Good Day (Part 1)

Jeff and I had a good day today. We headed to the North Shore for a full day of fun. First we stopped at Aoki's shave ice for our first taste of "Hawaiian snow cones". It's hard to believe that in three years we have not tried this Hawaiian treat, but it was worth the wait! Of course, I dropped most of mine all over the front of my shirt...

After shave ice, we walked next door to pick up some Hulihuli chicken to go. This is another typically Hawaiian food, with a sweet teriyaki flavor. When we asked for a half chicken, the woman started fixing us a to-go box complete with two-scoops-rice. (That's how it's said here. And EVERYTHING is eaten with rice.) Once she comprehended that we just wanted the chicken - a fact that was clearly not satisfactory - she picked up our half-chicken, put it in a plastic shopping bag, dumped hulihuli sauce in with it and handed it to us. Yum. Thanks.

By this time it was hot and time for a swim, so we headed to a little beach. I thoroughly enjoyed wading in the water, though it was too chaotic to swim much. I had a great time being tossed around like a feather (I haven't felt much like a feather recently). When I got out, Jeff snapped this shot. Check out the belly!

Good Day (Part 2)

After our swim, it was time for the main event: a polo match! Neither Jeff nor I have ever seen a polo match, so we decided to see what it was all about. We never really figured much out about the rules of the game, but we thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere which was nothing like I expected. The field is right on the beach, and you can drive your car right to the edge of the field for optimal tailgaiting. Jeff and I laid in to our chicken and tried to keep up with the ball.

We enjoyed the polo match and we'll definitely be back again. At halftime, some of the skydivers who had been landing all day at the airfield across the street, gave quite a spectacular show by landing on the polo field. I almost lost my chicken during this display because I was convinced that some of the skydivers were going to kill themselves. Turns out, they're actually pretty good at this.

We were ready for another snack, so we headed to our favorite eatery on the North Shore, Cholo's Restaurant and Margarita Bar. I love the atmosphere of this place, complete with chickens that wander around outside. I wish I could have had a 'rita, but I settled for two tacos and a bunch of salsa and guacamole. Butter Bean and I both left happy.

After a brief stop at the Surfing Museum, we headed home for blogging and our weekly dose of Family Guy. What a good day!

Happy Almost-Fathers' Day!

Yesterday, Jeff and I shared our first, and only, Almost-Fathers' Day! It was very special. We went to brunch with my cousin B.A. and his wife, Gayle, at this great new restaurant in Waikiki called MAC 24/7. I had read some great reviews about the place, and I just had to try it - especially because of the 14 inch pancakes that come stacked 3-high! Gayle and I did our best with a set of blueberry pancakes, but we only managed to eat about a quarter of the stack. Luckily, B.A. and Jeff were there to help us out. Here we are after brunch, full and giddy...

(By the way, I must confess that B.A. was quite excited about making the blog. I had no idea that so many of you are out there reading or I would have tried to be more entertaining. Until hearing from B.A. that he even shows the people in his office the blog, I thought my mom was the only one checking it most of the time. So, thanks for reading! And I hope you like my life, or at least laughing at my life. Either one is fine with me.)

Later in the day, Jeff and I checked out a freshwater reservoir up the mountain from our house. Usually the access road is closed, though we have hiked in once, but Jeff heard through the grapevine that yesterday would be open to the public. Turns out, three times a year, they allow catfish fishing in the reservoir to hold down the population. There were tons of dads and families lining the shore.

We met two very nice guys from the Department of Land and Natural Resources who gave us the scoop. We have to apply for a license, we can only take home two fish per person, and no live bait is allowed. At first I was bummed about the rule against live bait until the guys informed me that the rule refers to fish, not worms. So I can use my worms as bait! Yippee. The best part of the whole day was finding out that one of the guys is named Knut. Just like the little polar bear. I almost lost it.

We had so much fun here at the reservoir that I almost waited too late to make my Fathers' Day calls! Happy Fathers' Day to Dad, Peter, and Nick!

Onesies.

We have received some of the greatest baby gifts over the past few months! I am going to share some of them here, specifically my favorite onesies. For those of you who aren't familiar with baby clothes, a onesie is like a one-piece bathing suit for babies, only they can wear them all the time. Jeff hates the word "onesie", but I think it's cute. Besides, it's better than calling it a "baby bag", I think.

