Day 8

Today was shopping day! We went to a mall about 20 minutes away and I hit up the Macy's. They didn't have the good deals for kid clothes that the one in Seattle has. We went to the tourist stores and I bought an apron and Brian bought a ukulele and bought me a couple of necklaces. We had to buy Claire more diapers and she is officially in size 3! Crazy :) I'm assuming that she's at least 16 lbs now. She is napping now and Brian is down by the pool grilling up some veggies and pineapple. YUM!!

Day 7

Today we went to the Aquarium! It was really fun and Claire loved it! She followed the fish very close! It was a lot better than the Seattle one but not anywhere as good as the one at Tennessee. :) I doubt many are. Then we had the closing dinner. Everyone brought what they haven't eaten and we potlucked it. Pretty much everyone leaves tomorrow except us and a couple other people who came late with us. Sweet huh? It will be kinda lonely not running into everyone but oh well. We sang some more songs and Brian and the guys did the dance again. I got it on tape so you can see it better.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Claire is saying "Momma" a lot now. Especially while Brian is holding her and she is reaching out to me crying. It's a tad bit sad....

Day 6

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! It was weird not being around family and doing all the traditions. We went to the beach and I went snorkeling again. It was not as much fun this time because the waves were much stronger and after Brian was introduced to the pleasures of Mr. Sea Urchin I was paranoid that I would get pushed into a reef. Anyway, I made it. Claire is getting better about the water. She let Brian put her feet in it yesterday.

Last night we grilled a bunch of veggies and some other people had extra meat so we all shared and had a yummy dinner. And of course we had to finish the evening off with some pie!

Day 5

I went snorkeling and Brian went scuba diving. It was really fun to snorkel. A guy from Brian's work went with me while Brian watched Claire. We saw a bunch of fish, big and small. Saw some weird tube looking fish and saw two eels. I was hoping for a turtle but no luck. It was the first time I have done that and at first it was a little weird to breathe but I figured it out quick. When I was at the edge of the reef I would look out where there was nothing but sunlight filtering through and I kept expecting some shark to suddenly appear...:) I want to go again. My goal for next trip is to not have a nursing baby...or at least a baby who can eat something else too.





We also watched Bones tonight :) Claire wants to crawl so bad. She is getting so close! She just needs to coordinate everything. She keeps crawling over us and pulling herself up on us. I cant believe how much she is doing!

I will let Brian tell you about his scuba diving...

I got up at 5:15 in the morning and headed to the Kihei boat dock, then we headed out on the Scuba Shack's boat. Our first stop was Molokini crater, the same place I went snorkling yesterday. Scuba > snorkling. I think officially we were only supposed to go like 30 some feet, and after we hit the bottom and starting going around I checked my air supply and depth and it said like 62. Shhhh don't tell. Saw lots of cool fish and there was a 3-4 ft reef shark going about. We played catch with a sea cucumber as well. I'll need to invest in an underwater camera case if I keep this up, because it's much cooler than just telling you about it. I was breathing a lot slower than the other 2 guys I was with, so our dive master told me to go hang out with another master since I had another 15 minutes-ish of air. I guess that gets you some street cred...or scuba cred...if you're the last one to run out of air. It's interesting because you jump in to the water and have to fight the natural instinct to hold your breath, then you just try to stay calm under water.

Well the second stop was turtle town, and I failed at the staying calm. About 10 minutes into the dive the dive master told me to stay put and surfaced with one of the guys I was with, then they came back down and we kept going. Soon after I felt something sharp stab into my heel, and I swam away and looked at my heel and I had 4 dark spots on it. I gave it a squeeze and it looked like ink was coming out, so I showed the dive master. Turns out both the other guys had the same marks on their hands, and we all discovered sea urchins today.

The captain called our stings a Hawaiian tattoo and told us to soak it in vinegar. It stung like the dickens and I can't walk on my heel. Fun story eh? So the second dive was just ok, we did see a bunch of turtles though. I think we're going to get a guy from Port Townsend come to our office and do scuba training in our conference room for some of us if we want to get certified. I think I'd like to, just so I have an excuse to go out to conferences a day early and scuba with the people I work with.

