faith is going to be a big sister. it was definitely exciting telling her that day that i was expecting another child. i spent the entire afternoon rehearsing my lines and preparing for the moment when i’d share the news with her. when i asked why she was wiping tears away from her eyes, she simply replied, “because i’m so happy mommy.”

if you cannot relate to this situation, then allow me to help by simulating the scene. its like telling your parents that you got hired for your first job or taking your true love home to meet your family for the first time. the atmosphere is uneasy but exciting. you feel a nervous knot in your stomach. or how about if you’ve ever been in your car alone, sitting at a traffic light and you look to your left and see the most handsome guy gleaming at you-that feeling right there that builds in the pit of your gut. as the light changes to green, you pull forward,excitement builds and you feel a rush to howler to allow everything to escape.

we just returned home from her afterschool program, unpacked her homework and was reviewing with her when i felt the urge to splurge. i made sure her cousin was occupied with toys in the other room and came back in. she was sitting next to me when i shared that i was pregnant. she was so happy. she kept smiling from ear to ear, wiping the tears away that seemed to fill her eyelids almost instantly. then a bunch of questions poured out.

“is it a girl or boy, mommy? how long will it take to come out? will i be able to hold it and feed it? what are you going to name him? have you gotten to see it yet? can i go with you to your doctor’s office?” these were just some of her questions. later that night before we fell asleep she expressed gently, “mom, i want a baby brother.” when i asked her why she replied, “so that i dont have to share my toys.”

after asking around i realized that she wanted the opposite sex because she didn’t want to feel as if she had to compete with the new baby. when i heard this i didnt know if i should be worried of her concern or appreciative of her honesty. so i approached faith in bed one night and she further explained herself. its natural when a child responds this way and i basically reassured her that there will be tough times when she’ll feel neglected but i would try my best to incorporate everyone and include her in her new baby sister’s daily routine and life.

today, i must say, faith is the most supportive with my pregnancy. she’ll remind me to rest, sit down, “get off my feet”, eat, or watch my belly with the corners of tables, walls, etc. when she sees me, she’ll come up to me with kisses for both the baby and me. i dont care what the experts say, faith is going to be the best big sister and the most helpful one. sometimes i feel she’s more excited then i am. i thank God for these blessings in my life and the opportunity to share this new baby with such a beautiful daughter-faith.

so Bumpy understood completely what was going to happen on thursday. after all, she’s just turned six years old and has become a great eaves dropper, observationist, and profiler. even when i make a desperate attempt to spell a word outto a person that i’m having a conversation to and she’s nearby, if the word fits within her 2nd grade level reading comprehension, she’ll say the word for you. so when her daddy told her she was going to have her annual physical with Dr. Sumida. she asked why. and when her daddy explained that it was for school and she had to do it. well, let’s just say that that made her love grade school, homework, and boys so much more. frankly put, Bumpy isnt stupid! she knew on thursday she would be receiving a medically enhanced projectile gun of some sort of vaccination to suffice the public school’s requirements of being “up-to-date”. i think putting a toddler and school-aged child through vaccinations is separated by a very thin line next to child abuse. especially, when you have to hold her down. yup, especially that.

i had the easier job this year. it was daddy who took her to her physical and had to restrain her from hurting herself while the nurse shoots up her with the unknown components of the fluid. it was a lot nicer hearing her experience over the phone and after all was said and done. she shared to me what had conspired at the doctor’s office and expressed her concerns. i explained to her that everyone has to go through it, including pets. she says, “i know Mommy it just hurts really bad and makes me cry.” i further explained that that is a normal response to pain and i went through those experiences as well, but worse, with Papa. Papa is her grandfather, who, at the time, was not sensitized nor had the patience to deal with little kids and crying. after the grandchildren arrived things turned around. like 360 degrees around. i bet if i asked Papa to take Bumpy to her next year’s annual physical, it would definitely be a different story from what transpired when i was in Bumpy’s shoes.

