This last weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day & your birthday at the beach.  Your ultimate favorite place to be, well other than playgrounds.

You flashed me your biggest and most adorable smiles before we headed out.

You ran up and down a monstrous sand dune at Cape Kiwanda & splashed in the 50 degree waters while looking for sea anemones & starfish.

You happily watched outside your window as we drove the loopiest & longest way home.  “This is such a fun trip!” you exclaimed.  And I started to see your talent ooze during out venture into the woods.  “I don’t need to be carried and you don’t need to wait for me, I’m a photographer!”

Happy SIXTH Birthday Malia Janelle!  I can’t imagine my life without you.  I adore you and will love you until the end of time.

You\’re only four months away from becoming a year. This is way too fast my dear. You better slow down! Just kidding. Because we\’ve been having so much fun with you, mommy and daddy are so excited to try to have another one like you. We wish we could have 9 more, just like you.

At 8 months you can:

- sit up all by yourself.

- crawl forward (which you first did at the Hotelling\’s household), backward, sideways and almost up the wall too! Hehe.

- you can climb up and make yourself stand all by yourself. You first did it the moment we got back home to Portland. Within 24 hours you thought you already were gathering the courage to let go. Which I\’m not sure you\’ll do again because it\’s a long way to the floor.

- you can fit 9 – 18 month clothing. It depends on the brand of clothing really.

- you can clap your hands when we show you with our own two hands how to. And you smile all the time you do it.

- you say \”dada\” more than anything else. You also say \”bwah\”, \” mama\”, \”baba\”, \”nana.\”

- you\’re eating less solid foods right now. Not sure why. Maybe because when we were in Guam, we were always so busy so the chu-chu was all that you wanted.

- yes, you still have the chu-chu. You bite more often now, which mommy is hoping is just a small phase you\’re going through. Because now mommy is getting irritated enough to give you a bit of a panking on the fat thigh when you chomp down.

- you cry so hard and loud when you see mommy leave. And when you\’re around someone long enough, and they leave, you cry then too. It\’s so sad.

- when we came back from Guam, the ONLY person you wanted was mommy. Which was so sweet and beautiful on the one hand but so very difficult on the other. Mommy has waited for years for this moment. I guess the laundry will have to wait another day.

- you don\’t like your toys right now. You only like to play with cell phones, wires and cords and anything shiny and metallic. I guess this means you like jewelry. Yay!

- you still love to make chewing motions with your mouth. Even when there\’s nothing in it.

- you have a nice subtle tan from Guam. It\’s so adorable. You tan just like your daddy.

- you crawl right up to the chu-chu when you sense it\’s around.

- you\’re getting better when it comes to not scratching yourself. We always pull your hands away from your face when you start to get your fingernails near it.

- you LOVED the water in the pool. Mommy and daddy were sure you\’d love it since you love to take baths. You were a bit apprehensive of the ocean water though. I put a bit of seaweed in your hand and you had that disgusted look on your face. Too funny.

- you transfer things from one hand to the other. You flip the item over in your hand like you were going to read the label.

- you can open and close both hands at the same time when we say \”close open, close open\” or sing \”Twinkle twinkle little star.\”

- you still love to stare at people all the time. You don\’t even blink for a long time. People always ask if you do blink.

- you like to smile at everyone, even strangers. We guess you\’re a people-person already.

- you make a fabulous flower girl. You rode in the wagon while Adam pulled you and you were SO good. It was so cute!

- you like to flirt and pretend you\’re shy. Just like mommy did when she first met daddy.

- You CAN label the cd or dvd AFTER you make them. You HAVE two hands.

- Why does thy rear have to look scrumptious?

Daughter

- Putting you down on the ground to crawl does not mean I\’ll leave you. I never ever will. Quit with the crying.

- Two puffs in the mouth at the same time. You rock!

