborn and not listening, but nothing directed exactly toward Kailee. She loves helping change diapers and to get anything you need. If Kailee starts to fuss, Hailey is the first one there and says, "It's ok Kailee. I'm right here!" Here are some pics from the last few days...

First time helping give Kailee a bottle...
Reading books to her...they must have sat there for at least 20 minutes! The sisterly bond grows...
The Doodlebops concert! It was pretty entertaining, but I liked Sesame Street Live better. Hailey loved it though, so that's all that matters!!