We're moving... Again, and it won't be the last time either!

So, this came to us kind of suddenly but it makes the most sense. While we were looking over Nick's schedule we realized that after this month, we would be here in California all but 4-8 weeks in a 6 month period. We talked about it and decided that it would make the most sense economically for us to go to Utah. Nick still has to travel to NJ for a couple more months, a month in Oct. Then, again come March and half of April. And in November he has a rotation in Utah, and then 6 weeks off during December-January. Anyways, the months that Nick would have to leave, Alette and I would be alone in CA, family/ friend-less so we though a much better use of our time, and a much happier use of our time would be with our loved ones. So we're still working through some of the snags (I hate HOA's for the record) but come hell or high water- Nick, Alette and myself will be in Utah October 1st, and we won't be leaving for at least 6 months (well, at least Alette and I won't be) Then, in March Nick will be told where we will be spending his residency.. Can't say I'm excited to be cold but I can say that I'm excited about having good company. :)

We're Alive, Just Being Lazy.

We're still here... I have been so terrible at updating the blog. I don't know how other people are able to keep there blog so up-to-date. Maybe I just need to come to terms with my self and admit I'm a bit lazy. Anyways, we have a ton of updating to do. So we'll get on with it.

First things first, we no longer live in New Jersey.... we live in the sunny state of California. We miss a lot of things about NJ but we are really happy here in CA. It's a TON cheaper here and, we are closer to both sides of our family.

We have a great Condo we're living in, it's actually twice as big as our last place and it's a lot cheaper too. I LOVE the kitchen; stainless steal appliances and nice tile floor. I don't love the counters, they're tile and it kinda grosses me out when I think about making bread on it because I don't think you can every truly clean the grout between the tiles. (that's just my weird opinion and I'm a little crazy about things being clean.)

Nick has started his fourth and final year of medical school which totally blows my mind. He is so close, but he still has a few years until he's completely done with the other part of being a Doctor, Residency! Nick has really enjoyed being at this hospital, people have a different demeanor here than they do in the east and it makes them a little easier to work with. He does have a little bit of a hectic schedule right now, but we're use to it now. Nick has started to apply for Residency so it's exciting but a tiny bit stressful too.

I have been doing the same ole thing. I stay at home with Alette watching her little mind grow. We still only have one vehicle and so it's still a little tough in that aspect. With Nick's schedule the way it is he doesn't get home until around 6-7 and so we can't really get out to do anything when he comes home. So, I joined a gym so I could get out at night a bit. I am definitely sore, but I feel so good at the same time. It's so nice to have a little me time. I am starting to be a little more "normal" in that I mean, I'm starting to feel like I can entertain the idea of having a babysitter so that Nick and I can actually have a date night, I haven't done it yet, but I am definitely playing with the idea... I know I'm a little over the top, Alette hasn't had a babysitter besides her grandparents, and that's only when we're visiting them and she's asleep when we leave. I realized this in church when she walked away from me and let other people hold her. I guess in her own subtle way she's been trying to let me know she's ready for me to give her a little "space". As for church, it didn't take long, I got a calling to be in the Nursery. I still don't have any friends really but I haven't been here that long either so I guess in time I will make friends, hopefully before we move again!

Alette is just growing up too fast! She makes us smile but she also can drive us a little crazy at the same time. She's a very smart and funny little girl. She decided she was either too old or big for her highchair, we got her a booster seat so she could sit at the table and feel like a "big" girl. She actually eats during dinner time so I think she likes it. She's very particular about certain things and can get a little frustrated. If she get water or juices from food on her leg she has to wipe it off, if she gets food on her hand then she thinks we are her napkins and wipes it on our clothes. haha She loves her books and loves sitting on our laps when we read them to her. She really loves Curious George. Alette absolutely loves going outside and loves playing in the pool. She's still an excellent napper and night-sleeper. We did a road trip to UT and she was excellent, 10 hours of driving isn't always easy but she handled it like it was nothing. One thing she does that drives me nuts is when she gets mad she hits her head on things, I'm hoping it's a phase and that she'll grow out of it once we can reason with her but for now we just ignore it. Other than that she has us wrapped around her little fingers and we love every minute of her!

I'll be posting pictures soon, but for now I hope this update is enough!

Laundry

Training her young. :)

Birthday Pictures

The Majesty sitting on her "Throne"

Always wants her Daddy.

Daddy's little girl!

It was a little dark in the arena so this was the best we could do!

Alette absolutely LOVES Blues Clues, When I need to get something done in the kitchen I'll turn an episode on for her and she'll sit (for maybe 5-10 minutes) and laugh at the characters. She actually REALLY enjoys dogs... she may be getting one for her next birthday. Don't tell Nick I said that. ;)

Already picking at the frosting. She knows a good treat when she sees it.

Digging in!

Trying to touch the camera with her mousse covered hands.

After a bath, she opened presents! She got a lot of fun toy/books.

The End.

Need I Say More....

P.S. I will be posting pictures in a few days of her Birthday but, I think this one will do for now.

