Hello Again

We have been through a whirlwind of change the past couple weeks. My husband decided to go back to construction and started a new job with a custom deck and patio company. This job will give him the opportunity to not only work with his hands but do some of the business side too, work with clients, make bids, that kind of thing. He has been loving it so far and has been learning lots of Spanish with his new coworkers! Then we moved out of Scotty's parents' house and into our own tiny home in Encinitas. It all happened pretty quick after our friend told us about the house and since we sold everything when we left Hawaii we were literally starting from scratch. Luckily my in laws were nice enough to give us a lot of their old furniture so we at least had somewhat of a start. We have been living here for three weeks now and its finally starting to look like a home, we even have a couch now after sitting on the floor for two weeks. We are loving Encinitas, since we moved to California we knew that this was where we wanted to live. We're back by the ocean just in time for summer. It's the first time in a long time that we feel like we are exactly where we need to be. I have been busy with a 7 month old that is learning to crawl and suddenly requires constant attention. Ellie is growing so fast and is so eager to discover everything and put it in her mouth. She makes me laugh everyday with the new tricks and noises she figures out. She finally has her own room. I was a little worried about her being in a room all by herself, but she loves it. It's been a lot of change at once but we are so happy with our lives right now. I know its April but since we moved in January and have been so unorganized the past couple months, I feel like our year is just now starting. We are so excited for what is coming next, we feel like its going to be our year.

 Ill post pictures of our house soon.

Lately

Time has just flown by lately. We have  been in California for two months now but we are just barely beginning to get the details of our life here figured out. Its been frustrating at times but now that things are falling into place we are feeling more and more like this is where we are supposed to be right now. We miss Hawaii and family all the time but we are having fun and we're happy and being here has really forced us to think about what we want. Besides dealing with the fun decisions about our future we have been busy with visitors and of course our growing little girl.

 My best friend Jordan came for a short visit

My little brother (not so little next to me) came to stay with us for a week, it was so much fun. Ellie loved him right away, I am convinced she remembered him. The weather was great and we got to do some really fun things. He is leaving on a mission for two years soon so we were glad we got to spend some quality time with him.

 Then Ellie met her great aunt and great grandma for the first time. They just had a layover in San Diego for one day before flying to Hawaii so we couldn't do much but I am glad they got to finally meet her and catch up with us since we don't see them very often.

And just some recent favorites of the girl.

6 months

We thought Ellie had personality before but the 6 month mark has brought out even more sass in this girl. She may look like Scotty but Ellie is me. I am very stubborn and I like to do things my own way, being a parent to this type of person isn't always easy, sorry mom and dad! Ellie knows what she wants and is determined to get it and put it in her mouth. If you take something away from her she will do everything she can to get it back. I secretly love this about her but I'm dreading her teenage years. She now eats two meals of solid food a day and does a little excited dance when she sees her spoons come out. She has the most infectious laugh and spits constantly and will mimic almost every sound you make. She sits up perfectly on her own and is starting to lunge for toys and attempts to wiggle herself to them but I'm hoping it will be a while before she starts crawling. If she is fussy in the car, I turn on Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine and she stops instantly and hums along with the music. You may think I am crazy but I swear its true. Come take a ride with me and I'll prove it. 

Happy Sunday

This girl is just getting to be too much fun

Road Trip (Part 2)

After a long drive we got to our hotel in Monterrey, we got some gluten free pizza for dinner and then had a very uncomfortable night. I don't know if Ellie got a little nervous sleeping so many different places each night but she would not sleep unless she was with us. She has always been a good sleeper but with so many changes lately shes a little thrown off and we decided that instead of ruin the other hotel guests' night by listening to a baby scream, we would just let her sleep in our bed. Ellie took up the whole center of the bed and we barely slept, so the next day we were pretty unmotivated to do anything. But we convinced ourselves to go to the aquarium and we loved it. Ellie loved staring at the big blue tanks and wouldn't take her eyes away from the "open sea" exhibit. The rest of the day we just relaxed in the park and watched the surfers. Walked around town and ate a terrible lunch. But everything was really pretty and we were lucky to get another beautiful day.

