The Fuller Ohana

January

2011-02-12T12:34:00.004-10:00

My friend's husband came out to Hawaii for training so we all went to dinner. :) Uncle Matt was a big hit with the kids!

We also went on a whale watching cruise.

Sadly for us, we had to say Aloha goodbye to our awesome babysitter. We miss her already!!

December - Part 3 - Texas

2011-02-12T12:14:00.005-10:00

From AL, we flew to TX. Aunt Myke and Todd also flew out for Christmas.

Making cookies for Santa with Nana

Christmas Eve

The family at church on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning

The kids loved going on golf cart rides with Dewpop

Loving on Mamaw

We met up with my friend, Kim, and her family for lunch

We had a great time in AL and TX but it was nice to get back to our own space and warm weather! :)

December - Part 2 - Alabama

2011-02-11T12:01:00.006-10:00

We traded in our shorts and flip flops for jackets and sweaters when we went to Alabama. It was a short trip but we had a great time with my side of the family. Makayla and Elijah LOVED playing with their cousin, Benjamin!

Our first night... the kids camped out in the living room

My Papa

Brandon & Granny

Aaron & Kristin

Elijah, Makayla & Benjamin having our Christmas dinner on the 19th

Makayla loved BamBam

The kids all bundled up because it was COLD

With my "little" brothers

Makayla showing Benjamin how to do the shaka

They love each other!

Opening some presents

Their first roasted marshmellows

Speak No, See No, Hear No

We also visited with my Granny Jane

And had lunch at Cutts with my friend, Crystal

Getting ready to leave Enterprise :(

Our time in AL went by way too fast!! We miss you all!

December - Part 1

2011-02-11T11:42:00.004-10:00

There are so many pictures that we want to share from December that it has to broken up into 3 posts. Lucky you! ;)

Saying goodbye to our great neighbors

The kids at a cookie exchange

Seeing Santa before our trip

October/November

2011-02-11T10:17:00.003-10:00

I WAS doing well with the blog... until a few months ago. :) I realized that the last post I made was Makayla's first day of school. OOPS! Now, to catch you all up with pictures. Since my plan for collages failed, you'll get a few new posts to catch up instead of one. :)

In October, Blain's new unit had a ball. So, off we went to the Marriott at Ko'Olina. It was nice to get all glammed up and go out for the night.

In November, we said goodbye to friends. That's the hard part of Army life. We had a great night with the Cottrills and the Adkins.

Also in November, we met a friend at Waimea Bay to take our Christmas card photos.

These didn't make the card but they're funny.

The only picture I have from Thanksgiving. :) We spent the day at our neighbors' house.

Stay tuned for many more pictures!

Off to Kindergarten we go

2010-08-09T09:28:00.003-10:00

Today was our sweet baby girl's first day of school. Not exactly sure where the last five years have gone.

Here she is just four short years ago

Fast forward to today...

She'll turn 5 in one month. My how times flies...

HE'S HOME, HE'S HOME, HE'S HOME!

2010-07-27T13:42:00.010-10:00

On Monday, July 12 we welcomed all of C. Co. home!! I got a photographer to come out and take pictures because I knew I wouldn't be able to capture everything I wanted to. Chelsea did an amazing job!! Here are just a few of the pictures she took.

Waiting...

Elijah and his friend, Eddy

The soldiers were just on the other side of this tarp. They had someone with a video camera up on their side and a projector screen set up on our side so we could see them as they swiped their id cards. :) We watched for Blain.

We spotted him!

He waved to the camera, we waved to the projector. Makayla said, "He saw me!!" Obviously, he couldn't but I love how excited she got.

After what felt like forever and a day, they rolled the door up and they all marched in!

Chaplain prayed, band played the National Anthem, someone talked for about five minutes... I honestly couldn't tell you what was said. It was such a blur. They released the soldiers!

Elijah reached for Blain and said, "That's my Daddy!"

My turn

And then we took our Hero home. :)

May

2010-07-27T11:55:00.002-10:00

Just a few pictures from Mother's Day and Memorial Day

Kauai

2010-04-21T10:29:00.008-10:00

We took a mini vacation while Blain was here. We hopped on a plane and took a whopping 30 minute flight to Kauai. :) We got there before check-in time so we went to have lunch at Duke's. Blain and the guys usually have lunch there when they fly to Kauai.

Miss Mak

Mr. Eli saying cheese

The Hawaiian state bird... The Nene

Kilohana Plantation

Waiting on the train

Taking a break from the train ride to feed the pigs

Glass sand beach

Kilauea Lighthouse

Waimea Canyon

Fern Grotto River Cruise

The Sleeping Giant

Opaekaa Falls

Wailua Falls

We had a wonderful two weeks with Blain here!! As of the time of this post, I'm not sure if he's made it back to Iraq yet. I do know that he made it as far as Spain. :)

Heading to the airport...

The final countdown to the end of the deployment can now begin!!!

And for those of you that don't know, we have requested to stay in Hawaii for another three years. You now have until the end of 2013 to visit!!!

The start of R&R and Easter

2010-04-21T10:09:00.005-10:00

R&R has come and gone. Blain came in on the 2nd and the kids and I were able to go to the gate and watch his plane come in.

The plane is here! The little boy in the middle was also waiting on his daddy.

Blain... don't kill me for putting this picture on here. :) My camera didn't want to cooperate that night. This (and the next one) would've been a great picture. I also wasn't expecting him to be the first off the plane. LOL

Off to get Daddy's bag

We were all super excited and Daddy even had to sit in between the carseats on the way home. :)

It was nice having Blain home just in time for Easter.

It was a wonderful day!!!

New pictures

2010-03-21T14:15:00.008-10:00

Daddy's Valentines

Last month, we went to a deployed spouses retreat. The kids and I spent Valentine's weekend at the Marriott at Ko'Olina. It was absolutely beautiful! While I sat in a room learning the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, the kids had a blast with the childcare that was provided.

