Echohawk-Hayashi

Grocery Outlet

2011-08-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have become more aware of the phenomenon and tragedy that is Grocery Outlet. There are now two stores within a 3 mile radius from our lovely neighborhood in North Seattle and I have started hitting the aisles at the 130th and Aurora location a couple of times a month. I have gotten some great deals and a lot of weird and highly unusual items as well.

For instance, we have needed a new umbrella for our table in the backyard. I have been making mentally preparations to spend around a $100. Earlier this summer, I got home from work and lo and behold, Bob had bought us a new umbrella for $14! What the what! Other items that seem to good to be true have been Annie's organic fruit snacks and crackers. I can't remember the exact price but I estimate around 30% cheaper then Target and Safeway. I also got a huge bag of flax seed for around $2. So we have saved some money but I usually do not buy fruit snacks and crackers but I was lured in by the price.

We have also had some major disasters at the outlet. The first time I was there I bought a few cans of beans for a chilli I was making and then looked around for a snack. I grabbed a bag of beef jerky that I think was called ends and pieces. Those pieces of God knows what were HORRIBLE. I think it might have been cat or dinosaur meat that the found somewhere. It was incredibly tough and I know this is going to sound really bizarre but it was kind of dusty or ashy. It felt like I had taken a bite of rotten meat that had been dehydrated.

WOW, after writing that I feel a need to take some deep cleansing breath's.

OK, I am feeling better.

I recently bought toilet paper and the only way to describe it was that it was old. It feels like it had been sitting on the shelves for a long time and has gotten a little soggy and then was re-dried along the way. So freaking weird.

I have more to say, so Jen and Bex get ready for more thrilling posts from the underworld of Grocery Outlet.

Quotable Quotes

2011-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

There has been some very interesting conversations around my house.

Matt to me at the dinner table
"I think I want to be married to a human, thank you" That might have been because I asked him if he would still love me even if I was magically transformed into a dinosaur.

True in the car
"I think I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up and make you a beautiful dress, Mommy!"

True after he met our friends 12 year old daughter.
"I like that girl Mommy, she is so nice, I want her to be my girlfriend."

Zoey when I asked her if she was ready to go to bed
"No way, Mama"

The knock knock jokes

2011-07-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

True has been making up lame knock knock jokes recently.

This morning this one cracked me up.

True - Knock, Knock
Me - Who's there?
True - Chubby face
Me - Chubby face who?
True - Chubby face, actually I am a butt!

I think he heard us talking about a "butt chin" and he made it into his little joke.

Hilfreakingarious!

The Wild Chicken Puppet Show

2011-04-09T21:49:00.001-07:00

Zoey - Two YEARS old

2011-04-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe but Zoey the dream child has officially turned two year old. Kind of blows my mind a little. Time is flying with by and as she is my last ever bio baby I find myself feeling nostalgic and a little sad that she is growing so quickly. She seems to be pretty ok with being a baby forever, if I tell her that she is a big girl (usually in an attempt to get her to do something) she vehemently denies her big girl status and says, "I baby, I baby". Which cracks me up, she really is the funniest two year old I have ever seen. REALLY, you should see her and her gorgeous comedy, it would blow your hair back.

So, we had a huge birthday party. I sent an evite and then invited a whole herd of people who stormed through our house with joy and stamping. It was uhmazing. Around 70 people to celebrate our girl. She took it in stride and had a great time although there were moments when she needed the refuge of a grandparent or mom and dad. We porked down massive amounts of food - 4 smoked chickens, 15 pounds of Korean style brisket, yakisoba, edamame, gyoza, fruit, salad, cupcakes for the kids and strawberry cream cake for the adults. Crazy delicious.

Matt and his Dad had worked on a puppet theater for Zoey's birthday so I felt compelled to entertain the crowd with a humble puppet show that my dear friend Amber did with me. The crowd seemed to like it although Zoey seems to be a little bored with it.

I love my baby.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-17T07:55:00.001-08:00

I don't know how this has happened but over the past two years I have gotten really excited about celebrating Valentine's Day.
Matt and I were never really that into it but now that I have kids it has been so fun to throw a big party and create heart's everywhere for my babies and friends.

AND, to be honest I would really like to buy and wear holiday themed sweaters but Matt and my sisters are horrified at the idea. I am giving them a reprieve but the moment I become a grandma I am buying sweaters for Christmas, Valentines' day, Easter, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving - I can't wait!

Sadly, I had to make it through this Valentine's day without a festive sweater adorned with pink hearts but I compensated with heart shaped cookies, jello jigglers, cupcakes and homemade macaroni and cheese.

Human, raised by humans

2011-02-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today in the car True told me, "Mom I was just joking about being an elf when I grow up, I want to be a army man!"

Hilarious! Matt asked him if there could be something in between, like a doctor.

Bowie

2011-02-07T10:42:00.001-08:00

Zoey has given True a new nickname.

Bowie!

We love it.

Trying to send an email

2011-02-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

True is in the kitchen and he calls out to me, "Mom I will be very very careful with this really sharp knife." He has a huge butcher knife and is trying to peel a kiwi!
Oh LORD!

He was supposed to be playing puppy.

True and Zoey UPDATE

2010-12-14T22:44:00.000-08:00

How do my babies grow?

Zoey is getting incredibly big and very capable all of a sudden.

She can do the following with great proficiency

- Feed herself with a fork and spoon and drink out of a regular cup. In fact she is a great eater, she will eat all kinds of veggies and especially loves roasted carrots. Meat and cheese are the first things to be eaten on her plate, then she goes for the rice and finally her veggies. She is eating so much which makes sense with the growth she has been doing. I can't wait to see what her height percentile is when we take her for her well child in March.

- Pretend Play - Zoey has recently started to play with stuffed animals, pretending they are her babies and dragging them around to mother them. It is way cute but the car is more cluttered then normal. :) Pretending to read books is also a favorite past time.

- True still amazes us with this creative abilities. Most recently we realized that he knows how to use scissors with ease. He generally spends at least an hour a day coloring, gluing, cutting and making things"beautiful."

- He is also growing like a little weed. When he was younger we thought he was lactose intolerant and didn't allow him to have much dairy. But when Zoey started to drink milk he would ask me for some and I started to give him little glasses to see how he would react. He loves milk and has had no stomach issues. YAY! Both kids are drinking organic skim milk, at least two glasses a day.

- I have been a little concerned about vitamin D for both kids. I need to research a little about what Pacific Nortwest kids need to be taking in order to not be deficient. They take multi vitamins everyday but I think they need more D. And I need to make sure they get outside even when it is cold. :)

Zoey loves to help me cook. In order to distract her I let her peel the skin of the garlic. She loves it!

