Fantastic Four

Mr. Hyrum Ichiro is now FOUR!

One more year and he will be in school.

I get all sorts of anxiety thinking bout this.

To start of he is now 42" tall and 42.2lbs. 

His doctor is predicting that he will be way over 6ft when he's all done growing. 

This little firecracker is wild and wonderful! 

He is forever in motion and still posses an incredible amount of energy. 

On a typical hour he can be a flying cannonball, a karate chopping ninja, a hip shaking dancer, a very loud singer, a manic bulldozer and a crayzee somersaulting superhero that just had 3 cans of Red Bull. He will jump off of anything that he can jump off of, he will climb anything that is climbable, he karate chops air, paper, water, sticks, bubbles, Legos, grass, bread, the dog, his sister...just to name a few. So my days can be quite exhausting trying to entertain his adventurous little soul!

He is enthusiastic about EVERYTHING! He welcomes the world with a vigorous GOOD MORNING and that same energy carries on throughout the day. 

I could definitely use some of his energy, especially in the morning. 

But he also has a soft side. 

He LOVES giving lots and lots and lots of big squishy (choking) hugs and kisses to all of the people that he loves. So if you are lucky enough to receive one of his death grip hugs then you are loved. The tighter they are the more he loves you...

He is my true Hawaii-born child and absolutely LOVES the water. In the Philippines he learned to swim underwater for short periods and I couldn't be any prouder. We have been putting off giving him swim lessons but this summer we really need to get on to it. Maybe we have a future Olympian in our hands...

He is a great company. He would definitely talk your ear off with his never-ending stories about all of his wonderful observations in this world. Or he will ask you thousands of questions that will make you feel cornered in a big empty room. He is genuinely interested in how things work and why things do what they do. Some make for some pretty interesting conversations. Although, it may take a while for him to finish a story since he has a lisp and a stutter when he gets too excited about what he is talking about. 

He is always so eager to learn. He can write his name quite well and is starting to get the idea of coloring pictures. His favorite thing to draw are trees for some reason. 

His tree artwork

He is finally in Sunbeams at church and I have loved getting all of his Sunbeams artwork and hearing all about what they learned that day. 

Happy 4th Birthday little bud! 

Stay as you are coz we love every crazy thing about you.

And here is his annual birthday interview

And Then SHE Turned TWO

Miss Heeya is now TWO YEARS OLD!!!  

What a whirlwind adventure it has been to have her in our already crazy household. 

For some fun facts: 

She is 33 1/2" tall and 26 lbs. 

Average on the weight but on the short side. But hey she has my genes so her height isn't expected to be very high on the scale. 

We celebrated her birthday this year 4 days early because Hyrum and her were given an amazing Jollibee party thanks to my wonderful Tita Lynne, Tito Burt and cousins Ein, Arjae and Kuya AJ. We had a great time! 

Jollibee (a famous fast-food character, kinda like Ronald McDonald BUT way cooler!) knows how to throw a party!

Then we just had a simple cake with Mavericks family on her actual birthday because we were all still super tired from the travel. 

So now let me tell you about my Halia Chiya at 2 years old.  

This little lady has quite the personality. My little miss drama queen! 

We butt heads ALL THE TIME because she is always so demanding on what she wants, especially if it's something that she can't have. She knows how to pull at your heart strings and make herself look like the saddest little girl in the world. Mav and I are surprisingly immune to all her dirty tricks but she gets everyone else.  Especially the grandparents. 

Mav and I have had many talks about the way we parent her because most disciplining tricks that we did with Hyrum does not work with her. She is more stubborn, more hard headed and more prone to tantrums. Which has led us to more visits to the 'Time-out Corner'. We are baffled at her commitment to really test our patience everyday. She has rocked our world! And it took us a while to be able to get through to her with compromises or threats or bribes. Heck we still don't quite know how to get through to her. And I doubt we'll ever will. 

