Doo doo!

Isabelle is getting potty trained! She's so smart it's easier than I thought it would be. I have to admit that she probably could already be trained if I wasn't so lazy. She's been taking off her diaper and telling me doo doo for awhile. However the few times I've put her on the toilet she won't go and then ends up peeing on the floor. This morning I decided to go get a kiddie size seat for the toilet. However they only had the $15 dollar ones and for that price there were actual little toilets. I didn't like them for Sio because he was too tall and peed over the little cover all over the floor. However I thought about it for a secand and realized Isabelle loves to sit on things and she's kind of afraid of sitting on the toilet. So we got home and I put it down in the living room. Immediately she was sitting on it. We have a doctor's appt. so I didn't want to start her right now. However she wouldn't stop asking so I took her diaper off. She was on it for a good 10 minutes straight, I even gave her some water to speed up the process. Nothing. So we sat down to eat, she was running around and all of the sudden saying, "doo doo," I looked and there was poop on the floor by the potty. I cleaned it up and put a diaper on her. A few minutes later I heard the terrifiying sound of the diaper velcro. As I ran to make sure she didn't get it off she said, "doo doo." "Sigh." Ok, I took off her diaper, she sat down and I heard "sshhhh!" YAY! She peed! I might curse myself saying this but I think this will be easier than I thought!

*everyone in hawaii calls poop doo doo

Alekisio's first primary program

On Sunday our Primary children did their sacrament presentation. It was really beautiful. This year's theme was Eternal Families. Alekisio has been working on his line for a few weeks but he had already memorized it after about four days. I was a little worried that he wouldn't remember it when he got up to the pulpit and saw everyone sitting there. It was exactly the opposite. Every time there was a practice he could hardly wait to get up and say his line and it was the same on Sunday. The primary was seated and spoke in family groups, so I sat next to Alekisio on the stand since I'm a teacher. He wore a tie, even though he thinks he's going to choke and die everytime I put one on him, and even left his shirt tucked in. He was dying to take off the tie but agreed to leave it on until after his part. I went up with him so they didn't start feeding him his line when he paused. He did really well. His line was...."I learned in Primary to build my eternal family, just like my dad builds a rock wall. First you need some big rocks, that's prayer. Then you need some gooey cement, that's love. Then you need some big, strong muscles, that's service. I know if I do these things I can build my eternal family." On the last line he would start to say I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen, so I had to whisper and correct him. So when he started to say the last line the right way he started to whisper it. Everyone laughed a little because it was so stinking cute and he turned to bury his head in my arms. He did finish and I of course was so proud. Of course the minute the program was finished the tie came off. He was soooo handsome while it lasted.

Daddy's Truck

The kids love playing in Aisea's truck. Alekisio likes to play in the bed of the truck and Isabelle likes to play in the front. Aisea came home from work early and decided to clean out the tool box on his truck. Alekisio loved playing with all the tools. His favorite was the stapler that you bang on the wood to staple. Isabelle spent the whole time "driving" the truck, she was trying to stick the keys in the right spot and everything. When it came time to go to the apartment Isabelle threw a huge tantrum. I have no idea what was so fun about the truck but she had already been in there for half an hour! Hanging out with daddy is the best!

Family temple day

About two Saturdays ago we went as a family for a drive up to the temple. It's closed for some repairs and cleaning but we went to the visitor's center. Alekisio loves it there. It was really nice to spend some time as a family. After the temple we went and grabbed some lunch and ate it at the park.

Isabelle found a flower to put in her ear, of course.









Isabelle went around collecting little balls as usual. She gets those chubby little hands full of as many as she can.

Little Stinker

Isabelle's nickname around here is Stink. She's been a little stinker since she could walk so it just sort of stuck. This is just an example of the sneaky little ways she's a Stinker. I have a little built in shelf in the living room, I think it was originally an area for a phone, anyhow there are two boxes waiting to be shipped to my mom being stored underneath it. On the shelf are some learning activity books and some markers, that have now been moved. She moved the boxes and pulled down the box of markers. I found her behind the boxes coloring on herself. Oh Isabelle what am I going to do with you. She flashes the cutest smile and I just want to squish her cheeks and kiss her. Isabelle is addicted to markers, pens, and crayons, and my walls are proof. I don't know where she finds them but there must be a secret stash around here somewhere.

Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden

Last week Aisea came home from work early so we decided to take the kids to feed ducks at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. That area used to flood so the military built a lake to control the water levels. It's a beautiful park and the kids love it. It was a super hot, super humid day, with no breeze. It's a nice easy trail to get to the lake but it was so hot it felt like we were there forever. This is the beginning of our walk. Isabelle started off with daddy.
Then moved onto walking with Sio. That didn't last long because.....

Alekisio can't resist the urge to run!

Isabelle took her time finding flowers, or as Isabelle says, "fyah". I fell behind iwth Isabelle so we could look at all the birds and flowers.

When we caught up I couldn't resist this picture. Isabelle with her boys.

It was so hot they took their shirts off, they're definitely two of a kind!

When we got down to feed the ducks they swarmed. Isabelle spent the whole time glued to Aisea's legs. She was excited about the ducks, but they were a little aggressive.

Alekisio however was very comfortable however and wanted to feed them right out of his hand.

Then we walked around the lake and Sio couldn't resist throwing some rocks.

I took these so you can see the view. Hawaii is beautiful.





We stopped to have a snack and play a little.



The day was really hot but really fun and beautiful! Below is a picture of Isabelle showing us her "ouie". She's been pointing out the same scrape on her knee since then, who doesn't love getting kisses, right?

Beep beep

Isabelle has developed a habit of grabbing whatever she can as she walks out the door. If her hands are empty you can see her searching the room for the closest thing to grab. Alot of times she'll take her little bag with her diapers, wipe, and epipen, holding her little arm up to keep it from falling off. Last week as we were leaving for the park the closest thing was her bike. She rode it to the elevator and down to the car.

Sardines

Alekisio and Isabelle love to hide. Since Alekisio was an early two he would hide under the covers with Aisea from me. This happened on a daily basis and turned into hiding every time someone comes home, especially when daddy comes home from work. He runs yelling, "hide, hide." Combine this with a love of sitting in small places and you have the funnest game ever. They hide in the cupboards, under blankets, in the closets, under the sofa's slipcover, wherever they can find. A few weeks ago when I was doing dishes they realized the chairs under the table come together to make a perfect "bed" for hiding. They love squishing under there like sardines. I love hearing them laugh together under there.

Little Mommy

I have to admit that I don't read to Isabelle as much as I read to Alekisio. He was the first one so we would lay in bed and read forever. Poor Isabelle hasn't had that luxury. I read to her and she loves it, but she doesn't have favorites like Alekisio did. I do read to her enough for her to know her favorite spot to read is in my lap. Maybe that's why when she decided to be mommy to her dolls she put them in her lap for story time. Every day I'm amazed by the obvious, boys are different than girls. Isabelle has a natural draw to her babies, my little ponies, jewelry, hairbands, shoes, and anything girly. Her babies get put to sleep and she even wants them to breastfeed. Yesterday she discovered her My Little Ponies that I had just put back into their room. She came out with a huge smile on her face carrying all the sparkly ponies she could carry. Having a girl is great, I think I'll keep her.

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