100% Weaned

The day has finally come, Acalias has finally accepted whole milk. Grandma Nativa knew before arriving to West Virginia that she was expected to help me wean Acalias. She is a decisive 80-year-old woman and she took the assignment seriously, every time I wanted to give in she reminded me of her responsibility to help. I can't decide which was more difficult, the beginning or end of breast feeding. Both were very painful, physically speaking, but I'm proud that I didn't give in and give up. I have high expectations that my child's health will live up to all the statistics of  a breastfed child:)

So long to the crying child pulling my shirt off in public...hello to the tantrum and biting phase. Acalias is bouncing off the walls with energy, he's into everything. Although, I feel so depleted of energy by the end of the day, I'm really enjoying this age. He's trying to communicate with words more, I love walking in on him talking to Skofeild. He mimics our voice intonations to a T. I'll have to catch him yapping away on the phone with the camcorder, he paces around just like his dad.

We've been enjoying Grandma Nativa's company. She thinks everything Acalias does is so adorable, he couldn't possibly do anything wrong in her eyes.  Derek and I have been going on dates every weekend, we haven't really been out alone and it's so nice to go out alone. We miss him when were out, but it's nice to have grandma as our live-in nanny for several more weeks.

I've been trying to learn all of Grandma's rice variations and sell the recipie to the highest bidder in my family:)

 Acalias refueses to eat anything else!

Derek is completing his fourth rotation this week and will be starting Surgery rotation. He's been practicing his suturing, he's heard horror stories of how students get yelled at all day in the surgery rotation. He's doing well, he is impressive in his ability to recall information he's learned years ago. I know that he will become an amazing doctor, Acalias and I are so proud of him.

This week I'm tapering down my miles, I will be running my last official long-run race of the year. It's a half-marathon (13.1 Miles) Trail race at the New River Gorge. I don't know what to expect so my goal is to run it under my last race The Cinderella 1/2 Marathon Trail Run in California, at least under 3:00 hours. I've made a few running friends that I met from the local library Mother Goose Time . I'm currently deciding on which marathon to run (I'm considering this one, this one or this one. I hope to run 2 marathons next year with a hand full of 1/2 marathons and participate in my first triathlon in June (I need to learn how to swim first). I will run the Boston Marathon one day so I need to step it up and improve my race times. I'm currently running 9-9:30 min/mile, which is 6-7mph this winter I will train at 8:30-8:50 min/mile on the treadmill, I need to be at a 7 min/mile to run the Boston.

Here are few pictures from the last few races I ran, the Labor Day 5k Fun run (23:00-placed 1st in age/female category).

Valley Falls 10 Miler, it was a beautiful run but unfortunately I had to tap out. I started the race 20 minutes late (due to our dysfunctional GPS)and once they began removing the flags from the trail I was paranoid of getting lost forever in the woods. I sulked all day but I will redeem my self this Saturday:)

The falls. A perfect place for a family portrait.

It's a beautiful park, It was really cold and dreary that day.

We're excited to discover more of our new area.

Visiting Grandma in San Fransisco

It has become an annual tradition to visit mom in San Fransisco. It's a lot of traveling but so worth the trip so that Acalias can get the attention he misses out on while living on the other side of the country.

 Eating at mom's favorite cafe, Yummy Yogurt. Acalias was quiet pleased with it. He ate a lot of mom's yougurt as well as the fruit smoothie I ordered.

 Playing out side near the pool.

 Crawling down the endless hall, a nice change from our small apartment.

 Mimicking grandma, he makes this face when he's excited.

 Visiting Aunt Misi, I hadn't seen her since I traveled to Tonga in 2003.

Playing with Waldo, but Lias later discovered that he is not as nice as Skofeild.

Visiting our favorite hotspot, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Baker's Beach.

Playing in the sand with grandma.

Thanks again mom for showing us a great time, we miss you already!

Event Planning in Florida Day 1-2

Leaving my husband behind at home is always hard but I’ve been so excited for our trip to Florida and Grandma’s surprise birthday party. Acalias did wonderful on our flight from West Virginia to Georgia and from Georgia to Florida. He draws a lot of attention by his 6-toothed smiles and wants to playfully interact with anyone around us.

We arrived to Florida on Wednesday evening. Immediately after departing the airplane we were greeted with the humid tropical air. Acalias and I walked through the Fort Lauderdale airport hearing the familiar native language of my father, Creole.

My dad’s flight arrived a few minutes after ours; we met up in one of the terminals and dad helped with my bags and car seat. Dad’s luggage was delayed so I fed Acalias while waiting and while dad chattered in Creole with everyone and anyone around us who spoke the language. I felt like I was in Haiti being so submersed in the foreign language.


After retrieving dad’s luggage we were finally on our way to our destination. My little sister Kura had flown in earlier that dad and was anxiously awaiting our arrival at our cousin’s house. The plan was for everyone but dad to stay away from Grandma. The first night Kura and I caught up with each other’s lives, the last time we spent a lot of time together was at our sibling camp trip in 2009. It's so refreshing to learn that my sister is doing so well in college and has some great goals that she is striving to accomplish.

