Hatfields in Hawaii

Happy Days

2008-11-12T18:27:00.006-10:00

From our previous post you would think that life here with the Hatfield family is ALL doom and gloom. Though this has been true 85% of the time, 5% she is sleeping, 4 % she is eating, 3% she is pooping, and 3% of the time she is smiling...okay maybe less than 3% but that was just an estimate:) Here is the proof.

...still fussy!

2008-11-11T11:58:00.003-10:00

So we got her down last night around 11:30. She actually slept quit well but now we are dealing with more of the same today. She is really starting to get a set of lungs on her. She hasn't been happy yet today and I am starting to wonder if we can trade her in for a quiter model:)-Ryan

My First Bike Ride

2008-11-10T20:05:00.005-10:00

Ryan had today off from work for Veteran's Day...he has a nice boss who gave him off both today and tomorrow. I haven't been able to exercise since the birth of Sara due to some medical problems and I got the okay from the doctor to go for an "easy" bike ride with no hills. I had to do the unthinkable and park at the bottom of our road (which I always swore I'd never do). For those of you that haven't been here, it's pretty steep...but still. Regardless, it felt SO good to get out and do some exercise for the first time in a LONG time. Let's just say it was a painful ride in more ways than one...I forgot how much my neck, elbows, wrists, bum, legs, arms, etc can hurt...but it was still a good ride and it felt so good to have fresh air blowing in my face!

Okay so I am not sure what Kelley has written thus far. We are currently switching off with Sara because she is having a ROUGH night. When I mean ROUGH I mean HORRIBLE. Kelley and I have tried everything to get this girl to settle down. We have reached into our bag of tricks and pulled out all the stops and still have a crying girl. When I say we have tried everything I mean we have tried EVERYTHING. Kelley and I even got to the point where we set her in her crib and let her cry for 5 minutes. Once we went in there she was content for the next 5 minutes. Then back to the screaming. She is obviously not feeling good this evening:(

Kelley and I have both been pushed to our absolute edge over the past 7 weeks. We have REALLY started to think that this whole "Let's Have A Kid" idea was not the best decision that we have ever made. Though as I write these words I feel bad about even suggesting that we have given second thoughts and that our little princess has been anything but. I am not sure why we have been blessed with the world's fussiest baby but I am sure there is some good explanation.

Kelley and I have heard everything from it's just because we are first time parents to we feed her too much or too little and that she just needs a good cry. We have been trying our hardest to forget the fact that most of our friends seem to have angel babies that sleep gracefully through the day and night and convince ourselves that her fussiness is due to the fact that she is going to be a VERY smart, active, strong, and independent woman.

Please keep in mind that everything written by me (Ryan) in the last couple of paragraphs was written in the heat of the moment. I figured that I would post it in the interest of letting you all get a candid view of our lives and emotions. Please understand that we both TRUELY love our little girl and that we are just going through some really rough times. Things will get better....

(This is Kelley again) Wow, we're still trying to settle Sara, it's 9:15 and she started screaming at 5:00 tonight. It's been a LONG night so far and it's not even over. No matter what we try she just won't stop crying!!! Help!

As for the rest of the day, after the bike ride, we decided to attempt to drive to town to pick up a little tent for Sara to bring to the beach. We timed it just right so that she'd hopefully go to sleep in the car if we were lucky. Amazingly, we got her asleep and she stayed asleep for 20 minutes!! Woohoo! Ryan would have to slow down well before a stop light and keep brake checking so we wouldn't actually come to a complete stop in order for her to stay asleep, and it worked.

Here's a picture of her in the tent at a park where we stopped so I .....

(This is Ryan again) We are still going at it! It is now 1000 PM. At this rate we will be burning the mid-night oil before you know it. This is the MOST frustrating thing I have ever done:(......

....could feed her.

Ok enough of this blog, I can't even concentrate anymore...(Kel)

.....yeah I know. It's now 10:30 and Kel is on duty. DAMN THIS SUCKS!!!

Thank You Ken and Jane!

2008-11-08T18:42:00.003-10:00

Ken and Jane's trip has come to an end and we're both thankful and sad. They were so much help to all of us and it was great to have them meet little Sara. Tonight has been much harder without the use of 4 sets of hands to soothe sweet Sara girl :-) Now, we have to soothe her and make dinner, and do dishes, and clean up...we are so grateful for their help.

Tonight after much to-do with Sara and her not wanting to settle, Ryan pulled out the hairdryer. Not to do his hair mind you, but it instantaneously calmed her down and put her to sleep. Sweet! It was like magic. We've had her long enough now though, to not get our hopes up on something new. What worked today may not work tomorrow...but now we have something new to add to our arsenal. :-)

P.S.-the six week mark has come and gone...so much for the fussiness coming to an abrupt halt like everyone told us :-) We're banking on the 3 month mark now!!

Happy Birthday Ryan! (A day late)

2008-11-04T18:45:00.006-10:00

Yesterday was Ryan's 31st birthday! And Sara had her 6 week birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! Ryan got up and went for a walk with his Mom, Dad, and Tyla at the beach while Sara and I slept. Unfortunately Sara has seemed to have gotten into a bad habit of waking up a lot throughout the night for the last two nights. Maybe she's so excited to have her grandparents here she doesn't want to sleep. Lets just hope it's a phase and it passes quickly :-) Ryan had to work but got off early and came home to hang out with the fam. I made him a homemade cake and his mom made his favorite, Mexican chicken. We went to the beach and he took his parents out on the stand up surfboard...that was fun for me to watch. Then we came home and he opened gifts. What a fun day :-)

Updates...

2008-11-02T13:40:00.004-10:00

Over the last week or so Sara has had some really good days (and a few not so good but we'll take the good with the bad! ) She's starting to smile a lot and just seems to be happier. It's crazy to watch her grow right before our eyes. She's a great little feeder which makes my life less stressful. It's so fun to play with her little fingers and toes a look at her cute little face while she's feeding. Poor girl always has mom bugging her.

Ryan's been a great dad as usual. He decided to give me a break the other night after a really rough day and took Sara on an exursion. He got her in the car (screaming bloody murder mind you) with Tyla and headed to the beach. The only problem was that it started raining cats and dogs...so plan B...he decided to attempt to go grocery shopping at the commisary, sans stroller. Imagine him carrying her in one arm, pushing the cart with the other and grabbing whatever he could think of as he made a mad dash through the store. They all survived and I got a much needed nap. Needless to say as he unloaded the groceries he realized he had grabbed 4 boxes of cereal! Good thing we like cereal!

Grandpa and Mereme are here visiting for the week...and Sara has been on her best behavior :-) They've been very helpful...yeah for grandparents!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T18:57:00.002-10:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

New Pics

2008-10-25T14:33:00.003-10:00

Here's a series of photos with Sara wearing her Sleepyhead onesie... it shows how much she likes to sleep :-)

And here's a few other ones...

Sleepy Head...

2008-10-23T15:28:00.007-10:00

Or not! If any moms or dads out there have any good sleep tips for a newborn...let us know!!! Who says that newborns sleep all day? Surely not our child...she came out screaming and hasn't stopped yet. I put her in a onesie today that says Sleepy Head, hoping it would rub off on her. Although, I can't complain today because she's actually taken two 30 minute naps and is now going on an hour nap. This is like heaven. Yesterday she slept a TOTAL of 30 minutes!! You heard it right...30 minutes TOTAL! Babies are supposed to sleep 16-18 hours a day...not our child!

On another note, I took her in for her one month well check yesterday and the doctor gave her a clean bill of health (except for her heat rash all over her cheeks and necks...poor girl). She weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces which is the 50th percentile, her head was 13.5 inches (I think) 50th percentile, and she came in at a whopping 21 inches in height which is the 10-25th percentile. She definitely got taller (18.5 inches at birth) but it doesn't look like she'll be a basketball star yet...but you never know :-)

This girl is a hungry girl...she must take after her mom and dad! I think she'd eat all day long if she could but I'm getting a little exhausted to say the least. Hopefully as she gets bigger she'll be able to eat more at each sitting and last a little longer between feedings. I'd have to say that she's lasting a little longer in the past few days and makes it for 3-4 hours between feedings at night...which keeps me sane.

Here are few new pics for you to enjoy!

Sara's Likes and Dislikes

2008-10-20T11:03:00.003-10:00

Things I like:

- The sound of running water (it helps me calm down when I'm screaming)

- The sound of Dad's Ipod (it has the sounds of rain falling, the ocean, and the jungle...thank goodness for technology!)

- My changing table and being changed...Mommy and Daddy are happy about that

- Being bounced a certain way...Mom and Dad have to bounce with their arms AND legs in order for me to like it...it gives them a good workout when I'm fussy at night

- Dad's huge orange stand up surfboard

- The car seat only if I'm being swung around...not when I'm in the car...I hate it then

- Getting bathes!!

This is the position that Dad has to carry me in if I'm really fussy!

Things I don't like so much:

- Being in one place too long...I get bored of the same view

- Lying on my back flat...I much prefer lying on Mom's tummy or Dad bouncing me in his arms

- My carseat when I'm in the car...I scream and scream until Mommy and Daddy let me out!

- Getting changed...when they put those stupid onesies over my head I kind of freak out.

- Having to go to sleep, especially between the hours of 5 and 10 pm
- I'm not a huge fan of hats either...

New Sara Pics

2008-10-18T16:12:00.003-10:00

Here are some new pics of Sara...

It fell off...

2008-10-16T09:55:00.003-10:00

Her umbilical cord that is... It actually fell off earlier this week but my baby brain forgot to post it :-) Progress! Sara gave Ryan and I a break last night, her witching hours only lasted from 5-7 last night and she slept for 3 hours three times! Wow, was that needed. The downside is that she doesn't feel like she needs to sleep today so no rest or a chance to get anything done for mom. I'm feeding while I write this with one hand because it's my only down time.

Here's a few pics...she found her thumb the other day...look out orthodontics bills!

The cute onesie she is wearing is one of the many very creative onesies her auntie and uncle Jen and Jeff made for her!

Your Gonna Miss This!

2008-10-15T12:59:00.003-10:00

As you can all bet Kelley and my lives have changed dramatically in the past few weeks. What use to be a life filled with we, me, we...is now filled with what can we do to calm little Sara.

It turns out, in talking with both Kelley's and my parents, we were both little angel babies; never making a peep (notice I said babies not teenagers. That is a completely different story). So I am not sure why god has sent us an angel looking baby who grunts, groans, cries, poops, farts, twitches, drools, and howls like a little demon.

Don't get me wrong, Kelley and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE our little girl and consider her a blessing and a miracle but there are times when we have both questioned our decision to have kids. We have read other blogs where the mothers tout about having the perfect baby, "my baby never cries, my baby sleeps all the way through the night, I am not sure why everyone says this parenting thing is hard, etc".

All of our friends and family have been very supportive and there have been a lot of ideas and suggestions as to how to best comfort her. All of which work for 5-20 minutes then it is on to the next thing.

