Hi Everyone,

This will probably come as a surprise to everyone that I am posting a blog but I just needed to say hi to everyone.  As you can read from Heather's blogs, we are doing great and just delighted to be having a baby girl.  We are constantly delighted with all the developments our baby is making and just the fact that we are blessed to have this joy in our life.

Kawehi, you owe me a shotgun, I am going to hold you to that!  Nyles, I hope everything is going good with the business and everything else.  We love you Mom and Randy and hope everything is going good with the Moilili house.  Karen and Maile, I really miss you guys and hope everything is okay at the YWCA.  To all our family and our friends back on the islands we miss you and wish you all the best.

Well, that was it, short and sweet, my six month blog installation, just wanted to say hi to everyone.  Now, as before, I will leave the blogging to my wife who is much better at then me anyways, just wanted to say hi =) 

baby updates.

i keep telling myself i need to blog. but i'll be honest, i haven't felt like it. =)

i have lots of updates and pictures to share, which i'll eventually get to, i promise. i've been telling myself this for weeks, as we FINALLY took pictures of our apartment to share. unfortunately, though, as you can see, they haven't made it off the camera. =(

yesterday, we had our 22-week appt with our doctor. he says i'm growing well and big. i've gained 4 lbs so far this pregnancy which i was certainly surprised about. the doctor pulled out the doppler machine and we laughed as we heard the baby moving around like crazy. the doctor jokingly asked "are you sure you saw only one baby last week at your ultrasound? sounds like two!" i laughed and said, "UMMMM there better only be ONE!"

other than that, everything is going great and on schedule. the baby girl's kicks are getting stronger and stronger which makes me laugh. i love watching my tummy just jump with her kicks. sleeping has unfortunately gotten so uncomfortable, my back has been very sore and it's getting harder and harder to get out of bed for the hourly bathroom breaks. we're busy trying to narrow down baby names for when we meet her which is so fun and just trying to enjoy the time we have together til she comes.

bye blakey.

my two brothers and i have always been close. i think it might have to do with the fact that i was the oldest, i was a girl, very motherly and quite frankly, very bossy. i loved having two younger, pain in the butt brothers and as we got older i continued to feel blessed to have such a close, always-growing relationship with them. they were always there to make me laugh, always had their protective eye on me and just always reminded me how lucky i was to have the family i do.

but this past friday we said goodbye to my little big brother, blake. it's off to the university of san francisco he goes for at least the next 2 years, where he'll finish up his last 2 yrs of NCAA eligibility and complete is Bachelors Degree. and while it's much closer than say, when i went out to UH-Manoa,

 it still makes me miss him. Myka and I are excited for the roadtrips and cheap flights we are planning to take to visit him and the college basketball games we finally get to watch in pers

on and not on TV...but in the same sense, my mom's house just felt a little empty when we went up there last night. 

it makes me a little sad to think that he won't be so close when the baby girl decides to make

 her debut but i know my brother and how well he gets along with kids and i know that he will have his own special little place in her heart as he does in all kid's hearts...no matter where he is.

we're so proud of him and so excited to watch his growth over the next couple years. his passion and determination have gotten him this far and there is no doubt in our minds that the stars are the limit for him.

the ultrasound.

well, let me just say. today, couldn't have come any faster!!

my mom, myka and i went in to see the perinatalogist this afternoon 

for our 20-wk ultrasound and WOW. we immediately saw the baby's head and it's eyes. i couldn't believe it! as the doctor began measurements we realized that the baby was curled in a very, very tight ball and wasn't moving!! despite my attempts at waking up the baby with a little bit of sugar before the appt, the baby fell into a deep slumber!

anyhow, we saw that it's brain looked like it had developed and that everything was in its right place. we saw a complete spine and ribs. the 4 chambers of the baby's heart had developed  properly and it seemed that the blood was all flowing the correct way. the baby's kidneys and bladder were all in the right place and it seemed that everything had 

developed properly and that we are looking forward to a very healthy baby! 

towards the middle our sweet baby then waved at us, and we saw two little hands and two sweet little feet. i laughed as, like i said, the baby was in a ball, feet by the ears. seems our sweet little baby is very flexible. lol.

then the dr informed us that she wasn't sure she was gonna be able to find our sex, due to our baby's extreme stubborn behavior and the fact that it wouldn't come out of a ball! with some quick poking and prodding she quickly was able to show us the following...

that's right. we're having a sweet little baby girl. i immediately started crying and myka and my mom just sat there kinda stunned. i couldn't believe it and as the doctor continued to take measurements and talk to us, it felt so weird to hear the doctor call our little peapod, "her" and "she."

measurements all seemed accurate and the dr says the our sweet little girl is approximately 14 oz and that our due date is pretty much on schedule for jan 1st.

i can't believe what a miraculous thing myka and i have created through our love and i'm so excited for the great things to come. we are so blessed.

