Christmas Pictures

Mele Kalikimaka...

Here are some Christmas photos...no time to write, but will catch up later as well as add some Christmas video....Christmas was great...love to all

Christmas Photos...

We very quickly and at the last minute today, tried to get a Christmas photo of the baby in her Christmas dress....My Mom made the dress and it is sooo cute, so a photo in the family Christmas card is only necessary. The only problem is trying to get an 11 month old baby to stand where and how you want, long enough to get the photo...

We also saw Santa for the first time a week ago and the baby loved him! She did not even cry when we sat her on his lap!

On the restaurant front....Las Olas is currently under construction and moving along nicely!

Much love and Aloha to all

Hilo Hawaii State Zoo

Well, we decided to get some excitement in our lives, since it has been a bit sad around here lately. We took a little day trip over to Hilo (the "BIG" city on the east side of our Island) In Hawaii you can never predict weather because when it is raining in one place that doesn't mean anything even 2 blocks away. That being said we headed out for Hilo. We went through Waimea and traveled on the Hamakua Coast (think Lost or Jurassic Park) it reminded us how beautiful Hawaii is and that we are lucky in so many ways, anyway back to the point. As we headed over we drove right into a torrential down pour, flood warnings, crazy, crazy rain. We decided to call the zoo and ask, they said it was raining, but we kind of thought we were half way there and really by the time we got there it could be perfect, so we forged on. Well, I don't know which God was unhappy with us, but it was still pouring when we got to the zoo. The lady thought we were crazy, but we got some ponchos borrowed two big umbrellas and headed out. I mean why drive all that way for nothing. Lydia had a great time actually we all did rain and all. Non of the animals came out besides a few monkeys, non talking birds, and the Bengal Tiger. Which by the way looked very p***** off, but that did not matter to our sweet munchkin, she was happy to see all of the great new surroundings. So we enjoyed our quick trip and loaded back into the car. Dave and I were soaked, but sweet Lydia was as dry as she could be! Here are a few pictures. The bright side came five minutes after we got into the car. Sunny skies and a warm breeze. Go figure I guess dancing in the rain with our baby pleased somebody!

On another note, Dave and I may have either lost our minds or set ourselves up to be rich and famous! We signed a lease on a restaurant space right on Alii Drive. We will open the second week of February. We have decided to go Mexican this time. The name will be "Las Olas" which means "the waves" in Spanish. Wish us luck and patience we will need it. The restaurant space is kind of a wreck, we have a big challenge in front of us. One funny thing though is that the person looking to lease the office space below us is a funny celebrity type which I cannot name now, but I can say it should be interesting. Stay tuned as our world turns!

Love and Aloha to all

Oliver

We have had a very sad week. We had to put our sweet Oliver down today. Long of a short he had some sort of tumor pressing against his spine which basically paralyzed his legs. Looking back the signs have been there for a few months but we did not realize which is usual in these cases. He had a very rapid decline. He could not stand or walk and was in great discomfort. We were very heartbroken to have to make the decision, as he was only 5 years old, but we had no choice and hope the decision has left him in a place that he can roam free and feel no pain! We love our pets so much they are part of our family, which some understand and some do not. The vet came this morning and the dogs were able to say their good byes to each other and we were able to help him drift to sleep in the comfort of our arms with all of the family present. We will miss you Oliver!

Our Little Pumpkin

Aloha,
I have posted some photos of Lydia on Halloween in her music class.... Dave's Parents have been here for the last three weeks and we have had a great time...In just the last two weeks, Lydia has started to play peek-a-boo with her blanket, patti cake, clap, stand on her own (sorta)and yes we have made the move to the crib (however the crib is in our room). I amazes me how fast she is growing. She can point to the baby in pictures and loves to yammer away. Dave's dad helped Dave get our landscaping in along with many other things and they rented a Bob cat for a few days, so we couldn't resist getting Lydia's picture in it!. Hope this finds you all well!

