Pregnancy's Contageous

The girls have been putting stuffed animals under their clothes and saying, "I have a baby in my tummy!" We find Kezia's belly full even when we wake her in the night to use the potty. I asked Ivy once how the baby got there. She thought about it for a while and then said, " I put the baby on a stick and put it in my tummy." She couldn't quite explain how the baby transferred from the stick to her tummy, though. ;)

Ivy's Birthday

Ivy’s birthday was on Monday. She’s already 3!!! She brings so much joy to our lives. On Saturday, we had a few friends come over for cake, ice cream and gifts. Then on Monday we went to the zoo as a family.
Ivy enjoying her cake with Grandma Burgoyne

Ivy’s Grandma Burgoyne got her a fairy dress-up. When she opened it, she cried, “A fairy! I’m almost a fairy….”(and then after putting on the costume,) “I’m a fairy!” Then every subsequent gift after that seemed to her to be connected to that fairy gift: hair accessories, backpack, mirror, etc. Each one she would open and say, “More fairy things!! No, I’m almost a fairy (and the after applying the gift to her body,) “Now I’m a fairy!” She was surrounded by other toddlers (including her sisters who dotted on her like maidservants to a princess, decorating her hair with her new hairclips, showing her her reflection in the mirror, and brushing her hair. It was really cute.

She also received a Dora backpack full of Dora gifts. She has been wearing it everywhere, even to bed. And she loved the hard animals from Grandma Hicken, too. She has added them to her dollhouse, so now it looks like the house in Jumanji, with baboons and panda bears in the various rooms. She received a five dollar bill from her Uncle Shaun and Aunt Susan, and as she was carrying it to the house she sang, “Iiiii got my twooooo cents! Iiiii got my twoooo cents!”

I was so impressed with Kezia the week before. Kezia devoted about an hour every day to making gifts for her sister. Kezia loves cutting paper, so on Ivy’s birthday, she proudly presented her with a pile of cut papers, collages, party hats, and a paper fan. I was grateful that Ivy thanked her graciously, despite all the more exciting gifts she received.

Nate and I got her a fishbowl, and Tuesday night we went to the pet store where both Ivy and Kezia chose a fish. Ivy chose a goldfish named “Marcy” and Kezia chose a yellow (“because that’s my favorite color”) guppy named “Rosemary”. We tried to explain to her that hers was a male guppy, and he might feel self-conscious with a name like that, but the name stuck anyway.

Thank you so much for the phone calls and cards!! It made her feel so cool.

Here's a video of Ivy blowing out her candles. (Check out the classic toddler moves--the blowing helper and the many hands grabbing the candles at the end)

Beach Morning

Nate surfing


Here are some pics from the beach this morning, including a video of Hawaiian sea turtles coming out of the water. They are beautiful, peaceful animals who feed at night and then come out on the shores to rest. I hope the shakiness of the video doesn't make you sick! Oh, yes, and here is one of Ivy burying herself in the sand.

Camping on New Year's Eve

On New Years we packed the car so full of stuff you would have thought we were moving and headed up the hills to a campsite. Our goal of leaving at 3:00 seemed to make God laugh, and we didn't get going until 5:30. We stopped at the grocery store for tinfoil for our tinfoil dinners and marshmallows for s'mores. A HALF HOUR later, Nate emerged from the store...it was PACKED with partiers. When we arrived at the campsite, it was already dark, but our headlights revealed a whole group of 4 year olds chasing kitties around (which seemed to multiply by the hour...the cats, I mean). Way cool. The girls jumped out of the car and into the fun. Then one of the moms let our kids play with her kids in their tent (and eat their food) while Nate and I set up the tent. What a luxury that was!! One of the great things about Hawaii is how friendly the people are. It is really common for people to watch over other peoples' kids. I guess that's why everyone is called "auntie" or "uncle".

By 8:00 we had the fire going, and you would have thought the smoke was a pheromone for cats. But after we had our tinfoil dinners, they disappeared. And then with much anticipation, Nate reached for the grocery bag with the marshmallows in it. They were gone! He looked around, but then noticed the grocery bag had holes all over it. Apparently, the thieving cats found the goods and took off!! Luckily, our new-found friends had brought a load of marshmallows and it was the least we could do to help lighten their bag.

After the fire we headed for the tent. I didn't realize it was 11:30 already!!! (Our kids are usually down by 7:00. ) Needless to say, as soon as their heads hit the pillow, they were out. The coolest thing about the campsite, which we had not expected, was the view. On one side it looked over the ocean. On the other, it looked over the southern-central part of the island all the way to Diamond Head in Honolulu. So Nate and I crept out of our tents and enjoyed a bird's eye view of fireworks lighting up the sky from all directions, including a fancy show from a hotel nearby.

We thought we were all having a good time, but were corrected when Ivy woke up in the morning and asked, "Why are we still here?" We are hoping it is because often we drop the girls off at Grandma's or a babysitter when Nate and I go on a date, and then pick them up after they had fallen asleep. Which means they go to sleep in one place and wake up in another. So Ivy woke up confused and asked, "Why are we still here?"

Nate taking the girls' new friends for a wagon ride. (Over 200lbs, perhaps?)


In the morning we had fun with our wagon going sledding Hawaiian style down the hill. Nate had forgotten about the 200lb limit, so let's just say the wagon's physical appearance now has some character.







We also went on a short hike in the woods. Ivy pretended there were lions hiding in the woods, and introduced us to some of the nice ones, (which suspiciously looked a lot like tree trunks)




We hope you have a WONDERFUL new year filled with good times.

Christmas Morning

Christmas was nice this year. We loved the simplicity of it this year, especially the fact that we (almost) didn't do any Christmas shopping this year. We received some really nice gifts from family and friends, and we are so grateful. Here are just some pics from Christmas morning:
With Nate's reminder, the girls leave cookies and a drink for Santa Christmas Eve.


"While visions of, er, reindeer, danced in her wee little head..."

The girls with the ponies we gave them for Christmas. These were mine when I was young.
YEAH!! A wagon!!!!
The dollhouse (and evidence on Nate's arm of him being a good dad)