Dole Plantation

Hawaii is hands down the most beautiful place I've lived. Sorry Cincinnati, Chicago, Westport, and Alabama (and of course my favorite stint in Madison WI!). Everyday you are surrounding by this breathing taking beauty; whether it is the striking sky, mountains, ridiculously clear rainbows, or ocean... I could really go on and on, it all has a special uniqueness. I thought I would share some of our local surroundings! Schofield Barracks/Wheeler Army Airfield are really close to the pineapple fields and Dole Plantation; in fact, our post housing community is surrounded by them! If the wind is just right, there is a faint smell of that good sweetness in the air; I love it.

I had to quickly take these after bath time tonight so the lighting is a little iffy. Also notice the red soil; it seriously a deep red/orange.  At our welcome luncheon one of the first things they taught us is that in Hawaii it is deemed very rude to wear shoes indoors because of the soils' hue. Ha. I have even had workmen take off their shoes!

Big Pineapple leaves!

Bathing Beauty. Big girl is sitting in the big bath tub; partially out of necessity because our baby bath tub is in our household goods and partially because she is becoming a great sitter.

xoxo,
allie

Stroller Strides

Phew, we had a very busy weekend. We were able to see lots of new and old friends on the island before Will leaves; it was wonderful. Of course running around, I forgot to document all of the weekend with pictures but it was great to stay busy and happy, instead of sad.

I also went to my first day of MOPS today. MOPS is a group (I believe) nationwide designed to find "friendship, community, and resources to support you throughout motherhood". It stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and twice a month they have different activities, speakers, crafts, food, etc that supports motherhood! I was so thrilled there was a MOPS on Schofield Barracks. Anyway, today was Stroller Strides and a lady came in to show us how to workout with your stroller.... It was not just a jog; it was serious working out. As far as I know this is also a newer trend in the mommy department.

Check this out.
http://www.strollerstrides.com/

A couple of lunges later, I was pretty jazzed about our future with Stroller Strides.  Soon, we are going to first start with some jogging (on our new jog stroller coming this week.... so exciting!) but this summer, when she is a little older (ha and able to stay in a stroller comfortably for an hour), we will be joining the stroller stride workout regime.

Here are some quick iPhone pics of Miss H.

New favorite.YoBaby yogurt. We are sticking to all organic food for Miss H and she loves loves loves the yogurt. If I let her, it would be all she ate!

A newest favorite. Her Purse. The purse and Sophie are frequent car travelers with us.

I am hoping for some good news on our household goods/furniture this week. That saga is really starting to drag out. Such is life.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

xoxo,
allie

First Day of School

Today was Harper's first day of "school"; we decided to put her in the Child Development Center near our house (just a five minute walk) for 2-3 hours a week while Will is gone. I knew it was going to be difficult to leave her, so we did a trial week with Will still here. Good news.. it was a huge success. The little lady loved it and I survived the separation! The army does a wonderful job supporting single parents while their solider is deployed with programs like the "Blue Star" card, here in Hawaii, that provides 16 hours a month of free childcare. It is the perfect amount of time for me to squeeze in haircuts, workout classes, doctors, etc. that are not necessarily conducive to bringing a baby.

First Day! In orientation they told us only closed toe shoes... hence the sneakers!

Some people have been asking us when Will is officially leaving. Good Question! Sometime very soon; we keep getting vague dates with the notion of be ready because it could be any day. My guess is everyone will know when we know! Ha. Love the Army timing. Happy Thursday!

xoxo,
allie

Army Harp

We have a sad week ahead of us with Will leaving; he is busy packing... they really do require tons of gear. We are trying to spend tons of time together and enjoy the last couple of days. Harps was happy to help.

She was so thrilled to be in daddy's sleeping bag; she felt like such a big girl.

I love this age; so happy and always smiling. She is definitely busy playing with toy and rolling everywhere but still not crawling. She loves to laugh and is starting to interact with other babies. She is just a happy little lady.

I have also been meaning to post this forever. The Hawaiian alphabet is only 13 letters with tons of vowels; I usually try and pronounce every city, etc but at moments it is definitely challenging. Although we live in the United States, sometimes it all feels very foreign/islandy. This especially comes into play giving directions. This is the street you turn off of onto ours...  

.

  

Ha. It is literally impossible to say.

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo,
allie

New Neighbor.

We have a new neighbor; a giant black pig! Everyone kept telling me they wander around the neighborhood but I honestly didn't believe them. Sure enough, we saw one today. We are so thrilled to have this new friend around and can't wait to see the babies in the spring. Anyway, Harps and I took pictures but kept our distance; they have a very bad temper. Another reason to love Hawaii.