We got back into the car and drove up to right outside San Francisco. We had a really nice hotel suite with a living room and separate bedroom so Scotty and I actually got to stay up past 9pm after putting the girl to bed. In the morning we woke up to rain and spent most of our morning in San Francisco lost. This immediately put a damper on how Scotty felt about the city and decided he didn't like it there at all. But we finally found out where we were and walked in the rain to the wharf to get Scotty a bowl of clam chowder, he was a little happier after that and then the sun came out so our day just got better. We had the most amazing cupcakes and contemplated getting a sundae at ghirardelli square but thought we had had enough sweets already. Then we just had fun just seeing the sights and walking around.

By the afternoon we had had enough city, were definitely not city people! So we started the drive back down south. We stopped in Visalia to visit Scotty's sister Jen and her kids. Ellie was in heaven, she loved these kids. We had so much fun hanging out with the family, we hadn't seen any of them in over a year and it was so fun to see our niece in her play and get a two day break from driving.

 Cant you tell they are all cousins! Sunday night we said our goodbyes and drove the 5 hours home. We got back at 11:30 and Ellie could not have been more happy to be back in a place where she recognized. We are so glad we got to go on this trip and make memories as a family. It was a great time but all that driving gets a little tiring. Now back to real life, Scotty starts work this week and hopefully Ellie and I can finally get back into a routine.

Road Trip (Part 1)

Growing up on an island I haven't done many road trips in my life, but Scotty has such good memories of road trips growing up in California and it was something he really wanted to show me. So we figured right now was a perfect time to take a week and go up the coast. Our little car was packed to the brim full of the stroller, pack n play (which Ellie wouldn't even sleep in), hiking backpack and our bags. You don't realize how much stuff a baby needs until you travel! We really wanted to bring surfboards but quickly realized there was no way we would have room, so we were just spectators this trip and it was okay because I see many road trips in our future full of time to surf. We first drove up to Santa Barbara and I immediately fell in love with the feel of this town. It was a cloudy cold day so we mostly just walked up and down the streets shopping and stopping for lunch at the Habit which had the most amazing milkshakes and hamburgers. We walked the beach and the pier and of course stopped by the Al Merrick store and looked at hundreds of surfboards. The bonus of the day was getting the call that Scotty got a job as a recreation leader for the city of Poway, it is pretty much temporary until Scotty finds something better but at least we have some income for now!

The next day we drove up to Morro Bay, a sleepy fishing town that Scotty instantly fell in love with. Its pretty touristy but the town was dead and we didn't know why because it was a beautiful day and the waves were huge. We didn't plan to stay very long but ended up staying most of the day just walking around and talking to some of the friendliest people I have met. We met a guy who lives in a boat in the harbor and kept saying how much he loves being away from all the people down south. He talked surfing with us and told Scotty to yell at his boat if he ever comes back to surf and he'll go out with him. That guy is my husbands new idol.

Then we drove A LONG time. We drove up through Big Sur and loved  it! This is where the coast got really beautiful.  The waves were huge and the scenery was just awesome. Scotty almost crashed a couple times because he wanted to see everything. Our pictures just don't do it justice but hopefully you get the idea. We got to the hike we wanted to do later than planned so we had to do a shorter one but we still had fun and Ellie loved the hiking backpack, she just kept giggling and looking at me with a confused but happy face.

to be continued.....

5 months

Yep, Ellie is already 5 months old. She is stubborn and sassy but ridiculously adorable. I always said if I had a daughter I hoped she would be a little fiesty and I definitely got my wish! She will fight us to take a nap, especially if there are people around. She refuses to roll over, even though she knows how, she would rather sit up and watch everything and everyone. She has two teeth and knows how to use them! If you have a cup of water, she will grab at it until she gets a sip. She has the best giggle and squeals when she really likes something. She prefers girls to boys but is obsessed with her dad and loves to cuddle with him in the early morning. She loves to eat solid food and still likes vegetables way more than fruit. Just when we think we have her figured out, she throws us a new face or sound that keeps us laughing all the time. We are loving this age, it is so fun to watch her discover every little thing and see her personality change. Thanks Ellie Kai for being the only entertainment we need.