Maui

On Labor Day we woke up at 3:30 (in the morning!) to get the girls ready to catch a 6 AM flight from Yakima to Seattle. Avery was so excited to ride in an airplane. We met up with Fred's parents in Seattle and we were off to Maui! The girls did fantastic on the flight, with the exception of a little crying the last 20 minutes or so. I think that's pretty good for a 5.5-6 hour flight! I can only imagine that their ears hurt, although Avery also said she felt like throwing up. We had the little baggie ready for her but she never did. Poor thing. She also had plenty of toys, coloring books, food, and her dvd player which kept her very busy.

Fred and Ceil got a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo in Kihei for all 8 of us (our family, Fred and Ceil, and Nik and Lilian). It worked out perfectly. We had a full kitchen and hit Costco once we got there. We went out to dinner each evening but made breakfast and lunch in our room mostly. It would have been a nightmare taking the kids out to eat at every meal. We did have a special birthday party for Fred's dad to celebrate his 70th! We BBQ'd steaks at the condo and had a great time.

Nik and Lilian rented surf boards and did a lot of surfing. Fred got to join them a couple of times and he had a blast. I mostly enjoyed the pool or the beach with the girls, Ceil and Fred. We got to do some shopping at the Grand Wailea Mall (which was amazing!) and we also went into the cute little town of Lahaina and shopped as well. On Thursday, Lilian treated me to a spa morning for my birthday at the Grand Wailea resort. It was amazing and by far the best (and largest) spa I have ever seen!

On Friday we took the girls to the aquarium. It was a really neat one, and Avery loved seeing all fish and even the sharks. She kept yelling out "Look at the big yellow fish!" or my favorite "Look at the big big shark! It won't get me!" Friday eveing Laura and Rob each had a "girls night out" and "boys night out". Ceil watched the girls for us so that I could go with Lilian to celebrate with Laura and Freddie could go with Nik and Fred to celebrate with Rob. We went to the Marriott's Mala bar/restaurant. The guys went to Tommy Bahama's.

Saturday was Laura (Fred's sister) and Rob's wedding. We met them at the Grand Wailea and had family pictures taken near a beautiful waterfall. The wedding and reception were both at Gannon's Restaurant. Their wedding was in a grassy area that overlooked the ocean, a beautiful golf course, and tons of lush tropical flowers and trees. A funny little tidbit about the Grand Wailea and Gannon's is that both of these places were filming locations in the movie "Just Go With It" with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.

We flew home on 9/11. And while I felt like I had an anxiety attack the day before we left, I did feel safe traveling that day. The reason I don't ever want to fly again on any 9/11 day is that it took FOREVER to get through security and with two little ones, it was a rough start to our trip home. There were TSA agents and policeman everywhere. That was both a little reasurring and a little scary. Once we got past security and we were at our gate, they were grabbing random people and doing hand residue checks. Fred was one of the lucky ones. They just swiped a white piece of special paper over his hands and then put it through their machine. I've flown many times and I've never seen that one before!

All and all, it was a great trip! The kids did great with the time change. I think it was Fred and I who had such a rough time re-adjusting to Pacific Standard time! But we all had a really fun family vacation!

Here are just a few pictures (in random order) from our trip -

July

Why am I always so behind? Oh, that's right, it's because I've got 2 kids and I'm working and trying to keep up with our daily lives! July came and went in a blur. Fred's mom and dad came over to stay with the girls while our daycare was on vacation . We did many things, including a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. Fred's dad also did a few things around the house and we appreciated that so much!

On the 21st we headed to Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA for Fred's brother's wedding. Lilian looked so beautiful and the location, wedding and reception was just breathtaking. The sun was shining and everything went perfectly. Even Avery did a great job as the flower girl. By the day we had prior to the wedding, I didn't think she was going to pull it off! She was cranky and threw tantrums (ya know, a typical 2 year old). But she did it and we were so proud of her! Here are a few pictures taken by Fred's sister Laura.

Our sweet little Natalie turned 4 months old. She is giggling and smiling all the time. She's a wonderful baby and we're so lucky to have her. At her 4 month appointment, she weighed 13 lbs and is around 25% for both height and weight. She is officially half the size of her big sister who right now weighs about 26 lbs!

Updates

Natalie is 3 months old! She is just the sweetest little thing with a really big attitude! She definitely knows what she wants! I can't wait to see how her personality progresses. She is starting to interact with Avery and always smiles when Avery talks to her. I love it! What I don't love is when they simutaneously start crying at the same time, when I can't reach over the car seat when I'm driving to put Natalie's binkie back in her mouth or when I'm right in the middle of feeding Natalie a bottle and Avery yells that she has to go "poop". But we make it work. My house might not be as clean as I'd like it to be and dinner might not get on the table until late but it's times like that when I just have to remember how blessed I am.

If you are looking for bows, clips or headbands for your little sweetie, check out Briar.Claire at www.facebook.com/briarclaire. They have the cutest hair accessories. Avery has a ton and I've already started a collection for Natalie! Briar.Claire is an etsy shop (http://www.briarclaire.etsy.com/) and they also have a blog (http://www.briarclaire.blogspot.com/). The best part is that they have a sale going on right now! They have $1 clips and 25% off everything. I just bought a cute white headband with a white flower with little rhinestones in the center for Avery to wear when she is a flower girl next month in Fred's brother's wedding. Avery loves her flower girl dress, shoes and headband and calls it her princess outfit. Now only if she'll actually walk down the aisle...I hope so!

We also have another family wedding coming up. Fred's sister Laura is getting married to Rob in Maui on 9/10/11. We are so excited to take the girls! I think the fun they will have will definitely outweigh any traveling anxiety that I may have about flying with 2! We've done it quite a few times with Avery. She's done great on long trips - we even flew with her to Hawaii when she was 12 months. Let's hope it goes smoothly with a 2 and a half year old and a 5 month old! Thank goodness I got a baby Ergo for Mother's Day. That thing is going to be my lifesaver!!

2 Months Old

Natalie is two months old today. Time goes by so fast, I can't even believe it. I've packed away the newborn clothes. Not sure if I will sell them or save them for the next person I know who has a girl. Either way, we won't be needing them. We're 99.9% sure that our family feels complete. Natalie is so sweet and loves to smile and "talk"....lots of cooing and screeching in the evenings! Her 2 month appointment is next week. I'm excited to see how much she's grown!

Mud Pies Anyone?

Yum. We bought Avery a Little Tykes "Makin' Mud Pies" outdoor kitchen the other day. It's been so cold that we haven't been outside to play with it. But it wasn't so bad today and she really wanted to "use the sink." While we were outside, she made me chocolate chip cookies and apple pie. This will definitely be a fun toy for the backyard this summer!

Camping

Fred can't wait to take Avery camping this summer. I'm sure that when Natalie is a little older, it will be a fun family adventure! But for now, Fred is excited for some father/daughter time with Avery. He was anxious to see if she liked sleeping in a tent so he set up a tent in the backyard. He actually set up 2; the small one is our tent and the bigger one is our friend's tent. It's huge!! So that is the one they slept in. Avery loved it! I went out to say goodnight and she had her flashlight and was "looking for animals." It was so funny! She has such an imagination. Fred said that she was talking to someone in the tent last night. She was talking about strawberries and daddy. We asked her this morning who she was talking to and she said "Greg". I don't know where she comes up with this stuff!

Springtime

It finally feels like Spring! Avery loves being outside and loves flowers. She watered my flower pots and had a great time! Last week I was able to capture some first smiles from Natalie. She is just too sweet. :)