On a more positive note, Halia has a lot of good characteristics that we absolutely adore. She is a smart cookie! 

She knows her ABCs, 1-10 and some colors. She is a good problem solver and loves to laugh and make others laugh too. She is not as eager to sit down learning as Hyrum but she is very inquisitive and detail oriented. I have to work hard to get her to sit with me to practice her numbers or colors or whatever but if I say we are doing some coloring or painting, she is excited! I think that she has possibly inherited some of the creative genes. She likes to do little nit picky fine-motor skills stuff like putting cards back in the box or threading beads. She LOVES books! She always asks to get read to and sometimes books are the only thing that can calm her down. And she will be your best-friend if you take the time to read her a book.

She is a GREAT talker! 

I always get compliments on how well she can talk coz even other people can understand her (sometimes). She has full sentences and we have conversations that actually makes sense. While in the Philippines, she even picked up a few Tagalog words. But what's funny is that she would talk to my relatives in a specific babble that, we can only guess, is what Tagalog sounds like to her. But she would really look up to them and make this 'malabadaba' sound and expect an answer. It was funny!

Another thing that I love about Halia is that she is singing ALL DAY LONG! 

It can be from a commercial, or the last song that she heard, or sometimes, she makes it up herself. One night in the Philippines while in bed she was singing, "Daddy is in Idahhoooo! Daddy is in Idahhoooo! Mommy is sheeping (sleeping) wight heerrreee! Hyra (Hyrum) sheeping wight here chhuuu!" Over and over until she fell asleep. I was trying so hard not to LOL!

And oh my heck she is potty trained!!! We started when she was 18 months old and it took about a month for me to really call it good. She would still have accidents once in a while but for the most part she was fully trained. I had the goal of having her potty trained by the time we take our trip to the Philippines (which was 3months after we started) and she had it down by that time. Not a single accident despite the long plane travels, inside the car during crazy traffic, gross toilets and most not having a toilet seat. It was definitely easier that potty training Hy and most definitely much faster. We are very proud!

She LOVES her 3 Bs. Babies , Barbies and bags. 

Who would've thought that I could spawn someone so girly? 

She got her first baby doll from Lolo and Lola on her first birthday and her collection has grown ever since. She carries them around with a blanket, talks/sings to them, make them sit beside her to watch TV, sleeps with them, push them around in their little stroller with one of her sippy cup, she even puts them on time-out when they are naughty. She loves her babies BUT when a real one comes along she gets all giddy and shy. And when I'm holding one, she would slyly sit beside me and steals little touches and points out his/her little features. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble trying to keep her away when the next sibling comes along. 

I don't know how the Barbie started but she loves them and it's what she asked Santa for. I'm not a very big fan coz of all their little shoes and little accessories and little clothes that will always be off and will just add to my already crazy messy house. Plus, I don't want to see little naked bodies all over my floor. But going down the (dreaded) Barbie aisle, I found that a lot of them have built in clothes and shoes already! Genius! So I made sure Santa knew what kind of Barbie this mommy approved of. 

She likes to walk around with bags and sticks all sorts of things in it. Cups, dolls, puzzles, pencils, or her favorite rock collection. When we have misplaced something like a cellphone or remote control or a spatula, we look in her many bags and would usually find it. Another funny story while in the Philippines, my mum bought her a souvenir shoulder bag. She loved it and was showing it off to everyone. When we got in the car, my cousin admired it and she proudly said that she has something in it... An unpaid crocodile toy from the same store that the bag came from. A shoplifter at such a young age! Needless to say, my uncle ran back to the store and returned it apologetically. 

That pink bag is her accomplice for her first shoplift attempt.

So there you have it. My crazy Heeya in a nutshell! We love her to bits and she definitely belong to our crazy family.  

Happy Birthday Bebe! 
No need to completely embody the terrible two cliche now, okay...