Day 4

Brian went snorkling and I went shopping. I bought Brian two Hawaiian shirts. Tonight we went out to dinner with the employees and wives. It was pretty good. We left Claire with a babysitter and it was a little hard. She pretty much cried the whole time we were gone until she feel asleep. I'm going to let Brian tell you about his trip.

Make a Smilebox photobook

The snorkling trip was called the Blue Water Raft tour. They showed us some different lava flows that were neat, because from the water you could see where it came out from the mountain and how it flowed down the side into the water. We saw some neat rocks and the captain backed us into a cave for a little while. All of the slow rocking got the first of us sick, and we took off to the first snorkling site, Molokini crater. When we got there that first guy got sick. We all went into the water for snorkling with some fishes, and it was kind of cold so I went back into the boat a little bit before everyone else. I started to feel a little woozy, but not too bad. Then everyone got back into the boat and we went behind the crater where is was a lot more choppy. I didn't get into the water because it was just some coral, and two others didn't go in as well. We all started feeling bleh, then went off to the third snorkling spot, where one girl threw up on the way. I chose cold water over rocky boat, and went around in the water, saw some turtles, etc. Then we headed home. Weird, because we had a boat when I was younger and I never really have gotten sea sick. Oh well. Then we fed some birds when the boat was docking, and I got a video of it. So that's the day.

Day 3

Brian went and kinda learned how to scuba dive today! He is going on a resort dive on Wed. and had to do a little training today. He said it was fun. I watched Claire caterpillar crawl. Also fun. Tonight was the company FHE. It is really fun being with an all LDS company. Weird, but fun. A little quirky, but fun. It's nice not to have to worry about things like alcohol and language. We had a dinner and then the guys sang and did a dance. It was a pretty fun day!














brians on the end with the hat

Day 2

Today was pretty uneventful. We went to church. The youth speaker gave a NO JOKE less than a 1 minute talk. Like maybe 45 seconds. Huh. After church we had to go to Wal Mart. We just couldn't do it yesterday. Unfortunately, we didn't know that it was not a Super Wal Mart and didn't have groceries so we had to go to Safeway too. Milk is about $6.50. The more expensive milk is over $10. CRAZY. We tried the beach today but Claire wanted nothing to do with it. So then we went over to the pool. Same deal. Sooo...I guess we will try again. We have just chilled and have been watching discovery and stuff. Boring, but at least it was sunny today! Looked more like the Hawaii in the pictures!

Hawaii! Or...we made it

Friday after Brian got out of work we left to head to Seattle. It was very rainy so it took us longer than usual to get there. We stayed at the Marriot townhomes. Claire slept all the way up so she didn't go to sleep until about 11. :( We woke up at 5 to get ready to go. We had a huge plane and they played Hawaii stuff on the screens. One of the "tender mercies" we were blessed with was that there was no one sitting by us so we were able to lay Claire down on the seat between us to sleep. So awesome! It was such a LONG flight. ugh. Then we were almost there and the pilot came on and said that we were going to experience some major turbulence and they were going to close the cabin up early. Of course I started panicking and praying :) I hate flying. Anyway, we had NO turbulence and a very smooth landing. BLESSINGS!! We got to Honolulu and it was so ghetto. The captain came to get everyone for the flight. It was a tiny plane. It had 4 rows. There was no separation between us and the pilot. It didn't get over 3500 ft and was not pressurized. Needless to say I was a little freaked out. But we made it and got our rental car and got to the condo. I was so exhausted!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

And what should I be doing??

if you guessed "Packing" you win! But here I am making another blog post...

I tried to catch Claire doing her nose wrinkle thing








Funny huh? She does it all the time now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!

