NEW BLOG

SO I messed up my HTML on the old blog and couldn't stand looking at it anymore.... so i made a new one! FOLLOW ME THERE! I'm being better at updating that one =) heres the link


couldn't resist any longer. I had to leak some. I've had these pics for a whole 9 hours already

http://yoenesas.blogspot.com/

Thanks friends!

UP down ALL around

This is our direction in life these days. I was convinced to blog since all of our best friends have left hawaii or are in the process of leaving. So i guess we have the time now since we don't have any play dates. Boo. We are counting down till we get to visit California in June. Roxi finally gets to meet her Pimentel grandparents and bay area aunties and uncles! In the mean time we will quiz her on flash cards of who is who so she will "know" them and skip the whole getting to know you stage.

Roxi who is 9 1/2 months now Has 6 teeth, more than functional wind pipes and a mean bite! Her newest "thing" is sticking her fingers down her throat until she gags. I was trying to prevent her from vomiting, but decided to let her do it already so she'd learn why i was stopping her. She threw up, swallowed it and still won't stop =\ I've almost peed my pants watching her though. I bet that doesn't deter her at all. On a brighter note Roxi is standing solo and it's only a matter of time before she'll be walking. There's no stopping her! She no longer tolerates holding still long enough for a wardrobe nor diaper change. No i didn't shave her head to give her a mohawk. She chooses mom's skin and bones to snuggle up with over dad's muscles any day. Although she puts him to work and loves riding bikes with dad. I even get to hop on the skateboard and ride along.

How do you baby proof those?!

Des is still in school and working as a trainer at the gym. He's looking into internships to meet his graduation requirement and has some good leads! Des's schedule included a women's studies class that has opened his eyes to many new issues and actually likes a lot. I think he just likes to argue (because that's what a lot of the discussion turns into in that class).

I've been keeping busy with Roxi's and a few extra other little girls I'd been watching on and off. Roxi loves the comrodderie, or maybe all the snacks her older friends share with her... Either way it's been an experience watching multiples! At times it was a great birth control, but not at the same time, of that makes sense. In my rare moments to myself I've been busy with the glue gun making cell phone cases, head bands and home decor. One of these days I'll sell some stuff.

That's us for today anyway... We'll see next week

cell phone case

headband flowers

Real Talk

Des ate meat and cake yesterday. Not just a bite or two. He ate 4 slabs of smoked meat and a 8 in round cake. He didn't fall off the wagon, he jumped off, rolled under and was run over by it too! Not even 24 hours into it and the juice fast has been broken! So lets be real here. We love the juicer, but don't need to drink ONLY juice to justify our purchase and feel healthy and full of life. We need to keep it real and make sure we don't waste all the fruits and veggies we bought at costco! After re evaluation we have decided to make it simple and use our common sense. Read labels. Know what we are putting into our body. Conscious balanced eating. Word.

Juicy

Today we are beginning a new JUICY life. Not not couture, but CONSCIOUS. 

Watching this: 

On netflix, either inspired us...or scared us. Either way we decided our next purchase would be a juicer! This documentary follows a guy who was well fat, sick and nearly dead on his path to better health through juice.  I recommend watching it. that and FOOD MATTERS (another food doc on netflix). After some research we decided to go with the BREVILLE BJE200XL JUICE FOUNTAIN COMPACT.

We got it from Best Buy! Then off to Costco we went to purchase a cartload of fruits and veggies! Des has decided he wants to take the juice challenge and drink straight JUICE for 10 days. Since I am still breastfeeding and don't want to risk losing my milk or upsetting the little one I'm keeping my solids but have decided to cut out meat and see how things go.  In general we want to lead fresher, healthier, long lives together because we're so in love right. (OK it's February so I felt the need to be mushy for a sentence haha). SO whole wheat, fresh food, less sugars and less processed food, more fruits and veggies. (sorry SPAM!) 

We in no way want strip the pleasure from eating. It is such a big part of our lives here in Hawaii. So here's my challenge. make meals/snacks that my family will beg me to make and remain healthy and full of energy! If you have any suggestions, PLEASE get at me. 

The first juicing experience was...interesting. The juicer is awesome. A tad quieter than a blender (important when there are sleeping babies in the apartment), easy to clean, powerful and a great size for our limited space. Oh and it was $99... best buy offers a 2 year protection plan for only 15$, so we added that on as well. As for the juice... well we'll need to get down our food combos because carrot, cucumber, apple and orange was a little off, haha but Des drank it all!  

Cheers to JUICY DAY 1! 

Spinach is good.