One of the most commonly stated suggestions is, "it will get better after 6 weeks, it will get better after 6 months, there's a light at the end of the tunnel". For the most part Kelley and I hope that this is true as we are both running on empty and being tested to the limits of our own personal wits...BUT as soon I start to wish away the time to a day when she is calm, I realize that there are the little moments when she is finally sleeping on my chest after 2+ hours of consoling and shushing. The moments when she looks into my eyes and I feel a connection that runs deep into my soul. These are the moments that are happening as we speak that I would never wish away.

It's like the country song by Trace Adkins, I have come to a realization that someday, I am going to miss these moments. The good the bad and the in between. I have made a promise to both myself and to Sara that I WILL NOT wish away one moment of her life to get to a point where things are easier. I will roll with the punches, wear a smile, and remember these days as some of the most precious days of her little life.

As such one of these moments was taken in this morning when I awoke to Kelley sitting on the couch with Sara in her arms after being up with her most of the night. I could see that Kelley needed some sleep. I grabbed Sara out of her arms as she collapsed into a sleepy state and headed off the the beach for a sunrise walk with my little angel. Our walk was unreal and was one of those moments that someday I will definitely miss.

Free Moment...

2008-10-13T14:11:00.005-10:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted...it's crazy how much time such a little girl can take! We're still hanging in there...how come no one warned us about all the crying :-) Dad has been amazing, letting me get some much needed rest this weekend. We introduced a breast milk bottle which allowed me to get over 4 hours of straight sleep...woo hoo! He has today off from work so I got to go for a long walk by myself and get to go for a massage later today. The surf's up so Dad got go for much needed surf sessions last night and this morning...I think it helped revitalize him as well. Here's a resent picture of her in our favorite device!

And here she is in her hat that didn't go over very well the first time :-)

Our New Best Friend

2008-10-09T08:20:00.002-10:00

Let's just say that after 36 hours of constant crying (unless she's eating) we finally got smart and pulled out the bouncy seat. It was our last resort and she seems to love it...for now! She's been quite the little fussy pants for the last few days and we were all at our wits end (at least I was...thanks to lack of sleep!)...until I pulled out the infamous bouncy seat. Let's hope she continues to like it so I have some reprieve when Jane leaves tomorrow. :-( It's very nice to have 3 sets of hands with Jane being here. It allows Ryan and I to have some moments of sanity when she's screaming bloody murder, and we've been eating like kings and queens and our house is clean!

I think Sara inherited her lungs from the Gavin side because we're all pretty boisterous :-) We took her to the doctor yesterday because she's started this crazy grunting (all day and through the night) and me being the paranoid first time parent I wanted to make sure she was okay. The doctor didn't seem to be worried which makes me not worry...thank you doctor! She is definitely a hefty eater...she gained a whopping whole pound in one week. I must have some nutritious milk! We're looking forward to the golden 6 week mark when the fussiness is "supposed" to subside (notice supposed to). She's actually a really good baby..she just has her moments :-) as I'm sure all babies do.

Here's a picture of her looking at the doll Meme (Gavin) gave her...she actually pushed it away from Ryan (and who says the don't have control of their hands yet!)

Our Future Athlete...

2008-10-06T08:39:00.004-10:00

We've been working on our tummy time lately and Sara is already excelling :-) You think we're proud parents??

Everything is going pretty well at the Hatfield Hale. We're starting to get a little routine going (although I'm sure it will change on a daily basis). She managed to sleep for 4 hours in a row last night but unfortunately Mom didn't. She makes so many grunting noises when she sleeps that I can't seem to sleep through all of them...although I'm getting much better...the pillow over the head trick works pretty well. She is still having her "witching hours" from about 7 to 10 at night and lucky Dad (and Memere) have been having to deal with it while Mom gets a few hours of shut-eye between feedings.

Daddy's Little Girl and Memere

2008-10-04T17:04:00.005-10:00

Here are a few more pics. I came home from a walk and found Dad and Sara chilling on the couch.

Like father, Like daughter...

Memere (Hatfield) is here for a visit. She has been very helpful...letting me/us nap, cooking and cleaning. Thank you Jane!

Witching Hour(s)....

2008-10-02T10:21:00.003-10:00

I've heard about this so called "witching hour" from various people with kids but didn't really know what it was until the night before last. Our precious little Sara decided that at 8:00pm she wanted to be up the entire night (I thought it was only supposed to last a few hours)...and wanted to feed every hour! Let's just say Mom and Dad were a little exhausted by the end of the night.

We had our doctor's appointment yesterday and it appears that she is getting enough to eat and growing like a weed. She gained all of her birth weight back plus 8 oz...she's weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces! I was worried we were feeding her too much (every hour through the night...some nights) but apparently that's normal and we should feed her whenever she appears to be hungry. She must take after her parent's because we should love our food too!

She must have been pretty tired after her all nighter because she slept most of yesterday and only fed every two hours last night...progress!!

Here's a few more pics.

Sara loves her blanket that Gr-Grandma Hatfield made for her!!

Hicups

2008-09-30T16:28:00.002-10:00

MOM'S OUTTA THE HOUSE!!!

2008-09-30T15:19:00.005-10:00

Woke up this morning.....actually was already up this morning when the sun rose. Sara was being fussy and Kelley told me to go surf. She knew that this sitting around the house thing has been driving me crazy and also knew that a good size north swell was due to hit last night. She didn't need to tell me twice. I gave her and my little baby girl a kiss and was out the door.

After a short session I came home and took Sara duty so that Kel could get almost 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep (that is like gold around here). After she woke up she fed Sara and I pushed her out the door. She said she didn't know where to go, so she decided to go to the beach with Tyla.

After she walked out the door I realized that Sara and I were for the first time all alone. This meant that no mean parents to tell us what to do, when to sleep, when to eat, etc... I was so excited to do everything and break all the rules when I realized 2 things, after being up most of the night and day fussing, Sara finally found peace and decided to fall asleep and I am the parent. NOT MUCH FUN THERE!

Oh well I can sit and watch her sleep forever. It's kind of like starring into a fire, it's just hard to explain but it is definitely something that has captivated every little inch of my heart and soul.

I know you guys are probably getting a little fed up with the proud first parent picture thing but oh well...here are some more!!

I haven't wasted even a day teaching Sara to surf. I figure she'll be surfing pipeline by 6 months.

After surfing I gave Sara a bath.
Isn't she absolutely beautiful..Yeah Sara too:)
The outfit says is all, "Princess". I think I may have my hands full.

More Photos...

2008-09-30T08:33:00.003-10:00

Here are some more photos of our little bundle of joy :-)

You have to wonder what she looked like in my belly...this looks pretty familiar.

Or this one, she loves to have her hands up by her head and has decided that she DOES NOT like to have her arms swaddled. She will grunt and grown until she somehow gets her arms out of a swaddle. We'll lay her down and within minutes she Houdini's her arms out of a tight swaddle. Lesson learned: I'm going to do what I want too!

Three generations of girls...

Ground Hog's Day

2008-09-28T11:27:00.004-10:00

Okay so it has been a few days now. Though Kelley and I are both grown well educated adults it took us a few days to figure out this little baby. We have begun to get into a routine and work as a team to get things done. Though there are small changes to the routine on a daily basis it has begun to seem a little like ground hogs day around here (as Kelley said at 0354 this morning)...

Our days consist of a 1 1/2- 3 hour rotation. That is, every 1 1/2 - 3 hours Sara starts to wake up. She will stretch, make cute faces, and generally just check things out. At this point to feed or not to feed is the big question. Usually she gets fed shortly after waking. This usually takes between 20min to 1 hour. After she is fed the diaper usually needs changing and she is out....just to do it all over again in 1 1/2 - 3 hours.

This routine does not discriminate between day and night so Kelley and I have adopted the 'ol military duty system. During the night Sara has been sleeping pretty well but often times needs a little consoling between feedings. This is were the duty system comes in. Usually we will switch duty on the feeding cycle. So baby wakes, feeds, and then I am on duty until the next feeding. During my watch I will have to do what every needs to be done until the next feed. Sometimes I luck out and get to sleep the whole time...others not so much.

This system has really helped Kelley get some sleep because without knowing that I am on duty at some point, she feels that she can't truly let her guard down and fall asleep. I have suggested that I be on duty full time seeings that she is the feeder but she seems to think it will burn me out.

This process continues throughout the day as well. When baby is sleeping we try to sleep. Kelley's mom is here so there are times throughout the day that we have both been off duty and able to take a quick nap to recharge. This has proven to be VERY helpful.

I am not sure how long this same process will continue but from what I have been told about babies I can only imagine not long, as babies are ever evolving and Kelley and I will need to change much of our routine to accommodate...Oh yeah and then you add that whole go back to work thing that happens in a week.

Here's a couple more pics of Sara.

Sara with MeMe
She likes to sleep with her hands behind her head..what a crack up.
Tyla hasn't quit figured out what to think of her yet. She seems very concerned when she is upset and protective when people come to the door, which can be kindda annoying when we are trying to sleep:) She howls whenever we turn the music on one of Sara's toys (swinger). Gonna have to work on that one.

Update...

2008-09-26T10:37:00.005-10:00

We made it home from the hospital on Wednesday! It has been a long road to get here and it feels so good to have Sara home with us. Everyone always told us to make sure and get sleep before the baby arrived and if we could have banked extra sleep we certainly would have. After being up from Saturday night at 11:00 until Sara was born Monday morning at 6:58am (and then for most of the day and night) it sure would have been nice to get a full nights sleep to reset the clock. But here we are, sleep deprived but thrilled to have a beautiful baby girl. That was definitely a traumatic experience that I don't wish to relive but the result is amazing! (Sorry if this isn't coherant...I'm a little out of it right now :-)

The only way to describe the first night home was horrible...we had a fussy little baby (man does she have some serious lungs!!). We think she had a bad case of gas (she already takes after dad :-) and screamed bloody murder the whole night. The good news is that after we survived that, she slept like a champ last night (ok, 2 hour increments seems pretty good to us right now). She is such a bundle of joy and we can already see her changing before our eyes. It's amazing how fast you can fall in love! Ryan is an incredible dad and has jumped right in and is a natural...Sara is definitely daddy's little girl! Here a few more pics for you to enjoy!

Thanks to everyone for their calls and emails. Sorry if we haven't gotten back to everyone, this has been quite the overwhelming experience. We appreciate everyone!

Sara's first car ride..

Mom and Sara

What's up dude? Bundled princess...

Daddy filing her nails...

Daddy's Little Girl

2008-09-23T10:51:00.001-10:00

Some of you were asking to see a pic with daddy so here it is.

Mother and child

2008-09-22T16:38:00.001-10:00

2nd Photo of Sara

2008-09-22T14:58:00.004-10:00

2008-09-22T10:40:00.002-10:00

Ryan and Kelley are proud parents of Sara Ryley Hatfield, born today September 22nd.

Sara is 6lbs 15.1oz and 18 inches long.

