More rain info

Well for the moment it's not raining but the clouds are rolling in. To see more crazy photos of how much water there was click here on the link. Many houses have damage and there's lots of torn up carpet outside of homes. We got lucky and hope our luck holds as the storm passes by again. FYI: All the pictures that are shown in the article by BYUH are no more than a block from our house.

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

We woke up this morning to rain, lots of it. One of the rental units that is sub level flooded but after emptying 30 loads of a 14 gallon wet/dry vac most of the water was out. Eric had to walk to the hardware store for a part for the sump pump which under normal conditions wouldn't be bad. But three blocks one way in rain water, that in some places was waist deep, was not an easy task. Why didn't he just drive? Well the streets were flooded and some cars were stuck. So he put on his swim trunks and walked over. An hour later he made it back.
So here are some pictures of our area.

Our house and driveway. Boy are we glad we live upstairs!

Our neighbors' front yard.

The fire department has been around helping people out of their homes. By the time they reached the end of the bushes on the right side they were knee deep in water.

If you look closely you can see a red paddle boat being used to get people around.

When Eric first walked by the water was just above the bumper of this truck. An hour and a half later when I took this picture the water had gone down some. At the moment the rain has died down but the forecast says the storm system is still overhead. We just hope it slacks off enough for us to dry up a bit.

Sometimes it rains, even in paradise.

**Update: The town 15 minutes away from us got 14 inches of rain in 12 hours. That was the most on the whole island. After checking all the pumps, we're getting ready for bed. The rain has stopped for now but is forecasted to come back in the next day or two. The weatherman said it "shouldn't" be as bad as the first time.

Present from Ye Ye

On Black Friday William received an early Christmas present from my Dad. We had been on the look out for it since my Dad bought it off of Ebay. William loves it! It is a Vtech train station that sings ABC, tells time, identifies the animals, plays music and a bunch of other things. Everyday William has asked for "train please" and is always sad when we clean it up for the night.

Thanks for the gift Ye Ye!

Thanksgiving

This year I'm very grateful for a wonderful husband who likes and is willing to cook. Eric made the turkey, two pies from scratch, and the sweet potatoes. Everything turned out great! We have a full fridge and are already tired of leftovers. One fun memory that we made this year was watching William help himself to the jellied cranberry sauce. We were cleaning up and William just climbed up into a chair and was putting handful after handful of sauce in his mouth.

We hope your thanksgiving was as memorable as ours!

When mom's asleep...

... the boys will play.

The perfect season!

Although the game wasn't broad casted here in Hawaii (much to my disappointment), I watched the updates on ESPN scoreboard. I'm happy to say I still bleed red and my running Utes beat those little Cougars 48-24! Not only does it end Utah's season on a high note but it also means that they won every game this season. I'm also considering this win a bonus anniversary gift.

Sing-A-Long

Did you know that William loves to sing? I recently found him a microphone so that he can sing along with one of his favorite singers Josh Groban. As you can tell William has watched this performance more than once and has learned all of Josh's moves right down to running across the stage when Josh does and running to us to touch our fingers like Josh does with the audience.

On a side note when we asked William what we should name the baby he said "Josh Groban!" No joke! He wasn't even watching or listening to Josh at the time. It was really cute, but I doubt that we'll have a Josh Groban Nielsen in the family.

Happy and Sad

Baby

It's a... BABY! Eric won the fight and so we didn't find out the gender of this baby. Like with William we'll wait until delivery to find out what it is. The measurements say I'm right on track for my due date of March 30th. We're hoping to go a bit earlier since that is a week before Eric's finals but it'll come when it's ready.

Happy birthday Nai Nai! Here's your third grandchild saying hi!

Halloween

William with Ansley the pesky wabbit

William with Adyson the ferocious killer ladybug

William got to attend the ward trunk or treat this year. By the third car he figured out that he had to say trick or treat to get any candy and was saying it loud and clear, followed by a much quieter please and thank you. By the end of the activity William was telling me "pumpkin too heavy!" It was really full so we nixed the idea of going around the neighborhood once the party was over. He had a fun time and was saying trick or treat to us once we got home hoping to get some of his hard earned candy (which we have sampled for him.) In case you're wondering where you saw that costume before it was from last year. The yoda hat didn't fit anymore so he was a Jedi this year.

ABCs

My favorite is the LMNOP part!

Have you ever?

Copy and paste the words. Bold the things that you've done. It's fun to see how much you've done or have yet to do! Thanks Erin for the great idea!