One of my New Years goals was to eat fresh and not waste. I'm proud to say I used a whole costco size bag of spinach without wasting ANY! Where did it all go? Now you will know! 

Easy pasta dinner! 

Pasta 

Bell peppers 

Fresh Spinach 

Chicken ( cubed, shredded, chopped, doesn't matter) 

Basil 

Mozzarella 

 (optional: crushed red pepper)

 Cook pasta 

Saute precooked chicken cubes in olive oil and basil 

Add chopped bell peppers and then Add spinach last 

**(if chicken isn't cooked already, just cut up and pan fry first before adding veggies, i just had some boiled chicken left over) 

~add dash of crushed red pepper if u want for a lil kick maybe a dash of salt to your own taste 

 Put on top of pasta and then add shredded mozzarella cheese on top!  

Taaada! Super tasty and easy dinner. Honestly i thought i was eating at an Italian restaurant for a second.  

Other add ins that might be good  -avocado -mushrooms - eggplant - zucchini? 

 Another variation of it that was amazing was this: 

Pork cubed/sliced into small pieces and seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning  

Can of Cream of mushroom

bell peppers

spinach 

(no basil or mozzarella cheese)

BUT MY ULTIMATE FAVORITE is...

frozen banana

Spinach

milk

natural peanut butter

(tastes like a milk shake) 

I've also put spinach in any other smoothie type drink, made salmon cakes with spinach, mashed potatoes, eggs...it can pretty much go in ANYTHING.

one more I remembered I made:

Spinach Tortellini Salad

Tortellini (cheese)

Portuguese sausage

spinach

olives

shredded cheese

Spinach just makes me feel better about anything I make with it pretty much. 

capturing memories in sand- or just salt dough ornaments

Just to solidify some more memories for Roxi, my good friend Kiley and her baby Ellie came over to make salt dough ornaments! We did hand prints, foot prints and then some other little designs. Getting the girls to open their hands was trickier than we expected and we snuck the footprints while they napped! We really liked the final product because they look like prints in SAND! and they smelled like cinnamon rolls! Heres the recipe we used:

1 cup salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup luke warm water 

Cinnamon 

we mixed it all up, rolled some out, made our prints and baked at 200 degrees until they were hard. Easy right? 

To decorate, I tried spray painting, some nail polish, and even just permanent markers. 

Perfect gifts for the grandparents, (made us look like legit moms) and the perfect personal touch to the driftwood christmas tree! not to mention easy on the pocket book.

I did notice that with the humidity here and the rain storms we experienced they softened up and were kind of fragile. But they dried out again before I stored them away. 

Christmas Cheer!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This was my second Christmas in Hawaii and our first holiday season as THREE! Last year I lacked the motivation to exercise my holiday spirit. Having a baby kicked me into gear! I'm responsible for facilitating her first memories (or at least first pictures that she can look back at)...EEK. For me that was enough to make me try and establish some of our own traditions (which is hard sometimes!) well technically they are not traditions yet because we've only done them one year, but I hope they stick. 

My first item of decor was a christmas tree made of drift wood from the beach.  

Our apartment is quite small, so a tree in the house was out of the question. So this 3 foot door hanging tree was perfect.  In Germany (where my parents are currently serving a mission, and we spent Christmas 2 years ago) the tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. So, Des, Roxi and I walked down to Hukilau beach Christmas Eve morning and while Des was off roading with Roxi with the stroller in the sand, I collected our wood! 

At home I drilled holes down the center of each piece and threaded some rope through. Then decorated it with homemade salt dough ornaments! (Will post on that soon). I topped it off with a star fish a friend snagged for me in the freebie bin!

The final product was beyond satisfying, and I couldn't stop looking at it! I like the idea of decorating for christmas, but I want it to be my style. not red and green puke all over my house. I was sad to take it down, but set the wood free at it's proper home just the other day. =) I can't wait to make another one next year! Perfect Christmas Cheer!

As for the BIG morning, Roxi had plenty gifts to open and stayed awake for the entire gift giving extravaganza and Des' parents house. (After 8 am church of course)  

New Stroller

Fancy Christmas dress, Thanks Grandma Nona!

built in teether bow =)

Another Christmas Dress, Thanks Grandma Colleen!

New Year

2012 looks promising. Our theme for the year is FRESH and LESS!! 

FRESH: more fresh foods (less processed), more fruits, veggies and more water. better health! 

