Thursday, December 30
Bounce Bounce Baby.. Duh nu-nu-nuh nuh..
Sunday, December 19
Wedding Wedding WEDDING plans!
October 2010
Saturday, December 18
"Got a drill bit?" "Nope. But I've got a hatchet."
I had the sudden urge to rearrange my "entertainment center" the other day. So I did. My good ol' sis Missy and I moved the "china cabinet" (which was really an old TV stand turned china cabinet turned storage unit/home of sewing and crafting supplies) and we moved it through the dining area (turned Tank's new home until we move into our new home where he will have an amazing backyard!) through the kitchen and into the living room. I needed to make a hole for all the TV, DVD player, Comcast and of course the holy XBOX cords to go through. Missy asked me if I have a drill bit. A what? Missy insisted on us finding one to make the perfects holes... so being that...
- I didn't know what a drill bit was.
- I didn't have one.
- I have absolutely NO PATIENCE.
I suggested a hatchet. That's riiiiiggggggghhhhhtttt. A hatchet. Miss refused and couldn't even believe that I suggested such a thing, but hey.. whatever will make a hole is fine with me. The TV would have covered it up anyways right? So with hatchet in hand, Miss obviously shot me down and went home to get her boyfriend's drill bits. When she comes back, we marked the spot to drill the big hole and proceed to drill. So excited to finally drill..... and then the drill dies. Yes. It dies. Charge it you say? Can't find the charger. ANYWHERE. We looked in every cabinet. The outside closet. The inside closets, the kitchen drawers everywhere and still no charger.
HATCHET! Just use the damn hatchet!
Nope, Missy goes home to look for her boyfriend's drill and/0r charger.
She comes back with an electric SAW! Muuuaaahhahha The DIYer in me gets pretty excited. All the while Koa is hanging out in his swing watching us like we're crazies. We pretty much were going insane over this damn TV stand.
We were finally able to make the hole and set up all the cords. It was GREAT. So this whole story is here to direct you to a NEW blog! My new Blog! Another blog. One for Baby and one for me. It is called "Drill Bit Branco"
Saturday, November 27
Mama Branco
First we fell in love with eachother..
Then we fell in love with our baby...
He said, "Boo.. Will you marry me?" And I of course started crying and I was so happy and said YES!!! And I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I just told him how much I love him and how much I love our son and I feel so complete.
I honestly had NO CLUE. We went and looked at rings at a few different places throughout the my pregnancy and after Kekoa was born and I had no idea he had actually purchased one. AAAAAAAAhhhhhhh!!!!!
I am the luckiest girl in the world and I love my family. We might not being doing things the conventional way, but its the way we're doing it and everything is falling into place just as it should. I wouldn't change one thing about it.
Get ready for some wedding plans!
Sunday, November 21
Hello Again.
Kekoa is 3 months! OMG. I can't even believe it. He is growing so fast and I don't like it.
Milestones:
- He laughs and smiles AAAALLLL DDDAAAAAYYYYY!
- He gurgles all day long and spit bubbles.
- He drools and drools and drools.. we think he might be teething and Sophie the Giraffe is he absolute favorite thing right now. We don't leave home without it.
- He grabs onto almost anything you put in front of him. It takes him a few seconds, but once he gets it.. its his. You better hope he doesn't get a grip on your hair or it will be ripped from your head.
- He is an amazing traveler! He slept the entire 5 hour flight to Hawaii only waking up to eat on the descend. The flight home was just as nice. He was awake for about 2 hours of the 2.5 hour flight, but was just cruising on mama and daddy's laps. :)
- He is rooolllliiinnnnggggggg. I put him down for his afternoon nap on his back and when I went back in to check on him he had rolled onto his side. Sleeping soooo peacefully. SO CUTE.
- He is rooolllliiinnnnggggggg ALL THE WAY OVER! Okay, maybe not all the time... well actually he's only done it once. haha When we were in Hawaii he rolled from his back to his belly. And of course he would do this when I am NOT THERE. Yeah, I wasn't even at the house. I went out to dinner and AC was home wiht Kekoa. I of course was so excited, but very sad that I didn't get to see it. I'm still waiting for the next big roll.
- He loves to do a great hamstring stretch and he loves to grab his toes.
- He laughs OUT LOUD everytime we lay him down on his playmat to play with all the hanging toys.
- He pulls himself up when sitting on your lap and holding onto your hands. He goes from a flat back position to pulling hiself up to a sitting position. Again, so cute!
He is so flexible! He must have gotten this from his mama.
Friday, November 19
ALOHA!
This is Kekoa at 2.5 months in his Bumbo chair for the first time! And I just love him so much too. He loved it!!
