Our pretty princesses (and a friend)

Ivy's back in diapers, Kezia's birthday, Nate's birthday, etc.

Sunday, October 7^th

Alooooooooooha!!

I hope everyone that is affected by seasonal change is enjoying the fall weather and the crunch of leaves. The change of weather here means the beginning of the rainy season. It went from no rain to rainy for weeks, at least where we live, which gets a lot more rain than where we used to live.

We had an ultrasound appointment and found out we are having another girl! When the doctor was measuring the baby’s head, I asked the girls what was inside. Kezia said “brain”, and Ivy said, “candy”. The baby is healthy and on track for a Feb.4^th delivery date. She is moving so much, and gets the hic-ups a lot. I have learned that fetal hic-ups and baby vomiting are closely related, and have witnessed the connection with Ivy. Maybe I’ll be going through the same routine of changing her 4 times a day again!!!

Ivy is into "tricks", doing things that call for oohs and ahhs, at least in her opinion. I posted a picture of my favorite trick: She stands on the edge of her mattress with her hands high up in the air, counts to three, and then falls forward onto her head. Then she announces, "And my feet are still standing!" It's a crackup! (Remind anyone of Ghostbusters?)

Ivy's prize for staying dry for 4 days, one of Ivy's tricks

Ivy is anxiously awaiting the new baby. Since her birthday is relatively close to the birth of the new baby, she has been telling people, “after my birthday, then the baby comes out.” Ivy has been going to a music class with a friend and apparently loves it, although I haven’t gone with her. She likes to pretend she is someone else, like a mommy, or a doggy, or Mola (a make-believe friend) or a dinosaur (my personal favorite—she just stands and growls, not realizing that her small size and cuteness completely undermines the fright of the loud noise). We tried potty-training for a while, but surprise, surprise, it didn’t last long before I gave up. (Let’s choose: my own sanity or no more diapers, hmmm…..)

August 21^st was Kezia’s 4^th birthday. Of course, she was soooo excited. She made a pinata (for those with kids, here’s an easy, no mess way to make a pinata: cover paper bags with crepe paper, then fill the bags.) that looked like three fish on a line. Her friends joined us at the beach for pinata bashing, cake, and gifts. Kezia got a Snow White princess dress from a friend who devoted himself to be her “princess guard”. She’s been wearing it so much and causing so much wear and tear that she now looks like a princess-gone-pauper. She wore it when we ran some errands last week and loved the attention she received. Since she doesn’t know about Snow White, though, she gets confused when people ask her, “Are you Snow White?”

She also received card games from a friend. If she takes a nap during the day, she gets to stay up and play a game. It has been a lot of fun playing classic card games with her. I made her bucket boots and a puppet show theater and Nate and I whipped up some puppets for it. Fun, fun, fun. She loves to tell people she is four, and explain everything four-year-olds can do. (Did you know 4yr olds know all the words to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, and know how to put the hard puzzles together, and can read books aloud just by looking at pictures, and teach people hula? Ask Kezia—it’s true, plus other amazing stunts.)

Kezia asked to have a strawberry cake. Once it got time to eat it, though, she didn't eat a bite!! Every year we have a birthday party at the park across from Nate's parents' house. And every year I think the candles will light. And every year I am wrong and disappointed. I must be insane. I love the pic of the cake lined with paper plates to help stop the breeze, and Kezia's friend trying to snake the glory of blowing out the 2 successfully lit candles away from her!!

Kezia also began Joy School again. She loves being away from home and being with friends. I am so glad she can do that. She really needs some socialization. Hula class also started again. After class, all the little girls go out on the grass to play. It has been hard for Kezia to get them to play with her. They either had their own tight group of friends or didn’t want to play Kezia’s games. It made me so sad to see her try to be friends with these girls but not have that friendliness returned. One day, I had a great idea: snacks! So the last couple times I’ve equipped her with a bag of crackers or something and that pulls the other girls’ interest in approaching her. It seems to be working so far and she seems a lot happier.

On Labor Day we got to go to the Family Fun Fest, a festival at the church put on by a guy that owns a business with bouncy castles and carnival rides. Everything is free, and it’s a great time. The kids of course had a blast. They also got to make their own bowl on a pottery wheel. Ivy wasn’t too fond of the slimy feel. Kezia wanted to climb the climbing wall, She climbed so high on her own. She stopped climbing for a while and when we asked her if she wanted to come down, we thought she said yes. When she got down, she was in tears; she wanted to make it all the way to the top!

