Waite-ing Room

Ella's First Christmas

2011-12-27T06:01:00.001-10:00

Ella had her first trip on an airplane...and boy was it a big one! We travelled from Hawaii all the way back to South Carolina. The good news is we both survived the flights and it was all done with a minimal amount of death stares from fellow passengers :)
Our little Ella is definitely a trooper!

Since we flew in on a red eye and arrived on Christmas Eve, we had a low key Christmas day. We slept in and then went to have Christmas linner (after lunch but before dinner) at my grandparents house where Ella got to meet her great grandparents!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!

Here she is with her great-granddaddy.

Family Pictures

2011-12-18T21:10:00.000-10:00

Before Mark was deployed, we decided it might be nice to get some family photos. I called up my friend, Emma (who did Ella's newborn pictures), to see if she could snap some shots of us. This is what we ended up with...

I really like this one but it didn't edit up as well as I wanted.

I love Ella in this one :o)

Our Christmas card picture!

Blowing bubbles...

Hanging out with Mommy...

Playing with Daddy...

Firsts...

2011-12-16T10:17:00.000-10:00

Yesterday was Ella's first day at the beach!! Well the first day she actually got out of the car seat at the beach :o)

Step 1: Covered up at the beach...

Step 2: Napping at the beach...

Step 3: Finally out and about!!

Craigslist Project...

2011-12-14T15:57:00.000-10:00

We needed a glider/rocker with ottoman. Craigslist, as always, came to the rescue and gave us this for $20...

A yard and a half of fabric, a staple gun and a trusty friend, Ken (the sewing machine) later, we have this gem!

Tummy Time!

2011-12-10T11:44:00.000-10:00

Man, she is getting big!

Three Months Later...

2011-12-08T19:38:00.001-10:00

Returning to the scene of the crime* three months later. How time flies!

*crime = water breaking

Happy Three Months, Ella!!

December 7, 1941

2011-12-07T11:48:00.001-10:00

"A date which will live in infamy".

- Roosevelt

Remembering the attack on Pearl Harbor seems to take on a new meaning once Pearl Harbor is called home. It's no longer a distant island that you just read about and remember once a year on December 7th. We see the memorials daily and are reminded of all of those that gave their lives that morning.

One of the less known and visited memorials...

The Utah

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T10:07:00.000-10:00

The cutest ghost on the block!

Spare Time

2011-10-12T09:08:00.000-10:00

I know, new parents aren't supposed to have spare time...but my parents are in town so they have been spoiling Ella rotten with love and attention. Which means I have some time to myself to finish some projects! This is the one I finished last night....love it!!

Happy One Month Birthday

2011-10-08T15:38:00.000-10:00

Our cutie patootie is one month old today! Here are some pictures from her first photo shoot that a friend and I did earlier this month...

Ode To Ella

2011-10-06T18:12:00.001-10:00

Our little one, you were supposed to be due today. Instead you are almost a month old! We're not sure where that month has gone but it has definitely flown by. Here are some (read: a ton of) pictures of the first month of your life...

On the way home from the hospital, we found out that you are extremely patriotic. You saluted the flag outside of Tripler's main entrance.

Your first night home you did what you do best...looking stinkin' cute and sleeping :o)

We took our first family picture together. I guess most people take that at the hospital but the camera was dead at the hospital :(

You are such a trooper when the doctors order up gross tests. You didn't even cry! It looks like you're being jump started here but you're actually getting your 4th EKG. Yippee for your 5th coming next week :(

You are definitely your mother's daughter...you catch flies when you sleep and even drool a little bit.

You and Daddy's favorite thing to do together.

Such a tough life...

You're Daddy's little angel...

You even like going sightseeing at the North Shore. You insisted that you get your picture taken with the sea turtle as well.

Your three week birthday was celebrated in style...on the USS NC with Daddy.

You loved hanging out with your Aunt Sappo when she came to visit us for a week!

And here you are...you're getting huge! Given the arms, I'm guessing you're probably giving a speech about a day in the life of a newborn.

We love you and can't believe you're almost a month old!

Happy Girl...

2011-10-04T22:41:00.000-10:00

How could you not love this face?

I wonder if this is her "I just left mommy a big ole' present in my diaper" face?

Ella's Story

2011-10-01T00:13:00.000-10:00

Okay, sorry for the hiatus...newborns have a way of making you forget to blog. So here is Ella's crazy, ridiculous birth story...

Blessing number one...as mentioned in the last post, Mark's submarine had just pulled in from being out to sea for a few weeks. That was a little after noon. Around 1pm I got to see him at the pier. I scolded him for having an underway mustache (so friggin' gross), told him I was sweating my face off, that I loved him and then I went to run some errands because he had to go back on the boat for another few hours of work.

Now this is when the fun begins!

Around 2:30pm I walked into here...

That's when my water broke. (I'm not sure if that means Ella likes Home Depot or is a Lowe's gal instead.) I felt something wet. Then a lot of something wet. That's when I decided to head to the bathroom where I verified that my water had broke and then pondered what to do next. All of the books and classes say that a small percentage of people actually break their water outside of the hospital so I hadn't really thought of a "what would I do if..." scenario. I decided since I wasn't feeling any contractions it was safe for me to drive myself to the hospital. So I made a mad dash for the car. (Home Depot really shouldn't put the bathrooms in the very back of the store...weren't they thinking of things like this??)

As I was walking...very quickly...from Home Depot's bathroom I was thinking of how the heck I was going to get a hold of Mark. He was still on the boat and they hadn't had time to hook up the phone lines to the boat yet. (Funny how cell phones don't tend to work in big metal tubes that are under water :o) Just then my friend, Elizabeth, called to see what I was up to. I told her my water had just broke and that I was headed to the hospital. Blessing number two...Elizabeth just happened to be down at the pier. Elizabeth jumped into action and got the news down to the boat, someone found Mark, they got him off the boat and she drove him to the hospital.

Apparently this is what they were doing when someone ran in and told him I was in labor...

Now you know why I scolded him on the pier earlier...disgusting!! He is a smart husband though...he went straight to the bathroom to shave off his underway 'stache before leaving the boat to go to the hospital. The guys thought he was crazy for taking the time to do that, but I think I fell in love with him even more for this. Because if he would have shown up to the hospital with that thing on his face we would have had words...just sayin'.

Okay so we are both on our way to the hospital. Me driving myself and Elizabeth driving Mark. On a side note...I'm pretty sure I leaked at least a quart of water between Home Depot's entrance, bathroom, the driver's seat, my pants and the floor at the hospital. Funny how during the child birthing classes they don't tell you things like breaking your water is like a faucet that never shuts off once it's turned on.

So at this point I am VERY thankful we purchased the car with leather seats (we'll count that as blessing number 2.5 or something). Oddly enough, I wasn't freaked out at all about the fact that I was in labor, just freaked out about having completely soaked pants and not having the nursery done. I've never claimed to be normal so I guess it's not that surprising haha

After hitting every stoplight known to man, I finally make it to the hospital at around 3:30pm! Thankfully I found parking when I got to the hospital because I was worried I would have to valet park. (Can you imagine how that conversation would have gone..."here is an extra $10, sorry the seat is soaking wet with amniotic fluid." Awkward!) Anyways, I speed walk into the hospital and realize that I don't remember how to get to Labor and Delivery. I had only been there once and that was from a different entrance. Now you might think this is ridiculous but let me remind you what this hospital looks like...

Okay ignore the fact that it's pink...because it is also HUGE! So I find someone in scrubs, interrupt their conversation and ask how to get to Labor and Delivery. They both realize my pants are soaking wet, give me a funny look and then figure out why I need to go to L&D so quickly...that earns me two escorts to L&D :o)

Yay!! I feel like the hard part is over. I sign some papers, they get me into triage with some awesome padding under me so I stop leaking all over their floor (opps!), the nurse uses her little test paper to confirm that my water has actually broke (duh, I mean I couldn't pee that much if I tried), they hook me up to some machines and that is when Mark arrives! Yippeeee, we are ready to roll now!

The doctor lady comes in and asks me how I am doing. I've been joking around and having a good ole' time so I tell her that I'm pretty peachy now that I have on a dry hospital gown. Blessing number three...she was like well that's great because you're 7 cm and in the middle of a contraction right now. And oh yeah, you're having contractions about every 3 minutes. HA! Funny how I had no clue that was going on with my own body. Safe to say they admitted me and got me into a room real quick like after that little discovery :o)

So there we are in this gigantic labor and delivery room at around 4:30pm. No "mommy, daddy or baby hospital bag" packed, no middle name picked out, the car seat was at home, an incomplete nursery, a husband that was dog tired from being out to sea for a few weeks and in his uniform with no change of clothes, 36 weeks pregnant and not feeling any contractions. Safe to say it was all kind of surreal at that point. All of that didn't matter to little Ella though because she was ready!

I progressed to 8 and 9 cm in a couple hours. Started feeling the contractions at 9 cm and was ready for drugs at about the second contraction...man, those things are no joke!! Apparently there is no prize for giving natural child birth so I paged my nurse and asked for a Big Mac and drugs. She only came with the drugs though...guess you can't have everything. Epidurals are weird feeling and not fun to get when in the middle of a contraction. All I could think was, "I don't want to be paralyzed, I don't want to be paralyzed, I don't want to be paralyzed." If that doesn't keep you completely still while a needle is in your back, I'm not sure what will :o)

Blessing number four is modern medicine. About 30 minutes later the drugs had kicked in (loveeeddd itttt!), the antibiotic for Group B Strep had been in my system for the required 4 hours (so Ella didn't catch it on her way out and get meningitis) and I was 10 cm. It was a little before 8pm and time to push!

I'm a freak and requested a mirror. Yeah that's right, I totally watched Ella's big ole' head be delivered. It was awesome and totally distracting. I sometimes forgot to push the full 10 seconds because watching was way more cool. Blessing number five, after 40 minutes of pushing, our little Ella Miriam Waite arrived!

There ya go. Ella's crazy birth story. We christened Home Depot...as well as our driver's seat (I guess it really is Ella's car now) and we are blessed that Mark was home, I had the best and easiest labor a mom could ask for and ended up with the most beautiful girl in the world. The End.

A Very Late 36 Weeks....

2011-09-13T12:19:00.000-10:00

Man, my weekly baby bump posts are getting later and later! Okay...so here is my 36 week bump photo taken last Thursday. I like to call it the "family portrait." That is Mark's boat in the background. They had been out to sea for a few weeks, and they were pulling in on my 36 week mark.

36 Week Family Portrait

(yes, the Navy/sub gets in the family photo too...all military spouses know Uncle Sam gets our husbands more than we do haha)

Heck, I'll even throw in another 36 week picture.

A few hours after the boat pulled in...

Mom and Dad (and the house for that matter) may not have been ready but Ella was! That's me all checked into my labor and delivery room at the hospital. (That's right, I'm a good Southern gal...I gave birth in my pearls :o)

While Mark was out to sea I made it a point to give Ella frequent little pep talks about how she could not join us until Daddy was home. Turns out that Ella is a very literal gal. Daddy had been home (read: the boat had been tied to the pier and all of the guys were still on there working) for a whopping 3 hours when she decided she was tired of her current home, my belly, and wanted to meet us in person.