We just got back from a two week vacation visiting family and AC's mom at her new job in Kona! We had the best time and were able to intr0duce Kekoa to his family in Hilo for the first time. The scenery was beautiful, the hotel his mom works at is beautiful and it was just beautiful all around! I can't wait to go back for another trip in March.. where we will be running our first half marathon! (that's another post to come soon)
Our little family at the King Kamehameha statue in Hawi, Hi. This is the original statue that was found in the ocean. It sunk with the ship. But they found it. So there we are!
Friday, October 1
Deuce Bigalow Kekoa Gigolo
He is sooo Happy! I sing to him every morning and play with his little chubby cheeks and he loves it! He was trying to talk to me again this morning all morning! Once I figure out how to load videos on here I will post one of him making all his cooing and aweing. He is so funny!
Yeah. I don't suggest "winging it" unless you want your baby in a little cheeky cheetah diaper. Oh and let me explain the cheetah print deuce bigalow male gigolo diaper.. AC LOVES cheetah print. And he actually has his very own pair of cheetah print fleece shorts that he wears to the lake every year. He actually just loves anything animal print.
But anyways, the pocket actually turned out right! I have the idea of it down and it really wasn't difficult at all. Now I just need ot measure and hem right and it will be perfect. I was only supposed to do a 1/4" seam allowance and I ended up doing a full inch all the way around... which is why its so narrow and not covering his little cheeks at all.. like I said.. Deuce Bigalow Kekoa Gigolo. Haha I sewed in a prefold with a soaker pad, a waterproof covering and the cheetah fleece on both sides so its soft on his bottom and on the outside as well. I used elastic around the legs and a small horizontal piece on the back. The elastic on the back is to keep inserts from sliding up when I put them in the pocket. I didn't attach any velcro because we obviously won't be using this one and I don't want to waste it. So lets hope the next one will be even better! No more Gigolo for Koa.
Wednesday, September 29
DIY and our New Sofa!
have discovered.. Mod Podge. If you have never heard of this amazing product then let me just tell you... its like magic. Its amazing. You can make remarkable things out of Mod Podge. What have I made you ask? Nothing. Not one thing. Because I couldn't find it anywhere in town and finally drove out of town to the only place I knew would have it. Michael's. Now, even though I haven't done any sort of amazing things with this miracle making glue I have seen soooo many DIY projects on other blogs that come out so cool. If I knew how to add a link that would take you to one of these blogs so you can see these Do It Yourselfers.. I would. But I don't know how to do that. So Sorry! When I figure out more of this blogging stuff I will show you :) So I give you a picture of the Mod Podge.
And I realized tonight that I didn't show you a photo of our new couches! This is the sofa and we also have the matching loveseat. The photo shows them a lot more blue than they are green. We thought they were blue, but they are actually more of a blue/green which we didn't notice until they arrived. But we love them still. It makes me want to change everything in our house! We have a lot of black furniture and i really want more white and cream colors with these pieces. AC really wants a piece of furniture with alligator skin. We are big fans of Color Splash: Miami and David Bromstad always has an alligator skin piece. When I find a good one I will definitely have to snatch it and bring it home with me.
Oh and I'm sorry about my blog layouts. I am so frustrated because I can never get my posts to look the way I want them to, and the photo loading is so difficult. So my last post didn't make any sense as far as the "captions" for each photo. I promise it made sense as I was typing them, but after I publised they made NO sense. And now I am trying to figure out how to change my layouts and play around with the templates and that just made things worse. But whatevers. Its cool. At least I get the message out.
Aside from making my own cloth diaper (which I have yet to start, but am going to tonight) I have many other projects/things I have to start doing:
- I'm sewing pillow case covers out of old curtains. Well they are actually new curtains that I bought and we decided not to use. They looked funny hanging on the wall, but will be perfect on the new couches.
- Making my cloth diapers of course...
- Spray painting a plastic side table from Wal Mart and Mod Podging it into something fantastic. For those of you who don't know what Mod Podge is let me just tell you... its like magic. You can do amazing things with Mod Podge.
- Mod Podge and food coloring some old jars, spray painting and fabric covering some old wall art.
Okay so now I am going to start my cloth diapers. I bought some water prrof "dry baby" material for my cloth diaper and found that it was 9.99 a yard. OMG. So I then found some Gerber waterproof diaper covers, 4 for $1.50 at Wal Mart and bought them a few sizes too big. I am going to try to cut them and sew those into the cloth diaper. We will see if it works, and if not... at least it was less than two bucks!
Here are a few spanshots from random events over the last three weeks.
The photo on the far left is another from our family photos.
