Whole 30: 2 month update

Here's my results from doing whole30, well technically whole60 since I did it for 60 days. I'd recommend this program to anyone whose trying to loose weight and change their relationship with food. Besides loosing 18 lbs here's the other reasons why I love this program:

-you just eat real food and as much as you want and need as long as it's protein, vegetables, fruit, or good fats. 

-no wasting money on pills or shakes

-no counting or keeping track of anything

-noticed a difference in my hair and nails. They felt stronger. 

-clearer mind

-stopped the binge eating on the weekends

-reduced sugar cravings dramatically

-clearer skin

-more energy

-quit my bad habit of snacking/taking few bites of not clean food here and there (which really adds up at the end of each day) 

-slept better

-stopped the habit of mindless eating

-felt in control of my body, which in turn helped me feel more in control in other areas of my life

-just felt happier because I was putting good good into my body

Overall, I feel like I've been able to really change the way I think about food and my relationship with it. I still have a long way until I hit my goal so I'm going to continue it and see how far I can go. If you want more if you on what exactly whole30 is check out whole30.com

Whole 30: one month progress

I just completed my first whole30 and I'm already addicted to the results! I am now three months postpartum. The pic on the left was taken sometime at the end of June and the one on the right was taken today.

If you're not familiar with whole30 you can check it out on whole30.com for more info. Anyways, I'm going to stick with this through out August as well and see if I can make it to 60 days. 

Not trying to toot my own horn but.......*toot toot! Shoot, I'm proud of my little progress. Seriously, three kids is no joke! My days have started to just blur together and 90% of my time is dedicated to my kids all day everyday so doing this one thing for myself (getting back to a healthier me) and staying committed to my goals feels freakin' awesome! AND @whole30 featured my progress pic on their instagram! Ok, ok I know I'm letting my head get way too BIG right now but just let this mama ride it out for the rest of today. My (acute) postpartum depression self needed it. By tomorrow my ego will have leveled out and I'll be ready to get back to work. Once you start seeing results it gets so addicting! I can't wait to take my next progress pic at the end of August. Follow me on Instagram @thehavenlydose if you're down to try whole30 and need some ideas of what to eat. 

What I always remind my husband of...

       

 

Up late with the hubby turned into funny late night convos of our past dating experiences. Some girls were doing the most just to try and marry a "polynesian". lol anyways, I love those nights where we just stay up all night while the kids sleep and talk about everything and absolutely nothing. Those are the best kind of date nights.

                                                              #PARTNERLETMEUPGRADEU

Random

Guys who pluck/shave/wax/shape their eyesbrows have issues. Unless your eyebrows meet in the middle, just leave the eyebrow business to the women.

Girl, enough with the duck lips/kissy face. Not saying I'm not guilty of this but that's so myspace. Sheesh, does everyone of your pics really have to be the same pose? You're face might appear thinner but your lips just look...weird when you do it.

My boys and I are having major Disneyland WITHDRAWALS! I'm so tempted to renew our passes. Maybe once I master grocery shopping alone with three kids I'll be ready for disneyland.

Do people really still go to the mall to get portraits done? They're soooo cheesy...especially the couple ones.

I need to start a summer bucket list for my boys and I. 

It's been a slow Saturday night. Can you tell?

No duh?!

When it comes to kids who aren't their own, people (strangers and/or acquaintances) seriously have the dumbest questions and comments. I've realized that after you have three kids it just gets worse! For example...

When a stranger sees me with my newborn son they approach me all bubbley and ask, "awwww, is this your first." As soon as I say, "no, it's my third" their happy smile immediately drops and in comes the judgemental eye with the usual comment, " wow! Three boys! You reeeeeeally have your hands full."

NOOOOOO DUH?! I fee like all they're thinking is, "sheesh ever heard of birth control?" 

I feel like people cringe when they find out you have more than two. What's funny is I never even thought three kids was a lot. Just wait until we have the rest of our kids and it will probably make you die! 

Or...

When someone you barely know asks you through Instagram, "what kind of birth control do you use?"

