Happy New Years!

Can you believe tomorrow will be 2014? Seems crazy right? 2013 has been an amazing year but we are certainly getting excited for 2014!

In 2013... we welcomed Will home from his almost year long deployment to Afghanistan (ha well he actually got home a little over a week at the end of 2012), took so much needed family R and R time in Maui, took two trips back to the mainland, enjoyed some wonderful visitors (Hi Rem/Bobo!), experienced a terrible miscarriage and then just months later were overjoyed to discover we were having a healthy baby boy, celebrated a second birthday with our sweet girl, and so much more!! It has been quite a year and we feel very blessed.

Tonight we celebrated ringing in 2014 with...

(Champagne for Daddy and Sparking Cider for the Girls)

(and some delicious Pizza/Chocolate Fondue... perfect winning combo)

 
and here are just some of my favorite photos the week!

Will and I were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful Hawaii hike date with this growing 28 week belly.

and we have been enjoying the beautiful December Hawaii weather everyday!

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Will and I have a couple of goals/resolutions! Always exciting to see what the New Year will bring.

xoxo,

allie

Christmas Day 2013

The morning started out like this....

(doesn't this picture say it all!)

I guess H lady was a good girl this year. Santa brought H tons of different things. Just to name a few- she got a Harper chair (in the next size up), baby accessories/high chair, play food, puzzles, a Little People Barn (a fav already), and lots of Minnie accessories. And she was very spoiled by her grandparents. Needless to say, she has been playing non stop.

And the big surprise of the day....

Meet "Racecar Cow"! Can you even believe this? Uncle Greg handcrafted this beautiful, incredible, amazing rocking cow! H has been riding it non stop and loving every moment. We can't even thank Greg enough for this incredible gift. We know it will be something our kids love forever!

We ended Christmas with a delicious dinner. I cooked up a storm (including an overcooked turkey ha) but overall it was delicious. I highly recommend this recipe - http://greatideas.people.com/2013/11/25/corn-pudding-classic-thanksgiving-side-dish-recipe-cheese/ . We were lucky enough to share it with Greg's parents Stan and Lynette!

It was a very Merry Christmas!

xoxo,

allie

Christmas Eve 2013

It is always a bit strange for us "Northerners" to celebrate Christmas in Hawaii... because it is 80 degrees. Ha but when in Rome, do what the Romans do... right? We had a wonderful Hawaiian Christmas Eve in the beautiful Hawaiian Sunshine.

Uncle Greg's parents were in town, so it was the perfect excuse to go to a Luau. There are several Luau's available all over the island (some more "local", some "fancier", some more touristy, etc.) We had heard fabulous things about Paradise Cove and thought like it seemed like a great idea to go before we have another newborn in the house! So on December 22nd we tried it out... Overall it was good but I think I still recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau over this one... (although there are quite a few that I have not seen). H, on the other hand, adored it! She was so into the dancers and was lucky enough to go up on stage. It was a perfect Hawaii Christmas event.

Christmas Eve was spent getting ready for Santa. We made sure to decorate plenty of cookies for him.

(and this is how a toddler decorates with sprinkles....)

Will and I grew up going to Christmas Eve Church- it is a super important tradition to both of us and we feel so lucky to be able to continue it with our babies. Since we moved to Hawaii we have been going to the Main Post Chapel on post and love it... the Christmas Eve candle light service did not disappoint!

 (baby William is really starting to show... good old 3rd trimester :)

xoxo,

allie

Santa Claus!

This year our little girl was SO excited to go see Santa Claus (I can only imagine what next year will be like!)- What a fun age! Will and I decided to make it extra special and bring her out to dinner afterwards.... I know, seems like no big deal, right? Ha, well we rarely go out to dinner since cook almost every night (and the nights we do are usually date nights) so this was an extra special treat. We told her after she woke up from her nap. She was so excited to go out on a "big girl" date.

I love this photo! That is her kitty purse that she got all ready for the big occasion.

and just for fun....

 

(3 Months)

(15 Months)

(Two!)

H asked Santa for "Elmo stuff", "Baby stuff", "Candy" (ha), "Book-ys", "Shoes" (I am not sure where she got this one!) and "Little People"... We shall see :)

Can you believe next year we will have two kids on Santa's lap! 

xoxox,

allie

H's Teacher Christmas Gifts

I love Christmas... and it is a busy season of giving! Since H goes to school, just a couple hours a week, this was a our first year for teacher gifts; I feel more passionate about appreciating teachers since one of my younger (and cooler) sisters is an elementary teacher. I see how much time and effort goes into teaching. Although H is just in preschool once a week, those lovely ladies must have lots of patience taking care of those sweet 8 toddlers.  I just think a small token of your appreciation, as a parent, during the Christmas season, goes a long way. This year H and I decided to give nail polish- it seems odd but who doesn't love some nice nail polish in fun colors? Since she has all female teachers it was an easy fun gift!

We also made Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce for all of our neighbors. Since we live on post and a little cul-de-sac, we have lots of close friends on our street! This recipe was seriously easy and so delicious. I recommend very dark chocolate and the mason jars were the perfect container. I had to triple the recipe for 6 mason jars.

Makes about 2 cups
2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup or golden syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ideally dark
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, or to taste


xoxo,
allie

20 Days of Christmas

This year we are doing the "20" days of Christmas for our Advent Celebration/Calendar. We cut it short from the normal 25 days because we were busy traveling for Thanksgiving (I need to do a huge blog post on our mainland adventures) but since Christmas is less than a week away, I thought I would share some of our recent activities!!!

