The Evening Progresses....

7:30 pm

8:00 pm
I love quiet Friday nights. We went for a walk around the neighborhood with Miranda and Matthew, had a nice dinner and got Ella ready for bed. Ella loves her new bathing freedom! Now that she can sit up by herself, she gets the whole bath tub to herself and her rubber duckies. Of course, she just rotates which one she has in her mouth but with the three of them floating around she's occupied for a long time. She loves bath time so much, she's started throwing little tantrums when we put up her toys and drain the tub. She hollers and shrieks at us while we pull her out and dry her off. By the time she gets a bath, it's almost bedtime so she is quick to calm down and is out like a light before I finish feeding her.

8:15 pm

House Guest

Now that we've finally settled in and unpacked, I've been spending my time catching up on paperwork, doctor appoints, phone calls to immigration and all that fun stuff. We went to the beach for the first time today, though it was only to do our Christmas photos. We dressed up and put Ella in her pretty Christmas dress and headed down to Ko Olina, a resort area not far from us. We managed to get some pictures but it was hard to get Ella to look at the camera when there was no one to distract her. She spent most of the pictures trying to look at us and playing with my necklace. I won't post the one I'm sending out until Christmas day, but here are some of the others from today.

When we got home, we found our first house guest hanging out in the kitchen. I'm sure it was a Gecko (aren't they green though?) but he was a light brown/gray color. Totally harmless so I managed to catch him on the counter when he leaped from the wall. I caught him under our pasta strainer and used our cutting board to transfer him outside and to freedom. He was only about 4 inches long but still made me jumpy. Ron passed me a cup and said to put him there and cover it with my hand...is he crazy!! There was no way I was getting any closer than I had to! My motivation and quick action was from pure fear that he may want to stay overnight and I was not about to spend the entire night looking for the sucker!

Happy 8 Months, Ella!!!!

Ella waving to Daddy and the camera...

Ella is 8 months old today! I can't believe how the time has flown by! So many joys and milestones. She is the love of our life and we are so proud of her!

We moved into our house last Wednesday and have finally finished unpacking and setting up house. I've tried to blog a few times but my computer is still on the fritz. I will try to post some pictures of the past week.

Ella is doing wonderful and is loving her new home. It took a couple of nights to get used to her crib again but now she loves it and will put herself to sleep. We have also gotten her a high chair and it is so easy to feed her. Ella began waving 'hi' and 'bye' as we were leaving Atlanta, but now she waves to everyone, including people on the TV. So cute!

We are off to see Santa today with our neighbor, Miranda and her son Matthew, who is about 5 weeks younger than Ella. Hopefully we can get a picture, I'm not sure how Ella will be when I drop her in his lap...she may just try to pull off his beard!

Ella's new high chair...

Our House

We drove through the neighborhood today after running some errands and took these pics of our new house. We get the keys on Wednesday and have our stuff arriving Wednesday and Thursday.

Two more nights in a hotel and we'll finally be in our own place. It's a duplex so it's really small but I'll send pictures when we get settled and I've got everything looking cute again.

We're in the newer part of the neighborhood, the part they've refurbished. To get to our area you have to drive through the "hood". The houses are old, rundown and junky. Our house looks gorgeous compared to the old part!

Sunday Football

Today was another do nothing day. We really don't have anything to do. We slept in, watched some tv, went to the pool and then spent the entire afternoon watching football. Well, Ron watched football and I am stuck on those Sudoku puzzles. Ella loves to watch the game with her Daddy, but I'm sure she'll grow out of it...football is so loooong and boring! With the time difference, Ron gets 2 or 3 games on Sunday starting in the morning and going all afternoon. Yawn! Tomorrow is another day of running around getting things done.

Video Test - Ella Laughing

I'm hoping this video works....

Einstein

We relaxed all day today and lounged by the pool a bit too. I have a tan! Though I've been using lots of sunscreen, it's impossible to stay out of the sun. Ron was able to get the tires for the car and the Honda passed it's safety inspection. Monday it's down to the DMV to register the car. Here is Ella this afternoon in the hotel. Her hair is getting long but it's so wonderfully curly I get to make her look like a mad scientist...we think she's smart too!
Tonight we went for a walk through the base housing behind the hotel. It was like walking back into the 1950's. The sun sets around 6:00 but kids are still playing in the street, people have their windows open and toys and bikes are left in the yard. I'm so glad we chose base housing because it's so safe. Ella and I can walk in the evening with no problems.
It's been gorgeous today, I am definately deserving of these island breezes after living in the heat and humidity in Atlanta (like an armpit...yuck).

Vehicles

Today we spent most of the day out, and really didn't accomplish anything. We have to register our car with the state of Hawaii but first we need a safety inspection. We finally found a place without a long wait and we were told we can't have black-tinted windows. Goodbye "Darkness". We went to the store, bought some razor blades and took off all the tint. Then back to the inspection place, where we were told we needed a back left tire and a brake light. Back out to replace those only the tire won't be in until tomorrow. We went out and got groceries for the weekend and Ron will go back in the morning to get the tire. Here are Ron and Ella at the end of the day. They are exhausted! I think once the safety inspection is done tomorrow we'll be lounging by the pool the rest of the weekend. It's been hectic running around changing addresses, registering, checking into the military system. So much to do. We move into our house on Wedneday then I'll be busy unpacking. We chose the house on the base, no bills except our cable/internet and the house is completely taken care of, totally secure and actually cute...just about as small as our apartment. Lots of storage though and Ron gets to downsize. We found a futon we like and will most likely replace the couches with it. I'm so excited about setting up a house again!

Spoiled

Okay, first let me apologise! I know I live in Hawaii and should have no complaints. I'm really spoiled. The military gives you 48 hours to make a housing decision and once it's made, the only way to get out of it is to have another baby! The pressure! Especially when we aren't familiar with the areas and don't really know where we want to live. We decided to live on base near Kunia, where Ron works. It's close to his job and we will save so much $$$. Ron always wanted to downsize our furniture and I can easily part with our 1980's couches in exchange for a futon (guest bed/ couch). We do have lots of storage so it's all good. We call and accept tomorrow and should be able to move in next week. Really, our own place again! We're excited.

These pics are from the other night. It's been raining the last two days and parts of the island are prone to flooding (one of the areas is where we were considering renting). This rain had been a blessing and added another reason we don't need to waste money on a rental. Australia here we come!!!! (And I get to go shopping for a futon!)

I have stopped nursing Ella. Since we've been here I've only been nursing her when she wakes up in the morning and before she goes to bed. Today was the first day I've stopped completely. I tried to nurse her before bed but her teeth are getting too sharp and if she's at all distracted, I'm in a lot of pain. Steph, you were so right...teeth are god's way of saying it's time to stop nursing! I'm a little uncomfortable and probably will be until my milk dries up but I'm sure I'll be back to normal in a day or two. I'm sad that this part of Ella's babyness is gone. She's getting so big, talking up a storm and her latest thing, waving! She sees herself in the full-length mirror when she wakes up and waves to herself. Too cute!!! I love watching her grow and process new things!

Happy Halloween

Okay, I totally forgot until I read Amy's blog...sorry, absorbed in housing issues.
We took some pictures of Ella dressed up as a pumpkin before we left ATL. Most costumes were made for cold weather so we bought this, dressed Ella up, hid the tags, took some pictures and returned it to the store. Oh well, it's not like we can use it here!