With Love, Lu

Yep. FIVE!

Hard to believe that five years ago I held you for the first time. You were so tiny. Where did the time go?

Too fast Maya! But I guess it is just the way you like to be as you announced to me this afternoon that you are now a big kid, not a teenager yet but a big kid.

Well, let me tell ya. You are an amazing kid. You are beautiful inside and out and I feel so lucky to be your mother. You are a blessing in my life Maya and my love for you is bigger than words.

So, today you didn’t go to school. Instead we made crafts at home and had an easy day until daddy got off work and then we went to Balboa Island for ice cream and a relaxing walk.

You were so happy and excited to be five, so cute!

Telling the lady at the ice-cream shop that you wanted sprinkles on your ice cream

You and pompon are the cutest

Then you found out your shoulder could be out on your shirt just like mine, and you LOVED it!

Five words to describe you at five (By mommy): Strong, Loving, adventurous, girly and sensitive

Five words to describe you at five (By daddy): Beautiful, princess, intelligent, vibrant, leader

Happy 5th birthday little one.

It is pretty amazing to watch you grow.

We love you baby girl! We love you very much.

♥

 

 

 

 

 Of course we do. We get to enjoy the real Fall weather, we stay at mom and pompon’s house, we celebrate grandpa’s birthday, see grandma, little cousins and all the family and of course the Farmer’s Fair, we always have a blast. At least I get to eat elephant ears once a year

This time, auntie Ann surprised Maya with a birthday party and an amazing doll cake that she made herself just for Maya! Thank you, Auntie Ann! It was delicious and unforgettable!

It’s so hard to live so far away but for sure it makes it extra special to spend quality time with people we love and we had a great time as always.

It is for sure Maya’s happy place. Nothing like being spoiled by grandparents, great grandparents and aunts!

Lucky little girl!

Farmer’s Fair with the fam

Maya “gatoring” around

Yep! Almost 5!!!

“Mom” + Maya = ♥

We love you grandpa!

Cutest little moment. There are so many birds around their house and Maya and Pompon were looking at the Birds of Indiana book to find the ones that were flying around…

Maya’s surprise birthday party

Brady and Maya

Always a great time with Gizmo

We love you, Connie

Isn’t she the cutest little grandma you’ve ever seen?

♥

Oh Maya!

Your beauty takes my breath away…

But not just your outside beauty, that is inevitable to notice, but you also have a big heart, it makes me so happy to see

Your hair is so long, like you say “my princess hair” and its about to be very short soon. Since we watched a youtube movie about kids with cancer you are letting it grow to donate it and make a child with cancer happy. You make me measure your ponytail almost every week to see if it has reached 10 inches yet, and it did, barely, but your hair would be so short and I keep telling you to wait a couple more months but you could care less. You just want to do it. I know this day will be so important for you. I can’t wait!

A little over a month ago, we lost our kitty Lola, your first pet. You found her dead with me and I will never, ever forget your reaction. Honey, you didn’t know what to do. You were jumping around, screaming her name and I never saw your face so puffy and red from crying before. You understood what death was right there, sigh. When we were at the vet, we put Lola on the table and we were all talking to her, saying our goodbyes. You came to her and whispered in her ear, “Lola, don’t be scared. Someone in Heaven will take care of you and one day we are all going to die and we will be together again” Just writing this, once again, made me cry.

You are so independent, you have always been. You can play in your room for hours, all by yourself with all your Pet Shop toys, you love your bedroom and you are so organized, you like everything in its place. I don’t remember you breaking any of your toys, you take great care of everything you have.

This year, you asked me for a surprise birthday party. You don’t want to know where is going to be, the theme, if it is going to be cake or cupcakes. I thought this was pretty cute and it matches your personality. You are creative and you enjoy things like that. So, unlike last year, at a gym with lots of friends, I am planning a tea party for you, with your close friends. I just ordered the invites and I am asking them to dress fancy, like your best friend Zaleeya likes to say, and you will have a storyteller to enjoy. Oh, and it will be pink, your favorite color. It will be a simple get together, cozy and yummy food will be served. I hope you feel special. I hope I see your smile.

