Early Christmas for P-lady

Because we couldn't bring all of her presents to the mainland. Santa hired a special LARGE elf to put together Presley's trike before Christmas. She was sooo surprised and excited when she saw it in the living room. She literally paused in the hall and her eyes got really big and her mouth opened wide and looked at me like, "is that mine???" So cute, she had alot of fun smiling and riding around on it (well, being pushed around on it- she isn't very good with the pedals yet).

Santas "special LARGE elf"

The funny things Presley does

I walked in my room and P-lady had been digging in my t-shirt drawer and decided to play dress up on her own. Look how creative she is. I guess she really likes all of the pink shirts--hahah.


This is what I really saw when I walked in. I wasn't sure what she was doing.

Presley doesn't like Santa

We took Presley to see Santa and she cried and screamed so bad I felt sad for her. She was scared to death of him.

Presley made the NICE list

Santa confirmed Presley made the nice list. She will be getting presents after all. See link below for video. Enjoy:) (click link and wait for video to pop up)

http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/23903-benjcloud/

Funny video of P-lady

Thanksgiving morning Ben gave her the phone to play with while I was brushing her hair. She acted like she was really talking to someone. The funniest part is when she turns to walk away like she can't hear what is being said to her. Enjoy:)

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

This year seemed really funny to me. Its just not the same being in Hawaii over a major holiday (when you normally have your family to share it with). But this year a few of the pharmacy married students got together and split the Thanksgiving menu up. I actually made the turkey and gravy. I have NEVER cooked a turkey before but it turned out sooo good - I was really glad. (I forgot to get a photo of it:( ..) SAD.. But we had a good time and all of the food turned out really good.





I also made my first pumpkin roll and it turned out sooo yummy. Ben and I have been eating it everyday and loving it:)

Confessions of a 14 month old

(Just had to show how cute she is getting, plus I LOVE being able to do new things with her hair--ps.. I cut her bangs too. )
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Today was a holiday day, so Ben had to stay home and study (the library was closed). So Presley and I tried to stay out of the house as much as we could. I think she got tired of me dragging her to different beach parks and taking long scenic drives, that by the time we got home she talked to dad (in her own language) for nearly an hour. Or maybe she was so excited about our outing that she was trying to tell dad all about it. I was trying to watch the Biggest Loser and I could hear her just jabbering away so I quickly grabbed the camera and filmed it. She was really serious and trying so hard to describe her story in detail to dad. Enjoy:)

The first time I went in the room

The second time I went in- (about 20 min later-she was still talking away)

Bens weekend study break:)

Ben finally had a weekend off from studying (that means he could start studying on Monday and have enough time-- yea!!!) I haven't spent a Saturday with Ben in nearly 6 weeks. Because it has been a really rough semester for him, plus I have been so sick that we decided we needed a little fun in our lives. So we drove to the other side of the island and spent 2 days and 1 night at the Waikaloa Hilton (because we are now local we get Kamaaina rate (sp?)--for locals, it was nearly 75$ off!!!) We had a great time, got to relax, get away from rainy Hilo, spend some time in a normal air conditioned room and eat really good food. P-lady had a blast, she got to swim and build sand castles. It ended too soon. I will just have to savor the memories for a LONG time:)

Presley's First Halloween as (Annie)

Because Presley is soooo in LOVE with the movie "Annie" I decided to make her an Annie dress for Halloween. We had so much fun putting curlers and orange spray in her hair. P-lady however didn't like the curlers and screamed when I painted freckles on her. But once she was dressed up she was toooooo CUTE!

Getting Ready:

Trick-or- Treating with dad:

Stealing a glow stick at someones house (she liked this better then the candy:)



P-lady and Mom at Pizza Hut afterwards with friends:

Scariest thing I have EVER seen- "Happy Halloween to me!!"

This morning I went out to put a load of clothes in the washer and was greeted by a LARGE chunk of dead grass, (however we don't have grass, only pavement). So I took a closer look and realized it was a HUGE tan spider! The biggest spider I have EVER seen in my life. I am by no means exaggerating when I say it was as big as my entire hand!!!! I immediately killed it with the first thing I could find, then found Ben to get rid of it. He tried to tell me it was a "banana spider" but I thought he made that up because we still had tons of bananas in our garage. Well, it turns out he was right, they call them "Cane-banana spiders"! (Too bad I didn't get a real photo of this scary thing, but I am extremely glad I killed it, and will never again climb around in banana trees for bananas EVER again!)