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Seen the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Walked on the equator 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Solved a Rubix Cube without cheating 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

Been to the base of the Tower but didn't go up.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Lost a loved one 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Broken a bone 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Flown in a hot air balloon

Alarm Clock

One of the worst things invented was the alarm clock. No one should be forced to pull themselves out of a deep sleep. The body will naturally wake up when it's rested. We have had an alarm clock that goes off at 8 in the morning for the past week. Now for some of you that's sleeping in, but for Eric and I that's about the time we start kicking each other saying "you get up with William," or "it's your turn to change William's diaper." We enjoy those last few moments of bliss in bed before we raise to conquer the day. This new alarm clock does not belong to us though. We don't set it and there's no snooze button. It is in fact the neighbor with a jackhammer. Apparently there is a water leak and they have been breaking up the concrete to dig up the pipe and find the leak. Now after a week of waking up to one of the most annoying sounds in the world we hope this will be solved soon. Eric reminds me that at least he doesn't start until 8 AM. This is so true! But I still wish I could hit the snooze on this alarm clock, roll over and go back to bed.

Random Laughs

This picture made me do a double take.

To read what happened click here.

What color is it?

Just how blue was that frosting? See for yourself! Thanks Stacy for capturing a classic William picture!

Two Cute!

I love how he's singing along with the rest of us.

We had a Star Wars cake

Notice the blue frosting all over his lips and hand. I need to remember that for next year to get something less colorful.

Our little William is growing fast. He's celebrated his second birthday and had a fun time with friends. We've enjoyed watching him grow and discover new things. Here are some of his most recent accomplishments:

-New phrase "I can't hear you!" Eric and I say that to each other when we're in different rooms and apparently William picked it up. Now when I tell him it's time for diaper change or to take a nap his reply is "I can't hear you!"
-Can find and identify several letters, his favorite being W. He finds it on buildings, street signs, books and on TV.
-LOVES Star Wars, airplanes and chocolate. Any one of these things can be used to bribe him to do what we want him to do.
-Is tall enough to open doors and hates to be shut out of anything. When going to the bathroom he'll knock on the door until we open it.

-Already asking us for money. Loves to have money in his pockets. Whenever we go out he reaches into our change bowl and grabs a handful of coins.
-Enjoys hiding. Sometimes when he's quiet, he's hiding and doing something he's not suppose to do, like playing with the telephone, pulling tissues out of the box, or hiding the remote from us preventing us from changing the channel.

We sure love our little guy. He's a joy to be around and always makes us smile even when we're mad at him. We're so grateful for his loving spirit and cheerful personality.

Here he is showing off some of his presents.

Where's Weasel?

William has this weasel ball. It entertains him for hours on end. The annoying thing is when it's on the hard wood and just rolls around after he leaves it. We're always changing batteries too. Well lately William has been asking "where's weasel?" We've looked for it but not too hard since I don't like that it's always on. This afternoon while looking over the railing to our backyard I saw something that looked familiar. Weasel was in pieces downstairs. Now our neighbors have lots of kids so there could have been a chance that that weasel was theirs that got thrown over the wall. However, after a more thorough search of the house it was determined that it was in fact William's weasel ball. Now Eric and I have pondered how it got out there in the first place. William doesn't play in the back or on the ever dirty deck. The fact that the ball was opened has lead us to this conclusion. While playing in the kitchen near the screen door, William pushed weasel through the hole at the bottom of the screen and weasel got out. Since it had full batteries it traveled along the deck until it fell off thus landing on the ground breaking open. Now we haven't told William that weasel is broken for good. I was going to get it and bring it back up until I remembered that it's been raining at night for the last three nights and weasel would undoubtedly be "yucky, gross." So for now weasel is "hiding" until we get a new one or William forgets about it. But we have finally put to rest the daily question of "where's weasel."

Pregnancy Pains

Disclaimer: My purpose of this is not to complain but to share a bit of how my pregnancy is going.

Some women have bad cases of morning sickness. Others gain weight. Some can't eat certain things or be around smelly stuff. Me... I don't go through any of that. Here I am approaching the end of the first trimester without those miserable pains. However I do have one pain and it's a literal pain in the butt. When I was pregnant with William I ended up going to a physical therapist to work on my lower back and the pain in my backside. It was determined that as my uterus grew it was pinching my sciatic nerve that caused pain to go from my lower right back to the back of my knee. Well I was hoping to avoid this particular pain, but alas it is somewhat of a trade off for not suffering from the other stuff. Eric has taken the role of physical therapist seriously. He enjoys rubbing as hard as he can even after there are tears in my eyes. William also helps him out from time to time but generally doesn't like to see me cry and will say "stop Daddy, Mommy owie." While I'm deeply grateful for not suffering from the other pregnancy pains I still have one to deal with that makes it difficult to walk, stand or sit for any lengths of time. But again I will gladly deal with the pain in my butt than having to worship the porcelain god every morning. So as I did with William, I can say to our next child "you were a pain in mommy's butt."