UMMMM... Ya let me just tell you person-who-I-don't-even-know-who-is-probably-just-stalking-me so everyone who reads through my comments can think about my sex life and know unnecessary information about me. stupid question didn't even get a response. 

Or... 

when they ask me the age of my kids and once they find of the last two are only one year apart they  ask while pointing at child number 3, "so was he planned?"

DOES IT MATTER?! Does he deserve to be loved less if he wasn't? 

Or...

When I get asked, "is he a good baby?"

IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE FOR A BABY TO BE BAD? I mean, they are innocent.

(I'm guilty of asking this next one but have since learned not to ask it after having my own miscarriage and taking over a year to finally have Niko. It can simply just be too touchy of a subject depending on a couple's situation.)

"So when are you guys going to have you're next one?"

I DON'T KNOW. LET ME JUST CHECK MY CALENDAR. THE LAST TIME MY HUSBAND AND I MADE LOVE WAS... Haha maybe that response might get them feeling just as uncomfortable. Really though, is it any of your business?

I never take offense from any of the questions or comments -just a little annoyed at times. 

I feel like there's no much negativity in our society when I comes to people having more than two kids. People act as if you're going to over populate the earth or that life is over as I you know it. I mean, life does change but it's not over. 

My body may be a little 'thicker' than I would like at the moment, I may have to buy diapers instead of those new shoes, and I might not be able to do ALL the things I want to...

...but I can always loose the weight, "things" are only temporary, and eventually I WILL accomplish and do the most important things I have always set out to do. 

It is demanding being a mother of three under the age of four but it has never been a burden. When the pitter-patter of feet are no longer heard running across the floor in our home and others our age are in retirement homes -my husband and I will be happy and well taken care of by all our children and grandchildren. 

                        

.....STILL haven't gotten a decent photo with all three of them. I try. 

Birth Story of Elijah Niuvakai

It's been just over a month since our third player of team Fonua arrived. Elijah Niuvakai was born April 12, 2014 at 7:20 pm weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and was 20 1/2 in long. That same day around 2 am I woke up and my water had broke. I've never had my water break so it was somewhat surprising and caught me off guard even though I was already two days past my due date. I went and woke Saf up to tell him it was time to go to the hospital. My contractions weren't painful yet so I took a shower and got ready. I walked out of the bathroom all ready to go assuming Saf would be ready too...NOPE. He knocked back out. Seriously?! I annoyingly woke him back up and told him to hurry and pack some clean clothes. Good thing I listened to that feeling I had the day before and finally packed my hospital bag. I called my parents and they came over to watch the boys while we left to the hospital. When we got there my contractions slowed down so they started me on pitocin. My contractions picked up and got painful. (The most annoying thing is when someone tries to talk to you while you're having a contraction. Saf liked to do this every single contraction.) I finally asked for my epidural but the nurse told me I'd have to wait for an hour for the anesthesiologist because she was in the OR. It felt like I was going to DIE if I had to wait that long so the nurse gave me some medicine through my IV that totally relaxed me and made me all dreamy and sleepy. I felt like I was on cloud 9 -literally. I got some good rest after that. Finally I got my epidural and the waiting game began. 

Around 7 pm the nurse finally checked me and nonchalantly told me I was ready to start pushing. She had me do two practice pushes....and I threw up -partly because I was nauseous but mostly because of my nerves. Whether I was ready or not this baby was coming! Then she told me to stop pushing because she didn't want to deliver the baby by herself. She paged the midwife and ran and got Saf who was standing just outside my door talking in the hallway. My mom had just left earlier to go get them some food. I didn't even have time to call her to tell her to RUN or else she was going to miss everything because before I knew it the midwife was in the room and we were ready to go. I pushed once...and Saf assured me that I was already almost there. I pushed again....and baby was out! (Sooooooo much easier and less traumatic than my other two deliveries!) My mom walked in a minute after I had him and was totally bummed she missed it. The midwife put baby straight onto my tummy and I held him for the first time. I actually got to hold him for what felt like 20 minutes before they took him to clean him up a bit and put a diaper on. Finally meeting the lil guy that had been kicking me (hard) in the ribs and on my bladder for the past couple months and holding him felt so surreal! I was able to capture the moment of seeing him open his eyes for the first time. I counted his fingers and toes. I held his little hand and noticed how much smaller it was compared to his two older brothers although he looked just like them when they were born. I was able to soak up and thoroughly live present in those first moments that my son arrived. 