(this looks exactly like the one I found, only you can't really comprehend the size of this thing until you see them in person!)


Apparently they are very dangerous (if I have the right name), this is what it said about them on line... " A bite from the banana spider is painful and neurotoxic. The victim of a bite will experience sweating and an irregular heartbeat. The bite from a banana spider can result in death and antivenin does exist, so seeking treatment as soon as possible is imperative. "

My Great Husband- on my birthday

Ok, I'm usually not the sappy, mooshy type, but I had to post how great my husband is. As most of you know he is bogged down with studying everyday. (This semester in particular is supposed to be the hardest of all the 4 years) -so he has literally studied at the library from opening to closing, then for a few hours more when he gets home EVERY DAY. However, yesterday was my birthday and he still managed to make me feel special. I picked him up after a super long test and he took me to dinner and got me cake and watched an old horror movie with me. He has another test in a few days but despite how stressed he may have been and needed to study he still took the night off to be with me. I on the other hand probably wasn't the most fun to be around. I got completely sick feeling (thanks to this pregnancy) and threw up most of the night. But Ben still stuck with me. I LOVE YOU Ben, thanks so much for all of the hard work you put forth for our family!

ps.. The brown sweatshirt he is wearing in that photo is what we have named "his study shirt" I bought it for him on one of our first Christmas together over 6 years ago and I truly loath this shirt (I have tried to secretly throw it away at times). He wears it everyday because the library is cold. So this is the only thing I have seen him in for weeks and I am beginning to think I wont see him in anything else until Christmas break!!! hahaha:)

Presley's first pony tail!

I have been dieing to put a pony tail in P-lady's hair. It has gotten sooo long, it was just a matter of keeping her still. I had to bribe her with the hairspray bottle to keep her from screaming. She seems so grown up to me.

Ben finally jumped the fence

Ben finally jumped the fence this weekend and cut down bananas. It was way harder then it looked. These trees are so big and the banana bundles are really heavy. I actually had to climb the fence and get on his shoulders to get them down!!! So much for being sneaky, I'm sure the whole neighborhood saw us:) But I am really excited to make banana bread -- yummy.

Slideshow for Grandma and Grandpa Cloud

Presley received a big b-day present full of clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Cloud. They wanted to see her in the outfits because they wont get to see her in them in real life. It was hard to make P-lady change clothes over and over but it turned out cute! Enjoy:)

I've Been tagged

Linds tagged me, so here goes. I am supposed to list 6 quirks about myself.

1) I have to brush my teeth as soon as I wake up.

2) I hate humidity, makes my hair wavy and my face sweat:(

3) I hate clutter ( I throw all junk away) Ben has lost several items that way

4) I don't like to grocery shop, I want to get in and out as fast as I can, I hate all of those dumb shoppers wondering around slowly in the store (you are in my way!).

5) I hate to take Ben shopping with me. He has way different taste in clothes and always tries to get my to buy things I don't like.

6) I hate wrinkles. Why do we have to get old??(I curse the small lines on my face daily)

(ok Tiff, Amy, Mel and Brandi-- you are tagged (your turn))

The Day After - "Let them eat cake"

This was too funny not to post. I tried to give Presley lunch the day after her birthday and she spotted the cake on the counter and started crying and wouldn't eat. So I let her out of her chair and she ran over to the counter where the cake was and started screaming and reaching for it. I quickly grabbed my camera and luckily caught part of it. Too Cute (she takes after her dads sweet tooth!!!)

Presleys 1st Birthday Party

The day started off fun for Presley, she got several birthday calls, I made her eggs for breakfast and Ben gave her a ride in the laundry basket (one of her favorite things to do!) I took her to McDonald's for french fries with a friend and her baby girl in the afternoon. We came home and she watched Annie then got all dressed up in her birthday outfit that Ben bought her. I made Mexican food and invited a few of our friends over to celebrate (mom you would have been proud of my enchiladas, you taught me well). We had cake and ice cream, Presley ate her entire mini cake!!!! Opened all of her great presents (thanks to many of you:)), played for a few hours and finally went to bed an hour and a half past her bed time! I thought she was going to have a hard time sleeping because of all the sugar, but I guess her belly was good, she had a great night sleep and even slept in a little bit (hurray P-Lady)!!!

