Rollin' Rollin'

Just a little bit more of my favorite baby: She's 3 1/2 months old, and rolling pretty well!




Since she was having a hard time napping during the day, we squeezed a crib into our tiny bedroom. Here she is testing it out (she can't really stand by herself for very long, but we were just pretending anyway.)

Now that she can roll (and apparently scoot) I find her in the crib like this. She got as far as she could. :) Thank goodness for crib bumpers.


And these are just two other pictures that made me smile.

Sicko

Have any of you seen Sicko, the documentary by Michael Moore? Now, I know there's a lot of controversy about the guy, but WOW this movie is an eye-opener. (In a nutshell, for those of you who haven't seen it, it's about health care and insurance issues here in the United States, compared to other countries like Canada, France, even Cuba.)

Sicko really makes you feel sick. It's so sad to learn about what's going on in the good ol' US of A: the fact that people all over the country are being denied health care (and being sent home, sometimes to die) because the insurance companies find excuses not to pay for the procedures, well, it's just awful!!

It really hit home. Do you guys remember when I was having all those problems right after Kalia was born?? One of my blood tests showed a high possibility of a blood clot (which can kill you) and so my doctor had my get a cat scan.

A few weeks ago we got something from our insurance, saying they weren't going to pay for it, because they considered it EXPERIMENTAL. Guess how much it's going to cost? Just under TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Also, there was a (USA) doctor who testified in court that she worked for an insurance company, and the more claims she "denied", the higher she would get paid. To make it even worse, Michael Moore goes to all these other countries and finds out that they don't even have co-pays and stuff like that. Everything is just included, no questions asked. And, in contrast, a doctor in France told Michael Moore that he gets paid more money as his patients get healthier, i.e. when they quit smoking, their blood pressure or cholesterol goes down, etc. etc. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!!

I obviously feel pretty strong about it, as I don't get on my soapbox very often. I was just wondering if any of you have seen Sicko, and what you think about it. All I can say is that I am ALL FOR universal health care. Either that, or moving to France. (Free nannies to come to your laundry when you have a baby!!)

Oh yes, and we are fighting the "experimental" cat scan. Two doctors have written letters to the insurance company for me, telling them how ludicrous it is to consider a cat scan "experimental." I really REALLY hope it's enough to change their minds.

What does your husband do??

I know this is kind of random, but I was thinking about the fact that I don't really know what your husbands do (job wise). So I was just wondering...where does he work? Or what is he going to school for? My hubby currently works for University of Phoenix as a Finance Counselor. That's going to change by next year, but for now that's what he does. So leave me a comment and let everybody know! Go husbands! Thanks for taking care of us!

Ward Christmas Party

This is probably the only time she'll sit on Santa's lap. I didn't get very good pictures. Oh well. She didn't cry, I guess she's too little to be scared, like little kids always are.
She's my little Santa Baby. "If I can't reach it with my hands, I'll just kick it!"

Happenings

Cute picture, huh! Kalia loves learning about Foreclosures.
I am sick...sore throat and sinus problems going on. (There's a good "mental" reason, but don't ask. Last time I wrote about that, I got myself in a little trouble!)

It's hard to be a mom when you're sick. Good thing Baby Einstein can occupy Kalia for 30 minutes while I blog. Then I think we'll go take a nap together.

So, over the weekend we took Kalia to the beach, but didn't put her in the water yet. This is Pipeline Beach. It's famous for having enormous waves in the winter. People just come and sit and watch the waves and take pictures. (it was in between waves when I got this shot though)Samuel and his friends got in an surfed, while the wives and babies chatted and watched from the shore.

In other news, I tried pigtails with Kalia's long hair in the back. I couldn't get a good part though. Haha.
She turned 3 months old, and here's another comparison pic:
Finally, my aunt and uncle from Utah came and stayed with us for a night. Then we dropped them off on a 7-day Hawaiian Island cruise. Lucky! Dropping them off at the ship just made me want to go on a cruise sooooooooo bad!!

