Mele Kalikimaka

This year for Christmas my dad took us all to Hawaii for a family vacation. We rented an awesome beach house on the North Shore and spent nine incredible days exploring Oahu. This is us in our back yard.


When we got home and were looking at our pictures of Hawaii we realized that we had about two hundred pictures of Oliver and around twenty pictures of Hawaii. Of course, as the only grandchild, he was Hawaii's main attraction for his grandparents. He spent most of his time sitting on the beach lathered in sunscreen, but he didn't seem to mind.



We did some snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It was pretty cool until we came across some eels. Yuck!





The purpose of our trip, beside having a good time, was to attend my little sister's graduation from the University of Hawaii. It was Oliver's first time meeting his aunt Whitney. I think he was more interested in her leis than anything else. Of course, we all thought the leis were beautiful, but Ollie was the only one who found them appetizing.
















Of course, no trip to Hawaii could be complete without some surfing. We found a great beach on the North Shore that was just right for beginners and had a blast trying to catch some waves. Everyone did really well. When Sam asked the rental shop owner what we could do to improve our surfing skills the man looked at us and told us to get in shape. Ouch!
















This is us at the Dole Plantation where we stopped off for some of their famous pineapple ice cream. Yum.

Here we are at the beautiful Laie Temple.


Here we are at Sea Life Park. It is Hawaii's version of Sea World. We loved the dolphin show and the Sea Lion Show. Ollie mostly just loved his carrier, I don't think he cared much for the animals.



I think that someone at the rental place thought it would be a funny joke to set us up with these matching, yellow PT Cruisers. Driving around the island together we looked like the motorcade for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. We got a lot of stares and laughs. But, what is the point of being a tourist if you can't look the part. In this picture our cars are parked at a fruit stand. I was excited to try some of the foods that I haven't eaten since my mission, like passion fruit and sugar cane.

Four Months Cuter

Today was Oliver's four month check up. He now weighs 14 pounds and 2 ounces and is 24.5 inches long. He is in exactly the fiftieth percentile for both his height and weight so I guess he is a pretty normal dude. He smiled and giggled the whole time he was at the appointment and the doctor and nurses just loved him. Of course, the smiles disappeared when it came time for the shots but he had a quick recovery and even gave the receptionist a giggle on the way out. Good job Ollie.

Getting Dressed

Of course, any baby would probably prefer to wear only the birthday suit that they came in, but what fun is that? Sam and I have discovered, or should I say Sam has pointed out, that while some baby clothes are designed with functionality and utitlity in mind others are there for the sole purpose of making moms say "oooooohhhh!" This little bear outfit definitely brings out my baby talk. I bought it at an after thanksgiving sale, how could I have passed it up, they were practically giving it away, hem, hem.

Here comes Santa Clause . . . .

So, you know those people who drive you crazy because they watch Christmas movies in July and then start listening to Christmas music before you've even finished your Halloween candy? Well, I have a confession to make. I AM ONE OF THEM!! I love Christmas and anything that gets me in that "Christmasy" mood. Even worse than me is Sam, who started streaming Christmas music back in October because our local stations weren't playing any yet (imagine that). Fortunately for us, we have found ourselves in good company. Last week (yes, it was before Thanksgiving) we got together with some friends to make gingerbread houses. Our "glue" had a rough time setting up so after a while we decided it was more fun just to sit around and munch on the leftover candy instead. We had a great time. Below are our masterpieces. Oliver helped with mine, of course, by helped I mean he sat on my lap and wiggled and squirmed whilst I tried to piece together my graham crackers. When Sam's first attempt came crashing down, he deemed it structurally unsound and and started over again by creating a beach scene with nothing over one story (smart guy).

Whit, this one’s for you

For my lonely sister sitting on her blow-up mattress, in her barren apartment in Hawaii (barren because she is selling everything off before she graduates and moves home next month). I’m sure with finals looming up ahead you could find a much better use for your time than reading our blog. However, since procrastination seems to be a sisterly trait that we share I thought I would give you something else to do so that you could put off all of your homework for at least a little while longer. Because you will be meeting Ollie for the first time in a couple of weeks, this is your chance to get to know him a bit first.