My list of thankful thoughts

2010-11-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

So much to be thankful for, so I thought I would make a list.

1. Matt, who is so patient and loves me steadily despite my wild ways and crazy antics. What a rock, friend and partner in hilarity and sorrow. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

2. True-Blue, I can't imagine what my life would look like without his joyful spirit bounding around our house. Recently, he spends almost all of his playtime dancing and singing, I could watch him ALL DAY LONG.

3. Zoey-Lala, this girl cannot get enough of me! She constantly wants to cuddle, hug and love on her Mama and I am treasuring every moment as I know it won't last forever.

4. My mom is an incredible piller of strength. We have shared the most intense, crazy moments of our lives and she consistently responds in love, kindness and grace. So grateful to be her daughter.

5. Sisters and brothers! Sometimes I think about having more kids only because I am sad that my kids won't have this community of genuine love and support that I experience on a daily basis. So blessed to have David, Ted, Lael, Abi, Elisabeth, Hillel and Howie as my best friends.

6. Aunt Suzie - What a loyal, loving aunt and friend. She has helped raise and mentor all of us and I am so thankful for her.

7. Friends who are so amazing, constant in their love for Matt and I.

8. My house! Still can't believe that I own a house in Seattle. So happy that Ted and Jill helped us to remodel the carport into an extra bedroom.

Love, love, love!

Bathtub singing

2010-11-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

True has gotten in the very awesome habit of making up silly songs. Tomightnin the bathtub he is singing
" my mom and dad are so so sweet!"
"if you see my family they will give you a hug!"

He just realized that I was noticing what he was singing. In order to disract me he just asked me, " mom, when you are in jail do the gates crash?"

Hmmmmmm, I have no idea why he thinks I have been to jail.

But now that he has my attention he has started to sing "my mommy is so beautiful.".

What a little doll!

Haloween and Jesus

2010-10-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

We were getting ready to go to church and True asked me if we were going to sing songs about Halloween and Jesus. I said that I didn't know any songs about Halloween and Jesus. True looked at me like I was totally crazy and he said yes you do remember, the bats fly over Jesus!

crazy town!

It is NOT a wonderful day.

2010-10-09T09:09:00.001-07:00

This morning True took a look at the cloudy sky and declared, "It is NOT a wonderful day, it's a weird, weird day, Jesus made this day so weird."

Bananas!

Say no to the boob and the great and wonderful Daddy

2010-09-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I quit nursing Zoey. My sisters were shocked and dismayed because they (especially Lael) really thought I should keep breast feeding until Zoey was at least 5 years old. Can you hear the sarcasm dripping? But, to be honest I was very proud of myself for nursing her this long and was willing to go until she was two. However she was only nursing at night to put herself back to sleep and it was really keeping us both awake at night and made for a tired mommy and a grumpy Zoey so we stopped. She was ticked off to not be able to get in bed with us in the middle of the night and nurse whenever she wanted. Matt would go to her crib at night and talk to her, sing a little song and watch his ipod while she cried with such intensity you would think that we were stabbing her in the legs. She did this for a couple of nights and then got the idea of what was happening and has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now!

Can I hear an Amen? Can I hear dancing and frolicking in the streets?

Free at LAST!!!!!!!

I was getting so tired of being tired!

While I was busy doing the running man, Matt got some amazing bonding time with Zoey. She is wild in love with her Daddy and I love it. She has taken to calling him, Maaaaatttt and when on the plane to Hawaii all she wanted was Maaattt. And, I was so happy because I could sit next to my peaceful little True-Blue and read my book and play on my ipad while Matt wrangled the little diva. I would occasionally glance up from readings and give a benevolent smile while inwardly I pumped my fist and thought not for the first time that I am the luckiest girl in the world!

The diva

2010-08-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

So, I am not complaining but.... and I hate to write this down, I hate to think how our lives are going to change but Zoey is becoming, has become, um dare I say the word? A diva, dictator, captain of this ship and we her nervous and jumpy subjects are giving her a wide berth, accommodating this newest and frightening stage of her development. And we certainly are hoping that she will quickly outgrow this diva stage, we are doing "smallkine" discipline to help her "redirect" her reign of terror with moderate success. What sends her into spasms of rage is usually her poor big brother and he is the little diva's main target. If he is holding any toy, she demands it with a shriek of "mine, mine" and if he doesn't give it to her she goes banana's. If True is getting hugs and kisses from Mom and Dad she looses her mind and will push and hit him trying to get him off of us.

Bonkers!

True seems to be pretty nonchalant about the whole situation but it makes me a little edgy.

It's just a stage

and it makes it easier when you see how pretty she is! Her pictures are super cute but in person you just want to eat her up.
and even in this diva stage we are so crazy in love with her that we can hardly stand it!

Jesus and Rachel Zoe

2010-08-25T08:47:00.001-07:00

Wednesday morning happenings

True just told me "hey Mom, Jesus can see us, He can put his big head down and look at us right now."

For some reason this just creeps me out!

I just got Zoey dressed for a wam Seattle day, a diaper and a dress. She decided she would like to also wear a night gown over the dress, pink velour pants and one pink rain boot. Somebody call Rachel Zoe because there is some serious fashion mistakes being made over here.

This water smells like mayonaise

2010-07-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

I try to do my best to expose True and Zoey to the natural wonders that are available to us who are lucky to live in the beautiful Nortwest along the Puget Sound. We visit parks, beaches, create fall leaf collages, discuss the mountain ranges, explore the varied insects in our backyard, I feel like I am doing a pretty darn good job in introducing them to the environment that surrounds us.

So please imagine my chagrin when after boarding the ferry to Bainbrige island (in the Puget Sound) True looks over at me and says, " MOM, this water smells like mayonaise and I no yike it!"

Wow

A one year wonder

2010-04-05T17:47:00.001-07:00

Zoey did it, she made it through our steady but always a little bit wild parenting; we are the parents of a beautiful one year old!

Zoey is such a lover - She loves to snuggle, nurse, be held and hug anyone but especially her brother. Uncle Bob and Uncle Howie get a lot of affection from her, if they don't pick her up she will walk over and hug their leg. So cute! I love waking up to hear her babbling and trying to get someone to wake up and notice how cute she is being. She loves to be around people and her cousins and brother our her favorite people to be with. She especially loves it if they are running, their is something about the movement that makes her yell and laugh and their funny antics.

She started to crawl at 6 months, cruising at 7 months and walking at 11 months. She will sign that she is all done and more, her words are Mama, Dada, mo (more) and hi. She has made it through her vaccinations with no fevers and irritabilitly. She has 8 teeth and they have certainly been difficult as they break through the skin. Teething seems to exasperate her desire to wake up at least 3 to 4 times a night to nurse and then snuggle with Dad, we have had many long, long nights with her but she is slowly sleeping for long chunks of time.