This photo here on the left is from the Aloha Festival! Thats right, we had to take Kekoa to the festival of his Homeland. Duh! He slept through the whole thing, but the hawaiian music in the background was all he needed to feel close to his roots. :)
On the far right.. that picture pretty much speaks for itself. Kekoa is officially a ladies man. He has Kenley on the left and Lailah on the right.
OH MY GOSH isn't he adorable? I just can't get enough of my little man. We've been doing so much these last few weeks and each time I stop to look at these photos it just blows me away, yet again, at how big is growing and how quickly it is all happening. I don't want him to grow up yet, I want him to stay little and never leave me!
Here is Kekoa with his sticker from Etsy! He was actually 5 weeks and 2 days in this picture, but its close enough to one month. I ordered the stickers a little late. Be ready for his two month picture on October 7th! I am going to take his picture each month with an update of all his accomplishments. Last night, he woke up AC and I by pretty much trying to talk to us. He was making all kinds of happy noises at 5 this morning and AC and I were cracking up. It was like he found his voice! And he also just recently found his hands! He LOVES to grab his face. He will get a good grip on his nose or his hair and he won't let go. haha It makes me laugh everytime. He has been sucking on his Bink for a while now, but lately he's decided that sucking on his fist is so much better. Its adorable.
On a Side Note we are going to try....
CLOTH DIAPERING. We were going to cloth diaper, but then decided to just use disposables... which are totally burning a hole in our wallets. We go through about a package a week... which is about 80 bucks a month. UGH. SO, I decided to try to sew my own cloth diapers using the New Conceptions pattern called "Poo Pockets". I know I said this before, but now I am very serious about it. I just purchased all of my own materials and now I am going to give it a whirl. Wish me luck and I will post pictures of my diapers as I attempt to sew them! :)
Monday, September 27
7 Weeks already...? REALLY?
Hello Everyone!! We got our photos back from Caitlin O'Reilly Photography. Well, these are just the ones that are on the CD because I haven't scanned the other ones yet! But here they are!!
So much has happened these last few weeks! Kekoa has finally hit seven whole weeks!! OMG. No WAY. Reeeaaallllyyy?? Has he really been in this world and out of the womb for seven whole weeks. This is crazy... Time is flying by too fast!!
Here is the little man update:
- On September 14th, and at five weeks old, Kekoa officially weighed in at 14lbs 3oz. O. M. G. He is officially in his 3-6 month clothing.
- His eyes are very blueish greenish with only a HINT, and I really mean a hint, of brown. This excites me more than anything! I hope and hope and hope that his eyes are somewhat like mean. Which leads me to number 3..
- He still looks nothing like me and everything like AC. In the beginning this was just adorable, but now its just irritating! I mean come on!!
- He is very good to me at night. He usually sleeps a good five hour stretch each night with another three hour stretch to follow! And that is great for me.
- He finally takes a big boy bath. By that I mean we bought a new bath tub that fills with water (we originally had a mesh tub that didn't fit in the sink) and he LOVES it.
- He is breastfeeding like a champ! And no morer pain!
Sunday, September 5
A Big Post of "Firsts"
This post is a post of our "firsts" with Kekoa.
He finally took his first Bink, drank from his first bottle, my first time being away from him for more than an hour and a first for all of us.. family photos! :)
We had been trying to give Koa a pacifier for a few days and he just wanted almost nothing to do with it. But he finally gave into temptation. It has so far been the lifesaver to hold him off for a little bit while I get everything situated to start feeding him. I need to get the boppy (because he is way too heavy already,) my cell phone, something to drink (I get VERY thirsty while breastfeeding,) and the TV remote control. So the Bink is awesome!
The Bottle! OMG he drank from a bottle! Breastmilk that I pumped of course.. but we were really excited and AC was very happy to be feeding him finally. The first attempt at the bottle, he was SO hungry that I just don't think he could comprehend exactly what was happening. So I ditched the bottle and just put him on the boob! The next time we tried the bottle it took him a few minutes, but then he just started drinking away! I actually wasn't here.. this was my first.. I was getting my hair done.. and that was about a three hour process.. so he was home. ALONE. with AC. AC did a great job with him because he is the most amazing dad in the world. But I was still freaking out inside. Partly because I was nervous that he wouldn't take his bottle and mostly because I didn't want to be away from him. AC said that he drank the bottle SO quickly (I left 3.5 ounces) that he started warming up another bottle! Babies drink from bottle so fast compared to the boob. It took me almost twenty whole minutes to pump that bottle! But then after he burped he fell right asleep. No need for bottle number two and total waste of another twenty minutes of pumping milk. That milk is no longer good apparently because I was told you can't RE-regrigerate breast milk after you've already warmed it up. Bummer. But thats okay! There is more to pump. While I was gone, I looked at my phone every five minutes! Michelle, my hair dresser, was making fun of me. I didn't even have her blow dry my hair after the trim because I wanted to get home to see Kekoa! I ran right in and scooped him up and I just missed him so much. I definitely don't like being away from him. How do working mothers do it!?! I don't ever want to leave!