The following day I woke up early to enjoy a long run in the beautiful weather. In Coral Springs Florida there is a paved pathway throughout the entire suburb, a rare commodity in West Virginia. The weather was so nice that I had a tan line of my watch and iPod after a 45 minute run.

Dad snuck away for a few hours so that we could purchase all the items needed for the party. He has a lot of family in Florida so he told grandma he had to visit a few people.

Acalias looked super cute in his summer outfit and flipflops.


Next I was happy to learn that all of the packages I had ordered for the party had arrived in a timely manner so we jumped into gear to prepare for grandma’s big day. My sister Kura was my right hand, thank goodness she was around to help especially since Acalias needed my attention as well.


Kura did most of the candy wrapping while I taped questions behind dinner plates. I planned to ask each guest to share a specific memory of grandma.


After preparing the bulk of our items for the party we went out for a stroll during sunset to relax.

Acalias enjoyed sticking out his little toes while swinging his feet. He babbled in happiness throughout our entire walk.

Grandma’s Surprise 80th Birthday

By Friday evening my Uncle Greg and Uncle Jean had arrived from New Jersey and Georgia. I was so thrilled I woke up at 5:30 am on Saturday morning with edgy butterflies in my stomach anticipating the party. I went for a long run to calm myself down and organize my thoughts and plans for the day.

We had to swing by the store for some last minute items such as the balloons, flowers, fresh fruit and salad. My mom also sent fresh flower leis from Hawaii that we picked up from FedEx. Although we had 2 GPS systems in the car and an ipod, somehow we got lost for 3 very long hours looking for a Michaels craft store. I was trying hard not to get frazzled but it was inevitable due to the time slipping quickly.

When we returned, we fired up the grill and dad BBQ’d the meats while I finished the flower arrangements and Kura laid down mulch in the front yard.

My dad is great at the grill, his specialty is his famous BBQ ribs.

The flower arrangements and decorations were a cinch set up.


Dad had fooled grandma into thinking she was going to take a family portrait. Guests started arriving at 5:30pm and everyone brought their dishes that they offered to share. Dad called me and I pretended to be an employee at Wal-mart photo studio, I gave him the green light to bring grandma to her party.


My videographer, thanks Kura!



Grandma was in shock, she has never had a party to celebrate her birthday. March 11th was grandma's actual birthday and she is accustomed to people calling her to wish her a happy birthday. We all called her as usual and Sabrina visited her and gave her flowers. Once she greeted everyone, we played this tribute video that my brother Simi made for her.




The response to the great tribute video, thanks for doing an EXCELLENT job Simi! We all missed your presence at the party.

Grandma sitting next to her younger sister Rose. My mom loved them both very much and sent them each a lei.

I couldn't have done it with out these lovely ladies. Sabrina was a great host and sent out all the invites to family. Shikura seemed to know what I was thinking and would do things to help out without being told.

We played a memory game, grandma sat in the center of the room and each family member shared their favorite memory of her. Kura caught it on video but it's far too long to upload.

Grandma's sons had wonderful memories of her. It was enjoying and at times humerous to hear what family members had to say about grandma.



I'm so thankful for my grandma. She is so loving, attentive and sincere. I'm thankful that she is healthy and still very much a part of my life. I'm pleased with how the party turned out, grandma told me that she felt very special so my mission was acomplished!

I have a lot of pictures, I will post them on Facebook:)

Nifty Thrifty: Personalized Vases

I was honored to plan my Grandma Nativa's 80th birthday this year. I wanted it to be a picture perfect birthday party with out being frivolous with money that I don't have. I'm excited to say that I didn't lift this idea off another craft blog like I typically do, I came up with this idea just for grandma.

Step 1: Gather the following items to complete your vase: Spray paint, modge podge,rubber bands,glue gun, ribbon.


Step 2: Look around your home for containers that you may already have. In my case I use my old gel bottles, sugar free juice containers and old Tupperware. Measure each container for photo sizing. Spray paint or paint each container a few days in advance to allow the paint to dry

Step 3: Find your favorite photos. Add text to the photos. I use photo shop, for those of you who may not have a photo editing program you can do this at any local digital printing store. I requested words that describe my grandmother from each of my family members.

Step 4: Use modge podge as adhesive for the photos and use the ruberbands to keep photos secure. Allow photos to dry overnight. Use modge podge to create a textured finished look. I used 4-5 coats for each vase.

Step 5: Add ribbon

Step 6: Add party favors.

Step 7: Add flowers


Step 8: Pat yourself on the back and be prepared to receive a lot of complements. Everyone loved these vases, grandma felt special to have these homemade personalized vases at her surprise party.


Stay tuned for more about grandmas surprise birthday party...