This onesie was a gift from our friends Jon and Jess. I love it because it totally brings me back to the eighties when I watched Dirty Dancing and danced in front of the mirror in my room. I had dreams of a strapping young man coming to sweep me off my feet by telling my family, "Nobody puts Sarah in the corner." Instead, Jeff swept me off my feet by letting me drive his Jeep off-road on our first date, but my little girl dreams are not lost! Thanks, Jon & Jess!

This one is little bit harder to read from this picture - and arguably in person. It was a gift from the Madden family and it's one of my favorites. The image on the front is a drawing of five little rabbits, bundled appropriately for winter in scarves and hats, and holding hands as they iceskate. My favorite part is the wording, which states, "Tandem on Ice: Skate-Rabbit Train". What? The only explanation I can give is that it's from Italy, so maybe they have words like skate-rabbit trains that don't quite translate! Thank you, Keenan & Cora!

This last one is probably my favorite! It was a gift from our lawyer-friend Laura, and is sooooo appropriate for little Butter Bean who will be born into an extended family of lawyers. Many of the onesie messages are pretty sugary, but this one is pure realism. Thanks, Laura!

Now I want to buy two of them and give them both to someone who has just delivered twins...

New Pillows.

I'm so excited by the new pillows I bought today! We have had such old, yucky pillows and I think they're part of the reason that Jeff's neck hurts often. The pillows and the fact that he's basically a giraffe. So, today I bought four new firm support pillows. Of course, now I want to buy all new sheets, too. It's hard to put nice new pillows in yucky, old sheets. These are my problems these days... So silly.

In other news, I'm getting bigger, but hopefully not at the rate of the last couple of months. I'm feeling good for the most part, except for when I sit down for more than a few minutes. Unfortunately, my new job is all about sitting and emailing, sitting and talking, sitting and eating lunch, sitting and networking. Fortunately, I'm able to hide the discomfort for the most part, at least I think I am. Besides, people aren't allowed to make pregnant ladies feel bad about shifting position all the time. It's not allowed.

Butter Bean is moving a lot these days and I can feel a lot of shifting position, less kicking. The moving around is a lot more interesting than the simple kicking. Kicking is more like, "Hi! Remember me?" Somersaults are more like, "I have NEEDS! It's too small in here! How come your insides are smooshing my outsides?!" We're getting pretty excited about meeting this little one, though, and thinking a lot about names and delivery. We welcome input on both...

Thank you!

In just a day and a half, you have helped me raise my goal of $250 for my Relay for Life event coming up in July. I am humbled and very, very thankful.

As a thank you, I promise to put up a picture of me dressed up as Madonna and Jeff dressed up as the lead singer from the Cure! Yay!

Relay for Life

I need your help! I am participating in the ACS Hawaii Corporate Team this year, and I want to raise $250 to help support cancer research and programs for patients. I have created a donation page for those who can give. Please CLICK HERE and give what you can!

This year, our team's theme is "Desperately Seeking a Cure" from the movie "Desperately Seeking Susan". That means that I have to dress up (you ALWAYS have to dress up at Relay!) as Madonna in the 80s. That's right, the big pregnant lady is going to be dressed up like Madonna at a time when she was definitely NOT thinking about covering up her midsection, or any other section of hers, for that matter. Jeff has agreed to dress up like the lead singer from The Cure and act as our fearless leader! (Get it? He's the cure that we're desperately seeking! Hahaha. What a good sport!)

The purpose of Relay for Life is to honor survivors, remember those who have lost their fight, and to raise money so that no one else has to hear the words, "You have cancer." Relay events are held throughout the night, from sundown to sunrise, to symbolize the dark times that many cancer patients and their families go through. The event is planned around a track, on which each team has a representative at all times.

My two favorite parts of the event are the Survivor Lap and the Luminaria ceremony. The Survivor Lap is the first one of the event. As cancer survivors of all ages walk the track, usually beaming from ear to ear, the rest of us get to applaud, scream, and celebrate their magnificent courage and strength! Later in the evening, we remember those we have lost to cancer in the Luminaria Ceremony. White paper bags with the words "In Memory Of..." are set around the track, lit from within by candles, and serve to remind us throughout the night of the urgency of our work to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.