About 8 hours after the 36 week family portrait and about 4 hours after checking into labor and delivery....

We had this little angel enter our lives.

Ella Miriam Waite is absolutely perfect! Mark and I are both in awe of how incredibly precious and beautiful she is. Even though she came 4 weeks early, Ella is healthy as can be. No NICU or extra days in the hospital for our lil' pumpkin!

Okay that is all for now. I'll post the full story soon because let me tell ya, it's a crazy one! (Well you didn't think any little girl of mine would come into the world like every other kid did you? Nope, she likes making it interesting just like her mama :o)

One Month

2011-09-06T00:37:00.000-10:00

Today we are one month from Ella's due date. According to the books we should have our hospital bags packed, the nursery done and the car seat already installed in the car. Well I'm 0 for 3 on that front. Opps??

Instead of completing the above "to do" list, we kidnapped a friend for her birthday this weekend. We took her to the Kahala Resort to swim with dolphins. While there we found a really cool staircase that was covered in orchids. (I actually saw this on the travel channel a while ago but couldn't remember the resort name.)

I'm guessing my black thumb couldn't get a job here...

So many types of orchids I've never seen before...

Reminds me of a praying mantis...

Purdy...

Come on, these things are crazy cool!

Literally too many to choose from...

Late 35 Weeks...

2011-09-03T18:45:00.000-10:00

Ahhhh only 3 more weeks until Ella is considered full term! Craziness! No worries though...she gets regular pep talks about how she is not allowed to grace us with her presence until her daddy gets home. Here is to hoping she is an obedient child :o)

Here is my big ole belly...

Holy smokes!! Can I get any bigger??!! The doctor said yes I can and will be getting bigger. Insane!

Deals and a Steal...

2011-08-28T21:52:00.000-10:00

Fact: I love a good deal.

My friends in college used to call me cheap. I liked to think they really meant thrifty, but they assured me they meant cheap. I'm definitely not as cheap...I mean thrifty nowadays, but I still love a good deal. Although those good deals are mighty hard to find here on our little island. Especially since stores like Target don't consider us part of the United States when it comes to their free shipping offers. Heck, they even double their shipping prices for us. Isn't that nice of them?? (Thank you Amazon, for recognizing that Hawaii is a state too...number 5-0 to be exact.)

When it came to buying the bigger items for Ella, I knew we were going to have a challenge. We found the crib and the stroller system that we wanted but alas the only store on the island that carried them was insane expensive! Which, for the record, is pretty normal for local stores because they get killed by the stinkin' shipping costs too. Babies'R'Us was more than happy to ship me the crib we wanted...for an extra $120. Umm no thank you? Target was more than happy to ship me the stroller we wanted...for an extra $80. Ugh! Clearly it was time to get creative because at that point, I was bound and determined to find these two things at the price I wanted.

Enter the Exchange. A glorious little place where military people gather to find things at better prices and no taxes. On the mainland it's hit or miss if the Exchange really has better prices, but here it is pretty much guaranteed to be a better price.

Low and behold the Navy Exhange had our stroller...just not in the color we wanted. After some research on their end, they found out they could order it for us in the color we wanted. Yippeee!! Even better...it was going to be $50 cheaper than what we found it for. Score!

Next up was the crib. We found it at the Air Force Exchange's website and immediately went to put in our order. It was coming up $30 cheaper than the local store. Then I found out that the crib was on sale at Babies'R'Us and the Exchange would match the sale price. So knock off another $40. Then the sweet lady on the phone said, "honey, I'll do you one better and beat Babies'R'Us' price!" Knock off another $10. That comes up to a savings of $80 for the crib!

Thanks to the Exchanges we saved $130 and then some because it was tax free! Oh yeah, I forgot the best part. The shipping was free for both items. FREEEEEEEEEEEE I tell you! Big thumbs up for that military perk!

Now Ella has one of these...

And one of these...

Now for the steal...we found the exact crib mattress we wanted at Target for $13! It was marked down from $60 because someone had retuned it. Yahtzee!!

34 Weeks...A Day Late

2011-08-26T12:01:00.000-10:00

It seems like I'm always a day late with these posts. Oh well! 34 weeks it is! Man oh man, little Ella is going to be here before we know it. Later today I go to Tripler (our hospital) for the Labor and Delivery Tour. I will get to see where Ella is going to be born and all of that jazz. I think I'll go ahead and put in my request the penthouse suite :o)

Here is me at 34 weeks!

In other news, I think my Mac screen is slowly giving up the ghost. Safe to say those lines on the right hand side of the screen aren't supposed to be there. Le sad :o(

Nursery...

2011-08-24T11:28:00.000-10:00

I was looking through my posts and realized I hadn't posted about the nursery progress since the end of May. Call me crazy but that seems like forever ago!! That was back when I was way smaller and we were finding out we were having a girl!

Okay recap...this is where we started with the nursery. Two words: HOT MESS!!

After selling our desk and finding hiding places for everything else you see above...we finally got the nursery looking like this.

Ahhhh blank slate!! Now add a carpet remnant, dresser and chair and you've got this!

Bookshelves are of course added because our little Ella is going to be a smart cookie. AKA We needed somewhere to put all of our books. The top right shelf is Ella's. We figured the Webster Dictionary was a good place to start for a newborn.

I was even feeling overzealous one day and did the closets in the room. Little Ella only gets half the closet though. Sorry kid, it's a tough life.

Clearly this one is mommy and daddy's half...

And Ella's half...

Mkay that's all for now. Next time I'll tell you about the sweet deals I got for the crib, stroller system and crib mattress. Mmmmm love me a good deal!!

Guest Room Love

2011-08-21T16:54:00.000-10:00

Our guest room has really gotten the short end of the stick since we have been trying to make the third bedroom into the nursery. All of the random stuff that used to live in the third bedroom has slowly found a new home in other parts of the house...mostly the guest room. So what used to be our very clean and organized guest room now looks like a war zone.

I figured the least I could do was finally make the war zone look pretty. I've been meaning to make curtains for this room since we moved in...never mind the fact that we moved in 11 months ago HA! So 11 months later and the guest room finally has some rockin' curtains!

...in my defense, I couldn't find any curtains I liked or were willing to pay for. Then one day I decided that I really just needed to start thinking outside of the box and found this at Target...

What is that wonderful pop of color you see?? That's a tablecloth! I fell in love with the vibrant blue and bought four of them at $10 each.

Now the last of the boring, dingy white curtains (which were in every single window of our house) have finally been banished from the house! ...which is great because they were dry rotting and didn't close all of the way.

I sewed up those tablecloths and added black out panels so now the guest room is bright and colorful! It's like a breath of fresh air. Three cheers for $40 curtains!!

It's such a happy room to be in now! Then I looked at the attached bathroom and realized that window needed some love too. I got out my green seersucker and went to work making this little guy.

Now the guest room is complete!! I am ready for all of our guests in October now!

33 Weeks and a Field Trip or Two

2011-08-19T11:24:00.000-10:00

I can't believe little Ella has been growing in my belly for 8 months! Then I look at myself in the mirror (side view, of course) and it's not so hard to believe. My belly is definitely large and in charge! I have also started to waddle. Yes, it's true...I was probably just a part time waddler during my mainland trip, but now I am a full time waddler :o)

Field trip #1

Ella's first snorkeling adventure was earlier this week! (Yes, you can snorkel while pregnant...you just can't scuba dive.) I went snorkeling up at Shark's Cove with two great friends. Shark's Cove is a great little place to snorkel because most of the tourists are busy snorkeling on the other side of the island at Hanauma Bay :o)

Shark's Cove...getting in and out can be tricky but definitely worth it!

And just in case you were wondering...my friends both said it was really funny seeing me snorkel because of the big 'ole belly just bobbing around :o) They were both troopers though because I move a lot slower than normal and I'm not as steady on my feet. They both declared I wasn't falling down on their clocks and I didn't! Thanks Emma and Caitlin!

Field Trip #2

Yesterday, my actual 33 weeks, was a lot of fun. I had a brunch to go to for a Navy spouse association that I belong to. This one was particularly fun because it was held at the Submarine Admiral's house on Ford Island. As expected, the house was absolutely beautiful but it holds a couple of secrets...like a bunker in the basement. The Admiral's wife was kind enough to give us all a tour of the basement. It was really awesome! There is so much history in Pearl Harbor, and it was great to see part of the history that most people don't get to see.

Creepy basement that comes with a lot of ghost stories. (Some of those ghost hunter TV shows have even come and filmed down here!)

Let me out!!

Emma and I standing at the end of the Admiral's personal pier. They definitely win for best view of the Arizona Memorial!

And last, but not least, 33 week bump picture!

The Mainland: Part 5

2011-08-16T08:21:00.000-10:00

Last, but certainly not least, was Aiken, South Carolina! The drive from St. Louis to Aiken ended up being about 13 hours or so. Ella was a rockstar in the car. This little lady is going to be a traveler one day! She did a great job of not tap dancing on my bladder too often and all in all it was a good road trip. Of course I had the whole backseat to myself and it came equipped with three pillows to help me get comfortable :o)

Highlights of the Aiken portion of the trip would definitely be eating at Duke's BBQ (it's making me drool just thinking about it!), getting to see tons of friends and family and the baby shower my mom threw.

No pictures of Duke's BBQ, but they are the same people that catered our wedding reception. I make it a point to go there at least once when I'm in town. I did get pictures of the baby shower and a couple friends that came to visit though.

So when Mom found out I was coming to town she immediately got excited about throwing a baby shower. I'm going to be honest, I was a little hesitant at first because I didn't know if it would work out timing wise or how I would get everything home. She wins this round though because it was a blast and so much fun to catch up with all of the ladies that came to the shower. I saw people that I hadn't seen in years! I truly am thankful for everyone that came out and joined us!

Here are the centerpieces. Mom put out one of my outfits on every table along with a picture of me in the outfit. This has always been one of my favorites. It's an Easter dress my mom made...

Man was I cute!!

Okay sorry, back to the shower haha. We probably could have just had this and I would have been completely happy. It may not look like much but man oh man it's amazing! I LOVE this cake. It's a fresh strawberry cake that is made by a local lady. It's to die for...literally. We had it at our wedding, and I think I have had it every time I have come home since then.

So I got the cake and this little lady got everything else...

Luckily she is still in my tummy so that means I got to open all of her gifts muahaha

Yay for fun presents!

Ella has me trained well...I even cleaned up and organized all the stuff she got.

Then I had a couple friends that couldn't make it to the shower come during the week and visit.

Here are Vanessa and Ella meeting for the first time...

Vanessa is obviously in the other belly :o) That belly belongs to Sally, one of my good friends from high school. (Also the same person I went to visit in Guatemala last summer.) We are only a couple weeks apart. How awesome is that?? We were both thrilled b/c this is the first time we had seen one another since getting pregnant.

Then we had to get Janna, Sally's oldest, in on the fun too. So dang cute!

Then my good friend from college came and visited too! She brought this ridiculously amazing diaper cake that she made.

Isn't that thing insane!!?? Megan definitely has a talent for making rolled up diapers look awesome!