Sara Ryley Hatfield

2008-09-22T09:37:00.003-10:00

Sara Ryley Hatfield was born this morning at 0658. She is a healthy 6 lbs 15.1 oz. I will try to get some pics soon. Kelley and I are really tired after 28 hrs of hard work and adrenaline. Kelley is doing great.

I think it's time

2008-09-21T05:34:00.001-10:00

Been having contractions since 11 last night. Pretty much 5 min apart now so we'll be headed to hospital soon...hope it's not a false alarm :-) We'll keep you posted.

Last Weekend as Pre-Parents...

2008-09-20T16:27:00.002-10:00

So I guess this is the last weekend being pre-parents...as long as all goes as planned with the induction. I got a call on Friday and we found out that the doc will induce me on Thursday (25th) instead of Friday because the hospital was overscheduled for Friday. That is unless....Baby H decides to enter the world on it's own before then...come on baby! :-) This morning Ryan got up early and went for a run (while I of course slept in...it's kind of sad that 7:00 is considered sleeping in for me). I've been trying to sleep in more now before the baby gets here because EVERYONE (including strangers) tells us how much sleep we need to get now because our sleeping is pretty much over when the baby arrives. You have to love all the great advice people give you. I want to say...no, I'm trying to sleep as little as possible before the baby gets here. Speaking of advice, when I was walking Tyla on the beach the other morning (one of my three daily walks) I had this woman come up to me and ask the usual "when are you due?" question and then asked if I took Lamaze classes. After I told I hadn't, she proceeded to tell me about the whole premise of Lamaze and how I need to FEEL each of the feelings (like burning, cramping, stabbing, etc. you get my point). Wow, how nice of you to give me such a great idea of how labor is going to feel...Thanks for reminding me! Oh the joys of strangers...at least she didn't ask to rub my belly..hahaha!

Anyways...that was kind of an aside (I think baby brain is still with me). After Ryan's run we took Tyla to the beach for our daily swim and went to a movie. It didn't end up being exactly what we expected...Burn after Reading with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Let's just say it was definitely DIFFERENT than we expected...but still fun to go to a movie. Then to the grocery store to stock up on some food.

Now we're enjoying some down time...Ryan's on the couch snoring as I write this...he's trying to catch up on the precious ZZZ's that everyone keeps telling us about :-)

Other than that, no new action from Baby H! Have a great weekend everyone!

Baby H Update

2008-09-18T14:37:00.003-10:00

Went to the doctor this afternoon...and NOTHING has changed!! Ugh! We talked about the options and risks/benefits of waiting to induce. So for now we're going to hold off on getting induced until at least next week. I have another appointment next Thursday but also scheduled to get induced next Friday Sept. 26th. It's easy for me to cancel it but hard to get an appointment (the hospital only allows 2 inductions per day) so we decided to schedule just in case Baby H doesn't come on it's own. I guess she would allow me to go a full two weeks over but the risk of a c-section goes up after a week because of baby passing meconium (stool) and other stuff so we kind of picked in the middle. We're hoping Baby H decides to come on it's own...you hear that Baby!!!

Happy Due Date Baby H!

2008-09-18T08:18:00.002-10:00

So today is the official Due Date for Baby H. Not much has changed but I have my weekly appointment today so we'll see what she says. Today would be a cool day to have the baby (hint, hint) because today is our good friend Greg's and Lance Armstrong's birthdays. (Happy Birthday Greg!) I think I've been walking more in the last few weeks than I got to for my entire pregnancy...supposedly it will help get things going...it doesn't seem to be working though...oh well, at least it keeps me somewhat sane. I think everyone in the family and our friends are as anxious as we are right about now. We'll keep you all posted! I figure I can't be pregnant forever...

Dear Baby H...

2008-09-16T10:10:00.002-10:00

I know it's really warm and cozy in your mama's tummy and I'm sure you really like being fed whenever you want but I bet your getting kind of cramped in those small quarters. We really want to meet you and I promise we'll keep you warm and cozy and well fed when you decide to enter this world. Your mom's getting a little uncomfortable now and not to mention none of her shirts are fitting over her belly anymore. She is so excited to see you and your dad is really excited too! So whenever you want, we're ready for you! All of your grandparents, great grandparents, and aunties and uncles are getting anxious too and don't worry they're going to spoil you when you arrive!!! We can't wait to meet you!

Lucky we live Hawaii!

2008-09-15T12:54:00.004-10:00

I know, I know, everyone always says that...but it's true! Here are some photos we took last week on our morning walk with Tyla. The sunrise was absolutely amazing. We used Ryan's iPhone to take the pictures so it doesn't do it justice but trust me it was beautiful.

The beach this weekend was really beautful. There hasn't been any tradewinds for the last few days which makes for spectacular ocean conditions (crystal clear and glassy) but not so good air conditions. For those of you not familiar with VOG it's what we get here when the trades disappear and sulphur gas from the Big Island (Halemaumau crater) decides to settle in on the island. It leads to spectacular sunrises and sunsets but it's not so good for the lungs I'm sure. Think LA on a smoggy day...yuck! Regardless we made it to the beach both days this weekend and enjoyed the gorgeous water. Still nothing new on Baby H, just getting bigger each day :-)

We took a walk out on the Marine Corp base on Saturday and here are some pictures.

Ryan got kind of creative and took a picture of our foot prints...it's kind of sad that mine looks like they could be for a child...we'll see if baby gets my dinky little feet or not :-)

39 Weeks

2008-09-11T14:54:00.002-10:00

Holy Cow! I can't believe I'm 39 weeks. It feels like I've been pregnant FOREVER but at the same time it's crazy that I have made it to 39 weeks because of all the contractions. My uterus must be really strong. I guess one muscle will be strong at the end of this :-) I went in for my weekly check up and not too much has changed. I'm still barely dilated but now I'm 80% effaced....which means...nothing. I still could go into labor today or in another few weeks. Fun stuff. This is teaching me how to be patient and to let go of control BEFORE the baby arrives. Here's a lovely picture of the progress. I think baby is growing, because I sure am!!! I feel HUMONGOUS!

It's True

2008-09-09T14:04:00.003-10:00

It looks like the rumors about Lance are true!!

Lance is Coming Back!

2008-09-08T12:43:00.003-10:00

Armstrong that is. Rumor has it that Lance Armstrong will be coming out of retirement to compete in road racing again. I guess running marathons isn't cutting it for him anymore. We'll see if it actually transpires, but it will be pretty cool for the cycling community...maybe not for all of them though :-) It sounds like he's going to be publishing all of his blood tests for everyone to see to prove he's drug free. I guess we'll have to watch and see what happens.

According to Velonews.com

"Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement next year to compete in five road races with the Astana team, according to sources familiar with the developing situation. Armstrong, who turns 37 this month, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphine-Libere and the Tour de France — and will race for no salary or bonuses, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told VeloNews. Armstrong's manager, Mark Higgins, did not respond to questions. However sources close to the story have told VeloNews that an exclusive article on the matter will be published in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, expected later this month.

According to sources, the Texan will post all of his internally tested blood work online, in an attempt to establish complete transparency and prove that he is a clean athlete.

Other rumors are that Armstrong will continue to pursue mountain bike racing, and may try his hand at cyclocross as well.

Armstrong re-enrolled himself into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s out-of-competition testing pool prior to August’s Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, where he finished second to Dave Wiens, said USA Cycling chief operating officer Sean Petty. USADA rules state that any athlete who wishes to come out of retirement must enroll in the USADA out-of-competition testing program for at least six months in advance of regaining eligible status. "

She Caught It!

2008-09-07T14:16:00.004-10:00

We took Tyla to the beach this morning for our usual walk and low and behold she caught the shark!!

Du-nu...Du-nu

2008-09-06T19:07:00.003-10:00

As in shark sounds! We went to Kailua Beach park tonight to walk Tyla and when we arrived there were fire trucks all over and no one was in the water. Of course the first thought was a shark sighting....and this time we were right!! I guess a Honolulu Fire Department helicopter was patrolling the area because there was a missing person report in the area (which may or may not be true apparently) and they saw an 8 foot shark showing "aggressive behavior" towards a turtle. Yikes!! Needless to say, they cleared the water and are now patrolling the water to keep an eye on the bugger. I guess it is their ocean and all, but still...that's freaky because we LOVE to swim and surf in the beautiful water...

Status Quo...

2008-09-05T16:01:00.002-10:00

Went to the doctor for my weekly checkup today and not much has changed. My cervix has began to soften and I may be "1 cm" dilated...in other words I'm barely dilated so...I could have the baby today or in 3 weeks. So more of the same...hurry up and wait. I'm definitely having more contractions but seeing that I've been having them for 11 weeks now, I don't think that means much. I had three days of super energy where I felt like I could run a marathon (ok maybe not a real marathon) and then I came crashing down yesterday. I thought it might be time but have quickly come to realize that Baby H will come on his/her own time and we'll just have to wait and see :-)

As for Ryan, the south shore has actually had some surf so he got up at 4:30 yesterday and today so he could catch some waves before work and before the arrival of Baby H. He keeps me on pins and needles when he goes just in case Baby H decides to make it's appearance while Dad's surfing :-) Thank goodness it's Friday...for Ryan's sake...everyday is Friday for me!

Yoga Master

2008-09-03T11:08:00.002-10:00

Ryan has taken up a new activity that he seems to have perfected quite well. It appears that he is going to be a new master of yoga on the ball...I'm pretty proud of his accomplishments!!

Who knows what was on the TV during this shot :-)

Boredom and Anxiousness...

2008-09-02T11:12:00.004-10:00

I'm officially bored (and anxious)...but still trying to enjoy it (especially the peace and quiet)! It was really nice to have Ryan home for three days with Labor Day and all. Ryan was really set on me going into labor on "Labor Day" but that didn't happen...he thought it would be pretty cool. We didn't do too much over the weekend but managed to run a few errands and went to the beach every day. I feel so lucky to live in Hawaii especially when all else fails and we don't have anything to do, we can always head to the beach! Have I already mentioned how good the water feels on my belly and the fact that I feel like an incubator on the high heat setting :-)

Nothing too exciting to post but here's a recent picture of my ever expanding belly. I don't know how my stomach can physically stretch any further but I'm sure it can manage!

37 Weeks and Nursery

2008-08-28T13:33:00.007-10:00

Yippee! I officially made it to full term (37 weeks)! These last few months have seemed to last forever with the anxiety of going into labor early. Now, it's a new kind of anxiety...that Baby H could arrive today or it could be a few more weeks still. I guess he/she will arrive when she/he decides it's time. It sure feels like she/he wants to come out now though...it's giving me some interesting feelings that's for sure :-)

So we have the nursery somewhat put together. Still waiting on a doing a few things until we know if it's a girl or a boy...might have to add some pink if it's a girl. We figure though that either one can enjoy the ocean :-)

I've been told that gliders are a must...we'll see!

We're also prepared for taking baby out and about (even though it may be a while). I always said I'd make sure we had a baby jogger before baby arrives...I can't wait until I can start running again!!
We have been told by many parents that the bouncy seat and swing are necessities...so of course I had to get both...just in case one is preferred over the other! Here's the infamous swing!