so after Bumpy shared to me what tragedy had taken place in the doctor’s office that day, her daddy comes back on the phone. he decided to end the conversation off on mixed feelings for me. allow me to explain. throughout the past 5 years of Bumpy’s life she experienced growth patterns and spurts at a rather depressed rate to every place except her head. and i will emphasize, every where except her head. she gets that from her father’s side. her intelligence and the way she picked up on certain development skills, however, caused the pediatrician’s not to worry. she was learning and growing intellectually at an advanced rate. the only concerns for them were her weight. she was a petite baby. which alarmed me and my side of the family, because we seem to be culturally based around food gatherings. sometimes, i wondered if this was my kid or not. and if you’ve seen me andmy family you’d understand my concerns. this kid should be a monster according to my growth rates within the past few years. haha.

so, her daddy decides to share that Bumpy has gained 10 lbs within the past year. shocking! i know. tell me about it. just last year she was under weight. i know, what if the doctors had the wrong kid all this time. whatever, it doesn’t matter. the point is that my kid has finally picked up some weight. of course, i’m worried about type 1 diabetes and obesity. she’s a kid. she dances ballet. has play-dates with her friends and runs wild when a colorful jungle gym is within plain sight. i am not at all concerned. sure we can change up her diet. after all, she does have dessert after dinner every night. but what american kid doesnt.

so her daddy and i discussed what could be different. Bumpy is not much of a meat eater, she never has been. she mostly consumes starches and vegetables. and i swear every meal is topped off with a delightful dessert. we discussed further how her diet is due for some change ups. Bumpy has never taken a liking to milk, juices, or sodas. which i consider myself blessed by God for that doing, so thats not really a concern. so we contributed the snacks at school and home a major factor in her weight gain, as well as the desserts after dinner. she has a pretty active lifestyle. golf with her daddy at the driving range, play-dates with various girlfriends, and ballet dance practice every saturday.

my thoughts: i’m not at all worried about this. if this pattern continues then sure, let’s put her into soccer or flag football but really, we’ve been wanting her weight to pick up for the past few years. hey, its happened. we shouldn’t complain. we just need to make a few adjustments and keep moving forward. when i get back Bumpy and I will follow up a morning routine with bicep curls and sit ups. lol. regardless, this kid still has the biggest heart and smile i’ve ever known. at least that hasnt changed, right doc?

with Bumpy on my visit back to Hawaii beginning of July

it was the only thing she has been talking about since she heard we were going. when i asked her “what was the best part of your summer?” bumpy replied, “going to Disneyland.”

Tutu and Bumpy flew up to Vegas the beginning of July while i completed my EMT-Basic courses at NCTI. the night i received my certificate we packed up for the roadtrip to Los Angeles and Disneyland. we left 3am in the morning with the girls and refreshments headed for San Diego. before we knew it we were already in San Diego and by noon the same day we were checked into our rooms.

Disneyland was awesome. besides the fact that i think its overpriced, crowded, and the lines are crazy too long to be waiting or standing in during a hot summer day, i felt that it didn’t matter at all after i saw Bumpy’s face when we finally arrived there. we are definitely planning another Disney trip soon.

thanks to Bumpy’s Aunty Ki, she made all the arrangements for the ohana and made the ride most comfortable. Bumpy slept most of the way there and most of the way back. all the pics are below. we even included some pics from the Boulder City Damboree Fourth of July Fireworks Show from the Saturday prior to our Disney trip where we joined Aunty Lacee for the evening and tried Funnel cakes. the girls in the pics are Bumpy’s cousin, Lohi and Lohi’s best friend, Taryn. thank you so much Kea, Tutu and Papa for paying and helping with the cost of the trip and bill. thank you to Ki for your help and support in creating a wonderland for Faith’s first Disney experience.

with Aunty Lacee at the Damboree

at Sam’s Town in Vegas

killing time before we leave for LA

at M&M World with Lohi and Angeleca

New York New York in Vegas

during the roadtrip

waiting in line

in her teacup

Bubbs digging into her bday cake…

yesterday was bubbs birthday! she turned 2 years old. i remember when i was there in the delivery room holding her mom’s legs in the air and peering in towards the “crime scene” at my little niece entering into this crazy world. i was standing next to dr. rudy and watching as dr. rudy pulled the monster from all that mess.