Presley is 1 today!!

I can't believe its been 1 year already. Time seems to go so fast. I feel so lucky that I have this beautiful, perfect, special girl in my life. I can't imagine my life without her, I love her so much. Happy Birthday Presley Love Cloud.

My new hair

Surprise, I cut my hair again. Too bad it doesn't look like the photo I took to the hair dresser, but its growing on me just the same:)

Dancing Queen

Grandparents, this is for you because we are so far away and you are missing the cute stages P-lady is going through. Presley not only has started to really grasp walking, she recently started dancing without holding onto anything, she's a little shaky but she is doing so well. She loves the "Doodle Bops" on TV and was dancing to their singing. So cute. Enjoy!

Kayaking

We finally got our paddles in and took the kayak out for a spin. It was alot of fun. I was a little scared at first because we had to take turns going alone while one stayed behind and took care of P-lady. But it was the best feeling to be so free out on the water, plus it was a great arm workout. I can't wait to get back out. If only we could figure out an easier way to lift it on our car. I had to climb all over it wile Ben held it up. Our neighbors all came outside and watched like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Glad we could put a show on for the neighborhood!

I will tear anything up that is in reach of my little hands

I stepped out of the room for a second and Presley had terrorized my fake house plant. I should have been mad but she was so darn cute and so involved in her plans that she didn't notice me. Gotta love her!

We Got Annie!

We just had to post Presley's favorite past time. She is in LOVE with the movie Annie and she cant seem to get close enough to the TV when I let her watch the movie (as you can see in the photo). (Who would have thought that an 11 month old could pay attention to a movie like this??)

Labor Day

For Labor day we hung out at home most of the day. Then later that afternoon we met some of our friends at a park to BBQ (one of Ben's favorite things to do). Presley really enjoyed herself. She loves to run around and hang on everyone. She is certainly not shy. She tried so hard to walk everywhere. I guess it wont be too long until she has walking mastered and then I will be in real trouble (chasing her everywhere)!!!

OMG we really drank this!!!

I wanted everyone to know we survived our first shot of home-grown, home-juiced wheatgrass. It wasn't that bad really!! I haven't convinced myself to do it everyday but so far 2 days down and I really can feel the energy boost. Ben and I take it right before we go walking-jogging and we both feel full of energy, so it must be doing something good..

Ben finally has something to say

Ben's been wanting a kayak for EVER and he finally found a used one at a reasonable price. He can't wait to get this out on the ocean (too bad it didn't come with paddles) so he has to wait. Not only will I rarely see him this semester because of studying, but now he has another hobby that I can bet he will spend most of his free time doing. Oh well, I guess you only get the opportunity to live in Hawaii once so you might as well do it right!

Bag it up

Because I recently left Corporate America to be a stay at home mom I am learning to add creative hobbies to my days. Partly so I don't go mad, but also because I have learned to focus these new found skills to my benefit. For example, I want a new beach bag, humm I'll just make one. Who says sewing is for old ladies?

Drink this?

Lately I have started trying new things and forcing Ben to do them with me. I was looking online trying to find a natural supplement to cure wrinkles and found a link to foods that heal, including skin. So I am now growing my own wheat grass, cooking barley and sweetening my yogurt with Brazillian acai berries. You might as well wrap me up and put me in a Koshi box because I have stepped into the relm of granola. Apparently they are all supposed to do amazing things for your body, I'll let you know how it works for me. I still have about 3 more days of growth before I put this grass in my mouth.

Bananas anyone?

One of the great things about living in Hawaii is the free fruit that grows everywhere. Every morning I look out my kitchen window and am greeted by a field of banana trees. We can literally pick these any time we want (with a little hop over the fence, but who's looking -right??;)

Meet the one and only Miss P-Love Cloud

Presley just turned 11 months old and has started the count down to her 1 year old birthday! She cruises everywhere and gets into EVERYTHING and took her very first walking step Aug 2oth. Here is a list of the things Miss P-Love Loves to do:
· Dance while holding onto the the TV stand watching the movie Annie
· Shakes her head back and forth like she is trotting while crawling really fast
· Turning the TV on and off over and Over and OVER
· Splashing water at the beach and sneaking sand into her mouth when I turn my head
· Shout the word Yucka over and Over and OVER
· Trying to walk while falling down repeatedly