Freedom and Nesting...

2008-08-25T12:58:00.005-10:00

I was officially released from my solitary confinement to the couch on Friday! It's kind of bittersweet. It feels nice to not be as freaked out about going into preterm labor (although I'm not officially term until Thursday) but now that I'm so deconditioned and the baby is so low, nothing has really changed. I tried going for a walk with Tyla but made it about 10 minutes and had to sit down because Baby H thinks it wants to come out on it's own (I know it won't be that easy!). Holy moly, do I have some interesting pains...the shooting ones are my favorite though :-) I made it to the pool today to try to swim a little and made it a whopping 500 yards! Woo Hoo! For those of you not familiar with length, that was a typical warm up for me (and I'm not a swimmer). But regardless, it felt SOOOO good to swim, almost like I was human again!

With all this time I have, now that the Olympics are over, I have officially began nesting. Two of my friends were over (Megan and Christina) and noticed how many water bottles Ryan and I have accumulated over the years from various races. They brought to my attention that I might need to make room for some baby bottles here in the near future.

So I'm in the process of tossing some of the older ones. I'm also cleaning out filing cabinets that have needed it for a few years but never got around to it.

Ryan and I were reminising this weekend about last year at this time and how we had just completed the Cycle to the Sun on Maui. This is a bike race that goes from sea level to 10,000 feet in 36 miles, up the side of Mt. Haleakala. Wow, how life has changed!

We're about to embark on a new race in our lives and we're very excited!!

Tyla...the most active dog I know!!!

2008-08-20T21:14:00.003-10:00

This will be a really quick post. I just wanted to show you just how excited Tyla gets to go for a walk in the evenings.

Seems that Tyla is not wanting to leave her mom on the couch all alone:)

Check out the new "This Day in History" link on the left hand side. Now even if we don't update every single day you will still have something to check our sight for. Pretty cool... I hope everyone is doing well.

Ryan the Photographer and Lanikai Beach

2008-08-18T11:40:00.008-10:00

We've been wanting to get some prenatal pictures taken of me before the baby arrives and looked into a few photographers. After realizing how darn expensive it is we decided to take a few of our own pictures this weekend. We also made it down to Lanikai Beach on both Saturday and Sunday with Tyla. We're realizing what little we can do right now (actually I realized that about 9 weeks ago) because typically our weekends are full of "active" events. Our active weekend consisted of going down to the beach and playing in the water with Tyla. I think I've said this before but being in the ocean feels SOOO good right now. It takes off all the weight and pressure of my growing belly...not to mention it cools me off!

Tyla isn't so good at fetching the tennis ball but she's pretty darn good at catching the frisbee! We also took a few videos of her. I know, I know, we treat Tyla like she's our first child and soon enough these videos will be of the baby instead...we're going to try to keep her in the loop though once that happens! :-)

Here's a video of what a good little swimmer she is...

And Dad with his little girl...

Ryan and his innovative way of capturing a photo of all of us...a little coconut shell, towel and ledge are all you need to capture a family photo!

Me and the ever growing belly!

Ryan's excellent photography skills!

A Sign of Changing Times

2008-08-14T08:30:00.003-10:00

So I am sure that some of you are familiar with a little instructional video called, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp, M.D. If not...it is a quick lesson on how to better calm your baby. In this video Dr. Karp suggests that all babies have a calming reflex, similar to any other reflex, that can be initiated by using one, some, or all of his 5 S's.

After going over the 5 S's it got me thinking about how much my life has changed. This can be seen by comparing Dr. Karp's 5 to my 5.

Dr. Karp's 5 S's
1)Swaddle
2)Side/Stomach
3)Shush
4)Swinging
5)Suck

My Old 5 S's
1)Surf
2)Swig (as in beer)
3)Sit (on the couch)
4)Swim
5)Sleep

Our 5 S's are very similar in that they all seem to trigger a calming reflex but obviously very different in many ways. I am hoping that if I provide our new little cherub it's 5 S's that I will be able to get one or two of my 5 S's therefore releasing my calm. Although I am starting to think that you can scratch all of my old 5 S's and replace it with one H that will relax and calm my nerves. That H will stand for HAPPY as in Happy Baby. I think I will be most relaxed when our little baby is HAPPY. So therefore my old 5 S's will soon be retired:)

My biggest hope and fear is being able to provide for this new little being and keep it HAPPY. I have never been good with babies so this is what keeps me up at night.. Hopefully it will come natural. Oh well only time will tell. In a couple weeks the starting gun will fire (even though it already has for Kelley) and we will be off on the longest and most important endurance event of our life. So we will see.

Olympics

2008-08-11T12:13:00.002-10:00

So if there's one thing that's great about being essentially bound to the house is that the Olympics are on! I'm feeling pretty much like a house right now. I guess I kind of am a house for the little baby though. Almost 8 weeks of "bed rest" has started to take a toll on my psyche (is that a word?) But...I can live vicariously through these amazing athletes as they represent our awesome country! The men's 4 x 100 team was absolutely phenomenal!! Ryan and I were screaming at the TV last night (Michelle, between our two houses I bet the whole windward side heard us :-) and I was trying to contain myself so baby didn't get too excited...he/she got a taste of competition last night. The gymnastics will prove to be exciting as well, even though the women didn't have a great start...hopefully they can pull through...I guess we'll have to wait and see...

"Flipper" is definitely growing in my belly and seems to get a little irritated that there's not as much room for it's usual back flips...now I should probably start calling her/him "Kicker"...maybe he/she will be a karate kid or a good swimmer (with it's kicking ability I think she/he will be a better swimmer than me...I go backwards when I kick!) The size of the belly is taking a toll on the old back. Not having exercised for almost two months has allowed my back muscles to essentially disappear. But I think by the time I give birth I'll have really strong back muscle from holding the belly up and really strong abs from all the contractions...that's what I'm hoping for anyways :-)

Kelley Hatfield, MS, RD

2008-08-07T09:55:00.002-10:00

YEAH!! I finally did it! I passed my national exam and can officially call myself a Registered Dietitian. It's been four years since I went back to school and after completing my Master's last summer and then a year long internship I don't ever have to pick up another book if I don't want to! (That is until I decide to get my PhD :-) But for now, it's such a relief. I wasn't sure I was going to pass the exam because when I got into the exam room I was not able to concentrate very well..."Flipper" decided it would be a good time to practice her/his acrobatics. But after some brain freeze moments I somehow pulled through. PHEW!!

Weekend Happenings and New Belly Pic...

2008-08-04T11:43:00.006-10:00

For those of you have been asking for a new belly pic...here you go...I was procrastinating (as usual) and took a self portrait in the bathroom mirror :-)

We had quite a busy weekend...realizing the term "busy" has new criteria for me now. I've been feeling pretty lousy lately but decided that we have a lot to get done before the cherub arrives so I had to push through it this weekend. Saturday we went to pick up the changing table/dresser and a few other things we still need for the baby room at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange. Not realizing it, we decided to go on a Saturday the day after payday, which was not a great idea. I swear this store is the most chaotic place I've ever been with more rude people in one spot than any Wal-Mart of K-mart I've ever been in. I don't know what makes people disregard the environment around them and feel like they can block you with their cart or try to make it around an 8 month pregnant woman in a tiny aisle meanwhile talking on their cellphone with their ten screaming kids running around behind them. Maybe it was my pregnancy hormones (although that means Ryan has them too) but man were we ready to get out of there. Yikes! So I survived that excursion and was completely exhausted...so we headed home and I assumed my position on the couch. Ryan proceeded to put the dresser together with at least 200 little pieces involved why I layed and watched. Thank goodness I have a handy husband or else I think it would have taken me until the baby's tenth birthday to finish it.

Here's a picture of the finished product with Ryan "practicing" rocking the baby again :-) I think Tyla's wondering what's going on. Don't mind the messy room, we still have some setting up to do!

Sunday morning we decided to take a trip to Lanikai beach so I could flounder in the beautiful water. The beach was amazingly beautiful and we went early enough that it wasn't too crowded until it was time to leave. It feels SO good to float in the water especially when it's crystal clear and sunny! (Sorry to make you miss it here Louise...we wish you were here too! I'm going to be really jealous of you once fall hits and the beautiful leaves start changing though!)

Ryan went for a standup paddle last night and came home exhausted because it was really windy. When he got home we (or should I say Ryan) decided to cut his hair. He was trying to "grow it out" for a while but got sick of it and took the shaver to it...

Baby in My Belly!

2008-08-01T13:43:00.004-10:00

This is soooo cool! Here's a little video of the baby moving around in my belly. It's crazy how much it moves for being in a squished yoga ball position in a fluid filled sack :-) It's not the best quality because I was filming it myself. Another good way to procrastinate from studying!

Ornery Doggie!

2008-07-31T21:14:00.003-10:00

After Tyla became a big sister to Maile she seemed to be all grown up and no longer in need of being crated when she was left home alone. It was like she went from being an ornery puppy to a grown up well behaved adult. We had even gone as far as putting her crate in storage. Well that lasted for a few months and now she's back to her old self again.

The first incident came when we noticed there were a lot of crumbs on the ground in our bedroom. We store her treats in our closet downstairs and she managed to eat almost half of them out of a gallon sized zip loc bag...she did it without even knocking the bag down! She thought we wouldn't notice if she kept the bag in the closet...too bad she left a few remnants. We wrote that off as her being bored and let her be.

So the next incident happened when I left a loaf of the best bread ever on the counter...Great Harvest Bread Company White Chocolate Cherry. Not even thinking about it, because it was way back on the kitchen counter, I came home to an empty plastic bag on the floor and a dog that was cowering at the front door. (She's gotten pretty good at not eating the plastic and getting all the crumbs). Needless to say she was quite bloated with some serious gas for a few days.

The final straw came yesterday when we came home to a cowering dog again...we asked her what she did and led us to the kitchen where low and behold she managed to climb up on the counter, pull a bag of mini bagels (20 of them) down, and eat them ALL in one sitting. Here's the remnants of the bag!

She couldn't move for the rest of the day and looked pretty miserable. Kind of like after eating WAY too much at a Thanksgiving dinner! Here she is in a food comatose!

So we made a trip to the storage unit last night and got her crate...which she thoroughly enjoys going in because she knows she gets a treat. I think we have a foodaholic on our hands!

Study, Sleep, Study

2008-07-29T18:53:00.003-10:00

Nothing too exciting here. My day pretty much consists of getting up and walking Tyla on the beach, significantly slower than usual, eating breakfast, checking email, and then studying for my exam (with a nap here and there). I seem to be resorting back to my grad school habits where I'd study for an hour or two and then catch myself napping for a half an hour and then repeating the cycle. It seems that the studying for an hour or two doesn't exactly happen now though. I don't know what it is but I can't concentrate for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time and then I have to get up and do something. I think this is a form of torture. A week from tomorrow I'll be either happy and really stoked to be done or not so happy but still really stoked to be done. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The way the studying is going right now doesn't make it look too promising though :-)

Oh ya, in between the studying and sleeping, I'm being quite entertained by "Flipper" (that's the baby's new nickname because it feels like it's doing some incredible gymnastics flips in my tummy). Today, "Flipper" decided to do some karate chops in my rib and at the same time he/she was doing a right hook down by my hip. I have to say it's very fun to watch!

