Potty training

We waited until Jacob turned 3 to potty train him and had him trained in underwear within days. He caught on really quickly and would say, "MOMMY! I have to go POTTY!" Then he would run to the bathroom. Crazy enough, he hasn't had an accident since... not even in his bed. So we were waiting until Gavin turned 3 so hopefully, he would follow in the footsteps of his big brother.

Apparently, while we were in Hawaii, my mom decided to get a head start with the process. (Although Gavin will be three on March 9th, so we would've started pretty soon) She bought him Diego pull-ups, so if they got wet, the soccer balls on the front of the diaper would disappear. She kept asking him all day long if his soccer balls were dry. :) That, along with a song after going on the potty, was all he needed for motivation. My mom made up this song way back when his cousin Maddie was potty-training. When you plug in his name, it goes, "Hooray for Gavin! Hooray for Gavin! He's a big boy, hooray for Gavin!" He loves it.

When we brought him home, we went straight to big boy underwear simply because... well, that's what we did with Jacob. However, Jacob would tell us when he had to go potty and Gavin doesn't. We soon realized this makes a huge difference when it comes to potty training. Once Gavin pooped in his underwear and it took us almost an hour to clean everything up, he was immediately back in pull-ups! He's doing a pretty good job keeping his soccer balls dry though. We just have to keep on top of taking him to the potty every few hours... otherwise, he will just go in his pull-up. A totally different experience, a totally different kid. Hopefully, he will catch on soon!

Six months old

Casey turned six months old on Sunday! I guess his half-birthday is what he needed for motivation because all of a sudden, he is sitting up and rolling over. Jacob and Gavin both rolled over from back to tummy around 4 and a half months. So I was a little concerned when Casey waited until 5 and a half months to accomplish this feat. Once we saw him do it, it took several days until he would do it again. It was the same with sitting up by himself. He could only sit for a few seconds at a time without toppling over. A friend told me that sitting in the boppy for support would help and it worked like a charm! So now, within days of turning six months, Casey is officially sitting up and rolling over.

Casey had his well-check last week and weighed 17 lbs 8 oz and was 27 and 1/2 inches tall. He sat there smiling at me as the nurse drew blood from his toe and kept pulling the oral vaccination into his mouth for more. I think she was relieved that Casey was making her job so easy. Until the shots anyway... then he turned beet red and screamed!

We made it!

This picture perfectly describes how the traveling part of our vacation went.

There were a few glitches along the way (one being that we were listed as stand-by instead of having confirmed tickets), so that made traveling a little stressful. As soon as we got to Maui and saw this beautiful view from my dad's condo though...



...all of stresses of traveling stand-by melted away. We spent the first evening drinking $1 mai-tais, eating the besh fish and chips I've ever had, and watching the sunset.


The next morning, we had breakfast at my sister's favorite place and were ready to start our day. I climbed a tree to shake down what looked like a dried-up banana, but sounded like a maraca when you shook it. The things you do for your kids!

At a little shop, we found this hat for Gavin that said Makena Beach. When we were driving later, we actually stumbled across this exact beach... so we had to check it out!




After that, we kept driving south of Wailea until we reached lava rock as far as your eyes could see. When stopping to take a picture, a lady pulled up behind us and offered to take one for us. After taking a few pictures, she decided to get artistic and suggested the second pose. Later, we found a picture in a store of a volcano shooting lava up in the shape of a heart. So we bought it and thought we could put the two pictures together. ;)

A day in Kaanapali

My favorite beach in Maui is in Kaanapali, so we decided to make a day trip out of it. We read in a book that just north of Kaanapali was a beautiful hiking spot, which lead to the Nakalele Blowhole. If your timing is good, you can watch this blowhole shoot up to 100 feet of water into the air! The hike was the most beautiful picture of God's creation... intricately carved rock leading you closer and closer to the blowhole. The directions were almost like a treasure hunt, so that made the hike even more exciting!





Salt water was spraying us everywhere! I totally thought my camera was going to get ruined...

After our hike, we went for a swim in a pool by Kaanapali beach. Casey loved trying to grab these rocks and put them in his mouth! I saved him though.

We ate dinner at a restaurant right on the beach, so you could kick your shoes off and bury your feet in the sand. I wish we had restaurants like that here!

Our last day

We spent our last day in Maui relaxing on the beach. I wanted to soak up as much sun as possible before heading back to the Washington rain! Right in front of my dad's condo is a really good snorkeling spot, so Adam and I took turns with Casey on the beach. Adam came back from snorkeling with these huge eyes, telling me about a sea turtle that he saw with a shell that was bigger than he was! Not only that, but when he turned to swim away, this massive turtle actually started following him! I wasn't so sure about snorkeling after that, but thankfully, the sea turtle was nowhere to be found when I went out. I'm not really up for anything bigger than me to chase me underwater... even if I am able to outswim them. ;)

After hanging out on the beach, we had dinner and watched our last sunset in Maui. There was another crazy beautiful one that night. There is seriously nothing I would rather do than lay on the sand and watch the sunset with my family.


Meanwhile, we let Casey explore the beach for awhile.

When we got home in the dark, Adam and I sat on the deck of my dad's condo. We wanted to make every second count of our time in Hawaii, so we talked up there for hours. What a beautiful setting for conversation... you can watch, hear, and smell the waves crashing up against the beach. We miss it already.

We decided that Casey was the absolute perfect age to bring on vacation with us. He is still nursing, but not eating baby food yet. He is also still in his infant car seat, so that made it super easy to carry him all around with us and just feed him whenever he was hungry. Then when he was tired, he would just fall asleep in his car seat wherever we happened to be. Niice.
He was the happiest baby he has ever been in Hawaii. I'm not sure if he liked the warm weather, or if it was having mommy and daddy all to himself for a few days (and no older brothers to smother him). Probably all of the above.

Pineapple, coconuts, and warm sand

Tomorrow we are leaving for Hawaii! I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. My dad has a condo in Maui and now that Adam flies for Alaska, it's basically a free vacation. We had to take advantage of it... hopefully we can take advantage of it a lot. ;)

We decided to leave Jacob and Gavin with my mom and bring Casey with us. We didn't want to leave my mom with all three boys, plus Casey is still nursing. I flew to my best friend's wedding two years ago without my five month old and it was really tough. Especially since I had to find somewhere to pump every four hours. I was searching for outlets in airport bathrooms, trying to stretch the cord into a nearby stall! That part was terrible. Thankfully, Disneyland (the wedding was nearby) was very mommy-friendly. They had these plush nursing and pumping rooms right at the entrance. Leave it to Disneyland, huh?! Anyway, so we're definitely bringing Casey. After taking care of three boys for five months, I have a feeling it will almost be like Adam and I are by ourselves. Almost.

I have had several life-changing decisions to figure out in the last few weeks. It's been really stressful, so I am definitely up for laying on the beach. In fact, if I do nothing but lay on the beach, I will be so so happy. Thank you Dad, for letting us stay at your condo. We appreciate it more than you will ever know. Thank you mom, for watching Jacob and Gavin while we are away. They love their Grammy so much and couldn't be in better hands. Adam and I are very grateful for this time away together. You are the best... we love you!

Our little Case...