Oh I have a blog??

Oh heeeeeey!!! So ugh...it's almost midnight here and I cannot sleep for the life of me and since I just read Anna's blog, I felt like something was giving me that kick in the butt I needed to update this thing!
 Wow. It's almost the end of 2011. Where did time seriously go??? Well...here's a few little diddy's that have happened since my last post.
First off...LEIMANA IS A MONSTER. Hahaha...just kidding, but really she is literally a mini hulk. I was changing her clothes this morning and went to grab her from running away from me when I nearly lost my breath picking her up! Soooo, it got me thinking how does she really measure up? At her last doctor appointment in Oregon to check up on her eczema(yes she has it =( ) she weighed in at 30lbs 13oz. Now to me, I'm like, okay...this is normal she gained 2lbs since her check up in October. So I went on the WORLD WIDE WEB and googled average weight of a 14 month girl.....I got my answer there. According to...whatever, polls or statistics, my daughter is the weight of a 3 year old. YES THREE YEAR OLD. I mean, that would explain why 2T clothing are fitting her nice and snug but really?? I guess it didn't hit me that she was big till then. Anyway, I'm not worried because she doesn't look huge. Wait, scratch that, she looks huge when held up to a kid her size but to me she's still my baby. It's just getting to be a nice little workout lugging her around everywhere. Thank GOODNESS she likes to walk or I'd be having to wheel her around with me in a wheelchair. Also, my little girl is getting an attitude! If we go for a little while without talking to her...she SCREAMS! ie: Stephen and I were in the kitchen a couple days ago talking and putting food on our plates when all the sudden we here a grunt/scream coming from the floor lol We look down to see a very disapproving face glaring at us! This girl! Boy I love her tho...she keeps us entertained. Speaking of entertainment...she has a new love. She loves playing with the ukelele. She lugs it around everywhere with her...she was even so kind to put it in the dryer while I was switching loads!
Secondly!!!! Leimana and I surprised my Mom, Florence and Nia a couple weeks ago with our presence! Let's just say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I love doing surprises like that where no one knows but me!! Especially when it's to see family! I did that to my Grandma before we left for Chicago and she LOVED it too!! I really love going home as much as I love living out here on our own with our cute little family...nothing beats going back home. Still knowing where everything goes, how to get everywhere and bumping in to old friends. I kind of wish they lived in Florence so I could REALLY bump in to old friends and such, but I think it just brings a lot of memories for Mom so out in Corvallis is better!! Plus it's closer to the Portland Airport which is a total PLUS! OH AND NIA!! My goodness that baby is my favorite niece ever!! She's totally getting a personality now and is just a hoot! She sings along with whatever songs are playing which would be from her Mom's side =) Also, she started waving too...that lil bugaboo is just a GENIUS! It's those Baby Einstein's! Too bad Leimana never got in to those...
Third.....hmmmm.....OH! It's only snowed 1.5 times since moving here!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed it'll stay that way till we leave in mid January! Hopefully later than that because I would LOVE IT if we went in to playoffs. Anyway...I keep trying to prepare myself for this winter...but truth is, we'd be leaving before it got REALLY bad. On that note, I'm just gonna throw this out there....WE'RE GOING TO TONGA. I'm still kinda half/half about this. I'm sooo excited to be going somewhere WARM! But I'm a little scared going a place I've never been where I won't know what the heck is being said. I hope Leimana has her Dad's tough skin, because I always broke out when we went to Samoa. BUT...I really am excited to see where Stephen grew up and the house he lived in. I wish we could go to a Mormon church while there...buuuuut our Sunday's shall be spent at the Methodist. It's cool tho, we lived next to a Tongan Methodist Church in Alaska and went a couple times. Leimana loves the music part too she LOVES music in general. So let's just pray this trip is one to remember for the HIPHOPPYHAPPY times! I'm sure it will be. With that being said...I need to get our passports turned in ASAP!


OKAY..so now I'm tired..sorry for all maybe 2 of you reading? But just forewarning...this blog is going to  be nice and RANDOM!! Loves to all...and until next time! Here's some flicks =)

Her love her uke =)

 Nia: I'm not touching you. Mana: YES YOU ARE I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT YOUR HAND!

 This is her new smile...she does it every time she sees me hold up my phone. Our cheeky girl! 

Family Pictures.

Ughh..today is just a lazy lazy Sunday. Stephen left about an hour ago for Detroit and will be back sometime late late tomorrow. I hate when he has to leave us.....there just always feels like a void. However, I am so so so so thankful to have Leimana here with me or I'd be SUPER bored, mind you the house would probably be spic and span, my life would just be dull. Obviously she's napping right now, so I thought I would blog and do a little update on our week!

