jesspalmersinparadise

what to do with two boys?

2007-09-19T19:51:00.000-10:00

honi honi

it doesn't get much better!

we love all 18 pounds of this guy. he's such a chunk! we love it. he is so smiley and so snuggly, but he does need some space at times. he loves to hold his turtle, octopus, or giraffe. he loves to suck his thumb. he sleeps through the night, but the poor guys is already teething. he loves to sit up and try to stand. he can't sit still. he loves to watch his brother and doesn't mind the occasional pounding of love.

good 'ol bob

how sad is this face?

really, another kiss?

kana loves to watch signing time and do his stomp/bouncing dance to the music. if i let him, he would watch it all day long. he loves to play on the computer. he still loves to read. he doesn't say many words, but he can sign just about all the animals and many other things. he also is able to do most of the animal sounds. he loves to play outside and loves to swim at the beach and play in the sand. but he exchanged eating the sand for drinking the ocean. he loves his brother, loves to give him hugs and kisses, and will even share his blanket and keko (monkey). he is a little kalohe though. he loves to color on the walls and chase after the dogs. he thinks it's funny to pull on surfers tail and get surfer to bark at him. i think moo secretly likes it when kana sits, stands, and chases after her. as long as she gets her snacks, she doesn't care.

look out, he loves to wrestle

another vannagon fan and he loves to drive

nap time always includes a lot of books

it just gets longer and longer

first bath time together

kana loves to help wash

he loves his bath toys

here comes the water

the chase fam

2007-09-11T16:39:00.001-10:00

sean's mom, step-dad, and two brothers came out to visit a couple of weeks ago. we had a lot of fun. we played a lot at the beach, which was just wonderful! we miss them all so much and wish that they could come and play all of the time! we look forward to the next time we get to see them!

kana had so much fun either playing drums and dancing with the whole fam

playing at the cultural center

nakoa and tutu

the palmers

dad and kana just fitting in

cody and sean doing a fijian dance

scary but true kana hair after a nap (and sweat)

tutu and kana walking

kana loves kapuna

how sweet is this!

the ladies love our little man

playing at the beach like a wild man

me and kana, i love my little man

kana likes to show tutu how he plays at the beach

kana and daddy love to play at the beach

the boys playing in the water

seriously?

sean's bday

2007-09-11T16:29:00.000-10:00

sean recentely turned a big 26! we can't believe that he's getting so old. just kidding.

he got some fun presents, but the best one of all, was the one that kana left for him early that morning.

welcome to the 'my kid throws a full on, knock you over, screaming tantrum in public' club

2007-09-04T22:50:00.000-10:00

don't let the sweet smile fool you

i feel like i should be welcomed into a club or something! it's funny, what else can you do but laugh. kana has always been pretty good out in public, but lately it's changing. not all the time, but all it takes is once or a few to instill that fear in you of never knowing when it's going to happen.
the beginning...
so kana, nakoa and i drop grams off at the doctor and then go to get my finger printing done. it's a pretty small and quiet, no music playing, office with cubicles. we go in the back room and i start the process. i'm wearing nakoa and kana is playing on the floor. the lady is having some problems so she goes to get her suprevisor. nakoa is kinda fussing, so i'm trying to quiet him down and the suddenly i see the computer shutting off. yes, i fall guilty as one of those people who wasn't watching my son every second, and his curious little fingers pushed the off switch to the computer. so when the two ladies come back in, i have to humbly apologize for my son who shut off the computer. the suprevisor kindly points out that there are some toys right outside the door for him to play with. so kana plays and i finish my finger printing. nakoa thankfully falls asleep. when i'm done i help kana start putting the toys away, but there is one he doesn't want to let go of. i tell him that we have to leave it, take it out of his hand, put it on the shelf and stand up to leave. oh, this is where the fun begins. kana immediately falls to the floor and, literally, begins screaming and pounding his feet. i'm just thinking oh crap! i somehow pick up kana and hold on to him as he is trying to fling himself backward. as we walk down the never ending hallway, he's just screaming as all the other employees are just staring. the fingerprinting lady helps me wrestle kana into the stroller as he is trying with all his might to fight me. after about an eternity, i finally get down the door, walk down the hallway and into the elevator, all the while with a screaming uncontrollably child. we make it out of the building, across the street, down the sidewalk- kana still screaming. i'm just thinking everyone must think that i beat my child. why else would he be screaming like this. finally he starts to settle down and we get to where grams is waiting for us. i ask her if she heard us coming, because of all that screaming. she said she heard the screaming, but didn't realize that it was us. she just laughed. hahaha.