Dorkhead that stole my husband\’s flip-flops from outside our balcony all the while knocking over our temperature monitor and almost breaking it

- F*** you. And I mean that in the most neighborly way.

- Why didn\’t you steal the old water fountain on the ground instead? Flip-flops are precious to Guamanians.

Ts\’i hte yda ym aewrt gba epopdp ni hte dedilm fo a gbi cei/nwos rmsot.

Can figure it out?

It\’s the day my water bag popped in the middle of a ice/snow storm.

I can\’t believe it\’s been a year already. I remember exactly what happened.

Here\’s a post I did at a forum I frequented after it happened. I\’m tearing up just reading it.

On Sunday the 4th of January, my water broke and was rushed to the nearest hospital. The doctors confirmed it was amniotic water and there was also a fair amount of blood leaking as well. Then they decided to transfer me by ambulance to the university hospital later that evening. The prognosis wasn\’t good. The OBs and perinatalogists said that I had a 50 percent chance of losing the baby within the next week or a chance of getting an infection due to the small amount of fluid that was still keeping the baby safe. Normal amniotic fluid pockets are 10cm and I was down to 2cm. They gave me some options. Option 1 – expectant management at home, total bedrest and monitoring of temperature every couple of hours to make sure I didn\’t catch an infection. Option 2 – terminate the pregnancy and deliver the baby or do a d&c. Option 3 – induce delivery. Most people opt for 2 or 3 but we decided to do option 1. So I\’ve been at home on bedrest now for 2 weeks and hanging in there. Had a level 3 u/s that Thursday and the radiologist was surprised to see the fluid accumulating to almost normal. We can\’t believe how lucky we are to make it this far.

I can\’t believe how appreciative you can get for all the simple things in life. I get so excited when I get to leave the house for an appointment or when DH gives me shower while I sit on a plastic lawn chair (yes that does sound odd doesn\’t it). But I\’ll do anything to save this baby and keep it healthy. I\’ll stay in bed perfectly flat until June if I have to. I was able to feel the baby alot when the fluid levels were low. But that has diminished since the fluid has built up again.

One year later and I have a screaming baby begging for more baby cereal. How wonderful can my life be.

At the stroke of midnight January 1, 2005, we celebrated the new year and your 7 month birthday!

Here\’s what you can do now!

- you can sit up on your own. But you tip over once in awhile when you see a toy out of your reach and try to go for it.

- you\’re REALLY trying your best to crawl. Your arms stay put and legs move. You have perfected the pushup and downward facing dog yoga move.

- you can skooch backwards and turn around while on your belly.

- you\’re practicing opening and closing your hand. More with the left hand than the right though. We\’ll see what that will mean later.

- you now your first two teeth. People say they look like little chiclets. They are the lower middle incisors.

- you\’re getting real tall now. Your 6-9 month playwear about to get too short for you.

- you like to play shy when people talk to you. You tilt your head to the right and you give this cute flirty look. Just like your daddy.

- your hair is getting so long. We can do pigtails now. But you love to pull your hair and don\’t notice you\’re doing it.

- you have mini-tantrums. ALREADY! Gah. You cry softly and make little monster sounds when you\’re sleepy.

- we have decided to not use the changing table anymore. You flip over too much so we\’re just going to change you on the ground from now on.

- you love the apple/banana baby food that I made for you. Homemade babyfood! Can you believe it? LOL We\’re moving on to pears and sweet potatoes next!

- you\’re sometimes afraid and sometimes excited and enthused when you see a cat or dog. I guess it just depends on your attitude at that point in time.

- you are so fascinated with your hands. It cracks us up. When you stare at them and move them around and have this puzzled look on your face.

- even though you have toys, a package of Mc*Donald\’s croutons just seems like the best.toy.ever.

- you hate chicken and rice and turkey and rice baby food in a jar. We\’ll just have to try to make it and puree it ourselves. You made some serious gagging faces when we fed you this so no more of that.