Stephen's family just left a couple days ago and while I love having them here...it's always nice to get back in to the swing of things as a little family. It's so funny how much Leimana was fascinated by Pora. When she would be freaking out when I'd leave...he'd just have to start playing the uke and things would be peachy! OH SHE TURNED 1. Ahhhhhhh!! I honestly feel so old.

She is doing so much now. At her 1 year check up she weighed in at 28lb 7oz and was 32in tall. And my goodness, you can feel all 28 pounds. She is such a character. She laughs at herself, talks on the phone(her hand) to herself and just today is using a STRAW!! Awww...we were so proud. We just got some Jamba Juice and Stephen put his straw to her mouth and at first she just bit it, but after a little moving around she started sucking and BOOM she uses straws now!! I was so proud I called Florence and told her the whole story. BTW I'm SO SO SO SO excited for Florence to come. It's gonna make Stephen's trip to London go by WAY fast. I wanna plan an itinerary for us when she comes so she can get a feel for this place. I LOVE it here!!

Yesterday we got family pictures...just from JCPenny...but they turned out pretty well! Leimana cried in between takes but hey...we still got some smiles from her. I'll upload them later from the desktop. Annnd yes. That's the update! Nice and all over the place =)

OH YEAH. We have a nanny too!! She's very cool and Leimana loves her. She is a rarity and we've only used her once, but Leimana was in love with her when she met her so we knew she'd be a good pick. So, tonight we're gonna go have dinner with her since the hubby's are out for work!! Cheesecake Factory here we come!!!


OH HERE'S THE PICS!!!!

 Sooo...she sat on this for about 2 minutes...then it was SEE-YA!!

 Every time I walked away.....her reaction ^^^^^

 Thank the Lord she Loves her Daddy now..he was her comic relief when I didn't cut it lol

 She just looks over it. 

 One of our favorites...

The only photo she'd stand up long enough for.  

Her <3 belongs to Daddy...it's true.  

Senior Picture already?? 

 Escaping to Mommy =)

 Lovies

 My Favorite! 

  Another good one.... 

 Just moving all around...

 Hop on Pop!

Yeah....I tried editing it myself. No bueno.

Birthday weekend choochoo!!

So last weekend my Mom, Florence and Nia came to visit because I WAS TURNING 21!! Woot woot!! Yeah except it wasn't a big deal really because I don't drink or go "clubbing" or anything like that. But I will admit that I did buy alcohol just to be asked for my I.D. Which I was, so that was my right of passage. The game went off with a lame hit. The Bears lost =( Stephen didn't play...but then again he hasn't played since the season opener so there was no surprise there. I think Heavenly Father is playing a big part in Stephen not playing. From talking to Stephen, I know that he desperately wants to just get out there and show them what he can do...but the defensive depth chart is kinda a little deep right now because after they picked up Stephen, they went and signed on another 2 d-tackles. Kinda frustrating, but at the same time understandable because he was still recovering from his surgery and knee knee injury. ANYWAY this
not playing is a blessing in disguise because at the last game of the preseason, someone stepped on his ribs and left a HUGE bruise....so much that his ribs are bruised. Well, it hasn't gotten much better and now, every time he goes to touch a certain spot too hard, it kind of knocks the wind out of him. So, to me, I'm glad he's not playing because my hunny needs to rest up and recoop. I hate seeing him hurt and hate the fact that his job basically puts him in those dangerous situations whenever he goes to work. But I'm grateful that he's willing to take these hits because his career has affected many many many peoples lives. Sooo here's some pictures from the weeeekend.

 She didn't want Auntie to leave.

 Their love is unbreakable. Untouchable. Immoveable.

 Oh our airbrushed family LOL

Something about this woman...babies love. 

 After the game...nice and sweaty and stripped down 

Oh I love my Nia-Bia....she is just a ball of CUTE!! 

Where did you go, go, go, go???

Oh my year. Next week...that little baby in the post before is going to be a YEAR OLD!!! This year has been one of a few trials but MANY MANY blessings!! SO many things have happened since Leimana has been born. Stephen and I got MARRIED!! It is still so crazy to me that I'm a married woman. If you would have told me 5 years ago that my life would have played out like this...I would have laughed in your face.

Not too long after we got married, we got amazing news that Stephen was chosen to play for the Chicago Bears. There was a lockout though during the draft so it gave us time to prepare for our big move. In July, we finally took the jump and moved over here to lovely Vernon Hills. However, when we got here, we didn't have a place to stay so we stayed in an extended stay for about 3 weeks. We found an apartment about 3 days after we got here, but couldn't move in until mid August, but it was totally worth the wait. I love our new place and am so excited to do our first Christmas here! Even though we'll probably move next year to a real house, I'm sooo glad we have a cute and comfy place to live. Here's my year in pictures =)

They're out of order...but...she's cute so we're good. 

