My Very Own Miracle

Because he's grown so tall and surpassed his big brother in weight, height, clothes AND shoe size, I often forget how my sweet Joshy made his entrance into this world.

At almost 8 months pregnant I left for work in the city with Siua around 7:30AM. I didn't feel all that great, but that was the usual during ALL of my pregnancies. I just got used to feeling sick all the time. We parked 6 blocks from work because it was the cheapest lot we could find in the city and we began to walk. About half way there I started to feel REALLY sick. Not just nauseous but extreme discomfort started to kick in. I didn't think it was "time" but I knew work was out of the question. Since Siua had to drive, we both called in and made our way back home.

Stuck in early morning traffic on 101 south, I started to feel the pains that I knew meant it WAS time, and I was scared. Not just a little spooked but heart shattering, mind numbing fear. Why was I going into labor when I wasn't even full term yet? Why did we have to be stuck in rush hour traffic and why is getting to the hospital going to take at least 45 minutes? I called Kaiser and let them know I was on my way. Talked to the advice nurse for a few minutes while she tried to keep me calm and ended up climbing into the back seat of our car so that I could lay down and try to surpress the pain. It was bad and it didn't look like it was going to get any better.

We made our way to Kaiser and immediately got rushed into labor and delivery. After a quick checkup I was being put to sleep so that they could do an emergency C-section. Joshua was breach and trying to make his way out. After what felt like hours later, I came to and asked if he was okay. Siua said he was but the problem was that he was just okay. He was in the NICU (NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit) basically ICU for babies. His lungs weren't strong enough for him to breath on his own and they had to keep him connected in order for him to survive. He was a little over 4 pounds. It was the most tramatic thing I've ever been through.

After 2 weeks of countless trips back and forth from home to Kaiser, meds to help his lungs develop on their own, tons of babysitting arangements so that Papa was taken care of while we tended to Joshy and AMAZING nurses who helped make life easier in the NICU, Joshy was strong enough to come home.

Since then he's grown to be such an amazing blessing in our family. He single handedly caused me to search deeper than I've ever had to find the faith I wasn't sure existed. He is my very own little miracle and I couldn't be more grateful for his sweet spirit and boyish charm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHY! 7 years ago today, I was faced with the scariest most challenging obstacle of my life but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in this world because it's the dramatic and tramatic way you entered into my life. I love you Jayjua!!

Sometimes...things DO run smoothly!

Everyone is up and ready to go, school is a breeze, dinner is good, things are clean and kids are bathed and happy. Don't ya just LOVE smooth days? When things just fall into place without too much effort. I LIVE for days like that!

Yesterday just happened to be one of those days and I took full advantage of the mellow mood and had a little kitchen fun with my kiddoes. They made a fruit "pizza" and we loved every minute of it!

I enjoy doing fun things with them when we get the chance but even more I LOVE the idea of creating these fun little memories with my babies.

Fruit Pizza Recipe
-Sugar Cookie Dough *I usually make it at home because it's cheaper but I've used one tube of Pillsbury cookie dough and it works just as well.
-Cream Cheese Frosting *I'll include the recipe for that as well, never tried it with store bought but it's probably good and easier!
-All of the fruit your heart desires! My kids love sliced kiwi, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, bananas and grapes.

With wet hands, press the cookie dough into the bottom of an ungreased sheet pan or cookie sheet until it's evenly spread out. It's going to look really thin, but it'll cook up to a thicker crust. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. I keep mine on the light side so that the crust doesn't get too crunchy. Just when the edges start to look brown. Take it out and let it cool completely for at least an hour. After it's cooled, spread the frosting on as thick as you like. I do just enough for the fruit to stick. After that it's completely up to you to decide how you want to layer the fruit. Once the fruit is layered it's ready to cut and enjoy! Have fun!!!

Cream Cheese Frosting -
1 part Cream Cheese
1/2 part butter
2 parts powdered sugar
splash of vanilla

I do the recipe in parts because depending on how much you want to make, measurments are going to change. :-)

Hello Dr. Parker!

This past week I had the pleasure of taking all three of my kids to appointments with their new doc. We recently switched over to Foster City Pediatrics and so far I.LOVE.IT. It may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but finding a good doctor is a huge deal to me. Being a Kaiser baby myself, I always stuck to that with my kids. Imagine my surprise when I found a place that I love more!