I felt pretty good after the delivery and was able to walk around almost immediately. I felt like superwoman bringing our third son into this world. It's a miracle every time. Despite all the unpleasant aspects of pregnancy, delivery, and after delivery I felt so amazed and loved myself and my body even more because of the miracle that it made. Having another baby just added to my own definition of beauty...and I felt BEAUTIFUL that day. We stayed at the hospital for 24 hours and then we were out of there! (I hate staying at the hospital). Recovery has gone well and I'm already back to working out. I told Saf no more babies until a couple more years. I need a break. Safi boy and Niko LOVE their baby brother and are so good with him. I'm finally starting to get into a rhythm with three kids. I still can't believe I have THREE BOYS! 

Foreboding Joy

Sometimes I have these moments where I'm watching my babies sleep peacefully like little angels, or I'm blissfully laughing away with my husband and feeling so connected to him or we simply just have more than enough food on the table and all the bills paid and then I'll start to feel like everything is going TOO GOOD in my life or that I am TOO BLESSED. And then I get SCARED and I just want to shrink or not allow myself to be "too happy" or "too joyous" because i feel like at any moment something "bad" is going to happen or I'm going to loose someone I love...and I don't want it to hurt as bad so I feel like taking a few steps down from Cloud Nine will lessen my pain or expectations just in case (heaven forbid) something did happen. In other words, I try and beat life's bad events to the punch line by telling myself, "haven, don't let yourself be too happy so it will lessen the heart wrenching blow in case something bad does actually happen". I know, this sounds like THE most ridiculous thing ever...and I thought I was CRAZY and the only one who sometimes thought like this but after reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (life changing book. READ IT!)  I learned this is actually a common "thing" called [ Foreboding Joy ] aka "vulnerability issues". 

(Excerpt from Brene Brown explaining a little more about foreboding joy)

"Calling joy “terrifying” may seem strange, but Dr. Brown explains that the fear stems from having our joy taken away. “How many of you have ever sat up and thought, ‘Wow, work’s going good, good relationship with my partner, parents seem to be doing okay. Holy crap. Something bad’s going to happen'?”...“You know what that is? [It’s] when we lose our tolerance for vulnerability. Joy becomes foreboding: 'I’m scared it’s going to be taken away."

I've always recognized that foreboding joy was something I struggled with. But in the past I would allow myself to remain in that state and NOT allow myself to be as happy. But now when I catch myself doing it (or thinking that way), instead of hanging out in that poisonous mind space I consciously tell myself to "relish in the moment...let your guard down...be happy...be joyous...love completely...be GRATEFUL...and make THE MOST out of this moment so if something "bad" does happen I will have absolutely no regrets because [ I LIVED PRESENTLY & LOVED COMPLETELY ]". I've been seeing too many tragic posts on Facebook lately that have been yet another reminder that life is too short and no one is promised tomorrow. 

I love my life. I have chosen happiness and will always continue to choose happiness. Life is so beautiful if you just let it be. So LEAN HARD into every. single. moment. of. JOY.

(My greatest joys and happiness)

Random disclaimer: I usually write these posts late at night after the kids have gone to bed so I know there's probably lots of punctuational errors due to exhaustion. Although some errors I purposefully make because this blog is more of a creative outlet of babbling thoughts -not an English paper. So sorry, NOT SORRY if I am not always grammatically correct when writing but I hope you get the point of it. 

38 weeks prego

I just felt the 5th or 6th earthquake in the last two hours. Sleep has gone out the window because I'm too worried about my babies. I'm just waiting and ready to jump up and grab them to stand under the door way or out in the middle of the street. So thought I'd do a quick blog update....

