Baby Update, and more

So, I was just looking at our little "countdown" for baby, and noticed it says 79 days left. Not too bad, huh? That means, I'm officially about 29 weeks along -- only 11 weeks left. But guess what? Unofficially, it's even less than that! yay!

Considering both Samantha and Spencer were about 2 weeks early, I aim to shave about 14-15 days off that "countdown." Instead of 79, how about let's say 65 days left! I know, some of you moms are saying to yourselves, "well don't get your hopes up." Right? But actually, this one's going to be a planned c-section, due to some rough stuff after Spencer was born (if you care to look back to March 2008...). So... I really AM getting my hopes up. In fact, even though my due date is officially October 12, when people ask, I just tell them it's the end of September. At the very latest, it could be October 5, but I'm trying to get things ready for a September baby.

The hardest part is getting prepared for it mentally. I forget I'm pregnant all the time -- something I never did with Sam and Spence. I mean, I'm tired all the time, and my hip is popping out just like it does during third trimester, and I've got all those unfortunate aches and stitches and a huge stomach. But still, I seem to go about my days without consciously remembering there's a baby girl in there, growing bigger every day. It's weird, but I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that our little life here is going to change in a couple of months.

Brian made his first-draft "List" of baby names, so, now I guess the topic is officially open for discussion. He still says Guadalupe (we'll call her Lupe, for short) is his top pick (kidding, if some of you don't get his humor when I blog it). Other choices we're discussing:

Elizabeth, Natalie, Hannah, Kate, Rachel, Ruth, Tessa, Elise, Clara or Claire (or Éclair?), Mary and Teresa.

Yeah, we don't like to narrow it down too early. :) We went to the hospital with four names for Samantha and four for Spencer. I guess it takes us a long time to be sure. I mean, this naming stuff is serious business, eh? Our criteria, if I try to define it, is that we like names that are traditional, but not seriously overused. No made-up names, thanks. And nothing in the top 5-10 for "popular names." That shouldn't be too tricky to find something, right? But we take our time agreeing. Oh well. We'll have to wait and see.

In other news, we've been in Reunion Season this month. And it's been A LOT of fun! We just got back from the HUGE Bishop Reunion in Delta Utah. And we did a great big Phelps Kids reunion in Utah over the 4th. Next up is my grandma's Frasure reunion in Oregon later this week. Whew! Lots of tripping for us. That means I have tons of fun pictures that I want to put up... probably next week, after we're back.

Not the most entertaining post, I know, but I'm at least trying, right??

Sammie's latest

A few days after we returned from Hawaii, Samantha was in a little ballet recital. Boy, was she excited!! The best part was that three of her four grandmas came to watch her perform -- Grandma Susan came with Grandpa Dale. And Grandma Karen drove over with Grandma Eva (my grandma, Sammie's great grandma) and spent the night, just so they could be there for the special day. When I first told Samantha all three grandmas were coming, she said, "Whoah! That's toooo many grandmas!!" ha! One minute later, she changed her mind and told me, "Well, it's not really too many, it's just A LOT of grandmas, which is good."

It was hard to get clear shots while she was on the stage, but here she is with all the other little 4-yr-old ballerinas, doing their part.

Here she is, admiring the special fairy wand her teacher gave each of the girls as a special thank-you. She was supposed to be dancing, but well...

After the show, look how pleased she looks...

When it was all over, we let Spence and Sam play up on the stage. Spencer was really getting into his own routine, and even got a few other audience members taking his picture...

Look at her form. So graceful... :)

Spencer, getting in on some of the photo opps, outside...

We didn't ever get any great poses from Samantha afterward, too much going on, I guess...

And we never got pics of all the grandmas together with the star of the show. Rats! I think our camera battery was dying, unfortunately. But here are the two cuties a few hours later. Sam still couldn't resist being in her costume...

Last of Hawaii pics

Just a few days left to complete the Hawaii vacation. Actually, now that I've written about it, I'm "re"enjoying it sooo much! What a fun break it was -- one of those that I feel like I appreciate even MORE now that it's over.

Day 6:

We explored the other side of the island that day, which turned out to be a lot of fun. First, we visited another gorgeous waterfall overlook...

Then we went to watch a big blow hole. It made some great gurgling noises that were fun to listen to, as well. And, the guide book warned us NOT to go close (duh), and told about several people who had been sucked in and died, plus one really fortunate man who was sucked in, then blown right out again, phew!

Then we went to a great botanical garden. Brian found out his ethobotany teacher from BYU is one of the head botanists there -- Paul Cox. It was great to look around, and we went late enough we had the whole garden to ourselves...

Ever wonder what real cocoa plants look like? Here it is, folks -- the REAL source of chocolate...

I think Adam and Eve would have been wise to use these (below), instead of just puny little fig leaves, no??