bubbs called me yesterday to tell me she just turned 2 years old. it was the cutest thing in the world, next to MY daughter. haha. she asked where elmo was and i had to be the best aunty that i try to be  and submitted to her indirect request of speaking with elmo. so elmo came on the scene, sang bubbs “happy burfday” and asked how old she was. bubbs was so happy. she even made the younger cousin jealous that was sitting next to her because she got to speak with elmo. wow. competition between peers and siblings begins at a young age. [by the way, i was at school attending class when all of this went down. like i said, i'm looking to receive the best aunty award. haha.]

so last night, as with anyone’s birthday in my family, everyone gathered around and sang happy birthday to the birthday girl and shared ice cream and cake. i remember those days when i was young and couldn’t wait for that moment when we invited grandma and michael (cousin) over and everyone gathered around the table, the candles all lit, and my dad lowering the lights to the kitchen and living room to sing happy birthday in uniform. good times!

sorry i wasn’t there bubbs and jo but i’ll be home soon and i’ll try not to skip any more birthdays. i love you bubbs! i love you bump! i love you ohana. i posted the pic for everyone’s enjoyment. aloha!

over the past week i was given, some what of an obstacle to handle between faith and her daddy. faith’s dad had recently purchased a laptop with a built-in webcam along with it. later that day i found out that faith had a skype account. [skype, for those who are not updated on today's social networking venues, is a membership database website where you become a member and utilize their free webcam and instant messaging services.] oprah will have random episodes where she’ll communicate with viewers or people of interest through skype.

as i had found out about this, i became FURIOUS. growing up as a generation x-er, we were not allowed to use the internet, nor was my household privileged to utilize the computer unless we had supervision. as we head into the 21st century, new problems have crossed my mind that is in plain sight: pedophiles, internet privacy and scams, predators, etc. throughout the past several years, technology has become so advanced, ever increasing the chance of abduction, rape, sexual molestation, abuse, and other horrible crimes amongst our precious keiki. so i blew up. as any rightful, responsible and insane mother would do. [i say insane because mothers are never in a sane state of mind while accompanied by children over the age of 1.]

after listening to a psychologist’s video on limiting children and setting boundaries and referring to a very wise family member and another friend. i decided i was not over-reacting and confronted faith’s daddy about the situation. as mentioned in previous blogs, faith’s daddy is an awesome daddy, however, there are times when he fails to see the potential of danger and risks involved in certain situations. long story-short, i just finished a skype conversation with faith yesterday through her daddy’s skype account. it was awesome. we had our emotional moment together (because i’m currently in las vegas for school) and we had our funny, laughing moments. again. totally awesome.

lessons learned: 1) setting boundaries is good. 2) keep boundaries are better. 3) compromising and working a situation out is the best! and the child will observe how to handle future situations and predicaments.

before i leave you, i found an archived blog article on skype for kids! the new skypito. sad thing about it though, is i don’t think its been implemented as the article mentions it was going to be. anybody know of a skypito out there? its supposed to limit the contacts of skype users your child has privileges to and allows parents to set up parental controls. sounds awesome! just would like to know where it’s located. i also found this great article on “safe webcaming for your kids“. i like the part where the article noted that “predator can activate your child’s webcam by remote…” i don’t know ’bout you but after hearing that…i think we should realocate funds on terrorism and homeland security and maybe apply to “home” land securitas. enjoy the article. i did! please take the poll below. it was just a random thought, some what related.

school is dwindling down for the school year at kailua and the kids are mobilizing their vacation RVs and packing for summer recess. however, in my neck of the woods school just began and i am just settling in for a long haul. the imagination and critical thinking that a five year old displays when posed with a difficult question flabbergasts me. its like when your father or mother caught you doing something you were not supposed to be doing, you create some wild story to amuse them.

it was friday evening, here in vegas and back in kailua. i have been calling faith every evening since arriving here to calm her nerves and incorporate her in my temporary life up here. it also eases my nerves hearing from her and how her day/night went. so faith is enjoying a friday night at pali lanes with her dad, aunty angeleca, brayden, and uncle lee. she says they are all bowling and she just finished her turn. she expresses that she misses me but is having tons of fun with her dad. [her dad does an awesome job keeping her mind off things that cause concern for her].

