Dog Paddle

Remember our little boy that was petrified of the water? Who until he was almost three wouldn't even go in past his calves? Well, he thinks he's a fish now. Gone are the days of sitting lazily at the beach knowing he won't get himself in any danger because he won't go in the water. Its amazing what a set of goggles, swim lessons, endless days at the beach and warm water will do.

Elsie is still pretty petrified of the water. Her foray into bathing is about as much progress as we've made here. Pearl however, thinks she is a fish. A darling fish.

She's even taken up surfing :).

So to keep up with my kids in the water, I've started lap swimming at the University once a week. Guess what- I'm terrible! I honestly used to know how to swim a bit, but I'm like a little kid again- terrible breathing with my strokes, don't like to keep my face in the water, slow, tired. The only highlight to my lap swim is my new, cute swimsuit (my first non Wal-mart one in 8 years).

Nirvana

Is that two little girls asleep at the beach, in the middle of the day, at the same time, for two hours straight?

Why yes it is. I have acheived the highest level of relaxation- reading a book at the beach for this first time since arriving in Hawaii.

The Middle

This little girl has had a bit of a rocky adjustment into the role of middle child, but if we're being honest, she started that rocky road several months before Pearl arrived. Elsie is two on Sunday and she is in that wonderfully terrible stage of just beginning to really talk coupled with fantastic fits and loads of demands. She is quirky and funny, angry and stubborn, all at the same time.

This is typical Elsie on any given day. Half matched clothes, crazy hair and a binky she's dug up from some where. After almost two years of boycotting any TV, she is now a full blown addict. Every day she wants to watch Buzz and Woody. We have to leave the house to get her mind off of them.Elsie is hard to distract, thus an epic fit thrower. She loves her Dad and is always demanding him to pick her up. She also gets very jealous when he holds Pearl.

(The beginning of the fit when she told Dad to hold her)

(Sobbing for five minutes)

(Finally taking matters into her own hands and trying to rake Pearl off James' lap)

(A ten minute fit on the beach because James wouldn't walk to her to pick her up)

She is also a real girly, girl- which who knows where that comes from?? As you can see from most of her pictures, my hair skills leave a lot be desired and I try to keep princess crud away from the house, but somehow she still loves everything girl. She loves shoes (especially the dress up stuff her cousin gave her).

And she loves fancy dresses. We've had many fights over changing after Church.

She also thinks she's quite funny. She's always making faces to make us laugh and to get out of trouble. The picture below has to be one of my favorites of all times. I think I'm going to title it 'The Mad Professor'.

(Another silly face)

This age is also so magical- she's really figuring out her world and how to maneuver her way through it. She is talking, laughing and really starting to play with her older brother. She is a darling, darling girl.

(Gathering sand to try to share with Pearl)

Happy Birthday, sweet Elsie.

We are in love

We are all captivated by this little girl. There really isn't much better than a little six month old baby. The sounds, the giggles, scooting, drooling - we love it all.

It's Back!

Pearl is bringing back an old style in our house- The Mullet. I really do know its getting funny looking, but I have the hardest time cutting babies hair when they aren't even six months old.

Besides, she's wears it well.

Pearl Pics

We've moved into our new house within the past two weeks and we still have a lot more to do, but I know my family as been harassing me for more pictures of Pearl since they change so fast, so here is just a quick photo update of just her.

Smiling in the new place after we finished unpacking.

After Church a few weeks ago

With Grandpa Alaska on his visit here a month ago. She loved him, even fell asleep on his shoulder!

With her Daddy under the mango tree

Unfortunately for the little gal, most of her pics involve some sort of abuse, because every time I take out the camera to try to capture her smiles or cuteness, one sibling or the other is trying to get in the picture or manhandle her in some way- so here's some of Pearl with her loving tormentors.

Hanging out in the hammock in the back yard

Getting stuck in a camp chair by cousins

Early morning snuggling with Louis, Elsie and a kite

Being made to play 'ni-night' by older sister (though she strangely seemed to enjoy this one)

Being held by her older brother. He's actually getting pretty good at entertaining her and making her laugh.