Black pepper plant... I just thought it was neat to see how pepper corns grow. Who knew?

Lovely pink plumeria. Of course, we didn't have to go to the botanical gardens to see it growing, but they sure had some beautiful specimens..

Also bananas (below) were growing EVERYWHERE, even just wild, right in front of our condo. And yet, in their grocery stores, bananas were selling for $1.19 a pound. You heard right! And to think they're only 46 cents a pound at our local Wal*mart in Idaho. Crazy!

Some pretty flowers...

And more nameless flowers...

After the botanical gardens, we peeked in at some of the fancy hotels on the South side. Call us quirky, but it seems both Brian and I love to look at the really swanky places, just to see what they're like. So, we had fun strolling the immaculate grounds and taking a few pics here and there. This one (below) is the Marriott, I think...

Our favorite was the Grand Hyatt! It was MASSIVE, and the grounds were exquisite, including a salt water lazy-river type pool, and a tiki restaurant over the water. Wow...

From the back, looking up at the lobby area...

The beach swing we "borrowed" for a few minutes..

And, I'm sure this is a bit much, but I couldn't resist taking a quick pic of the "waiting area" inside the ladies room. Pretty posh!!

Day 7:

We kayaked the Hanalei River for a few hours, which was really relaxing and fun (except for the headwind on the way upriver). It's the mildest of the rivers on Kauai (and was the closest and most accessible for us). We got a two-person kayak, and, yes Mom, even *I* helped row the boat!!

Me and the boat... (again no shots of Brian, as he was the camera man, risking our camera by taking all these shots FROM the water)...

We saw tons of turtles, sunning themselves on rocks and branches. But as we'd get close enough to take a picture, they'd slip off into the water and we hardly ever got a good shot. But I thought this was a nice one...

After some good eats and naps that afternoon, we went back down to the Queen's Bath to swim and snorkel a bit at sunset. It wasn't as full as it had been on Sunday night, but I felt "safer" -- with less water flowing in and out. It was a perfect swim...

And a gorgeous sunset, once again...

Day 8:

Our last day (sniff, sniff). We woke up early and went snorkeling one last time. We found the BEST beach, and it was so close to our condo...

If only we had found it sooner. It was gorgeous and secluded, with TONS of fish and coral...

The pathway down (which is hard to see), was really steep and rickety, which probably helps keep it a secluded beach. And the view from the top (with my head included) was lovely...

One last shot of our lovely Hanalei Bay...

Then we packed up and headed out. We stopped and saw the Kilawaea Lighthouse and wildlife preserve...

One of those "rocks" down there is actually a monk seal (which I kept accidentally calling a monk squirrel ??). Can you find it?

They wouldn't actually let us go up inside the lighthouse, but we got to walk around and look at the water crashing on the cliffs below...

The views were spectacular, and it was such a clear day, too!

On our drive back toward the airport, I had Brian stop so we could take a picture of the Police Station. Ha! Looks intimidating, doesn't it?!

And Brian had us stop so he could take a picture of the Kapa'a LDS chapel, very quaint and lovely...

We spent the rest of the afternoon buying cheap souvenirs and delicious chocolate, then snooped around some more fancy resorts near the airport. Here's another Marriott, I think...

A clever sign, I thought. ha ha...

And, one more picture of the two of us, I thought it turned out nice...

We flew home through the night, a long night but not too bad. We were VERY excited to see our kiddos. And they were excited to see us, too. And the toy train at the airport, too...

Ah, what fun memories this trip will be as time goes by, huh?

Hawaiian Pics and Update

Remember back in mid-May when I wrote a little blurb about a trip to Hawaii? Well, that actually was a REAL trip. And finally, I'm taking time to add some of the highlight pictures, because, well, it was AWESOME!!

Brian and I found some great airfare to Kauai, and booked some reasonable accommodations for a little getaway -- celebrating our 6th anniversary (coming up in just a few weeks), and the fact that we have only two kids for just a little while longer. We left Samantha and Spencer with Brian's wonderful parents and had a perfect little holiday for a week! yay!!

Day 1:

Arrived at noon, got a sweet red Ford focus for our rental car (ha!), and checked into our condo for the night. Our view from the balcony of our room...

And, from the inside...

We lounged on the beach for a bit, then in our pool...

Then went for a drive to check out the shops and see a nearby waterfall, Wailua Falls, I think...

This was the sign at the top of the falls... not sure what it meant, but we sensed it was warning us of DANGER...

Back to our hotel for more beach lounging and an early night, after flying alllll day...

Day 2:

Went for a drive up Waimea Canyon (sp?), which rumor has it Mark Twain once called "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific." (Guide book said it wasn't really Mark Twain who called it that, but I like to think he MIGHT have.)