Get Fit or Die Trying

In the middle of the year I decided that I needed to start getting fit again. But exercising while having two kids who constantly needs attention is easier said than done. 

Regardless, I accepted the challenge and began my second round of the Insanity workout program with Shawn T. 

I did my first round of Insanity August of last year and you can read more about that here and here. I still remember how hard it was in the beginning so I was very nervous to have to go through all of that again. 

Like the first round, my first two weeks was ROUGH! I was huffing and puffing and couldn't even make a whole set without dying. Every inch of my body ached! BUT like the first time, I pushed through and by third week I saw improvements in my stamina, strength and muscles. 

Second round was just as hard as the first, if not harder coz I wanted more muscles rather than just lose the fat. So I pushed myself to work harder, or as Shawn T like to say "dig deeper!" It's definitely no walk in the park BUT it's not called Insanity for nothing.  

My last week was a complete drag though. I injured my shoulder doing a balance push up and a lot of the workouts were sore when I do them so I got a little discouraged. My last week of Insanity actually lasted 2 1/2 weeks since I kept skipping days (too busy or too lazy or too cold). 

So since I posted my before and after pics on FB, i've been getting a lot of questions on my diet. Well the answer is, I do NOT believe in diets. I love food too much to give it up. So no, I didn't diet but I just watched my portions. I still ate whatever I wanted including junk foods (and my kids Halloween candies) but just ate less of it. I drank lots and lots of water and stopped any food intake (most days) at 7pm.

I did my workout during Halia's naptime and gave Hyrum something to do like a puzzle or a book. The workouts are between 40-60 mins so it's easy to squeeze it into our busy schedule. 

Insanity is a 60-day program BUT I never worked out on Saturdays and Sundays so it took me quite a bit longer. And I'm not going to lie, it is hard! But definitely possible!!! 

If I can do it, you sure can too!!!

It honestly is A LOT of work to get back in shape. 

Then, its even harder to STAY in shape.

It feels good being back in pre-preggo clothes. I also feel more energetic and my gallbladder problems has definetly improved. I am determined to stay fit coz it just makes life better! And I'm probably going to regret saying this now but I WILL keep it up during pregnancies. That way I dont have to work so hard after...

Who's with me? 

Philippines bound

I am so blessed to have parents that are desperate enough to see their grand kids that they buy ALL four of us plane tickets to go to The Philippines in December. 

I AM BEYOND EXCITED!

We leave here on December 7 then Mav will come back December 28 but kids and I will stay there till January 9. Halia turns 2 on January 12 so we had to make the most out of her being free to fly. 

I haven't had a Philippine Christmas since we left in 1995 and for those that don't know, the Philippines takes Christmas seriously. Christmas season starts in September and they have lanterns and lights and festivals and caroling and yummy food and lots of other cool Christmassy stuff all through to December.  

Last time I was in the Philippines was in 2007 so I'm sure a lot has changed during those 6 years. For Mav and the kids, this will be their first time so I am excited for the new experiences that they are going to have. Especially Maverick with his known dislike of Filipino food. 

On a different note, I'm sure everyone knows of the super typhoon that hit the Philippines a couple of weeks ago. Well a friend of mine has partnered up with a search and rescue team in the Philippines to help the victims with their medical needs. ALL proceeds will be going towards the purchase of medical supplies. Their website will give you more info on their mission and how you can help them achieve their goals. If you are still looking for a way to help, this is a good way to go. 

Less-TV Summer

I set a goal at the beginning of summer to have less than 2 hours of TV for the kids during the day. 

I was very determined to accomplish this goal yet also very intimidated by it. 

First of, I want to say that I have nothing against TV. In fact, I really believe that both my kids learned a lot from educational shows like Barney, Super Why and Leap Frog. I like that they have other sources to learn other than from Mav and I. 

BUT, I made the goal so that I force myself to get out of the house and enjoy the summer weather. 