faith asked what i was doing and i responded, “studying. i have a lot of homework to do.” faith replies, “do you need help with studying mommy?” my heart dropped and then leaped in my thoracic cavity knowing well enough that this would be a great blog opportunity because faith enjoys telling stories. and i dont mean she lies a lot. she has a great imagination and when asked why the sky is blue or grass green, faith will express her theoretical findings very thoroughly. there is no short version with her. i was beginning to get concerned about her bowling game however, i invited her explanation and assistance with my studying.

she begins. “its easy mom, you see the lungs sits on top of the stomach in a person’s body. every time a person breaths their stomach and lungs gets bigger and comes out. now (she’s say while smacking her lips and clearing her throat. was so funny), when that person’s body gets stabbed or shot by a gun the blood will get into their stomach and lungs and the body cannot breath anymore. and the doctor might have to take their lungs and stomach out. its ok but mom because everybody has two lungs, so if the doctor takes out one, the body can still breath with the other.”

she continues on as i phase out of her words and think to myself. this kid is somewhat correct about having two lungs and breathing and the blood part causing pressure, therefore preventing inhalation. the most intriguing part of her story is the origin. where does she come up with the idea of being shot, stabbed, the doctor taking out the lungs and still breathing? i found that part most profound. even when i noticed kindergarten teaching my kid script handwriting, adding and subtraction, and reading full story books on their own that they couldn’t possibly cram anything else in my child’s brain, there still manages to be room for creative thinking and the human body.

so i called her saturday morning after ballet practice, she was exhausted. as she usually is following ballet class, she still managed to pick herself up and ask “do you need help studying again, mommy?” my sister, niece, and i just arrived in utah, so we were exhausted. and i didn’t have my study books in front of me either, so i told her no but i would let her help me again next week. she sounded reassured and happy after i told her that.

faith is constantly opening my mind to new things and possibilities. she is not afraid to share her thoughts and creativity. even when she’s exhausted, she’ll find the last bit of energy to involve herself. lesson-learned: 1) include the child in your challenges and obstacles in life. the least harm it could do will expose them to “real life” challenges however, it will show them how you overcame it for yourself and they’ll make a mental observation of that for when a similar situation arises later in their lives. if there’s anything they’ll take from your experiences, it will be how you handled it with the resources you have available along with your morals and values that you were taught while you were a child. its an awesome teaching opportunity for the young ones and it gets their noggin turning.

i found some tips from a great website www.brainy-child.com on stimulating a child’s imagination and creativity. you can also subscribe to the doctor’s articles and newsletters. here’s a few tips from an article titled, “Igniting Your Child’s Power of Imagination“.

1. “the environment surrounding your kid could be the best place for him or her to learn…” and then it offered suggestions like the garden, backyard where the child can learn techniques and gain ideas.
2. ….”computer and TV may harm your child’s ability to think on their own”. i have to agree with this. a computer and television are stimulating a child’s imagination to think that everything revolves around action-reaction and doesn’t allow the child to suggest their own concepts and thoughts when brought to a situation of concern.
3. “choose your toys carefully…battery operated and motorized toys seem to restrict and curtail your kid to think on his or her own”. wow! i love this tip. it is ironically true. toys and tv these days are being turned on to babysit our children. i must say i am guilty of it myself when i need to study or complete a task. the tip continues to suggest on bringing home toys that will create critical thinking and build cognitive skills in your child. awesome tip!

there are more tips and i will highly encourage you to visit the website and continue the article when you have a chance. www.brainy-child.com . i look forward to your imaginative thoughts and comments. miss you all and talk to you soon. ps. faith will be coming to visit the beginning of july. i have plenty of stuff for us to do in vegas, museums, excalibur dinner, free site seeing and tours. if you have a suggestion for us, please let me know.