Yoga Baby

2008-07-23T15:33:00.005-10:00

We went in yesterday for an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth. I've been measuring kind of small so the doctor had me get an ultrasound just to make sure everything is progressing as it should be. And it sure is! It's a nice relief to see the baby and how much it's growing. The baby is right at the 50 percentile for growth. It's amazing that they can measure and estimate the baby's size in utero...even though they can be off by a pound or so...it's pretty cool. They thought it was weighing about 3 pounds 14 oz. And for everyone that's dying to find out what we're having..they DIDN'T slip!! Yea! I was so worried that we'd leave there and know the sex of the baby.

We really wanted to get a good profile shot so we could post it but our baby appears to be practicing its yoga moves...maybe it will be a gymnast...who knows :-) The head is down low, along with it's hands AND feet. I tried to figure out how he/she was doing this and it's pretty much in a pretzel doing a pike stretch in the "V" position. We could see her/him holding on to it's foot while at the same time opening and closing it's mouth. It was SO cute!!! We got a few good feet pictures. The picture at the beginning of the blog is his/her hand and foot by their mouth.

The foot is at the top of the image...you can see it's toes and ankle...

Here's another shot of the foot...I think he/she has my big toe :-)

Nothing New

2008-07-22T07:01:00.008-10:00

Haven't posted in a while so I will catch you up on life as an expectant father. Let's see... Wake up, walk Tyla, go to work, come home, go for a run, come home, eat dinner, watch the tour, go to bed, do it all over for five days in a row and do what ever my lovely wife tells me to on the weekend (this usually has something to do with go surf and do some sort of project to get ready for the baby).

All-n-all I can't complain as I would imagine life is going to be A LOT different here in a couple weeks (8+ hopefully).

Since I don't have any new and exciting news I will just post some pictures that we have taken over the past couple of weeks.

Here's Kelley at 31 Weeks...

Here's Ryan at 31 Weeks...

Emily, Katie, and Kelley (these are our beautiful little nieces.)

Kelley, Mom (Nancy), and I in the Kapalua Airport...
Kerry and Kelley in Yakima...
Since Tyla grew up always having Kane around she never quite learned how to fetch. The way it use to go is that we would throw something and Kane would run as fast as she could to get it and Tyla would follow. If we threw something in the water Kane would run to the waters edge and Tyla would go out and get it. Once she got it she would turn around and drop it off to Kane. Needless to say she never learned to chase the stick and bring it back to us, so k\now this is what we get. She seems to really like chasing the stick but she hasn't figured out that it is her job to bring it back to us...

This is me trying to surf at North Beach...

Pearl

2008-07-18T08:09:00.005-10:00

It's official!! I'm officially driving a "grocery getting, soccer mom" minivan! And the funny thing is that I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought I'd be REALLY sad to get rid of the 4Runner, which I was at first, but after driving off the lot in "Pearl" I am pretty excited. There's nothing like the new car smell, even if it's a minivan! I'll post more pictures of the inside later...that's the pretty part.

It was pretty funny haggling with the trade-in appraiser. In Hawaii, they don't really haggle at ALL for the price of the new vehicle like on the mainland. It's pretty much you pay what they say because there are three Toyota dealers on the island and they're all owned by the same company. On the mainland, Ryan and I would go back and forth and really stick it to them in the end, but not the case here. Except....we somehow managed to haggle with the trade-in guy. The price of the car was set but not the trade in. I don't think he expected us to be as persistent (or funny/obnoxious) as we were. In the end we got $1000 more for the 4Runner than he wanted to initially give us, it wasn't a great deal, but we were happy that we at least got a little deal. Who could resist giving a deal to a preggo woman :-)

The final drive in the 4Runner...she treated me good for the 5 1/2 years I drove her.

What a RIP!!!

2008-07-14T10:47:00.003-10:00

So as you know we have decided to take the plunge and get a minivan. What you may not know is what a rip off the whole trade in process it and selling your car by your self (especially a V8) is almost impossible.

If we trade in our vehicle we have been told that we will only get @ $12,000, but probably less. We bought this car for $31,000ish 4 years ago...WHAT A RIP. I guess what they say about Toyotas holding their value was just a good thing to say when they were trying to sell a brand new car.

Anyway if you know anybody who is interested in our 4Runner here is the craigslist add that we have posted.

So here's the deal. We are buying a minivan and must sell our car quickly. We have a 2003 Toyota 4Runner Sport Edition, 4WD, V8 (which actually gets decent gas mileage at about 15-17 MPG), 58,000 miles, silver with grey/black leather interior. This car is immaculate. KBB says that we can get $15,375 (good condition) for private party sale and $12,045 (good condition) for trade in. We are selling this vehicle for $12,500. This offer is only good until later this week. If interested give us a call...Ryan or Kelley (808)721-7926.

Granola and Practicing for Baby...

2008-07-13T19:49:00.007-10:00

I think I've been nesting lately...or possibly just trying to get through my boredom :-) I decided to attempt to make homemade granola. My friend Louise was my inspiration for it because before she moved to Mass. she made the BEST homemade granola ever!! Unfortunately mine didn't quite live up to hers but it was still pretty good for a first try.

I didn't really have a recipe so I kind of just added ingredients here and there. I used some oats, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, coconut, and sunflower seeds and added a concoction of heated honey, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, and a little salt and mixed it all together and put it in the oven at 350 degrees. The tricky part is constantly stirring it every 5 minutes and not letting it burn. After I let it cool I added a bunch of dried fruit like craisins, raisins, and dates (little ones and big ones). I think I added too much of the liquid ingredients because it ended up pretty sticky but still really good. So now we have a ton of granola that I add to yogurt with fresh fruit...pretty tasty!!

On a side note, here's a picture of Ryan practicing rocking the baby...

Just Chillin...

2008-07-12T08:32:00.006-10:00

Tyla is beginning to catch on to my life lately...she's getting pretty good at laying on the couch too! This is her favorite spot now. Anytime we have guests over she waits until they get off the chair and she claims her place.

I went to the doctor yesterday for my weekly check up and as of now I'm pretty much the same. Still lots of contractions so I'm still confined to the couch.

Last night we went to look at Mini Vans...yikes! I always swore I'd never drive one but I think I'm sold on the convenience factor. After being really aware of parking lately and how I would have to squeeze a car seat in between the tightly parked cars in Hawaii I think the sliding doors are awesome...not to mention how much room for all of our stuff they have. Yep, I'm going to look like a grocery getting, soccer mom, but I figured if we put a few surf stickers and a surf rack on it I might be able to pull of the "cool" factor... :-) Just joking. I'm all about comfort before fashion so this should be right up my alley!

Maui Trip...

2008-07-08T09:07:00.008-10:00

We just got back from a long weekend in Maui with my mom. I actually came back a few days early because my lovely contractions started back again...ugh! I'm planted back on my usual place of residence...the couch. This "modified" bed rest is definitely not my favorite thing to do. As my friend Christina reminded me, maybe all those nagging injuries I've had for the last few years will actually have time to heal...got to remember to keep the glass full right now :-)

Here are some pictures from our trip...

Mom made me pose for this one :-)

Ryan was really into hats this trip so here's a sampling...

It was definitely a different trip then usual. We didn't do a whole lot but it was nice and relaxing. Ryan got a few long runs in and a nice ocean swim. I did a lot of napping and floundered in the water with my mom (she actually swam and I floated). Yesterday morning Ryan had to stay at the condo to work (he worked from Maui yesterday...someone has to bring home the bacon!) so Mom and I went down to the beach below her condo for our morning swim. When we arrived it was absolutely gorgeous (the picture at the top was the beach where we were looking across at Molokai). I noticed a huge animal in the water which turned out to be a honu (turtle) so my mom was off to take a look...I frolicked behind her to try to make it but was too slow...hehehe! Then all of the sudden another creature jumped way out of the water, it was a bat ray...it was the coolest sight...a flying bat ray and a big old honu. What a day!

Happy 4th!!!

2008-07-04T18:20:00.002-10:00

Just wanted to say "HAPPY 4th of JULY"! We are spending time on Maui with Kelley's mom and will update with some pics soon. Here's a little reminder of what it's all about taken from good 'ol wikipedia.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation from Great Britain occured on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[1] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a committee with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.[2]

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.[3]

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.[4] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.[5] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.[6]

Nothing too exciting...

2008-07-02T08:27:00.002-10:00

Sorry we haven't updated in a while...but there's nothing too exciting going on unless you call being couch bound all day yesterday exciting? So these lovely contractions (Braxton-Hicks I think) have been happening a lot lately. Maybe my body is telling me to SLOW way down. I thought that going for a 30 minute walk was considered slowing down, but I guess I have to do nothing to actually slow down according to my body right now. Oh well, if that's the sacrifice I have to make for this little baby, then I'm all for it! He/she sure doesn't think it has to slow down though. I think it was doing back flips and cartwheels in my stomach yesterday. That has been my entertainment lately...watching my stomach make all these crazy contortions and having some crazy karate chops pop out the side...it's pretty cool!

My mom is coming into town today and we head to Maui on Friday (as long as I get the okay from the doctor on Thursday). It should be nice and relaxing...I'm getting pretty good at that now :-) HAPPY 4th of JULY everyone! Hope you all are having a great week!

Lucky We Live Hawaii

2008-06-29T19:44:00.004-10:00

WOW! WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND TO BE ALIVE AND LIVING IN HAWAII!!! The weather was absolutely BE-A-U-TIFUL! And it looks like it is going to continue for the rest of the week.

So what did we do? Hmm. Saturday morning we slept in till about 815 am (taking advantage while we can). Once we were up we decided that we would go to the beach and hang out for awhile. We packed up the stand up board, some beach chairs, an umbrella, and struck off on our way. We got to the beach relatively early at 930 or so and it was already pretty crowded at Lanikai. Once there we set up a mini camp and I decided to go for a paddle around the Mokulua Islands (check the map below).

While I was paddling Kelley was playing in the water with Tyla. I think she is most comfortable in the water. It has been really hot and she has been experiencing a lot of contractions. Once she is in the water she seems to be happy.

We sat at the beach for a couple hours and decided it was time to get out of the sun and went to a movie. We saw "You Don't Mess With The Johan". It was pretty darn funny if you like slap stick humor.

We went home after the movie and sat around for a while watching the olympic trials and trying to stay cool in our air conditioning. In the evening we took Tyla down to the beach for another walk (as we do almost every day).