OKAY GUYS...THAT'S ALL FOR NOW...I'm gonna try and update every week okaaaaay?? Muchas umahs!

Fast Forward 9 Months....

My life would never be the same. On October 6, 2010 at 9:38pm, a child was born. Not just any child either....she was my child. So here is the thing that we call a "Labor Story"...every woman has one and even though some don't admit it, everyone loves sharing theirs. So here we go!!

As soon as I found out my due date, I immediately went to a calendar and prayed that October 8th would not fall on a Friday. Well, God sure does have a sense of humor because not only did it fall on a Friday...it fell on a Friday that Stephen had an away game on Saturday. What does that mean? Just that on the day I'm due, he'd be in ARIZONA!! My doctor and I had a plan though. If she didn't come on the 8th, we'd induce on the 10th for 3 reasons. 1) Stephen would DEFINITELY be there for the birth. 2) My doctor would actually be delivering my baby. and 3) 10/10/10 is a pretty cool birthday! But like I said, God was just playing a prank haha. My last appointment was scheduled for October 6th and thank the Lord for that. A few days before that, my Mom and I took Florence to Portland to go to Utah. The whole ride there, Leimana was going NUTS inside of me. I couldn't sit still because she couldn't sit still. When we got back, I finally started getting what I'm thinking were braxton hicks. Monday came around and it was time to go pick Florence up at the airport...I opted out of that though, because those braxton hicks became a little stronger and I didn't really feel like having a baby on the road. They got home early Tuesday morning and the contractions really started coming every 10 minutes. I called the hospital and they said wait till they're 5 and then come in. Well...a little after I called I had what they call "bloody show" (TMI...I KNOW RIGHT LOL) Anyway...I called the hospital again and they said......wait till they're 5 minutes. Then came Wednesday. Oh Wednesday. My last appointment before my due date. I'm so glad it was in the morning or else I'd be going nuts waiting. Here is the last picture of belly before my big appointment:

As soon as I walked in my doctor's appointment, the nurse said "You're ready. You're face says it all." Gee thanks. But those contractions were hitting every 4-5 minutes so I knew I was ready too. Well, the normal appointment went as planned and I finally got checked!! The doctor looked up at me and told me that I was definitely gonna have her today because I was already 3 centimeters. She sent me home and told me to eat a little something and come back at 2 to get checked again and then I'd be taken to a room. So, I went back at 2 and I was 4cm....so off to the hospital I went!! I called Stephen, who was in class, and told him it'd probably be a while before stuff gets interesting so he could just kick back and go to practice and what not. But of course we had to take some "She's going to the hospital to have the baby finally" pictures!

 Mama and me. I called her right after my appointment and told her the details...she cried. =)

 Floflo and me.....little did the homies know....that SHE was pregnant too!! HAHAHA!!

Just breathing. I swear I'd give myself contractions from laughing....reminder to never have Florence with me during labor.

Finally I was checked in and all smiles...the nurses said I definitely wasn't in labor because I was smiling. They said...we'll see you at 7cm and see if you're still smiling. Stephen got off of practice around 5:30 or so and came straight to the hospital. I think I was around 6cm by then and they broke my water. EWW. I thought it was bad when they broke it on the bed...but then I stood up and that's when the dam emptied. Here's some shots during la labor....

Obviously this is when I first checked in.....

 No...not a cigarette in his mouth...just a popsicle that I couldn't finish

First time standing up after they broke my water and wanting to get in the tub already. 

So after breaking my water, I tried the tub....that lasted about 10 minutes. You see, I was having back labor, so those jets hitting my back kinda sucked so I basically hopped in and hopped back out. But by the time I got out of the tub I was 7cm. This was about 8pm. Now, I think I scared myself watching all those TLC shows of Baby Story and Bringing home baby because labor wasn't too bad for me. I thought I'd be screaming and crying and getting that epidural. So at around 9pm my mom had to go put Mr.MacDonald in bed...I said that'd be fine because I still had 3 centimeters to go. Also, we sent Florence to get drinks and some clothes from home. 

WELL. At 9:15, I had these 4 redonklous contractions and I told Stephen to get that doctor in here and check me(which also hurts). She said I was READY TO PUSH!! Omg!! We called my Mom and Florence and had them come back....I pushed for 11 minutes and at about minute 5, my mom walked in...as she was greeted beaver first by me lol but really. I have to admit I was a little jerk for the pushing part. Stephen and my mom were trying to be really helpful telling me to be strong and push her out....well...I went laborzilla and told them to Shut up...I still feel so bad for that. Anyway....after all that, we got this:

Leimana Fungani Losehina Leiataua Taylor Paea was born October 6, 2010 at 9:38pm

She weighed in at 8lbs 0.5oz and 21.5in long. 

