Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013 Part 1


Our Thanksgiving in Hawaii this year was uneventful, small, but nice.  Our ward's tradition for Thanskgiving is to do a imu, or underground pit cooking, to slow roast the turkey.  When they said they were doing a imu we were so lost and felt pretty lost throughout most of the process but it was a fun thing to participate in and I am glad the chances of them doing it again next year are extremely high.

They usually start the imu on Thanksgiving eve but to prevent all the men from showing up to Thanksgiving exhausted, they did it the weekend before. And in the end it worked out great for us because we were going to celebrated Thanksgiving early anyways.

Friday night some of the men dug a hole in the ground and built a huge bonfire.  People dropped off their turkeys and chickens and used the time to socialize and enjoy a meal together.  I left before it occurred, but later that evening, they cleared the bonfire and put the turkeys in the pit with hot stones and covered the whole thing to trap the heat in.  Some of the men in the ward then stayed all night to watch the pit and early the next morning the meat was ready for us to take home.

They say the meat takes on a smoky flavor but I didn't notice it that much.  What was very apparent was how juicy and tender the meat was.  No carving needed.  It was awesome.  

Though lets be honest here, it was not as awesome as having someone else cook your turkey for you, especially when it was your first time cooking a holiday meal.   Now that was AWESOME!!!  Later that day we just whipped up the sides, heated the turkey, and were good to go.  Our two friends came over with their daughter and we ate a nice holiday meal outside on our balcony.  Simple but sweet.

 The pit and the bonfire. 

All the turkeys.  (Blogger keeps flipping this picture.  Sorry!)

 The next morning before the turkeys were removed. 

Jack still in his pjs. 

 Getting the turkeys out.  It was a really bright morning. 

Even Jack agrees that it was super bright. 

The pit smoking when uncovered. 

Word of advice:  don't try this at home unless you are experienced in this method of cooking.  Explosions could result.  You have been warned. 

Family Pictures


We had family pictures done back in October but I did not want to reveal them because a handful of Christmas presents included one or more of the pictures.  Now that Christmas is over, here are some of my favorites:








Sunday, December 29, 2013

5 & 6 Month Update



Stats: 

Height: 28.5 inches (100.00 percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz (59.61 percentile) 
Head circumference: 17.32 inches (67.20 percentile) 

General Updates: 

-He has had two front teeth for over a month now.  Luckily this teething thing hasn't been too difficult yet, minus the biting and constant need to chew on something.
-He had his first cold at roughly five and a half months.  He didn't sleep as well and had a few days where he just wanted to cuddle, but he was such a champ. 
-He has been sitting up with help for a while now but within the last few weeks he got to the point where he could sit up by himself, even if just for a few moments.  Now he can sit up all alone for an extended period of time and I swear it happened overnight.  One minute he couldn't and the next minute he could!  
-He still eats a lot at night and doesn't nap well.  Nor does he like his crib.  Despite the fact that I want to avoid it, some form of sleep training may need to happen. 
-Favorite toys include: paper, napkins, cups, spoons, water bottles, boxes...anything but toys.
-His screeches of happiness are so loud now.  It is hilarious but a bit awkward at church. 
-He loves cars/trucks/buses.  Letting him watch them out the window is a sure-fire way to calm him down.  Too bad traffic by our house isn't a bit heavier. 
-I have been letting him try out adult food here and there.  For now we just let him lick and gnaw on it but when we get some sweet potatoes later this week, he will have free reign.  He pretty much will stick anything in his mouth, except for that darn yellow pepper we gave him a few nights ago.  He just wouldn't put it in his mouth.  He made his daddy proud.  Second time was a charm though.  
-More than once he has managed to squirm himself into a horizontal position in the middle of the night,  taking up the whole bed.  How do these little ones take up so much room?  My favorite is when he wants to sleep cuddled up right next to me.  I think moving him to his crib is going to be just as hard on me as it will be for him. 
-He is in 6 month clothing and we are now diapering full time. 
-He loves his seat at the dinner table and it has made dinner time much easier.  
-He outgrew his first car seat in November and had to be moved to a convertible seat.   
-He had his first Thanksgiving and Christmas, which he could have totally cared less about.  Though he sure did enjoy the wrapping paper. 
-Last but not least, he traveled for the first time.  Everybody kept commenting on how quiet he was which made me happy and relieved some of the stress of traveling without the hubby. 

Ah!!!  This ended up being longer than I expected.  So much more happened than I initially realized.  Pictures to follow soon!