LESS: less waste, less junk, edit, SIMPLIFY, eliminate excess, and budget!

here's one of the inspirations for the LESS goal. watch this video

http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html

Roxi rang in the new year with some new choppers

and can now sit up alone

Now 5 1/2 months, where did the time go? You will soon know as I continue to post! 

Baby Jeggings and Peanut Butter Blackouts

I'm a proud mama who loves to show off my baby! I'm soooo happy the weather has cooled off but mostly because Roxi can fit her baby jeggings now and I'm obsessed with them! One thing I always said I wanted for my baby was clothes I would wear, but baby size. Baby clothes tend to go too far with the bows and ruffles and STUFF. But these pants are the one!  Baby jeggings are genius. Practical and fashionable. I think every baby should have them. Macy's has some, the children's place has them, even walmart has them! My favorite ones are from the children's place. 

 Another thing I'm proud of is a beautiful concoction I cooked up this weekend... We used to eat these amazing peanut butter bars topped with melted chocolate chips growing up... Since WIC has fully stocked my cupboards with peanut butter to last us through the millennium, I thought re creating this childhood dessert would put that butter to good use! Of course I can never just follow a recipe , I always manage to convince myself that adding my own pinch of this or dash of that will somehow improve a perfectly good recipe. And if you pull up my recent google searches, "substitution for..." will come up all too often because I always want to make what I don't have all the ingredients for! I fail alot, but today I did good! The outcome, what I like to call peanut butter blackout bars.  caution: may cause sugar coma.  I made these for a bbq we threw together on saturday with some friends and neighbors. Someone said that this dessert was the highlight of their week. And the 9x13 pan was scraped clean...safe to say, I did good. Here's what ended up in it: 

1 cup butter 

2 cups peanut butter 

1 2/3 confectioners (powdered) sugar 

3 1/2 cups of Oreo cookies crushed 

Topping: 

1/3 cup milk 

1 cup chocolate chips 

1cup heath toffee bits 

 Melt butter and peanut butter, remove from heat. Add confectioners sugar and cookie crumbs. Mix well. Pour into 9x13 pan and chill. In separate pan heat chocolate chips, toffee(save some to sprinkle on top) and milk. Pour over set crust sprinkle with the toffee that was set aside and chill again until firm. partake and proceed to sugar coma. The original recipe called for gram crackers...and no toffee. But I work with what I got, and this time it worked well!

And I thought I'd throw in a classic bath flick that we can show her dates when they come to pick her up in the FAR future. 

Oh and I can finally post this picture now because one of my best friends who I made these for finally got them in the mail. 

She's having a boy in the beginning of November and they've been calling him Baby Bronco. So these are my 3 interpretations of broncos for her little boy. 

It's hard to name my blog posts lately because they are so all over the place! 

Dream Girl, Blind Boy

I'd like to think she's dreaming about her mommy when she moves her lips like that... 

Among today's other events... a bath!

Roxi is happy IN the water, but not OUT. Even with the variety of cute hooded towels we now own! (This one we just got in the mail from Dez's brother, Nigel and his family who live in Australia)  I'm discovering new spots the stank and dirt like to hide on this girl.  When your mom told you to clean behind your ear, it was for a good reason!! 

Another note on Australia. We are addicted to these, Australian Licorice. Nigel also sent us a bunch of these! They're so amazing we've ordered them before on amazon...in bulk. =)

Yesterday we got to drive to town and sit in the dr's office while Dez got his retina repaired. What started as tired bloodshot looking eye, turned into what we thought was pink eye, then was downgraded to a popped blood vessel in his eye. Just to be sure Dez went to the health center on campus. There the Dr told him it was something more serious and he was sent to an optomitrist. There the hole in his retina was discovered! So off to another specialist we went. After a series of tests, laser surgery and a whole lot of blurriness, he's can see! It  all happened so fast, but we're glad we acted when we did or else it could have been real bad. It seems like there's always something going on with us.

Look how we've grown!

I know all these are on Facebook, 

People are always trying to figure out who this child looks like... when she was born there was no doubt she belonged to Dez! Now I think she's evened out and looks like the both of us...

Baby Roxi, Splitting image of her dad!

Baby Dez, NOT Roxi

All that growing requires lots of sleep! Roxi's a real pro! (after some convincing from my older wiser sister Lisa, we are firm believers of swaddling although not featured in the photos below) 

Sleeping on Daddy

Fashionable Sleeping

Sore Tummy Sleeping

Beach Sleeping

The other night Dez and I put Roxi in her crib to try and settle her down for bed. We were looking at her all wide eyed and wiggling saying how she probably wouldn't go down easily. In the split second that we turned around to grab her pacifier, SHE FELL FAST ASLEEP! I'm surprised our laughing didn't wake her up, we just couldn't believe it. She's just so unpredictable, and we love every moment of it.