Just about 1 1/2 more weeks left until this baby boy gets here. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by! I've officially put myself on bed/couch rest until he gets here. This boy is just getting too heavy up in here and I'm just TOO EXHAUSTED! He definitely kicks more (and harder) than my other two did while I was pregnant with them. I'm wondering if that's a precursor to his personality outside the womb? He punches/kicks my tail bone, hip, and rib cage all at the same time. It's crazy...and super uncomfortable. 

Each pregnancy has been a different experience. I feel like with each one I have grown a lot more grateful, amazed, and just in pure awe of what my body can do. I think especially after having a miscarriage, I am now just so so grateful for a healthy body and healthy babies. Making babies...creating babies...having babies truly is a MIRACLE! It has been somewhat of a trial having this unplanned pregnancy while my second one is still so young, my husband literally has a full schedule of work and school all week long, and my mom isn't around but it's really turned into a powerful experience where I've just had to dig deep with in myself to find the strength to get through it...and learn not to complain but to [ endure well ].

This baby boy is still nameless. I have a couple names in mind but nothing for certain. I'm hoping I decide on one this week or else I'm thinking it's just going to be one of those things where I'm not going to know until I actually meet him.

So I pretty much never get ready anymore...do my hair...or wear makeup but I DID TODAY and I felt like a proud prego woman whose comfortable in her own skin -even with these extra curves. So cheers to my shameless bathroom selfie pic. 

My poor tummy is stretched to the max. I know it will never be the same. I've excepted that. But I'm excited to see how tight I can get it back to with some clean eating and working out once this guy is out. I'm so ready to just get my body back!

Mommy melt downs

Lately I feel like I've been having a lot of these....mommy meltdowns. I'm pretty sure it's mostly due to the pure exhaustion of being 38 weeks prego with two active boys (one of which is a 1 year old and teething) and the fact that I pretty much get no breaks since my husband is working crazy hours and going to school and I have no family around to help me. So my latest episode was a week ago. I'm only sharing it now because it's funny (but it wasn't at the time) and I know one day when I look back and read this I'll realize how ridiculously silly these problems are. 

So as we were winding down from the long day I was lying down on my sons' bed (on my back with eyes closed) trying to take one of my many 10 minute breaks while my boys jumped and played around me. Niko's new thing when he is on the bed is to just fall backwards and let the pillow/blankets catch his fall. Well, guess I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time because his nice big, hard head fell right back onto my nose! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge! I can't even remember the last time I cried because of such intense physical pain! I cried....then Niko cried....and then Safi boy cried because he got worried seeing me cry and told Niko, "you're not my friend because you hurt mommy." So we all just layed there and cried! First I was crying because of the pain and then my crying turned into "what am I doing?! I'm so exhausted! How am I going to handle three kids?! I'm crazy. I'm crazy! IM CRAZY!!!" After a good 5 minute cry I finally collected myself and (calmly) put my sweet Niko down in his crib for the night. I walked to the kitchen to get some ice for my already swollen nose (I thought it was broken) and asked Safi boy to grab my iPad off the charger and bring it to me. Next thing I know he's running around the corner, iPad in hand, SLIPS, and then I just hear the biggest CRACK as my iPad falls out of his hands onto the tile floor. Yup, I was already on edge and then that just tipped me right over!  I couldn't get mad at Safi boy because he was just doing me a favor so I held it all in until I got back to our bedroom where my husband was sleeping and just broke out in a LOUD UGLY CRY saying "I can't do this anymore!!!!" (While falling to the foot of the bed-I know, I know. SO DRAMATIC!) I scared the baheebeejeebees out of my husband because he jumped out of bed from a deep sleep, eyes WIDE OPEN, frantically asking me what just happened. I told him Safiboy cracked my iPad......and that, "I think Niko broke my nose." Oh my gosh, just typing that last sentence made me laugh because it sounds so silly and over dramatic but I swear -prego hormones make you do and think crazy things! Saf took a deep breath of relief and told me I almost made him pee his pants because I scared him so bad. He thought one of the kids got hurt or was in serious danger considering my crazy bawling outburst. (Nope Honey, I'm just pregnant.) He had me come lay down next to him and he just held me while I cried it out and he reassured me we'd get my iPad fixed ASAP....and that my nose wasn't broken, or crooked. (And yes, I know an iPad is just a materialistic object and I'm not much of a materialistic girl but I LOVE my iPad! It's my connection to the outside world when I get stuck inside with the kids and my best friend when I'm up in the middle of the night feeding a baby. So yes, I have somewhat of an emotional attachment to it.)