And of course.... the little lady!

xoxo,
allie

Beach Baby

We have had a wonderful, busy weekend with new friends (we have the best neighbors!) and our first official beach trip. Of course we have walked on the beach, but today we packed everything up and spent the day at the beach. I would love to go more often but with the high surf/rip tides and powerful sun, Miss H is probably an occasional beach-goer at this point in her life! Soon enough that will change! Anyway, it was a huge success. Harper loves the water and loves the sand; she adored putting her feet in the sandy water.. and eating it! Ick. Will was convinced she would get a sour taste for it but she really seemed to enjoy it... We are going to have to work on that! I am hoping to do mommy and Harp trips to the beach after Will leaves, because, after all we do live in Hawaii and just minutes from the beach.

 

We also started Music in Motion on Friday mornings a couple of weeks ago on post! Harp's favorite hour of the week. We love this class. There are lots of other babies and toddlers dancing, grooving, and singing (or yelling in Harp's case) for the hour to different songs. Here is the little lady on the mats watching the other kids; she is fascinated and loves interacting with the other kids.

Happy President's Day!

xoxo,
allie

Sophie.

Although Harps is still young, she already have a favorite toy! Sophie the Giraffe. I am sure some of you have seen little Sophie in some of our pictures; she travels with us everywhere. Sophie is a newer baby toy sold nationwide created primarily for teething and made with natural rubber. Vulli, the company that created Sophie, claims the "spots" awaken your baby's senses, etc; anyway, I could go on and on promoting this little rubber giraffe. Sophie is a must for all new babies!

 

One of my sweetest, most thoughtful, and best friends knew Harper's love for Sophie and created her some nursery artwork! I was so surprised and thrilled! It was such a thoughtful gift and something Harps can have for years to come. It seriously turned out adorable and I just can't wait to hang it up on the wall once our furniture arrives!! If anyone is looking for some on their own Sophie artwork, Liz is the woman for you. She is really talented and has her own Etsy Shop (for anyone interested!). She painted a pink canvas and then sewed Sophie on it. The resemblance is really uncanny.

We are still patiently waiting for our household goods/furniture; the supposed arrival date is between March 10th and March 29th. Let's all hope for the first!

The one good thing about no furniture is tons of room for all of Will's supplies. Yesterday it was like Christmas here (at least for Will)... he got issued his final deployment camos, etc. All deployed soldiers wear a different pattern overseas. I begged Will to model for everyone.

Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend! I know most of the Army has a four day weekend. Enjoy!

xoxo,

allie

Be Mine

A very happy first Valentine's Day to our Harper! I decided to start a small Valentine's Day tradition of always giving a book; it is a cute surprise and a great excuse to build our book collection. This year I kept with the Valentine's Day theme,"Happy Valentine's Day Mouse" from the series to Give a Mouse a Cookie. The little lady seemed happy! We are just starting to sit, but always on the verge of tumbling over (hence my hand in every photo!).

This also made my day... I was over at the PX and it was jam packed with soldiers doing some last minute shopping.  Clearly the PX is use to this because they had an assembly line with stations for candy, flowers, balloons, bears, etc all set up. It brought a huge smile to my face because I know my husband will be thrilled with their efficiency around... 4:00 this afternoon. I tried to take some photos on my phone without looking like a complete weirdo!

This doesn't do justice to the Px's system, but you get the idea!

Happy Valentine's Day,
allie

The Windward Side

It was one of those days with grand plans... or so we thought. Harps and I packed lunch and got all ready for the beach before her morning nap. That whole time it turned out it was raining. I honestly was so concerned with the logistical side of the beach trip, I never even looked outside. Ha. It isn't uncommon for scattered rain showers to come and go (especially in the mountains) but Will said the forecast was island wide. We decided to adjust and go explore the "Windward Side" (or East) of the island. So we loaded up into the car and...

Locked out. After lots of calls and break-in attempts, we finally got back into the house. The good news- our house is impossible to break into... the bad news- half our day was gone.

Eventually we actually got into the car and started the day. Anyway, the Windward side is the place to be. There is a beautiful Marine base out on this island... it is unreal. I am beyond jealous of these lucky marine families stationed there. Although I love the mountains... you really can't beat this view.

Even the drive to the Windward Side is beyond beautiful. I think all the white cars in this photo is pretty funny; white is definitely a tropical car color.

All of my future visitors will definitely be taking a trip to the East Side; it arguably may be the prettiest part of Oahu.

With the rainy season upon us we almost always see these outside; Hawaii has some of the most beautiful, complete, and clearest rainbows I have ever seen. It makes you feel lucky every time.