Our room

The view from our room

Getting ready to watch a movie

Elijah's Birthday

Elijah turned TWO on the 8th of this month. Nana & Dewpop flew out for the big day. The day before Nana & Dewpop got here, Elijah fell in Makayla's room and hit his head on part of her ottoman. So, off we went to the ER. We decided not to do stitches they glued his wound.

Here he is a couple of days after the fall.

We had his Mickey Mouse themed party on the 6th. We had lots of friends and Daddy even made a cameo appearance.

"Reading" and listening to his special card from Daddy

Running to tell Daddy that he likes it.

Makayla & Dewpop

Elijah & Nana

Last month, I submitted applications and pictures for the kids to get quilts from Operation Kid Comfort. It is a great organization that takes pictures of your service member and the child(ren) and they make quilts for kids 6 and under and pillows for kids 7 and up. This is a service they offer while the service member is deployed. The ladies that make these quilts are all volunteers and work with donations of fabrics. We went last week to pick up Makayla's & Elijah's quilts.

Blain is doing well. Time is ticking away. R&R is coming up soon and we are going to be taking a short trip to Kauai. We are super excited!

We home you all are doing well!

With love,
The Fuller Ohana

Christmas

2010-02-01T23:10:00.005-10:00

Hawaiian Santa at Makayla's preschool Christmas party

We had the McIntosh family over for dinner one night before they moved off the island.
Makayla & Will

Elijah & Drew

On Christmas Eve we spent a little time at our neighbors' house before church

After church, the kids opened their new Christmas jammies

Christmas morning

Daddy sent some gifts. Mak asked where they came from and I told her that Daddy sent them from Toys R Us. Her repsonse was "Daddy has a Toys R Us in Iraq?!"

As you can see, Elijah put on the helmet and left it on for most of his gifts. :)

We definitely missed Blain at Christmas time. We were blessed to be able to get on Skype with him and he was able to watch the kids open their gifts.

Later that afternoon we went to my cousin's house for dinner.

My cousin's niece, my cousin's daughter, Makayla & Elijah

This is what happens when poor Elijah is surrounded by girls

My cool man

Makayla Picasso (She said this is a photo she drew of herself. She even drew curls.)

The boy tried to close himself in the refrigerator

Miss Mak loves to take pictures! Especially of herself :)

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you are enjoying the new year. We are are excited about Nana & Dewpop coming out to visit for Elijah's birthday early next month! We are also excited about Blain's R&R in about 2 months!! We can't wait to see him!

Overdue pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas

2010-02-01T22:43:00.003-10:00

ALOHA!!

For Thanksgiving, we spent the day with the McIntosh family, along with three other families. We had a wonderful time!

All the kids

Normally, we don't decorate for Christmas until the first weekend in December but this time I pulled everything out the day after Thanksgiving.

Mak putting one last ornament on the tree (and Elijah saying "ooohhh")

The first part of December I had a friend try to get a good picture of us for our Christmas card photo. I say try because Elijah Barron was a difficult little man that day. Here are some of the bloopers.

The better pics we got

Pumpkin Patch, Zoo, Halloween

2009-11-07T12:07:00.002-10:00

We had a Pumpkin Patch date with Kristin, Sammy, Elise, Angie and Haley. Why I didn't take any with all the kids is beyond me.

With Haley

While Sammy was on her fall break, we went to the zoo.

For Halloween, we had Tinkerbell and Peter Pan

Aunt Pam's house was our first stop

Elijah really liked trick or treating!

We definitely missed Daddy trick or treating with us!

Last but not least, a few pictures that Blain took.

We miss him like crazy! He's been gone two months now. We are counting down until R&R! If it's still when he requested, we have about 5 months to go. The kids are doing well. Elijah is talking a lot more than he was when Blain left. And he has started throwing fits. Fun times! He'll be 20 months old on Sunday. Four months until our baby turns TWO. Absolutely crazy! Makayla is doing great. She is still going to preschool at the YMCA. I'm having a bit of a hard time knowing that in just a few months, I will be registering her for big kid school.

We hope you are all doing well! I'll try not to let two months go between posts again. :)

Parties!

2009-11-07T11:17:00.003-10:00

Will & Drew had a joint birthday party in October at a neat place called Leapin Lizards. All the kids had a great time!!! (And I think the adults did too)

Luigi cake for Will

Mario cake for Drew

Makayla's class had their Halloween party on Oct 24.

3-25 had their Halloween festival on Oct 24 as well

Eli dancing

Cinderella & Captain America

Thunderbirds and the Bishop Museum

2009-11-07T09:30:00.004-10:00

The Thunderbirds came to Hawaii back in September. Makayla, Elijah & I met the McIntosh family at Hickam Air Force Base to watch the amazing show!

The Thunderbirds performed one maneuver that they ended up making a heart. They did this for the families with deployed family members. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing.

Another day, the kids & I met Lisa, Will & Drew at the Bishop Museum to check out the dinosaur exhibit. I was expecting bones not dinosaurs that moved and roared. Will & Drew loved it! Makayla was scared out of her mind and Elijah didn't seem to care one way or the other. :D

The boys... Mak didn't want her photo taken

Saying "See ya later" and Mak's birthday

2009-09-14T16:15:00.005-10:00

Well... we have survived week one of the deployment! :D We miss Blain like crazy but we are doing really well. We have a made a deployment paper chain (one paper link for everyday Daddy is gone and every night we tear one off) and the kids have their Daddy Dolls (www.hugahero.com).

For what we thought was going to be Blain's last night at home, we went up to Haleiwa to Pizza Bob's for dinner. Unfortunately, Makayla was being a stinker and wouldn't have her picture taken but I did get a good one of Elijah with Daddy.

He was supposed to leave the next day but the airplane broke. We got one extra day with him but that also meant getting up at 2am.