(As a side note...Mark wasn't crazy about the implications of the bib you see below "Shopaholic in Training" tehehe)

Just in case you were wondering...this is how you get a diaper cake home in a suitcase...

So sad...but it was beautiful while it lasted!! I had a few other really great friends and family come visit as well but I'm a lame-o and didn't take pictures...but I'm so glad I got to see you all!!

13,000 miles later and Ella and I were back home with our favorite man! It was a whirlwind of a trip to the mainland, but I had tons of fun and got to see soooo many people while I was there. (When I said 8k miles a few posts ago I forgot to calculate in the miles to get back to HI haha opps!)

Now it's time to get serious about the nursery and get it ready for little Ella's appearance!

The Mainland: Part 4

2011-08-15T07:48:00.009-10:00

The day after the wedding I jumped in the car with my parents and we drove 5 hours east to St. Louis. Uncle Mike, Aunt Tari, Amelia and Adam were are wonderful hosts! We played tons of Uno, had yummy custard from the uber popular Ted Drewes and then we had gelato the next night. I didn't get any pictures of any of those things so you'll just have to take my word on it!

What you don't have to take my word on is that I have an 11 year old daughter named Amelia.

Okay so she's really just my cousin, but come on she could totally be mine! I even had that same haircut when I was her age.

Adam wanted in on the fun too...

Then we found a tree with a personality all its own...

Ladies and gents, meet Mr. St. Louis himself! No really, this is the guy the city is named after. Very saintly looking if I do say so myself.

Then we found a group of veterns with a cool hobby. They made miniature ships that actually worked! Apparently there were no submarines though :(

Fuzzy wuzzy wuz a ~~bear~~ turtle. Hmmm

Adam being a ham with Mom and Dad. We just need to teach him to do the bunny ears just a tad higher and he'll be golden :o)

So is her head to big or the hat too small??

Bye bye St. Louis!

Off to South Carolina we go!

The Mainland: Part 3

2011-08-13T07:22:00.000-10:00

Now to the wedding!! Of course I have to start with the fun pictures...

All of this...

Gets your hair looking like this...

And then you put on a dress and walk down the aisle. Okay so that's why I wasn't asked to do the hair :o)

All of that stuff in the first picture should actually get you a sweet hair-do like this! Pretty impressive, eh?

Then you add the veil we made and you have the finished product!

Of course the above process took hours. Naturally I got bored and decided to entertain myself with taking lots of pictures.

The garter belt we doctored up...

The hair piece we made for the reception...

The bouquet with Grace's favorite boots. (Boots that she wore for the ceremony and reception!)

Feather things we made for the reserved pews in the church. (Clearly peacock feathers were a part of the decor and they were awesome!)

Still bored and had time to kill...

Okay so the hair got done and it was time to put on the dress!!

Grace and Aunt Tina (her mom) looking wonderful...and ready to walk down the aisle :o)

I gave her some last minute advice...don't trip (lame, I know but that's all I could come up with)...and took my seat upstairs!

No pictures of the ceremony. I actually paid attention so I didn't miss my cue to go up there and read some scriptures. The ceremony was beautiful, wonderful and all of that jazz, but now to the fun part...the reception! (It was dark and hard to get pictures so there are only a few.)

Mmmm cake! It was as yummy as it looks...and that is no easy feat when it comes to wedding cake!

Grace and Uncle Mark (her dad) dancing. So sweet!

Yay cowboy boots!

Mom, Dad and I before we headed back to the hotel. That crew wore us out!

Next stop is St. Louis!

Beach Ball

2011-08-12T20:39:00.000-10:00

Today I went to the beach with a friend and her adorable twin girls. I brought a beach ball for the girls to play with...

Oh wait, that's just Ella! That's right, I'm a 32 week bathing beauty!

The Mainland: Part 2

2011-08-12T06:51:00.004-10:00

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there
And I'm gonna get me some.

Okay so I didn't get any loving in Kansas City because Mark was already back in Hawaii :( But these two crazy kids did because we were in Kansas City to see them get hitched! Aren't they the cutest??

That is my cousin Grace and her now husband Derek. I showed up a few days before the wedding to help them with last minute wedding stuff. Grace and I had a blast catching up and getting all crafty for the wedding.

That's right, we made this awesome hair clip for her to wear for the reception!

Okay I'm getting ahead of myself. First we have to start with the Rehearsal Dinner.

Dad and I doing what we do best...sitting in the back and being the peanut gallery to all of those that are actually participating in the rehearsal :o)

After that was over with, it was time to eat! Well not really b/c the restaurant didn't have the food ready by the time we got there ha! They also didn't have AC for some reason. So we are all pretty red in the pictures and well I just look like a swollen tick. I guess pregnant women and heat just don't mix well.

Me, Grace and Mary (obviously something really cool is happening off to our right.) Our parents didn't miss the opportunity to remind us of all the mischief the three of us used to get into together. My response to that is...and look how good we turned out! :o)

I think I'm actually making Grace look smaller just by standing beside her. I like to call this picture...skinny vs not so skinny hahaha

I even caught a good one of the boys! Markie (yes I still call him that because he is only like 14 in my mind), Andrew and Dad.

Phew! That turned into a long post. I'll do the wedding in the next post because it will of course be a long one as well!

The Mainland: Part 1

2011-08-10T18:50:00.000-10:00

My mainland tour began in Maryland. Well I guess it actually began on two very long flights to get me to Maryland.

Note to pregnant women that choose to fly....make sure your seat reclines and that it is an aisle seat. Both of those will make your flight at least tolerable. Not fun...flying pregnant is never fun but just tolerable. On my first flight, a red eye from Honolulu to Phoenix, the seat didn't recline and I was absolutely miserable! My big ole belly kept getting in the way and there was no way to get comfortable (and the flight was full...sad face.) Not a fun 6 hours...which then led to another 5 hours of me being so tired that it was just too late to recover.

Okay so back to Maryland...I stayed with Mark's family while I was there and we had a blast. First off, I finally got to meet my newest nephew, Benny.

Yes, he is possibly the most handsome 20lb, 6 month old I know. Don't you just want to eat him up?? I know I did. And if he hadn't been so dang heavy I probably never would have let him go!

There are two things the Waite boys love. 1. Golf 2. Competition They may look like they are playing a friendly game of putt-putt here but each of them is thinking to themselves, "how am I going to beat the other two..."

Apparently most of the family is about at the same level though. How does that even happen?

Given the Waite boys' first love, golf, it is only appropriate that they decided to start teaching Benny to appreciate golf early in life. It's all about a good foundation...knowing that Titleist is a well respected brand in the golf world was Benny's first lesson. I think he aced this lesson...

In fact, he got the lesson so well that he was ready to play!

His mom had to help him out a bit though...the club was just too big for him to handle. Benny will definitely be beating his uncles on the golf course before they know it!

Granted I don't think it would be too hard to beat your uncles when they are straight crazy and absolutely ridiculous. I rest my case...

The Maryland leg of the trip was tons of fun, as always. It was great to see Neil, Ellen, Brent, John, Erin, Peter, Sam, Benny, John (of the cousin variety), Mom and Dad. Funny how that's a lot of people and we were missing 4 people! Yay for big families!!

Next up on the mainland tour...Kansas City, Kansas!

Name That Tune...

2011-08-06T08:57:00.001-10:00

All of you single ladies...2 out of the 3 singers are available! You just can't have the one on the right ;)

From a popular 1950s movie...

click on picture to play

Any guesses? Come on, you know this tune...

On a side note...I love that I married into this family :o)
Pictures from the mainland trip coming next week!

28, 29, 30, 31

2011-08-05T11:42:00.000-10:00

So I am back to my little island in the middle of the sea! The trip to the mainland was a blast and had Ella and I all over the place...like literally, we covered about 8,000 miles in the past 3 weeks! We got to see tons of family and friends in all of our travels, and I even got to sleep in a day or two :o)

Now to play catch up on here and in our house (the nursery is still in shambles, eeek!). First things first though...I owe you 4 weeks of bump pictures and here they are!

Sporting the 28 week bump on the Waite's front porch. Yippeee for Maryland!!

Then off to Kansas City for my cousin's wedding! Nothing like a 29 week bump at the rehearsal dinner! (It was hotter than hot at this restaurant...I look like a swollen tick!)

Two very long car rides later, a stop in St. Louis and Ella and I were in South Carolina! Mmmm 30 weeks and some leopard print :o)

Home sweet home at 31 weeks! And yes, I cut off my head b/c I look (and feel) like I got ran over by a truck. Is it possible for jet lag to set in 2 days late?

OoO

2011-07-16T01:09:00.000-10:00

Out of the Office :o)

Burn Baby Burn!!

2011-07-11T17:37:00.000-10:00

We have been refrigerator free for 4 days. The culprit...

That piece shorted (caught on fire) and melted the connections to the compressor. Which means the fridge needed a whole new compressor. Our landlords decided to buy another one instead of paying $700 to get the old one fixed. Can't say I blame them...for $700 you might as well pay a little bit more and get something brand new with a warranty.

Yay for getting a new refrigerator! Can't wait to get home and see what they got us :o)

Now for the baby shower. The pizza was delicious, we had a blast and the guest of honor had a delightful time! Here are some of the decorations...

Mmmm love the turtles and the felt onesies!!

None of the pictures from the party came out :( Stinky dark house!

The Bump de Bump

2011-07-08T14:09:00.000-10:00

Still waiting on the repairman for the fridge. Funny how repairmen are always late...throw in Hawaii time and they are really late. Oh well, I don't have to pay for it (yay for renting!)

Here is the 27 week picture. I'd like to thank the Clorox Wipes container for the assist with the photo. It did a beautiful job of holding the camera...although it did cut off my head :o)

Off to continue with the baby shower preparations. (Plan B for food is in place...yippeee for pizza!)

2 to the 7

2011-07-07T20:32:00.000-10:00

Our fridge broke....and we didn't figure it out until about 15 hours later. Yay! Happy 27 weeks to us!! No picture today...just imagine a miffed pregnant woman throwing away all of her food.

Now to start thinking of Plan B for the baby shower I'm hosting tomorrow night. Pizza anyone??

Oh Say, Can You Seeeeeeeee

2011-07-04T10:45:00.000-10:00

Three cheers for Fourth of July cook-outs! I am going to one a little later this afternoon. I even made some yummy deviled eggs to take.

Oh yeah, that's right...I printed out patriotic picks for each egg :o) Aren't they stinkin' cute!!??

I found the free printables here.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!!

Nom nom nom

2011-07-01T15:41:00.000-10:00

Some things in cooking scare me. For example...

Being scared of yeast can really limit what you bake. Which is unfortunate because I love baking. Last night, however, I had a breakthrough! Yeast and I worked together in perfect harmony.

My first rise! Let me tell ya, I was SO happy when I took that towel off and saw that the dough had actually doubled in size! I basically felt like a proud mama. (Yes, I put the dough in our bedroom to rise. It said a warm place in our house and our bedroom gets HOT during the day!)

Then I got to make this log of goodness...

Which then became these rising puffs of delightfulness...

Don't forget the homemade maple frosting...