20 wks.

here are some pictures that we took last week when i was twenty weeks.

 

the belly is obviously getting bigger from the previous weeks 

and still it seems to have ballooned even more like a watermelon over the weekend. i feel the baby's constant little kicks whenever i'm sitting or laying down and myka has been lucky enough to have felt a few too. i can't tell the difference from a leg, elbow, knee, etc but nonetheless, each little movement is sure to have me breaking out in laughs. i got my first stretch marks on my belly last week too, which was a little weird and my tummy has been in lots of pain as it continues to grow and i continue to have more and more horrendous round ligament pains.

all in all, the baby seems to be ballooning in size which is kinda cool. i can't wait to see how huge the baby has gotten tomorrow! =)

we're pooped.

this past weekend we had our first house guests and were able to enjoy a weekend jam-packed full of exciting activities.
 

on saturday we spent the day down south, first stopping to shop at the carlsbad premium outlets, home to 90 store outlets. and then continuing on to Boudins, home of the best clam chowder and sourdough EVER. ( i swear, i have yet to find a better clam chowder or sourdough place in the past 10 years )

sunday, was something a little different as we spent the day at a beach a little south of laguna beach. while the pacific ocean water was MUCH colder and darker than our warm waters of hawai'i, the atmosphere was so fun and family-oriented, i couldn't help but get excited to bring our baby back with us next summer for it's first trips to the beach.

throw in a few great dinners, lots of laughs and stories, too many shopping trips to target and a DELICIOUS funnel cake with fresh strawberries and we had ourselves a very relaxing, enjoyable weekend!!

bookworm.

myka and i have become a book worms. i am constantly looking and researching new books to read and love, love, love to browse around the local barnes and noble aisles reading the back covers of books. i've always enjoyed reading, but i'm not sure where this newfound love and need for a book in my hand has come from but i'm starting to think i need to start or join a book club or something. so if you can recommend any good books, let me know. i'm looking to add to my list of books to read!

rescheduled.

thanks to the awesome ladies at fetal diagnostics at mission hospital, my ultrasound was FINALLY approved with my insurance and rescheduled for july 21st at 3PM. YAY!!!

grrrrrr.

i am frustrated! we were supposed to have our 20-wk ultrasound next week tuesday with the perinatalologist and now our insurance says they won't cover it since i'm not considered high risk. so we are scrambling to try and get in touch with the doctor to figure out what we are going to do!! ARGH! i just want to make sure baby developed ok and that everything is going good. and of course, figure out what the heck my little nudger is!!!! bleh!

the twilight series.

well, i did it. four books, 2000+ pgs, in less than 4 days. i wasn't really sure what to expect, as i picked up the first book, twilight, and opened it's cover. but to say the very least, i was mesmerized. i'm not really sure what it was really. i think it was the deep love that was so intricately developed between the two soulmates in the beginning that left me HAVING to know what would happen next. i laughed and i cried. and while some parts really kinda (for the lack of better words) irritated me... all in all, the entire series was amazing. A-MAZING!!

and i thank my own soulmate for putting up with my own odd hours the past four days and driving me to the nearest barnes and noble each time i was finished with one of the books. no matter what time of night it was. he, too, is A-MAZING!

late night laughs

our sweet baby is so fiesty, it cracks me up.

it's been a nightly tradition since we found out we were pregnant, for myka to sing the ABC's and talk to our baby. sometimes he'll sing lullabys, or tell the baby about the world and families it will be coming into. it's honestly, one of the purest, happiest moments of my day.

last night, we lied down in bed and myka laid his head, with a little bit of pressure, on my belly. he proceeded to sing to the baby when all of a sudden, it felt like the baby, was headbutting myka. not once or twice either...but FOUR times. and for the first time, myka felt the baby kick (or seriously, headbutt him)

in addition, the baby decided it wanted my bladder to be a trampoline last night, causing me to have to pee every 8-10 minutes. seriously, i timed it, because it was getting a little ridiculous.

so as i said, our baby is fiesty but so sweet and hilarious.

my current addiction.

i am addicted...seriously addicted. i promised myself i wouldn't be but yes, i am. 

over a year ago, one of my sweet best friends, Ashley Townsend, told me about a book she had read that i REALLY needed to go out and get immediately. it was one of those books that once she opened it, she couldn't close until she was done.  i laughed and thought, seriously? as she finished the next two books in the series, she kept telling me how good the series was and how i needed to get the books asap. it was seriously becoming like an obsession to her and i thought, what kind of weird book is this?!?! (no offense ash!) nonetheless, i put it as a mental note on my book wishlist and went along my way. 

so then one day about a week ago, our dear friend Deborah Garaycochea asked me if i had ever read the book. she said that i had to read the series and that i wouldn't really understand until i read it. 