And finally, the first for all of us are our family photos! Caitlin O'Reilly, a friend and former softball player whom my dad coached, majored in Photography and just started her own photography busines.. Caitlin O'Reilly Photography. We took so many pictures and I can't wait to see them! She sent me a few that she quickly edited for a little sneak peek.
Tuesday, August 31
3 Weeks late, but a post is finally here.. and so is Kekoa!
I know it has been so long since I have posted, but I have been so busy and just haven't found the time to sit down and post anything. I have so much to talk about!
Kekoa is THREE weeks old today! Can you believe it!? I can't. He is already SO BIG. At his 2 week appointment he weighed in at 10lbs 12.8oz, 23.5 inches long. His birth weight was 8lbs 9oz 21 inches long. And he is in the 99th percentile for his age. Umm, big ya think? Yes, he's a porker. A big one. :) And I love him!
My postpartum recovery has been amazing. I go on frequent walks with my girlfriends who are also new moms! I am officially ten pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and four pounds away from my high school weight. Whoo Hoo! I was at 176 when I delivered Kekoa and I am now 150 lbs. I still am going to have to work hard to lose these last ten pounds, but you have NO idea how excited I am to actually work out hard. I can't wait for Cardio Barre. OMG. Just a few days after delivering, I honestly didn't even feel as if I gave birth to a child! I felt AMAZING. And oh how great it was to feel light and be able to see my feet again!
Kekoa is the most amazing baby EVER! He sleeps, eats, poops, and hiccups. :) He is just now beginning to stay awake and is more alert! He follows faces, slowly but surely, and smiles every once in a while (which I think is in big part due his gases.. not the ridiculous, but sooo cute, noises and faces AC makes at him :)
The last few days, Kekoa has been really gassy and super fussy. He never cries unless he's hungry or needs to poop or burp. He's such a good babe! So, I have decided to cut out all dairy in my diet for the next two weeks. Hopefully that will help his tummy. I also picked up some multivitamin drops that Kaiser recommended we give him each day, mostly for the Vitamin D supplement.
He finally took the PACI! :) He sucked on it for about a whole twenty seconds and then spit it back out. He can't seem to keep it in his mouth! We are also going to give him his first bottle this week. I started using my breast pump and its so easy! I also bought this tea from Whole Foods that is supposed to increase your milk production. Hopefully it works!
We FINALLY ordered new couches!! YAY! They should be here this week. I am so excited to finally have some new couches to put the babe on. They are blue. That's right. BLUE. The actual color of blue is called "Spa" blue. They are more like a greenish, bluish, grey. But anyhow we got a GREAT deal and they are comfortable and microfiber and I love them.
Here are a few photos of the Big Man himself!
AC and Kekoa :) This is Kekoa at 3 weeks 3 days old and he is wearing 3 month old clothing. Yes, you read that right. THREE MONTHS. He is huge. And this is also the old couch..
Again, here is AC and the babe when he was still in Newborn wear!
Right after his bath with mommy! And yes I know he looks nothing like me. Those Hawaiian features definitely dominated the Irish in him.
I LOVE THIS PICTURE. Absloutely LOVE it.
I just recently downloaded Picasa, a photo editing program, so I can change the pictures to b&w and edit them how I want. If only I could figure out how to get the edited photo out of Picasa and onto anything else I want then I would be so happy and be able to post them on here!
Wednesday, July 21
I'm Still Here and Kekoa is Still in the Womb!!
Weight gain/loss: 29 pounds people. May the pounds shed as quickly as they were gained.
Maternity clothes? I don't like anything but AC's shirts and shorts. 29 pounds.. remember?
Stretch marks? Whatever.
Sleep? is painful! I feel like I've been hit by a truck! No amount of snuggling or snoogling can help this pain. I'm heavy.
Best moment this week? Finishing the glider chair!
Movement: He doesn't stop mooooving!
Food cravings: cookies and milk and Lemonade! I can't drink enough lemonade.
Gender: Boy
Labor signs? I've had a few contractions which I think are painful, and Braxton Hicks contractions ALL DAY!
Belly button in or out? It basically has its own zipcode.
What I miss? Being able to get off the couch without needed an extra hand!
What I am looking forward to? Getting the mouse out of my house... that I will explain another day.
Weekly wisdom: Foot rubs, back rubs, belly rubs... any rub. Don't hesitate to ask. Its well deserved.
Milestones: Dilation! 1/2 cm is still something!