my niece, bubbs, decided to call me today while i was taking a nap. she left a message. [btw, she's almost 2 yrs old and has the intellect and speech of atleast 6 months, maybe more, in advance]. i’m convinced that when children are surrounded by adults in the home, they develop speech patterns and process of dialogue a lot quicker compared to children who are not being stimulated by touch and conversation at all. they also learn how to communicate and hone in on their social skills between eachother and other adults. btw, my daughter and niece are bothed raised with 2 other female adults. so you better trust and believe they’ll know how to communicate! and communicate with EMOTIONS too…haha. okay. i dont wanna open a book of worms here, so i’ll stop.
after i got out of bed, i grabbed my cellular and dialed her back. she immediately says “miss you” and i couldn’t help but let go of a large amount of excitement and screaming in baby talk.
we continued to conversate. i’ll be honest i didn’t understand most of what she was saying until i heard the question popped. “annie, where elmo?”
you see, my niece has this obsession with elmo! its understandable considering those are the only television shows they can grasp at this age. she also enjoys barney, madagascar, and horton and the who (movie by dr. seuss). she also associates me with elmo due to the relationship she seems to think i have with the guy. or gal. or idk what sex of origin is elmo. i’m not really sure. which is pretty sad that i dont really know this because the program doesn’t really make that obvious. not that that is a problem or not but idk maybe that is why kids are growing up “confused” these days.
anyways, so i begin by telling her to “hold on bubbs!” i could hear her whimpering in laughter as i yell away from the phone. “elmo? elmo? are you there? bubbs wants to talk to you.” and then i go back onto the phone and reassure bubbs that he’s coming.
i come back on with the elmo opening song-elmo’s world. she begins to scream in excitement. kind of like what i did when i first spoke to her. as i finish the song, she says “what doing?” i answer in a really high pitch to impersonate elmo “playing with dorothy.” bubbs responds by saying “dorty?” i begin laughing. so we carried this conversation on for another minute. i’m still impersonating elmo with my high pitch version of him. then bubbs says “kay, yuvv you, buhbye”. and i respond “dont hang up, because your auntie ruth wants to talk to you.”
after the phone conversation i head on over to the dining room and begin my study time. i paused as i reflected on what just took place. i couldn’t help but laugh at myself and think of my daughter and my niece back in hawaii.
i’ve been in vegas for EMT/EMS classes since last week. i REALLY miss my daughter. i’ll be returning soon shortly after classes and when my daughter arrives for a visit. i can’t wait. i found this pic on my computer of bubbs. i’ll catch up with you soon.

bubbs at tea last week

there’s that saying “you can lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink”. that man is a brilliant man. i realized that for myself when i took the girls to A Cup Of Tea in Kailua, Hawaii before i left for las vegas. it was filled with tea, victorian style tea cups and pots along with victorian and porcelain dolls in the gift gallery.

A Cup Of Tea is recommended for anyone who enjoys an exquisite selection of tea as well as pastries and sandwiches. the boutique is a little pricey for any individual on a budget so try and save up. a seating of 4, 2 of which were children, came out to a bill of $70; not including tip. i must say though, the vegetarian sandwich was delightful and filled with nutritious cucumbers, tomatoes and cream cheese. excellent. i would have suggested a peanut butter and jelly selection for the two girls though.

anyways getting to the story. so Bubbs is not a little lady. she tries to be and she’ll go to the extent of wearing a dress. when she saw Bumpy dressed up a full victorian style gown with a black choker and high heels on, Bubbs wanted to dress up too. maybe she’ll blossom later with her more feminine side. so, i had an opportunity to take the girls to a tea room that just opened in Kailua, Hawaii. i was blessed with a winning from the 95.5 The Fish radio station which included a $50 gift certificate and decided to take the girls prior to leaving for school in Las Vegas. i asked their Tutu (grandma in hawaiian) to join us for the fun. it was a surprise to Bumpy until the night before. i should have kept it a surprise until after school that day because when we picked her up from school she told the entire class and teacher her plans for the evening. boy! she was excited. it was like a dream come true for her.