It started out looking like this... (excuse the wind-blown preggie look... I was both wind-blown and pregnant, what can I say?)

Three quarters of the way up it looked like this...

And from the top, it was like this, most of the time... Lots of rain and mist. We ate our picnic sandwiches and strawberries in the car in a heavy drizzle.

But when the mist cleared, the view was totally worth the rain and the waiting...

Pictures really don't do it justice, but here's one more...

On the way down, it was like this, again... a different view (with the same wind-blown look). Disclaimer -- Brian had the camera most of the time, so you will mainly just see pics of scenery and/or me...

And, we saw lots of wild chickens... They were everywhere, because there are no big predators that eat chickens in Hawaii. How nice, huh?

Day 3:

I think this was the day we checked into our new condo (or the night before?), lounged at our pool half the day, drove around our little village of Hanalei, and ate junk food in bed for hours while we watched television (watched all three Superman movies, among other things.) So, um, not too many pics. But here are just a few, starting with our fun pool with waterfalls and sandy bottom...

It was a lovely pool... I thought we got a picture of the waterfalls? but I can't seem to find it...

Our path/tunnel down to the beach, very overgrown and secluded...

There was this pair of cute little red birds that would come sit on our balcony while we ate breakfast each morning. I finally caved and fed them a little granola so I could get a picture...

The view from the lobby of our condo/resort...

Our beach (below). It was a bit more of a walk than the first place, but it had great sand (brought in by the swanky place next door that shared the beach with us), and snorkeling. We didn't actually snorkel there, but we heard it was a great place for that...

And here I am, on the balcony at that swanky place next door...

We couldn't resist having a peek at all their finery. It's one of the most expensive places to stay on Kauai... St Regis of Princeville. Their list prices were about $550 per night! But we checked online and it looks like you could Hotwire it for $400 -- a steal. ha! (The real steal was the $3 brownie in their coffee shop, which we shared.)

Day 4:

I think this may have been my favorite day. We hiked part of the famous Kalalau Trail. It's the trail that goes up along the famous Na Pali coast, where there are no roads. Gorgeous...

Here's the same view, with me (below). I was a good hiker, I have to say! After three+ months of nausea and lethargy, I was proud of myself for being able to do it at ALL! Brian kept saying, "If it gets to be too much, we can turn around." But we didn't.

Brian was a good hiker too... It doesn't look as steep and muddy and slick as it really was.

We hiked two miles (on a path labelled "strenuous" on our guidebook), down to a secluded beach with wicked riptides (no swimming allowed).

We crossed a little creek right as we got down to the beach. It was gorgeous, and the water was the perfect temperature. Then we were wishing we would have brought our swim suits, oh well...

Another view of the stream, just because we thought it was so beautiful...

The beach was nice,though small. There were signs everywhere telling people not to swim or go in the water because so many people had died there. Doesn't look that dangerous, but we didn't chance it...

We were going to eat our picnic lunch on the beach before hiking back....

But it started raining just as we got there, so we ended up on the lava rocks for our lunch, sheltered by a little overhang...

After we finished our hike, we snorkeled at a great beach for an hour or so, before heading back to our condo. We got delicious burritos on the way back that were sooo spicy, but soooo good... just like the guidebook said they would be. ha!

Day 5:

Happy Mother's Day!

My present was a GIANT chocolate chip cookie with chocolate frosting, and an orchid corsage from church. Oh, and a trip to Hawaii! :)

We called our moms in the morning (their afternoon), then went to church. We stayed for a very nice Sacrament Meeting where a young husband spoke then his wife sang. We were close behind their family of four little boys, and I felt so bad for the mom while she sang, with her boys yelling out "Mommmmmy!!!" and the newborn crying, etc. Ah, the realities of motherhood. ha!

After our church service ended, we went to this quaint little church nearby, for another service. It's the oldest Christian church on the island (their flyer said). We loved all the singing in Hawaiian -- they had a great choir!

And of course, Brian got some lovely shots of their stained glass. I'm just including one, but you can imagine the other 20 pics on our computer, right??

I confess, I was extremely tired, sore, and grumpy on Sunday. I think the hike wore me out a bit more than I expected... and poor Brian had to put up with me (his real Mothers Day present to me). We napped some, lounged on the beach and read, then napped some more.

In the evening, we walked to a secret tidepool (that's not such a secret now that it's in the guidebook), and watched the sun set...

The tide pool is called Queens Bath, and was really beautiful and big enough to swim in (which we did a few days later)...

A nice couple took our picture with the sun setting behind us...

And that, my friends, is where I will leave this blog, for now. It's taken me three days to get this far (and my kids are still in jammies at 11 a.m. on this Saturday morning). But I DO plan to write the concluding Hawaii details in the next few days. Promise.