Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day, yes I did use the word happy.  We have spent some time reading about the true meaning of memorial day and what it is all about.  The history of the day is very insightful.  This is a day to remember those who have lost their lives while fighting for our freedom.  So why do we use the word happy for such a somber day?  To me, we should celebrate the lives of these great people who laid down their own lives, so that we can be here today.  These were not just any ordinary people, they were soldiers, true American heroes.  The sacrifices they made for our freedom are beyond words, I cannot even imagine what it must have been like.  So thank you to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice, I am eternally grateful for your act of service.

It was interesting to read that the flags are raised and then ceremoniously lowered to the half-staff position until 12 noon.  This is to represent those who lost their life while serving our country.  Then they are raised to the top to represent the brave men and women who are still fighting for our freedom today.  They will pick up where they left off and continue to fight for justice.  I never knew this, but am glad I did a little research.  What a special day to celebrate!  It is so much more then cookouts, family, friends, fireworks, and American Flags.  Had people not fought for us, we would not be here today to do all of the things that we enjoy so much.  The day means so much more when you actually know what it is all about, pretty cool huh?  I hope you took some time today to remember those that lost their life while fighting for yours.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Zero-and-a-half

I cannot believe that it has been 6 months since Micah was born!  Phew, time has flown by.  In the past 6 months, our world has completely changed.  Not only did we welcome a sweet little boy into our family, but we also left our comfortable life in Maryland and moved as far away as we possibly could (while still living in the United States).  I can't wait to share all of this with Micah one day when he is old enough to understand.

Micah is turning into this little boy right before my eyes.  I was just looking at pictures and thinking to myself, was he really that small?  My cuddly little boy has turned into this roly poly little guy who has to grab everything and put it in his mouth!  And according to all of our friends here, Micah is crawling. It is his own makeshift version of crawling, but he gets where he needs to go.  He is up on all fours, moves his feet and then face plants and repeats the process until he reaches that tasty flip flop or tv cord : )

Ahhhh the memorable moment of this weekend.  Yesterday, we thought it would be nice to venture to the beach for a few hours in the morning.  On the way there, we heard some noises coming from the back seat, do you catch my drift?  Sam said maybe we should swing by the house and change his diaper before we head to the beach.  My response was nah, he will be okay.  Well, boy was I ever wrong!  This boy was covered in head to toe with green goodness!  I mean everywhere!  Car seat, arms, legs, hands, face, pacifier, and probably even his mouth!  We went through an entire thing of wipes before we even stepped foot on the beach.  Needless to say, mom and dad got a good laugh!  It is time's like these that I will never forget and will be sharing with Micah at his 16th birthday!  Lesson learned:  keep an extra pacifier in the car and an extra set of wipes.  That way you can always call for back up!

Happy 6 months Micah Robert, thank you for always keeping Mommy and Daddy on your toes!

Then

And look at me now!

Mommy and Micah

Blessed!

Mother's Day is just about wrapping up here in Hawaii and what a wonderful day it was!  Although according to my husband, every day is mother's day in our house (awwww, isn't he sweet?).  Was hoping for a relaxing day at the beach, but figures, the one real rainy, dreary day of the year happened today!  A little rain didn't stop us from enjoying our day!  We spent the morning at church and then ventured up to the North Shore seeking waves, turtles, and some yummy food.  We saw some ehh waves, but we did see one large turtle lounging on the beach!!  Enjoyed some tasty coffee and ended the day with some garlic shrimp at one of the famous shrimp shacks in Hawaii.

On a daily basis I am reminded how blessed I am to be a mommy to Micah.  Yes, it is a lot of work and means lots of sacrificing, but it is so rewarding!  I wouldn't have it any other way!  It is hard to imagine our lives without this little guy!  The smile he gives you when he spots you from across the room just melts my heart.  And that giggle that belts out of his little mouth when you tickle him, you can't help but laugh right back.  Or when he puts his arms out and reaches for you, it gets me every time.  Don't get me wrong, he is a little stinker sometimes too, but even still I am over flowing with love for him.  He is our big bundle of joy and I thank God for him every single day.  

This little boy is growing up right before my eyes and I am trying to soak in every minute of every day with him.  I have made a point to enjoy every moment with Micah, whether it be rocking him to sleep, playing on the floor, walking around the neighborhood, riding in the car, changing diapers, and even waking up in the middle of the night.  I am blessed to share in each and every one of these memories with Micah because one day, they will be distant memories, ones that I will cherish forever.