Today is my wonderful mothers birthday and I just want everyone to know how much I love and admire my mom! She is seriously one of the most amazing people ever. She can do anything and usually does. She helps me out so much everyday. (well when she answers her phone :P) lol. I wish that we lived closer. I am so glad she came to help me with Claire when she was born and give me confidence that I could be a mom. She has a strong testimony of Christ and the gospel and shows us. She has a ton of patience and is so amazing with Ethan. I love you Mom!! I can't wait to see you again!

yucky

So much for all of my grand plans of organizing and cleaning for the day. I've ended up sitting on the couch or bed all day. Why?? Because I am sick. Not fun. It started last night and when Brian got up for seminary I was not doing good. So he canceled seminary so he could help me with the baby. I felt like it was going to go away and he would go to work but alas, 7:30 found me kneeling by my toilet (and i've been there allllll day). So Brian didn't go to work today. He is the BEST husband ever. He has taken care of the baby all day except when I need to nurse her. He has gone to the grocery store a few times, once for medicine and a heating pad and another for Popsicles and saltines and now he is going into work to grab a few files to work on tonight and then is going to stop and get me applesauce and bread. He doesn't have a weak stomach either! He holds my hair and pats me on the back while I think I am going to die...(I've never been good at being sick....and its not something I really want to work at...it's kinda like praying for patience) Anyway, to my mother-in-law Sandy....THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HOW YOU RAISED HIM!!! You did SUCH an AMAZING job!! And luckily Brian's job is awesome and doesn't care. Oh so many blessings!

I'm feeling a tad bit better but still have a bowl right next to me. I don't think I have been this sick in a very long time. At least it is happening before Hawaii. Just please pray that neither Brian nor Claire catch it. Thank you!

....

We lead such dull lives sometimes :) I feel like I should make a post but I have nothing to post about!! It was a typical Monday today. I soaked some beans last night and we had beans and cornbread. Tomorrow I will make refried beans with the leftovers and have burritos. Yay for eating cheap!

My baby wants to crawl SO BAD. She is getting so close. She is also SO vocal. Sometimes it's embarrassing. Like during relief society. We have yelling contests at home a lot. Not upset yelling, just yelling. She is such a little goober! She is also doing this thing where she smiles and wrinkles her nose. It is SOOOO cute. I need to try and get a picture of it.

The next couple of days I will be cleaning and organizing. I hate leaving for vacation when my house is a mess. The whole time I am gone I have a little piece of my mind focusing on the fact that when I get home I have to clean. Not fun. I really need to organize my pots and pans. I am not making good use of my space and I need more room for food storage. We cleaned out our closets and put some clothes (like my maternity clothes and skinny clothes) in space bags. We put some #10 cans in our closets. It stinks not having space for things. I guess I will do what I can with what I have and know that the Lord knows that I am trying my darnedest.

Saturday we had a tri-ward food storage/emergency preparedness activity. There were some very interesting things. We are buying two big water barrels. One holds 55 gallons and the other holds 15. Together it costs $45. The 55 gallon one is about $85 other places. We are going to put them on our balcony. I've been concerned with water and now I'm not!! We also buy cases of water bottles every so often. There was also an idea of scanning important/sentimental documents and putting them on a flash drive. That way if something happens you still have all the important stuff. Also, I got some information about CPR classes. I'm going to take one in December and Brian is going to take it in January. It was really good. I need to split our 72 hour kit and get another duffel bag for Brian. Here the big thing is earthquakes and tsunamis. Weird. We are also going to make a will. Depressing to think about but necessary now that we have Claire! **If ye are prepared ye shall not fear!** Our lesson in Relief Society this Sunday was about the Second Coming...I wonder if that was planned? lol. I feel like this is getting to be my obsession. I guess there could be worse things to be obsessed about!

Saturday was GORGEOUS by the way. Beautiful weather! Quite impressive for November. We went to the park and walked. There was a bunch of teenage boys there running around with medieval swords and shields and stuff. Reminded me of the Wilk at BYU. Aww...what nerds :) (I say that tenderly...)