She is pure sweetness.

Zoey's list of likes

Nursing
True-Blue
Playing in the tea drawer
Sleeping anywhere but her crib
Playing in her car
Playing on the deck
"Helping" to load the dishwasher
Climbing the stairs
Popcorn
Carseat
Banging on the computer keyboard
Dancing
Music

Zoey's list of dislikes

Bathtime
Going to sleep in her crib
Most foods
Brother messing with her
The gate blocking the stairs

Guns

2010-03-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

True recently found a nerf gun left here by Miguel and Noni. He started playing with it while I was working in the yard. I heard him talking to himself and had to try really hard to not laugh out loud.

His one-sided conversation went as follows.

"I has a gun - ha HA, ha HA"
"I is a bad guy - ha HA, ha HA"

His ha HA ha HA was really loud and funny. Later I was trying to tell Matt what he had been doing and he interrupted me and said "Dad, I had a gun and I laughed a terrible laugh."

Lordy, he is so much fun.

True the ballerina

2010-03-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

True is non-stop talking lately. My days of listening to NPR in the car are over.
At dinner he told us, "Mom, you are the queen, Dad you are the King, Zoey you are the princess and I am the ballerina!"

OMG!

I didn't even know that he knew what a ballerina was! So cute.

We have been going to Bible Study Fellowship and he LOVES his class and his teacher. He cried for 2 minutes the first time I left him and now he can't wait to go. He is really ready for preschool this fall.
and I get to go to the lecture and hang out with a small group without the kids and it is heavenly. Zoey goes to Abi's house or one of my super-friends watch her for me.

Conversations with True

2010-02-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a little bit of my conversations with True tonight.

Me: True, come on get in bed.
(He ignores me)
Me: True, RIGHT NOW
True: Hey, Zoey's mom
Me? What?
True: Hey, Zoey's mom
Me: Hey, kid! I'm not just Zoey's mom, I am your mom, too!
True: oh
True: Your my mom and my dad is crazy.

Later, I am singing him song while we lay in bed together. He asks me to sing the "quiet song" which is the old Psalty song I grew up singing - I cast all my cares upon you, I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. When I finished singing it I asked him to sing me a song. His song went something like this.

I cast all my care on you-hoo. I lay my burdens, all on your body. and then we are at the farm. there are so many ducks, cows and g-hoatttttss on my farm. then we will dance all over.

Sing it with me, mom!

What a kid!

2010, Really?

2010-01-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

How is it possible that it is already 2010? As a kid it seemed that I would never make it to be in this decade!

We had a great Christmas this year. My whole family from Alaska and Hawaii were here as well as Josh and Whakawa. We ate, laughed, talked and the boys did a construction project; we turned our carport into an extra bedroom. The kids had an amazing Christmas and made out like little bandits, lots of toys, books and clothes.

True speaks his mind

2009-12-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

"Moma, your da best mom I ever did saw"

What a kid!

Pig, poo and a penis - a few things I don't want to forget.

2009-12-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

When my mom was here a couple of weeks ago, she was asking True what his favorite animal is at the zoo (my mom and dad buy us a family pass every year - thanks). He yelled, "the pig, the pig is my favorite." She asked him why and he looked at her slyly and said, "because they make poo." Apparently, the last time Matt took him to the zoo the pig took a huge dump, it made a big impression on him and he still talks about it all the time.

Today, he was coloring a picture of a horse and he looked over at me and said, "I am going to draw a big penis on this horse."

He's not allowed to talk to anyone when we go to the grocery store.

Zoey's first photo shoot

2009-11-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Zoey had a photo shoot with MeRa Koh photography. MeRa recently got a book deal with Random House. I think it's a book on how to take photographs of your kids. Not entirely sure but I am thrilled to have such an amazing opportunity to get some professional photos taken of Zoey. We should get the disk in a few weeks and the book comes out next year. Can't wait to see the pictures! Zoey was amazing the whole time, a little solemn for her (she is usually all smiles) but I think they are going to be great.

True is thankful for......

2009-11-22T23:49:00.000-08:00

Today in the car, Matt asked True what he was thankful for. Here is his list.

Me is thankful for
my toys
my Cohen's
my Lola's
my Auntie Abi's
my Miguel's
my Noni's
my Bayla's
my Judah's
my Zoey's
ummm
my W's
my T's
my B's
ummm
me thankful for all my ABC's
that's all

My kids are so great.

sleeping

2009-10-26T22:29:00.001-07:00

Recently our sleep has been constantly interrupted. We are working on the "no cry" sleep training for Zoey and True is still dealing with his yegs cramping at night. We are really, really tired.

damn

Thank God they are really cute and during the day I just can't get enough of them. But at night I want someone to come and take them away and let me get a two hours of uninterrupted sleep. I think that if we could get two hours without someone waking up I could change the spacey, tired feeling I constantly experience.

damn

did I mention they are cute. I just checked on true (who has been laying in his bed for over and hour and a half) he hugged me really tight and said "I am so thankful for my friends!"

Nad Pod Coll In Show

2009-10-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

2009-09-28T22:47:00.001-07:00

2009-09-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

My yegs, my yegs

2009-09-18T23:35:00.000-07:00

Poor True-Blue has become the victim to painful leg cramps which the Dr. classifies as growing pains. They are really a nightmare for all of us. He wakes up yelling, "My yegs, my yegs, my yegs. Ouchie, Ouch, help me Mom, DAAAAAD, my yegs, my yegs." Matt usually gets up and starts to massage his legs and comfort him that it will be over soon. I try to sleep (since Zoey will usually wake up right after he gets back to sleep) but after about 10 minutes of non-stop crying we decide he needs baby ibuprofen and then I get up and get it. It is so sad. The Dr. said to pump him up with lots of potassium in avocado, orange juice and vitamins. Also, dehydration and a really active day can aggravate his little legs. The vitamins seem to help the most. We really see a difference when we has had his gummie vitamins. I am hoping soon that someday we will have a night where we all sleep soundly for more than four hours at a time. But, I am not holding my breath.

Big Chicken

2009-09-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

My nick-names for the kids are always evolving and recently I started to call Zoey my chicken and True my monkey. Today he came over to me, gave me a little squeeze and said, "Mommy, you are my big chicken!" So freaking cute and absolutely hilarious.

True is also in the stage where he loves to run around naked. He takes off his clothes and says, "Naked boy, naked boy" he proceeds to dance and "shake his bootie". Another favorite is to powwow dance with a scarf or a towel. Yesterday he was naked and getting ready to dance with my mom's scarf. Miguel (oldest cousin) who is eight and very dignified saw what True was about to do and told me, "Auntie Colleen, True is naked and about to dance with that scarf, It's going to be horrible." Poor Miguel.