There's no way to describe how I felt at that moment. All I knew was that I didn't matter anymore...she was my everything. 

I'm WHAT? For real? Actually??

Well it started out just as any other winter term would...I skipped all my morning classes the first week. About 2 weeks in, and still feelin' rich from my scholarship checks, I decided that Florence and I should have a girls weekend or overnight trip or whatever. Sooo, I decided that we could go to Portland for the night! Well....being that Stephen and I were so used to being with each other every night we knew that we'd miss each other....sooo yeah we sealed the deal the night before and well what do you know...that next month I miss my period. Here's some TMI for you. I had really irregular periods that would last from 4-14 days. I know...sucks to be me! So even though I knew I had them, I always always always thought I was pregnant every month....6 pregnancy tests and 1 visit to options pregnancy later I found out my life would change forever. I WAS PREGNANT DUH. Now here's how the conversation went telling Stephen this news.

*Anxious*
Me: Hun.....
*Playing COD*
Stephen:.......
Me: HUN
Stephen: Yeah babe what
Me: LOOK!! (shows him the 2 positive pregnancy tests)
Stephen: What
Me: LOOK!!!
Stephen: What's that mean?
Me: 2 LINES! IM PREGNANT
Stephen: Are you sure?? (still eyes are glued to the television)
Me: Yeah...okay well thank you for being excited
Stephen: I am...it's just you always think you're pregnant. Get more tests.

Finally...after showing him 2 digital pregnancy tests and 2 more that I took to prove to my Mom and a note from Options Pregnancy stating I am indeed pregnant...his first words are: "I'm scared."
You're scared? Uhhh...about what? Last time I checked your body, hormones and life in general aren't going to change drastically in the next 9+ months. Perhaps afterwards life will, but until then buddy...scared is my word.
Soooo...my body in the following months:

this...

About 7 months in to it..

8 months....

Full Term like WHAT

To this....

2009....summed up.

IT SUCKED. I mean...well.....no 2009 was probably the worst year of my life. Sure, some good things happened...I moved in with my boyfriend....but the bad definitely outweighed the good in this one. So on that note....2009 can kiss my butt.

Famery

I guess you can kind of say that we had to grow up fast. Dad got sick around 1998 and from then on it was Mom who was his main caretaker. Florence and I helped as much as we could and by the time we were in Middle School we were able to do all the things necessary to keep his care up to give Mom a break sometimes during the day. I really don't know how to explain what kind of sick Dad was, but it all started in the brain. There were so many surgeries done in such a short time period, his brain and body never really got the right amount of time to recuperate before the next so it just really took a toll on him. As sad as everything that happened...it couldn't have happened to such a perfect person. I'm not saying it's good that all of that has happened to him, but he had so much love and support from everyone he knew that he wouldn't have to worry about who would take care of him. Which brings me to my MOM. She is one of the strongest people I know. Her and Dad we're just made for each other. He had a love for her that I still kinda tear up about. It was a pure type that one really looks for in husband. And Mom...she would do anything for him. I know there's a lot of women out there who would have just given up and put their husband in a nursing home, but Mom knew that no one would be able to give him the love and care that he needed and deserved.
The last year or so with Dad were the both the best and hardest. You could tell he was getting tired, and his body was showing it as well. At the same time though, some of the funniest and best memories were made. I'll never forget his last night with us. I was supposed to be going back to school on Friday to go to pick Stephen up from the airport. Well, he still had some tattooing to finish up on, so I decided I wouldn't go up till Sunday after church. Saturday night came around and was......perfect. Is it weird or horrible of me to think that on that night I thought to myself 'Is tonight it? Is tonight our last night with him?' It was filled with laughter, music and most of all pure joy and love. We each sang a song with Dad...we put him in the recliner to relax...we had garlic chicken pizza from Papa Murphy's and Raspberry Crystal Lite. If the Lord was going to take him any time...I'm so glad he waited till we had that beautiful night with him. Even though I should be happy now that he is in a better place...I still can't bring myself to letting go of the fact that he's not here with us. Call me selfish, but I want him here. Now.  I want him to see these two beautiful grandchildren of his and how happy they are. Nia, Florence's baby is a little reminder to me of him. There are so many things that she does whether it be a facial expression or yawn or a smile or the way she folds her hands....they all are just sooo Dad. I think that's what I'm gonna miss most about not being able to see Nia so much...she just possesses all of Dad's qualities. And Leimana...oh gosh. Her and Dad together would be such a crack up! She is such a little weirdo sometimes and I LOVE it! Ugh. I hate writing about Dad because it just reminds me of the fact that he's not here and I keep replaying the night he passed away over in my head. But I have to write about him because he really was our family's rock. He's what glued all of us together......and I just really MISS him...especially right here...right now......

This guy...