Blain, we miss you and love you and are counting down the weeks until we see you again!

Two days after Daddy left, Makayla turned FOUR!
Going home from the hospital on September 10, 2005

September 8, 2009

The kids and I met the McIntosh family at Chuck E Cheese for lunch. I think a good time was had by all. Thank you Lisa, Travis, Will & Drew for sharing the day with us!
Eli & Drew

After lunch, we came back home and I let Mak open some birthday presents that had been held back from her party. Daddy left her a special card that he recorded a message in and she absolutely LOVES it!!!

Wednesday, we got a special surprise! Makayla and I got matching flowers from Blain. So sweet of him. Mak wanted to take a picture of hers.

And this is what happens when a certain little girl leaves her chocolate pudding within reach of a certain little boy.

We hope everyone is doing well!!!

Professional pictures

2009-08-26T15:42:00.003-10:00

We had a photographer meet us at Chinaman's Hat to take family pictures. Our sweet, cute little boy DID NOT want to smile. Thankfully, the photographer caught a few.

Little Stinker

Makayla's birthday party

2009-08-26T15:17:00.004-10:00

We had Makayla's birthday part this past Saturday. She wanted a Tinkerbell party for her 4th birthday.

In the theater watching Tinkerbell

Mak with my cousin's little girl, Haley.

Picture frame from Mommy & Daddy

Tinkerbell earrings from Nana & Dewpop

Tinkerbell from Mommy, Daddy & Elijah

Barbie and tutu from her friend and his family. Mrs. Erin made the tutu!

Tinkerbell costume from Mamaw

Madam Alexander Tinkerbell and Barbie animal from Nana & Dewpop

I told her to close her eyes really tight for her next gift

She opened them to this

Tinkerbell cake and cupcakes

Pinata time!

Blain & my cousin, Angie

Daddy helping Makayla on her new bike

Eli out riding Makayla's Dora 4-wheeler

July/Aug 2009

2009-08-26T14:55:00.005-10:00

Third time was a charm for us to go on the Atlantis Submarine tour at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Unfortunately, Elijah couldn't go because he is too little.

Airplane

Fishy fishy

Green Sea Turtle

Makayla & Will at school

Eli had to have his picture taken too

Deployment Ceremony

Our FL trip continued...

2009-07-27T16:22:00.005-10:00

We checked out of the Shades of Green resort on the 8th and Dewpop came back to pick us up. We drove to his place in Lake Mary. He and Blain went a little later to pick up Nana and Mamaw from the airport. Aunt Myke came in the next day.

Makayla & Dewpop feeding the fish

Dewpop & Elijah eating spaghetti together

We all went to the outlet mall in Orlando and while we were shopping, it started storming! Nana, Aunt Myke and the kids started singing "The Wheels on the Bus". Had to do something to keep the kids entertained. :D

On Saturday, the 11th, Blain & I took the kids to Sea World. Thanks to Anheuser Busch/Sea World/Busch Gardens, active duty military members and their dependents get in for free.

Makayla getting ready to leave Dewpop's apt.

Sea World

Makayla waiting for another sting ray to pet

We even fed and pet the dolphins

The Shamu show

Going to see the manatees. It was our last stop of the day and the bottom fell out on us! We tried to wait it out but it never let up so we got soaked!

On the 12th, we went over to friends of Blain's parents for a get together.
The kids played in the pool

Mak & Ms. Janine

Eli going for his second dip in the pool. Not sure where his swimsuit ended up.

Elijah, Blain, Nana, Mamaw, Dewpop, Aunt Myke, Makayla and me

Makayla and Mr. Berry. I believe she was about to go on a horsey ride. The kids absolutely loved him!!!

Elijah's new trick is to show off his muscles

Elijah and Mamaw

Makayla and her Nana

Four generations!

Blain and Mamaw

All of us with Aunt Myke

Blain & his mom

Three generations of Fuller men

This is one busy boy. As you can see, I was interrupting his phone call.

It was great to spend time with our family and have Mamaw finally meet Elijah. Our trip was a little bittersweet though. Blain's deployment is just around the corner. His box has been packed and the helicopters are waiting to be shipped out. We are going to miss him terribly but we are very proud of him and what he does!! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. The kids and I plan to stay busy while he is away. The Fuller B&B will be open for visitors in late September!

Our first family vacation! *tons of pictures!

2009-07-27T15:08:00.006-10:00

Blain had his block leave earlier this month so we took our first family vacation to Florida! We spent the first week at Disney World! We had a wonderful time! It was so fun for me to see the excitement on the kids faces.
Dewpop picked us up from the airport on the 2nd and took Makayla straight to see the Snow White at the airport.

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

The Princess meet and greet

Princess Aurora planted a big kiss on Elijah!

Blain, Mak and Eli in front of Mickey's house

Eli LOVES Mickey Mouse but wasn't sure what to think when he saw the real live version standing in front of him. :D

Waiting to ride It's a Small World. I swore as a kid that I would never ride this again. LOL It's a little different once you have your own kids though.

The end of day 1

We went to dinner at one of the restaurants at our hotel and Makayla said she was Mary, as in the mother of Jesus. LOL

Day 2 was the 4th of July and we spent it at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios). We met up with Brandon, Deidre and Benjamin (my brother, sister-in-law and nephew) for the afternoon. After a few hours, Blain & Brandon riding Tower of Terror and all of us watching the awesome stunt show, we split for dinner and met back up at the park for the fireworks. The fireworks at H.S. left us a little disappointed. :(

We loved the Mickey statue at our hotel

We watched Beauty and the Beast Live (great show!)

Playhouse Disney Live - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Eli loved this show

Day 3 was spent back at Magic Kingdom. We had reservations for breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. We got pictures with Cinderella and then while eating breakfast, all the princesses walked around to every table for autographs and pictures.