this is my life now, what? where did my sweet little boy go that was always so good out in public?
he still is sweet and good. i love him.

the vani-wagon

2007-08-15T15:38:00.000-10:00

she's still going strong and drives like a dream!

fish head

2007-08-15T15:33:00.000-10:00

this is what happens when dad gets kana ready for the beach

hahaha, says sean

nakoa sleeping in the crib

yes, we still love the moo

2007-08-12T15:34:00.000-10:00

the moo. our fat girl. we still love her more than ever!
a tribute to moo.

bandana man

2007-08-12T14:09:00.000-10:00

our friends mike and julie have been out staying with us the last couple of days and kana and mike just love playing together. kana loves wrestling, playing, reading with mike, basically just having all of his attention. but the best part is kana taking on mike's fashion sense. it's awesome.

how cute is he.

really? a bit scary.

who's the ghost?

some other big things have happened for us this week.
kana is now sleeping in his big boy bed.

notice the foot on the rail.

he also wants to go body surfing with his dad. which he actually did a little yesterday. he got rolled (face in and then out) in some white wash at the beach yesterday and just thought it was the greatest!

ready to go dad?

nakoa is finally sucking his thumb and sleeping in the crib. yeah!
which means he can now move out of our room and into his and kana's.

other than that, kana still loves nakoa, nakoa is still laughing and talking so much of the time. nakoa's still a tank. we love having grams with us. nakoa loves the baths that grams gives and kana loves wearing grams out! kana now can make most any animal sound and says a new 'real' word almost every day. it's just so exciting and so much fun!

the boys

check me out

nakoa talking to mom

bath times with grams

our pretty little girl

2007-08-10T21:26:00.000-10:00

some of you may be confused because you may say that surfer's not a girl, he's a boy, but to us he is our pretty little girl.

first, he's just so pretty, like a swan. then, he's very sensitive and has to cuddle and touch you all the time, and have all your attention. surfer is the funniest dog sean and i have ever known, those of you who have ever spent time with him know that as fact.
i don't even know how to express who surfer is, so i'll just share some pics that say it all.

surfer basking in the sunlight

sleeping

sleeping

and yes, sleeping again
you may wonder if he does anything else. not really. he barks a little. plays with kana a little. but mostly sleeps.

this is my life

best friends

it's sad but true.

the vanagon

2007-08-05T15:33:00.000-10:00

the palmers are now the proud owners of a '84 vw vanagon.
it's so awesome! it's blue with a white top and barely any rust. the interior is a dark chocolate brown and is very, very clean. you may think that we're crazy buying the vanagon because it's old, a vw, and doesn't have the best track record, but don't worry, we did our research and we know what we're getting into. but ours of course will be perfect!
it's just so fun and awesome! and what better car to have in hawaii? we don't have to ever drive real far and the speed on the streets/highways are no where near as fast as on the mainland. and then there's the fact that we live in hawaii and it's just a slower pace of life all around. and we figure that if we're going to have to fix up a car, we'd rather it be one that we love than one that we hate.
and yes, the vanagon is mine, all mine. it can be sean's surf wagon one day when we get the 'practical' family wagon, but until then, it's jess' family wagon. and i just love driving my big bus with no power steering around! it just doesn't get much better!

hair man

2007-08-02T17:02:00.000-10:00

we are having so much fun with grams here. kana loves to play with grams and eat all the food that she makes him. nakoa loves to talk and laugh at her, as long as he's not hungry, then he's just mad! but she such a big help as i jump back into children's ministry and start subbing.
it's funny, but when i quit teaching, i didn't think that i would miss it that much. running our children's ministry and teaching on sunday mornings has been such a great joy and blessing and i absolutely love doing it, but even going to the school to drop off the application made me realize how much i miss teacing my own class and having my own classroom. before i thought that i might not ever go back to teaching, but now i'm not so sure. i'm not planning on going back to full-time teaching anytime soon (there's still more kids to come, hehe, i just thought it was funny that teaching is not just something i can do well, but it's really apart of who i am, and i like that.