Three separate appointments scheduled on 3 separate days, 12 shots (total)and one finger prick test later, we're all settled in with our new doc! He's already memorized the kids names, nick names and ages. To my surprise, he somehow managed to get Luvie to say a few words to him. Either that girl is really coming out of her shell or he's a true pro. Whatever the case, Dr. Parker is a perfect fit for this family and I'm excited to continue down the path to happy HEALTHY kiddoes!

Wordless Wednesday - Boys Will Be Boys!

Easiest Cookies Ever!

This recipe is so easy and since it's "semi" homemade, you don't have to have a lot on hand at home to make it. You can made the dough as a base and add whatever you like to make them perfect for you. I've added white chocolate chips, regular chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mint chips...you get the point. The possibilities are endless and trying different things is yummy and fun.

It's your basic "cake box" cookie but I LOVE what vanilla does to get rid of the typical cake box cake flavor. Call me crazy, but I can tell the difference. LOL So here are pictures and the recipe. This time I used pecans and caramel chips to make "Turtle" chocolate cookies and white chocolate chips to make "black and white" cookies. The Turtle cookies turned out to be one of my favorite combinations.

Recipe
1 Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Stick of butter (not margarine, good 'ole butter)
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon of vanilla
Whatever toppings you like
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

This is basically all you need.

Throw it all in one bowl together. No "wet" or "dry" mixing necessary.

Blend really well and then add your desired goodies

Scoop just like any other cookies into little balls and bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how big you made them.


Let cool and then you're done! I forgot to take a picture after they were already baked. Probably because they didn't sit around for too long. ;-)

Closet FOB

Yes, it's true, my mom is white. Hard to believe right? LOL Okay not really but something most people don't know (and a few of you do know. LOL) is that I'm a closet FOB. There's nothing bad about it right? LMBO I'm posing the question because I think a lot of us (myself included) think of the word FOB as a bad thing. I often think about how we negatively talk about people from our homeland and the way they talk or dress and yet we can't speak our own language and know little about traditional heritage. But that's beside the point on this post. What I'm really getting at is that I learned a few things by kickin' it with my gma this summer and I'm LOVIN it!

I've always loved crafty things, but making kafa's and kahoa's is a whole new level of craft. You can do whatever your heart desires and you have to broaden your creativity in order to turn something that you ordinariy find at your neighborhood Michaels into something that looks traditionally familiar to Tongans.

I learned how to weave the base and now I'm working with my gma to start decorating and dressing it up a little. I made 2 sets so far, one for a friends babyshower and the other for my sis Jigz who had to speak at church last Sunday. I'm diggin' it. Mine are no where near what my gmas look like but it's still fun to keep trying. The best part? Spending time with my gma and soaking up all the knowledge that I used to think I was too cool for. LOL

Gma showin' me the "ropes"

I thought it was hilarious that she had a "ring watch" on. Especially because the numbers are so small that she can't read them. LOL
The "set" I made for Jigz

Our gift at MonaLisa's Baby Shower

Update

Oh how quickly time flies! I say it all the time and yet it becomes increasingly difficult to really savor each passing moment. My babies started 2nd grade this year and we've made huge changes already. They're no longer at the age where I have to walk them into and out of class. It might sound like a small accomplishment, but after 3 years of parking and fighting through the crowds to get to their classrooms in time it feels so much easier.

Joshua is in Mr. Torres' class and he thinks he got the short end of the stick because apparently Mr. Torres doesn't have a hard time raising his voice. LOL Papa is in Ms. Yee's class and he's so excited about being in the 2nd grade. Joshy, though 9 months younger is a full 2 inches taller than Papa at this point. He uses it against his big brother all the time and I can only imagine how much worse it's going to get over the years. LOL He's so excited about soccer and has always been really good at sports. While they are both super helpful I've noticed that Papa has acquired the skill that most "oldests" have in that he looks out for his siblings and helps out without being asked. It's so funny to watch their personalities grow and change. I just have to be sure to "stop and smell the roses" so that I don't miss out on special moments that are sure to fade once they're "big boys".

"Oh My Goodness"

It's so funny how quickly kids catch on. Sometimes it's not so funny when you find them repeating something that you wish their sweet innocent ears never heard. I was lucky enough to catch my Luvie in a candid moment when she was singing what I've learned is her favorite song. If you know Mackenzie or have been around her enough, you know she's pretty timid and shy. I had to pretend I wasn't recording and you'll notice she asks at one point "What's that mom? A picture?" before going right back to Spawnbreezie lala land. Thanks Lomes for clarifying cause I'm so cool that I thought it was Josh White who sang this! LMBO

Please excuse the poor recording and angle. I could have edited it but didn't want to miss a single second of it. ;-)