Sorry about that!

2009-08-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

True is learning new phrases and it is so cute. Today he was drawing on his doodle pad and I heard say, "Oh I only made one eye, sorry about that." I like him a lot!

We had a good day today at Davids house at Angle Lake. True is very comfortable in the water; he wears a life vest and floats around and enjoys "swimming" out to the dock. The weather has been so great this summer and he is a brown, brown boy.

Gentleman and Yadies

2009-08-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Today, True spent a lot of time pretending to be dancing on stage. He wears my my nursing cover like a cape and then announces himself.

Gentleman and Yadies, announcing True-Blue Echohawk - Hayashi. I am powwow dancing - BOY!

He then proceeds to dance and entertain himself and anyone else who is watching.

We yove him.

Zoey is a GIANTESS!

2009-08-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Zoey had her 4 month well child check up on August 3rd. When they put her on the scale Matt and I cracked up because she looked so big on it. She weighed in at an impressive 17.2 pounds! For her weight and head size she is in the 97th percentile, her length is 78th percentile - She is officially a pretty, little MONSTER!

Princess True-Blue

2009-07-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Todays conversation between Matt and True-Blue

Matt: True-Blue, why are you wearing mommy's necklaces?
True: I yike them.
Matt: Are you a pirate?
True: Nope
Matt: Are you a rapper?
True: Nope, I am a princess.

DooDoo

2009-07-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Warning! This post is my conversation with True about his poop. Graphic details to follow.

Setting - True is sitting on the toilet , I am sitting on the side of the tub waiting for him to finish his business.

Me: True are you almost pau?
True: Almost, Mommy (He peers between his legs looking at his doodoo)
True: Look, my doodoo, Mommy.
Me: Are you finished?
True: Dere (there) my Daddy doodoo and a baby doodoo AND ANODER DADDY DOODOO.
Me: Shhh, don't yell (trying not to laugh).
True: AND THERE IS THAT BOY DOODOO.

At that point I couldn't really talk and he grinned at me, very happy with himself.

Babies who love each other is a wonderful thing.

2009-07-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

Last week True got into bed with Zoey and I. He put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze and told me. "I love her!" I was so happy, he is incredibly gentle and sweet to his little sister.

Later that day, I told him to go to time out because he was acting very naughty, which did not make him happy. When I was putting him to bed he was having trouble with not freaking out when I tried to leave the room. He grabbed me by the neck and said, " need you, I need you." I told him again that he could sleep by himself and I had to go bathe Zoey. This totally pushed him over the edge and he collapsed into sobs, "You are so naughty mommy, stop being NAUGHTY!"

He is doing fabulous on his ABC's. He talks about them all the time.

Me: What are you doing?
True: Say my ABC's.
Me: What is your favorite letter?
True: W - W say's wah, wah. Where my E go? I want that E. (singing) A, B, C, D, E 12345 L, M, N, O , P.

We repeat that conversation many times throughout the day.

Zoey is the sweetest little baby. She makes everyone smile. She is huge and almost as big as Jones who is two months older. We go to the Dr. on August 3 for her 4 month appointment and shots. True is a little behind on his shots so we will get his done at the same time.

Enjoy a couple of pictures from our trip to Hawaii in June.

Dum and Dick

2009-07-01T10:19:00.001-07:00

True Blue has been obsessed recently with a little Native hand drum and stick (Noni made it at Daybreak Star pre-school). The first night he had it he went to sleep with it and I took out of his bed when I went to sleep. The next morning he woke up and said, "where my dum and my dick?" Later that day Matt took it away for a while because we were going a little crazy and then he accused matt of "hiding his dick."

We laughed and laughed.

Zoey - Two months old

2009-05-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

Zoey had her two month appointment this week. Dr. Haas declared her perfect and in wonderfully good health. She is growing like crazy and weighs 11 pounds 4 ounces. Her height is 23 inches which confused the Dr. a little because when she was first measured at the hospital they didn't do it right and it her official birth height is 22 inches. When she was measured on her second day she was 19 inches. Dr. Haas seemed a little worried that she had not grown enough but I reminded her what happened and from the way she is quickly outgrowing her clothes it is obvious that she is much taller. She is in the 75th percentile for weight head growth and 50 percentile for length. She has an ugly, raised, red birth mark on her back which the Dr. assured will be gone by her second birthday. I was also a little concerned because she has had a cold almost constantly since she was two weeks old. Dr. Haas didn't seem to concerned as she is growing so quickly and is otherwise very healthy. It's hard being the second baby, she gets every cold that True gets. Zoey is sleeping very well, she spend the first part of the night in the bassinet and then I move her to are bed to nurse and snuggle with Mom and Dad. She sleeps better when she is close to us and we like it too!

Zoey

2009-05-18T21:30:00.001-07:00

Zoey

2009-05-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

It has been almost two months since Zoey Lael has been with us!

She was born March 24th via a C-section around 8:30pm. Her due date was March 19th and we decided to go for a C-Section when their was some concern that I could have some possible tearing of the old C-section scar. I was having a really weird sharp pain and Dr. Deimer advised the C-Section. We made the decision at 12pm and spent the rest of the day in the hospital room, resting and watching TV. We were in the operating room around 8:10 and twenty mintues later Zoey arrived.

She came out crying very loudly. In fact she has a really loud cry for a newborn. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 22 inches long. Zoey was perfectly healthy and took to nursing like a champ. We spent two nights in the hospital and she came home on her third day. Big brother loves her but seemed a little confused to see her every morning. True is experiencing a normal regression, refusing to used the toilet, sucking on his hand and a little whiney when we can't hold him while taking care of Zoey.
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Zoey started to smile around three weeks and is a peaceful, lovely girl. She sleeps well through the night only waking to nurse and go to sleep. She is easy to console and is beginning to enjoy a binky. Big brother also likes the binky and regularly tries to steal it. The past couple of days she has been able to really see what he is doing and she follows him around the room with her big brown eyes staring at his wild antics.

We were very blessed to have much help during the first few months of Zoey's life. Matt's mom was here before Zoey arrived with the hopes of being at the birth. Zoey decided to be very late and she missed her birth but while she was here she was a TREMENDOUS help and blessing to us. My mom arrived a day after Matt's mom went back to Hawaii, she stayed until the day before Easter so she could get back and preach! Lis (my sis from Hawaii) arrived a couple of days after mom left and it was so awesome to have the help. I recovered really well but it is tough to wrangle a two year old while nursing a baby.

We are very blessed and are looking forward to the months and years to come with our Zoey Girl.

getting back to blogging!