- you can sit up in your bath tub and love to splash water EVERYWHERE. You giggle when the warm water gets on your face.

- you think it\’s funny when mommy squirts water in your face with the bath toys. Yes, a sense of humor.

- you laugh funny! You make this coughing noise like you\’re clearing your throat when you laugh. It\’s hilarious!

- we\’re getting ready for your first plane ride. It\’ll be a 11 hour plane ride to Narita, Japan and then a 4 hour one to Guam. We hope you\’ll be okay and enjoy the ride and not get fussy to muchy.

- your sleeping patterns have gotten crazy the past 2 weeks. Those 3-4 hour stretches of staying up at night playing have.got.to.stop.young.lady.

- you wave you\’re hands in the air, like you just don\’t care. And clap very often now. I\’m trying to teach you how to clap to a beat so we can start making up cheers together. Ready? Okay!

- we\’re wondering how much the time change when we go to Guam is going to mess up your sleeping patterns. Maybe you\’ll take to island-life pretty well and sleep all the time and be laid back.

- you are cloth diapered 90 percent of the time. We do disposables when we\’re away from home. I\’m not sure yet what we\’re going to do when we go to Guam. Maybe mommy will do disposables during the day and cloth at night. We shall see.

- we were listening to Aero*smith\’s song \”Don\’t wanna miss a thing\” and that summed up pretty much what mommy and daddy think of you.

We love you with all our heart and soul and being,
Daddy and Mommy

It took me almost 30 shots to get a good picture of the new teeth. She was either smacking the camera, laughing at me, sticking out her tongue or talking. So here is the best shot.

You can see it the top of the right one completely but can only see a smidgen of the left one.

We spent the weekend at the parents house 20 minutes north of here. Jerry had the Friday, December 24th and today, Monday, December 27th off and it was soooo nice to have him around for an extended period of time. I\’m now certainly glad that they worked on some of their other holidays so that he could have these off. Woot!!

More of what we did for Christmas plus tons of pictures in the extended entry.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

My sister Faithe stayed with me at the apartment because I was in pain and needed someone to help me watch Malia. Having her around was great. I was able to pack and do laundry. It took awhile but at least I got it done. Jerry came home after work and we made our weekly trek up to my parents house. I was feeling a little bit better in the evening so we decided to go to the mall food court to eat dinner. When we got back to my parents house, my sister\’s and I finished up the flowers for the wedding. My parents went to bed early and so did Jerry because he still has the ickies. My sisters went to bed at 1am. It took me awhile to get to bed. And by the time I did, Malia was up. So we were up until about 3am.

Friday, December 24, 2004

We woke up and mom cooked us longanisa with rice for breakfast. We headed down to the Woodburn mall because mom wanted to do some last minute shopping for family back home in Guam. I found a nice 5 pack of XL onesies at Cart*er\’s for Malia for 7 bucks. Bonus! We were going to eat at the one of the eateries there but Jerry and I thought that 4-8 bucks for a hotdogs is quite spendy. They had a snow machine there. Well, I thought it was a snow machine. It was actually blowing soap bubbles that looked like snow. I was bummed that we didn\’t bring the camera. We later ate at Cos*tco in Wilsonville because nothing beats their hotdogs. $1.50 for a giant polish hotdog plus a drink. Yummy. Then we went to the Tar*get next door to return the exersaucer that Malia. We wanted to get a walker instead so that Malia can chase us around the apartment and at mom\’s house. Plus the exersaucer was a pain to travel with. It didn\’t collapse at all. We didn\’t find a walker that I liked so we decided to check the ones at Burli*ngton Coat Factory on Sunday. We got home at around 3 and got ready for the 5:30pm family Christmas Mass. It was jam packed with people. Jerry said all the Christer\’s came. I guess it\’s his term for Catholics that come only to celebrate mass on Christmas and Easter. We sat in the crying room but the trees blocked our view of the mass. Frown. And we hardly knew anyone that sat around us. It was kind of weird. But I\’m glad they went to mass anyways.

