It's a boy!!

I know this post is a little late, but we found out on Monday that we are expecting another baby boy!! We are so thrilled and can't wait to raise a set of brothers! I grew up in a house of 3 (and at one point 4) girls all within a few years apart. I feel like I lived in an overwhelming estrogen household and I'm so excited to experience the opposite spectrum. Boys are so much fun and I know Lucas is going to make a fantastic big brother! He was blowing me kisses yesterday and when I pretended to grab it and place it on my cheek I got scolded. He told me to eat the kiss so that it went down into my belly for the baby! Can my son get any sweeter?!




I requested the ultrasound technician that I had last time because she was wonderful! We got 67 photos and 6 videos I believe. I loved talking anatomy with her and learning more about the developing structures. I cannot wait for midwifery school!

FRUIT!

I can't tell you enough how much I LOVE fruit! Since moving to Alaska it has been very difficult to find good quality fruit that doesn't cost you an insane amount of money. You'd better believe that we ate as much fresh and organic island foods as we could get our hands on! We hit two separate farmers markets and regularly stopped at the fruit and smoothie stands on the sides of the road.

I even got brave and decided to try a bunch of items that I'd never heard of. This starapple fruit was well, different, to say the least. The texture was nearly indescribable and the inner gooey white section was difficult to bite into. We got a good laugh out of it nonetheless!

One with nature!

The best part about Hawaii was watching my son explore an environment so diverse from our home. It took him a few days to realize that the sand was actually fun to play in and that all of the bugs and lizards weren't out to get him. Now, we can't keep him away from any of the creepy crawlies and he is quite the water bug!








He also loved the fish and whale watching. I can't wait for this summer so that we can explore the wonderful nature in Alaska. We love our hikes and always find some wonderful friends to play with.

Little Blue

Levi’s mother and step father purchased a new truck to keep in Hawaii and also shipped over their S-10 pickup truck as an alternate means of wheels. Not only does Little Blue still have Alaskan plates, but it's still equipped with studded snow tires! I can’t tell you how many people stopped us wondering if we knew we had “rocks in our tires”. It was pretty entertaining!

The truck may be old and rusted, but it is sure a beast! We 4-wheeled back into some pretty crazy spots and I honestly didn’t think that we were going to make it at times. We were given some paint and told to decorate the truck, so we drew a beautiful Hawaiian flower on the hood. The best part to driving around this beater was that everyone assumed we were locals. We didn’t have a fancy rental car like all of the tourists and we got special treatment because of it. People were always friendly towards us and we were even given the local price for pizza at the worlds best pizza spot!

After painting the flower (just a few days before we left) everything seemed to go downhill. We decided to drive to the Hilo side of the island for a tropical hike and the truck decided to give out on us. We broke down in the absolute middle of nowhere...highway 11, mile marker 42. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that location because we had to wait for three whole hours to be rescued. But we made the best of the situation and had a nice little family picnic under a shady tree! Turns out the tranie have given out, but the guys had a new one installed and the truck back and running by the next day!

Little blue gave us the freedom to roam the island, meet some wonderful people, get to some secluded (and somewhat impossible spots), gave us “local” discounts, and only faulted on us once. I’d say this little truck deserves some wonderful recognition!

The big gender reveal!

We are just three days away from the big ultrasound and our fingers are crossed that it will reveal whether we will be welcoming another baby boy or a baby girl into this world. As the days approach I find myself getting more nervous than ever before. My mind is continually playing out scenarios of our little family a year from now and I can’t stop envisioning what our lives are truly going to be like. Will our home continue to be filled with dinosaurs, trains, and robots, or is it suddenly going to be overrun with the color pink?!

When we conceived Lucas I was 95% certain that he was a boy based on the timing. This time around we decided to actively try for another boy using the Shettle’s method. As much as I hate to admit that I have a preference, my heart is truly hoping for another little wee-wee on the screen! We both understand that the method we used is not absolutely certain and we accept that a baby girl may be in our very near future. I know that we will have whatever we are meant to and will love our new baby unconditionally. But unfortunately, the more I think into the topic I feel that I am going to be disappointed either way. I would love to raise a set of boys and give Lucas a baby brother, but I also feel that I may miss out on many important life situations if I do not have a daughter of my own. A friend of mine created a list of pros to having each gender and I decided this is something that I need to do for myself as well.

Pro’s to having another boy:

•Lucas will have a brother
•Our home is already over run with boy toys
•We have plenty of clothes ready to be worn again
•Levi would have another little man at his side
•We have an agreed upon name (we think!)
•Boys aren’t as much drama as girls in the teenage years
•We already know that we make a handsome and intelligent boy

Pro’s to having a girl:

•She will have a protective big brother!
•Our lives will be forever changed
•We will experience the opposite spectrum of raising a child
•The estrogen levels in my home will be even with the testosterone
•I will be able to experience the girly events later in life- prom, wedding, etc.
•I will gain a pedicure partner
•Potty training will be easier (so they say)
•I’m interested to see the hold a girl would have over Levi

Regardless of what we find out on Monday, I already love this baby and can’t wait to welcome it into our family. Lucas talks about this baby more than I imagined he would and I know that he is going to make a fantastic big brother. We are blessed to be able to extend our family and whatever gender this baby turns out to be…it’ll be a perfect fit into the Cecil family!

