Life

So some have been asking what else has been going on in our lives. School, work and family are still the main focus but here's a bit more detail about each of those areas.

-School: Eric will finish school at BYU-Hawaii in April. Graduation is on the 10th. He's so excited and can't wait to be "done for now." He is looking ahead at getting a Masters degree but only after he gives his brain a break.

-Work: We are on the job hunt. Eric's degree is in Hospitality, Tourism Management with a minor in Information Technology. He's leaning more towards the IT side and has been looking for jobs in that field. So far nothing has come up. We might have one option in Idaho but we haven't heard back lately so we're not sure it that's still a go. Regardless of whether we find a job or not we plan on moving to the mainland this summer. It will make job hunting/ interviewing lots easier than if we stay here.

-Family: Along with the excitement of Eric finishing school comes the possibility that he won't get to walk due to the arrival of our third baby. My due date is the last day of finals and the day before commencement. I'm actually hoping to go late so that I can see both Eric and my mom graduate. We'll see if I can hold out.

With the coming of a new little one we've also been making some chances in the house. Matthew has been kicked out of his crib and is now sleeping with William. William wasn't cool with the idea at first and still wakes up each morning and tells us "Matthew kept waking me up at night."

This is how we found the boys on their first night sleeping together.

The other family change has been my mom's decision move to the mainland. She wants to be near family so she is looking at her options whether to rent the property to the BYUH or sell it. There are some tender feelings about getting rid of "mom and dad's place" but we support her in her decision. Things are still in the early stages so we don't foresee her moving before the end of the summer. (Last chance to visit!)

I think that brings us up to date. We hope to have things ready for the movers at the end of April then will move in with mom until we actually head up to the mainland in the summer. It's strange to think that our time here is coming to an end. When we came we had no children -though I was six months pregnant with William- and will leave with three. We have enjoyed all our experiences here but are anxious to move on with life.

One year photo shots

As is Nielsen tradition we took pictures of Matthew for his one year wall shot. I couldn't find the overalls that William wore for his one year shot (I'm sure I'll find them tomorrow), but Matthew still managed to squeeze into these overalls for the picture.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Getting his first taste of frosting

"Mmm this is good!"

Dig right in!

Happy birthday to our precious Matthew. You bring such joy into our lives. This past year has flown by and yet we can't remember what life was like without you in it. We love you so much!

Day six

Matthew is willing to sit back and be a spectator and a participant. There are times when we are doing things and he's totally content to stay out of the way and watch us. Other times he's not afraid to jump in and join in the fray. We love how he has his own opinion and will do things when he's ready.

Day five

We love to see how he takes his entertainment with him. He puts things in his mouth and crawls around. When he stops he takes the toy out and plays with it. When he's ready to go he puts it back in his mouth. One time he had a small ball in his mouth, and with one hand he pushed another ball around. When he stopped he played with both balls.

Day four

We love that you're not a picky eater. In fact you cry when there's no more food. You can't stand to see us eat anything without offering a bite to you.

Day three

We love Matthew's sad frowny face! It can be funny to watch his whole face just crumple. We try not to let it happen too often but when it does it makes us smile. :)

Day two

Matthew is a calm baby. He just goes with the flow. He doesn't demand much from us just food, a clean diaper and snuggles. The rest of the time he's content to watch our crazy comings and goings.

Just for Matthew- Day one

This week our "baby" turns one. Each day this week will be dedicated to him and how much we love him.

Matthew is such a happy boy. He has the cutest smile and laugh which we love to see and hear.

PCC

We finally took the boys to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). For the last two days I've been telling William he has to be good if he wants to see the drums. And he has been an angel for two days! He really wanted to see the guys play the "boom boom boom drums". We met up with my cousin and her family and walked around to see the different village shows. The Tonga village was definitely William's favorite since that's where the drums were. We also went to the night show. Matthew stayed home with my mom while we took William. PCC recently changed the program so that it tells a story of a child growing up. It was really good. William stayed awake for the whole thing. He loved the "fire people" aka fire dancers. Anytime he saw fire he perked right up. Though it was a long day we had a great time. William has already asked to go back to see the drums and more "fire people".

My goal was to persuade William to dress up in a grass skirt. When the time finally came he surprised me and wanted to dress up! I was so excited! We couldn't get him to take his shirt off but he still looked so cute! He said that "next time I take off my shirt and hold the sword". This just means we'll have to go back!

Tsunami experience

Only in Hawaii would the stores put a ration on spam!

Well we survived our first natural disaster experience. Considering we got plenty of warning (a phone call at 230am from Eric's coworker, left the house at 730am) we got everything we needed packed and ready to go. We did learn a few lessons in the process. Here they are in no particular order:
1- Have baby food and formula on hand. While the rest of us could eat whatever was around I only had enough food and formula for two days for Matthew. I sent Eric to the store, knowing it would be a mad house, but he called and said it would be at least a 30 min wait to check out. He came back empty handed but thankfully Matthew only needed three jars and one bottle while we waited things out.
2- Think short term as well as long term. Eric loaded two boxes of food storage and lots of water in the van. (Which are still waiting to be taken out) We felt good about having enough things to last us a while but as we waited we found that we didn't have a lot for the here and now. We did make peanut butter and honey sandwiches but nothing really beyond that.
3- Entertainment for the adults. Ok this may sound silly but really you can only listen to the radio/ news for so long before you get bored. We brought stuff for William and Matthew but by the third hour I was itching for a book or music or something else to do.
4- Remember to be comfortable. Again a silly thing but if you're going to be waiting a while then you need to be comfortable. I did think about grabbing our pillows before we left but thought we wouldn't have room for them. When Eric made a trip back to the house I told him to make sure he grabbed them, as well as our shoes (we were in our sandals which isn't the best when walking in horse fields), some chips and my mumu (he told me that I needed to wear pants or shorts but again by that point I was thinking comfort)

We are grateful that this was just a test run. We learned a lot and have talked about the things we would do differently if it happened again. We also learned that if we had less notice who would grab what and where we would go. I can't say I wish it didn't happen. Yes we were very tired afterwards but I think it showed all of us how prepared we are or are not for the unknown.
Later that day as we got ready for bed, William told us "I'm sorry the big waves didn't come today. I'm very sorry." We had to explain to him that we were glad they didn't come but he again apologized that we didn't see any and that "maybe next time we'll see the big waves." Let's hope next time we'll remember what we learned and be even more prepared.