Country Mice Hit the Big City!

This past weekend, we packed it up and headed to Honolulu to visit our dear friends, Wanee, Ivan, Noe, Elia and the soon to be baby girl Gomez. Before Lance came along, we made it out to see them a few times a year. Can you believe that it had been almost a year since we have seen them? way too long.
It was an awesome trip that included beach time, much needed shopping (for me) relaxing around the house, and Lance's first concert!
Lance did great with the lack of routine (a first for him) which gave me even more confidence to travel with him in the future.
He LOVED hanging out with the boys and got in lots of good playtime with Noe and Elia. I think we can safely say that they are both going to be amazing big brothers and I'm pretty sure Wanee and Ivan can count on Noe being completely in love with his little sister. Noe was always ready to show Lance toy he thought he'd like or just hang out with him on the ground where Lance spends most of this time...
We got in two days at the beach with jetskiing in an inflatable ski, paddleboarding and sand play.


We attended our third Kokua Fest, and got lucky enough to sit next to a photography student, who took these great pics for us! Lance perfected one of his latest moves while we were there- crawl to sitting and practiced it multiple times to a live soundtrack of Ziggy Marley and Jack Johnson, among others...
Unfortunately, there aren't any photos of my mad frenzy at the Nordstrom rack, trying to make up for over a year of lost shopping time while pregnant... for those of you who aren't familiar, Hilo doesn't have much to offer in terms of shopping. And by that, I mean that we don't even have the Gap. So, I am pleased to report that I came home with a few new items!

Most importantly, however, it was a great weekend spent reconnecting with our friends and making promises that we won't let another year go by without doing it again.

Another Glorious Visit with Nini

Two weeks have passed since Nini was here for five wonderful days and I have been waiting for the CD of photos to arrive so that I could share all of the best.

As mom said, the visit was not Eau de Parfum or Cologne, but pure Perfume. Five concentrated days of quality time together. Complete heaven for me. And for Lance.
We mostly stayed around Hilo and spent time sharing Lance's usual routine with Nini. They got to spend lots of time playing together, with Nini noticing all of Lance's growth and changes during her stay.
We also took a day trip to Hawi where Lance ate his first lunch at a restaurant. He had avocado and papaya (his favorites) while mom and I ate some incredible sushi.
We had lots of trips to the beach, despite the so-so weather and spent Easter morning relaxing together.

One of the highlights was when mom and I came out of our rooms unintentionally wearing matching pants for our walk. Naturally, I had to change my white tank top to a white tee-shirt to seal the deal. Boy, did we get a kick out of ourselves!
I know I say it all the time, but visits like these always bring up a lot of mixed emotions about living so far away from family. It just feels so good to be together! I guess I have to appreciate the perfume for what it is- short periods of time in which we get to totally focus on each other... what a gift for all of us.

Six months old is SO fun!
Here are three videos of some of this week's highlights.

Video One is of Lance in his Jumperoo circa 1980 something...Yep! They still make these things! But ours is a hand-over from Lance's buddy Cruz. For some reason it didn't work out on their doorways, so we scored!

Video Two is of the latest efforts toward crawling. Rocking! pretty adorable

and Video Three is of Lance's new crib discovery... how to move his bumper down so that he can peek out. This is how I found him when he woke up from his nap yesterday and he thought it was so hilarious!! Listen closely and you can hear his giggles.

Hope you like them!

Catching Up

March has been a big month for the fam. On the 10th, we celebrated Lance's half birthday. Six whole months old! It was a special day for all of us because we got to spend it with Papa, Grandma Kathie, and Uncle Danny. Lance got to meet and spend a whole week with his grandparents and had several action packed days with his daddy's big brother. Lance got his middle name from this special uncle, so we already knew they would be two peas in a pod...
We busted out the real camera and Danny caught some amazing shots.
Here are some of the highlights:
Enjoying a beautiful day at the beach:

three generations of Harmeling menLoving his morning garden tour with Papa:

And Lance's six month birthday celebration:

Being able to share our love for Lance with family is one of the most amazing parts of parenthood. We wish it could be a daily or even weekly joy, but unfortunately travel makes that impossible. That's why trips are SO special and appreciated. Thanks for making the trip, Dan, Kathie and Danny. It means so much!

Peek-a-Boo

Yep, it's true.
I think all kids do like peek-a-boo! Lance does, anyway.

He loves it, actually. He has started covering up his own face with whatever blankie, towel, or piece of clothing is nearby, to initiate the game. He's even found the curtains above his changing table and likes to play with those as well. You know how it goes: cover and hide, pull it away... and Peek-A-Boo!! smiles, laughs and wiggles to follow. It's adorable and tons of fun for me too. I guess I never got it until now...

Diapers

sooooooooo,
we did it.
we made the switch.
Lance is now wearing cloth diapers. Fuzzi Bunz, to be precise. Many thanks to inspiring friends and Geana at our local baby store, Moonsprout.
We are on day two, and so far, so good. The diapers are super cozy and very absorbent, thanks to the glories of microfiber!
It goes like this: pee diapers go in the pail in Lance's room. Poop diapers go to the bathroom where we spray the goods into the toilet with a nifty sprayer that attaches on the side. Then they go into their own pail. At the end of the day, both pails go to the laundry where we do a rinse cycle, then a wash cycle, then dry! The pails get washed out too and ready to go for tomorrow. Not too bad, really.
The diapers are super cute and give Lance a HUGE bubble butt. We're adjusting to the new look on our little featherweight. He seems to like them so far and we're keeping fingers crossed for no rashes!

uncovered diaper butt...poofy!

getting up on his knees, new butt and all!
St. Patrick's Day Style
Loving Mo

On the Move

Mama Mary called yesterday to say how much she misses Lance, which made me realize it might be time for another video!

So... Lance is mobile. Not quite a crawl, but he can chase his little car around one scoot at a time. He still doesn't understand that he can go places, but that's fine with me!