After that latest mommy meltdown I've really tried to make a conscious effort of slowing things down, enjoying the moments with my sons, and having lower expectations. What I mean by lower expectations is feeding my boys their second bowl of cereal of the day for dinner and hoping their multivitamin fills in the nutritional gap, making their bath water super soapy so all I have to let them do is "soak" in it and hopefully be magically clean (it saves me the step of bending over the tub and washing their bodies), letting the house goooooo and get all kinds of messy and dirty, and going to sleep in what we wore when we woke up that same day.

I read this article the other day that was circulating around Facebook about motherhood. (Click here if you're interested in reading it) Basically, the biggest mommy-ah-ha moment I got out of it was "I will not let satan take away my motherhood". It was a kick in my behind for me to reevaluate the way I talk to my kids, be more present everyday with them, and have far more patience. 

Being a mother is the most difficult job in the world! Seriously, your raising little human beings. Their lives' are in your hands and you could really mess up or create a very dysfunctional adult if you don't do your job right. Anyways, I'm rambling now.... If you even read this far thanks for listening to my rant/random motherly thoughts. 

Here's a couple pics of our latest moments.

Lots of jumping, wrestling, laughing, and crying on the bed.

Field trips to get fresh dinner.

More creativity.

Discovering new places to hide.

Bath time fun.

Not the prettiest but most definitely delicious pumpkin paleo pancakes for lunch. 

Lots of "take a picture of me, mama!"

Water balloons to throw at each other. 

...eating a lil bit of dirt. 

Dirty bums. 

Puppy dog eyes. 

Kicking it with my ninja and Richard Simmons. 

New month, new system.

CONFESSION: I have a chronic problem of "list making" and an irrational goal setting mind frame. In my superficial word I feel like the more goals I set...the more I'll accomplish...the happier I'll be...the more worth I will have. I know there is probably some psychological theory with a name for these kind of thoughts and behavior and the reasoning of their origin, but I'll just have to leave it "unnamed" for now and just know that this personal problem of mine exist.

Last year was totally hectic, stressful, and I just wish I had done more to make it a better year. I vowed to myself that this year was not going to be a repeat. Anyways, so each month I try to make smaller monthly goals to help me eventually accomplish the bigger ones I have set for this year. So February's goals consisted of a long list of about 11 goals (to some this may not be a lot and to others this may be overboard...it tipped towards the overboard side for me). Yesterday I looked on my February list and realized I only accomplished half of those goals, half of the second half of goals were only half way accomplished, and the last fourth never got the [ X ] next to it. (Did I loose you yet?) Everyday I would look at that list and feel a speck of motivation followed by a wave of overwhelment. "Ok, I gotta get this done today...I have to hurry and do that...how am I even going to have time to do that?...I'll just put the one off for later..." The goals I did accomplish were merely another marked "X" next to an emotionless completed deed. Basically, the goals that actually did make it to the accomplished side had minimal feeling behind them. EXAMPLE: One of my goals was to finally make some artwork for my boy's room to hang up on the wall above the crib. It was nearing the end of the month and I HAD to finish it to feel "accomplished". So I wanted to paint this canvas with a Bob Marley quote "EVERY LITTLE THING IS GONNA BE ALRIGHT". I painted the background, then quickly sketched the letters and words with a pencil, then hurriedly painted the words. Not only was my back hurting from this dang baby inside me, but I just wanted to hurry and finish it to say "I did it!", cross that project off goal list, and move on to the next thing. So without ever really stepping back to look at the painting or even read it while working along I finished it, took it to the boys room, and snapped a quick pic of it on my phone. It wasn't until I looked at the pic on my phone and thought, "wait a minute....what the....???"