Add some oven time, the above frosting and you end up with these beauts...not to mention a delicious smelling house :o)

Are you drooling? Because I was...which is why I ate two of them at 10pm last night. I took them to a brunch this morning, and they were a huge hit! A few of the wives even requested the recipe...which definitely qualifies these babies as keepers!

Although, I cannot take credit for this sugary deliciousness. I found them on a blog called Pioneer Woman. I love her recipes because they always turn out well and she includes step by step pictures (even in her cookbook!) Click here to get to the recipe.

Three cheers for my first home made cinnamon rolls being a success! Next time I think I might try them as sticky buns or maybe figure out how to include apples. Oh the possibilities!

Three cheers for my first home made cinnamon rolls being a success!

26 Weeks

2011-06-30T15:34:00.000-10:00

Is it bad that I had to look at last weeks post to remember how many weeks I am? I'm going to write it off as a case of "baby-brain."

Man oh man, little Ella is about 14 inches long from head to heel this week! I think I'm feeling all 14 inches as I type...I just ate some ice cream so she is on a sugar high :o)

You also get a special treat this week...a different view! A picture in the front yard! I just got back from lunch with some friends so I got one of them to take a picture of me before she left. Three cheers for not having a set the timer, run in front of the camera and repeat like 6 times before I actually get a good shot!

Green Thumb and a First Name

2011-06-28T20:57:00.000-10:00

Proof that I have a green thumb in the front yard...

Okay, just kidding...the plumeria grows naturally on the island. So, thankfully, no green thumb needed to have a pretty front yard :o)

As far as the rest of the title goes...YES! we finally have a first name for lil' pumpkin! Drum roll please...Ella! So we are 2/3 of the way through figuring out this name thing. Never mind the fact that the first 1/3 was a given...Waite :o)

Now to tackle the middle name...

Once Upon a Car...

2011-06-26T11:06:00.000-10:00

Oh the car saga continues...but this time we have a happy ending!! *insert happy dance* Last time we left the car saga, we were waiting on the GMC dealership to get an allotment for the 2012 Terrains. As the weeks went by, we were feeling less and less enthusiastic about ordering the Terrain. At this point it wouldn't have gotten here until some time in November, we still didn't know the specs or price for the 2012s, etc. Just a lot of question marks that were making us very hesitant.

We decided that we would entertain the idea of buying Mark's car first. He did his research and test drove a Buick Regal. He was a fant because it was sporty like his beloved Audi, but he wasn't sold on the Regal. Then the call came this Thursday from GMC. They could special order a Terrain for us. Eeekkk! What to do!!?? We had already made plans to go test drive a couple more sedans that day. So I suggested we go along with that plan and maybe it would help us make a decision.

We test drove a Honda Accord and it was great. Then we headed to our last hope...the Hyundai dealership and we fell in love. It was a no brainer for us.

We came home with this sweet little ride...

Look at Mark in his new car...playing with all of the new buttons and gadgets. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is definitely the right fit for us. Both of us knew it was ours after the test drive. It's the 2.0 Turbo Limited in Pacific Blue Pearl (aka navy blue with some sparkles). It has leather interior for easy clean up, it has the get up and go power that Mark wanted, a musical name that works well with my degree from Converse, a trunk that can fit golf clubs, stroller and then some, it's super roomy and of course we were crazy about the color (woot woot for our wedding colors!)

We both feel like a huge weight has been lifted, and we are so excited to have "car" checked off our baby list! Look at our lil' pumpkin getting a brand new car...hope she enjoys it because this is the first and only new car she'll be getting from mommy and daddy! Ha!

Clarification: This is Mark's car....but once lil' pumpkin gets here I will be driving the Sonata. We will get my car once we hit our new duty station, which should be summer of 2012.

25 Weeks!

2011-06-23T11:09:00.000-10:00

Well we have about 15-ish weeks to go in the baby baking process. The book says we should be talking to my belly because our lil' pumpkin can hear us! They also say when you talk to your baby you should be calling them by their name. Ummm, oopps? Guess we need to jump on that name thing still, ha!

It also says that I might start snoring. Have fun with that, Mark :o)

Here I am! I guess I should have worn some sunglasses...it's a bright one out!

We Survived!

2011-06-22T16:37:00.001-10:00

We are registered and have survived to tell the tale! Now I'm going to be honest...I'm pretty sure the only thing that kept Mark going during the last half hour was that he had control of the scanner gun. And I commend him on his patience and scanning restraint. No rogue items "accidentally" made it onto the registries :o)
There are still a few things that need to go on there but further research is required for those items. Diaper bag, bottles and all the stuff that goes along with that aren't on there yet. Also, let me know if I've left anything off!

Okay so here are links to where we are registered...

Babies"R"Us

and

Target

I know, how unoriginal...Babies R Us and Target haha But both of those stores are readily available, and let's be honest, they both carry the same stuff anyways.

I've also added links to the two sites to the sidebar of the blog for easy access.

Tubs and Monitors and Bibs! Oh My!

2011-06-20T13:54:00.000-10:00

So those three things aren't quite as scary as lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), but registering for all of them is definitely a daunting task. It's great that there are sooooo many options out there for today's baby but man oh man it can be overwhelming!

It is time to suck it up and make it happen though! We have done our research and will be heading to the stores tonight to register our little hearts out.

On the bright side, there are already some things that we know we will not need...

Bassinet...I know myself and I know the size of our bedroom. Babies aren't quiet sleepers, our king size bed leaves little room to walk much less room for another piece of furniture and the nursery is 9 steps away from my side of the bed (literally 9 steps, I just counted.) I figured I already take those 9 steps about 3 or 4 times a night thanks to my shrinking bladder so taking a left instead of a right won't be that big of a deal.

Next in the useless lineup...Pack'n'Play.Don't get me wrong, they are cute and all of that jazz, but we live in a very small one story place. If there is sleeping going on, it is going to be done in the crib that I slaved for days over trying to get on this dang island for a decent price.

Okay last one for now...Changing Table. As fun and as useful (jury is still out on the useful part though b/c lots of moms have told me not to waste money on changing tables) as they may be...there is no room for one in the nursery. Sorry lil' pumpkin...we felt it was more important that you have a place to sleep rather than a place to get your bum cleaned.

So here is to hoping that we will survive tonight's registry madness...and that this checklist is mostly rubbish b/c this is just ridiculous.

If you actually want to read the list, click on it for a larger copy.

Daddy Day...

2011-06-18T23:10:00.000-10:00

Dear dads,

Happy Father's Day!!

We love you, Joy and Mark...and lil' pumpkin :o)

24 Weeks!

2011-06-16T18:23:00.000-10:00

I can't believe I'm only 24 weeks. I feel like my tummy can't get any bigger! Clearly it will be getting a lot bigger though...scary!

No news on the car situation yet. The lady that does the special orders had the day off today. So we don't know if the dealership got an allotment to order a Terrain this week or not. ...patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a...sorry, I some times have to remind myself that I won't explode because this process is taking ffffoooorrreeevverrrrr. Or at least it seems like forever :o)

Okay so enough of that boring stuff. Here is the 24 week picture.

I really need to work on my posture...

Strollin' Along...

2011-06-14T17:22:00.000-10:00

It has been a while since I have gushed about my love for European strollers. In fact, I think the last time was right after our honeymoon. I came back with tons of pictures of my dream strollers.

Be still my heart...the bright, vivid color, sleek style, shade umbrella, matching diaper bag, big wheels, shocks for a smooth ride and a bassinet! Gimme gimme gimme!!!

Okay so that one picture basically describes everything I loved about the European strollers. And yes, I did just write lovED. As beautiful and eye-catching as they are I have found they are not for me. I know, it makes me sad too. *moment of silence*

Now for a dose of reality. This is the stroller we actually ended up ordering.

No sunshade umbrella, pretty typical looking, no matching diaper bag to throw over the handles, no big spiffy wheels that look like they could off road with the best of them but at least there is some bright color going on and it does have shocks for a smooth ride.
(We picked this color so it will work for future children, whatever gender they may be.)

Okay so it looks a little cooler from the side at least.

After tons of research and reading an endless amount of reviews, I realized that unless we move to a city, live downtown and walk everywhere...the beauty of the European stroller is not only not needed but also pretty impractical. (That was really hard for me to admit/type.) Not to mention that most of them come with bassinets which I love...in theory. In reality, however, I don't love the idea of paying $1k for a stroller that doesn't come with a car seat, car seat attachment or the adapter. Even if we did go that route then you have to take into consideration picking the baby up every time you want to move from the car to the stroller instead of already having them snug in their car seat.

On the bright side...the stroller we picked comes with the number one safety rated infant seat and car adapter on the market right now. I'd say that's not too shabby! It also didn't hurt that is was WAY cheaper than $1k :o)

So here's to you, Chicco Keyfit 30 Travel System in Midori Green...you're not what I thought I wanted in a stroller, you are so much more!

Car Update...

2011-06-13T14:21:00.000-10:00

We still have the same two cars. How anti-climatic is that? On the bright side...we know which car we want! The GMC Terrain has won us over. On the down side there isn't one on the island that we want. Well then there is the next problem of GMC no longer making the 2011 models because the model year ends in July. Then there is the problem of not knowing the pricing for the 2012s or what they are changing/updating on those models. Then there is the even bigger problem of not being able to order a 2012. Oh yeah and the HUGE problem of when we can order a 2012 it will take about 4 months to get here. Who knew going car shopping 4 months before having a baby wouldn't be early enough?? Yay for living on an island....

Wishing it were easier to get a gray SLT1 AWD 4-cyl version of you in my driveway....

Week 23!

2011-06-09T18:06:00.001-10:00

Today is a better day. Yesterday morning was spent on the phone with a foreign customer service agent from Travelocity....hence the flaming mad post from yesterday. I am still frustrated by both of those things. but I'm too tired to let them bother me today :o)

Feeling lots of movement from this lil' pumpkin. She is a feisty one for sure! I have a friend that just had her baby last week. I was over there today holding their little cutie patootie, Caylin, and my little baby started going to town kicking her! I scolded my lil' pumpkin for kicking cute little Caylin while she was sleeping. I also told my little baby not to beat up bigger kids because in four months Caylin will be able to whip her butt!! It's all about teaching them the important lessons at a young age ha!

Here I am!

I STRONGLY DISLIKE LIVING IN HAWAII!!!!

2011-06-08T11:39:00.000-10:00

It takes an average of 4 months to get the car we want to buy.

The cost to leave the island to visit family is enough money to have a really nice vacation at Disney World or feed a small village.

That's all I really have today...going to go imagine I live on the mainland.

Our Lil' Pumpkin Needs a New Ride!

2011-06-04T15:22:00.016-10:00

The combination of my love for fall and our October due date...Lil' Pumpkin = our baby. I figured that nickname should be sufficient until we decide on her real name.

While on the name topic, the latest name suggestion is Vanilla Wafer Waite. I'm convinced if we named her this she would love good ole' Southern banana pudding, have the nickname of Nilla and probably hate us. On the bright side, I can at least pronounce it :o)

Okay so back to our lil' pumpkin needing a new ride. I'm pretty sure this scenario is the definition of high maintenance. She isn't even here yet and she has us shopping for a new car! Granted my Little B is very useful for things like this...