so as i saw how this obsession had taken over my closest friends, i gave in and used my 

barnes and noble gift cards to ship the book to me.

and then it came...i let it sit in my pile of things to do for a couple days, with it's mysterious cover kinda captivating me everytime i looked at it. and last night, in the midst of restlessness and not really wanting to work on my baby's cross-stitch, i opened the cover. in less than two hours, i had read over 100 pages. 

myka finally had to look at me and say, "you need to get some sleep baby." so i reluctantly put the book down and then couldn't sleep because i was so antsy to pick it up again (well that and the baby bounced around my uterus all night long, but that will be in another entry.) so it's official, i have become a obsessed with devouring through the book twilight as soon as possible. sad, yes. but oh, so, good!

thanks ashley and deb for the great recommendation!! ;)

thankfulness.

i just want to take a moment and send hugs and love to all of our friends and family. in a single moment of time, things can forever be altered and while we should never live in fear of that, it's always good to take a moment to remember and offer appreciation and love to those that stick by your side through thick and thin, offering smiles, laughs and emails when you need them. myka and i are blessed to have all of you in our lives. we love you all, near and far.

5 reasons why i love CA.

1. GAS PRICES

this past weekend we paid $4.00 a gallon for gas. $4.00!!! now yes, i too remember the days when gas was $1.30, but in this day and age, with the market the way it is...i was amazed when we were able to fill up the entire tank of our our corolla for less than $35. hallelujah, praise the lord =)

2. FOOD PRICES

anyone who knows me, knows that i LOVE to cook and myka loves to eat what i cook. so basically every day he texts me, "what's for dinner my love?" now that nausea and vomiting has, for the most part subsided, one of my favorite outings of the week is going to the grocery store. sound odd? maybe. but i love that i can plan an entire weeks dinner menu, for between $75 and $100 a week. for some that may be a lot for some maybe not. but when you are like myka and i, who crave and love fruits and vegetables, it's amazing when you can buy almost anything in the entire produce section for .99/lb. 99 CENTS A POUND! i remember one night in honolulu before our departure, we wanted cherries. when we went to the check-out counter it was gonna cost us $25 for a bag of cherries. i said to the lady, ummm excuse me we will NOT be getting those. now, we spend less than $5 on cherries. life (and the fruit) is gooooooooood.

3. FAMILY

it's hard for myka and i to have a lot of balance in our families when half of our family lives in CA and the other half in HI. we knew it would be hard as our relationship progressed and eventually when we decided to build and raise our family elsewhere, we knew that being 2500 miles away from one family would be hard. and while it is and always will be, it's nice to reconnect with my family and for myka and i to build our relationships with them. we enjoy the opportunity to visit every weekend for family dinner and i know myka enjoys the weekly wallace movie night pick, as my father and him have the same taste in movies. it's really nice to meet my grandparents for dinner, or to meet my gramma and mom for lunch and shopping, or to be able to go to my brother's college basketball games. it's been really heartwarming.

4. BILLS

myka and i almost peed our pants when we opened our electric bill last month. when we lived in hawaii, we'd pay a monthly bill of at least $100. more often than not, the bill was $100+. that was with bare minimum electricity, considering the two of us worked, never ran air conditioning and basically ran the lights, fan and tv at night before bed. last month, was our first electricity bill with me at home, running a tv or computer for the majority of the day, air conditioning running regularly, lights and tv on a night and our fans blowing throughout the day. in addition our stove is now electric, which is a fun new expense. so imagine our surprise when the bill was less that FORTY DOLLARS. our mouths dropped in astonishment. our entire utilities (water, trash, electricity etc) costs us less than $75 a month. praise jesus!!

and 5. ROADTRIPS

i love that we can get in our car and drive. with 6 lane freeways going in all directions, the possibilities are endless. i love that i have been able to drive up north to the wineries and to a small town called pismo beach for a overnight visit. i love that we are a 4 hour drive away from vegas, as anyone who knows us, knows we love the ambiance of vegas. i love that we are about 2 hrs away from the wharfs of san diego, home to sea world, lego land, the san diego zoo. i love that we live in disneyland central and any night at 9:30, you can see the fireworks exploding from the freeway. i love that a drive to see and play in the marvels of snow is looming over us in the next few months. and for the days when we long for a taste of the islands, the pacific ocean is twenty minutes away, where we can feel the sun on our shoulders, the sand in our toes and look out to the horizon to hawai'i nei.

8/19

so, tuesday, 8/19 is the day we'll hopefully be able to find out what we are having. yea!! finally, the wait will be over!

in the meantime, i am getting a kick (no pun intended) out of the random little karate kicks of our little jumping bean. it cracks me up, i love it! my belly continues to expand and my skin has never been itchy-er but all in all i've only gained 3 lbs which is probably due to the months i spent at the foot of the toilet. yuck.