Here\’s a picture of Malia wishing Father Don a very Merry Christmas.

Here\’s a picture of Jerry, Malia and I in front of the church nativity scene.

So we headed home after mass and took some pictures in front of the tree.

Here\’s a picture of the Lujan family in front of the tree.

Here\’s a picture of the Malia and me in front of the tree.

Here\’s a picture of the Fernandez family in front of the tree.

Jerry cooked some arroz caldo. A chicken and rice soup flavored with garlic and ginger. It was delish. Some of the family took naps while Faithe and I waited for midnight to approach. Then it was time to open 1 present and our stockings.

Here\’s a picture of Malia bright eyed and ready to open a present up at midnight.

\”For me??\”

\”Yay!! Sunglasses for Guam!\”

\”Wow, mommy\’s shoes are comfy!\”

Malia and I didn\’t get to sleep again until almost 4am. We think it\’s due to her new bottom left incisor poking through.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Baybee\’s first Christmas!! Yay!!

Everyone ate a quick breakfast and then we attacked the presents.

Here\’s a list of what Malia got for her first Christmas!
- Peek-a-Blocks™ Tumblin’ Sounds Giraffe™
- Peek-a-Blocks™ 2-in-1 Activity Wagon™
- Dance Baby Dance!™ Classical Stacker™
- 2 super chunky books
- lots of clothes 12-24 months
- Little People Musical Ferris Wheel
- pink sunglasses for Guam
- Twirlin\’ Whirlin\’ Garden

The following gifts, Malia will have to wait a bit to play with.
- Disney Princess Teapot Carriage Tea Set
- a Disney Princess Jasmine doll
- a Disney Princess fashion doll outfit to dress Jasmine with
- Fisher Price Little People School House Puzzle

Here\’s a picture of the girls in the family all together for a group picture in front of the tree. Like our matching shirts? Hehe.

We ate dungeness crab for lunch and it was just so wonderful.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Woke up and went to 10:30 mass. Then we headed to Powell Boulevard to eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant that was recommended by my mom\’s friend. Jerry and I shared the bulgogi and a bowl of udon soup. Then we stopped by my dad\’s work. Faithe works there part time. She cleans up the office once a week. Neat huh? Then we went to Burlin*gton Coat Factory Baby Depot area to find Malia a walker and we did! Gpa and gma even got her a nice silver and gray umbrella stroller since the walker was much cheaper than the exersaucer. On the way home, we stopped by Win*co to get some stuff to bbq for dinner.

Here\’s a picture of Malia in her new walker. She loves it!

NOTE TO SELF: What is up with the dates on the pictures? Heh? I\’m wondering if it\’s my camera or my sister\’s. Hmm..

So when it was time to get Malia\’s pic taken she was a bit irritated. Her nose was getting in her way and she was trying to claw it off her face. The elves scared her enough though. I\’m not sure elves are supposed to have their lip pierced and wear platform shoes and bracelets with spikes on them. *shrug* She wasn\’t scared of Santa. He was very nice and sweet to her. She didn\’t cry. She didn\’t smile either. And I was feeling so bad already that I didn\’t want to force the gothic elves to take one with her smiling. Geez. You\’d think because I\’m paying 11 bucks for this pic that they\’d help me get a REAAALY good one.

So anyways… here\’s the pic and some others:

The one with Santa. That face is similar to the face I have when I\’m watching \”Everybody Loves Raymond.\” Because I just can\’t get why everyone loves that show. *shrug*

This next one is of her in front of this big enormous bear. There\’s a person in a little shack near it and she talks to people through a mike. She told Malia how cute she thought her hair looked.

This one is of her cracking up after the Santa picture. I think she likes skiing snowmen better.

And this last one I just love. She looks like a little lady. *sniff* *boo-hoo*