Rose Tinted glasses

9-25-11 Baby Blessing (7 Weeks old)

Just a few of those who could make it to her blessing. This girl's back is WELL COVERED 

The 3 of us

9 weeks old

Flawless, our RoxStar!

Today Roxi is 10 Weeks old! She is a little over 12 lbs and 24 inches long! 90 something(I forgot exactly) percentile for her age according to her Dr.. After a rough month, we finally figured out she had heartburn! Poor thing! We finally got her on some antiacid medicine and she's feeling better than ever! She even learned to roll over this week.

belated birthday flicks!

I know I'm 9 weeks and now 12 lbs late on these, but we're kinda caught up in other things now! I wont put ALL the details, but if anyone wants to know them, I have no shame; ask and I will share! My water broke around 7:45 Sunday August 7th after eating dinner at Dez's parent's house. And it's true, YOU'LL KNOW if/when your water breaks...(i was at the hospital 3 days earlier because i thought my water was leaking.) I was so anxious and excited to go into labor because I wanted to know what it felt like... I wanted to trust my body and push my limits. After 15 hours of drug free back labor, Roxi Peone Enesa was born!

I delivered at Castle Medical center in Kailua, Hawaii and would highly recommend it to anyone giving birth on the island. I labored, delivered and recovered in one room equiped with everything including a jacoozi bathtub and bed for Dez to stay the night on. The staff was awesome and never once made me feel like the dumb first timer.  My Dr arrived after I had already started pushing and told me I was acting like I had 2 or 3 epidurals... I don't know if that was a compliment to my pain management skills or she just thought I was acting OUUUUUT of it.  Pushing felt surprisingly awesome. After 14 hours of breathing to cope with pain, it was nice to do something a little more productive to birthing a child, like PUSH. And PUSHING I did, for an hour and a half.  At one point the Dr and nurses had their backs turned and I saw on the monitor I was starting a contraction. I yelled to them "HEY IM PUSHING WHETHER YOURE GONNA HELP ME OR NOT SO YOU MIGHT WANNA COME BACK!" Dez then took charge and held both my legs open while coaching me to PUUUSH!  (He loves telling that part to everyone, he thought the laboring part was booooring...haha) Everyone (Dez, my sister in law Jamie, the dr, and the nurses) were telling me I was doing great... but I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, all I hoped was that it equated that I was almost done.

Dez's family was amazing support because none of my family could be there for the messy stuff. =) They've all since met Roxi via webcam except my younger sister Megan who sacrificed a week to spend cooped up in our apartment helping me without complaining that she didn't get to get her tan on at the beach.

For the first few days after delivery when I would nurse Roxi I would get shell shock cramps as my uterus contracted and I would think I was starting labor contractions! I would have to remind myself, that the pain is over (for now) and you have your baby, she's in your arms!lol I've since healed and forgot enough that I've told Dez that I think I could do it again...I don't know if Dez could. haha!

what just happened

swollen after her trip through the canal!

samoan feet! At least she won't be able to steal my shoes!

proud but pooped pops

Roxi's great grandma, great aunt and second cousin Telau

bundle of...BLISS

classic snoooozers

Thank you for all the support and prayers.  I feel truly blessed to have this BIG spirit yet tiny body in OUR home, in OUR family.  LOVE and LIFE have a whole new meaning. incredible

Introducing...

Details soon to come.

Truly Inspired

Yes I'm at the birth center and no I didn't have the baby....yet. I forsure wouldn't have been there Sunday night if it weren't for my amazing mom. Moms really do know best and I can't wait to be one. So this is how I ended up at the birth center at 9pm Sunday night.

My mom called me from my dad's cell at 9:30 pm saturday night (which is 9:30 am sunday morning in germany) This is rare because they live in Germany and it costs a butt load to call the states on a cell, plus they were at church at the time. I missed the call but got her voicemail. It went a little something like this, " hi cari it's mom, I had a feeling I should call you, I dont know why, just want to see if you ok. Love you call me back." To be honest it kinda freaked me out... but sometimes that's what it takes.  I called dezy to see if he was ok and then looked down again and again at myself to make sure I was ok.