People always said that being a mom will change your world forever.  I believed it, but didn't know how much it would change my world.  The minute I laid eyes on my handsome son, my world had forever changed.  It is no longer about yourself, but about making a life for your son.  I am so thankful that God chose me to be his mommy, what a ride it has been already!

Stressful, yes....hard-work, yes....confusing, yes...challenging, yes....but at the end of the day, the good always outweighs the bad.  And I am so thankful for all the mommies I have around me that offer their support, encouragement, advice, and lending hands.  Your help means more to me then you will ever know!

Check out this huge turtle we saw at the beach today!

My wonderful family!

Here you are guys, a little wave action!

This is the life

I love this little boy so much!

Hanging out at dinner 

Romy's Shrimp Shack (rustic, but quite tasty) It is a must to do when visiting the North Shore

A Girl's Best Friend

As Mother's Day is quickly approaching, I figure this post is much needed.  My husband has been out of town all week on travel for work, so it has been me, Micah, and the 2 dogs all week!  It has been a fairly quiet week, some time with friends here and there, but nothing beats the company of my husband.  Things always feel a tad bit off when he is away!  I very quickly realized all that he takes care of around the house and stuff that I know absolutely nothing about.  I actually created a mental list of stuff I needed to find out from him for when he is actual gone for a significant amount of time and I can't always call him up with my silly questions!

Anyways, the week is coming to an end and we all survived!  The dogs have managed to learn how to walk with the stroller after being run over a few dozen times.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

As I was playing around on pinterest tonight I came across this quote that said, "A daughter is just a little girl who grows up to be your best friend."  I couldn't say it any better!  I am pretty sure I have called my mom every day this week just to chat.  Most of the time I did not really have anything important to discuss, but just felt like talking!  I know it makes my dad crazy, but there is just something about a girl talking to her mom!  Thanks mom for helping me out this week, you truly are the best!

It seems like the older I get, the more I appreciate my mom.  Not that I did not appreciate her before, but I just learn more and more of what she does for me as I get older, especially now that I have a child of my own.  After having Micah, I now can see a glimpse of how much you love me and all that you have done for me over the years that I never even thought about.  Thank you for all that you do for me and for supporting me in everything I do.  Thank you for scaring away the boogie monster time after time and thank you for kissing all my boo boos.  Thank you for always listening to me when I need it and thank you for always saying the right thing when I need it the most.  Thank you for reading to me and tucking me in every night.  Thank you for giving up sleep to cuddle with your sweet baby girl in the middle of the night.  Thank you for showing me the meaning of love and sacrifice.  Thank you for your encouragement and letting me make mistakes along the way.  Thank you for putting up with me.  Thank you for being my number one fan at all of my games over the years.  Thank you for praying for me and always reminding me of what is really important in life.  Thank you for sharing in the good and the bad and whatever life brings us.  Thank you for laughing with me and even crying with me over the years.  Thank you for believing in me.  Thank you for your friendship and your unconditional love.  Thank you for making your children a priority and investing so much in each of our lives.  Thank you for being the perfect role model, I pray that I can be the same kind of mom to little Micah.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for EVERYTHING!!!  Thank you for being my mom, I am so blessed to call you that!

So many wonderful wonderful memories over the past 25 years and so many more to come!  Happy Mother's Day to the best mom a girl could ask for!!!

The Importance of Family

There is a couple down the street whom we have a lot in common with and we hang out together pretty regularly.  Anyways, we were sitting out on the porch the other night just chatting away about life.  The guys were talking about cars, motorcycles, and whatever else it is you men like to talk about.  Whereas, we, the two ladies were talking about life and what I would consider more meaningful stuff.  I was sharing that I was really hoping to go home this summer to see my family.  Not because I am homesick, yes, I do miss them, but the reason I want to go home is so much more then that.

Ever since I have had Micah, life seems so much more precious.  I want to soak up all the time with my sweet baby boy, but I also want my family to soak up time with him.  Micah has so many people who love him dearly back on the East coast and I do not want to keep him away from that.  His great grandma, cousins, aunts, grandparents, uncles...all love him so much and I want them to spend time with him!  Life isn't about making money and working and being successful, it is about family, love, and relationships.  With that said, I am going to make every effort to see the people who mean the most to us as often as I can.  We may not get to see them everyday like most people, but I can guarantee that the time we spend together will be quality time.  In a lot of ways, I am thankful for the military life. I don't always like being so far away from home, but it allows me to value the true meaning of family.  

So the good news is that I have booked a ticket and we will be coming home in early July and staying until mid August.  Looking forward to spending the summer with all of our family and making lots of new memories!  Sam will be staying home to work and will most likely be leaving on deployment while we are gone.  Already feeling guilty about leaving him, but he totally supports us and understands the importance of us

His shirt says Going To Grandmas, he is ready!!!

going home.  So thankful for such a wonderful and understanding husband!