I hate to admit this part but Little B is not so useful for things like this...

We knew this day was coming though so we came up with our wish list. In no particular order:

Good warranty
Kicks some safety standard butt
Big boot (read: trunk...we've been watching too much Top Gear on the BBC)
AWD (Who knows where we'll end up next so we might as well be prepared for all weather conditions)
LATCH system in all seats in the back seat
Backseat airbags
Rear child safety locks
Crossover

Our short list consists of:

Lexus RX

...ummm okay thanks to it's price tag this one isn't on the list at all but boy did I love driving it back in my nanny days :o)

Hyundai Santa Fe

GMC Terrain

Other contenders are the Chevy Equinox, Honda CR-V and maybe the Mazda CX-7.

Sadly, we are limited to what is on the island as far as trims, color, etc. I think that's probably the most frustrating part for me. When I think about buying a new car, I think about getting exactly what we want. Here you're limited to what is on island unless you want to special order and pay for the shipping (which a couple of the dealerships say they won't even do.) So here is to hoping someone on the island has our perfect ~~car~~ crossover waiting for us!!

Patriotic French Toast...

2011-06-03T11:30:00.000-10:00

I wanted to share our yummy Memorial Day breakfast with you...

Nothing like some Patriotic French Toast to start the day off right :o)

Okay truth circle...I've never really liked French Toast before but I LOVE this French Toast. Here is why...it's baked and is coated in crunchy cereal. So it's not mushy French Toast (which is the type that isn't my cup of tea.)

This concoction is actually a knock off from a diner that closed in Groton. Mark ate there once and came home and raved about the French Toast they had. So we went a couple days later so I could see the greatness and the diner had closed. (Insert Mark's "sad face".)

Since I had never heard him brag about food from a restaurant like this, I figured I would try to recreate. After lots of questions, his least favorite part, I finally got an idea of what was so great about the dish and started recreating. I'm sure it's not an exact knock-off, but he is a big fan!

Super Simply Crunchy French Toast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

-Wisk above ingredients together in a container-thingy (technical term) that you can dip your bread into.

2-3 cups corn flake cereal slightly crushed (we use the knock off Honey Bunches of Oats but anything in the pantry will do)

-Put the cereal in a second container-thingy that you can dip your bread into.

Dredge bread (any kind of bread will do but we usually use cinnamon bread) in wet ingredients then dredge it in dry ingredients. Put cereal covered bread on baking sheet (I just throw down nonstick aluminum or parchment paper on the pan for easy clean up.) Once your baking sheet is loaded up, bake 5-6 minutes on each side.

Now for my most favorite part...the topping!

Get your favorite fruit jam and put a few spoonfuls of it in a bowl. Wisk the tar out of it until it's saucy like (read: smooth.) Then get some cream cheese (half a block will do and the reduced fat/fat free kind doesn't work as well, figures) Put it in the microwave to soften it up. Usually 10-15 seconds does the trick. Wisk the cream cheese into the jam. (Can add more jam or cream cheese to your liking.)

Now layer your French toast with berries and the topping for a delicious surprise in the middle. So yummy!! ...or you can be a purist, skip the topping and just go with syrup.

22 Weeks!

2011-06-02T11:39:00.000-10:00

Look at me not forgetting week 22! This picture is a little closer than normal, but it just means you get to see my smiling face a bit better.

I know what you're thinking...and yes, you too can buy pants that come up half way to your chest. Just start shopping in the maternity department :o)

The Big 2-1

2011-05-31T09:55:00.000-10:00

Ummm oppps? In the hustle, bustle and excitement of finding out that we are having a little girl, I forgot about being 21 weeks. Ah well, you didn't miss much...I look the same and she is still inside of me.

We did, however, have a name picked out for us by our Sunday school teacher at church. He is a Hawaiian history and culture buff (not only of our Ward but also of the island...we're talking he has written books about Hawaii) and he picked....

Kawahineuiokalani

Any takers on how to say it?? HA!

It means, "the beautiful girl from Heaven." :o)

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T10:02:00.000-10:00

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the

great task remaining before us…that from these honored

dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which

they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here

highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of

freedom; and that government of the people, by the people,

for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

-Abraham Lincoln

Nursery Update!

2011-05-26T10:41:00.000-10:00

A quick update on the nursery project...

We can see the floor now!!

We are in the process of clearing out the furniture so the floors can be cleaned. The carpet for the nursery is currently in the stairway...no doubt anxiously awaiting the time when it will be useful to us. (Three cheers for remnants at the local carpet store!!)

Then we (and by "we" I definitely mean "Mark") will put these bad boys together and put them under the window. Our little gal is going to look super smart with two very full shelves of books in her room. Too bad they're all going to be mommy and daddy's books because there is no where else to put them in the house!

Once that is all done...it will be time to empty out the dresser in the closet to put in the room, clean out the closet and a crib...definitely need a crib.

Thrifty...aka Cheap

2011-05-25T10:41:00.000-10:00

For those of you that know me, you know I love a good deal. Some call it cheap. However, I like to call it thrifty. I can't help it, it is the Brown in me. We were raised to hit the sale/clearance rack/aisle/shelf first in a store. And if it wasn't on sale...it probably meant you were getting it.

Now that I'm older I want the nicer things, but I still want a great deal. I mean I'm driving the same car (and only one I've ever owned) I did in college for pete's sake! (About to hit 300k miles on the Blazer!!)

Now for the obvious downside...we live in Hawaii. The "clearance" racks at Target mean 30% off and that's generally as cheap as it goes (unless you get lucky). Even the Goodwill and Salvation Army's here have crazy jacked up prices because that is the nature of the beast. It's more expensive to live in Hawaii, period amen. So I was very excited when a friend introduced me to the thrift stores on the Air Force and Navy bases! I had no clue these even existed! *insert Happy Dance*

We went, we conquered and I will definitely be making return trips :) I also introduced her to Savers, which is the local version of Goodwill but bigger and with a lot better prices!

The goods...

2-10 packs of kid sized hangers for $1/pack

1 set of leopard print infant ballet flats...brand new in the box!! $3

5 old school (technical term) Nintendo games at $2.99 each (Mark was VERY pleased with this find...even though the Ninja Turtles one didn't work)

Not pictured:

1 What to Expect: The First Year for $2

$10 Motherhood Maternity Dress

$7.99 Motherhood Maternity Shorts

All and all it was an awesome trip. What's even better about the military thrift stores is that they have TONS of baby stuff! (That's what happens when it's free to have babies...you're more likely to have a lot of them. Oh yeah and we all move every few years so clearing out stuff happens on a regular basis.)

For all of you Hawaii military folks...Savers in Honolulu has a military day on Wednesday where you get 20% off your purchase. You can also bring a bag of items to donate and get another coupon as well (that's any day of the week).

Fine Print: There are plenty of people that are WAY more thrifty than I am. I'm always battling my inner snob that wants the latest and greatest in everything.

Drum Roll Please!

2011-05-23T18:24:00.000-10:00

We'll cut to the chase on this one.

Drum roll please...

Our little baby will be wearing these stylish little shoes...

That's right, we are having a girl! So exciting!! Here is our little girl's first photo shoot (read: ultrasound.)

Our little girl showing us that she is a girl!
Here is my best explanation of the picture...basically imagine a baby xeroxing their bum. So the bottom of the bum is what you're seeing. The arrows point to the labia (for all of you non-anatomy peeps, labia = girl). Below the arrows is the left butt cheek. The right butt cheek is above the labia. Yay for cute little baby bums!! The random thing in the middle is a hand.

Next up is proof that our little lady has a brain!! I didn't realize how much you could see with the ultrasound but if you look close you can see the skull, brain and the bone structure for the face. How cool!? (You can also click on the picture to see a larger version.)

We are going to blow this one up and use it as a Halloween decoration. Creepy skull...I mean our little angel's face :o)

Side view

Yipppeeee for finally knowing!! Nursery decor here we come!

Places I Don't Like to Swim...

2011-05-21T11:18:00.000-10:00

Back in the day, my family and I spent our summers at Lake Murray. My grandparents had a lake house that the whole family enjoyed as often as we could. I have wonderful memories of spending time with family and friends there, the diving contests off the dock, tubing, the one and only fish I ever caught, playing Atari and Nintendo in the evenings before going to bed and the list goes on and on. It's the place where I became a fish, learned how to water ski, learned how to drive and launch a boat. It's the place where I became a lake girl.

Unfortunately, for me, being a lake girl means that I don't really like the beach. That's right, I said it...I'm not crazy about the beach. I live in Hawaii and I can literally count on my hands how many times I have been to the beach. It's just not my cup of tea. You get sand in places that you shouldn't, you feel sticky and gross after swimming and things live in the ocean that I don't want to talk about. Not to mention it's boring! There is no dock to jump off of, lounging around on a float really isn't feasible, water skiing isn't practical and the list just goes on and on. I will go to the beach and I will do my best to enjoy myself...but I would probably rather be at a lake.

This is all very unfortunate given that our life consists of moving from one seaside base to the next. Maybe I'll grow to love the beach as much as I love the lake once my kids are old enough to drag me there. Okay so probably not, but I thought I would at least try the whole positive outlook thing once :)

I'd say this is another win for the "lake team" wouldn't you?

My wonderful friend's hand. Caitlin is such a trooper!!

Okay so Caitlin didn't really get bitten by a shark, but just looking at the band-aid will keep me out of the ocean for another month or two and keep me dreaming of the lake.

(I am perfectly aware that the likelihood of getting bit by a shark is slim to none...so there is no need to tell me in the form of a comment.)

20 Weeks!

2011-05-19T18:39:00.000-10:00

According to my weekly updates, I'm halfway through my pregnancy! And here I thought the halfway point already happened. Shows you what I know!

I'm feeling larger and larger by the week. I guess that's what happens when you have a baby the size of a small cantaloupe inside of you. Mmmm cantaloupe...brings back delightful memories of summers at the lake house! Okay sorry, back to the 20 weeks thing.

Here is me at 20 weeks!

Haha okay so not a great belly picture at all, but I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Deb. She made the top I'm wearing in the picture! I wore it pre-pregnancy and can still wear it. Three cheers for having some clothes that still fit! Which is good because I've found out that the department stores here think that the maternity and plus size sections are the same clothes. I mean really, come on Macy's and Nordstrom...stop hatin' on pregnant girls!

Now for the real bump picture.

Walls...Oh The White Walls

2011-05-17T09:27:00.000-10:00

Okay....since we can't paint the nursery (the joys of renting!) I was thinking removable wall decals were definitely the way to go. There are TONS of options out there in all different price ranges. Here is what has caught my eye so far.

How about this if it's a girl....

I love the colors and the cute little animals. Not to mention it is very reasonably priced for the detail and size. The same company also sells a pack of just the cute little animals that would match these guys pretty well if I had more space to fill. Seems like it would be easy to match the rest of the nursery stuff to something like this.

Okay and if it's a boy...

