Discovery Gateway

Climbing a rock wall







Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake City...Lots of fun for the kiddos! Thanks Aunty Michele for your idea.

Halloween year-around

Whenever Kono gets together with his cousins Kekoa and Ikaika, they love to dress up in costumes. I love that it creates memories and sparks their imagination. Sure beats watching t.v. too! They are so cute! Ahhhhhh, the innocence and imagination of children...... :)

Kono, my little Asain food lover.

Kono has discovered that he loves furikake (a seaweed seasoning) on his rice. He went to town on his wonton and rice soup. He must be from Japan. :D

My Boys

I can tell Kaipo is growing and gaining weight already. In only a week a gained a pound. :) He discharged at 6 lbs 9 oz and now he is seven and a half pounds. He is always eating! Granite and I both think he really looks like me when he is asleep. But when he's awake, he has his own cute looks. He looks similar to Kono, but not quite alike. His hair is brownish but it's hard to tell in pictures.
Kono loves holding his little brother and he thinks it is a thrill to feed him. Notice the burp cloth. :)
Today was Kaipo's first time attending church. It was also Kono's first time that he bore his testimony. I thought he would be too shy to do it but he did it with Daddy's help and even wanted to do it a second time around. :) It was sooo cute. Kono is literally obsessed with Spiderman these days. He has a black and red costume that he wears on a daily basis pretty much. He even wanted to bring his costumes to church. This boy is really growing. He couldn't fit into his black church socks and shoes this morning. He fit it just recently! He was happy to wear his slippers.

Kaipo is such a smiley baby! He has been smiling since the day after he was born (but these smiles were just when he would be sleeping or just got done eating). Since about day five, he'll smile at you if he sees you smiling at him. These are real smiles that will melt your heart. Today he was smiling while looking at himself in the mirror. He has such a cuuuute smile. This is the only picture I have of him smiling. I never have my camera around when it happens. Michele was able to get a picture of him smiling, isn't he so cute?

Brotherly love- Kono has been saying since the first day Kaipo came home that Kaipo is his best friend :)


For a sneak peek at some newborn pictures of Kaipo that my sister took, visit her blog at michelereyes.blogspot.com

Update on Kono and Kaipo

I surely missed my Kono boy when I was at the hospital. I've never been away from him before ever since he was born, can you believe that? Well, he has slept as his Grandma's before but she lives two houses down from us, and I would see him the very next morning. When I came home Kono seemed soooo big to me. Not just because I was used to holding a newborn but also because he really seems to have "grown up" just recently. He has been doing very well with potty training since May and it's very nice and even strange that I don't have to worry about changing him. His appetite has increased recently too so he has put on weight (he's still lean in the waist though). Granite has been "training" him with plyometric exercises and things like that so he has also put on a little muscle, it's so cute. He has quads! It's amazing how time flies. It makes me sad that he's growing up but I'm also happy that I have another boy to watch him grow and go through all the fun phases of a baby and toddler. Along with Kono growing up, he's also developed some attitude to go along with it. That makes me sigh in a sad way, knowing that he's no longer this un-opinionated, completely innocent boy. He's still so cute and he can be so sweet though. When I came home, he kept calling me "shweetie" (sweetie). Everything was "Ok, shweetie!" And he had to say it that certain way with the "h" sound in it. It was so cute and funny. He also often comes up to me and asks "How's Kaipo doing Mom?" He loves his little brother and loves to be a big helper for mommy. If someone else does a task/favor before him, he'll do it again for the satisfaction of helping. For example if someone got me the burp cloth before him, he'll run it back to where it was, and quickly run back and hand it to me. He does get a little jealous here and there, but he doesn't take it out on his brother he'll just be really mad at me even though I try my best to include him and explain things to him. I guess it's because I'm constantly nursing and caring for Kaipo. I can't believe how much Kaipo eats!! Most newborns have to be woken up to eat but this boy will wake up for every feeding and more!!!! Granite will say "Man, this boy can eat!!" And Kono will say with a really expressive scrunched up face "This man can really eat!!"
Granite took Kono out for a little "nature walk" (I guess you could call it that) the day after we came home. It was a miserably hot day. They both wore jeans to avoid the mosquito's.
Kono found this disgusting dead frog. He really likes his new binoculars he got from a kids' meal. He even was looking at Kaipo with it. :)

I quickly took these pictures when I gave Kaipo his first bath given by me.