Oliver loves to suck on anything that he can get into his mouth, binkies, fingers, fists, dad's pinky, you name it and he will happily drool all over it. He doesn't reach out for things yet, but if you hand him a toy he will gladly take hold of it and stuff it into his mouth.


Oliver also likes his swing. It is where he goes to hang out while mom is cooking dinner. When he doesn't have to entertain himself he loves to be read to and if you tickle him just right he has the most adorable giggle.


One thing that Oliver does not like is to be put on his tummy. Of course, that is no longer a problem because he started rolling over this week. In fact, he has become so proficient that yesterday he flipped from his back to his tummy, I'm pretty sure it was an accident because he was rather surprised to find himself there. Oops.

Our finned friend

I adopted a fish for a day. Let me begin by explaining that I am not an animal person. It is not that I don't like them, mine is an attitude of complete indifference. I never get attached. So, last week I was cleaning an apartment (I clean the apartments in our complex when people move out). I won't go into the disgusting sty that was this apartment but let me just say that what normally takes two hours has stretched into at least eight over the course of the week. The former tenant left a lot of their junk in the apartment which I had the privilege of hauling out to the dumpster. As I was cleaning up the kitchen I came across a cup with a fish. Assuming the fish was dead I went to send it down to a watery grave. However, as I stood poised over the toilet bowl that darn thing started to swim around. Of course, I couldn't just kill it. So I finished cleaning the apartment and left it there on the counter hoping that the landlord would have the nerve to flush it himself. That was last week, when I went back yesterday to finish things up that silly fish was still on the counter and what's worse, it wasn't dead! If I was a swearing person I might have let slip a profanity or two, instead I picked up that incorrigible fish and took it home. We named him Gilbert, "Gil" for short and he lived happily in a mason jar on my counter for at least twenty-four hours at which time my mom and little sister came down for a visit. My sister, being the kind-hearted individual that she is, did not balk once as I impishly pawned the fish off into her care. (I think she feared for Gil's wellbeing under my not-so watchful eye). So, Gilbert was renamed Constantine and he and the mason jar have moved to Riverton. Sorry mom.

And to all a goodnight!

In honor of Oliver turning three months old this week I decided to teach him to sleep through the night. He has always been a good sleeper, waking up just once around 1:30 a.m. to eat. So, on Monday night when he wanted to eat I gave him his pacifier instead. It worked like a charm (thanks to Megan for the tip). By Wednesday he was sleeping for nine straight hours without so much as a grunt. Let me just say that Thursday morning was one of the best mornings I have had in a long time (at least three months that is!)

Look-Alike-Meter

I won, I won, I won!! A friend told me about this just-for-fun test to see who your baby most resembles. I should feel really proud that Oliver looks more like me, unfortunately I am all too aware (after wasting excessive amounts of time messing around with the Look-alike Meter) that the results vary entirely depending on what pictures you use. So, for the record, we really have no idea who Ollie most resembles. What we do know is that he can be very pensive and intense - which he gets from his daddy and that he is a total morning person - which he gets from his mom. It is so fun to watch his little personality emerge, we highly recommend parenting, it is so much fun (the baby stage anyway).

Ahoy there matey.....

For Halloween Sam and I participated in a murder mystery dinner. As you can see from the photos, the game had a pirate theme. Sam was a merchant sailor "Sealegs Sam" and I was the Governor's daughter "Breathless Betty." Despite all of my efforts to weasel, blackmail, bribe and coerce the name of the murder out of everyone at the party, his true identity eluded me to the last. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it was Sam! You think he could have at least given me a hint or two - I'm sure I would have shared my prize with him. Beside having a good time with friends, I think Sam was grateful for the opportunity to brush up on his pirate jargon.

Trick-or-Treat

Oliver was a pumpkin for halloween this year. We took him to our ward Halloween party on Monday night and he beat out everyone to win the "Most Adorable Costume" award. Of course, as soon as they called his name he started to cry, we aren't sure if he was upset because dad got to eat his prize or because he got stuck with "Most Adorable" instead of the all around "Best Costume" award. Either way, we think he is pretty cute!