Harvest in Hawaii

Here are some pictures from our trip to Waimea, a little town north of us. It has a pumpkin patch festival at the private boarding school every year. It is one of the coolest places to go, so we pretend that it is Harvest and dress warm...then sweat or bums off!!

Lydia had a ball...all the games, kids, pumpkins, trains, you name it they had it!

Music Fun

Here are some new pictures of the baby. A few are from her music class and the rest are from a few days ago. Lydia's Mimi and Papa are visiting so we are having fun and staying busy!

Lydia is now crawling, and trying very hard to stand on her own. It won't be long before she is walking. She make new sounds every day and is sill generally very happy.

We hope this finds you all happy and well.

Aloha

Shower

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.

Get in the shower.

Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced

Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and Java cake body wash.

Rinse conditioner off hair

Shave armpits and legs.

Turn off shower.

Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.

Spray mold spots with Tilex.

Get out of shower.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom.If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror.Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your rear.

Get in the shower.

Wash your face.

Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.

Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.

Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap. (EEW!)

Wash your hair.

Make a Shampoo Mohawk.

Pee.

Rinse off and get out of shower.

Partially dry off.

Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.

Admire wiener size in mirror again.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.

Return to bedroom with towel around waist.

If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo sound again.

Throw wet towel on bed.

I was blog hopping and saw this..Thought is was so freaking funny!

baby lulu

These are some photos of the baby and I fooling around....just checking out the settings on our new camera...

Fairwinds II

Today was cousin Jan's 36th birthday, so we all took a little snorkeling trip on the Fairwind II(cousin Leah's boat). It was a blast! The weather was nice, water was warm and the food and drinks were delicious as usual. Lydia loves the water and unlike her Mom is not afraid of the sharks. I even managed my sea sickness without medication by a ton of ginger and pressure point bands! It was quite predictable though, as soon as I got over the idea that sharks were looming, I see a HUGE shark...well it was actually a barracuda, but it mattered not to me. My feet and arms were out of the water and I very quickly had cousin Jan pulls us to the boat. How nice of me to sacrifice the birthday girl! Sharks, barracuda they are all the same to me...teeth and nasty.

The funny part of the day was watching Marissa and Lydia. Marissa is just two and Lydia 8 months. Lydia has earned the nickname of Brutus the past few weeks, between eating your face, pinching, and the general crazy behavior it suits her well. I had no idea (well maybe a small one) that her cousin Marissa was one in the same...so between the pinching and biting of each others toes, they were hilarious and enjoyed their time together.

Happy Birthday Jan...we are so happy that your were born!

On a side note...here are a few friendly creatures we came home to last night. Centipedes are just one of the pleasant insects in Hawaii. Check out the size of their pincher's. I can personally attest to the fact that it does not feel good to be stung by one.

Blog Update

The blog should now have all of the posts and pictures that we had on our old blog....enjoy

8 months old

I can't believe it, Lydia will be 8 months old tomorrow morning (20th). Time flies by so fast. I feel like before I know it she will be off to school, then college and then well you know the rest. I still stare at her everyday and feel so fortunate that she chose me to be her mommy. I know that any day now she is just going to sit up and say thanks mom, and by the way I really dig you and all the playing that we do. Until then I guess I will just have to accept her sweet little pats as she is hugging me and the not so sweet pinches of the nose and lips as she is nursing!

On Friday morning, Lydia has her music class and then a play date at the park with cousin Jan, her two kids, and some other moms and keikis. Lydia loves other little ones. Today in her music class she very lovingly tried to pinch the face off of her little buddy Zean Paul. I can't say that he liked it too much, but she did. She laughed and squealed with delight as she tried to pinch him and eat his face. I was delighted!

Hope this finds you all healthy, happy and enjoying your fall weather!

Picture Update

Hi to all...too much has happened to begin to write about all of it so I decided to just post a bunch of photos from the last two months to catch everyone up on what's happening. These are pictures from our trip home and the last few months.