The girls and I spent one morning at the beach, or at least that was my intent, but the girls weren’t too keen on the idea. However, on the way back from the beach to the car, they spotted the beach showers. They spent about 40 minutes splashing in the shower water! Who needs a beach? Just a shower head.

I began a Montessori-based preschool called “Great Beginnings” every Wednesday morning for Kezia and some friends. Nate was generous and donated ½ of his office space to the school. Kay, Nate’s mom, was also generous and was able to equip the little classroom with shelving and genuine Montessori materials. Having learned what I have about the Montessori method of learning, I am glad that Kezia can have the exposure, although minimum and with an unqualified teacher. In March I would like to start a class for Ivy’s age, too, all along still trying to get a real school started on the North Shore. In two weeks, I am going to start teaching swimming lessons again so Kezia doesn’t forget. I had been working on the primary program for the kids in our church, which will be in two weeks.

I am feeling great. This is a pretty easy pregnancy (the only things bothering me are the heinous varicous veins that haunt my pregnancies). Finally, my belly stopped expanding more than what it should be at this stage. Where at the beginning I had quite a few people tease me about carrying twins because I was so big so soon, now I have people saying I look small. I feel blessed to have a lot of energy and stamina. Surprising even myself, I am still able to go surfing. No big waves or crowds, though. On time I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and went out where the crowd was and caught a decent wave, but while on the inside found myself facing a surfer aimed straight at me. No injuries or anything, but I learned my lesson and am staying out of the way. I am sure I’m a spectacle from the beach as I paddle out with my bum up in the air, trying to accommodate my big belly, but oh well. Although I’ve been saying this from the beginning, I think 2 more weeks and then no more.

Nate has been charging with work. We should be closing on a condo very shortly. He has been working hard on his website, www.supsurfmag.com. He has been able to get a lot of advertisers on the site, and will have an ad in the Triple Crown of Surfing program in November. That’s the biggest surfing event and it’s here on the North Shore. That will bring a lot of traffic to the site.

He also recently stumbled upon a phenomenal product called MaxGXL (www.mymaxgxl.com/nate).

Nate’s birthday was this past week. He past the 30 year mark this year. We went out to eat that night, and then yesterday we had a party with some friends, including a pinata for adults filled with “little surprises”.

Nate is anxious for the big waves to start pounding the beach soon. Nate’s friend from his mission and his wife are staying with us a couple of days. We love company!! It’s also forced us to get our house clean. It is so nice to be in a clean, organized house. I think it’s the cleanest it’s ever been.

Have a great month!

Gorrilla mouth, swimming, hula, and pumpkins

Sunday, October 28^th

Aloha, again! Wow, it’s been a full month. Full with good things, though.

Baby no-name is doing well. She kicks constantly. I can’t believe there is only 2 ½ months left before she is here!! By the way, has anyone come across some good nature names for girls? The struggle continues, and we would love some inspiration.

Ivy has found that stuffing grapes in her cheeks make her look like a gorilla. She was able to go to Joy School with Kezia when it was at our house, and loved being like one of the big kids. Usually when Kezia goes to Joy School, Ivy and I get to have our time together. We go to story time or the playground or whatever. I am really glad to have one-on-one time with her.

I am teaching another session of swimming lessons (I did the first session in August). Since then, Kezia has been brave enough to swim in the water at the beach all by herself, as well as jump into the pool and swim around with only the aid of a water noodle. Ivy has now caught the bug of swimming too and is participating in this session of swimming too. I really enjoy teaching kids swimming. I love swimming myself, and it is fun to watch the kids get better and enjoy the water.

Kezia has been enjoying her hula class. She is a great listener in class and tries hard to do all the moves. Ivy likes to show off her dance moves, too. Two more tidbits: Kezia is growing her bangs out to be like Ivy. We also made her bedtime a bit later, which means more 1-1 time, which is great.