Today (Sunday) we got up really early at 745 am (again we are enjoying while we can). We got up and went down to the beach with Tyla (something new in our lives). This morning was a little different in that Kelley was wanting to get some sort of workout. It has been 2 days since she has been able to do anything active. She has been yearning to get a good workout in because it seems that anything she does makes her have a contraction. Both Kelley and I have been on the take it easy and try not to have a baby at 28 weeks program. This program requires a lot of sitting around, something that we both need to work on.

The walk went okay. We ended up walking at a respectible pace for a little over 30 minutes (kind of funny how workouts change huh). Kelley only had 1 or 2 small contractions, which is no more than she would have had staying at home on the couch.

After our walk I decided it was time to go back to church. We went home, got dressed, and made it just in time (10:00)...for the mass to finish. I guess mass actually starts at 900am. Oh well, its the thought that counts. Besides the best parts about church is when it is over (I think I will need to confess just for saying that...)

Next I decided to go for a paddle out to "bird shit island" about 1 1/2 miles off Kailua Bay. It took me about 1:30 to complete and man was it fun. I saw a couple of fish and a great big honu on the way (check the map below. I did the shorter route on Saturday and the longer route today.) .

After a long paddle a nap was definetly needed. I napped for about 1 hour and then we were off to view a couple of open houses and get a cold stone creamery. I mean what is a Sunday without going to an open house and getting some ice cream.

Later in the evening Kelley and I decided to get Champa Thai take out and sit on the beach with Tyla, ate our dinner and watched the sun set over the Ko' Olau mountains. It was at this point that we both got a chance to reflect about how great Hawaii is and how lucky we are to be able to live here.

50/50 Chance

2008-06-27T09:19:00.003-10:00

Okay...for those of you that don't get Ryan's humor...his last blog led most of you to believe that we're having a girl. In fact, we have a 50/50 chance of having a girl (or a boy). So in other words we still don't know. Sorry :-)

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

2008-06-26T15:57:00.003-10:00

I know, I know, I know. We weren't going to find out until the baby was born, BUT... Kelley had to go in to the doctor today because she was getting several contractions throughout the day yesterday, last night, and again this morning. Once we got there they hooked her up to this thing that straps around your belly so that you can hear the baby's heartbeat and little movements. It was REALLY cool.

That was where we got our first clue. The heart rate was in the 150-160 range, so we were already thinking, GIRL. We could hear the baby move around quite a bit, it was awesome. Than the doc came in. She said that Kelley was fine. She told her to stop exercising as much and to keep an eye on the amount of contractions she had in an hour. I guess 4-6 for 4+ hours is no good at this point in the game. Right as the doc was going to pull off the straps we heard this loud noise...The doc informed us that it was the little baby hiccuping.

We then went into the other room to take a look at the baby (on sonogram) and the doc wanted to check Kelley's cervix. The doc took one look at the baby and, forgetting that we did not want to know the sex of our baby, told us that she was sure it was a girl. We both looked at her with a blank stare and she replied, "yup I am 50% sure it's a girl". So there you have it! It's 50% chance that it's a girl.

I know, not quite what you were expecting uh! Not us either. Turns out Kelley's cervix is still nice and hard and placed towards the back (like I know what the heck I am talking about). I guess this is good. The doctor did say however that the little baby is carrying extremely low but that was of no concern, just an observation. She did give her permission to have me massage her feet and back several times daily and feed her food in bed. THANKS DOC!

Uh oh I gotta go, Kelley is calling me right now to get her some water...LOL!-Ryan

Law of Motion

2008-06-24T20:58:00.002-10:00

I remember when I was in school and training for Ironman I got the feeling from certain people that training was easier for me. I heard it several times, "it's easy for you because you don't have work" (I guess working on an MBA doesn't really count as work...Ask Greg about that). Now I work like the rest of the world and I agree being sedentary all day makes motivating yourself in the evening A LOT harder. I think Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion are applicable:

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws which provide relationships between the forces acting on a body and the motion of the body.

1)A physical body will remain at rest, or continue to move at a constant velocity along a straight path, unless an external net force acts upon it.

For me this is completely true. I sit all day in front of a computer (a body at rest). This law states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an external force acts upon it. Everyone must find their external force. It's hard to say what my external force is. I think it changes day by day and I would have to say more often than not my external force is more internal than anything. But the point remains that each person must find that which gets your body from rest to full velocity.

2)Rate of change of momentum is proportional to the resultant force producing it and takes place in the direction of that force.

Though I would agree that a body in motion is better than a body at rest, I believe that this physical law demonstrates that an effective external/internal force will affect a greater rate of change of momentum. As I said before it is important for each of us to find that force which can affect the greatest rate of change.

3)To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This one seems really simple...If you keep your body at rest you will get fat, risk cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart attack, depression, etc. If you find that external/internal force to get that body in motion you will signifcantly reduce all these risks as well as sleep better, have a better look at life, be recharged for the next work day, reduce your risk of disease, feel better and live a happier life overall.

SO I GUESS WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY IS NO EXCUSES GET THAT BODY IN MOTION!!!

(This message is to remind myself of the same...tomorrow my external force will be this post) - Ryan

Internship Complete!!!

2008-06-24T11:55:00.002-10:00

I got the official email today that I'm finished with my dietetic internship! What this means is that I'm done with all the hours (1220 to be exact) and assignments required to sit for the national exam, which I mentioned in a previous blog. No more having to work in nursing homes or hospitals unless I decide I want a job in one later. Yippee! Now I just have to get through one more hurdle...the national exam. I officially started studying yesterday and hope to be able to take it by the end of July...depending on when the American Dietetic Association sends me my eligibility letter. Hopefully the whole pregnancy brain holds together for me :-)

Beach Time

2008-06-23T12:08:00.007-10:00

It's funny how a couple can go from being really, really, active to really, really, lazy! We just realized this weekend that we've been enjoying doing pretty much nothing...I think we're unconsciously preparing for being parents and enjoying the down time before craziness hits.

On Sunday after getting up at 6:00am (yep, we actually got to sleep in!) to walk Tyla at the beach, we came back home, ate breakfast, and preceded to fall asleep on the couch for TWO HOURS!! It was crazy, all the sudden we both woke up and it was already 10am. We decided that we needed to get out of the house and do some of the things we won't be able to do as easily together once the baby arrives. (We actually went to a movie on Saturday afternoon too...Love Guru...slapstick funny, but a good laugh). We got our suits on and headed to Mokapu'u Beach Park so Ryan could body surf and we could both get wet.

It was fun to actually hang out on the beach, play frisbee, and frolic in the waves...I wasn't exactly frolicking...I'm realizing that I'm not as agile as usual but still fun :-)

Here's Ryan giving the "shaka" as he's body surfing...

Mokapu'u

2008-06-23T12:00:00.000-10:00

Here's a self-made video of us...hehehe!

Bigger at Night

2008-06-20T19:36:00.006-10:00

Kelley has been telling me how bloated she gets at night. So we decided to see if you could actually see a difference in her belly by taking a pic in the morning and one at night. Tell us what you think.

MORNING

NIGHT

I think her belly buttin kindda looks like the end of an elephant trunk:) I think it is so cute..

KELLEY

ELEPHANT

CUTE AS A BUTTON...

-Ryan

Studying v. Baby Brain...GOODLUCK

2008-06-20T18:27:00.003-10:00

Just wanted to share this little article on baby brain. After Kelley was just explaining about having to take a huge exam in 4-6 weeks I thought this was kind of amusing. Though Kelley may have "baby brain" she hardly needs help when it comes to taking tests. She could pass this test in the middle of giving birth if she wanted, but I don't think we will try. Enjoy the reading.
-RYAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why having a baby really does make women more forgetful

Published Date: 07 February 2008
By Lyndsay Moss
Health Correspondent

WOMEN have long suspected that being pregnant has an effect on their memory – now research has confirmed expecting a baby can make you more forgetful. The so-called "baby brain" effect can have an impact on women's ability to remember new information during pregnancy and for many months after birth, researchers in Australia have found. Hormonal changes and sleep deprivation have been blamed for the condition, which is believed to affect up to 80 per cent of women. Some studies have also suggested a woman's brain may change size during pregnancy.

For the latest investigation, the researchers carried out a review of pregnancy studies conducted over the past 30 years. These showed that pregnant women had "modest deficits" in memory, especially when information was new or presented in a challenging way. Dr Julie Henry, a psychology researcher at the University of New South Wales, said: "The memory deficits many women experience during and after pregnancy are pretty much like the modest deficits you'd find when comparing healthy 20-year-olds with healthy 60-year-olds."

Dr Henry and co-investigator Professor Peter Rendell, of the Australian Catholic University, compared the memory performances of more than 1,000 pregnant women, mothers and healthy non-pregnant females involved in 14 studies around the world. They found that pregnant women were significantly impaired on some, but not all, measures of memory. They experienced most difficulty with memory tasks that relied on "executive cognitive control" – those involving novelty or significant effort." Regular, well-practised memory tasks – such as remembering phone numbers of friends and family members – are unlikely to be affected," Prof Rendell said. "It's a different story, though, when you have to remember new phone numbers or people's names, or hold in mind several pieces of information, such as when multi-tasking.

"The work, published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, is one of the first to confirm the suspicion from endless subjective reports that "baby brain" is a real phenomenon. The results indicate that the impairment is still evident a year after childbirth, but no studies have yet investigated beyond this period.

What do you think Louise? Do you think there's any truth to this? Hopefully not, for Kelley's sake :-)

Almost Finished!

2008-06-20T11:20:00.004-10:00

I'm finally on the homestretch of my dietetic internship. I swear, I feel like I've been in school FOREVER! (I guess I kind of have been...20 years of my life!) So I'm done with all of my internship hours and now I'm just trying to tie up some loose ends. This is the part that's a pain in my rear. I thought I had everything turned in but I just found out that I have two evaluation forms that need to be filled out for presentations I did in December and March. Now I have to track down the people that watched them and have them evaluate it, which I'm sure they can't remember what I said because it was so long ago...hopefully they liked me!

Needless to say, once I round those up my preceptor can submit all my paper work to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) so I can sit for the national exam. The ADA has been known to take a while to get everything approved so I could be waiting a while to get the approval. In the mean time I'll be studying for about 4-6 weeks (or however long it takes to get the approval letter) for the beast of an exam and pray that I can pass it (hopefully the baby brain won't get in the way...yikes!). I CAN'T WAIT to be done!!!

Monday...Monday

2008-06-16T18:47:00.004-10:00

Aloha All.

I know that in previous posts I have talked about living for today, enjoying all life has to give, and taking it all in but today being MONDAY it's kind of hard to live by those words. In the spirit of this I have copied two poems that I like. The first one is how I aspire to feel about work on Mondays. And the second one is how I really feel. I hope you enjoy...