so, we picked Bumpy up, got her dressed up for tea, and drove to site. we looked for parking for half hour, which i suggest street parking. we walked into the tea room and was amazed. Bumpy looked as if she was going to cry-she was so excited. she began looking around while the receptionist finished her phone conversation. we stood around and observed for maybe five minutes until we were actually greeted and seated. we were advised to smell the different flavors of tea prior to seating. i chose the Bourbon Street Vanilla while Bumpy and my mom were enjoyed the Peach Satin. we advised the waitress our choices from the menu and waited about 2 minutes before our different teas arrived.

the entire time Bubbs sat squatted in her high chair, refusing to sit “like a lady” and swished her lemonade between her cheeks every sip. she took the fork and spoon and banged the table and even managed to spill her lemonade while reaching for the fresh baked coconut scones. my mom and Bubbs enjoyed the scones with the strawberry and mango chestnut jams in the middle of our dining table. Bumpy brushed up on her tea etiquette and table manners while Bubbs brushed up on her rugged and rude table manners and 6 feet voices rather than the polite 6 inch whispers.

it was all great and we all enjoyed ourselves while having beautiful and innocent conversations with Tutu. i enjoyed my Bourbon Street Vanilla Afternoon Tea and the Victorian style ambiance. Bumpy loved the atmosphere and pretty pink dishes and the entire concept of getting to dress-up. Bubbs enjoyed the SCONES! i leave you with some pix of the event. next time, i think i’ll invite Tutu and Bumpy while leaving the amazonian child at home to play with buckets and cars. :O)

this past weekend started off with a bang. faith and i woke up early on friday to get ready for school and have breakfast together at her school cafeteria. interesting as the breakfast was (i decided not to eat), the conversations at the table were even more interesting between the children. [my thoughts were a little more explicit on that subject so i blogged about that experience at www.theveggiecow.wordpress.com] after breakfast i filled faith in on the plans for the weekend, gave a quick hello to her teacher-Mrs. Matsuzaki, kissed her bye and headed home to pack for the both of us.

for lunch the sisters and i spent the afternoon, and a delicious meal, together with the SBA and Hawaii Women’s Business Center for a small business awards luncheon at the very place we would be spending the remainder of the weekend at, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. there we ran into Nalani Choy from Na Leo Pilimehana, Uncle Brad and his lovely wife Kay Lorraine from the Hawaii Women’s Business Center, and a few other friends of my sister’s. the luncheon was very encouraging and uplifting for those who dream of becoming entrepeneurs someday. Brad Lorraine is an awesome “Go-to” person for your marketing and business needs.

anyways, so after lunch the sisters and i left for home to gather our baggage for the fun-filled weekend, including the youngsters. we left for Waikiki around 4:30pm. we got to the village around 5:30ish and started the night off immediately. we first stopped off at the penguin and flamingo exhibits which are held within the village and stood around admiring the humagous koi fish in the several ponds surrounding the penguins and flamingoes. we then walked over to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse, where we enjoyed a flamin’ seafood and steak cuisine, grilled veggies, virgin Lava Flows and Shirley Temples, along with Plum dessert wine and a Tropical Sherbert. the Plum wine and sherbert were complimentary of the owner of Kobe, Emerson, who is also a highly successful realtor in Hawaii. everything was delicious. faith and bubbs enjoyed their grilled chicken and lava flows too much that they wanted to go back to Kobe the following evening. after Kobe went walked back to our rooms and jumped on the king size bed while waiting for the Friday night surprise-the Hilton fireworks. for those of you locals who don’t know, the Hilton has an awesome 3 minute display of fireworks for their guests. great job and what an awesome thing the hotel does for the community.