2 going on 16!

Levi made the huge mistake of allowing Lucas to drive around in Hawaii and since that day he has begged and begged to drive some more. We let him steer around in the neighborhood and when trekking back on dirt trails, and this boy was in heaven! Each and every time we got into the car he would ask to drive... and you'd better believe he asked again and again throughout our trip. The biggest downfall to the big island is that you really have to commute everywhere (unless you live directly in the main cities) so Lucas often got a little anxious sitting in the passenger's seat.

The two most overused phrases these past 2.5 weeks: “Me turn to drive?” and “Can me drive yet?”

I'm pretty proud of my little man. He did a great job navigating and never ran us off the road! I think he's going to be a very safe driver when the time comes.

Daddy's Boy

Lucas has always been a momma’s boy...until recently. I know that I should be excited and love watching this strong bond continue to strengthen between my boys, but its starting to break my heart. Since being in Hawaii there have been more than a handful of daddy comments made by Lucas that completely exclude me. Here are just a few from the past couple days:

L: “I can’t find another flower.”
Me: “Don’t worry, mommy will help you find one!”
L: “No, I want daddy help me find it.”

L: “Will you get my milk?”
Me: “Yeah, I’ll get it.”
L: “No, daddy get my milk.”

Me: “Lucas, don’t you wanna sit with me?”
L: “No, I wanna sit with my daddy.”

Me: “Oh my Lucas!”
L: “No, I’m daddy’s Lucas.”

And the worst of them all: Lucas woke up in the middle of the night scared because he didn’t realize where we were.

L: “Mom?!”
Me: “I’m right here sweetie, it’s ok”
L: “Where’s my dad?”

Now how am I not supposed to let this get to me? I feel like I’ve been completely replaced and shoved to the back burner. Levi thinks it’s hilarious every time Lucas makes these comments and he just grins the happiest daddy grin. He jokes that Lucas is now his and that I get the new baby. I know this is probably normal...especially with boys...but it doesn’t make it any easier. I want my super lovey, affectionate momma's boy back! But I have to admit, they are pretty darn cute together!

Hawaii Belly Photos

I may not have the bikini body most expect to see on the beach, but I sure don’t mind flaunting what I’ve got! I think I love my belly so much because other that being pregnant, I’ve always been skin and bone. I absolutely love having a protruding bump and some expanding thighs...not to mention the bustling milk makers! I’m really hoping to keep some of the baby weight this time around since I wasn’t so lucky with Lucas. I feel most confident in my physical appearance when I'm pregnant and when I'm tan. You'd better believe I'm working hard on that second one!

15w6d!

16w6d

Also 16w6d. This one makes me look pretty large, but that's exactly what happens as the day progresses. Morning sickness is gone and this baby sure makes me hungry!

A camping trip to remember

We were told about a fantastic and fairly secluded camping spot here on the big island and fell in love once we got there. We had to 4wheel back quite a ways on a tiny dirt road hidden off of the highway. Once we pulled up we immediately found our spot and went out to explore! We were right on Loretta Lynn’s abandoned property in between mansions belonging to Paul Mitchell and the inventor of the pace maker. The whales were jumping nearly every two minutes, the beach was wonderful, and there was a nice little fresh water pond to rinse off in! We thought this was going to be a perfect camping trip.

We called it a night at about 9:30 and all snuggled into our tent to sleep. This was Lucas first time camping in a tent and he did wonderful! I was sleeping great until I heard a loud noise similar to a motorcycle. The noise kept getting louder and louder and the mother in me started to get stressed out that it would wake up Lucas. Before I knew it, the noise was so loud that I started to panic…I knew something wasn’t right. Levi wrapped his hand around my mouth (I’m assuming to keep me from screaming) because the noise was so overwhelming at this point. Later when I questioned him about it he had no idea what I was talking about...he must've still been asleep! lol.

Turns out a helicopter had landed about a hundred feet away from our tent onto the beach. Can you say, insane?! But the craziest part of all is that Lucas slept through the entire thing! I don’t know how on earth anyone could sleep through a helicopter landing next to you in the dead of night, but he was out for the count!

They say that a fetus can begin hearing noises outside of the womb at 16 weeks and after this little incident, I’m convinced this is the truth! I have been feeling the “quickening” for almost a week now but since baby is only about 5 inches from head to rump, the kicks and punches still aren’t too powerful. As the helicopter landed, my stomach felt like bag of popcorn being popped! I sure hope my unborn child has not been traumatized before s/he even enters into this world!

