Anniversary, Kicks, & Baby Clothes

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today is my parents 30th wedding anniversary! Sadly they weren't able to spend it together since my Dad is in Africa right now for work but once he is back in June they will celebrate hopefully with a trip somewhere new. They set a very good example for us kids, thanks for that!

As of last Tuesday, the 4th of May, I was able to feel Aubrie kick and since then she hasn't stopped. It is a very cool feeling! Gil finally gets home tomorrow and I am excited for him to feel it and I think he is pretty excited as well! We have another appointment on the 14th and I am excited to see how much she has grown since our last appointment.

I got my first 2 baby packages this weekend. One came on Saturday from Gil's parents but I was ordered to not open it till Gil got home so it has been torturing me since Saturday! It is such a big box I can't wait to find out what it is! Then today I got a package from my Grandma of the things she has bought since we found out we were pregnant. They are all such cute things! I can't wait to have little Aubrie to put in all the clothes.

Oh, I also got my package of bumgenius diapers! There was a promotion on a website if you ordered one you got the second one free. They are so tiny and cute! I hope they work well!

And last but definitely not least, a picture of my adorable Kai. I made cupcakes last weekend and was taking some pictures when Kai wanted to get involved...a little too involved! This is the furthest I could get her from the cupcakes!

Busy Week

Well Gil and I had a very busy week while he was home. We found out we are having a girl, we found our stroller/car seat, crib and changing table, I registered at 3 different places (had way to much fun looking at all the adorable girly things!), we had fancy hot dogs at Hanks Haute Dogs (VERY good by the way), we golfed twice (Gil golfing, me driving the cart), decided on the spelling of our baby girls name, took Kai for a swim, had great healthy dinners every night...and I am sure there is something I am missing. Oh yeah, bought our awesome new pots at Williams Sonoma which we have been planning for almost a year.

I think we did a pretty good job of not only getting stuff done but getting out of the house and enjoying ourselves for the short time that Gil was home. He is now gone again to the big island for training. He will be back in May and will have a little more time before he has to leave for more training. We find it funny how much I change he time he leaves. When he left in March I had no baby bump and by the time he returned I was starting to show and this time I think I will be doubling in size again by the time he comes home. I am looking forward to him getting back home and going to the doctor again to see how much our baby girl has grown.

Check out our baby blog I just updated it with a few pictures.

Lastly, I would like to share a photo from this past weekend of baby shopping.

Gil is very excited about getting a BabyBjorn or as we call it a baby bouncer. One of the stores we went to they had all the different kinds to try and compare and they even had a 10 lbs doll to help make it more realistic.

Birthday Surprise!

So imagine being 3 months pregnant, asleep for an hour when you get a phone call from a friend (3 days before your birthday) asking you to come to your front door because she has something for you.

That is exactly what happened to me last month. I was thoroughly confused but crawled out of bed and headed to the door. I opened and and guess who was there!?

None other than my Momma!

Apparently this trip had been planned since last October! It ended up working out well cause not only was Gil gone but my Dad is in Germany so we got to keep each other company and celebrate my 25th birthday.

We really didn't do much. She helped/did a lot of the cleaning of my house which was very helpful and my house has never looked better. She helped deal with a housing situation we have been working on for a while now and we went out and celebrate my birthday with a few friends.

She got to meet a new friend of mine and get to know my friends a little better over dinner.

We started my birthday with a few presents and then went to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Framaggio's. My friends, Meredith, Pat, Genevieve & Lane joined us for dinner and we had a great time. After dinner we stopped by our favorite frozen yogurt place, YoGurt Momma's as dessert. It was a really great night and I got some great gifts from my friends.

Sadly the next day I got a really bad headache which didn't go away before my mom left so we just spend the time taking Kai on walks and hanging out in the sun outback.

It was a really great time and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect gift for my birthday. It will be a birthday to remember for sure!

This is a picture of my mom and I on my birthday after dinner

Lastly I would like to announce a new blog I have created just for Baby D. So if you are interested, check it out. I will try and be good about updating it. http://baby-desroches.blogspot.com

Hope you are all doing well. Come back later this week because we will be announcing the sex of our baby!

Big News!

We are having a baby!!!

I would like to introduce you to Baby D!

I haven't posted in forever because every time I thought about it I just wanted to share the news but we were waiting for the three month mark and now we are almost at the four month mark and I still haven't posted.

I had an appointment at 11 weeks and we got to see the baby for the first time. Sadly Gil was in Georgia but a friend went with me for support. We got to hear the heartbeat as well as see Baby D. Our next appointment is on the 12th of April and I am very excited because Gil will have just gotten home from Georgia and will be able to go to this appointment. We plan to go to Honolulu later in the week to find out the gender. I don't know about Gil but I am very excited to find out because I have been holding off buying things until I know if it will be a boy or a girl.

Baby D is due the end of September and my mom will be flying out to help us in the beginning then when Gil deploys I will fly home with her for a couple of months.

Next up Birthday post, which included a big surprise which had been planned since October!

Best Spaghetti Sauce Ever!

I am an adamant reader of the blog Smitten Kitchen. I love her writing style as well as the photos of each dish. Just reading the title of her last post (tomato sauce with onion and butter) I couldn't resist making it. We had another meal planned for last nights dinner but it got nixed for this deliciously simple spaghetti sauce. I recommend everyone to try it. Gil likes it so much he has decided that this will be the only spaghetti sauce we will ever make...it is so good we couldn't help but finish the leftovers for breakfast! I think it would also make a great pizza sauce if you puree it. We will be trying that next.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions

Adapted from Marcela Hazan's, Essentials of Italian Cooking

Serves 4 (or dinner and breakfast for 2)

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved

Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes.

Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti.

Hope you enjoy!

Maunawili Falls Trail

I apologize for not writing more about the holiday season. I wish there was a good reason but really it is just due to laziness. After all the family left (we just sent the last one home on Friday) we just needed to relax. I still plan to write more about Christmas because we did so much and it was nice to have all the family here but first...a quick post about our hike today.

I have been wanting to go on this hike for a while but never really knew where it was and Gil hasn't had the time. It is actually only 10/15 minutes from our house. It is very easy and takes roughly 40 minutes to get to the end. Once you arrive you are greeted by a icy swimming pool and waterfall.

We went early this morning and once there were very happy we did! There were only a few people at the waterfall when we first arrived and as we left there were crowds of people showing up.

We weren't sure if we were going to go in the water and once we got there I think we were even less likely to go in the water because of how cold it was. Finally though, I thought, we came all this way and we are in our bathing suits then we should do it.

Boy, was it COLD!

I can't remember the last time I was in water that cold. Gil even got me to jump off the rock...which I am never really prone to do. It was fun though and once you get on top of the waterfall you can see another smaller one above it...had I not decided to jump I would have never gotten to see the mini swimming hole/waterfall.



Lastly...here is footage of the two of us jumping into the swimming hole.

Hopefully soon I will take the time to sit in the office and finish the Christmas post. Hope you enjoyed our sunny hike with us.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and an exciting New Year celebration! We have had family visiting since December 15th and the whole family was here for Christmas. My parents left first and my brother and sister-in-law left shortly after to go on their honeymoon in Kauai. Now it is just the Desroches' left and we enjoyed a nice dinner in Waikiki for New Year's. Here is a family photo from Christmas morning.

More photos and details of the holiday season to come soon...when there is less family and more time.