Kids Say and Do the Darndest Things

An early morning conversation amongst brothers:

Uriah: Good morning, Elijah!
Elijah: (turns head swiftly to the side) NO THANK YOU


A polite declination:

Me: Elijah, it's time to go moemoe (nap).
Elijah: NO THANK YOU

A tense situation between Mother and Son:

I had been scolding Uriah for something he was doing while we were driving, and he told me, "Mama, STOP," while putting his hand up. I sternly told him to put his hand down, at which point he not only kept that hand up, but decided to bring his OTHER hand up just to show me how much he WASN'T putting his hand down. I had to turn away and laugh! 

A demonstration of retention:

I often will tell the boys to "Be nice," when they are starting to get in each other's faces, or do something to upset the other. Often now if I or Rob scolds Uriah or Elijah (or even Sophie!), Uriah will interject seriously, "MAMA. BE NICE."

A case of misunderstanding (perhaps, deliberately so):

Uriah: (general screaming that accompanies toddlerhood)
Me: URIAH, STOP SCREAMING.
Uriah: Ice cream!

A macabre dining experience:

Me: Elijah, eat your chicken (on repeat throughout meal)
Elijah (also on repeat before each bite): Cluck-cluck.

A case study in theatrics:

Uriah(on the floor scrunched in apparent agony after a light brush from Elijah): MAMA, my eye hurts.
Me: Oh no, are you all right?
Uriah (scrunching face continued): I need to go hospital.

An important reminder:

The other evening, I had been so tired after a day of energetic mischievous boys, rushing around, and completing tasks all while under the weather. We were at the dinner table, and I was scrolling mindlessly through my phone on a mental break when I heard Uriah in the background, "Mama. Mama. Mama. MAMA!" (for what felt like the millionth time that day, when in actuality, it was probably only the...hundreth time) to which I responded, "NOT RIGHT NOW URIAH MAMA IS BUSY." Uriah told me, "Mama. Don't be angry. Be happy." I immediately apologized and told him that I wasn't angry. He asked me again, "You happy, Mama?" and I told him yes, I am happy. <3 Love my sweet boy!

And So It Goes...(swiftly, apparently)

It's been so long since I've posted a blog - my last post was lamenting about how I hadn't posted in 7 months WELL GUESS WHAT: I made it a full year without a blog post. So take THAT, formerly woeful, seemingly busy, complaining self!

Uriah's 4th birthday and Elijah's 2nd birthday have come and gone, amongst other events (Rob completing chief training in Texas as well as our 5 year anniversary being the other immediately noteworthy items). So maybe I'll just do a mashup of the things I can think of off the top of my head.

Rob made chief last year (2018) while he was in San Angelo, TX for an unrelated training event. Chief initiation is notoriously arduous and intense, and in retrospect, I think Rob already being away was the best possible scenario during his Chief process. We were already accustomed to him being away, and, as I was living with my parents at the time,  I had lots of help with the boys. I know chief season includes a lot of long nights and draining activities, and I can only imagine how much more pressure and stress it must be for those who need to go home to their families and continue with their home responsibilities. Elijah and I ended up flying up to Texas for Rob's pinning ceremony (I took Elijah because he was just over one, and was still nursing). I had the craziest case of DOUBLE pink eye (both eyes) that I caught from Uriah just the day before we flew out, and I seriously looked like an apocalyptic monster. I'm talking --- if you pulled up google to research "pink eye," mine would be amongst the most frightening of images. I think because I had lash extensions at the time (to be extra pretty for Rob after not seeing each other for 4 months - all together now - HAHAHAHAHAHA), it exacerbated the situation. I ended up carrying hand sanitizer and wipes and sanitizing everything to be as considerate as I could. I wore dark shades almost the entire trip (even at our dimly lit dinner celebration - LAME!), and I hope people viewed it as me being tres chic vs tres snobby or tres weird.  Despite that major hiccup, the ceremony itself was so powerful and beautiful, and I was so proud of Rob!   

 

Uriah's 4th birthday was at Chuck E. Cheese this year. We invited friends and family, and it was so much fun to see how excited he was ALL DAY. He even had some old friends come back to visit (His friend, Vavau as well as Mrs. Lee from Kahaluu both showed up!) I got Uriah a "birthday shark" t-shirt from Etsy (he loves shark shirts right now!) that had the number 4 and his name on the back. He was so delighted to be wearing his special birthday shirt! The party was a bit pricey for a 4 year old as it was $15/kid and we had maybe 13 kids? plus bought two extra large pizzas and drinks for the adults in attendance, but we loved the convenience of having Chuck E. Cheese host, set-up, and clean-up the party! Right before they bring the cake out, they bring all of the birthday kids up front where everyone sings a birthday song. Uriah was SO CUTE! He loooooved the birthday song and was up there dancing and laughing the whole time. In fact, he loved it so much that he went up for the next TWO rounds of birthday songs (our party time had come and gone by then)! Luckily, the staff were so sweet and let him go back up and get sung to for the second and third times. While the price tag may've been a little steep, it was so rewarding to see how truly happy he was :) Can't put a price on that! (Sappy, I know. It sounded less cheesy in my head).

Elijah's second birthday party was small scale and chill - perfect for a 2 year old! A lot of our family was away on trips, but thankfully, Hoku and her gang were available to come. It was a fun day where we set up the pool and splash pad in our backyard, then ate some pizza, cake, and ice cream! I got Elijah a Paw Patrol cake from the commissary (both of the boys are obsessed with Paw Patrol right now) that was really cute and delicious. 

Our anniversary this year was our 5 year (WOW!), and we had talked about going back to our honeymoon resort on a landmark anniversary year. What was formerly the St.Regis is now the Princeville Resort. It's on the same gorgeous property overlooking Hanalei Bay. The resort is in need of some TLC, and as a result, they had some pretty good kamaaina rates going! (and when I say pretty good, it's still crazy, but maybe $300 cheaper?)  Apparently, there's supposedly some major renovations in the works for next year. Regardless, we had an awesome time lounging by the pool, sleeping in, and doing whatever we felt like just like the days before we had kids and their needs to consider. One of my absolute favorite things was being able to post up at the pool and read my book for a few hours. My favorite afternoon was spent alternating between lounging in and by the pool. We had a nice dinner at a popular local steakhouse, Bullshed. Rob got their grilled prime rib. It was CRAZY AMAZING GOOD. He ALWAYS orders the best stuff! I got a surf and turf, which was also good, but his prime rib definitely was the shining star. Even though we were only away for 2 nights, it felt so much longer getting that time to ourselves. Despite enjoying the break, we were excited to see our boys again.