Lost at Sea

To all of you who think we have fallen off of the face of the earth, we haven't but if the world were flat we would be close. So much has transpired since my last post that you will have to get the condensed version as I have no time to give the long version.

We had a great visit back to Boise, despite thinking a month would be long enough to see everyone, we were wrong, so to any one we missed we will see you next time. We have decided though on our next visit we are staying in the little house and posting a time sheet, Anyone who wants to see us or the baby, can sign up for their time, thus eliminating the need to tote from one place to the next, saving time, sanity, my back, Lydia's nap time, and ahh yes gas money!

When the baby and I got back, David was working away on our house trying to get it livable. After two weeks at a local hotel and I mean very local brah, we decided that since we had an outdoor shower working we would rather camp up at the house. That was a great decision for the baby and me, but has made it rough for David to work on the house the way he would like. Despite all of the set backs we are almost finished, we have a bit of finish work on the inside and the landscaping.

For those of you that care about the dogs, they are doing well. They may think their existences as they knew them were, much better before as they now live in a bed of lava and dirt, sleeping outside, and have no grass, but they are still happy. They are a bit more in shape from running up and down the hill for water and definitely very dirty, but still get, shelter , walks, water and love. I can say I never thought Maggie would be an outside dog, and I guess if we didn't live in Hawaii she wouldn't be, but as the local bums will tell you, its the best place to live on the land!

As for our social life, well with a young baby you can imagine, but now that the crazy pregnancy is over and we are almost done with the house we have been taking some time to go to the beach and meet some people. Lydia started music classes last Friday and she loves it. It's either the rattles or the sound of Miss Mary's voice, but she is in heaven. She will be starting swimming lessons with David next week with Adrienne at Kukio beach. It is a little keiki pond that is protected from the main ocean by lava rocks and reef, so in my laments terms, the sharks can't get in! I have started swim lessons as well. I figured if we were going to be here awhile I better know how to swim and get over my fear of sharks.

Lydia is making so many new noises, she laughs so hard she makes herself toot, and then laughs some more. She is officially sitting up now, which is a relief for me, as I was starting to wonder, and rolls and scoots every where. She is a crack up, I cannot believe what a happy baby she is. Her favorite past time right now is jumping, her new nickname is the jumping bean.

Its amazing, as I could not wait to get the heck off of this rock, I have found some new joy in being here. It has brought David and I closer, and afforded him priceless time with his daughter I fear he would have not had on the mainland. There is no keeping up with the Jones and the laid back pace is starting to be a bit refreshing, it has really opened my eyes to the fact that life is short , why rush through it, sit in traffic, and be too busy to enjoy it. I never though I would say it , but I have actually grown fond of this crazy place. Do I wish we had a Target or Cost plus? Sure who wouldn't, but it makes you appreciate the visits back all the more. No one here cares what you wear, how your house looks, and who you were in your pre- island existence. CEO's are now cabana boys and bussers. When you live in a place that everyone leaves there shoes at the door it says so much. So long of the short I think we may be here awhile, not forever, but awhile.

I will upload more pictures as soon as we get the main computer hooked up.

Much love and aloha to all

Name Change

After months of thought we have changed the name of our blog. We did it for many reasons, but mostly I was not feeling very creative when beginning this process, and spelled beginning incorrectly, thus our last blog name. However as we have a had a very big start, I also figured it wasn't very fitting. So we will keep the old blog up for awhile, but take note!

Mauna Kea 200

First things first, David is 40 and I never pictured myself being married to a 40 year old, that may be because it used to seem old to me or that I still view myself as 19. That being said now that I am no longer in my 20's and I have to face that fact 40 is not old, my perspective has changed a bit. I am telling you all of this because at 40 David still has "it". Intellect, good looks, he's in great shape, he hasn't started growing ear or stray chin hairs yet, and he can ride like a "demon".

We just finished the race at Mauna Kea and Dave took 5th place overall (100+)riders. Now let me brag. The following are the top reasons I think that Dave's placing says a lot about him.

