A Day of "Rest"

Today was a very relaxing day. I never thought it would come. Alekisio is at that age where he's having tempertantrums if I tell him no, and screaming at me when I put him in time out. I feel like all I do is say, "Don't do that", "Put that down", "I said stop it", and "1,2....". I get irritated at my own voice. He doesn't ever listen until I count, and I feel like all I ever do is punish him. I've gotten so frustrated lately that I yell alot. I decided that I need to stop that because it doesn't work either and pray that time outs start working. He wasn't so bad until Isabelle was born. I miss spending time with him, and I think he misses it too. Luckily he doesn't take it out on Isabelle, he's misbehaving so I have to pay attention to him. I'm tired of hearing myself talk and yesterday I was so stressed from him destroying the house I had a migraine. Well today a friend of mine was going to the waterpark with her children and nanny and she happened to call to see how I was. When I told her Alekisio was bouncing off the walls of our little apartment she came and got him. I only got four hours of sleep last night so at first I thought I'd take a nap, but instead I went to the bank, grocery store, and then came home and cleaned the house. First though I took a shower and bathed Isabelle.. I should let you know that I NEVER am without my children, unless Aisea takes Alekisio somewhere at night. I go everywhere and do everything with him. Shopping without worrying about him pulling things off the shelf was really strange. I would turn away from the cart and then turn around in a panic thinking he was going to make a mess. Isabelle just slept. That was beautiful! I realized once I got home that I was very relaxed and it was 3 o'clock. Usually by that time I'm counting the minutes until Aisea gets home from work. I can't wait until this phase is over, and I'm praying the next phase doesn't stress me out as much. I know once we can leave the house everyday for the park he'll get better. You know it's bad when your child asks to run errands.When I realize how nice a little break from my kids is, it makes me wish I lived closer to home. Don't get me wrong we still have nice moments and I love spending time with him. But everyone needs a little break sometimes:)

Easter

This is the first year we've had easter together as a family since Alekisio has been old enough to participate. Last year we were at grandma and grandpa's house. I just watched the video and I can't believe how much his speech has improved and I also forgot some of the things he used to say and do. This year he was much better at coloring eggs, and he understands who easter is about. We woke up and hurried through finding eggs since church starts at 8, that's common here since up to three wards share a building. I was able to get the kids and myself ready and make it to church on time! I have to give Aisea some credit because he put Alekisio's clothes on. I left after sacrament to come home and feed Isabelle. I'm not comfortable feeding her in front of people and our building doesn't have a real mother's lounge. After church was finished I picked up my boys and we went to our friend's house for lunch and an easter egg hunt. Isabelle of course slept all day because no one ever put her down, but who can help that:). It's not quite the same as being around family on the holidays, I was jealous that grandma was at our house and we couldn't be there with her, but it's nice to be around people who love us and the kids.

I'm allergic to my kids.....no joke!

I don't know how well you can see it in the pictures but I have a red spotty rash all over. I think you can tell my skin looks bumpy. The past couple days have been a little nerve racking. I was very disappointed when I couldn't breastfeed Alekisio and it all started with a rash. This time around I knew I wanted to breastfeed and when my milk came in and the rash I got didn't spread to the rest of my upper body I thought great I'm in the clear. Then on saturday it started to spread and on sunday it was all over my chest, face, and arms! The last time this happened the dermatologist was in and out of the room really fast and never really explained what it was so I was really upset thinking I wouldn't be able to breastfeed anymore. Today when I went to the doctor they told me that I have PUPPS. My body is allergic basicly to being pregnant. Most women have it during pregnancy and it doesn't go away until about 2-3 weeks after childbirth. Mine is triggered by labor so I don't have to suffer for months. I am extremely excited that I can still breastfeed. I don't have to take medication to get rid of it. I just have to endure the extreme urge to itch until it goes away on its own. Hallelujah! The doctors laughed a little because I was so excited to find out what it was didn't care about medicine, but I was prepared to walk out of there disappointed and crying. Of course it's still a weird thing to happen but when it comes to my skin I never get anything normal. I'm a weirdo, what can I say. How many people can say they're allergic to their kids?

Easter Eggs

On Saturday Alekisio spent the day at the beach with his Auntie Nise(Denise) and Auntie Julia while daddy played rugby. They all came home and we BBQed. I thought it would be a good time to do eggs. We only did a dozen minus the one I broke before cooking and the one that burst because I forgot I was boiling them and they were on for a minute or two too long. Alekisio was much better at it this year. His hands weren't dyed and he actually listened to direction! I can't wait until Isabelle can join us!