Princess Aurora kissed Elijah again! :)

Poor boy crashed after the breakfast

Since we had to wake up early for the breakfast at Cinderella's castle, we went back to the hotel for naps. We didn't make it back to the park until 6pm. We met up with Brandon, Deidre & Benjamin again to watch the Spectromagic Parade and fireworks over the castle. I have seen the fireworks at Disney before, but never in front of the castle. It was quite magical!

Benjamin star struck, I'm sure :)

Eli fell asleep during the parade

Benjamin fighting with Uncle Blain

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom - It was also our anniversary so we kind of had to rush through the day. We had dinner reservations at one of the other resorts and Dewpop was coming to our hotel to watch the kids for us.

Mak in front of a trailer and pink flamingo lawn ornament in Dinoland (are you sure we aren't in AL? Just kidding, I love my home state!)

On the TriceraTop Spin

In Tiger Jungle

My beautiful babies

On the Kilimanjaro Safari

Pocahontas

Rafiki (from the Lion King) - Makayla absolutely would not stand for a picture with him!

She decided to stand behind this instead

Us on our 7th anniversary!

Makayla decided to be an artist and draw on Dewpop's feet while we were gone.

Day 5 - We went back to Magic Kingdom for our last day at Disney

Makayla, Elijah and I spent an hour in line to meet Ariel. Hope Makayla knows I love her because it was HOT!

Daddy teaching Makayla how to drive

The Liberty Bell

Donald Duck in Frontierland

On Aladdin's carpet ride

In line for the jungle cruise. As you can see, Elijah missed it.

We watched the Spectromagic parade twice on our last night.

And we watched the fireworks again. This time, we were right in front of the castle. They were absolutely beautiful!

We were a little sad to leave!! :)

Way overdue photos

2009-07-26T12:23:00.009-10:00

Aloha everyone! So it's been a few months since I posted pictures. This post will have a few random photos from May and June and also pictures from my surprise trip to Alabama in May. I was able to be in AL for my brothers' graduation,for my nephew's birthday party and also attend a very dear friend's baby shower. It was a great trip and I was able to eat at some of my favorite restaurants!

Makayla going snorkling in our bathtub

Major static hair

At the Aloha Tower Marketplace

One day, before our trip to AL, we went up to the North Shore for shave ice at the famous Matsumoto's.

Also in May, we said goodbye to our great neighbors.
Makayla & Eva

Elijah and Noah

Elijah and Eli

After about 16 or 17 hours of total travel time, the kids and I made it to Enterprise.
Mak & Benjamin our first night there. I think they were watching Mickey Mouse.

Elijah's first trip to Larry's BBQ (Blain favorite place in E'prise)

Mak & Eli with my friend, Brandy. She came down from TN for her family to host a baby shower for her. She welcomed a beautiful baby boy last week!

Met some friends at the park one day. I think we were there all of 20 minutes. It was too cold for us Hawaiian wannabes. (I think it was 60*) :)

Brandon, Deidre and I took the kiddos to the Army Aviation museum. The kids loved seeing the helicopters!

Elijah eating some yummy southern cooking... goulash, collard greens, fried cornbread. He loved it!

The kids with my Granny Jane

Mak with my Granny Judy

Mak feeding my mom's horse

At the beach when we got back from AL.

Mongolian night at the Kaneohe Marine Corps base

We tried to go on a submarine tour down in Honolulu. It was cancelled on us twice due to poor visibility. We have another time set next weekend. Hopefully we are actually able to go on this one.
Mak at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

Blain's deployment is quickly approaching so he had to pack his box before we went on our trip to FL. The kids in the box...

Easter weekend... Part 2

2009-04-20T14:37:00.006-10:00

Easter Sunday, the Fuller and McIntosh families got up super duper early (4am) to go to the Easter sunrise service aboard the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. We left our house at 5am and the service started at 6:30.

Makayla & Will dark and early

Tired little man

Makayla & Will checking out Celine (Mak's cabbage patch baby). Makayla was trying to teach her baby to sign "Mommy".

The fam after the sun came up

The USS Missouri

After the service we came home and the kids opened their Easter baskets.

My silly boy likes to go under our bar stools. Well, this particular day, he got stuck. He was YELLING at me but I had to take a quick photo before I let him out! :D

While Blain & the kids took their naps, I made deviled eggs and finished making these... Mini Cheesecake Baskets

Took our eggs and our cheesecake baskets to the McIntosh's house for a late lunch. Lisa made a great meal for us. Thank you, Lisa & Travis for having us over!!!

Swordfighting anyone?

Blain and the little men

After lunch, Lisa and I hit the backyard and hid eggs for Makayla and Will.
READY, SET, GO

Eli thought it would be fun to eat some grass

And stick a lollipop up his nose

The kids are growing like weeds! Makayla informed me the other day that she is almost 4 (her birthday is in September). LOL When did that happen?! Didn't I just have her? She is doing great! She is still enjoying her little preschool at the YMCA. She's a sassy little booger! Elijah is getting to be a big boy. He is 13 months old now. The little stinker just started walking Thursday night. He still prefers crawling (because he's a speed demon on his knees) but he's up to probably 7 or 8 steps in a row... just depends on what he's after. :D

Easter Weekend... Part 1

2009-04-19T08:47:00.005-10:00

We had a very busy Easter weekend! On Saturday, they had a Disney Character Breakfast and FunFest here on post. I found out quickly why the tickets to the breakfast were so cheap. None of them looked like the real deal! Makayla asked where Pocahontas was and she had just walked by. I pointed her out and Makayla said, "That IS NOT Pocahontas!" LOL We still had a good time though.