A Monday Poem
Work
I do not "work" Instead, I "fun"
I try to goof And get things done
At the same time Love what I do Do what I love
And then can you Honestly say
You do not work You simply fun
And do not shirk Until it's done
The object then Midst all this strife Is not to work A day in life
For if you love That which you do It is not work NowI am through
Rich Melheim

Monday must be the most horrible of days.
The reasons it's horrible are too horrible to say.
But with that said, I'll try to explain Why Monday must bring us oh so much pain.
You see on Monday, you work with a frown.
The full work week ahead has gotten you down.
The weekend has come, and the weekend has passed,
And like all weekends it just didn’t last.
But Monday sure lasts, it lasts so long.
You keep checking your watch to see what’s wrong.
But against your wishes your watch is just fine.
Against your wishes you can’t speed up time.
So you sit and you wait and you pretend to work.
You dream of a boss that isn’t a jerk.
But then you wake up and you almost cry.
You wish and you wish that the day would just die.
But wait, please listen, don’t worry my friend.
For one thing is certain, all Mondays must end.
Now that it’s been said, I’ll say it again.
More Mondays will come and more Mondays will end

Early Morning Beach Walk...(with Kelley)

2008-06-16T14:44:00.006-10:00

I actually got up this morning for the daily beach walk with Ryan and Tyla. (Ryan decided to snap a surprise picture on my way upstairs) It's always rough getting out of bed but once I'm up and watching the sun rise from the Pacific, it's so worth it!!

Tyla has two different types of beach walks. The morning beach walk involves being anti-social and scavenging up as much "food" as she can find. This "food" consists of poop, dead fish, leftovers from the beachgoers lunches, and whatever else remotely looks like it's edible (it actually doesn't have to look edible, as long as it smells good to her). The other type of beach trip is when she's chasing Ryan down the beach on his evening run. It's a close toss up to which one she likes more, but I'd have to lean towards the morning scavenger hunt :-)

This morning she found a great surprise...another dead fish, which she proceeded to roll in making the car ride home a stinky one. Oh what memories!!

Here's Ryan getting his daily morning cup of coffee at Kalapawai Market...

By the way, for everyone that doesn't want to sign up to make a comment. You can click on the comment button at the bottom of an entry and then scroll to the bottom of the post box. Click on "anonymous" and you can post a comment without signing up. It's really easy...just sign your name at the end of your comment so we know who sends it. We'd love to hear from everyone!!

-Kelley

Spontaneous

2008-06-15T14:26:00.002-10:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a few days...We had a good weekend which went by way too quickly. Saturday morning we brought some things to one of our friends garage sales (Thanks Megan!). We're trying to get rid of stuff (desk and office chair) we don't absolutely need in order to make room in our little condo for all the stuff a baby needs. And to our luck, we were able to sell them both along with a few other yard sale type items. It was fun to hang out and catch up with Megan and especially entertaining to watch people try to haggle over 50 cents. Come on people you probably could find that amount of change in the cracks of your couch or car. I guess that's the fun part of garage sale"ing" though.

After we made our huge sums of money, Ryan and I decided to treat ourselves to a Hawaiian Shave Ice. And for those of you who haven't experienced a REAL Hawaiian Shave Ice you're missing out. (More reason to come visit us :-) They put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the bottom and Azuki Beans (yep, I said beans, sounds kind of gross but people sure like it...Ryan does) and then the ice with whatever flavors you want. It's quite the indulgence but really tasty!

Saturday evening, Ryan and I were assuming our position that we like to take (on the couch) when we, or should I say Ryan, decided we should actually do something spontaneous. We decided to go to dinner all the way in town (we call Honolulu town, its actually not that far...25 min...but on an island it seems like it) at a really good restaurant, John Dominis. So he called and they had a table ready in a half an hour (which is kind of shocking because you usually have to make reservations in advance). We were on it, we showered and dressed and were in the car in 5 minutes flat. I grabbed my purse and for some reason decided to see how much cash I had in my wallet. The only problem was, there was no wallet!! Oh #$@%!! Where did my pregnancy brain leave it? The last place I had it was at Shave Ice. No, I couldn't have left it there...but that was my only option so I called them up and sure enough, some wonderful citizen (yes, we still have a few left on earth) had turned it in. So now our dinner reservation that was supposed to be in a half hour was going to be late. Shucks! Our spontaneity was beginning to falter. I called and told them we'd be a "few" minutes late and they said that was fine. We ran to the Shave Ice place, and low and behold the 50 bucks we had made at the garage sale was still there!!! Thank you Good Samaritan!

Dinner was awesome. The restaurant is right on the water overlooking a pretty good surf break so we spent the whole dinner watching surfer's ripping it up. The food was great and the company even better!! What a great spontaneous adventure!

Baby Belly

2008-06-11T09:06:00.007-10:00

This is for those of you that haven't seen me in a while and keep pestering me for a belly picture. My modesty is already beginning to disappear! It's really crazy to see your body morph right in front of your eyes. I think Baby Hatfield (the "little bean" as the Fennells like to call it :-) has made quite the growth spurt this week. I swear each day I think I can see my belly getting bigger. I still haven't quite gotten used to it. When I wake up in the morning I jump (rather roll) out of bed and forget I have this ball sticking out of me until I look down and my feet are beginning to disappear. I have to say that this is the most amazing experience I've ever had. I definitely have my days where I don't feel so great but overall, considering that I'm creating a human being inside of me, I feel pretty good. The ankle is beginning to get better...the golf ball sized lump and pretty purple colors are disappearing and I'm able to walk a lot better. In the mean time I've been trying to swim and ride my bike trainer.

Speaking of the stomach getting bigger, it's also getting in the way when I try to ride my bike. I was riding my road bike (on the trainer of course) but I've had to switch over to the mountain bike because I can sit up straighter and my legs don't smash the baby with every peddle stroke (yet!). This is not what I call entertaining but I guess it does the trick. You'll notice the small little tire on the back. I started off with the knobby tire on the back but when I would peddle it sounded like an airplane was taking off. It scared the bageebeez out of Tyla and I'm sure the whole town of Kailua so I had to switch to my slicks.

Till next time...

Laugh a Little.

2008-06-11T07:26:00.003-10:00

Okay so my last 2 postings have been some what heavy. I mean politics and life... I think it's time to lighten up a little and laugh. I think most of you have probably seen this clip before but it just makes me laugh every time. Check it out.

Politics

2008-06-10T19:32:00.003-10:00

So most people won't talk about politics...I am not one of them. I believe that we have absolutely no good candidate to choose from this next presidential election. I also believe that now, more so than ever before, we need a good leader and sadly I don't think either candidate will provide this. So what is left? You have to look at both candidates and ask yourself which is less destructive? I have never fully identified myself as either a democrat or republican and think the whole party system is failing us. I try to listen to arguments on both sides of the fence and stay well informed. However there are certain issues that I just can't get over. Take a look at this video. Some of the stuff mentioned is a little out there but the core of this information is startling. I see the momentum that Barrack is gaining among the ill informed and can't imagine how destructive he would be to America if voted in. We have a choice and you can well bet that my choice is not going to someone who refuses to wear a flag or pay respects to the national anthem. Issues like this go well beyond republican or democrat, this comes down to plain out right and wrong. Do the right thing.
-Ryan

Stop and Live...

2008-06-09T20:08:00.004-10:00

Woke up this morning to my alarm clock at 0530 for my daily walk with Tyla just like every other day but today something was different. Today I was extra tired and instead of getting out of bed decided to reset my alarm for 1 hour later. 0630 I rolled out of bed and started the day that seemed to never end. From the time I got up until now I realized that I didn't stop once. I did however get up, go to work (make money), come home, and take Tyla for a 4 mile run on the beach.

So many of you are thinking, "Wow what is wrong with that day?" I'll tell you what is wrong with this day, I didn't stop to live. "What do you mean stop to live", you might be thinking. I mean I didn't stop to give my wife a passionate kiss on my way out the door. I didn't stop to tell the gate guard on the way into the Marine Corps base "thanks for his service". I didn't take time to notice the sun rising over the Mokulua Islands. I didn't stop to help that old lady to her car after checking out at the mini mart. I didn't stop and think about the sacrifices that many people have given us when I heard taps at 0800. I didn't stop working for one moment throughout the day to call my wife and tell her I was thinking about her. I didn't stop and talk to my friends on the beach as I ran by; instead I just smiled and kept on my way. I didn't stop to watch the sun as is set over the Ko' Olau Mountains. And if it weren't for this blog this may have kept up for weeks on end...this is what I call not Stopping to Live and if you aren't careful, if you don't stop to live, life will be over and the only things that will have mattered will never have been enjoyed.

Life is a rat race that we all must partake in. Just because we must be a part of this rat race don't forget to stop and live. The good thing about all of this is that I have the rest of tonight to enjoy and tomorrow is a brand new day. No matter how busy things get I won't be too busy to enjoy life.

Anyhow...sorry about the lecture. But these are the kinds of things that go thru my head when I go for runs. Crazy stuff uh. That's why running is so great. You get in touch and grounded.
-Ryan

In the Pregnancy Know

2008-06-08T09:46:00.003-10:00

So I have never been the type of person that you would consider to be in the pregnancy know. I mean I am not the type of person who would ever really know what to say or how to act around a pregnant person. For those of you like me I am putting together this little guide of things NOT to say or do...

1) If you don't know that someone is pregnant and it isn't 100% obvious, better not to ask. This is due to the fact that the woman may or may not be pregnant at all. It's always a little ackward when you ask how far along a woman is and she replies "I am not pregnant". OOOPPPSSS! Ackward, ackward, ackward.

2) Once pregnancy is established don't say, "How far along are you? Are you sure you aren't having twins?" This question, though may have good intentions, it does nothing but make the husband have to explain to the wife for the next week that she looks great and that she is not too big.

3) Along with the previous question, don't ask "How far along are you? You look tiny." Though this may seem like a compliment this leaves the wife wondering if her baby is growing okay and once again leaves the husband having to reassure the wife for the next week that everything is okay.

4) Everyone has a delivery story and for some reason nobody wants to tell the good ones. If you have a bad delivery story to tell, keep it to yourself. The wife doesn't want to hear how painful giving birth is and how many hours of pain she will be in or how many things can go wrong. If you feel you have to tell these stories wait until after the delivery and compare stories. On the other hand if you have a nice and peaceful story now is a good time to bring that up.

Some acceptable things to say to a pregnant person would be as follows:
When are you due.
You look absolutely great, you are totally glowing.
I have never seen you so happy.
You are going to be a wonderful parent.
Congratulations.
Do you know if it is a boy or girl? If they aren't finding out and you don't think that is a good idea keep it to yourself...They aren't going to change their mind because you think it is hard to have family or friends buy the baby stuff before they are born.
Give them a call once and a while just to see how they are feeling.
Send them flowers to let them know that you are thinking of them.

One thing I have learned thru this pregnancy process is the MAJOR sacrifice that women make to bring us all into this world. Any hard thing you have ever done in your life (Ironman, college, etc.) is NOTHING compared to this. This is an endurance event unto its own. This event takes both a strong physical and mental toll on the woman and anything you can do to make it easier is ALWAYS appreciated. It is during this time in a woman's life that she needs extra reassurance that she has friends and family who care about her.