Whoo hoo

Brian got a promotion :) He is now "Director of Academic Programs", although that title isn't written in stone because he gets to decide it :) Basically, he is the committee who decides what master and phD students get software grants. Cool huh? lol.

A week from tomorrow we will on a plane headed to Maui!!

Hmm..

I hope this isn't becoming a habit...

**editing compliments of Brian**
I DO put my child down for naps...I think Daddy just wears her out playing with her when he gets home

Happy Veteran's Day!
When Brian's alarm went off at 4:45 he had a text saying that there was no school today and therefore no seminary. Lucky guy got to sleep in today! Whoo hoo! Today we went on an outing to Walmart. We were looking for a camp stove. We figured if there was a natural disaster and we were stuck at home and the electricity was out we would need a way to be able to cook. (Outdoors, of course...) We are going to stop by a few sporting goods stores and see what they have too. We also bought like 20 things of each cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup. We must have looked crazy but it was on sale!! Usually it is $1.12 for a can...(is that crazy high?? Is it like that everywhere or just here??) Today it was 60 cents. So we stocked up. Wont need that for a long time. :)

I am almost finished with my baby food book. I was not going to make her rice cereal but now I think I will. It really isn't that hard. You grind up a 1/3 of rice, or oats, or millet, or whatever, and then you boil a cup of water and cook it for 10 minutes. When she's nine months I will add legumes. Then she will have a Super Protein. And she will be Super Baby! The lady who wrote this book said that all of the kids who ate this hardly ever got sick. And she said they NEVER had problems with constipation or diarrhea. Probably worth it. I'm going to make all her fruits and veggies homemade too. At least, that is my plan. I have a vitamin supplement I give her for more Vitamin B and Iron. I want her to be as healthy as possible!!

Sleepy Claire

(and i dont know why my last video isn't working...grr)

Yay!

I love the weekend!!

So yesterday we went to the store and bought a high chair for Claire. She looks so small in it! Her feet BARELY hang off the end.


Then for "date night", Brian and I watched Serenity and ate a pomegranate. I LOVE pomegranates. We would always get one in our stockings for Christmas. So yummy :) Serenity is the movie of Firefly. It wraps up the series since it got canceled after one season. It was really good. I would recommend it. One thing though, don't let your kids watch the outtakes. They have dirty mouths on there...

This morning we tried some rice cereal with Claire. She didn't know what to make of it at first. I made it runny though, it wasn't very "solid". It was fun though! She is getting to be such a big girl!!
Uh, oh, I have a bad feeling about this...


Momma, what are you doing to me??

No...I don't think so...

Okay Dad, I guess I'll try...





Then we went to the library because they are having a sale. We spent about $15 and got about 30 books. Ten of those are readers digest for young readers and have 4 books in them. All are in VERY good condition. I got the sequel to Little Women, I got a couple of Dr. Doolittle books, Bedtime Stories for Children, Wicked, Black Beauty, Rebecca and many more. SO many more...Brian got a bunch too. We also got a couple of VHS and books on tape. I LOVE the Library sales. We got kids books 2 for 25 cents. Can't get better than that!! We are going to need another book shelf soon although I have no idea where we would put it!

Our finds

Then we went of a walk and to the store. Brian has been working on his bike and Claire is watching a Signing Time. I need to start working on my lesson for tomorrow. I'm super nervous. I am THE youngest person in our Relief Society. Blah...

Videos

Here's some videos...

Claire jumping. I don't know why Brian turned the camera around...sorry :)




Claire playing. This was taken a few weeks ago so she can sit up a little better now

There's no wrong way...

to eat a Reece's.


However, my favorite way is frozen. Can I just tell you....YUM.

(Sorry mom)

6 months!

Happy 6 month birthday Claire!!
Goodness I love that little girl so much!! It makes me so sad sometimes that she is getting older. I don't really want her to get older. I love her little babbles and chubby thighs and the way she cuddles.