YESSSSS! These are actually wall decals. Totally makes me hope it's a boy! Granted he wouldn't appreciate how rad his mom and dad are because we will be leaving this house before he turns one. So he would never realize how cool his first room was. Sad day. Okay so maybe it's a little too much for a nursery...not "cutsie" enough if you will. But that doesn't stop me from loving it!

I think I'll go play Nintendo now :o)

Hooyah 19 Weeks!

2011-05-13T12:27:00.000-10:00

I'm a day late with this post, thanks to Blogger. It was down all day yesterday so here we go...

I am 19 weeks! To quote the hubs, "Hooyah 19 weeks, hooyah!" The baby is the size of a coconut without it's shell. (Really, they couldn't find something more recognizable??) I have no picture of this but just imagine something a little larger than last weeks pepper :)

Also, not that I'm counting or anything but 10 more days until we find out if it's a girl or boy!! I'm leaning towards we're having a boy. I guess I have a 50/50 chance of being right haha

Here is my 19 week bump.
Hip-hip-hooray for having the hubs home to take the picture!!

On another note, I'm really excited about our plans tomorrow. There is a New Baby Expo in Waikiki so hopefully that will be a fun filled afternoon...maybe we'll even learn a thing or two.

Presto Change-o!

2011-05-11T12:50:00.000-10:00

I'm still working on clearing out the junk room aka third bedroom aka the nursery aka ahhhh!! where is it all going to go. I figured I would share what I have already done with the master bedroom in the meantime. (Basically to make myself feel better about accomplishing something.)

It all started when we got married...

This head/footboard combination became half mine. Not my ideal headboard and definitely an even worse picture dating back to the NY days. I will say it is the most comfortable bed ever so I couldn't complain too much.

About two years later, I found some home decor fabric that I LOVED! The grand plan was to make a headboard. Then reality set in, with all of the moving it wasn't really worth making something that the movers would destroy and that I couldn't secure to the wall.

So I got creative :o)

That's right...I draped the fabric over the existing headboard and pinned (using wooden clothes pins) it as best as I could in the back. I'm going to be honest, I was pretty darn proud of myself for that little idea.

But there was a problem. Now this area didn't really match our headboard :o( It was time for my favorite painting to move to the hallway. On the brightside, we are no longer being greedy with the painting. Now everyone can enjoy Erin's fine work!

(The lamp was 80% off b/c a branch had broken off.

Nothing a little craft glue didn't fix though!!)

I shopped around for decorative coral, but it was pretty expensive. Until we happened upon these little babies on the clearance table at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Random branches had broken off so they were $5/each. Three cheers for clearance!!!

A little spray paint, grabbed some mirrors and shelves that were sitting in the closet, did some rearranging and presto change-o it's awesome!

So exciting!! I mean it's not my dream bedroom but it will suffice until we move again. Then I'll get a chance to change it all up again. ....or I'll just be lazy and do this same set up again haha

Ah well, back to the game of hide-and-go-seek with the junk in the nursery to be!

New Hiding Places...

2011-05-10T11:45:00.000-10:00

Current hiding place for all things that don't have a "home" inside of our home.

And if that wasn't enough stuff...how about the other half of the room.

I wish I could say the closet was better...but alas, it is not. It is full of boxes of China, a tall dresser, my sewing stuff, Mark's uniforms and all of our Winter coats and jackets (which are obviously collecting dust).

Honestly, this room generally doesn't bother me. Except now the room has a purpose...a baby is supposed to live in here. That means carpet, baby furniture, figuring out how to conquer the very white walls without paint being involved (yay for renting!) and cleaning out the closet to make room for the baby clothes that will be coming our way.

I'm guessing that just sticking a crib on top of all of the junk isn't the responsible thing to do so let the organizing (read: finding new hiding places for this stuff) begin!

A Day for Moms...and a Delightful Delivery

2011-05-08T11:11:00.000-10:00

That's right, it's the official day of the year that we can thank our mothers for being awesome, spectacular, rad and for putting up with our ridiculousness throughout the years.

THANK YOU MOM! (Both of you!)

And cheers to your dreams coming true in October...when Mark and I become parents for the first time so you can finally say, "now you know what I put up with because you were just like that!" :o)

Now to the Delightful Delivery...

Oh goodie goodie gumdrops! I wonder what it could be??

A beautiful bouquet of tulips!!

Yay! Thank you Mom and Dad Waite for my wonderful Mother's Day surprise! It brightened my day :o)

18 Weeks

2011-05-05T12:10:00.000-10:00

Ahhh I'm 5 months pregnant! When did that happen? haha The wee little Waite is the size of a bell pepper.

Basically I have one of these....

Inside of here...

Craziness, eh?

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Have a taco to celebrate :o)

J-E-L-L-O!

2011-05-04T13:04:00.000-10:00

Q: What is more fun than a bowl full of Jell-o?

A: Oh wait, nothing...

It's mine. It's all mine!!
(one of the very few perks of having my husband out to sea...I don't have to share)

In other news...I bought my first pair of maternity shorts. In spite of the fact that they are the most expensive pair of shorts I've ever bought (darn you Hawaii!!), they are quite possibly the most comfortable things I have ever worn. It's like wearing sweatpants without getting the "she's a bum" look from everyone b/c it looks like real clothes! Promise me you'll keep the judging to a minimum if I continue to wear these long after I'm no longer pregnant :o)

Under Da Sea...

2011-05-02T12:41:00.001-10:00

This actually happened a couple months ago, but I just got proof (a picture) so I thought I would share. The quality is not so good because it was on the back of our Change of Command program. I took a picture of the program and edited the best I could.

My man getting his Dolphins from the CO while underway! Yay!!!!

(It's kind of a big deal in the submarine community so this was an awesome day!)

So proud of my bearded submariner!

17 Weeks (plus 1 day)

2011-04-29T13:17:00.000-10:00

Well I'm a day late on this again but I am 17 weeks! Week 16 came and went without much going on in the baby department. I did do a dinner/movie date with some other Navy wives. We saw Water for Elephants. It was a pretty good movie and a great time in general. (Haven't read the book so I can't make a comparison.)

I did have these for a little 17 week celebration dessert though...mmm yummy!!

Here is my 17 week picture. I'm looking pretty rough but there is the bump.

Lessons...

2011-04-26T14:54:00.000-10:00

Military Spouse Lesson #3,248,465,684 (yes, there really are that many lessons):

Holidays can be a downer for the following reasons...

You're usually not around your family
It's usually not monetarily feasible to make it "back home" for every holiday
Depending on what your military spouse does, you could be spending a lot of holidays alone (I'm convinced submarines are the worst for this but I'm biased)

Depressing, huh? BUT the above lesson has to be followed up with this one...

Military Spouse Lesson #1 (this is number one b/c it's the most important, I think, and is really just a great life lesson in general):

The military life is absolutely what you make of it. You can be as miserable or as happy as you want. ("Happy" of course is taking into consideration that having your spouse there would be ideal, but since that's not possible, we'll settle for a "second best happy.") There will be down days, but if you put forth the effort to find your military family they will help you through those down days and help make your new duty station home.

With that said...I made the best of Easter by having the boat family over for dinner.

Decorations...check!

My first ham cooking in great-grams oven :o)

The Easter Bunny even visited our backyard so Liam and Clare could have an Easter egg hunt!

(Didn't actually get any pictures of the hunt, but the kids loved it!)

I asked everyone to bring their favorite family dish. That way it was home for everyone. All of the deliciousness! It was so yummy!

I'm guessing everything was a hit...the carnage.

"He is not here: for he is risen."

2011-04-24T11:51:00.000-10:00

"Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured.

In our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’”

Quote from President Thomas S. Monson, He is Risen!

Happy Easter!!

Sweet Sixteen

2011-04-22T12:07:00.000-10:00

The wee little Waite inside of me is 16 weeks old (plus 1 day to be exact)! I went to a meeting on base yesterday and was told I didn't look like a was almost halfway through a pregnancy. I was kind of surprised because I feel like I'm as big as a balloon! Then again They probably didn't know that my pants were unbuttoned...and unzipped just so I could sit down HA!

La-de-da me just hanging out on the lanai...not looking very pregnant.

Side view isn't all that spectacular either, but here it is anyways.

So basically you can say that I have been growing...but all of the growth seems to be happening north of the tummy region haha Now that the all day, every day nausea is gone, I have finally started gaining a few pounds. I have never been so excited to see the scale go up...b/c I didn't want to get scolded for not feeding my baby well enough before they were even born!!

My second OB appointment was this morning and it went well! My ultrasound is scheduled for the 23rd of May. So the countdown to finding out the sex of the baby can officially begin :o)

Now the Bad...

2011-04-19T20:27:00.000-10:00

You have to let the good in with the bad, right? Now to see the bad of Hawaii. The joys of living on a tropical island...

Polka dotted exterior paint? Nope, those are ants.
Thanks to Raid they decided to sit still for the photo.

Trouble is...they came inside as well. Hundreds of them...

The carnage even made it to the floor...

This one really gets me...they are INSIDE the double-pane window. How does that even happen??

That ends this portion of why living in paradise isn't always...well...paradise. Mmmm nothing like the smell of Raid in the morning!

Ahhh Hawaii...

2011-04-16T13:15:00.000-10:00

Well I don't really have any great plans for the weekend (the hubs is working), and I don't have any great stories to tell. So I'll share some pictures instead...

Not too shabby for a military beach or for military housing (back right).

Mmmmm Kailua (spoken: Ky-loo-uh)

We saw this little guy at Kailua Beach Park. Couldn't pass up taking a picture...

What Can Spar Varnish Tell You About Your Life?

2011-04-13T12:09:00.000-10:00

Okay now we just have one more recap to do and we'll be completely caught up! (Ignore the fact that it only took four posts to catch up...clearly we have no life.) This one is a fun one though!

We have to rewind a bit to start this story...

It begins with the lanai furniture that we were refinishing.

We completed the chairs back in December. A month or so later we finally got around to the table. Once I got the table sanded and ready to go for the varnish I had the nagging feeling that I shouldn't break out the Marine Spar Varnish (aka fumigant in a can) quite yet. Now to be honest...I couldn't tell if this nagging feeling was just me procrastinating, not that I would ever do that, or if it was actually legit. A day later I finally gave into the nagging feeling, went to the commissary and bought a box of pregnancy tests.

Guess who didn't have to varnish the lanai table?? This girl! The tests came back positive...and I emphasize tests because I totally took all three over a week and a half period. Not that I didn't trust the tried and 99% true method of peeing on a stick, but I definitely thought it was too good to be true!

We are now 4 months (14 weeks...15 weeks tomorrow) pregnant and having a blast figuring out this new experience! (Minus the nausea. That is not and will never be a blast or fun other than the fact that it reminds me I'm pregnant.)

Oh yea, thanks to the hubs our lanai table did actually get varnished. It is surviving the massive amounts of rain very well :o)

Flying High...

2011-04-09T13:46:00.000-10:00

Oh goody goody gumdrops...I'm so excited about this post! I read about doing this on the North Shore and I KNEW it was for me.

First things first...you have to suit up and look off into the distance like you're having a deep thought...

Next you have you go and stand in front of your craft in a dignified manner...

Last, but not least, you go bye bye while thinking of Old Blue Eyes singing Come Fly With Me...