saturday started off wonderfully, faith and i woke up early, got our starbucks and enjoyed breakfast with some hanai ohana down by the poolside. faith got itchy for the water and asked if i could get her swimsuit. when i walked back up the other aunties wanted to join us and we ALL headed down to the pool and awaited the slides to open at 10am. after pool time we left for lunch at Round Table Pizza located directly on property and enjoyed a Garlic Chicken pizza with garlic cheese breadsticks and ranch dressing. faith loves their garlic cheese bread. faith and i left lunch early to get some Lappert’s famous local ice cream for both her and i and her aunty Kea and headed upstairs (which, btw, was located on the 17th floor of the diamond head tower, ocean view). we all took a short nap. after naptime we all woke up and the girls wanted to play. first we jumped on the bed again and then the girls wanted to play hide-and-seek with me. after all the hiding spots were finally discovered, we all got ready for a trolley ride to dinner at the Yardhouse located on Waikiki Beachwalk and more shopping. while waiting for seats at the Yardhouse i took faith into one of the colorful galleries next door. her eyes opened wide after seeing one of the artist’s painting come to life with hawaiian geckos and fauna and another painting filled with sea life brighten when the lighting changed. after dinner we headed back to the DFS Galleria, walked into Head to Toe where we purchased new matching Crocs for the girls and hoped back onto the trolley. there was plenty of traffic because Waikiki was hosting the Spam Fest on Kalakaua boulevard. us locals love our SPAM. [except me. i'm vegetarian.] everyone was exhausted and headed back to the room for a good night’s rest.

sunday morning began when both faith and i woke up and caught up with some of her cartoons on the disney channel. it would be a crime if Hilton didn’t provide the disney channel for the keiki. before heading to the pool again, the girls wanted breakfast at the great ‘ol Starbucks just beneath our tower. [may i add that all of our meals were complimentary of Kea, my oldest sister. thanks sis. love you!] faith, bubbs, jo and i all enjoyed sunday morning in the cold pool with the cool slides again. after pool time we all went back upstairs, took showers, and packed up for check-out after lunch. we then headed to CJ’s New York Deli and soaked up some deli burgers and sandwiches. faith, bubbs and i enjoyed our meals. the sisters didn’t really care for the over-rated burgers that they chose off the menus. we did walk out with a humangous piece of cheesecake topped off with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. the service was definitely welcoming though the prices were a little over-rated compared to what you get. sunday finished off with another excellent home cooked cuisine at Tutu’s house in Kailua, Hawaii (where we live). man, nothing beats the home cooked meals that my mom whips up for the girls. i went straight for aunty duty with babysitting my only nephew, Baby ‘Eha, which means the number four in hawaiian. i got him to smile, eat and after trial and error, even got him to nap before his parents came to get him. my mom hooked me up with a teriyaki stir-fry of zuccini, mushrooms, and shitake mushrooms with fresh Poi. faith and i headed home after an event-filled weekend and reflected together. faith said she loved the pool and Kobe’s dinner. faith also enjoyed playing hide-and-seek and seeing the flamingoes and penguin up-close. she said she cannot wait for when she comes up to vegas to visit me in july for her birthday. i couldn’t help but agree with her.

i posted the pics for your viewing pleasure. all fun and laughs this past weekend and i have to thank my two dearest sisters for hooking faith and me up. it was definitely a “weekend to remember.” i love you sisters!

on the brass hippo statue in the Hilton lobby

in the lobby of the Hilton Hawaiian

faith and bubbs at the flamingo exhibit getting silly

enjoying the penguin exhibit

poolside with sister-Kea

at Round Table Pizza for lunch

at Head to Toe trying on sun hats

on the trolley with aunty jo

saran wrap fashion

updates for you: since the post regarding faith’s bed wetting things have gotten extremely better. faith has been getting herself up to go to the bathroom and i must say that it has been 2 weeks [1 week at her dad's house and another at mine] since faith has wet the bed. [knock on wood].

just last night faith and i were chatting before bed. i mentioned to her that i have noticed a huge progress on the issue. and she adds “ya mom, i’ve been trying.” i replied to her, “it makes me so proud faith and we’re both happier when you can be a big girl and do things on your own.” after i said this to her i recalled the trouble the last time i got in saying these words. i smiled and said a quick prayer to God, “please don’t let me regret saying this, God” and laughed to myself.

i thank the pediatrician on the post regarding this issue for her great tips and encouragement from faith’s aunties that we live with. i also give a huge “up” to faith herself. after all, she is the hugest contributor to this concern of ours.

faith n me is out. have a beautiful day everyone. you can find us on facebook, myspace, and now twitter @ throughereyes. oh and the pic above is of faith n me being fashion creative one afternoon we were bored. love you all.