With all this said I must say SORRY to any of my friends, who were pregnant in the past, if I said anything to offend you it is because I wasn't in the know and I am sorry. I am hoping that people who read this blog that are like I was are now aware of what can be offending. So next time you see a pregnant person, whether you know them or not, let them know how beautiful they are and how much you admire what they are doing.
-Ryan

South Shore Surf

2008-06-07T20:23:00.004-10:00

Surfed Aina Hina this morning with my friend Mark. It was descent. A little choppy. Chest to head high with a couple over sets that came thru. Went back this afternoon and surfed toes. The conditions were a little better. All in all I had two good sessions after not surfing for 2 weeks, so i was long overdue. The pic above was taken today at bowls.

-Ryan

Klutsy Kelley

2008-06-07T15:05:00.005-10:00

Today started off to be a good day. I went for a really nice swim out to Flat Island with one of my friends, Megan, where we saw a few fish here and there and enjoyed a beautiful sunny morning. After we finished I was feeling quite ambitious and decided to go for a walk/run. I haven't been running for a while because I was having some tightening in my lower abs, so I figured it would be my usual walk. But today I was feeling really good and decided to give jogging a go. Sure enough, I was feeling great, no pain or pulling. I had my Ipod jammin' and I was shuffling right along (that's what my "running" consists of now). I was just thinking about how good it felt to break a sweat and have no pain, when all the sudden my foot hit an uneven surface (which normally wouldn't be a big deal...but being pregnant changes the ol' center of gravity) and my ankle, thanks to the hormone relaxin, decided to keep on going. Needless to say, I heard a loud pop followed by an excrutiating pain. I saved myself from falling down but shortly there after sat on the ground to reevaluate what I should do next. I was about a mile from my car and no one around asked if I was okay or needed help...what nice bystanders! There's nothing more normal than seeing a pregnant person sitting in the bike lane holding their foot. Okay, enough about the sympathetic public. I had to compose myself for the baby and managed to hobble back to my car and drive home (thank goodness it was my left foot). So here I am sitting on the couch with my foot elevated and a bag of ice. No Advil for me because of the baby, so I guess I get to tough this one out. Maybe it's practice for pain management when it's time for the real thing...delivery!

Laid Up

2008-06-07T14:20:00.000-10:00

Kelley twisted her ankle on a run this morning. More on this to come...

Nesting

2008-06-06T20:09:00.003-10:00

So over the last few weeks every time I do something to our house somebody has to tell me that I am nesting. After hearing that comment over and over I decided to look it up and see if I was. This is what I found:

Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the "nesting" instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world.
Females of the animal kingdom are all equipped with this same need. It is a primal instinct. Just as you see birds making their nests, mothers-to-be do exactly the same thing. The act of nesting puts you in control and gives a sense of accomplishment toward birth. You may become a homebody and want to retreat into the comfort of home and familiar company, like a brooding hen. The nesting urge can also be seen as a sign of the onset of labor when it occurs close to 40 weeks of pregnancy.
Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently. Women have reported throwing away perfectly good sheets and towels because they felt the strong need to have "brand new, clean" sheets and towels in their home. They have also reported doing things like taking apart the knobs on kitchen cupboards, just so they could disinfect the screws attached to the knobs. Women have discussed taking on cleaning their entire house, armed with a toothbrush. There seems to be no end to the lengths a nesting mother will go to prepare for her upcoming arrival.
This unusual burst of energy is responsible for women ironing anything in the house that couldn't out run them. Being preoccupied with ant killing, squishing them one at a time for weeks on end. Packing and unpacking the labor bag 50 times. Cleaning the kitchen cupboards and organizing everything by size to the point that you make sure the silverware patterns match when it's stacked in the cutlery drawer. Sorting the baby's clothes over and over again is a favorite theme. Taking them out of the drawers and re-folding them, putting them away and doing it over and over again. Nesting will provide interesting stories for years to come.

The problem with this definition of "nesting" is that it doesn't mention anything about the husband. Yeah sure Kelley has had some of these tendencies but I seem to be a bit more into the, "lets tear down the house and rebuild" syndrome.

Anyhow... Sorry for such a long post but I thought it was pretty humorous. The pics are of the stuff that Kelley bought for the baby's bathroom. We are going this weekend to pick up a crib because from what we are told it can take a few months for it to come in (if not in stock).

Our Morning Walk

2008-06-06T06:37:00.001-10:00

Okay so it seems that no matter how well you know somebody you don't always really know what they do on a daily basis. In an attempt to give you all a view into my life I figured I would bring you on my morning walk.

Every mornning at 0530 I roll out of bed, put my slippas on, and Tyla and I drive 5 minutes to the beach and get a cup of joe at our favorite little store Kalapawai.

It isn't usually until I am about finished with this cup when I wake up...

From Kalapawai Tyla and I drive thru Kailua Beach, over the hill, and in to Lanikai (about a 1 minute drive). Once in Lanikai we drive to our special little beach access and go out for a stroll. This slide show depicts some of the things we see on our walk.

One of Tyla's favorite things to do is to search for food. In that constant conquest to serve her appetitie (especially for poo) she occasionally will run across a crab running for the ocean. When this happens it can be pretty funny. Although today she didn't find the crab she still likes to digg for them.

Our walk usually takes about 20-30 minutes. After Tyla is done chasing birds, eating poop, and pissing off passer bys, I load her up in the car and we head for home to get ready for work.

Once home I give her a bath, some food and water, and get ready for work...

So that's it. This has become somewhat of a daily ritual for Tyla and I. Everyone once in a while Kelley will join us. Although Kelley really likes the morning she doesn't handle getting up early really well (yeah thats gonna fly when the baby comes). I look forward to doing these walks someday with baby but I know parents always have these great dreams before baby comes and after they are here it is a whole other story. So I guess I can say I hope that I will be able to bring baby on my morning strolls but am not going to hold my breath.

Well gotta go to work.
-Ryan

Crazy Baby

2008-06-05T21:47:00.000-10:00

Our baby is kicking but not quite this much. I can't imagine what this must feel like. I wonder if this is what Kelley has to look forward to in the coming months? From what I am told our baby can now hear sounds and will actually get startled at loud noises or bright lights. I have been reading he/she to bed every night. And I have found that the little munchkin seems to really be taking to me because when I start to read they seem to move closer to the sound of my voice. PRETTY FREAKIN COOL! - Ryan

Bathroom Remodel

2008-06-05T19:53:00.000-10:00

Here are the picures of our bathroom remodel. I wish I had some before pics but you guys will just have to see the after. We haven't gotten all the bathroom baby decorations that Kelley bought online at Target yet, so it looks pretty bare. It doesn't look like much but trust me it was a lot of work. It will look better once we personalize it a little. What did we do? We replaced a HUGE and UGLY mirror, took down an old box style flourecent light (with framed in and very secured cover), replaced the faucets, replaced the toilet, replaced the towel and toilet paper racks, and paint from top to bottom (including molding). Taking down the old light fixture was the highlight of the project as more drywall came down than initially ancipated, making for quit a bigger job. All in all, we are pretty happy with the end result and think it will be a good place for baby to even play in the bubbles...
-Ryan

The Big White Box

2008-06-05T17:26:00.000-10:00

Well, the fridge arrived today...and boy is it HUGE! We actually decided on the smaller of two choices and I'm sure glad we did. It looks enormous in our tiny little kitchen but it will provide plenty of space for Ryan and my hefty appetites. Good thing it's an Energy Saver model :-)

Here's a video of what it looks like (just for you Gma!)

On a side note, after the guys had installed the fridge I noticed a big scratch along our laminate flooring. Ryan had given me strict orders to make sure they didn't scratch the walls or floors and to make sure and say something if they had. So me and my quiet demeanor had to say something to the really nice delivery guy. But I got to use my husband as the excuse, so they didn't think it was me being annoying. Needless to say, the manager of the company called me shortly thereafter and came out to see this scratch (which I thought was a huge deal). He agreed to give us our delivery and discharge fee back plus a little ($100 refund). I was pretty excited. Ryan got home to see this HUGE scratch after he was really annoyed on the phone. His response was, "Is that all they did?" He thought it was an enormous gash. Regardless, they did the right thing because they had messed up our floor. And for those of you that have laid laminate flooring down, you know what a pain in the okole (translates to butt for you mainlanders) it is to fix it because you have to pull up the entire floor up until that point.

After dealing with that all day I was able to squeeze in a walk with Tyla on the beach in the morning, a swim workout at the pool in the afternoon, a nap, oh and a little work on my internship. All that and to think I started out the day feeling really bad. I still don't feel 100% but I guess that's what being pregnant is all about. Good days and bad days all blended together. Umm kinda sounds like what I think of parenthood. I am just enjoying the moment.

Fridge kicked the bucket

2008-06-04T15:19:00.000-10:00

Here's my first attempt at posting on this thing... Two nights ago, we noticed that our Skinny Cow fudgsicles were really mushy...oh, it must be that I just bought them and they haven't had time to refreeze, I thought. Didn't think anything of it until the next day when the soy milk was luke warm. Great! Adjust the temperature to the coldest settings and today everything is melted and the fridge is room temperature. Just what we need right now, a new fridge! Isn't that how it usually works though, start one house project and a million more things have to be fixed. So today I ran to the local Sears and bought a new fridge that will be delivered tomorrow.
Man, fridges are pricey little items!

Needless to say, I had oatmeal for breakfast and soup for lunch because all of the yummy groceries I just bought are now probably salmonella and staph ridden. Man am I hungry though, the baby sure likes to eat all my food and doesn't like to leave much for me. That's okay though...I think it needs it more than me :-)

Speaking of the baby. Any ideas out there for what it is? I had a random guy (in the candy store of all places) tell me that my baby was definitely a girl yesterday. He must have x-ray vision or something, but he swore that it was going to be a girl. Everyone else out there seems to think it's a boy...I guess we'll have to wait and see! It sure is being active now. I was trying to go to sleep last night and baby decided it would be fun to do backflips and karate punches for a few hours. If that's any indication of what baby's going to be like when it arrives, we're going to have our hands full :-)

I'll post a picture of our pretty fridge when we get it.

Take Our Poll

2008-06-02T18:46:00.000-10:00

As many of you know, Kelley and I aren't going to find out the sex of our baby until it pops out. Though this may have made life slightly annoying for certain grandparents (Ken and Jane), it makes guessing a lot more fun. Take our poll over to right right and let us know what the popular vote is on what we are having.

If you have any names that you think would be good go ahead and leave your comment here but don't expect us to use any of them. We are already set on Sha-nay-nay (girl) and Jerome (boy) or Pedro (boy) and Claudia (girl)...LOL

Bathroom Remodel

2008-06-02T18:13:00.000-10:00

Just finished remodeling the bathroom. FUN STUFF!! It took all weekend but I think it looks ALOT better. Plenty more to get done before BABY gets here.

How Does This Thing Work?

2008-06-02T16:07:00.000-10:00

We are working on getting this page up and running. Stand by for more good stuff.