Now that summer has ended and the days are getting colder. I'm glad I made that goal for myself. We were able to explore different parks, participated in the library summer reading program, have play dates, did some coloring, got plenty of vitamin d, made play-doh snakes, went on walks, played with bugs, went on treasure hunts, caught some fishes, had picnic lunches in the park, and the list goes on. 

It was a good experience for me. I got to spend more quality time with my kids and got to know them a little better. They are only small for a short amount of time that I want to soak it all in. 

Winter is fast approaching. Days will be shorter and is will be  harder to get out of the house but hopefully I can keep up with not depending on the TV for our daily entertainment.

28 Things on My 28th Year of Living

YES...it is true...I am in fact, in my late 20s...

I am not ashamed to say coz it's fun to see people's reactions when they find out that my kids aren't my siblings and I'm not in high school anymore. 

Anyways, a few month ago, I read a blog post stating some random facts about them on their birthday and I thought it would be fun to copy. 

Some are kinda self righteous and borderline bragging but its my birthday so lay off. I just thought it would be a fun way to get to know me better and for my kids to find this someday and realize how cool or weird their mother is. 

So here are my 28 fun facts for my 28th year of birth. 

• I frequently talk to myself. While walking around, driving, shopping, exercising, whatever. I always find myself jabbering to myself. Weirdo alert!

  

  Before the show and in our introduction wear.

• When I was 18, I lost a bet and ended up joining a pageant. Miss Philippines-New Zealand Asia Pacific pageant to be exact. I did the talent, swimwear, cultural wear, evening gown and all that shebang! My question was "what do you think about the nuclear bomb in North Korea?" uuuhhhmmmm??? i chocked BIG TIME and needless to say, I did not place AT ALL.  But it turned out to be a fun experience.
  
  
• I was (and still am) quite messy. I can never keep my room clean. Once when I was still in high school, a robber came into our house and immediately left coz he saw my room and realized that someone already robbed it before him. True story!
  
• I'm a closet cryer. I've always tried to tough it out but I cry easily. I just stop it before the tears come out.
  
• I had my little stint in modeling. Even landed a couple of jobs with it. But  never couldn't have made it tho coz I'm quite uncomfortable in front of the camera. Im a behind the scenes kinda gal. This got me interested in photography, I'm much comfortable behind the camera.
  
• I don't know my times tables. Besides the 1, 2, 5, 10 and 11 times tables, I still use my hand. Or my handy calculator on my phone. Just goes to show that its not that important since I got a Degree...LOL!
  
• I went bungy jumping one time and I did it because I got jealous of Maverick who did it 3 days before I did. What a RUSH! and I would TOTALLY do it again!!!
  
• I had an inventory for all my gel pen collection and I would check it once a month. I didnt want any of them to get lost...and I was always so sad when my favorite ones dry out or run out of ink...
  
• Same goes for my sticker collection (that I still have today). WOW!!!
  
• I got a $50 a week allowance when I was in high school. (And Mav was APPALLED when he heard this) which I used for food and bus fare.
  
• But when a Spice Girls magazine comes out, I would use my bus fare money to buy the magazine and walk home which would take me an hour.
  
• I am OCD about how my stuff are organized. BUT I am also quite lazy. And most of the time my laziness trumps my wants to organize. So it's safe to say that my OCDness takes a backseat.
  
• I am CHEAP! Yard sales are my addiction and I have found some pretty cool stuff for cheap cheap cheap!!! Such a thrill getting a deal that it greater than great!!!
  
• I write my feelings. I have always been better at writing what I feel than saying it and becoming a big blubbering blah. If I can't express how I really feel, I write it in a letter. So if you have ever received a letter from me, you know my true feelings at that present moment.
  
• When I was a teenager I won a "make egg whites fluffy using just your hand competition". I was pretty proud!
  
• I did a year of piano lessons when I was 8 and every time I see a piano I still play my recital piece that I did back then. Mainly because I don't know how to play anything else.
  