I love these two pictures of my Kaipo. I love his little "Surf Dude" beanie he is wearing. You can't really see it, but I also really love his blanket that my sister Michele and Mom made. I had bought the material for it in Hawaii long before we even had Kono.
Another sweet picture of my baby boy
Michele came with her three boys along with my other sister Celeste for a visit. It was so nice to have them here. Kono surely stayed entertained and finally was able to play with his cousins again. Ever since Nahoa moved, he's been so desperate to have a playmate. He was so desperate that he would often ask (and cry) for one of Granite's students to come over! Poor thing. There were so many great opportunities for some great pictures of Kono and his cousins but this is the only picture I took the time to take. I wished I had. Here they are practically inhaling half of a watermelon. They had just come back from the playground. It was a great thirst and hunger quencher. I was sad to see them leave and so was Kono. He went straight back to his Grandma Sarah's after they left because he was too sad.
So all in all, Kaipo is doing very well. I am still trying to recover, heal and adjust to being a new mommy again. It's only been five days, what am I saying?
Congrats if you read through this whole post.

He's here!!!!

Our little bundle of joy is finally here!!! I thought I'd never go into labor. My due date for my first ultrasound was June 24th. When we found out what that he was a boy, the real due date was June 25th. But since they don't change due dates, the 24th was the set in stone date. I thought for sure he'd come early with me keeping myself so busy. It actually felt weird to not really do anything for a couple of days before he came. However, two days before he came, I walked a long distance with my Mom and got very swollen in my hands. The 24th came and still no contractions. After seeing my doc in Flagstaff that day, she had made an appointment for a induction the next morning. I was so ready! It had been too long. It's so hard the first and last part of a pregnancy. Well that night we stayed in Flagstaff. The whole night I was feeling contractions and could not sleep the majority of the whole night. I wasn't sure if it was contractions. I thought the baby was just moving further down. But around 5 AM I knew it had to be. My appointment was at 7:30 AM. I was dilated at a 5 a little after 8 AM. That was a surprise for all of us. There was no need for an induction. It was great that I went into labor naturally. So without further details, (moving on to the exciting part) I had our long awaited for precious son at 1:36 PM on Thursday, June 25th, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He beat Kono by 2 ounces and 2 inches. We named him Kaipo (Ky-Po) which means sweetheart in Hawaiian. His middle name is Taisuke (Ty-su-kay) meaning peacemaker in Japanese. He is a mellow baby who loves to eat! He has such a sweet spirit. We are completely grateful and happy to have him in our family.


This is the last picture of my "baby bump"
My first kiss to my new arrival
Here he is crying away. His first cry. They put him on me soon after he was born. He was wiped off but not completely.
Here is proud Daddy and his second son
Here he is! He surely looks like Kono's brother. ;)
Poor little guy, the nurse gave him his first bath and I think she was wiping him too hard. Look at all the hair!
Taking a picture before we were discharged
All ready to go home. He is so tiny in the car seat. That won't last very long!
Kono giving one of his first kisses to his baby brother
Kono was soooo excited and happy to see and hold Kaipo
For some reason, pictures don't always show how a person really looks. I think he looks tinier and cuter in person. I guess it all depends on what kind of camera you are using too. But doesn't he look so precious?

The Last Stretch

My Mom came yesterday, thinking that I'd go into labor soon. It's so nice to have her company and help. Kono thought she was leaving yesterday evening and he said "No Grandma, please don't go yet!"
I never did make my one week post. I now have 3 days left (well actually 2 since it's after midnight now). The blouse I'm wearing makes me look really big! I was bigger with Kono and weighed a little more. I can't believe I'm still pregnant. I thought for sure I'd have the baby by now! Especially with all the things I do, it's very rare that I just sit or lie down. I guess I just need to walk more. I'm always standing and moving about inside my house, that obviously does not work.  Doesn't Kono look so cute in this picture?


Kono is really growing up! Do you like his new hair cut? He no longer has his "porcupine hair". I think he looks cute in very short hair.