25 weeks and Cravings

Here we are (we= all 3 of us) at 25 weeks. Things are still going pretty well. The back aches and leg aches have gotten increasing worse the past few weeks and are really my biggest problem. Getting up and down from anything is a chore and then maneuvering around the bed is downright comical. The bathroom trips have become so frequent I feel as if i live there and i haven't been wearing my wedding rings for about 2 weeks now. The biggest pregnancy news as of lately though would be my first FULL-BLOWN CRAVING. I mean I have wanted specific foods off and on throughout the pregnancy, but this is the first off-the-wall, strange (at least for me), and continuous craving.

Yep, if you follow me on facebook at all you may know this already but I woke up a week ago on Sunday with a very intense craving for a muffin. You should know here that i really don't eat muffins. I don't hate them, i just would never make myself any and could turn one down anytime because they are never really appealing to me. The same goes for most flavored breads and pastries (this includes cinnamon buns and doughnuts). Anyway, since i don't eat these things, we did not have any in the house, so on the way to church we stopped by Starbucks with my fingers crossed that they would have a muffin...and boy did they! I got me and my little monsters the most yummy Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin on the face of the planet. (i would also like to insert here that i never eat pumpkin flavored things because i just done like it--but i do now!) Thing was, after i ate the muffin--i just wanted more.

After church we get home and i can't get muffins out of my head and i convince Mike we need to go to the store and get muffin supplies. An hour later and (embarrassingly) about $50 later, target supplied us with a few boxes of muffin mixes, some ingredients we were out of, an over-sized muffin pan (cause they are better when they're bigger) and then some loaf pans too, cause i decided some beer bread sounded yummy.

The next week that followed was FULL of muffins. I have perfected the art of muffin making and both Mike and his co-workers have been reaping the benefits. I even stumbled upon a recipe for the Starbucks Pumpkin Muffins and gave them a try. They actually tasted a lot like the real ones and i will be sharing the recipe soon, but first i am going to perfect a few things.

So you may think this is where the story ends--a happy pregnant muffin eating lady...but it's not--the story has actually just begun.

My muffin craving evolved into a full blown BREAKFAST FOOD craving---and if you know me at all you know how strange this is. I really am not a fan of most breakfast foods--besides bacon and biscuits, i probably want nothing to do with it. I especially do not like eggs and syrup. BUT, Wednesday night Mike was making himself a breakfast dinner. I had plans to have dinner with a friend, but she is a doctor and had to go into the hospital last minute, so Mike and I were stuck throwing together dinner for ourselves. So anyway, Mike is making french toast and i am sitting watching him with the intentions of just warming up some soup, but the french toast he is cooking is just really looking appealing to me. I tell Mike that i think i want some and he just sort of laughs at me and keeps cooking. But then i tell him i am serious and gives me a funny look like "i know you aren't going to eat this, but whatever". Then about 15 minutes later...what do you know, I am eating my plate full of french toast, syrup and all, and enjoying it immensely. I liked it so much in fact that i had it again at the hotel this past weekend. Then to top it all off we had cinnamon buns for breakfast this Sunday--my idea!

It's gotta be the babies...we know they have Mike's silly toes and maybe they share his love for breakfast foods as well. I don't know, but the big question is if i will continue to like these things AFTER birth. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Mini Golf with the Keiki

This weekend was also our children's church, Na Keiki, outing. We went to Jungle River mini golf and then had pizza afterwards. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Mike is especially good with the kids. They love him and he loves them too. The little guy below is Tyler. He is in 1st grade and so cute. He loves anything military (shown by his attempt to salute below!) and is always latched onto Mike at church--not that Mike minds any. Hailey and Taylor golfing in the jungle

Tyler riding the car

Daniel-roaring I believe

Group Photo, shaka's all around, and a shaka salute from Tyler!

Leadership Conference in Waikiki

Mike's battalion was holding a leadership conference for its commanders and staff this past weekend and a day before the event someone had to cancel and we were offered the spot. We gratefully took it and ended up getting to stay in at Hilton's Prince Kuhio hotel right across from the famous Waikiki Beach for 2 nights with all expenses included, even our meals! How could you pass that up?

(ps. i stole all of these pics from the hotel website)

Hotel view from the ocean

Lobby

10th floor balcony pool

Room very similar to ours

another view

There were some organized activities during the day on Friday--but we missed 2 of them because of our ultrasound appointment (and then Babies R Us pit stop). That afternoon they had a scheduled scavenger hunt that Mike participated in. It sounded like a lot of fun, but physically, running around Waikiki for 2 hours was out of the question for me. So Mike joined some of his single friends and went out "hunting". They came back 2 hours later sweaty, stinky and with some battle scars--apparently this scavenger hunt was serious business! I have included some of the random pics they took along the way.

climbing a tree...where the battle scars derived from

Cpt. Bair mimicking the Hilton Hawaiian statuered Ferrari in the Ferrari store2LT Fairweather and a lifeguard Obama T-shirt

Their team ended up winning 2nd place and they received a $50 gift certificate to the hotel restaurant. It's a fairly new place called Mac 24-7, and if you are watchers of Man Vs Food, you may have seen this place because it is known for its 14 inch pancakes. They even have a challenge to see if someone can eat 3 whole 14 in pancakes in 90 minutes. So far only 7 people have completed the challenge and Adam on Man Vs Food was NOT one of them. Mike seriously believes he can do this, and although i think it is sickening to think about, i've seen him put down some enormous amounts of breakfast food so I wouldn't put it past him. Keep a watch out for a future blog on this as I told him we could go back so he can try.