(And this is what I saw)

Seriously?! I wanted to shoot myself! I swear I'm not dyslexic nor do I have any type of learning disability and my hair isn't even really blonde -it just has a few highlights. How could I make those stupid mistakes?! All that time and effort for that?! Ughhhhhhh!!!!! Because I was more focused on just getting the project done and NOT ever once stepping back to look at the entire painting....I missed major MAAAAJJOORRR mistakes that should have been caught from the get-go! I was mad at myself at first but then just started laughing at how ironic the whole situation turned out....because "every little thing" was NOT alright! By then I actually stood back to look at the bigger picture. How many times have I set out to accomplish a goal trudging through the process the entire time with my head down and eyes closed only focused on the outcome instead of enjoying the journey the whole way through? How many other things have I overlooked or mistakes have I missed? What's the point of putting all my time, energy, and effort into a project or goal if I'm not even happy while doing it?

....then I came across this lovely, inspiring YouTube video and had the hugest "AH-HA MOMENT"!

Core desires feeling! I've been doing this whole "goal thing" wrong this entire time! The core desires feelings that I THRIVE on (feelings that make me joyous...whole...fulfilled) we're lacking in my personal goals. Instead of experiencing these core desires feelings through out the entire process/journey of reaching my goals, I was setting these goals in hopes that I would feel these desires once they were accomplished. In other words, instead of setting my goals around my core desires, my core desires were being dictated by my goals. Don't get me wrong, setting and having goals is important but what's the point of them if you're not happy doing it and/or they're lacking 'feeling' behind them. "Doing" is important, but I believe "feeling good while doing" is more important. 

So this month I'm stopping the monkey-mind and throwing the long list of goals out the window and setting only one goal -to have my thoughts, feelings, and actions align with my core desire feelings. I want to feel happy, I want to be happy, I want to feel fulfilled through out the entire journey -not just at the ending. And I don't ever want to get to the 'ending' of something and realized I missed the whole point (like my silly quote painting).

Here's my new "list of goals" for the month of March.

                                  

So cheers to a new month of core desire feelings!

Ps. I'm still going to try and salvage my quote painting...or maybe just leave it for laughs?

Fear of creating

It's the most re-DONK-ulous thing! ...I [ LOVE ] to create things, yet I have the [ biggest fear ] of doing so! Makes no sense, right? I have constantly suppressed my "creative urge" with excuses such as "I don't really know what I'm doing so why try" or "it's not going to be good enough or perfect enough" or "my work will never be as talented and brilliant as theirs". 

Whelp, no more of that none sense. I've been feeling creatively starved! I told myself this year will be different. 

Who cares if I don't know all the right techniques or even exactly what I'm doing -I'll make my own rules that align with what feels "best" for me. 

No more perfection. 

No more worrying about critiques or others opinions. Be vulnerable. 

No more excuses. 

Less thinking, more feeling. 

Just create and see where it takes me.

I've already started a couple projects this year and am starting to heal the creative side of me. I'll probably start sharing more of my creative journey here. 

Here's a pic of my latest work and they're going to keep coming...

                                   

33 weeks: we're in the last stretch now

Where has the time gone?! Sweats, yoga, and stretchy pants have now been hired full time and jeans have been laid off until may. In less than 2 more months and this little guy will be here. I think the more kids you have the faster each pregnancy goes. Now that my back pain has started and baby is starting to get heavy I just want it to be over but then at the same time I want time to slow down because I feel like I still need to get so much done before he gets here. I guess I better wash and fold all the 3 month onesies...because YES, somehow my babies skip the newborn/1 month sizes and come out as 3 month olds. But it's just like all the other pregnancies, you feel like you're not ready but really you're as ready as you'll ever be. 