I called my mom back and told her everything was fine that I know of but I will let her know if something comes up. All my senses heightened but I tried to get some sleep. The baby must have been on her toes as well cause she was up all night tossing and turning. Morning came and I'll spare you on these details but basically I thought I might be leaking some amniotic fluid... But what do I know, I've never done this before, so I tried to let it go. By 2 pm we're at church. During relief society we had a lesson on family responsibilities and were discussing the importance of a mother sharing her promptings with her children. I shared my incident with my mom's phone call from the night before. I'd been prayin that I would have a more obvious sign of what my mom meant and what might need to be addressed.

Not even 30 minutes later I had a contraction, not like the other practice ones I usually have. It was strong enough to get my attention. I texted dez to tell him what happened. In the mean time dez riled up and enlisted the help of his fellow brethren to google symptoms of going into labor...during his class. After class I was the first girl to exit. All the men were waiting for thier wives in the hallway and looked at me like I had some sort of disease. (I had no idea that dez told anyone, but I should have known better) I had another contraction about 45 min later and we went home from church to figure out what to do.

Google can be dangerous in two ways... (well more than that, but that's a blog of its own) It can freak you out and make you think more of what's going on, or it can comfort you enough to let something go. If it weren't for my mom's inspired call, I would have been a victim of the later google danger and DONE NOTHinG. Luckily I have plently women in my life who's opinions I trust and who finally convinced me to call the birth center. Why did it was to be on a weekend, past office hours and so far away!! I really didn't want to be that freaked out clueless first time caller... But my mom told me we make sacrifices for our children. I swallowed my pride and called. They were super nice and told me to come in. I grabbed my hospital bag and we left. That one hour drive gave me a lot of time to think, and I wanted to talk about what could happen but dez was coping another way and turned up the music.

They gave me a gown, put me in a room, hooked me up to the machines to monitor the baby's heart rate and my contractions then ran some tests. Turns out my leaking had stopped by the time we got there (I knew that would happen!) but what was tested was negative for amniotic fluid. While that was all good, the nurse told me I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes and more intense ones every 5 or so. Enough to be affecting the baby. NEWS TO ME! I thought it was just gas or the baby still assaulting me from the inside. They called my dr and then gave me a shot to stop them. The shot made me feel like I drank  a Redbull... And then they made me drink a supersized cup of water which gave the baby some mean hiccups. I was in the room alone at one point with my own heart racing from the shot, then listening to the quick heartbeat of baby intertwined with her hiccups... with a more than full bladder that was being pushed on.  Feeling a bit cracked out I thought I was going to go crazy or just pee everywhere, or both.  Anywho I wasn't dilating (but had thinned out some) so we got to go home. The nurse told me to try and keep her in a bit longer so she's at least 37 weeks.

I don't want to think about what would have happened if my mom never called me and I never went to the dr... It stresses me out too much. But I'm so grateful to have such inspired loving people in my life to help me along the way.

I went to the dr again on Wednesday and she told me that because I'm almost 36 weeks and the baby is at least 6lbs that if I start having contractions again... That's it! Let's just hope I recognize them this time! Haha

Not working, Yet Working Hard

One of my biggest fears of ending work was that I would go crazy at home all day. This is far from the truth so far. I've been off work for 2 weeks now and busier and happier than ever. We've moved into a 1 bedroom finally and life is glorious! Our place has more space, privacy, is conveniently located close to the laundry and mail facilities, and best of all, it is a welcoming abode to our neighbors, family and friends! No more awkward visits from people who sit and look at our bed, dirty clothes, and bathroom without leaving the couch!

During my time home I've been able to ride my bike to the beach to cool off, get burned and relieve the physical strains of the baby by swimming. I'm a big fan of sunscreen now because the sunburned beach ball look wasn't workin for me.  Lesson learned.

Bumble Bump

I've discovered that my love for fashion and custom alterations is not limited to clothing for myself anymore. Altering baby clothes is amazingly fulfilling! I've gotten a lot of handy downs and have had great fun makin them something special for our baby girl. Speaking of her... I am 35 weeks now and still going strong! I have a dr appointment this week but so far she's over 5 lbs and still in position to make her move! I think we've decided on the name Dresden (a city in my parent's mission that we visited on ou trip to Germany) but we'll call her Dre for short.

Hapa according to Wikipedia " is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage." aka our beautiful baby!

Erykah Badu Stenciled Newborn T

Amidst my journey of altering baby clothes I decided to try a pillow for our couch with the leftover fabric from the lamp I made. But for some reason I wanted ruffles on it, and that required me to learn how to make ruffles first. I really like how they turned out and can't wait to use my new technique on more baby stuff! Ruffles are really trendy right now but I hope I can explore ways to give them a different kinda of twist.

After

Before

Nothing a little spray paint and fabric can't fix

Leftovers!