Moments after the helicopter landed a park ranger came over to our tent and stressed that we needed to evacuate as soon as possible. He mentioned that Japan just had a massive earthquake and that a tsunami was headed right for us. He said that is was scheduled to hit at 3:07a.m. and that we had just a few hours to get to higher ground. WHAT?! Realizing that this was serious and actually happening, I immediately hopped on my iPhone to check the news. The headlines were flooded with stories already and Hawaii was indeed in a tsunami warning. We moved Lucas to the truck (still fast asleep) and tore down the tent. We were packed up in nearly 10 minutes and immediately headed away from the shoreline. We were camping with Levi’s mom and step dad, along with his step dad’s family and some of their friends. Everyone had been there for a few days before we came down and they had quite the set up. Worried that they couldn’t pack everything up fast enough, they decided to leave it all behind and hope for the best.

We drove up just to the freeway and everyone in our party pulled over to touch bases. They decided that the elevation we had reached was safe and decided to sleep in their cars until morning. We contemplated driving back to the house, but we were nearly an hour and a half away and figured the roads would be overwhelmed with panicked people. Instead, my little family drove about 20 minutes back into Kona and drove a ways up the mountain. There were evacuation places at all of the schools and at Costco, but we decided to find a quiet spot and re-pitch our tent. We drove until we found a patch of grass (which ended up being in an industrialized neighborhood next to a storage complex) and set up camp...again.

We finally fell back to sleep about 2:30 and were abruptly woken up at 4:45 to sprinklers!! All we could do was laugh...it had been quite an interesting night! We figured there was no getting back to sleep now so we decided to head back towards the beach and see what had happened. We arrived at 6:15 and found a few of our people awake. They had been listening to the radio and updated us on all the devastation to both sides of us. About 30 minutes north a boat harbor had been hit pretty bad and back in Kona on Ali’i Dr (the main tourist strip) the roads were flooded and many shops and restaurants faced some very serious damage. It really hit me at that point because we had spent an afternoon there just the day before walking the strip and visiting the market.

Fortunately, our location was fairly untouched and the camping stuff left behind all remained. We have seen quite a bit of devastation on various parts of the island, including our favorite beach Honomolino, but nothing compares to the hardships Japan is suffering. My heart goes out to everyone over there and I can only pray that everyone in need of a helping hand receives just that.

Trunki - a travel must have!

In preparation for our flight to Hawaii we got Lucas a Melissa & Doug Trunki! During his art class on Saturday morning I spotted a pile of these adorable little travel cases in the corner of the store and immediately fell in love. The shop owner told me that everyone who’s purchased one couldn’t stop ranting and raving about them, so I just had to test one out for myself!

We got the orange tiger colored one, Sunny! Lucas pulled it through the airport on his own and he never let it leave his side. It was absolutely adorable. Not only did it let him feel like a big boy, it made us pretty dang popular. I was stopped in the hall, in the restroom, and even on the plane by people wanting to know about it. I should be paid to promote this thing!

It was the perfect size for storing toys, books, blankets, and all of the other things we wanted to bring on the plane for Lucas. And best of all? It fit underneath the seats! Talk about a perfect flying companion for a toddler!

For those of you that are curious…Lucas did AMAZING on the plane! We kept him up until 10:00p.m. and then woke him up shortly after 1 when our taxi arrived to pick us up. And boy was he excited to ride in a taxi! Our flight departed at 2:30 and he was passed out shortly after we took off. It was a 3 hour flight and he didn’t wake up until we landed. We then had a short layover in Seattle that gave us just enough time for a pancake breakfast at Chili’s! We then loaded onto our next flight. When the announcer told us our estimated 5hr and 45minute flight time my heart nearly stopped. But would you believe it? Lucas feel back asleep 20minutes into the flight and woke up just a few minutes before we began our decent into Hawaii! I would have never believed in my wildest dreams that he would have slept through both flights, but I am so thankful that he did!

It turns out that we didn’t even get to open up his trunki once on the plane to play, but I’m still happy we bought it! We still have two flights to catch before we return home and I’d be pushing it if we expected him to sleep through both of those as well. I loved having a tiny little luggage piece specifically for all of his toys!

Thank you!

I have recently been told by a handful of individuals that they enjoy reading my blog. I honestly had no idea that any of these people read it, let alone follow it! I wanted to say thank you for everyone who takes the time to read my rants and raves. I started this blog as a means to keep my family and friends back home connected in our lives, and its turned out to be so much more than that for me. I enjoy writing and I use it as a wonderful escape tool from my busy and rather hectic life. I truly love writing about the joys and struggles of motherhood and I look forward to continuing this venture with two kiddos of my own!

Hawaii has offered far too many distractions, but I intend to jump back onto the bandwagon here soon. Now that I know quite a few of you actually read my stuff, I’m a little more motivated to keep it going!

Thanks again! :)

Blackmail!

My mom has so many photos that she's threatened to use to her advantage as we grew up. I especially remember one of my sister taking a poo on a coffee mug when we were camping- it's absolutely priceless. I don't know how many times she joked about blowing the photo up and hanging on the wall for her prom date. (Although she never did, I still find the threats hilarious!) I now understand that urge to humiliate your children and I've already got quite the compilation of photos on Lucas.

While sitting on the potty, Lucas insisted that he get a turn in filing down my nails. I got myself a nice little mani by my son...while he attempted to do the deed. Now if this doesn't constitute as blackmail for his future girlfriends, I don't know what will!