Then a Year has Passed

The day I first became a mother, I set in motion a life-changing journey along the most extraordinary path of wonder, joy, challenge, and fulfillment.

My life which was first shared with my husband was amazing. Then when my son came along, it became even better with an almost indescribable happiness.

Let's first review my 9 months of growing.

I cant believe I got sooo BIG!

Now lets review Hyrum's 11 months of growing

I cant believe he is sooo BIG!!!

It has definitely been a whirlwind of a year with many ups and downs. Plenty of laughter and lots of new memories.

I can still 'somehow' remember the uneasy, anxious, nervous, excited feeling that I had this time last year as we drove towards the Birth Center with an iPod on my lap counting how many minutes apart my contractions were coming.

4 hours of labour, 20 minutes of pushing and a whole lot of pain later (without an epidural may I add), we finally got to meet our 7.9 lbs. 19" Hyrum Ichiro at 8:42pm.

Our life has NEVER been the same again.

AND WE LOVE IT!

To my sweet gorgeous son,

Happy happy FIRST birthday!

I cannot believe you are 1 already!

You have brought more meaning into my life.

I am thoroughly blessed to have been given the opportunity to be your mother.

You are my happiness.

TRULLY HEAVEN SENT.

Love love love you to the end of the universe and back again.

and daddy too!

TEETH...

...why do u have to suck???

I mean, i guess we need them to eat.

and they do help our smiles look pretty.

BUT...holy canoli they do very bad things to babies!

My poor little Hyrum is not enjoying this part of growing up.

Right now he had his first molar that surfaced last week.

I could only imagine how painful it was.

Then in the past couple of days he has leaked watery poop a few times, projectile vomited on the bed once, woken up screaming for no reason a lot, been unusually fussy all throughout the day and is totally IN LOVE with ice.

This afternoon, I poked around in his mouth and found 3 teeth that will probably surface within the next 2 days, 1 half out, 1 nearly out molars and a very very swollen gum space for another molar.

CRAZY HUH!

I just hope he inherits Mavericks teeth coz I have the WORST teeth in the world!

Unexpected Changes in Plans

Its been 10 days since Maverick left.

WE MISS HIM SO VERY VERY MUCH.

We were all suppose to go back to Hawaii on Jan 4th.

But circumstances changed. 

If you arent aware of what is happening, I applied for an extension student visa since my OPT (work permit) status is still considered a student. Anyways, I got denied on a count of no ties that would lead me to come back to New Zealand since I have a husband and a son who are American citizens. 

DUMB HUH! 

So the only way that I can go back to the US is if Maverick petitions me to get my residency visa.

Easier said than done.

It's so hard to be apart from each other.

Even harder if the time apart is indefinite.

We are all hoping it doesnt go on for longer than 3 months.

But, there is a possibility of it taking 6 months. Or even a year!

Ive been praying so so so so hard that its only for 3 months...

Maverick graduates in April 9th.

Which also means that we need to move out of our apartment by April 11.

And move our life over to Idaho.

It is going to be sooooo much pressure on Mav if im not there to help.

So please please please. We need your prayers.

I feel a bad asking for your prayers because no one is sick or in a critical condition.

But, I really really NEED to be there before April.

And Hyrum needs his dad. Esp now when he is developing so quick.

I cried the other night because this happened

We were chatting on skype and Hyrum was blowing kisses and smiling and saying 'dada' to Mav. Then it was bedtime and we said our goodnights and I closed the computer.  He got upset and was trying to open the computer while saying dada over and over. I said its time to go to sleep and we will see him again tomorrow. He eventually went to sleep hugging my laptop.

I have BIG hopes!

Heavenly Father won't keep families apart...

2010 Overview

TWENTY TEN was a great year! 

Here are some of the highlights

JANUARY

- Mum came to Hawaii to help out with baby

 

- Welcomed our little Hyrum Ichiro

FEBRUARY

- Valentines day date with my hubby - my first time being away from Hyrum

- Hyrum was blessed at church by his dad 

- Maverick extras in a movie called Soul Surfer

MARCH

- Mum leaves Hawaii

- Maverick turns 25

- I start my internship with the school magazine Ke Alaka'i

APRIL

- Hyrum meets his wife to be Reyna Auna

- Hyrum takes his first dip in the ocean

- Hyrum gets his first tooth

MAY

- My first real mothers day

- Hyrum starts on 'solids'

JUNE

- Hyrum rolls over

- We go to Idaho for summer vacation - Hyrums first plane ride

- Hyrum sits up

JULY

- Hyrum gets more teeth

 - Hyrums first 4th of July

- Hyrum starts to crawl

- We go back to Hawaii

AUGUST

 - Hyrum stands up

- Hyrum gets a passport

- Start my work out regiment and "diet"

SEPTEMBER

- Aissa turns 25

- Start making homemade Hyrum food

OCTOBER

- Went on our first pumpkin patch

- Hyrum takes steps

- Hyrums first Halloween - dressed up as a monkey

NOVEMBER

- Laie Temple is rededicated. I got to take pictures of President Monson, 

Elder Eyring and Elder Cook for work

- Organized an improv musical at BYUH cafeteria

- Got back to pre-pregnancy weight

- We give thanks to everything that has been given to us

- Hyrum and I leave Hawaii for New Zealand

- Hyrum starts to prefer walking than crawling

DECEMBER

- We make our first Christmas card

- Maverick flies to New Zealand

- First Christmas in New Zealand for Maverick and Hyrum - first since 2005 for Aissa

 

- Maverick and I celebrate our 2nd anniversary 5 days late on a dinner cruise along Waitemata Harbour - Mav was on the plane for our actual anniversary

- Leave for Brisbane, Australia on Christmas day

- Go to Movie World, Sea World and 

Wet n Wild theme park and had sooooooo much fun
- Got sealed to my parents for time and all eternity

So many good things happened in 2010! The start of 2011 is here and unfortunately we have encountered a little hiccup to dampen the beginning of it. 

At present, Maverick is in Hawaii finishing up his last semester while Hyrum and I stay in New Zealand.

So we decided to stay and wait in New Zealand rather than risk consequences as said on my previous post.

Although we will be apart for the first few months of 2011, I have high hopes that everything will be okay.

We just got to count our many blessings and pray that the processing doesnt take very long.

Hope you had a great Christmas and a had a happy New Year!