Gratitude

I saw this Thankful A-Z on Natalie's blog, and loved it! So on this day of thanks I wanted to post a few things that I am really thankful for:
A: Air Conditioning
B: Baby Bigler
C: Craigslist
D: Dad
E: E-mail
F: Family and Friends
G: Gospel
H: Health
I: Insurance
J: Jogging Strollers
K: Krispy Kremes
L: Libraries
M: Marriage
N: Netflix
O: Ocean
P: Pepperoni Pizza from Papa Johns
Q: Q-tips
R: Rainbows
S: Sisters
T: Talents
U: Umbrellas
V: Vehicles
W: world wide web
X: X-tra time off for Samuel
Y: Youthfulness
Z: zzzzzzzzz

The first laugh

They say that first smile is wonderful, but the first laugh is by far theeeeeee best!! It came today, kind of out of no where. I was just trying to burp Kalia, while watching Ellen (and the Soulja boy dance...I want to learn it!) Anyway, she wasn't burping, so I demonstrated for her (which honestly, is rare, Kalia is the only one who burps in our household). I guess that's why she found it so funny. I'll just say EXCUSE MOI right now! Enjoy.

Do we look alike?

Some people think Kalia looks like me, but I haven't really been able to see it. Here's some comparison pictures...both of us at approximately 3 months- what do you think? I guess there's a little more resemblance than I thought. Her face is really round though, isn't it!!

Open Mouth Kisses are the Best!

Happy Birthday Krystal!

Happy Birthday to my AWESOME OLDER SISTER!! (here she is looking fab with Kyla, who is almost 6 months old now--isn't she adorable?)

Krystal is 13 months (and 2 days) older than me, and we have had a lifetime of fun being that close. We did so many things together! We went to young womens, girls camp, and EFY together. We played volleyball and basketball together. We shared vehicles and clothes, (and occasionally argued about both!)

But there were lots of things that she did all on her own. She was always my hero for doing all the hard things first.

• she went to kindergarten first
  
• she transitioned into womanhood first (we all know how crazy THAT is!)
  
• she dated first
  
• she graduated first
• she moved away first
• she got scholarships and straight A's in college first
• she got married first
• she had babies first

Well, she did everything first, and she did it all right. It's a little hard to live up too, but it was easy knowing that if she could survive it, I could too. She's been one of the kindest, wisest, most supportive people I've ever known. There was a time when it seemed all the world was against me, but she said, "Heather, I love you, and as long as you're happy, I'm happy, and I'll support you."

You really can't ask for a better sister.

Krystal, Happy Birthday, you deserve the best. I love you to pieces!!

First Swim

On Saturday we took Kalia swimming for the first time. She goes crazy in the bathtub, so we figured she'd like swimming. She did pretty good, but was a little weirded out by ALL THAT WATER!
We went swimming with our friends Michael, Kat, and baby Jack. We heard a rumor that babies have a reflex to hold their breath when submerged. So we decided to test it out in this little movie clip:

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And the best part about swimming? It just tuckers 'em right out...

Thanks Grandma!

To those of you who wanted to know about my blogger template layout, I created it following the instructions on this document:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dd8t7bxp_15hgft8p (thanks to shabbyprincess.blogspot.com for that link).

Do a google search for "digital scrapbooking freebies" or something like that, then find some papers that you like, save them in a photobucket account, and you're on your way. It takes a little bit of trial and error, but you'll catch on. Email me or leave me a comment if you want any help.

Or, I recently found this website with TONS of pre-made layouts, some of which are really fun. Try those out too.


Now I just wanted to say THANK YOU to my mom. She has some great SKILLZ and she made Kalia this darling hooded towel (pooped on during her first bath, but it came out!)
Then she made this beautiful blanket....and stitched it all by hand. Isn't she amazing? THANKS GRANDMA KAREN, I LOVE MY BLANKET!!!!