The girls are *hopefully* being blue fairies for Halloween. I made their skirts and headbands out of old curtains and am glad they match the leotards they already own. The girls helped decorate their costumes, including their wings. Kezia is still deciding whether or not she wants to be a fairy or a princess (and wear her haggard, ripped “kicked out of the castle and dragged down the drawbridge” Princess dress) and Ivy says she wants to be a hungry lion or a dinosaur. But the costumes are made and I am not making anymore (although Kezia is determined that Daddy and I will be goats. Goats?!? Where did that come from? And how do I go about not disappointing her, especially when she reminds me every other day?) Last Saturday we went to a Pumpkin Patch where we got to pick our own pumpkins and go on a hay ride. The rule was you had to be able to carry your own pumpkin, so we searched the patch over for small enough pumpkins for the girls to carry. They had a miserable time carrying them over to the pay station. Then we took the hay ride which stopped at the mini pumpkin patch to pick pumpkin pickers up and drive them to the pay station!!! Well, now we know for next year. It was fun, though.

My belly’s too big now for prone surfing, so I had to succomb to using Nate’s stand-up board. Although I am not converted yet (as so many people are), it is a great workout. It even works my abs, which seems like the impossible when prego. One time I paddled up the river in Haleiwa. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I have been able to catch some waves on it, too.

The Great Beginnings class (the Montessori-based preschool I teach on Wednesdays) is going well, although I am trying to figure out how to individually teach all the kids during classtime. Kezia is much more advanced than the other kids, maybe because she is the only girl, and I feel like she always gets left out of the individual teaching, so I am trying to figure out what to do. I have been thinking of making her a teacher helper to help teach the other kids.

Another Primary Program over and done with. Ahhhh….. Kezia did great. She sang a trio with 2 of her friends (Faith is like a little seed) and then she covered a speaking part for someone who was sick. The Bishop wanted Primary to run as usual afterward, instead of the typical “chill-out” movie session most wards do. Let me tell you, I have a firm belief in the importance of chill-out movie sessions after primary programs!!!!! It was soooo out of control!! Kezia had a new Sunbeam teacher who started that day and left in tears. Enough said.

My hula class is having a performance at the beginning of December. At first I wasn’t going to do it, when I heard all that was going to be involved in the preparation (sewing, making our own adornments, extra stress at the practices, etc.) but Nate convinced me I should still do it, and that he will help me. And although he’s helped as much as he can, I am still feeling a bit overwhelmed. However, by the end of the week, I should/have to have everything completed. Besides the added stress, I have really enjoyed dancing hula. Most people are older-grandmas already—and it’s nice to glean from their wisdom. You can smell the fragrance of the plumeria outside the gym where we dance, and as the teacher plays his ukulele and sings the Hawaiian songs while I hula surrounded by beautiful women in flowing skirts, I feel transported back to old Hawaii. Besides, it’s also a time for me. What more can I ask for?

Nate’s old mission companion and his wife were out here for a bit at the beginning of the month. It was a lot of fun to have them here, even though it was for a few days. We love company!!! We love visiting with people we don’t see that often, and we feel like we are on vacation too when people visit.

Nate and I were just talking the other day about how important quality education has been in our businesses. We spent a lot of time and $$ going to business seminars and buying courses and such to better our businesses, and we are able to see it pay off. Nate has been learning a ton about internet marketing by a guy named Armond Moran. I’ve mentioned before about Nate’s ability to learn things really quickly. Well, so many times at night he will tell me about a problem that just can’t be fixed with one of his websites, and then by lunch the next day he’s found some ingenious way to fix it.

Nate’s www.supsurfmag.com website has been bringing him some free perks, like a stand-up board and a surfboard transporter. Sweet. He put on this silly surfing game on a link at the top of the website if you wanna goof off for a bit.

He’s also excited about improving our real estate website, www.1866myezsale.com. He’s been turning into a web designer wiz. And we are happy we sold another condo this month.

Last night we went on parent-daughter dates. Nate went with Ivy to the pet store and then to the grocery store where she could get what she wanted for dinner (she chose the expensive sushi with slabs of salmon. Nate said she would not take any of his suggestions for something different) and Kezia and I headed off to the Fun Factory, where they have video games and such, and then went to a Korean BBQ to eat. It was so much fun for all of us. I learned kids are so much more fun when you can spend uninterrupted playtime with just one of them at a time.

Well, thanks for letting me write your eyes off (would that be the equivalent to “talk your ears off”?); I needed some serious zoning out, talk-about-myself time tonight. If you are wondering why, please review the last letter. ;)

Lots of love,

Heidi, Nate, Kezia, Ivy, and Wish-I-Had-A-Name