The family

Momma & Eli

And now the Hawaiian characters
Aladdin & Jasmine

Belle

Snow White and the Wicked Queen

Pocahontas

Mulan

Buzz Lightyear

Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Captain Hook

Pirates of the Carribean

The Incredibles

MWR Hawaii had their FunFest and Travel Fair after the breakfast. There were games, rides and McGruff the Crime Dog. The Easter Bunny was also there.
It started pouring rain while Blain & Mak were waiting for a ride. Pour girl got drenched!

Makayla & Will

After the FunFest, we went out to lunch with the McIntosh's. :D
Eli & Drew, two very happy boys!!!

Yummy marshmallow

Paradise Cove Luau

2009-03-26T14:55:00.005-10:00

We decided to play tourists for once this past weekend and we headed down to Ko'Olina to the Paradise Cove luau. We had a great time! We were greeted with leis and mai tais (even a kiddie one for Makayla).

Shower of flowers

Beautiful birds! Elijah wasn't thrilled with having a bird on his shoulder but Makayla loved holding the 'baby' bird.

I have to include this one. I thought he was crying because I was holding him still. Makayla told me later that she pinched him.

Makayla and Daddy on a canoe ride

Makayla got on stage to learn the hula (or the best she could in 2 minutes). Problem was the boy next to her kept bumping into her. Poor girl. She tried though and I plan to get her into hula lessons when she turns 4.

These last two pictures crack me up. This little boy of mine already LOVES the ladies!!! He is such a flirt!

Ice skating in Hawaii

2009-03-25T13:39:00.006-10:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a birthday party for the sweetest six year old I know. :D Miss Sammy wanted her party at the Ice Palace. Off we went in our warm clothes and jackets. I was not about to get on the ice so Daddy was on Makayla duty. She had a great time!!! Daddy was sore by the time it was all over. They had the walker things for her to hold on to and by the end of the day, she didn't want her Daddy holding on to it or her!

Elijah and Sarah Cate (She is 3 weeks older than Eli)

The birthday girl and Makayla

And little man was tuckered out!

Elijah's 1st birthday! Lots of pictures ahead!

2009-03-21T22:00:00.006-10:00

We celebrated Elijah's first birthday on the 8th! I can't believe how fast time is flying! It seems like just yesterday, that little 8lb. 6oz. baby made us a family of four. :D He had his 1 year check up the day after his birthday and he is just over 28in. tall and is weighing in at 19.2lbs. He isn't walking yet but he is standing on his own and cruises the furniture.

We had a house full for Elijah's party! We had a great time but we missed those of you who couldn't be here with us!! And now, the pictures!!! There are a ton so bear with me. :D These were taken with three different cameras. :D

Decorations

The Birthday Boy

Opening some gifts

No babies were harmed in the removal of the balloons!

Outfit #2 for the cake

The cakes... I was pretty proud of Eli's smash cake. The big cake, I was decorating really late at night and it didn't turn out quite like I wanted.

All that hard work, gone in just a few minutes

A bath in the laundry room sink

Pinata and candy time!

And a few extra pictures

New pictures for February

2009-02-22T15:53:00.005-10:00

Up on the North Shore...

Cute little 'nekkid' baby

Makayla started her Creative Movement class a couple of weeks ago. Feb. was a weird month because she had one class and the next Saturday, they had a tea party since it was Valentine's Day. They didn't have class yesterday (21st) and then they are to have class next Saturday. I don't know how they expect them to learn anything in 2 hrs for the whole month. Hopefully, March is planned a little better.

Blain is on the Big Island for training for a couple of weeks, so I took the kids down to Waikiki yesterday to go to the Aquarium. We went once after we moved here and I was still pregnant with Elijah. The kids loved the fish! Elijah was so excited!

They loved this tank

He really liked the jellyfish

You can see the state fish of Hawaii swimming towards Makayla... the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

We really wish Daddy could've been here with us. :D

We walked through the aquarium in record time so we still had an hour left on our parking meter. We took our time walking back to the car. We checked out the ocean...

Elijah was tired of being in the stroller and tired of me taking pictures.

We stopped at the park across from the aquarium and I used Diamond Head as my backdrop.

And the soon to be birthday boy. I can't believe Elijah will be ONE two weeks from today!!!

We're hoping that this next week flies by. We can't wait for Daddy to come home on the 3rd and for Nana to fly in on the 5th.

Bowling and Ace of Cakes

2009-02-04T18:13:00.006-10:00

We went bowling with our friends, the Cottrill family, a couple weekends back. It was the first time Blain & I had been in years! Blain and Chris did just fine. Kristin and I probably should've played with the girls in their lane. :D

Last week, the Ace of Cakes crew was here in Hawaii making a cake and filming an episode for their show on Food Network. I believe it'll be the season finale in April. The kids and I went to the unveiling of the cake and autograph signing. It was so neat to see!!! I love their show!!!

Duff and the crew

Chef Duff signing Makayla's paper... She told him that her daddy flies Blackhawks... So cute!

Mary Alice

Geoff and Erica talking to Makayla & Elijah

The cake looked great!!! What made it even better was that it was a blackhawk and the rotorblades turned!!!

Random pictures

2009-02-04T15:53:00.010-10:00

Just wanted to share some photos from the past couple of months.

Riding the train at Pearlridge Mall before Christmas

Elijah had his first black eye last week. He was standing in front of the tv cabinet and hit his eye on the doorknob. Poor baby! He's had his first busted lip and his first black eye before his first birthday!

At Drew's 1st birthday

Our friends, Lisa & Travis, took our pictures for our Christmas card back in November. This is some of what we got. :D

Makayla & Will

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Last but not least... we had our holiday ball back at the beginning of December so we got all dressed up. Makayla spent the night at the McIntosh's and had a night filled with popcorn and movies with Will. Elijah stayed here at home with my friend's daughter. It was nice to get out for the evening, even if it did take us THREE HOURS to make a 45 minute trip. Stupid construction!!!

Christmas!

2009-01-02T22:18:00.004-10:00

I know that I have seriously fallen behind in keeping everyone updated with pictures of the kids! This post will have our pictures from Christmas and I'll do another one a little later with pictures you've missed the last two months.