Tagged

6 things you might not know about me:

1. I HAVE to have a bazillion bottles of shampoo and conditioner in my shower. I love the variety. I never finish them though. I get bored and start looking for something else. Now I am getting obsessed with having tons of options of baby bath and lotions too.
2. I am good at following recipes. (My husband, on the other hand, is a great recipe inventor. I just ate a very tasty concoction of potatoes, beef, and Ramen noodles. Yeah, surprise, it was good!)


3. I have no gusher-self-control. I ate three boxes in three days. Time to stop buying them.

4. I chew on the inside of my cheeks. I'm trying to quit that.

5. I learned to play the harp my senior year at BYU6. I'm going to start doing Pilates (and see if I can get get my stomach back to pre-baby shape.) Any suggestions of a good DVD?

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everybody! I love seeing everybody's pictures. Here's a few fun ones:
This is my friend Kat- LOVE her! Matching costumes was an accident! Although she did suggest I go to Children's Place to find one (last minute). They were on clearance for $4.99!)

Halloween sure is fun when you have kids! Especially when they can't eat their own candy. (I am generously eating it so she can have some chocolate-flavored milk).

Samuel took her around to the candy-givers in the mall and said, "Chick or Treat!" Those candy givers just went crazy.
Clever. :)

She's already 2 months old!

Kalia hit two months on October 24th- where did the time go??
2 month check-up

Weight: 13 lbs, 8 oz (95th percentile)

Height: 24 1/2" (97th percentile- tall girl!)

Head: 39 cm (50th percentile)

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Home Again

We're home! What a great time we had in Utah. Family and friends are the best. Here's a little recap:

It was fun to get together with Crystal and Brandy for some yummy Cafe Rio!! (Sorry Camie, I wished I could have fed-exed you some food!)

It was great to meet Lincoln and Elsa. They both have adorable personalities, as you can see. Here Elsa is taking care of Kalia.
And Lincoln being a rock star! (And in case you didn't read Crystal's blog, he was slapping strangers in the bum. It was hilarious.)

Kalia LOVED her extra-large swaddle blankets, thanks to Crystal who sewed them up herself!! They were super cute, and they worked like a charm:
Kalia had fun (who am I kidding; I had fun) dressing up Kalia in warm clothes like leggings, sweaters, and pajamas with feet. So cute!Good thing she had some warm clothes, cause it SNOWED up north!! Fun!
And of course we had way too much fun staying at Tara's place for a week.Kalia survived her very curious and rambunctious cousins.
She was an angel on the flight home, (whew!) and we are glad to be back in Hawaii.

Pictures

It's great to be in Utah!! I changed my return flight (and now I can go to Samuel's brother's wedding) and I'll be here until Oct 22nd. I'll be in SLC the 19th-21st, do the Northern Utah bloggers want to get together?

Well, I have lots to update on. I'm just going to do it all at once (and sorry, I'm having some technical difficulties with pictures. Just click on them to see them all.)
First Plane trip: Kalia did great on the plane (for 5 out of 6 hours). There was an hour there in the middle where she got a little restless, and I was walking the aisle with her, and bouncing her around. Then, when I got tired I handed her off to Samuel and she fell asleep within two minutes. Magic touch I guess! I'm a little nervous though cause we are flying home on different airlines, so I'm thinking...Benadryl?


Kalia's blessing was wonderful. I was hoping she wouldn't cry (she didn't) and that Samuel would do a good job (he did.) It was fun because Samuel's family came up, and his sister also blessed her baby girl in our home ward. Also, Genis blessed her baby girl (born 3 days after Kalia) on the same day, so we took some pictures of that too.

And here's a few family pictures. It's been wonderful to be with my family.

Mothers Group: I love hanging out with you guys! (They were actually the ones who talked me into staying the extra 2 weeks.)



Blogger Friends Dinner was a blast. Good idea Pam!


BBQ at the Glausers- here's a few more familiar Pine View High faces.Ok! Whew! That's all for now.