1. He has not been on a dirt bike for over 3 years
2. He did not have a chance to ride the coarse or practice the terrain at all before the race. In fact a 3 hour ride two weeks ago was his only warm up.
3. He has never ridden jungle terrain like the first part of the course.
4. He rode injured.
5. The first 4 finishers set up the course, talk about advantage.
6. He got no sleep the night before Lydia decided that would be her contribution!
7. The rest of the riders talked about how much they trained for the race.

We were up at 4 A.M. Sunday arrived at the start just outside Hilo, HI
by 5 A.M. Race started at 6 A.M.. Dave rode 36 miles through some crazy jungle terrain. Elevation started at 800 feet and finished at 6300 feet to the first check point. Second Leg, 63 miles around Mauna Kea volcano which started at 6300 ft went to 9700 ft then back. The best part was each leg had a significant period of pouring rain, and when I say pouring were talking cats and dogs. So between temperature, weather and elevation alone it is a crazy course. I wont even get started on the terrain.

We had a great time, met some nice people and I got a rad tan that resembles something of a raccoon crossed with farmer john (even with SPF 55). Happy to report for all of you that think I am too overprotective with Lydia, she even got dirty!

Long of short he rocked the race. Lydia and I are very proud of him.
Go Daddy!

Mauna Kea

Pictures

Pictures

I had a few minutes so here are some new pictures. Approx. from April until now. There are also some pictures of our house in there as well. It is quite funny because as soon as Lydia realizes she is getting her picture taken the fun stops and the seriousness begins. She has already made it quite clear that she will not be performing on command! Enjoy!

Oh FYI the red mark on Lydia's face is called a strawberry hemangioma . It is a cluster of vessels under the skin. It is supposed to stop growing by 6 months and go away by two years.If it doesn't go away on its own then you can have them lasered off and yes we would if necessary. I am telling everyone this because I am so sick of being in the store and having complete strangers come up to me and ask what is on my babies face and if it will go away. YES IT WILL and even if it doesn't she is still the PRETTIEST BABY EVER.

Team Todd

Today we are headed up to Mauna Kea the Volcano closest to where we live. Well I guess I should say the tallest and coldest because our house is on Hualalai an inactive volcano, but that's not the point. Anyway, David is going to race in a motocross race tomorrow. We are excited because it is cold and there is actually snow on Mauna Kea. We have scrounged up all of the babies clothes that are now too small for her, but warm and are headed out. Lydia and I very quickly made a "Team Todd" beanie, cap, and onesie for her to wear in support of her daddy. David's nickname when racing and growing up was "Demon Dave" (fitting I think :), so we figured Lydia has to be "Demons Darlin'". Anyway I will post pictures when we get back along with others we have. Also after months of technical difficulties I finally figured out why my "comments" wouldn't work on the blog.So, now I say post your comments! Take care and we will see most of you in a few weeks!

Bad Blogger

I know I have not posted in awhile and some of you may be wondering why? Well, the answer is between trying to get packed, help David with the house, the baby and the dogs, I just don't have time. As for us, we are moving out of our rental on the first of June. Where to , you may ask? Well, we don't know quite yet! We are then heading to Boise on the 3rd for a few weeks. I am staying a bit longer than Dave. My husband is coming home to frantically try and finish our house and well I will be of very little help in Boise showing the baby off.