And of course sweet Harps before church today. I think this outfit is so grown up!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful relaxing weekend!

xoxo,
allie

iAllie

I got the iPhone; shocking, I know. I am the worst (especially for my generation) at computers, phones, tvs... you name it. Will and I have been trying to sort out all of our technology before his deployment and the iPhone seems like the perfect fit. With facetime and skype, it is the perfect way to combat the 13.5 (the extra 1/2 an hour is odd!) time difference; I am so thrilled I won't have to feel strapped to my computer. It was also an added bonus I was up for an upgrade anyway.


The iPhone camera is seriously unbelievable compared to the blackberry. I know I am really late in the game to join the iPhone world, but it really is worth all of the hype. I am so excited to capture more pictures and videos of our sweet girl. She is in a big daddy phase right now; whenever he gets home from work she just can't wait to see him. So adorable.

This is sweet Harps laughing at Daddy.
Also a cold front has swept through the island! Ha. It has been dipping down into the 50s at night and 60s during the day. Believe me. It feels like it is freezing compared to our normal 80s. I know I shouldn't complain because the mainland is in the thick of winter, but it really is funny to see people's reactions. Lots of sweaters, pants, and jackets! The army housing office keeps reminding us not to use our ovens to heat our houses! I guess people consider that a viable solution? We will stick to blankets in our household.

xoxo,
allie

Rainy Days.

A major complaint of Schofield Barracks/Wheeler Army Airfield is the rain; since we are located in the mountains, we tend to have some rainy days. This is one reason people choose to live closer to Honolulu that usually has more sun. Good News. I love rainy days. Something about them are cozy and comforting (at least for me!). Living on-post is the perfect mix of sun, rain, and continual rainbows! These days are also the perfect days for lots of playing. Harps has really mastered the roll and if she wants to get somewhere she rolls across the room to see it; it is actually pretty funny. Can you imagine rolling to everything you needed or wanted in life? It is definitely one way of traveling!

She also is really starting to love her toys. Although Sophie the Giraffe still travels everywhere with us and is the ultimate favorite, she is starting to interact with some others!

I already feel like she is getting so big and she is barely 5 month old. Will thinks I am crazy, but honestly, I wonder how I will feel when she starts kindergarten? Or gets married?! Ha.

We got final word Will is deploying February 28th. I am almost hesitant to write it with the army, since it seems everything is always changing, but they seemed confident in the date. Although we are sad with this news, we also are glad to have a date. A date makes planning much easier.

Okay, off to more rolling and playing. Happy Tuesday!

xoxo,
allie

Giant Win.

We are just so thrilled the Giants won (well Will is!)! As Connecticutians, we usually have to pick between the New York and Boston teams- and our house definitely leans towards the New York side. We has a wonderful time watching the game with our new friends John, Taler, and their sweet baby Bradley; the babies are just days apart and it is so fun to see them interact.

Also some photos from the day...  Here is sweet Harps, after church, in a dress I wore as a little girl. So neat! I hope her little girls can wear it too! (Daddy always gets the best smiles!)

I was putting Harps to bed and walked into the living room to see this...

Between the helmet and the very Hawaiian loaner, it just makes me smile. Life can be so funny... honestly you never know what is coming next. The military may adds some additional unpredictability to our lives but it is something everyone deals with. As I have been saying more and more recently, such is life.


xoxo,
allie 

Harper the Hiker

We have been trying to spend lots of family time together before Will leaves... so today we went out on a hiking adventure. Every time we drive through the North Shore, I always eye these food trucks in a park. Will and I love to eat adventurous food and we were so excited for a change from the Alabama cuisine (although, despite popular believe has some great hidden gems!).  Anyway, I knew we had to try them.  So we went out to check out the food stands... and with seafood galore, they received an A from us. We will definitely be bringing all of our visitors to the Shrimp Trucks.

After overdoing it in the eating department, we decided to go on a hike at Waimea Falls on the North Shore. Seriously beautiful. It is a 1,800 acre park that features historic native homes, native plants, and a waterfall with a natural spring at the top! Harps loved it! We loved the tropic canopy and flowers; the park also emphasizes the native Hawaiian History with different villages and displays. There is a rich history here and I love learning about it... I still haven't mastered the language but with only 13 letters it is difficult to pronounce anything. Anyway, all visitors should also add this to their must see list. 

Phew, picture overload but I can't help feature Miss H. We are also wearing shoes more often and Harps is very interested in them; I can't believe how old she is getting sitting there playing with her laces! (ps. that is our lovely loaner furniture in the background)!

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Go Giants!

xoxo,
allie