We had a wonderful Christmas! We went over to our friends' (The Bowmans) house on Christmas Eve and had a yummy dinner!

We then came home and the kids opened their matching Christmas pjs.

SANTA CAME! The gifts he left were wrapped in Santa wrapping paper. Boxes also came from Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin. I had to move our dining room table.

I have more pictures that I wanted to include but I'll do those in the next post. Hopefully I can get that done over the weekend.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!
Love, The Fullers

Halloween pictures

2008-11-02T10:11:00.004-10:00

The boy was mad! He fell asleep while I was holding him. He was so heavy so I put him in the wagon and he was not happy.

On Wednesday, Makayla had a Halloween party at school. They got to wear their costumes and went on a parade through the YMCA. They had games for the kids and face painting and food.

I put her back in her regular clothes when it came time to eat. They sing the "Open Shut Them" song and say a little prayer before every snacktime. This was during the song and my poor girl looks like she's getting arrested. LOL

And last but not least, a couple of cute pics of the boy. :D

Pumpkin patch

2008-10-21T15:32:00.006-10:00

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. Makayla was a stinker most of the day so getting pictures of her was difficult. Actually, getting both kids to cooperate for pictures together was difficult! We went on a hayride and picked a couple pumpkins Makayla rode a horse for the first time. I was a little nervous to let her ride without one of us walking beside her but she did great! She loved it! Elijah had his first taste of watermelon. He loved it!!!

The kids are doing great!!! Makayla is pretty well potty trained! She is now only in pullups for bed. She was doing well with going peepee for a while but she refused to poop in the potty. She finally decided that it wasn't such a bad thing and has been pooping in the potty for about a week and a half! We are so proud of her!!!!

Elijah is growing so fast! He's 7 1/2 months and he wants to get moving!! He pulled up yesterday in his crib and pulled up on Blain this morning. He is also getting up on his hands and knees and rocking and then of course getting mad because he can't go anywhere! LOL He is scooting some. He just can't get where he wants fast enough.

Random pictures

2008-10-15T19:55:00.004-10:00

Hooters down in Honolulu. I've gotta go back to buy Elijah the onesie that says "Hooters Girls Love Me" LOL

You can tell my poor boy didn't feel good. :(

A trip to KMart... Makayla kept looking under the sheet of the ghost but I missed that shot.

Our version of

At Dixie Grill. They have the best sweet tea (which you don't find here on the island). It almost feels like home! LOL
Makayla had to wear the ribbon in her hair even though it didn't match. :D

Makayla had her first field trip yesterday! Her preschool took them to the library for storytime, songs and crafts. She rode the bus to the library and I met her there. When it came time to leave, she didn't want the bus. She was ready to go home. Which was fine because it would be time for pickup by the time they got back to school.

And she got a boo boo getting on the bus.

Elijah really wants to get moving but he can't figure how to get both knees under. (excuse the cord from the vacuum cleaner)

Makayla's party and Nana & Dewpop's visit

2008-09-25T10:11:00.011-10:00

Nana & Dewpop came in on the 11th. When Nana left last time, Elijah was 2 weeks old and Dewpop hadn't met him yet.

Just before heading to the airport!

We had Makayla's birthday party on the 13th after Nana & Dewpop got here. She had a Hello Kitty party and I made her birthday cake. I'm quite proud of it. Thanks to my friend, Pam, who let me borrow all her decorating supplies (and icing the pink part of the cake). Now I need to buy my own decorating stuff. :D

The big boys had to get in to 'clean the bouncer'. Suuurrre
(In their defense, the bouncer kept spitting out suds and it was raining)

Yes, folks, this one belongs to me (Love ya, babe!)

She got spoiled on her birthday! This probably isn't half of what she got from everyone.
Madame Alexander doll with Hello Kitty

Cinderella dress up stuff

MONEY!

Hello Kitty tote with blanket

Precious Moments age 3 figurine

The tiara makes a good chew toy

Makayla, Daddy, & Dewpop on the train at Dole Plantation

Nana & Dewpop in Waikiki

The day after Mak's party, Blain & I had our first night away without kiddos. We stayed at the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki. We were greeted with leis and lemongrass tea. We had a great time! We went to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It was AMAZING!

Views from our room

Back of our hotel (I didn't get a good photo of the front)

Dessert

Mak's birthday & Eli's 1/2 birthday

2008-09-25T08:15:00.010-10:00

Our girl is THREE!!! Makayla is counting, saying her ABC's, and knows her colors and shapes. She can say words in a few different languages. She can say Hello in Chinese; Hippopatamus in French (thank you Aunt DeeDee!); Hello, Goodbye, Let's Go, and some of her numbers in Spanish (and probably a couple other words I'm forgetting). She also knows a few Hawaiian words. She wants to watch their Baby Einstein DVD's in French and Spanish now. She still signs some. She doesn't use it as much as she used to though. I haven't counted, but I'd say she knows probably 75-80 signs. She sings daily. The other day she was walking around with a paper towel roll as her microphone. Wish I had a video of it! She started in the 3 year old program this week at the YMCA. She now goes 3 days a week for 3 hours. This week has been much better than when she was in the younger class!!

Makayla had her 3 year old checkup last week. Her doctor said she is perfectly proportioned at 29 lbs. and 37 inches tall. According to his calculations, he thinks she'll be about 5'4".

September 8

We took her to Chuck E. Cheese the night of her birthday for dinner and games. She had a great time!! That is after she had a fit about not being able to have a cupcake before dinner.

Elijah does not look thrilled!

Now, on to some rides. She loved this one. I think she rode it 4 times!

And she got just close enough to have her picture with Chuck E Cheese

A whole lotta sass!! No, there isn't a reason for the bandaids.