Two words for this adventure in an ultralight....UH MAZING!!! So much fun and totally worth every penny! I even suckered three other people into doing it too :o)

Victim #2: Mark

Victim #3: Mom

Victim #4: Dad

Okay now for the best part...pictures from the actual flight! These were taken from my flight. The pilot is the owner of the company and he knew so much about the island. It was awesome! Enjoy the slideshow of the northern most tip of the island.

(Click on the pictures to go to the album if you want to see the pictures individually or larger.)

A Frosty February...

2011-04-07T13:00:00.000-10:00

Oh February...while the rest of you were cold and wishing for spring, we were enjoying our normal 80 degree weather. Okay sorry, I'm done rubbing it in. So my parents decided to escape the mainland and visit us here in paradise. We had a blast and tried to keep them busy. (Who am I kidding, they were probably bored out of their minds! haha oh well.) Here are a few fun activities we did...

Surfing Lessons on the North Shore!

Here is Dad learning how to stand. From the looks of the instructor's wife (girl laughing on the surf board) I'd say dad is either really bad at the standing thing or he said something funny. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was the latter :o)

NEXT! Mark's turn...he had to learn how to lay down first. This was a tough one for him but I think he figured it out...

He did so well the instructor even let him stand up! ...I'm not sure why everyone says this surfing thing is so hard...lay down, stand up...easy-peasy!

Bye bye boys!

I don't have any pictures of them actually surfing. I got bored with trying to catch it and my battery was dying. Both Dad and Mark got up lots of times in the couple hours they were out there...Scouts Honor!! (Mom and Dad have the video to prove it some where...)

And besides...if this kid could do it, of course they could.
tehehehe *evil smirk*

Hokay next we went whale watching at the Makapu'u Lighthouse. Let me tell ya, I was way out of shape! I basically thought I was going to die on this hike. Don't be alarmed though, I survived :o) We saw lots of whales, but I wasn't quick enough to catch any of the buggers with my camera.

I did catch the lighthouse though. It wasn't as quick as the whales...

View from the first part of the hike...

Next in line was renting a boat and going out on the bay! Mark and I both took a boater's class at the Marine Corps Base that allows us to rent their boats and play in the bay. It's fun to see the bay from the water since we always see it from our lanai. Plus there is a cool sandbar out there which if fun to play at.

Anchored at the sandbar with other boats. (Our boat looks just like the other ones b/c we all came from the Marine Corps Base. Holla if you love a good ole' pontoon boat!)

Mom and Dad exploring the sandbar.

You can see where the sandbar drops off into the deep water. There are lots of reefs in the bay as well which provide for some great snorkeling if you can figure out how to anchor...

I saved the best for last...check back in a couple days :o)

What the Bliggity-Blog??

2011-04-05T14:27:00.000-10:00

Apparently it has been 3-4 months since I last wrote. I thought for sure Mark said that he was going to take the January-April blogging shift, but I guess not haha. Okay so I have no good excuse for my tardiness other than I am a bum. There...I said it! So here is a little of what has gone on in the past few months...

Christmas '10 came...

Mark actually got time off so we escaped with the rest of the Waite clan to Utah! I got to meet lots of new family...including Mark's oldest brother Scott and his two kids, Andrea and Jared. (Drea and Jared not in the picture though.)

We really went to Utah for a wedding...

...AND for a baby!! The newest edition to Erin, Peter and Sam's household and our new little nephew Ben :o) (Obviously he is a little older now but you get the point;)

Yeah and that's really all of the pictures I have from Christmas and I had to steal those. I'm a ding dong and left my camera in Hawaii. Needless to say I felt completely lost and confused b/c there were so many beautiful things to see in Utah! It was my first time in the Rockies and I have no pictures to show for it :( Not to mention so many great pictures missed since the whole family was there. Oh well, I'm not still kicking myself for that mistake....ehhh okay I am but I'll survive. *hanging head in shame*

Hokay...next up in the time line would be January. Crazy insane amount of fireworks were had for New Year's here. Hawaiians LOVE fireworks! It started around 4pm around here and went until about 2 am. I swear it sounded like the island was under attack. Someone even had some type of firework that sounded like a canon that went off every few minutes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was illegal. Yet somehow Mark slept through most all of it...impressive, I know!

Next up, I went home for my ma-maw's funeral. Not the best reason to have a huge family gathering but we didn't let that drag us down.

Now I would like you notice the white stuff in the above picture. Yes...Nick and mom were armed and ready to throw those snowballs at me, and rest assured that they followed through. I was very happy that neither one of them had good aim :) I digress though...snow in Aiken, SC. We were just in Utah where it didn't snow the whole time we were there! (Yes, there was snow on the ground but it didn't actually snow while we were there.) I arrive in Aiken and it friggin' snows! Ridiculousness!

Alright so let's go ahead and show my family's true colors.

Ma-maw was cremated and then put into a Godiva Chocolate tin. The Hershey bars were left by the youngest grand-children. (side note: during the visitation multiple family members opened the tin and threw in Godiva chocolate as well) Now I have to mention...ma-maw specifically kept this Godiva tin for years just for this purpose. She was a chocoholic and this was all her idea. So we're just not some weird-o family that thought this would be funny...even though it is funny and we probably are a little weird :o)

That's good for now. Don't want to shock you with all of this blogging...gotta make sure I ease ya back into it ;) Next post will be February happenings!

Plane...

2010-12-20T19:26:00.000-10:00

Here we come!

A Spoon Full of Sunshine!

2010-12-18T13:43:00.002-10:00

I made lemon gelato the other night. Let me tell you...it was truly like eating sunshine! Oh man, this is the best lemon gelato recipe we've had and it's super simple to make! Here is a link to the recipe.

The last lemon gelato recipe you will ever need

AKA sunshine on a spoon!

So get that ice cream maker out, get to work and enjoy!

Side Note: Not everyone is crazy about lemon zest...follow the directions and cook the mix with the zest. Strain the zest out before you put the mix into the ice cream maker. That way you still get the flavor but not the zest :o)

DIY Math...

2010-12-15T22:42:00.000-10:00

Craigslist patio sets are cheap(er), but they usually come with some work...

Wonderful chairs! But, big but, the varnish comes off when you touch them.

Let's begin the DIY math...

Add this pretty little Black Friday purchase.

Add a handsome hubby to do some sanding.

Equals naked patio furniture!

Sad face because that means I have to varnish lots of furniture :o(

Round 1 of getting high off of Spar Varnish...

to be continued...

Pinch Me!

2010-12-14T10:56:00.000-10:00

Sometimes it's hard to believe that we actually live here!

...and by sometimes I mean most of the time haha

78 degrees and sunny...I am a blessed woman!

Summer Flashback...Part Deux!!

2010-12-10T18:57:00.001-10:00

I had to make a separate post for this just because it's tradition. Last time I went to a foreign country, Europe for our honeymoon, I fell in love with the doors. Weird, I know! Of course I couldn't resist the wonderful, majestic doors of Guatemala either...

Call me crazy, because you probably already are anyways, but this one totally looks like it has a monogram above the door!

I will have one of these one day...

Sally and Janna shamelessly trying to get into my door collection :)

I think the two padlocks add a nice touch...

And of course, the best for last. This one is my favorite...I love the contrast.

One day, when we live in a house with some actual wall space, I will print all of them out, frame them and make a door display. Oh how delightful to think about it...one day, one day :)

Summer Flashback!!!

2010-12-09T18:57:00.000-10:00

Not to live in the past or anything...but there were some fun things that happened this summer which I didn't get a chance to write about on the blog. One of these was my trip to Guatemala. A great friend from high school lives in Guatemala City with her husband and beautiful daughter. I was lucky enough to work out a time to go and visit them for a week while Mark was out to sea.

The trip was a blast! Guatemala is truly a beautiful place (minus the guys walking around the streets with shot guns haha) and it was so much fun to hang out with such great friends again! Here are some photos I got while down there...

Fun little marionettes in a monastery in Antigua...

It was an overcast/rainy type of day so it was perfect for pictures.

I totally need to learn how to carry stuff on my head...

I like that they paint their churches great colors...

These guys are getting ready for a parade that was happening later in the afternoon. They are using sawdust that has been dyed different colors to make a beautiful mural on the street.

All of this hard work and the people of the parade just walk over the mural. How crazy is that?

Kind of reminds me of Dock Street Theater in Charleston :)

Guatemalan DIY football helmet. How dang crafty is that??
The kids in the parade loved cheesing for our cameras!
I wish I had gotten more of the great costumes these kids had but my camera died :(

Woot woot for marching band!!

Ahhh the streets of Antigua...
(Fun fact: Antigua is actually pretty safe and a tourist spot in Guatemala...hence why we are walking around. We wouldn't just be strolling around Guatemala City like this because well, we value our lives :o)

Everything was just so bright and beautiful!

Yay for getting 9 inches of my hair cut off while in Guatemala! Because what's more adventurous than going into a salon where no one speaks English, you don't speak Spanish and getting your locks chopped off??

Janna-Banana!! They wouldn't let me bring her to Hawaii with me :(

What's left of the old chapel in the monastery.
They rent it out for weddings now because it's absolutely breath-taking.

I think all downtown streets should be required to paint the buildings fun colors.

Okay so not anything pretty or scenic but still really funny....

(I wonder which one he likes more...Terminator or Spiderman hahaha)

View from the apartment...that's the volcano that erupted in Guatemala City this past May. I'm pretty glad it kept a low profile while I was there. Apparently the whole city was completely covered in a thick layer of ash after that bad boy went off in May.

My wonderful hosts!

A Little Late...

2010-12-07T19:49:00.000-10:00

Blogger was being lame earlier and I couldn't post so a little late but still worth posting....

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan...

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory...

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger...

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God..."

-FDR, Infamy Speech delivered December 8, 1941

Christmas Plans...

2010-12-05T13:47:00.001-10:00

I have a wonderful and exciting post about my trip to Guatemala this summer...but Picasa won't work so the pictures won't upload :(

Instead, I'll tell you about our super exciting plans for Christmas. We found out that Mark got some days off from work so we are headed back to the mainland! Since Mark was gone last holiday season and will be gone next holiday season, we decided to spend the holidays with his family. All of the Waite's will be in Utah for a wedding and a birth so that is where we will be as well. We are so excited that we will be able to be there for two joyous occasions and get to see so many family and friends!

It will be my first trip to Utah. I'm excited that I will finally get to meet Mark's oldest brother, Scott, and his kids and see where Mark spent 5 years of his life. I'm hoping to fit in some fun extracurricular activities while we are there too...in no particular order:

Snow tubing
Nutcracker Performance by Ballet West
Catch a performance or rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
See Tron in 3D
Shop at Down East Basics and Shabby Apple (awesome modest clothing companies) and any other delightful stores I can find :)
Go to Temple Square to see thousands of little Christmas lights

Well that's all I can think of right now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Friend...

2010-11-30T10:17:00.000-10:00

I got up early-ish Thanksgiving morning to prepare the turkey and get it in the oven. I was getting some celery and carrots out to chop (b/c using a large knife about 5 minutes after you wake up is always safe...). As I was dividing up the celery to clean it, I noticed that a few of the stocks were super gross and had lots of gunk on them. That's when I found my little Thanksgiving friend...