Beach Bums

After being in Hawaii for a month, we figured it was time to bite the bullet and hit the beach!  Ahhhh, I could get used to this life!  We spent Saturday hanging out at the beach.  Might I add that this beach was only a TEN minute drive from our house!  This was my first time putting my toes in the Pacific Ocean and Micah too, of course.  No complaints here!  Although, Micah may feel a bit different.  He loves the sound of the ocean and lounging in his tent, the water is a whole different story.  He was a bit concerned when the water was washing over his feet.  No worries though, he has some time to get used to it, his surf lessons do not start until next month!

The water was beautiful, surf was a little rough at this beach, so no swimming allowed.  You need flippers or a surf board to get in the water.  I enjoyed watching all the surfers and boogie boarders do their thing out their in the water.  Maybe we will learn to surf while we are here, who knows!

The dogs have also been introduced to the Pacific Ocean, pretty sure they loved it!  There is a beach in Kailua that is pet friendly, so in a dog's eyes this was heaven.  They got to romp around, swim, play frisbee, and roll in the sand.  Clearly, the back of the car got the worst end of this deal.  Oh well!  I have come to terms with the fact that the Flex is going to be filled with sand for the next 4 years!

Pictures do such a good job sharing our memories with you all, enjoy!!

Lounging at the beach

Playing

Love these two, aren't they cute?!?

Relaxinggggg

Hmmm, I am not so sure about all this

Uhhhh where am I?

Mommy and Micah

Snoozing on daddy

Snoozing on mommy

Rested boy=Happy boy

Swimming at the beach

Malcolm really enjoyed swimming

This goofy dog was too focused on playing frisbee to go swimming

How pretty is this?

Operation rescue the frisbee!

Our sweet little family

Sandy Sandy dog, who wants to take her home?

Just Another Day In Paradise

This morning on my walk I found myself thinking how in the world did I end up here?  If you would have asked me 5 years ago where I would be today, I do not think my answer would be living in Hawaii with a husband who is in the military.  Now that I am here, I could not picture my life any other way!  It is truly amazing how God's plans for little ol' me blew my own plans out of the water!  I am thrilled for this adventure and we are totally trusting in the fact that God has us all the way out here in Hawaii for a reason.

As requested by my wonderful father, pictures, pictures, and more pictures of Hawaii!  He really wants pictures of the big waves, but I do not have any of those YET, but I will, don't you worry!

So this past weekend, we decided to go on a "hike."  I thought since it was a paved trail, it would be a good place to start our first attempt at hiking there.  We went to the Makapu'u Point Trail, which is a trail made up of the old access road to the Makapu'u Lighthouse.  This lighthouse was built in 1909 and is now off limits to tour.  The lighthouse is still working and you are able to see the blinking light from our house.  Anyways, the hike was breathtaking, in more ways than one!  It was a gradual climb to the top with the warm sunshine beating down on us the whole way!  The view at the top was worth the huffing and puffing on the way up!  We even saw a few whales once we were at the top!  We saw lots of blowholes and every once in a while we would see a fin pop up!  Unfortunately, they were not super active, but for our first trip, I was happy to see just a glimpse of the whales.  They are active in the Hawaiian waters from about November to May.

Now for the best part, the pictures!

Let's Go Exploring!

Koko Crater

And we're off!

Mommy and Micah

Isn't God's creation absolutely amazing?

Far off in the distance you can see a "hill," our house is located at the bottom of that.

Straight down from the top, look at that blue blue blue water!

We made it to the top!

Sleeping baby, tired dogs

Snoozing away!  He may not remember it, but he has seen the coolest things in his little lifetime!

If you look closely, you can see people swimming in those pools, how awesome is that?  This has been added to my Hawaii bucket list!  We figured with dogs and a stroller, this may be a little difficult, so another day we will tackle this!

Makapu'u Lighthouse

Yup, that's a whale!

Chillin' in his stroller

Needless to say, after we got home, we all took a 2 hour nap...dogs included!

Lesson learned this week:  WEAR SUNSCREEN!  When I looked up this trail online, it even said make sure to bring lots of water and wear sunscreen.  I brought the water and put sunscreen on my face, but neglected to put it elsewhere.  I now have shoulders that are red as a beet!  Oooops, I guess the sun is a bit hotter here!  I am trying not to live up to my last name here, I want to have a little color!  Don't worry, I did put sunscreen on Micah!