2009-02-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, facebook has been my main online amusement and way to keep up to date with friends and family. But with the new baby about to make an appearance I want to get back into the groove of updating my blog. It is a great way for me to remember what my first year was like with True-Blue and I want to have the same thing for Zoey Lael.

I am now 33 weeks pregnant and we found out she was a girl at the 20 week ultra-sound. We really wanted a girl and are very excited about having both a girl and a boy. Matt has liked the name Zoey since he was in 7th grade and I Lael is after my sister! We have had no discussion of her name, with True it was really hard for us to decide but Zoey's name was an easy decision for us to come to. This pregnancy has been different from True-Blue's, I was nauseous for 4 months but during the 5th month I started to feel really great! Now that I am 8 months I have started to feel tired and a little achey but other wise I feel good.

True is ready for the new baby. He talks about the baby often and we are hoping for a good adjustment!

Watch for new blog posts!

Crazy about Elmo

2008-08-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

True-Blue has discovered Elmo. As soon as I get out the computer he says "elmo,elmo" and we then watch the very cute youtube videos of elmo with Feist, Alicia Keys, Celine Dion and others. He also wants us to sing Elmos' song. I will try to sing something else but he is not satisfied until he hears Matt or I sing the Elmo's song.

A few nights ago he woke up around 5am and got into bed with us. We were trying to ignore him in the hopes he would go back to sleep and I thought we were successful until I heard a little voice say, "Elmo, sing"!

How did he get so funny?

Here is a very cute video of Fiest and different Sesame Street characters including, Elmo.

Pictures look weird.

2008-06-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the weird layout with the new pictures. I'm not sure what happened. Watch for new updates and have a happy day!

New Pictures

2008-06-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Cousins!

Swimming with Dad
src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LD1Mlv7QmgA/SEytelqmFxI/AAAAAAAAAYI/UCRrLBUGsBE/s320/IMG_0446.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209729609979270930" />

All 25 pounds of True Blue goodness!

Helping out in the garden

True Blue Update

2008-06-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since an update on Hiroshi Truth, so here is what is going on. Please remember that this is a baby blog and is taking the place of a baby book so it will be very Hirocentric. I am also going to update colleenechohawk.blogspot.com soon if you want other news.

He is very very friendly. Today in the store he waved and said bye-bye to everyone which is charming but also weird to have to make eye contact with everyone we came in contact with. The other problem at the grocery store is the strong attraction to balloons so as I try to quickly shop he spends his time pointing and yelling about bloons.

He is a great eater and today went crazy over a big bowl of mushroom and pea risotto and a side of roasted broccoli. He also will eat sushi, kimchi, onions, cooked tomatoes, salad any sort of fruit and he LOVES chocolate. His favorite foods are watermelon, rice and any other kinds of fruit. Uncle Bob gave him a delicious ripe peach and it nearly sent him over the moon. He sat in his highchair, dripping peach juice and yelling, "yum-yum"!

His words are multiplying every day. Yesterday he surprised me when he yelled, "Abu" when Auntie Abi left the house. He other words include, Mom, Dad, Bob, Lala (pronounced Luuuu), help, more, please, juice, cheese, food, melon (mnnn), shoes, fish, buffy (sort of his favorite stuffed animal a blue giraffe/dinosaur thing), ball, out and others that I can't think of right now!

Favorite activities include our twice weekly play date with Auntie Ana and Baby Judah, Auntie Nad and Cohen and Lola. We usually go to the indoor play area at Northgate Community Center and he is getting very comfortable playing with the other kids and toys. His favorite is the pink,princess slide which is a little dangerous because he is often dressed in very slippery track suits that makes it very hazardous if he is alone. Another favorite is anytime Miguel and Noni are around he is a happy, happy little boy, the cousins have a love affair going on and it is really cute.

At this point in the game we haven't really settled on exactly what we will call him. I call him True Blue most of the time. Matt usually calls him Hiro Cun (pronounced coon and is Japanese for little friend). Noni calls him Baby-Head which is very funny.

All and all he is a beautiful, wonderful little boy, we enjoy him tremendously!
I will update pictures as soon as I can and thanks for reading!

Easter Outfits

2008-03-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Alaska Grandma carried on the Kelly tradition of buying new outfits for the grandkids. It's a little more fun with girls but the cousins were in full effect this Easter morning. They all really liked their little outfits. Baby did not want to take his tie off.

Naughty!

2008-03-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

A little video of Baby True, Noni and Miguel. It had been wet and rainy all day so it was kind of miserable for us adults but it went quickly. Baby quit looking after finding two and then getting really excited about the num-nums (candy)!

Happy Easter!

Baby True Rides Again

2008-03-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

New blog

2008-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. As you can see my profile picture and information has changed. Right now you are seeing the information for my NEW BLOG, where I hope to do some writing. So check out
www.colleenechohawk.blogspot.com

I will continue to update this blog with pictures and baby specific information and stories.

I am trying to figure out how to have 2 blogs on blogspot and not have the same profile for each of them... If anyone has any ideas let me know!

Love - Colleen

Here's a picture of our beloved boy and me from December 2006! I have been looking at all of our digital pictures trying to decide which ones to keep. Isn't' he a cute? He keeps on getting sweeter and sweeter!

New pictures

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,
Finally some time to post. We have been very busy with a remodel in the basement kitchen, Colleen going back to school and Baby with four more teeth emerging and we got sick for like ten years! But all is well here and we hope you enjoy the photo's! Leave a comment and let us know you are out there!

Much Aloha,
Colleen for Matt and Hiro!

More Hawaii Photo's

2007-12-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Mom and Uncle Glenn

Aunty Cyn, Cheryl (two of my favorite people) and Baby

Uncle Ron and Baby True

Joanna, Charis and the Pawnee Wahine, living it up at the guestbook table!

Matt and Tosh looking goooooood!

Mom and Baby True enjoying the wedding.

The two Hiroshi's!

Lis and Ed (wannabe models)

Hawaii Pictures

2007-12-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

Aloha everyone!
It's been nearly a month since we have been back from Hawaii and finally a moment to post some pictures. We had an amazing time visiting family and attending Grandpa's 80th birthday party and Tim and Tina's wedding. Here are some pictures. Everett and Baby True had a great time hanging out with each other!

All the grandkids with Baba and Grandpa

Halloween!

2007-11-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

Baby True must be adored!

2007-10-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Kids in pajama's are so cute Check out his long hair. He is so crazy cute!!!

More pictures from the Luau

2007-10-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Check out this great one of Pat and Shannon!

Amber and Evaila! Evaila had to get the pose exactly right.

Our new friend, Nick was a huge help along with his fiancee, Kendall.

The Girls!

Sisters!

Taj and Baby True

Luau Pictures!

2007-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Finally, some time to work on a quick report about our luau and some great pictures.

