Ahh..Lanikai Beach. This was regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Oahu...and well, I would have to agree. What do you think? The two little mountain looking things in the background are Na Mokulua or the Mokes, as locals call them. This is the East side of Oahu - the Windward side. Best known for its kayaking.

Lanikai is actually just an extension of Kailua Beach/Bay and some prefer Kailua over Lanikai, but not me. We parked along side the residential area (How tired do you think, are the residents of people parking on parts of their lawns and what nots? Guess it just comes with the territory). You see in Hawaii, ALL beaches are open to the public (with the exception of those found on military bases). Hawaii law says there has to be a public access for all beaches, even if you think its a private beach or what looks like it could be claimed as a private beach - the public must have legal access to it!

This beach was the quintessential Hawaii beach for me. Crystal clear blue water with fine light sand beneath your feet. It was beautiful. It was very sunny, good thing our hosts let us borrow their beach umbrella. Except that after staking it a couple of times into the sand, it broke! WHOOPS!

In hindsight, I wish we stayed longer and packed a lunch or had Charlie go and pick something up and come back. Guess we'll have to just visit it again!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

Much love to your families. May this new year bring in new hopes and dreams, comfort, joy, love and a chance to be and do better.

this was from our trip down in LA during Thanksgiving week.

im almost 30 weeks (this saturday), which means in about 8 weeks i start my maternity leave (which means at about 10 weeks, i would have reached my due date!!). oh and remember that exam i was talking about putting a heavy burden on me? well, i PASSED it! woo hoo..although up until this morning, it still didnt feel real or right. like i was gonna get an email stating that there had been some kind of mistake and a malfunction with the computers caused some who failed to erroneously receive a passing score. seriously. this is perhaps why i was still having my headaches and still kind of feel like crap. but this morning i received this short but sweet confirmation:

Cherlyn,

Your results for the following exam have been posted:

Exam Type: LEED-NC

Test Date: 6/30/2009

Eligibility ID: 1XXXXXXXX

Result: Passed

Congratulations on your accreditation!

- GBCI

Woo hoo, now i can go off on our mini vacay happily! My family is throwing me a baby shower on the 4th and it will be so hot down in LA - that i cant wait to go swimming and eat myself some lechon (roasted suckling pig), oh and see my family and friends..and you're invited, just come on over and bring a towel and an empty stomach, don't worry there are other more traditional (normal) dishes if youre scared of that sort of stuff..

this was last week's belly picture

this is from the 25th so that makes her 7 weeks in this photo. we haven't been taking many of these because every time i try to, Cherlyn says, "no, that's not the baby, i'm just bloated." so if you want more pictures, bug her about it.

one thing that's great is that she farts.
i fart a lot. i've been called "The Gasmaster". maybe there's something wrong with me. maybe it's because i'm a psuedovegetarian. i don't know, maybe i just need to take some Beano. anyway, Cherlyn's always been pretty cool about me being a farter. often she laughs. i think she used to play fart games with her Dad and siblings when she was younger. so that's wonderful. even better now that she farts herself.
i think farting is necessary, even crucial. if you hold it in, you're just going to feel worse. let it out; bust ass and be free.
whenever she farts, we high-five. when i started trying to congratulate her, she was skeptical and annoyed. she just wanted to fart in peace without any sort of celebration. she's warming up to the idea now, or at least she's acquiesced to participating in the high-fivery. maybe next time i post a picture, it will be of us high-fiving after she farts.

i can't think of anything really clever... me-doula oblongata? i don't know, i saw the blog we follow a few days ago and it was titled epi-doula or something and i thought i could one-up them, but i can't. mid-wife? how bout the whole wife? ... uh yeah, sorry.

so we decided to have a homebirth.
i don't think there was any doubt really in mama's mind. just seemed natural, like that's the way it's supposed to happen. i guess i just didn't think about it all that much. i figured whatever works is cool. but then we watched the Business of being Born, and it really made it very clear to me that homebirth is the way to go, if you're into that sort of thing. if you're a take me to the hospital kind of person, or if you're "at-risk" then by all means, go to the hospital. but we think it's safer and cooler to do it at home. you're more in control, you're more in touch with what's happening. and i'm kinda spooked by all the drugs they pump into you to try and get you to pop the sucker out in time for the doctor to go home and have dinner. no drugs!
we've interviewed two midwifes, and i think we've made our choice.
now we have to come up with the 4 Gs to pay her.
time for papa to get a jobbyjob.

Cherlyn got out early today to go to the doctor. i got there a couple minutes late, cuz i'm a lazy bastard, but i did bring her a hard boiled egg and some fruit to snack on. she filled out the paperwork, and i told her to check no for drug and alcohol addicts cuz that's none of their business and just cuz i was a lush doesn't mean i'm going to be a bad parent. well, maybe, but anyway, it's too late now. they gave us some more dates for future appointments and i wrote them down, even though Cherlyn was writing them down too. the books i'm reading say that i'm supposed to show up to the doctor's visits with questions prepared and note taking shit and i don't know what the fuck is going on. they just ask her a bunch of questions and look at me like i'm in the wrong building. then they sent us to the lab and they drew 4 tubes of blood from the preggers and sent us home. we're interviewing a midwife this afternoon too. i guess i'm supposed to have a barrage of questions ready to show her i'm involved. better start reading the chapter in Dude's Guide To Pregnancy, "What the $^%& do you ask the Midwife chick, bro?"