I love your smile. Your little tiny teeth that I help to brush everyday and I know they will only be around for one more year or two and then they will be replaced with big girl teeth. You are growing up baby girl. Like a lot of people say, you are a big girl now but I don’t see it yet. For me, you are still very little. You have so much to learn in this life and I want you to take your time and enjoy these amazing years ahead of you. Your job now is to play and that is how you will learn things.

Follow your dreams! But I want you to know that following your dream can be the hardest and scariest thing in this world. You also need to know that nobody was born in this world knowing the right way, mistakes have to be made and you will learn from them, I promise that to you.

Although, I sometimes am not a big fan of your strong will; boy, you drive me crazy and make me mad… I also know that you are just like me. We have the same personality, we want everything our way and right away, like your father says, “It’s fire against fire” and can sound funny but he needs to separate us sometimes. I love that. Poor daddy though, he has to deal with both of us but honestly, I think he loves it too!

I know for sure that I am far from being a perfect mother but I want you to know, you are perfect to me. I love you the way you are and whatever you will be I will always love you.

I am proud to be your mother. I am proud of you. Five years honey, five years.

I love you so much.

G’night

♥

Well, well, well…

Here they are. An official post to introduce the twins Nui and Hoku

They were born in Hawaii sometime last May

Nui and Hoku

It’s been two weeks today that they arrived home and it was so easy to fall in love with these two little creatures. They are so funny and make us laugh all day long.

Nui. She is just a sweetheart. A little purring machine only if just eye contact is made with us.

Hoku. Well, he is a sweet thing, such a playful boy, LOVES Maya BUT he is a troublemaker.

Big time!

He loves chewing all kinds of wires and magazines. He steals food. Bastard! Ate half of my breakfast bar while I took my shower this morning and now I understand why he was licking his chops looking at me like “thank you mommy, that was so good!”

He is also the reason I have to lock them up in the office during the night. He attacks our feet during the night, making Matt and I scream like we are crazy people. It hurts so bad!

He also eats like a lion. Such a man!

They are deliciously cute and fun and basically the only time they rest is when Maya is not home cause if she is home they are running around and after her.

She finally has not one pet but two that follow her around and make her laugh all day.

Maya and I went to the store yesterday and bought two cat leashes. I will keep you posted how that goes!

Our babies are so cute and we are in love!

♥

Maui, The Valley Isle

Oh Maui. They were ten days of pure relaxation and fun and most of our time there was spent inside of water…

I will let these photos speak for themselves

I am forever grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to enjoy with my family those days that I spent there. I could call this place paradise.

I know for a lot of people going to Hawaii that it is just another vacation, but for us, it was not. This won’t happen every year and because of that we made sure to enjoy every moment together…

I’ve heard Maui is for lovers. We agree.

And here are some of our memories…

 

The Black Sand Beach

My little one and all her poses…

The sunset view from our room

I love this man so much!

Waiting for our table at Hula Grill (Hawaiian style)

Road to Hana

Haleakalā, the Maui Volcano

Sorry. Won’t share the secret

Hmmm… those virgin pina coladas were the best!

Black Rock Beach

Love this photo!

A sunset + a family of stingrays swimming in front of us… what a treat!

They were beautiful! Black with white spots

The Kid’s Pool at the Hyatt. Maya met all her little friends every afternoon… so cute!

After 5:00 pm the kids’ slide was closed. Well, not for Maya and her little friends

I tried to stop that but had no success

Lots of Mai-tais by the pool

Yep! That happened many times…

Matt’s favorite spot in Maui. The kids’ pool!

All ready to go out for dinner

My pineapple upside down cake with coconut creme brulee dessert @ Japengo… OMG!

Kaanapali has the best sunsets I’ve ever seen!

Dear Maui,

I miss your breeze at night, your amazing romantic sunsets and most of all the unforgettable family memories I made while visiting you.

Mahalo for the time of our lives!

With love, Lu

♥