Lydia is wonderful. She is getting so big, today is her 4 month birthday! She is cooing, laughing and yes throwing little tantrums (which she totally gets from her Dad).Her new trick is sticking er fist in her mouth and making herself gag. It is actually funny and kind of not all in the same moment. She is generally a very happy baby, but she is starting to teeth, so she has her moments. Each morning when she wakes up she is so happy, she grabs my nose or lips to give me the wake up call and then laughs and smiles for awhile. I often lay there wondering how we can be so lucky. We went through a lot and worked very hard for her and couldn't feel more blessed. I am totally in love. I never thought it was possible to love someone so much. Some of you may know Kara, the sweetest and kindest person I know. The one I am trying to model my parenting after(along with my Aunt Jocelyn), but am not as laid back so it may not be working quite as well. Well any way, I used to spend a lot of time with them when her oldest daughter Tatym was a baby. In fact Tatym was actually my first baby. You know that magical child that you fall in love with and wonder if you will ever think your own child is as cute , wonderful, or special. Anyway back to the story. When she was little and she got a snotty nose, she couldn't blow it yet (obviously) and well didn't really love that nose suction things and to be honest how often are those on hand anyway, so Tim, Kara's husband (if anyone ever thinks they have had a hard time from me, well they should talk to Tim, he had it the worst)would suck the snot out of Tatym's nose so she could breath. I used to be repulsed by this. I mean who the heck sucks snot out of their kids nose. I use this story to illustrate on special point. I love Lydia, so much that I would actually suck snot out of her nose so she could breath freely and wouldn't even think twice about it! I now say, way to go Tim!

We can't wait to see everyone that lives in Idaho!

More of our Angel

This will be a quick message. I still have not mastered the art of any free time since Lydia's arrival. The house is coming along nicely. We will start moving stuff into the garage by Friday and painting the interior this coming weekend. We hope to be moved in by the middle of May and finish what is left after moving in.

David still amazes me, he has built this house almost completely on his own, and still made time to be the most attentive father. He is smitten with Lydia and I do believe she too is smitten with him. When he comes home at night she smiles so big and giggles when she sees his face. It is very cute.

We are planning a trip back to Boise and the Sun Valley area in June to see all of the grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and friends. There will definitely be a lot packed into a short period of time, so we will keep everyone posted with the plans. We miss you all!!

Lydia Brian Todd

Well, she has finally arrived!! Lydia was born January 20, 2008 at 4:59 A.M. at home with her Daddy, April (the midwife of the century), and Rachel (April's assistant). The birth was very peaceful and beautiful. We labored and delivered by candle light to soothing music, it was amazeing. I know to some of you this may seem crazy or strange, but as bad as it hurt I would know never do any other way. It was AWESOME!! David was wonderful and so great during the birth; he never even grimaced when his wife was pushing out more than the baby!

Lydia is truly a sweet baby, she only cries when she is hungry. She is currently trying very hard to find her thumb and we think she may be a south paw like her two grandpa's. Lydia weighed 6lbs and 3 ounces and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. She was weighed at a few days ago and now weighs 8 pounds 10 ounces and is 21 and half inches long. Not bad for 3 weeks growth...I guess milk really does a body good!!

We have had many visitors since her arrival and I am a little behind on blogging and correspondence, so please bear with me. She spent the first two weeks with her Mimi and Papa (David's parents) and then the last 8 days with her Grandpa and Tutu (My Dad and Step Mom...Tutu is Hawaiian for Grandma, so we gave that to Connie). All the grandparents seem to be truly in love and my dad keeps threatening to sneak Lydia home in his travel bag!

Well I will update more later...

I know you have been waiting for pictures so here are some of the latest pictures that we have.

Happy New Year

Well, 1 week and counting. Lydia currently weighs 4 pounds 10 ounces. We are trying to hold off for another week to "beef" her up some and hopefully avoid any life flight. David is still working away on the house. The electrical and plumbing is scheduled for next week and the roof goes on shortly after that. He is really flying. He hopes to be done by the end of March, but I think that is pushing it, NOTHING moves fast in Hawaii!!

We celebrated Christmas with Davids family and had a nice time. It is always very lively with approximately 25 immediate family members present. We miss our families in Boise, but hear that we had better weather!

New Years Eve was bust for us. We ate Thai food at a little restaurant up the coast at The Hilton Resort and were in bed by 10:00PM. No ball drop and no great celebration. Very different from past years, but we will be charged up for next year.

Attached are some pictures that we had taken on Oahu at our last Dr.'s visit. We hope you enjoy the giant belly among other things!!
Aloha