Elijah turned 6 months on Mak's birthday. He is growing like a weed! He is sitting up, rolling over and scooting in circles. Last week he tried his best to get his knees up in the crawling position. I don't know if I'm ready for him to be mobile!!

He had his 6 month well baby last week and is weighing in at 18lbs. 4oz. and is 26 in. (I think, I'll have to double check the paper work)

I should have taken a picture of Eli in this outfit without the beer bottle. He went crazy over this bottle!

Poor boy fell asleep at Bubba Gump's

Makayla saying Humuhumu....

2008-08-16T14:25:00.001-10:00

Here's Mak saying Humuhumunukunukuuapua'a

Professional pictures of the kids

2008-08-10T09:11:00.003-10:00

We had pictures taken of the kids last month - first time since Elijah was born.

I'm slacking again...

2008-08-09T16:29:00.005-10:00

Aloha!! I have lots of pictures to share with y'all!

Last month, Blain's Aunt Myke came out for a visit. She was here for a week and we had a great time. We hit a couple of beaches, went to the Swap meet (www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net), and to the International Marketplace. We also left the kids with my friend, Pam, and Blain, Aunt Myke & I went to the Arizonal Memorial.

Here are the kids waiting to go to the airport to get Aunt Myke

Can you tell that I was blocking Sesame Street?

Daddy & Makayla waiting for Aunt Myke to come down the stairs

She's here! Makayla giving Aunt Myke her lei

Elijah trying Dole whip for the first time. He LOVED it!

This guy was at the International Marketplace down in Waikiki. He sat there for I don't know how long and then every once in a while, when someone was staring at him, he'd jump at them. It was so funny!

We went up to Haliewa one afternoon to hit the beach and watch the sunset.
My poor boy got his 4 month shots that day. His eyes were puffy but he was happy.

Another day, we went to Ko'Olina Lagoons. Here's Miss Makayla getting ready to go.

Makayla is our little social butterfly and went up to this little girl and they started playing.

Mommy & Makayla

Aunt Myke & Makayla

My little man with his sunscreen mohawk. ;D (I was playing around with photo editing)

After we left Ko'Olina, I spotted a sign and I had Blain turn around because I had to have some BOILED PEANUTS! I can't believe I got some here in Hawaii!!! They were good! Not quite as good as back home, but they'll do!

My sweet little girl got into my lipstick again. At least she didn't draw on her cheeks this time!

Elijah got cereal for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He loved it!

My big helper loves to feed her baby brother

The kids & I went down to Ewa Beach to spend the day with my friend, Lisa, and her boys, Will & Drew. We walked to the park and spent a couple of hours there with a picnic and let the kids play. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Makayla and Will playing together or of Drew.
Elijah got his first taste of a Biter Biscuit and the boy LOVED it!! I made the mistake of taking it out of his mouth as I was talking to Lisa and he screamed at me! LOL

Unfortunately, Blain missed a couple of Eli's firsts. He is in California for training. By the time he comes home, it'll be 6 weeks. We miss him! Makayla asks everyday if Daddy is coming home today. Elijah is rolling over (when he isn't mad for being on the floor) and tries to sit up but my roly poly falls over. :D He is such a happy baby boy with lots of laughs and smiles. And he loves his big sister! He loves for her to sing to him. I can't believe he's 5 months already!!! Shortly after Blain comes home, Makayla will be having her THIRD birthday!!! I can't believe how big our little girl is getting. She amazes me everyday with the words that come out of her mouth! LOL Lately, she's been throwing things that I say to her back at me. It's funny and not all at the same time. Just today, she said something to me followed by the words, "Do you understand me?!" I heard her putting one of her baby dolls in time out the other day. And on of her latest word she has learned is the Hawaiian state fish... Humuhumunukunukuapua'a... I love to hear her say it!

Blain's parents are coming next month (a couple days after Mak's birthday). We are excited for their visit! Dewpop hasn't met Elijah yet and he was only 3 weeks old when Nana left. And Makayla is excited for Dewpop's horsey rides!

Bathtime, story time, Build a bear and more!

2008-07-13T08:50:00.003-10:00

LOTS of photos ahead! :D I really need to do a better job at updating this thing.

We put Elijah in the 'big boy' bath with Makayla the other night. That boy hates his baths!

After bathtime, I wrapped Elijah up and put him in his bed while I got his and Makayla's jammies ready for them. I came back and this is what I found.

She climbed in his bed to 'read' to him. I found them matching Dr. Seuss books called "My Book About Me" and you can fill in the pages about them... height, hair color, eye color, etc. I haven't filled them in yet. I need to get on that!

Elijah likes to sleep with his hands behind his head.

Elijah turned 4 months on the 8th. He is getting so big!!! He has his 4 month check up on the 15th so we'll see what his stats are then.

Happy boy!

And just because I love this onesie...

Last year for Makayla's birthday, a sweet lady that Dewpop works with sent Makayla a gift card to Build a Bear. We finally got a chance to use it yesterday.

"Which one do I want?"

After about 10 minutes of picking up every single animal, she finally got the Sunkissed Hello Kitty. She came with a flower on her ear and a lei. She took a while to pick out an outfit too but finally picked a cherry swimsuit for Kitty

Stuffing her

Kissing her heart

Giving her an air bath

Being a big girl and paying for her new doll

Thank you Ms. Janine! Makayla had a great time!!!

After the mall, we went to eat at Dixie Grill and got Makayla their little 'fondue' dessert.

And just because they're pretty, another Hawaiian rainbow!

4th of July

2008-07-12T15:29:00.006-10:00

On Friday, July 4th, we had some friends over for a cookout (four other couples and their kiddos). Needless to say, it was a full house! But we all had a great time!! We got up early that morning to start cooking and my assistant decided she wanted to be 'nekkid'.

