Hospital Pictures

I Love you Mommy, see you when Ava comes out!

Marlee came to the hospital in the morning, to get me settled in. Here she is saying "see you when you come out baby Ava!" Marlee loved talking to my belly.
She would even tell her sister stories and sing to her.
Towards the end (thanks to Khania) she would say
"COME OUT AVA! AVA COME OUT, COME OUT" very cute!
(it was cute when Khania would do it too!)

Starting to feel the contractions...time to push

When Dr. Miller came back into the room and started to set
the room up, he asked me if I wanted to push for 20 minutes (that's how long it took with Marlee), or 5 minutes.
Of course I said 5!!
I started pushing at 7:42 pm and at 7:45 pm Ava was born.
After my first push, Dr. Miller gave me a pep talk about riding a bike, you may have not done it for a while, but once you get on the bike, you remember. (so in a nice way he was telling me my pushing was weak ; ) - so, I pushed again, he said "ok Rebekeh, that was good, but I want a great one, so I gave three more REALLY good pushes, and out she came!)
I want to say, what a difference a GOOD doctor makes. I won't go into all the fun details, but let me say he took much better care of me then the last time I gave birth. (neither one of my OB's were available the day I went into labor with Marlee, so I got the on call doctor...not a nice experience...again, I won't share all the details)

(not a great picture of me, but i wanted one with Dr. Miller and Baby Ava)

Happy Mommy!

Proud Daddy!

Our new little one

Ava LOVES bath time already. Keenan said she especially loved getting her hair washed - and what girl doesn't enjoy being pampered!

Introducing...

Ava Sanoe Lokelani Kamae
born 7:45pm (pushed for 3 minutes yea me!!!)
7lbs 3 oz
19 inches long
or as we already call her
Little Bear
(Marlee is Little Bug..)

quick update...

We have a new boiler! Hoo-ray. And when it gets cold again, we will be able to turn on our heat, with out having a HUGE Gas leak!
Still no sign of baby making her debut. But it allows me to get a few more things done. My sister is coming over tomorrow to help with the last minute details and organization of things. She is a master at that! Plus she is bringing my new overstuffed rocking chair. I can not wait for that! Along with all the other wonderful things she and her hubby have done, they wanted me to have a nice new rocker for the baby.
K is off flying, hoping that baby does not appear before he comes home Friday night. He gave her a long talking to before he left. Also, he called me about 50 (OK not that many) times from the airplane before taking off to make sure I had no signs of labor yet. At least he is in the states and not Japan or Germany like he sometimes flies too.
In the mean time, Pineapple Princess and I are enjoying our last days of alone time together.

Duck Duck Here

One of Pineapple Princess favorite things to do when we go to Lovelace park,
is to feed the ducks. We have been doing this since she was itty bitty! We had play group there last week and I actually remembered to bring food for the ducks.
Even though it was VERY cold, we still had fun.

Hidden Blessings

So even though we had the disappointing news that I would not be induced early, and K had taken the week off in preparation for our new arrival. His time off was not wasted. (You see with United, once the time is off, it's off, he can not get it back...) But we were blessed anyway. Wednesday when we came home from play group
(also the same day that K's mom arrived from Hawaii)
we were walking into the front door and K could smell gas. Lot's of gas.
He turned around and told Pineapple Princess and I to go back to the car.
K went into the house to get his mom out of the house and to
get the gas company's phone number.
Nicor came out, discovered several gas leaks in our basement and turned the gas off. It was a pretty bad leak that could have had severe damages. YIKES! The biggest leak was coming from our 30 year old boiler. Which, had just been checked out 2 weeks earlier for it's routine fall check up. Nicor went into the the boiler cage and came out with this HUGE orange warning tag that the heating company had put on the boiler LAST FALL, with the things that were bad and needed to be fixed on the boiler. And no one bothered to tell the owner of the building??? So, the heating company that just had checked out the boiler had to come back, as it turns out the whole boiler needs to be replaced. (At this point we are very glad to be renting, and not owners! -at least a $6000 repair!) Our heat has been turned off. And as we have been reflecting on this past week. We are so thankful that we did not have a baby yet, that K was home to take care of the gas leak, and that we are not bringing home a brand new baby to this freezing house. That she is tucked away safe and sound.
The other good reason we didn't have baby A yet, Thursday I went to my weekly check up, I mentioned to my doctor that I was having a harder time than normal breathing, and that my upper back felt like it had knifes in it. He listened to my lungs and said, yes they are wheezing and whistling and singing away, and not in a good way. (lung infection also, I have a sinus infection.)
Had I tried to labor this week, I would not have been able to breathe (especially with my asthma history).
We have learned this week, that even with disappointments,
there are hidden blessings everywhere.
We are thankful for the many hidden blessings we have received this week.

Baby Girl Names

HELP HELP HELP!
WE need help with ideas for our baby girl. When we named our Pineapple Princess, we just knew what her name was going to be. And now here we are, days away from having our second and we can not seem to agree on names. Pineapple Princess and I have been calling her baby Ava for months, but K, doesn't seem to keen on the idea of it...so, I am asking you, if you have any favorite girl names, that you would not mind sharing.
HELP us OUT!
and even if we do use Ava (which I am about 98% sure we will)
we still need a middle name
and then of course the Hawaiian name she will be given.