There's the Pearl update folks- more pics of the other kids, our new place and Hawaii coming soon (maybe.... I hope).

Slippers, not flipflops

We're here! After a horrendous trip that I'm sure I've complained about to anyone who would listen, we arrived after 43 hours of traveling. It took us a couple of days to recover (me especially), but we quickly settled in and have tried not to drive Grandma and Grandpa too crazy (though in the course of four weeks my kids have broken their screen door and curtain, and I have ripped a towel holder right off the wall).

Part of my blogging malaise in the last two months has been my lack of pictures, because let's face it- I'm not much of a writer, and I'm positive my family (which is likely my entire readership) much prefers pics of the kiddos to my musings on life's deepest questions. Unfortunately, our camera and all of its lenses was stolen during our move and we only recently acquired its replacement.

So without further ado, here is the big unveil of a three month old, totally transformed from a newborn, baby Pearl. We start with her closed mouth, contemplative look.

Isn't her hair hilarious? I'm her own mother and I can't even get over it. It is wavy here now, and if I style it just right after the bath, is seriously looks like Elvis ala his Vegas era. It is still thick and prolific and growing. She is definitely destined for the baby mullet, which we will have to cut soon, I'm afraid. Its just growing down her back faster than the rest of her hair already.

And here is her open mouth, I'm about to start dropping drool everywhere look, followed by a Queen Bumbo pose.
Still adorable, no? We love this baby. She is fulfilling every third child expectation you could ever have- started sleeping through the night at six weeks, takes good naps, poops pure gold, etc. etc. But lest she get too cocky, she still has to put up with stuff like this....

That's right- kiss it, both cheeks (movie source anyone?)! Sometimes the abuse is even worse. James and I spend a large majority of our time trying to protect Pearl from dropped remotes or toys and over aggressive kisses and love. Here's the best I got trying to photograph all three of them together. Elsie has really been enjoying the ability to go outside almost at will, and though she still demands a lot of James, there have been a few small miracles since we moved here. First, and most importantly- she will take a bath! That is without trying to claw the adult bather's eyes out and screaming the entire time. Her cousin was in the bathtub with Louis last week and after eight months of bathtub boycott, she asked to get in. Since that day she has asked for a bath everyday and loved it! Seriously, if you had experienced the horror of Elsie's bath time (or smelled her because I would never bathe her for fear of the horror I would experience) you would know this was blog and picture worthy.She still loves to give me the best angry looks when I'm not doing what she wants. We term these 'dark eyes', and she can now do them on command. Seriously, would you want to deal with this girl when she looks like this?But most of the time she is an adorable toddler, running around with random items like her Tinkerbell toothbrush and rain boots, begging to be pushed in her car that Auntie Sonya found for her. Louis is far to busy running and jumping to be photographed. He, of all of us is benefiting the most from the increased outdoor time. He has learned to climb the mango tree and loves to catch lizards with his cousin Keane. Last time he came over they had EIGHT in a bucket at one time! He goes outside every evening that he can to run up and down the street with the other little neighborhood kids and their bikes and still thinks he is friends with teenagers (he informed me yesterday that our 14 year old next door neighbor Keith was his best friend in Hawaii). He has adjusted to his new Sunbeam class and most adorably loves to make Pearl smile and laugh. Actually, correction- he loves to try to make her laugh. Sometimes it is just a lot of yelling and contorted faces that actually make her scream. Ah Louis, same as ever.And then there is James, asleep on the floor with the chaos around him. No, James is great and seems to enjoy being back home. He loves his job so far and is going on a business trip this week for six days. Wish me luck!

So that's our month's recap in pictures. My only complaint about Hawaii the sun streaks already starting in my hair. They are ugly [why did I ever put lemon juice in my hair and actually want them in high school???]. I am seriously going to have to start wearing a big old granny beach hat to protect my hair and freckled face. And not just at the beach, I mean like everywhere. You need a good calling card like that to embarrass your children as they grow older. It is one of my highest aspirations as a mother. That's my mothering motto- "If you're not embarrassed, I'm not doing my job." Wish me luck on that one too!

I've rambled enough, so I must post and go to bed, before the neighborhood roosters crow me awake.