My husband and I are excited though. Our little tribe of boys is growing. And honestly I'm a little scared too. Saf is working full time, going to school, we have a 1 yr old that doesn't even walk yet, we have little fam near by and no parents, and we're just trying to "make it" on our own. Somehow it all works out though....right? Lol

Empowering parent

Last week I took my son to run a quick errand with me. As I was picking up the few things I needed he spotted a train THAT HE JUST HAD TO HAVE. Instead of buying it for him just so I didn't have to hear him crying for it I told him if he helps me around the house I'd pay him money and if he saved up enough money I'd take him back to the store and he could buy it himself. The very next morning the first thing he said to me when he woke up was, "mommy, can I wash the dishes for you?" That was music to my ears! I put that kid to work and he loved it! He "washed" all the dishes in the sink and then I "rewashed" them. Lol But afterwards I kept my end of the deal and gave him a couple one dollar bills. He had the biggest smile on his face and it made me so happy seeing the satisfaction and pride he had for himself from earning his own money. A couple days later I took him to the store, he picked out a train, and then handed the cashier the money from his wallet. He was the happiest kid walking out of that store and I was happy to have been able to teach him that:

1)if you want something you need to work to earn it. 

2)the world does not owe you anything! you are not entitled to things you have not earned. 

3)responsibility for actions: there are consequences and rewards for your actions. 

I am by far not the perfect parent but these are the moments that are so rewarding for me -to be able to teach my children important life lessons that I hope they'll remember and practice through out their lives. I love my babies so much and want them to be truly happy. Even though their both still so young, it's never too early to prepare them for the future.

   

                                    

27 weeks

  This pregnancy is just flying by! I can't believe I'm already almost in my third trimester. I've been too busy with my other two kids that I have had little time to ever even think about this little one.  But I had a doc appointment earlier this week (I went alone) and I was finally able to slow down just a bit and think about the near future. I was grateful to hear that everything sounded good with baby. I'm going to have my hands full with 3 kids under the age of four but I'm still excited! My husband and I just lalaLOVE our boys and don't know what we'd do without them. Oh, by the way -not sure if I already mentioned it in here but we're expecting another boy. Anyways, so far so good! I'm hoping for a natural delivery this time though (no c-sections!). Only a couple more months left...

                                

2013 recap for our little fam bam

I can't believe 2013 is already over! Our 2013 was super busy and productive for Saf and I. So much happened and everything happened so fast that the year went by in a blur. We opened 2013 with a bang by welcoming our 2nd team member, Niko!

He's been such a beautiful blessing for our family. He takes after his mama and I'm proud of that!

Shortly after Niko was born we moved (not too far) and Saf started another semester of school.  Oh my stress! Moving right after having a newborn and starting a new semester of school is cuh-razy but we some how made it through!

We renewed our Disneyland passes and Safi boy has been able to show Niko around the park and take him on his favorite rides. 

Safi boy got his first taste in putting his athleticism into good use...KARATE! It was a crack up watching this little guy do his thang!

In the summer we had lots of beach days, but hopefully even more this year. 

We also had a mini fam reunion for my family and stayed in a hotel on the beach in Laguna Beach for a night.

We made a couple trips to Utah to see my family and I was able to get a couple good rides in with my Grandpa.

Of course we had many stay-at-home-lazy-silly days.

At the end of the summer we had a mini reunion with Saf's family up in Monterey. It's gorgeous up there! I even got my husband to go kayaking with us in the bay (if you know my husband than you already know he doesn't do anything water). 

Like I said -it's been a very busy year for Saf and I. At the end of the summer we found out big news.....WE'RE EXPECTING AGAIN! Talk about SURPRISE BABY! Oh well, might as well get our football team going now (we're having another boy).

In September we celebrated our 5 year anniversary (with kids and all! One day we'll get our 2nd honeymoon, right?). We stayed at the Hilton in Huntington Beach right acros the street from the beach. It was a nice close-to-home getaway.  

I ran my first 5k with my sis, Lia. One of my 2014 goals is to run a half marathon!

We ended 2013 with Saf finishing another semester at school and spending the holidays here at home with just us. Honestly, it was nice to just relax for one Christmas and not having to worry about traveling here and there all in the same day. 

2013 was very good to us and we have much to be grateful for. But this year has been quite the emotional roller coaster for me so I'm more than ready for 2014 to roll on in!