Can you believe it, today is December 1st already??? Time is flying but I keep hearing that's the story of my life from here on out :) Christmas cards are sent so I guess it's time for a year end review. And what a year it's been!
Hopefully everyone has gotten our new address by now - 1299 Launa St, Hilo, HI 96720. We bought a house this past summer and it finally makes our move back home to Hawaii feel permanent. We'd been looking since we moved home but just weren't finding what we wanted so we thought we were going to end up building a house and then this one popped up. It worked out perfectly! It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with a nice fenced in yard. The neighborhood is well established and it's a great area for the kids to ride bikes and play outside. We did some renovations to update the kitchen, bathrooms, and flooring as we moved in and have some more small projects to do when we can find the time. Next big project though is to install solar panels, hopefully in the new year. We're still going through boxes (some that we never even unpacked from WA) and the best part is knowing that we won't have to move again!
The next big piece of news is the twins! We've been planning to have a 3rd child for awhile and found out we were pregnant late this summer. Visits to the OB were normal until I had a follow up and the doc found another baby on the ultrasound. Talk about the shocker of a lifetime! Since then there's been more scans and tests but thankfully all is well and the babies are healthy. We're still adjusting to the news and have about 4 more months to prepare ourselves the best we can. Due date is end of March if all goes well. Oh and it's 2 baby girls but no idea if they're fraternal or identical.
Allen just made a year at the University of Hawaii-Hilo College of Pharmacy and is enjoying the new job. It poses some new challenges with having to develop his own lectures and start from scratch but he also loves taking his students on their clinical rotation at the Hilo Medical Center on a daily basis. All those years of being a clinical pharmacist in WA are a valued asset here in Hilo!
I'm still working for a program called Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn. I'm placed in the Department of Education and trying to start up a school based health center in a very rural school - Mt View Elementary, which was actually my elementary school. So far it has been interesting and VERY different from my previous job. The nice part though is that I follow a teachers schedule and have all the school breaks off from work. I can't complain since that gives me more time at home with the kids :)
Esme is 4 1/2(5 in February) and is in her last year at Keikiland preschool. She's doing well and will start kindergarten next fall. She also does gymnastics twice a week and just finished swimming lessons that she'd been doing through the middle of the year. She's comfortable in the water now and can swim on her own so we decided to take a break from her private lessons. We may consider an advanced group lesson next summer though just to keep up. Esme had her one year Kawasaki's follow up on Oahu last month and all looks well there too. Her heart is in great shape and so far the studies show that she should continue to lead a normal life without cardiac effects. Our next follow up is 4 years out and after that she's officially cleared. Thank goodness! Esme is a real girl and loves pink and purple, fancy/shiny things, doing art projects, dressing herself, going to the library, and spending time with her cousins.
Chan on the other hand is a total boy! He loves trucks, and noises, and "fighting" which is just being jostled around. He's 2 1/2 (3 in May) and loves loves to chase the roosters out of the front yard or the geckos off the covered lanai. Esme could care less. Chan is also super loving though and loves to cuddle and get kisses and hugs from Allen, mommy, or Nana. He's a great talker and can pretty much keep up with all of us. He even has a sense of humor :) Chan has been potty trained since this fall and was soooooooooooo much easier than Esme. He just took to it right away. Sleep has been another issue though. He goes back and forth but has never been a great sleeper. He's an early riser and occasionally wakes at night and comes to our bed. Allen is great at redirecting him and taking him back to his room though. I'm passed out!
Both kids are great eaters and try most things. They get along normally for siblings. Chan is working on his "gentle touch" and "inside voice" and Esme is working on her attitude and not yelling "NO!" at Chan all the time. That just sets him off. They both seem excited at the upcoming arrivals and have so much fun checking out my belly everyday and laughing at how my belly button is disappearing. Chan's sitter, Aunty Monica, is helping to prep him for the babies by including him in the care of the other baby that's there with him. Hopefully he'll be a big helper just like Esme.
I think that pretty much sums it up!
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