We fed over 180 people, we cooked over seventy pounds of pork, six pots of rice, two huge pans of sweet potatoes, quarts of lomilomi salmon and gallons of green and macaroni salads! The meal turned out wonderfully and the good people of the Ohana Project worked and worked and worked.

The highlight of the luau was the wonderful halau from Hokulani's Hula Studio. The beautiful Kathy once again brought her graceful dancers from her halau and they amazed the crowd.

We have been trying to get the seniors from the Greenwood Senior Center (where we meet on Sunday mornings) to come out to one of our events. We were thrilled to welcome more than twenty wonderful elders and they enjoyed the show immensely. One of the gentleman got up after the hula show and emotionally thanked us for the luau! We were so stoked to have the participation of these lovely people.

Enjoy the pictures, I remembered to take them mostly at the end! Some of them are of us doing the prep work. You of course will see many of baby. He did great and enjoyed the many people who stopped to admire him. :)

Baby True Loves a Luau

2007-09-18T21:43:00.001-07:00

Aloha friends!
I have a lot to report and finally some pictures! Thanks to our dear Liz Morgan we have figured out our camera problem. Now I have to find a new battery on ebay and until I get the new one, Liz has loaned me one of hers. We are struggling to try to subdue our unruly video camera. We have video of Baby but it will not download to the computer, so hopefully, sooner than later we will see some live action from the little tot.

Speaking of tot's...

Baby True is stumbling around like a drunk little sailor. He LOVES walking and when he does he knows that he is being so cute! He is taking five to seven steps at a time. This picture was taken right after he took a step from the chair to his toy. Check out how happy he is with himself.

Baby is still a very happy, charming baby. He is experiencing a little pain from his teeth which makes him a tad grumpy. But as long as there are people around to talk to him and keep him company he doesn't do much crying. In this picture you can see a little of his three teeth on the bottom, still no teeth on the top. He is also eating his new favorite food, edayame!

Now that I have sung his praises let me tell you that we are VERY tired. Baby was a great sleeper until about 8 months and now he thinks it's great to wake up every three hours. We are exhausted! He goes to sleep well but can't stay asleeep. We are trying to let him learn to cry it out in the crib and go back to sleep but he hates that idea. He stands up in his crib and yells at us, "get up you lazy parents and do what I want!" He knows that we are suckers and weak and we have to work so hard to not get him out of his crib. We need to move his crib out of our room but our house isn't set up that great and I don't want him downstairs by himself.

In this picture he is trying to get to Mama and the computer, he has taken to climbing on to everything he can possibly get on.

Here he is really mad that we have started to belt him into his high chair as he likes to stand up and throw food on our light beige carpet!

And finally this is what happens when you insist on playing with a box. Babies are so fickle, he had to play with it and when he got stuck he screamed and when he got out he looked at me like it was all my fault. I guess it was my fault because I took a picture instead of rescuing him.

I know this post was supposed to be have some info and pictures about the Luau! I wrote and posted a ton of pictures to this post but for some reason firefox kicked me of and I lost it! I will post more later, the luau was great and I am so in love with all of you Ohana Project peope!

ALOOOOHHHHHAAA!

Still working on the camera issues!

2007-08-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry no new pictures. We have to get a new camera! But our dear friend from Delta, Ruby sent us a CD with pictures from the Delta Powwow. We were in Alaska in June and had a great time seeing everyone! There is a couple of pictures that show Dad's new outfit. Enjoy the pictures.

Picture Famine

2007-08-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long lapse between posts. Life has been incrediably busy and good recently. We have had a ton of great barbeques and we are really enjoying our friends, neighbors and family.

Our camera has not been working very well. I think we need a new battery or new camera. And we are also trying to figure out our video camera. I am hoping to post videos someday.

Baby True is so amazing. We enjoy him more and more each day. He is 9 1/2 months old. He can cruise around the whole living room with now problem and will occasionally stand on his own. He loves eating cheese, rice and vegetables. Fruit is a little sour for him but he is slowly beginning to eat it. Miguel and Noni (my sister's kids) are the greatest thing in his life so far. When they come running in the house he gets VERY excited and makes dinasour noises that crack us up. He also has started to laugh in his sleep which is very endearing. Pretty much he is the cutest baby in the entire world.

The picture was taken by our friend Christinen who is a professional photographer with some amazing skills. Her website is
christinerenee.com
I highly recommend her if you are looking for pictures of babies! She is great with babies and it was a great experience having her take pictures of Baby True. She comes to your house and makes it really easy.

Thanks everyone for reading our blog and being such a wonderful support to Matt, baby and I.

Swimming at Uncle David's and Auntie Gretchen's House

2007-07-10T16:35:00.001-07:00

Alaska Report

2007-07-09T17:00:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post. We have been to Alaska and back, we were there for the 11th annual Alaska Ablaze Alaska Native Family Camp. Baby True did wonderful and enjoyed himself very much, he was charming on the plane and didn't cry one time!

The camp is in Mentasta Village (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentasta_Lake,_Alaska) . It was beautiful there and we loved hanging out in the village and just "being". We had a great time every night under the big top and were encourged to further seek after the Creator.

We then went to beautiful Delta Jct. and hosted a powwow on the front lawn of my mom and auntie's motel. I am always amazed at how my Dad makes this powwow happen. It was the first time for Dad to wear his new regalia. He looked KEEN! Uncle Tom, Auntie Margret and Aunt Sue were there from Oklahoma and it was great to see them. Uncle Tom and Aunt Margret were in Hawaii for Ted's wedding and it has been awesome to get to know them better. I didn't take pictures the whole time I was in Alaska but Lis is going to email me some that I will post as soon as i can. Until then check out our friend Ruby's blog she has pictures of the powwow. http://gameranchinginalaska.blogspot.com/

More soon!

Mini-Matt

2007-06-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

we love baby true

2007-06-23T10:04:00.001-07:00

He's just so darn cute.

He seem's to really want what he shouldn't have. Isn't that the weirdest thing? Cord's, knifes, hairbrushes, are way more cool then his toy's. In this picture the laundry basket was the coolest thing.

Auntie Lala

2007-06-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Daddy are for sure Baby True's favorite people. But when Auntie Lala get's here most evenings he get's really excited and recognizes Lala. Lael is trying to make him say Lala for his first word's. :)

It's all about Baby True!

2007-06-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Long time, no blog!! We have had a crazy month so far. But here are a few pictures to make up for the long absence. Baby True is divine and is doing so many interesting things. He has the army crawl done and is doing a lot of rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. He finally has a tooth poking through. It's making him a little grumpy but so far he hasn't really screamed about it. More soon!

This picture is a little girlie but Auntie Haunani bought it so we tried wearing it to Haunani's Luau but Daddy put his foot down.