so kana just keeps getting funnier and funnier. we just can't get enough of him. a typical day always includes wanting to eat snacks and share with the dogs, watching 'chicka chicka boom boom' and 'fraggle rock' on our bed, reading books over and over again with you (after he pulls all the books off the shelf to find just the right ones), reading books in his chair or on his bed to himself, wanting to play 'cows don't quack' on the curious george website (which he can actually match all of the animal sounds to the right animal), laughing with his fake laugh at anything you or he does, tempting the dogs again with his snacks, sneaking around and pushing any button he can find, and playing outside with surfer and his ball. and of course he always wants to make sure nakoa is okay by sharing his snacks or getting him a blanket.

here are some fun pics, enjoy!

this is my son yelling. i just wanted to share.

this is really what kana looked like after his nap.
styled only by sweat and sheets!

soon to come... the new addition to the palmer household (no, it's not another baby)

only in hawaii

2007-07-21T18:47:00.000-10:00

today we went to pick up grams at the airport. as we were leaving, i started to put shirts on the boys and sean said, "no way, they don't need shirts." so all the palmer boys, yes even sean, left for the airport in shorts and no shirts. as my husband would say,
"this is how we role here in hawaii, no shirts!"
sean did put his shirt on before he went into the airport to get grams.
but you can be sure that on the ride home, he was shirtless again.

for fun

2007-07-20T08:25:00.000-10:00

does it get any better than this?

i don't even know what to say. my son wants to be an '80s aerobic instructor- he even had some of the moves down!

haole keiki

2007-07-19T14:15:00.000-10:00

i love our little nakoa. he's just so sweet. he loves to snuggle and be sung too. but the kid can fart. it's very funny. just this morning, sean and i were laughing so hard because nakoa was farting so loudly you just wouldn't believe it. but he has the best smile! i just can't get enough of it.

kana has the best hair. but he's so haole, with his super blonde hair and fair skin. he does fit the hawaiian style though with his big opu and mini mullet/tail, the fact that he doesn't wear shoes that often and loves not wearing a shirt, and that he can eat. he loves any kind of meat, rice, tofu, and papaya. he also can't get enough of the water and doesn't care if he gets knocked over by the waves or not. he's a born surfer, sean can't wait. he's even been out on the board with sean a couple of times and loves it.

i miss trader joes

2007-07-18T14:13:00.000-10:00

i must admit that living in hawaii is pretty awesome!
it's amazingly beautiful all of the time.
but there are a few mainland places that i miss. TRADER JOES!
so if you are planning on visiting and having a free place to stay, which anyone is always welcome, you must bring me something from trader joes. maybe some dark chocolate covered almonds or cranberries, fig cereal bars, peanut butter pretzels, any kind of trail mix, or a fun surprise is always welcomed.
but without the trader joes, you might just have to sleep on the beach.

why another blog

2007-07-15T13:02:00.000-10:00

i'm making this blog to try and keep our friends and family updated on our life. sean does a fantastic job with our other website (don't forget to check that one too), but he's so busy with work to update it all the time. so until we get the software on our home computer for me to do the updates, i'll use this site.
here are just a few pictures of our family.

kana is a funny, funny boy. he loves to eat snacks, be in or play with any kind of water, tease the dogs, watch elmo or curious george, read lots of books, wrestle with dad, dance, play the djembe or ukelele, be outside, and of course, make messes for mom to clean up. he likes to play on his big boy bed, but not sleep on it yet. we haven't cut his hair yet, so he has a bit of a mullet, which dad is very proud of. he loves to give nakoa hugs, pat/hit his belly, poke his eyes, and hold his hand when he's crying. it's really the sweetest thing!

nakoa is still developing his personality, but he has the biggest, sweetest, cutest smile! he loves to be talked to or sung to. he'll even sing back to you. it's great.

sean and i are doing really good. sean gets to go out surfing at least a couple of times a week with some friends, which always makes him very happy. we take walks together in the early evening which makes me so happy. i'm really enjoying the two boys- playing, snuggling, laughing, and of course, not sleeping. i'm also really enjoying children's ministry. it's going really well, i have a lady helping/guiding/mentoring me right now who's done children's ministry for 25 years and is just great! i'm very thankful.
hawaii is so wonderful. we're so thankful everyday to live here. we're growing, our family is growing, and it's just so exciting.