I took her to the doctor today. It was a very different experience from her last visit. When I took her in the other week she cried when the lady checked her ears. Today she had a guy doctor. As soon as he touched her she screamed and screamed and screamed. Even when he left the room she screamed, and screamed, and screamed. I could not calm her down at all! I don't know what her deal was. I have never heard her scream like that. I would have thought he bit her or something. I got one vaccination. He recommended this specific one. I don't know how she did with the shot because she was still screaming when the nurse came in to give it to her. No more guy doctors for a while. She weighs 15 lbs 9 ounces. Healthy as a horse and he says she has the most beautiful head....yeah, kinda strange.

I ordered a couple of swim suits from Lands End and they got here today. We are heading to Hawaii soon!! I had to decide which one I wanted. Talk about stressful!! I went with a tankini. Black, because black slims. lol. I don't like me in swim suits. However, I do like Claire in hers!


Adorable?? Well, yes, I think so.
Just look at that face!
<--------------------

Anyway, we went over to some friends house tonight to watch the TCU-Utah game. Utah won. Hopefully BYU will beat Utah when we play. We can always hope.

Well I think thats it for my day. I will leave you with some pictures of Claire playing with Daddy.


She gets distracted easily. This time by the zipper on his jacket.

Oh my

So Obama is going to be our next president. I'm not too thrilled. But on the other hand, how many of his promises can he really make good on? That will probably get people mad at him, when he doesn't deliver. I've seen videos of people being so excited because he is going to pay their mortgage and gas. When that doesn't happen I think many are going to become disenchanted with their "Messiah". Plus, the senate and house are in the Democrat majority. When they can't get anything done hopefully Republicans will be back in in two years. (Mitt 2012!)

So I have a facebook account. For people who don't use facebook you can put a Status up of what you are doing or thinking or whatever. It was funny watching people's status yesterday. Plenty of people were upset when Obama won. (Rightly in my opinion) What made me mad was seeing people who said things such as "My president is BLACK and if you don't like that move", or "Obama made history and now I'm seeing people's real side come out" or "You just don't like black people", things like that. PUH-LEASE people. Does it always have to be about RACE? Could it POSSIBLY be that we just don't like his policy??? If McCain had been black and Obama white i STILL would have voted for McCain. If they were both black or both white I still would have voted for McCain. We have elected a black man to be president. No excuse anymore. Maybe the race card will die.......doubtful.

Anyway, I'm going to focus on me and my family. I'm giving up on the government. Who needs them anyway :) I'm really really getting into food storage. I just wish I had more money and more space to spend on it!

And in more important news...Claire turns 6 months tomorrow!!

Halloween

We didn't do much for Halloween. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat. Claire was Little Red Riding Hood and Brian was a "shooting star". We took two poster boards and cut out two stars. He had two guns too. Everyone thought he was a cowboy with a huge badge. Haha. We didn't get any pictures though.

Claire in her cat halloween onsie




Starting to carve
I made no bake cookies for the occasion Claire helped


Brian's pumpkin


Mine
My big experiment for the week was making granola. It turned out pretty good and is way cheaper than buying it so I think I will continue to make it. I may try to make granola bars this week. I also made another loaf of bread and will probably try my hand at croûtons too, if Brian doesn't eat the bread fast enough.

We had our friends Mike and Jocelyn over for dinner today. She is preggo and they are having their ultrasound tomorrow morning!! Whoo hoo!

It's going to be an interesting week. We are going to be finding out which direction our country is going to take...(I think Obama would ruin the country), Claire is going to turn 6 months (holy cow) and I'm going to start doing "solids". I am considering making all her baby food, rice cereal and all, but I may buy her rice cereal. If I make it I will have to give her iron supplements and I kinda don't want to mess with that. I would FEEL better making it because I know it would be better for her. I may try a batch and see how easy it is. I'm glad I was able to nurse exclusively for 6 months although I don't know if I will do that with the rest of my kids. It depends if she starts sleeping better :)

Claire sleeping

I love taking sleeping pictures...she is just so cute!