For more information about the American Cancer Society, please go to http://www.cancer.org/ or email me with questions. The American Cancer Society serves all of us by funding more cancer research than any other non-governmental agency and providing top-notch services to cancer patients and their families. If you don't have cancer and you think you aren't affected by it, you can thank the ACS for the ease of getting a mammogram, Pap smear, and colon cancer screening - not to mention the recently discovered HPV vaccine.

Thank you for your support of me, and of the American Cancer Society. Even if you cannot give right now, consider attending a Relay for Life event in your area to find out more. More than anything, make sure that you're taking good care of yourself, getting regular screenings, and increasing your awareness of cancer so that hopefully you will never hear those terrible words.

Birds, Bellies, & Bassinets

This last week has been all about babies! First, a little bird baby found its way to our garden chirping loudly about his hunger. I think it's a baby red-vented bulbul, but I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that we spent the better part of two days witnessing bird-parenting at its best. The little one (who was actually bigger than its parent with so much fuzz!) would chirp chirp, then try to pull some berries off the tree unsuccessfully, then chirp chirp some more. By that time, mom or dad bird would be near to pull off a berry and put it in the baby's mouth.

Later, they found the tomato plants where seed-picking was much easier. Below you can see the parent bird keeping a careful watch over the baby's feeding. It was very cool to see natural parenting at its best when I'm thinking a lot about what kind of parent I'm going to be.

The next piece of big news is, well, my belly! Though against my better judgement, I thought I should include a couple of before and after shots of the belly. The first one was taken BEFORE my trip to the mainland and my now-infamous inability to eat responsibly! Here's me at about 23 weeks...

And here's me AFTER the yummy vacation! I'm at about 28 weeks in this next picture...

In an effort to exercise, and calm my delivery anxiety, I spent Memorial Day weekend getting the nursery more ready for Butter Bean. My favorite part of the nursery is the bassinet. Jeff and I are so lucky to have the bassinet that Jeff's mother, Susan, slept in when she was a baby. It has cradled all of her children, including Jeff, and all of her grandchildren. Now Butter Bean will be part of a Bogdanovich tradition.

You Tube Favorites.

I realize that I have not posted anything about two of my new favorite web-finds: Nora the Cat and Knut the Polar Bear. My mother, who is a talented pianist, told me about Nora and I think she's fantastic. She plays the piano quite well, and even does duets. Knut, as many of you may know is a rescued baby polar bear who now resides at the Berlin zoo. Everyone in Germany, and arguably around the world, has gone so crazy for cute Knut that a pop song was written in his honor. I'll warn you, though, it will have you singing "Knuuuut, Knuuuut" for weeks! Click on the links to the right for the sights and sounds of Nora and Knut!

Big Momma.

Jeff and I went to our monthly check-up today and I am officially a Big Momma. I gained 10 pounds on vacation - twice as much as my doctor told me I should gain. Good work, buffets! Well done, desserts! Along with my lack of impulse control and a new-found obsession with sweet things, the multiple buffets and seemingly endless supply of desserts have successfully turned me into a waddling sugar-crazed monster.

Yesterday I went to the bookstore and ended up with a package of jelly beans. I mean, hello? I'm now more convinced than ever before that this baby is Jeff's because he is our resident sugar-hound. Non-pregnant Sarah always chooses veggies over fruit, cottage cheese over yogurt, or a boullion cube over a sugar cube. Pregnant Sarah couldn't care less about her once-beloved savory foods - all I want is SWEET, SUGARY, COLD treats like slurpees, ice cream, and fruit!

Of course, the problem with this is that now I am both bigger than I'm supposed to be at this point in pregnancy (not too big a deal) and I'm probably at risk for gestational diabetes (a VERY big deal). Today I had to take the sugar test - results due back Friday - which is a cruel joke since they make you drink something that looks and tastes suspiciously like Orangina before taking the test. Of course, that only whet my appetite for sugar and I spent the next few hours trying not to think about orange jelly beans.

The good thing is that Butter Bean is fine and I am holding up well, too. I have definitely entered another phase of pregnancy because I'm more uncomfortable these days and I get fatigued more easily. The next thing to tackle is the delivery: to epidural or not to epidural? Is labor better for baby and momma done naturally, albeit painfully, or is it better to ease momma and baby into their new roles with as little pain as possible? Does it make sense to be so careful for nine months about everything I put into my body only to pump it full of pain meds at the final hour? Lots to think about...