Since H lady is a HUGE fan of books.... I wrapped up 20 books/crafts/cookie cutters/activities to make Christmas a bit more fun.

 

Harps has been LOVING it. And it is a wonderful day to do some Christmas reading... The only issue is she insists on reading each book before bed (needless to say, we had to make story time earlier!).

We have also been busy...

Baking Cookies...

Riding the Christmas Train at the PX...

Visiting Santa Claus... (and doing crafts while we wait with Daddy)

Going to Daddy's Work Christmas Party....

Doing Christmas Crafts at the Library...

 Playing at the Beach (in December!)...

Making a Gingerbread House...

and just being a cute girl!!

xoxo,
allie

It is a.....

Last week we found out... that we need some more planes, trains, superheroes, and dinosaurs in this house because...

IT IS A BOY!

Scenes from our weekend...

Happy Veteran's Day to Will (Daddy!). We are so thankful for your service and everything you do for our family.  Can you believe that was almost a year ago...

We have been loving our long weekend! Although the Hawaii rainy season is here... I am LOVING the 68 degrees; we have finally brought out the fleeces, long sleeves, and even some pants. During the rainy season, Oahu has patches of clouds, sun, and rain.... since we live up in the mountains, during the "winter" months, most of our days are filled with some rain.

We decided to head to the Honolulu for a some temporary sun. And to see the new Lion Cubs!

Will and I also went on our first date in months.... thanks to this man.... We went to our favorite Thai Place in Haleiwa; during pregnancy I love spicy food; however, I asked for the most spicy at a pretty authentic Thai restaurant. Guess what? Lesson learned. That is a seriously extreme level of spicy and too much for me! Harper was so excited to have Uncle Greg all to herself; she kept saying "Byebye Mommy and Daddy" just so we would leave! We can't thank him enough for spending the night with our little lady.

and I am struggling with Maternity Fashion. Yes, I had clothes that I saved from Harpy girl but these all just seem so worn. I have been trying to pick up a few updates here and there.... but it is challenging for a short woman like me! All of the maternity dresses hit me like half way down my calf- aka not flattering. Problems, I know :) I have been out of my normal shorts, jeans, etc for a while but my "normal" dresses and shirts are getting too tight and frankly unflattering. Maxi dresses seem to still work! Anyway, I don't want to invest a ton in a temporary problem. Thankfully I found some adorable jeans in the Target Maternity Section. I have never bought jeans there but they are sooo cute and sooo comfy. The shirt is from Pea and the Pod... we don't have one on Oahu but thankfully they do in Charleston and Will's mom was sweet enough to send it! I have been wearing it every week!

xoxo,
allie

Happy Friday!

Harps woke up and asked me to go to the Beach today.... why not? You only are two once... and live in Hawaii once.

xoxo,
allie

Weekend Recap

Can you believe I am blogging again, weird right. After such a long hiatus I seem to be getting back in my groove. Here is a bit of a weekend recap.

1. We went to the beach on Saturday.... Harp's fav beach- Ko'Olina Lagoons. She is def a beach baby and was totally meant to spent her "babyhood"/"toddlerhood" in Hawaii. She also adores her new sunglasses; can you tell?

2. All of the stores here on Oahu already have tons of Christmas Decorations up... Normally I am very against buying Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving buttt last year ALL of the Christmas Lights sold out on the island. Just like this year Pumpkins and Candy Corn were very challenging to find towards Halloween. I guess we get a limited supply all the way out here in the Pacific. Ha. Either way, I am doing a Christmas Light inventory this week to ensure we are stocked up.

3. Speaking of Holidays, Will's battalion had their Fall Festival on Friday. It was super cute... Hay rides, Pumpkin Patch, Arts and Crafts, Games, Bounce Houses and More. Will's company was tasked with a Cupcake Station. I helped out with that while Will and Harps enjoyed the festivities. Can you guess what our girl did the wholeeeeee time? Played in the petting zoo and fed the ponies. She loves loves loves animals. Thankfully the owners were very nice about her overfeeding all of their pets! And don't worry it was raining the whole time but she didn't care!

4. Will has flown the last couple of weekends. There was a bad fire on base (far away from any houses/facilities) and the Chinooks have helped put it out. We miss him but he seems to be enjoying being a temporary firefighter.

5. I have not been eating any sweets. This pregnancy sweets have been the last thing on my mind. Believe me, anyone who knows me well would think this is super odd. I usually LOVE LOVE cookies, cupcakes, chocolate etc. I seem to be more into meat, fruit, yogurt, eggs, etc. Ha, I guess the latter is healthier.

6. We are headed to the mainland in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving and we are all SO excited. I can't wait to see family and enjoy some Fall weather!

7. I just discovered this brand this weekend.    http://www.littleenglish.com/   Such adorable children's clothes.

8. I have officially stopped running this week. It just too much... I know some people run all throughout their pregnancies but it is not for me. I will start again in March/April! I am walking a couple of miles everyday... and chasing a Toddler so it will have to do for the next 20 ish weeks. However, this weekend was the New York City marathon (something I hope to do someday) and one of my best friends from high school ran it!! We are proud of you Jenn!

9. Last week I worked on a little DIY project for our "playroom". Space is very limited in Hawaii and our house is starting to feel a bit small for our family. Anyway, I added some book shelving in our playroom area to help keep Harp's book collection more organized. I just ordered these from Ikea and painted them. Easy, easy project.

10. Harps is becoming quite a "mama" these days. She loves her babies. 

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

allie