Hiro and Everett

2007-05-21T22:30:00.001-07:00

Josh and Charity were here for Matt's birthday. Everett and Baby True had a good time with each other. Matt took these really good pictures.

Matt's Birthday Party!!!

2007-05-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

It was a HUGE success. We had a great time. The rain threatened to ruin the event but held of. I am not sure how many people were there but we ate, danced and listened to the band. Here are some pictures.

Pictures of Daniel's graduation!

2007-05-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

We took Baby to the graduation ceremony, he got a little hot because it was a million degree's so we took of his shirt. Super cute!

Friends

2007-05-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends,
Here are some new pictures with Hiro's buddies, Devin and Baby Judah.

Visitor's!

2007-05-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

We have had amazing run of visitor's and it has been INCREDIBLE! The Muto's, Alma and Devin, Grandpa, Charis, Uncle Cal and Daniel and the Sawcheko's!!! Jen and ANdrey just left yesterday!!!!We miss them already. Enjoy the pictures.

Devin and Alma visit Baby Tru

2007-04-24T15:41:00.001-07:00

Devin and Alma are hanging out with us until Sunday! Devin is 11 days younger than Baby Tru and they are having fun getting to know each other.

POWWOW

2007-04-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Baby Tru went to his first Powwow on Friday and watched Miguel and Noni dance for the first time. Grandma and Grandmpa bought them new outfits and we got them new moccasins at the powwow. It was very moving to see them go out into the circle for the first time. They were a little apprehensive and when the called for the Tiny Tot's special, Abi had to go out with them. They were very pleased when they realized that after the dance they got fruit snacks and two dollars each! :) They were super cute! Check them out.

Cousins UNITE!

2007-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous day on Saturday. We drove with Ojichan and Grandma Cathy to Vancouver to visit Josh, Charity and EVERETT! It was so fun to see them all, Everett and Baby Tru are catching up with each other in size but Everett being 5 months older is doing stuff that Baby Tru could only dream of. Here are some pictures! It was baby Tru's first time in the baby swing and he loved it. We can't wait for them to grow up and play together! BTW - Charity can me some amazing cookies.

Auntie Lis

2007-04-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Baby Tru was just lamenting that Auntie Lis hasn't visited in quite a while. He can't wait to see her in June for Auntie Abi's graduation!

rolling=moving

2007-04-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post with this picture. Baby Tru is rolling everywhere and is impossible to keep contained. We do put him in the playpen but according to cousin Noni, "Baby Tru doesn't like to be caged." anyways last night he go away from us and tried so hard for about 15 minutes to get into his basket of toy's ect... It was really hilarious.

Pictures of Baby Tru Eating

2007-03-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

Crazy, good times

2007-03-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We have been crazy busy. Here is a quick rundown.

We closed on our new house on January 25th. As soon as we got the keys we got busy repainting and tearing down wallpaper. We were completely moved in by the 31st. Big thanks to everyone who helped with the move, we couldn't have done it without you.

On February 7th we flew to Oahu and then to the Big Island for my brother Ted's wedding. We had a fabulous time and are so happy to have Jill and Jordyn Meadow as new members of the family. The wedding was incredible and we had a great time dancing and drinking (ED):) jk Another big highlight was seeing Lis and Ed and the Kona Chinen's. Little Hilly was also there newly sprung from NZ and she loved getting to see her new nephew.

We then flew back to Oahu to spend about a week with Mom and Uncle Glen. It was so fun to see the family and for Baby Tru to get to meet everyone.

We were really bad about taking pictures during the trip. Sorry!

Baby Tru has been amazing as usual. He started to roll over (almost 4 months old) on Ted and Jill's wedding day, Fab 10. Now we really have to watch him because he can quickly roll from one side of the room to the other. He landed his face in a heating grate the other day and was not really pleased. At his 4 month appointment he was 16 pounds, matt weighed him yesterday and he was 18 pounds. He laugh's and giggles all the time and is really showing his personality. We started him on a little rice cereal tonight and we will give him poi tommorow.

I promise we will be posting more often. I had 2 stomach flu's and one really nasty cold in Feb. Then we all got a nasty cold in March!!! So forgive us and enjoy a couple of pic's of Baby Tru in all his glory.

Love,
Colleen, Matt and Baby Tru

ps: check out the way cool outfit from Aunty Lisa in Everett. It's great because it keeps him really warm when he is rolling around on the floor.

We bought a HOUSE!

2007-01-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Crickey!
Crickey!
We can't believe it. It's a crazy miracle! We are buying a very nice duplex with Lael and should get the keys tomorrow. We were fortunate to qualify for Section 184 Housing (Native HUD housing) and our getting a great deal on a house with a big yard for baby Tru to play in. We are so blessed and our going to paint this weekend and move in completely on Sunday.

The other great thing is that BOB is moving in downstairs!!!! WAHOOOOO!

It just keeps getting better and better.

We are busy moving and baby Tru is doing well. He has had some tummy problems recently but according to the Dr. it's nothing to worry about. He is enjoying tummy time for about 10 minutes and then he is through with it and wants to be on his back where he can observe and supervise the action.

Keep praying and thinking of Mentasta Village there have been two deaths there recently and one little girl, Jessie in the hospital with lukemia. If you want to visit her she is at Children's in Seattle.

Matt has been doing amazing design work and recently did a new website for RW Anderson Construction. It's his first website using flash. Check it out at
www.rwandersonhomes.com
I know I am his wife but I really think he is wonderfully talented. Not just with the technical stuff (which he taught himself) but his eye for design and knowing what will look good - I think that is the real gift!

Lots of love!

Lots of December Pictures

2007-01-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

Brothers

Mom and Dad on their anniversary

Cousins

Pictures from December

2007-01-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

Tummy Time

Doting Grandparents

Happy baby meets Upit for the first time!

Time Flies!

2007-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long gap in our posts. We had an extremely busy holiday season and I didn't have much time to post. Although we did take some great pictures that I will add!

Quick recap of December!

Jen and Andrey Sawchenko
Our lovely friends (who we shared a house with in 2003) visited from Thailand! Baby Tru was thrilled that they could take some time off from their very important work in Chang Mai to spend some time bonding with him. We had such a good time catching up and hearing about the work they are doing. Andrey is the director of the Thailand office for International Justice Mission, http://www.ijm.org/and Jen is working on the Thai/Burma border. It was amazing to hear the stories of how the Creator is using them to love and serve the poor. It was also a major highlight to briefly see the King and Queen of Narnia, Lou and Marilyn (Andrey's parents), we have spent a lot of time at their house in Canada and it was great to see them again.

