Congrats to Tammy & Aaron!

My dear friend Tammy gave birth on Saturday, August 29th at 8:30 am to her son, Chace. He is adorable, healthy, and goes home from the hospital today. I got to spend some time holding him at the hospital last night---he really is a doll...so cute! He's got lots of hair and I'm so excited to watch him grow!

Both cribs are up!

Tonight Jerry was gracious enough to come and help Toby build the second crib---they finished this one in half the time as the first one. The nursery is slowly coming together. The next big project is getting all the laundry done and sorted, the linens on the bed, the wall hangings and decals stuck on the walls, and the final little touches. Luckily, we have 2 more months to get this done.

Lucy wanted to sit in the bassinet

Leia had a turn too

Jerry and Toby beginning their project (notice Toby's rolling eyes)

Leia and Lucy had to check out this crib - seems like they approve!

The 2 cribs set up - the wooden drawer is leaning against the crib since we still need to find a big enough screwdriver in order to finish it up.

They're Measuring Up!

We went to see the 3D ultrasound doctor today and both of the girls are doing fantastic. Baby A (located on my right side) is 1 lb. 15 oz. and Baby B (located on my left side) is 2 lbs. 1 oz. They are right on target with growth. Baby A was moving around so much...she kept kicking the ultrasound wand and it was hard to get clear photos of her. Baby B was calm and relaxed, so we have more photos of her. Everything looks right on track and we go back in 4 weeks for another appointment.

Baby A's face

Baby A Smiling

Baby B waving at the camera



Baby B making a pouting face (imitating her Aunty Amy with the classic Amy Tong look)

Baby B smiling

Too cute

I had to share these photos of Leia - Toby did the laundry and when he put it on the bed to begin folding, Leia crawled in the middle of the sheets and wrapped herself in them. She then took a long nap. She was too cute!

What a Friday...and Saturday

Friday was a holiday for us---Admissions Day, so Toby and I had the day off. I started the day with a relaxing manicure and pedicure and then we went to pick up the cribs and car seats bases from Baby Emporium. It took both of our SUVs to bring everything home. Jerry was kind enough to come over and help Toby unload the VERY HEAVY cribs and mom came to play with the dogs. Toby and Jerry were able to assemble 1 of the cribs in the nursery. We were originally going to put 1 crib in our room and the other in the nursery and when the babies are about 3 months old, we would move the crib in our room to the nursery. Well, once Toby and Jerry discovered how complicated it was to assemble, we decided to build them both in the nursery and get an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper (a big bassinet) for our room for the girls to sleep in for the first 3 months. Toby and Jerry did a great job (with Leia's supervision) and mom went to buy groceries for the bbq that Toby was going to prepare that night. I relaxed on the couch =).

On Saturday, while I worked my LAST wedding of the year, Leia and Lucy took a trip to the groomer. Leia is about half the weight she was when she went there as they cut all of her hair off (I'm sure she is happy since it is so hot here) and Lucy got a nail trim and a bath.

Thanks Mom and Jerry for your help on Friday!

Jerry and Toby unpacked crib # 1 and are beginning the assembly.

The crib is standing! We're almost there!

The finished product - look how happy they look!

Supervisor of the day - Leia (pre haircut)

The crib works! The first occupants...Lucy and Leia.

Lucy after her very exhausting day of a nail trim and bath.

Leia with a lot less hair, refreshed pink highlights and Maile's bear.

Dinner with the kids

While my dear friend Amy Tong was back in Hawaii - she now lives and teches in ENGLAND! - we were able to have dinner with our former Kalani students. These kids are special to us as we taught them for 2 straight years and took many of them on a trip to Washington DC and NYC in 2007. Now they have all graduated and are off to college. We had a great time eating Korean food at Sorabol.

Family Baby Shower & Dog Training

Tammy and I showing off our pregnant tummies. She is due August 28th!

Aunty Maddie made these adorable onesies - now we'll be able to to tell them apart!


Darcie had these cute onesies and pants made---the one on the left is Leia and the one on the right is Lucy. Now the dogs will feel included!

Aunty Patsy, my Popo and my Tai Tai

Joy and Darcy's beautiful and very practical diaper cake

Aunty Sandy, Grandma Nakano and Mom Kawamura's beautiful and practical diaper cake

On Saturday, my mom and Toby's mom hosted a beautiful baby shower for me at Hazuki. My friend from UW, Joy, made the invitations, did the games, and made me thank you cards. Tammy did a really fun game involving candy bars. My Aunty Cynna got a cute cookie dessert and Aunty Donna made cute centerpieces with Disney stuffed animals. It was such a nice afternoon spent with family and a few friends. The food was delicious and the company was great.

We had our dog trainer, Jan, come by the house last week to get Lucy and Leia started on training for the babies. Our friends, Kyle and Renee, brought their 2 1/2 month old daughter, Kaylee, over to help us with the training. We were dogsitting Stitch at the time so we were actually training 3 dogs. It was really neat to watch the dogs interact with the baby. Leia was very protective of Kaylee while Lucy was inquisitive - she kept wanting to lick her. Stitch was more interested in the treats that Jan had. Toby and I each practiced holding the baby and teaching the dogs commands. They did great! We are confident that they will be fine once our babies come. Jan did advise us to buy a baby doll that cries and practice with that. We bought one, and will start the practice this week!

The aliens are moving

The weirdest thing happened to me last night and is continuing all day at work today---the little girls and moving around so much that my stomach is actually moving - you can see them punching and kicking and twirling from the outside. It is so strange to watch. It is what I imagined Bella's vampire child from Twilight did in her stomach. It is neat to watch and I am just in awe of these little miracles.

Organization Stage 1

The group of us (minus Jamie and Didi) at Pah Ke's for the baby shower

WOW! What a weekend. On Saturday, Heather threw me a beautiful baby shower at my favorite Chinese restaurant, Pah Ke, in Kaneohe. It was a nice afternoon with friends, family and delicious food. The babies and I received such lovely gifts...I am so thankful for everything. When I got home and brought all the new items to the nursery, I got a bit overwhelmed. I needed to organize and I wanted to do it immediately. First thing Sunday morning, I headed to Target and purchased 8 baskets for the closet and 4 baskets for underneath the changing table. I also picked up some baby hangers and a couple of other necessities. Then, I picked up Tammy and we headed to the Waikele outlets to shop at Carter's. They had a huge sale and I picked up halloween onesies and matching hats for the girls. They'll be about a week old when halloween comes so they needed a little outfit. They are so cute and I can't wait to see them dressed in these little onesies. On my way home, I talked to my mom who volunteered to come over and help me sort through all the clothes I bought, was given at the shower, and hand me downs from Tammy. We organized the closet by size, hung up the little dresses, packed the bigger clothes in storage boxes and started to organize the shelves under the changing table. WHEW! We worked for over an hour and got A LOT done - THANKS MOM! We are dogsitting Lucy's boyfriend, Stitch, and he wanted to help so he sat in one of the baskets---too cute! I'm excited that we started the organization of the nursery...we still need to pick up the cribs and assemble them...LOTS more to do!


I also wanted to say a quick "aloha" to my Aunt Carolyn, who I hear faithfully reads my blog all the way from Canada - hello! Toby and I really would like to bring the girls up to Canada to see my family once they are old enough to travel.


The right side of the closet---clothes are organized by age

The left side of the closet - there are 2 rows to hang clothes and 2 shelves for shoes, etc. The bottom is clothes packed in clear containers for the older age groups (12 months+)

The changing table has baskets for diapers, changing supplies, powders, lotions, bath supplies and feeding supplies.

Little Stitch in a pink basket