Here are some names we have thought of
Ava (Life or Serpent) hmmmm??
Kate Lyn (Pure)
Hadassah (Myrtle Tree)
Abigail (source of Joy)
Julia (youthful)
Corlyn (family name)
Faith (Devotion)
Paige (attendant)
Amy (Beloved)
Lauren (laurel tree)
Anna (favored)
Charlotte (little and womanly)

The Day You Were Born May 19, 2004

(just before we have her)

This is a video Log of Pineapple Princess on our very first days together. As we are preparing for number 2 to come on Wednesday, I have been reflecting on the birth of our first daughter.

So, we want to share her (Pineapple Princess) video with you.
It's a little long,
so watch it when you have time.
Enjoy!

Watching her take her first breath took ours away!

Chloe the Cat

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I would post our family cat CHLOE.
She is not a nice cat, (well she can be when SHE WANTS to be).
(and in the pic above, she is "smiling" at me)
Chloe is the best attack Cat EVER - She enjoys attacking us when ever she can.
Especially
when we are coming out of the shower.
She waits, she runs, she pounces
then ATTACK!
Much to the enjoyment of those watching it happen.
Unfortunately if your leg is the scratching, biting post, NOT so pleasant!
But we still LOVE our black cat. WE love it when she sleeps on our feet at night
(whom ever she deems worthy that evening) WE love it when she sits
on our wrapping paper, tissue paper, hops in a box or suitcase we are packing
as if to say, mail me away, or take me with you...WE Love it when she wants
to play games with us, as in sits in the middle of the Monopoly game. She also
is GREAT at catching mice, she just doesn't know what to do with them once
she has caught them.
I should ask my mom if I could borrow her again for our little mouse...
We love our black cat Chloe!!!

Showered with Love

On September 22, my friends had a baby shower for me. It was wonderful - to put it in one word. I was truly spoiled - or should we say Baby A was spoiled. This is our 2nd baby so I wasn't planning on another shower. But, when you have such great friends who want to do this for you - who can say no. And I am glad we didn't. There are so many things that you do need, 2nd, 3rd, 4th (etc.) time around. Things I wasn't even thinking of, or thought of. And here I thought I was so prepared. ; ) (are we ever???) I have added all of the pictures onto our family website, to visit that click HERE. And I haven't forgotten all the fun things that Pineapple Princess got too as big sister gifts! There was such yummy food, and the fall decorations were wonderful.

Thank you to all of you who planned, brought food, donated time, money etc.
MAHALO!

I know that everyone keeps asking what I received - so here is a list of all the great things...(thanks to RH who wrote it all out for me)

*cute (hand made) booties and an overall outfit -
*Books - on the day you were born and bear hunt -
*Cupcake outfit -
*home made flannel blanket
*white boots with fur
*black velvet jump suit (to match mine!!) (book for Pineapple Princess)
*pink corduroy dress and sweater
*Winnie-the-Pooh dresses, onesies, jammies
*pink sweats, white shirt and a plaid bubble skirt
*floral onesie and cute socks
*apple jammies and fuzzy blanket to match
*pineapple swimsuit, and great books (magna doodle for Pineapple Princess)
*homemade thank you cards, onesie, hello baby book, (cute hat for Pineapple Princess)
*onesies, pink boots, octopus stroller toy
*diapers, wipes, Tylenol, gas drops, Triple Paste, onesies (dress up for Pineapple Princess)
*white crotchet blanket (homemade)
*Mama Loves Me book, swaddle blanket, and surf board tummy time mat
*pink sweatshirt and onesies (princess cup and brush for Pineapple Princess)
*yellow jammies, bibs, yellow fuzzy outfit with socks, (book for Pineapple Princess)
*jump rope (for pineapple princess)
*photo album and frame, lap pads and burp cloths
*highchair
*Sunshine stroller attachment
*diaper bag wallet (to put wipes and diapers in)
*Einstein Turtle crib soother
GROUP GIFT
*How to be a Baby by the Big Sister - (for Pineapple Princess)
*Gift Cards, Playtex bottles and drop ins , nursing pads, triple paste, loofah, baby wash, Lotion (for mommy), health care kit, crib sheets, hooter hider, burp cloths, sheet saver, baby care timer, noise machine, case of diapers and wipes, car seat base...

see what I mean, showered with LOVE, we are so blessed!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Autumn, By Stephen Brayfield

How blessed are we to have a good friend who is a wonderful artist. As I'm sure you have seen my art work of Pineapple Princess on our side bar, I want to make sure that you also see Steve Brayfield's website. GO HERE (http://www.brayart.com/) he is more than happy to do art work for you, and I know it's worth it!

Here is his latest work - of our Pineapple Princess of course! ; )

ENJOY and Happy Autumn!

She has Bangs

Last Monday, K went to get his haircut.
The women there just LOVE Pineapple Princess . They are always wanting to restyle her hair. Last time they wanted to buzz her head so she would get rid of the "baby hair"
WHAT!?!? and NO WAY!
is all I could say!
This time, they gave her bangs.
K and I were not so sure at first. Maybe because she looks so grown up now. But, I do think it is pretty cute!
What do you think?