14in pancakes...although you can get whatever you want on them, this gives you a good idea of the size

Anyway, there were 6 people on Mike's Scavenger Hunt team, but they decided to let us have the gift certificate to the restaurant and we are really excited to have it because apparently it is not only known for its huge pancakes, but also has wonderful food. It was voted in the top 5 best restaurants on Oahu for 2009. One unique thing about the restaurant, which you can probably guess from its name is that it is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Here in Hawaii hardly anything is open 24 hours and especially not restaurants in Waikiki. I have always thought that was strange since Waikiki is such a tourist town and people are out all hours of the night. It really is difficult to find a place to seat you after 9pm.

inside

crazy pancake toppings

dessert or breakfast?

So it was a fun surprise weekend for us, and that's one more hotel we can knock off our list of places we want to stay before we leave...thank you ARMY!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and TOES ?!?!?!?

Well, to be exact it should be "heads" (with an "s") since there are 2 of them---and then 4 shoulders, 4 bony knees that may i add are always knocking me around, and then 20 NOT SO LITTLE toes!

Yep, we went for our 24 week growth scan on Friday and again this growth scan was quite enjoyable and we found out alot.

We learned the following....
1. Our babies each weighed 1 lb 12 oz --which is on target to slightly above avg. for a single baby--so go Burns Twins, go!

2. What it feels like when they get hiccups. I often get a feeling that although very repetitive, i just assumed was kicking until i was feeling it while doing the ultrasound. The tech informed me it was actually hiccups and showed us Baby Girl's diaphragm where the hiccups originate. Apparently hiccups are like breathing exercises for fetuses, in order to get them ready for breathing outside the womb.

3. That fighting between siblings is definitely NATURE, not nurture, because ours are already having major fights by seeing who can kick who in the head the hardest. This is shown in the pic below.

top of Baby Boy's head and bottom of Baby Girl's Foot4. Our little boy has Mikes toes! You may ask how we could possibly know this, but there is nothing about mine and Mike's feet that are similar...i have thick feet with short stubby toes a high arch and my big toe is actually my biggest toe. On the other hand (or foot), Mike has long, bony, flat feet with toes as long as fingers and his biggest toe is the 2nd....and apparently so is our Little Boy's toes! We couldn't get a good angle on Little Girl's feet so there is still hope for her! Poor Little Boy sentenced to a life of finger toes....i think Mike is actually very proud of himself!

Baby Boy's Toes

Mike's Toes
As seems to be the rule, Baby Girl was buried in my pelvic bone once again, and there is just no moving bones around, so we didn't get any good pics of her, but here is a sweet profile of Baby Boy. He is looking so much more like a baby these days instead of an alien--cute already!


After our appointment we made a stop at babies R us. It was its first day opening and I have been stalking the building, watching its progress in order to take the store by storm. I had a list of things to get. I have no idea how people made it without this store! So we got there just in time for the grand opening...yay (i say this with much sarcasm). There was a huge crowd outside the store waiting for the doors to open--all pregnant ladies and moms with strollers. There were 2 security guards standing in front of the doors, shoulder to shoulder with their backs towards the crowd. Inside the store, the staff and press was taking their own sweet time "blessing" the store Hawaiian style, then the staff all came out, pushed their way through the crowd and then gave a speech, introduced some of the managers, handed out monetary donations to local children's facilities and made a big deal about cutting the ribbon....it was ridiculous. I guess that's what i get for going to a grand opening, but really, we weren't trying to be there for that, it just happened that we were out at that particular time. So Mike and I were definitely a part of the madness and hopefully we are not going to find our pics in the newspapers this week!



On a very excited note, once we finally made it into the store, we bought... 6 baskets for under the changing table, a matching changing pad cover, a cushion/shower organizer to hang over the bathtub and make bath time much easier on my knees, 2 infant swings, 2 car seats--one pink, one blue, and then my favorite and biggest reason for fighting the crowds....a high back, fully upholstered glider and ottoman to make feeding time as easy and comfortable as possible. and the kicker...the chair we bought was on clearance, a mistake shipment that they aren't selling anymore, but it was the perfect color and size i needed! So, if we hadn't been there for the grand opening, we would have missed this deal--so worth it!

What we didn't really consider until after the purchases was how we would fit everything in the car---but we worked it out, just barely!

Us with our purchases...the truck is maxed out!

view from the front--excuse our "rough" look, we had just spent the day in the sun and playing mini golf with church kids!