Two Months = SHOTS!
Oh, the dreaded shots! It was an awful experience. We had absolutely no fun getting Baby Tru's 2 month shots. I wasn't prepared when I went in to the Dr.'s office and I was a bit stunned when the informed me that Baby was to receive not 1 but 4 shots. He did okay with the first shot but by the time the 3rd and the 4th was administrated he was FURIOUS at the injustice of this world. I felt really horrible and though more than once that I was a terrible mother. Baby was sleepy and grumpy for about 3 days. Why wasn't I warned?

Echohawk Invasion
Mom, Howie, Lis and Ed all arrived on the 22nd. We had a gloriously fun time. Christmas day we went to Ted and Jill's house and ate enormous amounts of food. We had prime rib, turkey and ham. It was delicious and really great to finally see Ted and Jill's new house in Tacoma. It's an amazingly huge house and it was fun to see Jordan in her element, we also met Jill's mom, brother and sister-in-law, who proved to be very nice people.

Night of Serenity
It has been SO divine to have Ojichan and Grandma Cathy living in Seattle! We are very greatful to know that baby Tru will have at least one set of grandparents who live so close. We celebrated Christmas at their house with Josh, Ben, Court and the kids the night of the 22nd. Cathy made her world famous Christmas cookies, it was aserene, peaceful and sugary Christmas night that we all immensely enjoyed.

too cute

2006-12-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

More Pictures

2006-12-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

funny kids

2006-12-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Noni (Hiro's three year old cousin) was watching baby while I was doing laundry and I heard Hiro sneeze 2 times. Noni came running for me and proclaimed, "Auntie Colleen, Baby True is blushing!" He is so hilarious. Miguel is so gentle with baby, he stares at him and sings, "twinkle, twinkle Hiro star" What a cute kid.

Here's a pic of Miguel taken about a month ago. He took Uncle Eddie to school and Uncle Ed gave him a moko (traditional Maori tattoo). http://www.tamoko.org.nz/

I am also adding a pic of Auntie Lis and baby True, because he misses her so much.

HIRO Update

2006-12-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

All is well in Hiro land. We have been doing very well and Hiro continues to be a deliciously good baby. He is gained quite a lot of weight and we are guessing that he is around 11 pounds. He's grown out of all his newborn clothes and has moved on to 0-3 months. He is sleeping 5 to 6 hours a night and it makes a huge difference in our energy levels.

It snowed the last few days in November and we were housebound. Matt made it to work via the buses but otherwise we hunkered down and waited for it to blow over. Seattle School's closed down for 2 days because the road's turned into pure ice and no one here knows how to drive on them. It's a bit funny to me, growing up in Alaska the only reason the schools shut down was when it was negative 50! Crickey! We took a couple of pictures of baby in the snow but they did not turn out very good. Sorry Auntie Lis!

We are looking forward to Christmas! Auntie Lis, Uncle Eddie, Uncle Howie and Grandma Yvonne get here on the 22nd and the revelry will commence. When we get together we have the most FANTASTIC times and conversation, I can't wait. We (Echohawks) always go a little overboard on presents and we are trying to hold back. We will have lots of pictures and maybe video to put on the blog.

Take care everyone and Merry Christmas.

He Smiles

2006-11-27T23:50:00.000-08:00

Baby True is a smiling happy boy. As you can see from the picture he recognizes mom and dad with big smiles. He is ridiculously cute. He had a well child visit today and is now 9 pounds 2 ounces and is in the 25th percentile for growth, which according to the Dr. is great considering he was 3 weeks early. He got his Hep B shot and cried for about 15 seconds and then fell asleep immediately! That's an Echohawk trait - if stressed, sleep.

Thanksgiving was great. We had around 20 people over. I ended up roasting and smoking the turkey. Matt had to take my cousin, Danger to the ER, he has this nasty flu and had gotten dehydrated. So I smoked, cleaned, fed baby and mashed 5 pounds of potatoes (which by the way were pretty good, I was thinking about doing something fancy like adding garlic, parsley or cheeses but decided to stick to 2 sticks of butter and about a cup of heavy whipping cream.) Both Turkeys were proclaimed delicious but I think the roasted turkey was a little better. Because of my poor smoking skills the smoked turkey was a little dry.

I forgot to take pictures while everyone was at the house. I did take a pic of the table before the hoards descended. Marisa and Galen set and decorated the table,
i thought it turned out really pretty.

Colleen

Camoflauge Baby on the eve of T day

2006-11-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

Auntie Lala bought this way cute outfit. Baby True loves it. We took Baby to the doctor today and he weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces. We were a little worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat. According to the Dr. his growth is excellent and we have nothing to worry about.

Tommorow is Thanksgiving and we are having around 16 people to the house. matt and I are having a competition on who's turkey will be best. I will do the Martha Stewart roasted turkey with herb infusion/whitewine butter bastings. Matt will put his smoker to good use. Last year mine was the best but Matt has smoked some EXCELLENT chicken recently. Our friend Ammie can't get enough of it. We will report on the turkey cook off in a future post.

Baby True takes a bath

2006-11-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

AUNTIES are cool!

2006-11-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Baby True is very blessed to have a wonderful assortment of gorgeous aunties. Here are some pictures of Auntie Lala, Lis and Courteny. Enjoy!

Grandma and Grandpa Glen + Uncle Timmy and Auntie Tina

2006-11-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

The Hawaii grandparents just left to Canada to see Everett. We all got a nasty cold's but otherwise had an AMAZING visit. Baby True loves all the attention and Mom and Dad enjoyed all the help around the house. Grandma organized all the baby clothes and Grandpa Glen did acres and acres of laundry.

We were also blessed to get to spend time with Matt's brother and fiancee (Congratulations!) Tim and Tina. We had so much fun just hanging out. Josh and Charity also came down and hung out for a couple of days. It was fun and we wish we could see more of them.

Auntie Nancy also was here from California and brought Obachan to here new home.

Here are a few pictures.

new pictures

2006-11-09T02:43:00.000-08:00

Aunt Suzie and Uncle Merle

2006-11-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

Aunt Suzie and Uncle Merle came to visit the new baby (and the favorite nieces). Baby True was excited to receive more important visitors especially when they brought him presents. Baby can't wait to get big enough to fit into the super cute denim overalls. Until then he will make do with this outfit!

Pictures!

2006-11-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Gotta keep the grandparents happy.

Miguel's Birthday - 6 years old!

2006-11-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Auntie Lis and Uncle Eddie flew in from Scotland to suprise us. We are having a great time with them and had a fun birthday party at Chris and Abi's new house. Enjoy the
pictures.

Cousins

2006-11-06T00:43:00.000-08:00

Baby True has already gotten to hang with his cousins. They have been very gentle with the baby.

More Pictures

2006-11-06T00:38:00.000-08:00