Babymoon Trip to Hawaii

In January Brady and I took an incredible trip to Hawaii for our Babymoon. We spent 3 and a half days on the island of Oahu and then another 4 on Maui.  Oahu was nice, but Maui proved to be our absolute favorite. While many vacation spots boast beautiful views and incredible sights, Hawaii far exheeded my expectations and has been my all-time favorite vacation that I have ever taken. Being an outdoor kind of girl, I absolutely LOVED the climate, the scenary, the wildlife, the peaceful attitude of the locals, the food (I love seafood!), and the sand. We were about to walk about 20 yards from our hotel room and sit on the beach that provided consistent views of the migrating humpback whales jumping in and out of the water.  There was even an occasional sea turtle that would swim up to the shore line so that we could walk up and get in the water with him.  It was amazing. While we were gone Brady and I talked about what it would take to move and live on Maui. After 8 days we still felt we could have stayed just a few more although, I'm not sure what G.G. and Papa would have thought about our plan considering they stayed back to take care of the three kiddos while we were gone.

 

 

 

 

Our snorkeling adventure: Hanauma bay on Oahu

 

 

 

Yummy shaved ice!

 

 

 

I love waterfalls so this was one of my favorite hikes but "BURR" that water was freezing!

Hawaii boasted numerous incredible sunsets that we could observe each night from our hotel room patio.

 

 

 

I could barely catch a glimpse of my toes at this point...that ever-growing belly was beginning to obstruct my view.

Ahh...seafood.  So many good meals.

 

Christmas Comparison

Brady and I couldn't believe how much the kids had changed in a year's time.

Update

Brady & I enjoyed a couple of days on our own this weekend.  Nonnie & Granddad very kindly came in from Fort Worth so that we could take a little time for ourselves.  First, we got up on Saturday morning at 5am to drive to Canyon Lake to participate in the Annual Joint Base San Antonio Rambler 120, a bike/run/raft relay event.  We were participating with several friends from Brady's squadron.  Brady rode the entire 22 miles for the bike event, then he and I ran 3 miles as a part of the second leg relay, then we joined the second leg relay for a 1 mile raft.  We had a super time and really enjoyed ourselves.  Our team of eight did great and out of 37 teams we ended up placing 1st in our division.

 

 

Following the Rambler, we drove to Houston.  Our main purpose for the drive was to make an important vehicle change by selling my much loved Prius.  A few months ago Brady & I decided to sell the Prius to get one of these instead....

We chose to expand our vehicle seating options to help support

...our expanding family.

Baby Sullivan is scheduled to arrive mid-March.  We are not going to find out the gender ahead of delivery and we are very excited to welcome this sweet new baby girl or boy into the world.

It has been especially fun sharing this experience with the other three children.  Having "older" children to share in the joy has been one of my favorite parts.  It is funny to see their eyes widen as they recognize the fast growth of my belly.  They have opinions on name selection and even share thoughts on how they will help with the baby after he or she arrives.  Kaelyn's first name selection for the baby was first name, "Little", middle name, "Me".  Chloe's selection was "Chala"...the name she often gives her baby dolls. Needless to say, we are still brainstorming name options.

Chloe Turns THREE!

Chloe Grace turned three years old in September and we quickly came to realize that she is not a baby anymore. Six months prior, just before Brady left for deployment, Chloe started potty training and moved from her crib into a big girl bed. I sat on the floor in her room and cried as he changed her convertable crib into a toddler bed. It didn't seem possible that she could be old enough to be out of the crib. She did great with the change though and continued to mature and become more independent at a rapid pace from there forward. Over the past year Chloe has learned most of her letter sounds and can count to 20 (every once in a while she skips 17). Things to Remember about her now... Favorite Song: Dynamite Dessert: Ice Cream Food: This is tough because she has a very wide pallet for a 3 year old. I would say...mac and cheese or chicken nuggets Loves to: Dance, Color, Paint, play dress-up, & tea parties Favorite Color: Purple Favorite Outfits: "Spinny Dresses" Loves all things girly: nail polish, girl products, lotion, perfume...she is fascinated by all the Mary Kay products Chloe also shares the very same birthday with Nina (Brady's mom) so this year we were fortunate enough to have a special celebration for the two of them.

First Days of School

It is hard to believe that we have a 3rd grader, Kindergartener and preschooler this year! All three children have been tremendously blessed with amazing teachers and they all seem to be so happy with school this year....such an answer to prayers!