• I have double-jointed fingers and I use it to freak people out.

• After a heartbreaking break up with a boy, I decided to serve an 18month mission for the LDS church. I went to my bishop to get the process started but he denied me and said that he will give me a month. If I still feel the same way in a month then we can go ahead with the paper work...I met Maverick 2 1/2 weeks later...

  

  With my campaign partner Andreas

• I ran for BYUH student body vice-president and lost. It was a very grueling week of campaigning but I learned a lot. Extra super embarrassing note: for the Q&A, I was the first person to answer of all the 8 candidates and the question was, "if u were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be and why?" Well, my answer was a radish! A RADISH!!! I panicked and CHOCKED, yet again!!! Mav reminds me of this moment ALL THE TIME...
  
• I have Glossophobia. A fear of public speaking.  Probably why I lost the above campaign and the pageant. Come to think of it, I don't even know why I did those two in the first place. I still get anxious and sweaty palms whenever I have to speak in front of people. Then I get the shakes afterwards. I can dance in front of thousands of people without a problem (given that I know what I'm dancing to) but I freak out if I have to speak in front of 10.
  
• When I was 7, a girl in my class broke her leg and got a cast and was carried around every where. I thought that she was the coolest person ever so I wanted a cast too. So I purposely tried to brake my leg by placing rocks on my path and skating over them "by accident". It never worked... And I have yet to break a bone.
  
• I played 1st 11 (varsity) soccer in high school but quit mid season on my third year coz we left for a trip to the Philippines.

  

  I got bumped up to executive class on my way to Japan coz I flirted with the guy checking me in. 

• I've been to Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Bahamas, Japan, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and of course USA. Heading over to Singapore in December. And I don't plan to stop traveling. I love seeing and experiencing other cultures and I am very grateful my parents put traveling as a priority and I would like to do the same with my kids.
  
• I used to sleep with a light on. Nighttime is creepy!!!
  
• I learned to crochet through YouTube and got quite addicted.
  
• I don't wear make-up. Ok maybe once a month I would wear it to church. But only if we had enough time to get ready.

  

  Pretty sure this has been the longest that my hair has ever been

• last time I got my hair cut was when Hyrum was 6 months old. I'm quite sick of it and I'm ready to chop it off. Just waiting on a buyer...
  
• I actually enjoy cooking. Up until we moved to Idaho (and I became a stay-at-home mom) cooking was NOT my forte. I was a bad cook. Like sworn forever to ramen noodles, hamburger helper, and TV dinners kind. BUT, if I was gonna do this whole 'mom' thing then by golly I'm gonna do it good! So away I went, chopping and dicing and mixing and boiling and sautéing and tasting. I am quite proud of my 'new found' culinary skills. And nothing beats the feeling that I get when I make something wholesome and healthy for my family. Especially if they ask for seconds of a dish with Quinoa and spinach in it. 

Sooooo there you have it. 

CHEERS to my late 20s! 

Toddler Lab for Little Miss

This is Halia's first day in Toddler Lab.

She is part of the Early Head Start program and they are partnered up with College of Southern Idaho who has a program called Toddler Lab in which Halia got a 'scholarship' for.

It is basically 'pre' pre-school as it is for 18 months - 3 years old and it is a great program where they learn through play. The 'staff' are mainly college students who are studying early childhood but there a person in charge who is there all the time.

Hyrum was part of it last year and he LOVED it! It taught him to be more social and it took away his separation anxiety which was great! So when they approached me to see if Halia would like to go to, I of course, said yes.

So twice a week, for 2 hours, she is in someone else's care, which I get kinda nervous about but I know she's in good hands.

I wanna say that she clung on to me and bawled her eyes not wanting me to go on her first day BUT NOOO...quite the opposite...

When I dropped Hy off the first time I hung out in the waiting area spying on him and I nearly cried (he was soooo sad walking around with his head down looking miserable) When I dropped Halia off the first time I also nearly cried coz she didnt care!