I am thankful for all of Heavenly Father's creatures, but I really wish this one hadn't eaten my celery.

Not to mention that our little friend was dead. I'm sure he died due to complications from celery overload. Needless to say the celery got thrown away! Sad little slug just wanted to be a part of Thanksgiving dinner :o)

Our Naked Little Lanai...

2010-11-29T10:06:00.000-10:00

Let's do a little recap about how great our lanai is....

Big
Beautiful views of the bay and mountains
And completely void of any furniture...sad face

Black Friday solved our issue though! We were at Sears looking for an electric sander (will post about that project later ;) and decided we should take a look at the grills while we were there. They had a sweet deal on an awesome little grill that we couldn't resist. Combined with the 10% off our entire purchase coupon we had...they were basically paying us to take the thing! Okay...not really but it was still a really good deal :o)

He's a beaut!
...now you know why it was so dang cheap! That's all there is to the grill.

Okay so that's not really the whole grill. Here is my ~~slave labor~~ hot husband/grill master, putting the grill together.

Our first meal on the grill! Yummy t-bone steaks prepared by my one and only grill master!

Thankful...

2010-11-24T12:53:00.000-10:00

I am so excited and thankful that my wonderful husband is home for Thanksgiving! He was out to sea for our first Thanksgiving so I'm grateful to have him home for this one.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

In honor of my favorite Thanksgiving salt and pepper shakers...that were lost in the move :o(

Our First Visitors!

2010-11-22T11:18:00.000-10:00

Two days after Mark arrived we had our first visitors to Hawaii! My aunt and uncle from St. Louis stopped by for a couple days on their way to Kauai. It was great to have them here to help us get out of the house to do some fun tourist stuff.

We did a tour of the North Shore and ate at the Shrimp Shack that was featured on the Food Network. The food was yummy and the owners were a lot of fun.

I heart the Food Network!

We also hit up the USS Arizona Memorial.

Memorial Wall inside the memorial...

The brave men of the Arizona that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor are able to return to the Arizona to be at rest with their shipmates. I think they said there are 23 survivors still living today.

Fuel still leaking from the Arizona...

The resting place for over a thousand brave men.

The Boys of the Blue...

2010-11-16T17:45:00.000-10:00

Once upon a time...there was a boy that got on a boat in CT and sailed off into the ocean blue. He and his boat were headed to the far off land of Hawaii. In this far off land there was a group of wives patiently waiting for their husbands to arrive in paradise. Days and then months went by with no sign of the boat.

The wives kept a vigilant watch for their boys of the blue...

One wonderful day, the wives got word that their boys of the blue had been spotted off the coast of the far off land of Hawaii! The wives' frowns were instantly turned upside down!

They boarded a vessel that took them out to the tip of the far off land...

And they were greeted by a most delightful sight! Can you see it? Can you see the sight that the wives had been anxiously waiting to see?

No? How about now?
...ahhhh they're headed straight for us!! No worries, we moved :o)

Our boys of the blue had finally found their way to their new home in the far off land of Hawaii!

The wives had diligently worked on a wonderful gift for the boat that held our boys of the blue. The gift was beautiful shades of red, white and blue.

In the tradition of the land far off, our boys of the blue proudly displayed our gift on the sail of our favorite boat. This was the perfect welcome home gift to our favorite boat carrying our boys of the blue!

The excitement was mounting as our boys of the blue rounded their final corner of the far off land.

The wives of the boys of the blue were delighted and overjoyed when our favorite boat finally docked in the far off land of Hawaii. There were lots of hugs, kisses and smiles...very, very big smiles.

The boys of the blue were happy to be in their new home in the far off land of Hawaii...the wives were happy that their houses were finally homes with the addition of their boys of the blue...and they all lived happily ever after! until the next deployment of course :o)

Link to the news cast that aired about our boys of the blue coming home.

Link to a news article about our boys of the blue coming home.

Lanai vs Porch

2010-11-16T06:22:00.001-10:00

Do you know the difference between a lanai and a porch?

Maybe this is considered a porch because it's lame and boring...

Which would make this a lanai because it friggin' awesome!!

Yes, I know a bulb is out and it has already been fixed :o) Now to find some furniture for this lanai!

Really though...there is not a difference between a porch or lanai. Same thing, different name.

Saturday Afternoons...

2010-11-15T16:55:00.027-10:00

What are Saturday afternoons good for? They are good for doing fun little things like decorating a fence with over a thousand puddin' cups (technically put-in-cups but puddin' cups is a lot more fun to say!)

Now you might be thinking to yourself...Joy, why would you ever decorate a fence with little things called puddin' cups?? Well let me tell you why! Because your fence ends up looking amazing, spectacular, eye-catching, patriotic, awesome, delightful...well you get the point!

Our Saturday afternoon pride and joy...

The wonderful ladies of the SSN-777!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

2010-11-14T06:41:00.000-10:00

Y'all I'm so excited! I have been on a lucky streak lately! I went to a Newcomer's Luncheon the other week, put on by the military base here, and I won a brand spankin' new Kindle. And just yesterday I won this totally cute wristlet from The Purse Pantry! Thanks, Deb!!

**The owner of this cute little business is a fellow submarine wife and she is just sweet as can be! Her items are so cute and well made. She is on her way off the island (sad face!!) so her Etsy shop is low on items but check back in the Spring and I'm sure she will have lots of delightful goodies!**

Things I love about Hawaii...

2010-11-13T18:21:00.000-10:00

I heart....

That this is the view from our church parking lot...

And that my food comes to the table like this!! Mmmm delicious in my tummy and delightful to look at too!

Alooooohaaaa!

2010-11-11T17:22:00.000-10:00

I am alive and in paradise!! After lots of packing, moving, traveling, house-hunting, unpacking and decorating I am finally back from my blog sabbatical :o) I have been all over the place in the past three months and have finally put down some roots. Here are some pictures that prove that I am actually here and have a house :o)

Before...sad and drab but lots of counter space!!!

After...all of our junk has arrived!!

Before = lame-o

After = my favorite couch and computer

Now for the current best parts of the house...the views! From our lanai you can see all of Kaneohe Bay! (pronounced con-e-o-hay)

From the side of the house you can see the Ko'olau Mountains. De-lightful!!

I Spy With My Little Eye...

2010-05-10T02:00:00.000-10:00

Something delightful in the Thames River!!

It's a bird...

It's a plane...

Just kidding...it's a submarine!!

I'm proud to say that this was my first submarine spotting in the Thames River! (They move way faster than I thought they would!)

What Is Today Again?

2010-05-09T12:21:00.000-10:00

Oh yeah....Happy Mother's Day all you mommies out there :o)

Dear Mom,

You're the...

and we don't know what we would do without you in our lives!

All of Our Love, Joy & Mark

How Cool Are These?

2010-05-07T03:38:00.000-10:00

This picture was taken in 1918 by Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas.

The caption reads: 18,000 Officers and Men at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa. Colonel William Newman, Commanding. Colonel Rush S. Wells, Directing.

FACTS:
Base to Shoulder: 150 feet
Right Arm: 340 feet
Widest part of arm holding torch: 12 1/2 feet
Right thumb: 35 feet
Thickest part of body: 29 feet
Left hand length: 30 feet
Face: 60 feet
Nose: 21 feet
Longest spike of head piece: 70 feet
Torch and flame combined: 980 feet
Number of men in flame of torch: 12,000
Number of men in torch: 2,800
Number of men in right arm: 1,200
Number of men in body, head and balance of figure only: 2,000
Total men: 18,000

Go Navy!!

Click here to check out the other 10 photographs.

Outfitting a Little Chef!

2010-05-05T17:17:00.000-10:00

A few weeks ago I was on Facebook looking at some pictures that my friend Linda posted. (I blogged about her family a few months back. They are the ones that moved out to California with the Navy.) Anyways, one of the pictures was of Jonathan, her oldest son, and he was in the kitchen helping her cook some delicious pizza. He was decked out in one of Linda's aprons and that got me thinking...which turned into scheming...which turned into a date with Ken...which then turned into me sending a package out to California...then I got this ah-mazing picture back :o)

Isn't he the cutest little chef you have ever seen??

In honor of his love for cars, I found this great car fabric and mixed it with the checkered flag fabric. What I love the most about the apron is that it's completely reversible! The other side is the checkered flag fabric and the ties for that side are the car fabric. And come on, that matching chef hat basically makes him the coolest kid on the block! LOVE IT!! I'm not kidding, I loved it so much I totally wore the combo around the house before I sent it to him...don't judge me for being ridicuous. Just think of it as one of my many endearing qualities :)

Ah-mazingness Caught By My Camera

2010-04-30T02:56:00.000-10:00

I was out to lunch with a couple other wives when we were all stopped in our tracks at this sight...

After we stopped laughing the usual questions came up...

Who is Otis and why is his name all over the caution signs?
How the heck did that man get under the escalator!!!
How the heck does that man get out from being under the escalator?
What happened to the other half of the escalator stairs?

Okay next one...I was driving around the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation trying to find a friend's house. We were supposed to carpool to a church training in Norwich. I drove by her house about 5 times without realizing it but finding this ~~little~~ very large guy made up for my frustration!

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe's Child Development Center...

Oh Brother...

2010-04-21T07:50:00.000-10:00

Just when I thought flu season was over...Mark got the flu. So much for the flu shot that he got in the Fall.

Here is to hoping that I don't get it too!

The Submarine Force is How Old???

2010-04-12T07:37:00.000-10:00

Saturday night we, along with 2,300 other submariners, celebrated the 110th birthday of the US Naval Submarine Force. The "sub ball" was held at the MGM Grande at Foxwoods Casino in their massive ballroom. The entree was lame, dessert was ah-mazing and the company was a blast! Here are some pictures from the night...

Us before the party got out of control...aka the boys still had their jackets on :o)

This next picture is of the centerpiece for the North Carolina table. Each boat/command constructs and brings a centerpiece to be entered into a competition. Usually the guys do the centerpiece but various things lead to Elizabeth and I having the honors for our boat. We took it and ran with it and we were both really proud of how it turned out. Here is a good explanation of the centerpiece from Elizabeth's blog:

Theme: "Chained to the Shipyard"
Explanation: The boat has been in the shipyard for some time now and the joke is that they will never make it to Hawaii and they just can't seem to get away. We created a General Dynamics building (that has a striking resemblance to the actual building), a crane made out of Knex, and a dock full of navy men (that are even painted to look like their uniforms) who are wearing hardhats (made of painted bolt covers). The submarine is chained to the pier and actually has a working motor so it was moving but unsuccessful at getting away. Our Hawaii side is pretty cute too but needs less explanation. Inside the tank we actually had live fish! You could have seen our great underwater decorations but the water looks really muddy so that made it hard to see all of our underwater work. Sadly, we didn't win the competition but we did win the respect and laughs from several men on the sub.

Elizabeth and I with the centerpiece we made for our boat.

A few of the wives of the North Carolina.

from left: Elizabeth (she is moving to Hawaii too, yay!!), Jess, Lynn and me

We let the boys take a picture with us this time...