Random thoughts

Being pregnant is wonderful but today I was realizing all the things that are so much easier now that I'm not pregnant. I thought I would share because I can't fall asleep and I'm bored. Which is very strange since I get about four hours of sleep in a 24 hour period and don't really get to sit down unless I'm breastfeeding. So here are the things I appreciate more since being pregnant.

1. Driving without feeling uncomfortable because my arms feel too short.
2. Being able to bend over and pick something up while sitting.
3. Being able to pick something up off the ground without struggling to stand back up.
4. Rolling from one side to the other in bed without feeling like a whale.
5. Getting in the car without squishing my stomach because the parking spaces in hawaii are too small for an SUV.
6. Reaching for things without hitting my stomach because I forgot how big it was.
7. SLEEPING ON MY STOMACH!

I was also thinking today how surreal it is that I have two children. Watching one child grow is amazing and I can't believe how much I love him, but now I have two. It got even better! Seeing them together makes me melt inside and when I think about the love I have for Alekisio with the love for Isabelle added on I don't know how I can contain it! I feel like I my heart is going to explode. Just thinking about it makes me cry. I know what you're thinking....that everything makes me cry, but really it's amazing. I'm tired now, yeah! I'm ready for my first hour of sleep.

Isabelle Katalina

She's finally here! She arrived at 4:43pm after 7 hours and 15 minutes of labor, weighing in at 6 lbs. 12.6 oz. and 19 inches long. I was hoping she would arrive soon but when it happened monday I wasn't ready. I had an eventful monday morning thanks to her and Sio! I had been having contractions on and off for a couple days and Sunday I actually had a few I thought might be it. We woke up monday and I wanted to mop the floors and straighten up a few things before she came, but first of course I talked to my sister, and my brother called. I had a contraction at 9:20a.m. and I thought oh it's just another random one, but then another came twenty minutes later, and another twenty minutes, so I thought maybe this is really it. Then I had one after fifteen minutes. I called the hospital when the next one was only after ten minutes and they said to just shower and come in whenever because ten minutes is still a long time. I thought they were getting closer together really fast but I said alright whatever. Then Alekisio who is potty training climbed up on a box of Isabelle's too big clothes to wash his hands(the closet is right by the bathroom sink). He was so into washing his hands he decided to pee all over the box, so I yanked him off, started the laundry, showered us and mopped the house. At that point it was almost 12 so I called Aisea and told him to come home because the contractions were now 8 minutes apart and pretty strong, and Sio was getting to be too much. He had just decided while I was in the bathroom to dump the mop water in the hallway, he's very helpful! I cleaned that up packed his bag and made sure we had everything. By the time we were in the car for the hospital which is ten minutes away my contractions were three minutes apart and it was 1:35. They stayed that way and I stayed 4 cm. dialated for about two hours. During that time the contractions were more painful than I remembered with Alekisio and I started shaking nonstop. I thought Alekisio took 12 hours and no drugs but I can't imagine another 6 hours of this. The doctor and nurse came and offered an epideral during a very painful contraction, I'm no dummy, I decided to stop trying to be a superwoman and gave in. Right as they left the room my water broke. This was around 3:30, and I was still 4 cm. They took me to the other room quickly and called for the epideral. By the time she got there I was 7 cm. we decided to try and get it in quickly. Just as she was ready I started to have to push. When that epideral kicked in I was in heaven! As soon as I laid down I pushed for a couple minutes. I pushed a few times and couldn't believe she was almost there, during the last push I remember almost passing out, and then they were putting her on my tummy!

Before she was all the way out I heard the doctor say, "Look at her eyelashes!" They're a mile long! She has dark grey blue eyes, which could change, we'll see. She looks like Alekisio, of course, but she definitely looks like me:). We named her Isabelle after my grandma. I love her, and her name so it was perfect. Katalina is after Aisea's mom.

Aisea is in heaven because he has his little girl! But Alekisio has already told him she's his baby. He was holding her in the hospital and when Aisea took her he started to cry. He always wants her to be by him and he loves to touch her feet and belly. He is definitely a little boy in love, you can see it in his face when he smiles. I'm loving every minute of them together. I'm a picture fanatic so you'll definitely be seeing more! Here's a link to a little slideshow....

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/nicmanukeu/?action=view&current=aca98656.pbw

It's Grandma!

Alekisio got a Mr. Potato Head for Christmas. He loves to play with it and even understood what faces were funny early on, which surprised me. I don't know why, because he's always had a sense of humor. Last night he was making a face, he used a mustache for eyebrows, and a really big nose. I said, "Wow look at that big nose, it's so silly." Then Alekisio said, "It's grandma." Aisea started laughing and asked him what he said, Alekisio repeated that it was grandma. So there you go mom, in Alekisio's mind you're a potatohead with bushy eyebrows and a big nose! Maybe he needs to see you more often! We love you!