Owww the dilemma!!!

Potty Training at 18 months

At 16 months, little Miss Destructonator was already showing signs of potty training readiness. I was back and forth with the idea of starting so young coz the way I see it was start at 18 months and take 6 months to be fully potty trained or wait 6 months and be fully potty trained in a week...

Well then I remembered that we have a big overseas trip coming up (more on this later). Sooo if she's ready then I will go ahead so that I won't have to worry about finding clean places to change her diaper. 

So I decided to be brave and just go with it. Bought cute little monkey underwears, printed potty charts and bought my sticker and candy bribe. 

 Then away we went. Home bound, butt naked, juice overload, paper towels ready and spray cleaner loaded for a whole entire week. 

Hyrum (and I) got cabin fever. Halia loved all the attention coz I never left her during that one week. The minute I loose her (cooking dinner or on the phone) she has an accident. Grrrr! After 3 days though, she started getting the point of catching it before it trickles out. So there was hope...

The next week I started getting more lenient on going out. We would only go to the park though so if she had an accident, it wouldn't be such a big deal. 

She hasn't had a lot of no.2 accidents so I'm really glad that she got that sorted out first. It's easier to clean up pee accidents than poops. She has never peed in her underwear (since starting potty training) during nap time or bedtime so I'm also really happy that night time potty training is out of the way. 

We only did 3 filled potty charts till she became uninterested.

So week two went great! A lot better than I expected...

In the beginning of third week, we are down to 2-3 accident a day. Then got 2 days of accident free!!! I was SOOO impressed!!! Then we went to Utah on Saturday...

I said that the ultimate test would be in Lagoon. I didn't want to put her in Pull-ups the whole day so during the car ride she was on it until we got to the theme park. As soon as we got there, I changed her into her underwear and hoped for the best! Only 2 accidents! Which I am still happy about coz the public toilets were big, loud, bright and kinda intimidating for a potty training girl. 

This week marks week four and she is still doing great! She is in big girl underwear all day and all night now. Even all throughout church, trips to the park, grocery stores, out and about. She has accidents here and there, especially when she busy playing (or when we forget to ask for a while) so still not 100% there but we got three months away from the big trip so as long as she's ready by then, I am fine with it...

It isn't as bad of an experience as with Hy coz I think I am more patient, and more knowledgeable and more relaxed about it. I just hope that she doesn't regress like Hy did coz I don't think threatening to put her back on diapers wouldn't work. 

Impromptu Lagoon

We had an all of a sudden lets pack and go to Utah kinda weekend. My in-laws talked about it but never really confirmed that we are going until the day before we were leaving so it was kinda hectic.

So Friday after Mavericks work, we loaded up and headed to Oakley so that we can get up and leave bright and early on Saturday to spend the day at Lagoon. 

We got there around noon and I was disappointed a little coz I wanted to arrive early so we can ride a lot of rides without the big long lines. To our surprise, the lines were fairly small. Longest wait time was about 20 mins which is GREAT! 

Anyways, long story short, we had a GREAT day! Kids loved being spoiled by grandma and grandpa, Mav and I got to ride the big roller coasters without worrying about the kids, lines were short, sun was shining, brought plenty of food and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Hy bawling his eyes out

 

 

He wasnt allowed to go on the bumper cars with us and he was so sad...

I couldnt take any pictures in the swimming pool area coz we left the camera inside a locker. And we didnt have any photos of the big rides coz well, we were riding them and i dont think bringing a camera in a roller coaster is a good idea.

Two lessons learned:

• Hyrum does NOT like rides. Halia was more excited, braver and rode more rides than Hyrum did. What a surprise! 

• My days of endless roller coaster riding fun is limited. I actually blacked out a couple of times and got really close to loosing my lunch on a few occasions. I am terribly sad about this. Me thinks its my deaf ear. Dang you deaf ear! 

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for treating us to a wonderful weekend!