Here, have some Baby Jack...

So today, the older kids and the men went on an adventure to ride the Sugar Cane Train while we ladies roamed Lahaina with Baby Jack. Lucky for me, and maybe not so lucky for Jack, my hands were free and I was able to have a hay day photographing the youngest member of our group. You have NO idea how hard it was for me to narrow these down...he is just SO sweet and photogenic! Enjoy!

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

Your daily nap time update...

I'm realizing that I am accumulating a LOT of pictures of Holland during this vacation. Maybe that's because she's a girl and so stinking sweet and I'm in great need of a daughter some day, or maybe it's because she's a girl and actually sits still for longer than half a second so I can take a picture...either way, I'm pretty sure it's because she's a girl. So here you go, you too can feast upon her cuteness:

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

How's that for a cute little girl? And believe it or not, I did actually get about 2 others of the boys that are worth showing. I, once again, don't have many of Oliver...partly because he is now pretty sick with the yuck bug and partly because every time I point the camera towards him he asks me not to take a picture. So...here are a couple others for you:

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

More from Hawaii...

Here are a few new ones...but mostly I am posting this to let you know that I've now uploaded a whole bunch more in our Picasaweb albums. Feel free to take a peak. You can just click on the link at the bottom right of the photo that says "From: Hawaii." Enjoy!

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

Reality is setting in...

...and I'm realizing you may just get more blog posts than I had imagined. Because here's the situation: Maui is now drenched in BEAUTIFUL sunny weather, there's a soft breeze blowing, the whole fam is out frolicking in the waves and basking in the sun...and here I sit in our room waiting for Owen to wake up from his nap. Yes people, I am missing out on this joyous day on the beach so that my sick little boy can get his rest. And now I am very glad I brought the computer...at least this way you get to see some of our pictures before we get home! So I've decided that I'll just use Owen's sleep time to keep you all updated on our vacation. Bet you didn't think you'd get the play by play, huh? Seriously though, it is just gorgeous here! Yesterday we took a day long bus tour of the island, which was neat because now we know a bit more history and have seen a few places off the beaten path. Today we are enjoying the beach and are heading out to a luau tonight per Jason's request. The men are currently trying out the new boogie board they just bought, although I think they still have a bit of learning to do. I'd show you pictures of the madness, but oh wait, I'm inside and can't be out there taking pictures! For now, here are a few others for you to peak at:

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

From Hawaii

Is it too cheesy to say "Aloha?"

So here we are in Hawaii, and loving it!!! I'm a little embarrassed that I'm even taking the time to update the blog while we're here, but let's be honest, that's how we roll with a baby. I mean, a night life is out of the question so why not play on the internet instead? So far we haven't had the most sunny weather, but we're enjoying the warm winds and stormy clouds. Owen and I are feeling pretty stinking crummy with some sort of throat gunk and Jack has a goopy, swollen eye...but after lots of phone calls to doctors and a couple of trips to the pharmacy we are (hopefully) on the mend. Regardless, we are LOVING Hawaii. I have to admit...80 degrees feels awfully good after leaving 29 degree Yakima! Plus, this place is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It truly is a tropical paradise...and I'm excited to see more of it. I'll post more pictures later, but for now here are a few from our first few days:

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

Please disregard the huge wad of snot hanging from his nose:

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

Leah and the boys came over this afternoon...

and I snapped a few pictures while they were playing. It's hard to take good pictures with such active boys, but they certainly are fun! And, Owen thoroughly enjoys playing with them...he even got to sit at the kid table with them for dinner, which we could tell he was VERY proud of!

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

Hmm...maybe I should tilt the camera a little less often!

The goings on of our day...

Exhibit A: Owen has FINALLY taken to feeding himself. Well, he has been doing finger food for quite a while, but he has only recently taken a liking to feeding himself with utensils (insert applause here). We are very thankful for this little development because it means we don't have to sit in front of him for good portions of our day spoon feeding him. On the other hand, we are not all that excited about the mess that comes with the territory. But hey, it's worth it! Oh yeah, I do need to mention that the pb&j sandwich pictured below was consumed only after being dipped in ranch dressing!