You'll have to wait to see everything we bought later, when the nursery is complete and we get it all set up!

Birthday part deux

When Mike got home, he opened his cards and present. His big gift this year was his bike and other riding gear that he has had for a few months already. But for a little something to open today, he got the Tiger Woods 09 wii game--cause that's about the only way he can gift his wife to play golf with him!

Mike and his cards...thanks to all the family and friends who sent them! LuLu doesn't want to pose...as usual

and Olie is checking out the wrapping paper, as usual

Tonight we ate at Chuck's Seafood and Steakhouse and it was super! Usually Mike and I like to go to the other restaurant located in the same lagoon, but tonight we tried something different and i'm so glad we did.

We were given the best seats in the house, right on the edge of the porch with a unobstructed view of the lagoon and palms. We even got a complimentary Mud Pie (which was actually a super yummy chocolate coffee ice cream cake)!

Yay for birthdays and a great day with my wonderful husband!

at our table
such a pretty view

The Mud Pie

Happy 29th Mike!

Well, it's officially Mike's last year as a youngin'--at least that's what I like to tease him about, whether or not i really believe it. So far we have celebrated with yummy blueberry breakfast muffins, a picnic in the park with some yummy real sweet tea and a fun cookie monster cookie.

Now he's home early and we plan to take a nap and then try out a restaurant in the Ko'Olina resort area. Maybe I'll get back tonight with a few more pics. But for now I will leave you with some of Mike and Cookie Monster.

mmm....don't eat me!

23 Weeks and a wonderful "No Labor" Day Weekend

Aloha! Here's my 23 week shot. We are all doing good. Babies are growing and active. Mike has been busy with work and training for his Honolulu Century Ride (100 mile bike ride) in a couple of weeks. And I have been, well, i've been gestating I guess. Growing 2 babies is hard work apparently and an errand here or there pretty much wears me out.
This weekend in honor of Labor Day, good ol' Uncle Sam gave Mike both Friday and Monday off and we decided to use this 4 days off for some "fun in the sun" instead of the usual "laboring around the house".


Friday we went to the North Shore, ate at one our faves, Pizza Bobs, then went to Sunset Beach, browse the shops and get a yummy shave ice. Here are some pics from Sunset. Mike and I got into a conversation about what a pregnant girl sees, so i took a pic to show him. I realize it may look a little inappropriate, but of course i do have bottoms on!

My usual beach position these days

What I see...you may notice the beginnings of an "outie"
and this is what I want for Christmas, if anyone can find me one
On Saturday, Mike and I went to a children's church teacher training in the morning and then headed straight Waikiki to celebrate my friend Marybeth's birthday at a beach park by the military resort, Hale Koa. Beach parks are an awesome thing that Hawaii offers the public. They are parks in the sense that there are trees and grass, picnic tables, grills, playgrounds and bathroom facilities--but the best part is that they are right in front of the sand with easy access to the water and beautiful views. And to top it off the beach park we used had access to the military hotel, so we could also use their pools and take advantage of their yummy soft serve ice cream! I didn't get any pics this day, but we had a really good time just hanging out with lots of good friends.

Sunday we went to Church, but i woke up quite a bit tired and sore from the past few days adventures, so directly after church we came back home so i could rest. That night we were supposed to participate in a church-body scavenger hunt, but because i didn't feel good I stayed home and Mike went ahead since he was supposed to be a driver. From what he said they drove all over the island and the clues were super hard. The final destination was at Kailua Beach Park, one of my personal favorite places on the island, to have a potluck dinner. He seemed to really enjoy it and I hate I missed out--hopefully they will do another one!

Then for Monday, Bryan and Marybeth Williams called us and invited us to spend the day with them at Pililau Army Recreation Center, which is basically a bit of beach on the west coast of the island that is owned by military. They have cabins directly on the beach to rent and the lagoon is the same lagoon that tour boats bring people to swim with the dolphins. We take kayaks out to the middle of the lagoon and can watch the dolphins jump around and show off right beside our boat, or if your brave, jump in and swim with them. I've done this many times with the Williamses, but apparently every time has been without Mike--so this was his first time out to see the dolphins. We spent most of this day just sitting around enjoying the beautiful views and good company. I have posted a lot pics below. I tried to be better this day and not push it too much--learning my lesson from Sunday. I stayed under the tents for most of the time, except when i could convince my sweet hubby to hold on to my float so i could rest in the water and not float away. Everyone had a great day and it was the perfect end to a long fun weekend!

Pretty Umbrellas

Mike and Bryan and Jordan coming back from seeing the dolphins

Helping Jordan off the boat

*notice in the corner, Elizabeth body boarding WHILE eating a tootsie pop*

Mike playing with Jolene--she LOVES the sand

Marybeth, Bryan, Cher and Mike playing with the volleyball

Bry going for the dive

Jordan playing in the sand, a little close to the volley action *notice mike running to the ball in the background*
Jolene was worn out!

One of Hawaii's favorite sports, rowing --it was a beautiful afternoon!