Happy 1st Birthday...

Alette Ke'alohimaikalanimai Harker.

Newborn Alette 6 lbs 14 oz & 20"

1 year old Alette 24.5 lbs 34.5"

My sweet not so little girl turns one today! It has been one of the most incredible years of my life. It has been so wonderful watching her learn and grow into the little person she is. Alette is quiet the little genius too. I remember her always being so smiley as a newborn and also so aware of things around her even at only a few months old she knew what she wanted. She started out being very stranger shy and though she may get shy she loves when she gets attention from the people around her. She's a very happy baby with a lot of love and personality. Alette loves to flip through pages of books. The bathroom is her favorite room, She loves to bathe and play with water. She is now a full-fledged walker. She's to the point of almost running. She loves her blanket and will carry it around almost everywhere she goes. She loves to eat, as soon as she sees us eating she comes up to us begging for a bite. She's very smart and gets frustrated when something doesn't work the way she wants it to. She has started building with blocks the last couple days. She can only stack a couple up but she's working on it. She also loves to put lids on tupper ware of any container/ bottle. She also likes to help put away her toys, when we ask her of course (but it's a start, right?). It's amazing how much I have learned just being able to spend time with her all day, I seriously love getting her in the morning because she always has such a sweet smile and hug for me. She is the core of all happiness for both Nick and I. We love her so much and are so excited to see what the following years will bring. I just hope she slows down a bit in growing (at this rate she'll be 6 ft tall by the time she's in Junior High). ;)

Where Have We Been...

We've actually been quite the frequent flier these days. We've finally made it home after 2 1/2 months of being away from our beloved NJ home. It's a nice feeling, we've missed everything about the East and missed Nick even more! When Nick came to pick us up from the airport Alette hugged her daddy for about 10 straight minutes. Talk about a tear jerk-er! So, to get on with the post!
Nick and I decided a while back that it would be best for us to go visit family during his Surgery Rotation. Like I've explained in a previous post he was going to be living about an hour and a half away from us in a different town because the hours are just too ridiculous to commute all the time from the hospital to our apt. So to give him piece of mind that we would be fine without him we went to hang out with our family in Utah and Hawaii. We loved every minute of it but missed Nick desperately so we cut our trip short by about 3 weeks. Nick still has to be in a different town but at least we get to see him on the weekends and maybe occasionally during the weekdays. It's only for a couple of weeks and really, won't be that bad but we miss him all the time when he's gone. At least we were able to spend Valentines together! If you're interested at all below are some pictures of our trips to Utah and Hawaii. Hope you enjoy!

Utah:
Alette and I got to Utah a few weeks before Nick was able to come home for Christmas Vacation. During those few weeks Alette hit milestones without hesitation and hasn't stopped since. When we got to Utah Alette could sit but we had to put her in the sitting position and she could roll. with in a week in a half to two weeks she could put herself in a sitting position and she started crawling (full on crawling, she barely visited the army crawl stage), after that there was no stopping her. She started pulling herself up to the standing position(she's now almost walking, she walks along the side of the couch and sometimes stands without holding on.), she was kinda scaring me, she just grew up before my eyes within 2 weeks. Nick came home and was able to see all of it for himself, I think she was kind of scaring him too. She's too smart for her own good! Anyways, we were able to spend time with Nick and his family during Christmas and we had a ton of fun. Nick and I went our seperate ways. He went back to NJ and Alette and I went across the ocean to Hawaii.

Christmas: Alette and her cousin Elijah (who actually got a baby sister on Christmas too)

Alette Checking out one of her gifts.

Daddy and Alette, She got the hang of tearing paper pretty quickly, unfortunately it had bad repurcussions, she now tears pages out of books.

Hawaii:
The flight was an absolute disaster! But we finally got to Hawaii 8 hours after we were suppose to have been there. It was 2:30 in the morning and everyone was asleep so we didn't really get to say hi to everyone until they awoke. Alette had never met her Tutu and Tutu-man, or anyone else on my side of the family for that matter (besides one of my brothers and his family). Everyone was thrilled to see her and she had a ton of fun. We went to different places on the Island and ate at all the places I missed so much and managed to stop at the beach once. It was so nice to have them around me. Alette also got sick for the first time while we were there. It was a stressful time but surprisingly it only lasted a week (even though it felt like eternity with no sleep and a baby who was too sick to eat) She got slammed with a whole bunch of different things all at once. (Croup, Flu, Ear-infection, and 2 teeth) All in all we loved being in the warm weather and Alette loved not having to wear too much clothes. She's an Island girl at heart.

Hawaii: Standing up at the playground, notice my nervous hand trying to make sure she doesn't fall.

First trip to the hospital, she's so adorable and was being such a good sport.

Alette and her cousins Alice and Asa

Alette and her Uncle Lanakila(my brother), she really liked that motorcycle... maybe a little too much! Nick's going to have to keep tabs on this girl.

This is all the cousins together on my side. The whitest one is my kid ;) haha