Reading

Eric was reading to William one night and as I listened I could hear William talking. Soon I heard William talking more than Eric. Turns out that William was reading TO Eric! He knew the books/ stories well enough to recite what was on each page. The video was a "reenactment" of what I heard. He did much better the first time. William is a bit stuffed up from his cold, that's why he sounds kinda funny.

From Nai Nai and Ye Ye

Thanks for the gifts!

Question

What is three inches long, less than an ounce in weight, has a heartrate of 155 and will make its appearance March 30, 2009?

New Look

Thanks to Erica and Dee for helping with the new background. Took me a bit to get it set up right but it was worth it. What do you think?

Conversation with William

Mom: William, did you know that your birthday is coming up soon?
William: Yeah!
Mom: Who do you want to invite to your birthday party?
William: Umm Mommy!
Mom: Okay who else?
William: Umm Daddy!
Mom: Yes Mommy and Daddy will be there. Who else do you want to come?
William: Umm, umm Jesus!
Mom: So is there anyone else you want to come to your party?
William: Chrisjoe (Christie and Joe)
Mom: Anyone else?
William: Hannah moved.
Mom: Yes Hannah moved and can't come.
William: Omi (Naomi)
Mom: Okay Naomi and her family. Is that it?
William: Adyson!
Mom: We'll invite Adyson. Anyone else?
William: Ummm Jesus!

As I was writing out the invite list William would not stop saying Jesus and pointing to the paper until I actually wrote it down! Congrats to those of you who got mentioned by name! William thinks you're pretty special! For those of you who didn't get mentioned don't worry we still love you and added you to the list!

Prayer

"Heavenly Father bless food make us strong. Bless us have a good day. Name Jesus Christ Amen."

Photo tag

I did this a long time ago and never posted it. Since I did another tag recently I figured I'd publish this one too.

They say a picture can say a thousand words. So here are some things about me in picture form.

Favorite Food


Favorite Animal



Favorite color and plant


Favorite past time


Favorite Movie



Dislike

(so there's no misunderstanding that is a mosquito)

What flavor is it?

This is just a random post. William asked for yogurt the other day. When I opened the lid something didn't look right. I glanced at the front and yep something was definitely wrong. Does this look like strawberry banana yogurt? Guess it's a good thing William likes the blueberry flavor too.

Tagged

What I was doing five years ago:
-working at Laie Elementary school
-contemplating about going to grad school
-met and began dating Eric


Pet Peeves:
-drivers who don't use turn signals
-appliances that don't work
-when the dish I make looks nothing like the picture in the cook book even though I followed the directions


Some things I would do if I was a billionaire:
-save for Eric's schooling
-buy a house
-save for kids college
-buy a private jet so I could go anywhere, anytime


Favorite foods:
-Char Siu Bao (BBQ pork buns)
-Pizza
-Peppermint ice cream
-Mongolian Grill in Union Gap, WA



Tagging Brittani, Melynda and Katie

Our newest addition

After much anticipation... the day finally came. We got a new dryer!

The boxes on the floor equal $1600 in parts.

Isn't it beautiful?!

As an added bonus it even entertains William!

We're excited to welcome this newcomer to our home. We hope to get to know it better and that it will be with us for a long time.

We'll miss you!

Hannah and her parents are leaving for New Zealand for a few months. We will miss them very much. We're counting the days 'til you come back!

"I kissin' Hannah!"

Best buds!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to a wonderful father, husband and friend! We love you!

Warranty

When you buy a new appliance or one of yours breaks down you often may wonder about getting a warranty on it. Let me tell you they are so worth it! About a year ago our dryer broke down. When they fixed it we decided to spend the extra money and get a warranty on it. We didn't really need it but figured it wouldn't hurt to have. So when the dryer broke the end of June we didn't have to pay anything for the repairs or labor. Sears has come out five times and have spent over $1200 on parts alone. And how much did we have to pay? Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. So the next time you debate over getting a warranty, think about the headache it will be to fix it. Spending that extra $120 on the warranty has definitely paid off for us, even if we still don't have a working dryer.

Hot

While cooking griddle cakes (fluffier than pancakes) one morning William got too close to the pan. He knows the word hot yet for some reason reached out and grabbed the side of the griddle and got burned. He didn't cry much and almost seemed proud to show off his new "ouchie".