From Blog Photos

Exhibit B: The Self Portrait
I recently joined a photography group (to any of you who enjoy photography, you should join too! Becky, Allison, Lyssa, Sherrie...that means YOU! Let me know if you are interested.) At any rate, basically what it entails is taking one picture a week for a year that has to do with a weekly topic. For example, last week's theme was "New Years." Well, this week we had to do a self portrait....gasp! Now let me just say that this took me WAY out of my comfort zone. A: I HATE having pictures taken of myself, as many of you can atest to. and B: Have you ever tried to take a self portrait? I mean seriously, trying to get a picture that is in focus and looks good using a tripod and a self timer is QUITE a challenge. But it is for this reason that I joined the group. I wanted to try something different with the camera than just taking pictures of kids (although I still think kids make the best subjects). So, I gave it a whirl. Yes, I felt completely foolish taking photo after photo of myself, but oh well! I am only including these in this post because I have had several people tell me in the past "you never put any pictures up of yourself!" That's partly because I am always the one behind the camera and partly because of my previously mentioned dislike of pictures of myself. So here is a RARE look at yours truly:

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

Exhibit C: The wee one playing outside. I have no idea what is up with our weather lately, but Owen and I jumped on the chance to play outside a bit today and not freeze to death. And I just need to point out the fact that I took like a bajillion pictures of myself today and liked maybe 3 of them...and then proceeded to take 5 pictures of Owen and love every single one of them! Hmmm...I'm sure there are several contributing factors to that...but here is a quick look at Owen enjoying the out of doors:

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

The end!

Here by popular demand...

Except, I couldn't capture its hugeness very well...mainly because I couldn't even get the whole thing to fit in the camera frame. But if you notice the recliner pictured behind it you just might get a sense of how much space it really takes up!
P.S. Don't mind the poor quality of the photo.

From Blog Photos

The Bean Bag Chair...

A while ago, C.J. went to a video game convention in Seattle (yes, my husband is what you would call a "gamer") and had a ton of fun. Apparently while he was there he got to sit on what he described as an AWESOME bean bag chair. Ever since then, he has been dreaming of owning one himself. So, when Christmas rolled around, what do you suppose he wanted? Yep, you guessed it. The only problem is, I am just a tiny bit uptight (ok, maybe a LOT uptight) about our house and what is in it, where things go, etc....so the thought of having a giant bean bag sitting in the middle of our living room didn't sound too exciting to me. However, I knew C.J. REALLY wanted it and I decided I should lighten up a bit and let him have some say in what we have around our house (although he does have a huge room in the basement that is COMPLETELY his domain!). So, I secretly ordered this beast (actually had Alli order it for me so that C.J. wouldn't see the charge on our card and ruin the surpsise) and then had it shipped to my parents' house in Seattle. That way, C.J. wouldn't see if before Christmas and we could just pick it up while we were there for Christmas Eve. Well, the darn thing dind't come and didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. After a month of waiting and C.J. getting no present from me on Christmas day, it finally arrived in Seattle this past weekend and my dad dropped it off at our house last night. Ok, seriously people....the thing is freaking HUGE!!!! I'm not exaggerating when I say it takes up more space than our recliners. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not regretting the decision to buy it because I know it has made C.J. really happy, I just had to stop and laugh about it for like 30 minutes yesterday when we opened it. So to anyone out there who is considering getting their husband a bean bag chair, note the dimensions BEFORE you order it! At least the box it came in has been put to good use!

From Happy New Year!

Mission Impossible...

So Alli and the boys came over today to play for a little while. I so wisely thought it would be fun to get a few photos of the boys (but what's new?). However, the little fellas had something quite different in mind...these are the best we could do for today!

Jack was not the least bit pleased to have a camera in his face. I, however, happen to love this shot:

From Happy New Year!

Owen:

From Happy New Year!

Oliver:

From Happy New Year!