So allow me to introduce you to The Naked Chef! (excuse my pjs)

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures while everyone was here and the ones I did take aren't on the memory card. I can't find my cable to upload them to my computer. After we all had lunch, we piled all the small kiddos in strollers and walked up to the parade field to watch Billy Ray Cyrus perform. The fireworks started about 9pm. They didn't even phase Elijah. He slept until the finale!

The first three pictures are ones that Lisa took. Her baby boy, Drew, and Elijah were in matching outfits. They were adorable!

Lisa & Travis' other little boy, Will, is Makayla's new boyfriend. :D Makayla loves him!!!
Here they are dancing

And after the dance

Makayla had some crazy hair going on!

They are just so darn cute that I had to take pictures!

Isn't this sweet?! (I didn't mean to cut off Travis' head off. oops!)

And last but not least... Our Fam

The next day, we all met at Ko Olina to hit the beach. Everone had a great time! I went snorkling for the first time and saw some neat little fish and even a seahorse! I stuck Elijah's feet in the water but he just wasn't having it. Makayla didn't want to say goodbye to her friend!

We had a great holiday weekend! Our anniversary was on the 6th. I can't believe we've been married 6 years!! I guess I should've had Makayla take a picture of us. LOL

Lastest pictures of the kids and the zoo

2008-06-30T23:09:00.003-10:00

Saw this rainbow the other day. This picture doesn't do it justice!!! There are rainbows almost daily here and they are the most beautiful ones that I've ever seen!!

Now for many pictures of the kids!

Silly Boy - Looks like he was trying to blow kisses

Trying to get out of the Bumbo

So tired!

We went to the zoo with some friends on Saturday. They are moving this week and we are going to miss them!!

Diamond Head

Makayla, Austin and Derrick (Mak is going to miss these boys so much!!!!!)

Makayla at the petting zoo

Elijah had enough of the animals and fell asleep on Mr. Brian's shoulder

I can't believe that Makayla will be 3 years old in a couple of months!!! Elijah will be 4 months old next week. Time is flying by!!! Blain's aunt should be coming out for a visit hopefully in a couple of weeks and we are looking forward to her visit!

A Bird's Eye View

2008-06-30T21:12:00.005-10:00

I was lucky enough to see a different view of Hawaii on Friday. The other unit had a spouses' ride and it was AWESOME!!! I was a little nervous walking up to the airfield and jokingly told Blain that I changed my mind about going. I am so glad I got the opportunity to do this. It was SO FUN!!! It was about a 20 minute ride from Wheeler AAF to Pearl Harbor and back. I took a ton of pictures! Enjoy!

Getting ready to take off

Aloha Stadium in the center of the photo. Arizona Memorial and Ford Island in the upper right corner

A very hazy picture of Honolulu/Waikiki and Diamond Head

Another hazy photo... Tripler Army Medical Center (where Elijah was born) - the pink building almost center of the photo

The beach, Family Day & Elmo

2008-06-17T10:05:00.006-10:00

Mak & Daddy building sand castles

Mak & her friend Will

Family Day at Daddy's work

We left Elijah with friends this past Saturday and took Makayla to see Sesame Street Live. She had a great time!!!

Elijah before going to Mrs. Jen's house

Bubba's visit

2008-06-17T09:04:00.007-10:00

I'm a slacker. :D It's been a month since I updated this thing. So much for my weekly updates! LOL I have a ton of pictures to share!!!

My brother, Brandon aka Bubba, came out for a visit last month. We had a great time even though we REALLY missed my sister-in-law and my nephew! And Blain since he had to leave for a week long trip to the Big Island the same day Brandon got here.

Dole Plantation

I guess this is what Elijah thinks of the train ride through the pineapple fields

One night, I left the kiddos with a friend and Brandon & I went down to Honolulu to eat at Bubba Gumps. It was fun. While waiting for your food, your waiter quizzes you on Forrest Gump. I can't believe there isn't a Bubba Gump anywhere in the state of Alabama. They need one! :D

Jenny's dress

Little Forrest's clothes

You want your waiter to stop? Flip over the "STOP FORREST STOP". You don't need them? Keep the "RUN FORREST RUN".

I drove Brandon by to see the Dog the Bounty Hunter office.

We left the kiddos again and went to the Arizona Memorial

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T16:01:00.003-10:00

With my babies on Mother's Day!!! (excuse Elijah's belly hanging out)

Elijah wasn't too happy...

The man...

2 months!

2008-05-10T07:39:00.003-10:00

I can't believe that Elijah is 2 months old already!
Our little Hawaiian baby is already trying to do the shaka sign. That, or Makayla has been trying to teach him the sign for play.

These were taken on his 2 month birthday in his new outfit from Carter's. The hat is a little big but I couldn't resist it. It's a bad thing to live so close to an outlet mall!!
I should've just left his red eyes alone because I couldn't get it right. Oh well, He's still cute!

Blain dressed Makayla for bed the other night. Poor thing! HA HA! For some reason, when we tell her to smile for a picture, lately she's been doing this weird thing with her mouth. She thinks it's funny but hopefully she won't do that when we take them for professional pictures!

Poor Elijah

2008-05-01T22:17:00.002-10:00

Makayla thought she needed to cover Elijah's "boo boo" tonight and this is what he looked like when she was finished.

I told Blain a while back that Elijah is in for it having an older sister. She'll be trying to put makeup on him, put him in dresses and bows in his hair.

Sea Life Park

2008-04-29T14:08:00.003-10:00

We went down to Sea Life Park this past Saturday. Makayla had a great time! Well, except for the fact that she fell a couple of times. They had a large tank with turtles, sharks, sting rays and all sorts of fish. We saw sea lions and penguins and watched 2 dolphin shows.

Makayla loved the sea turtle!

This picture would be better if it wasn't so hazy from the volcano on the big island.

I'll figure it all out soon

2008-04-23T15:19:00.002-10:00

So it took me 2 or 3 days to make that first post. LOL Somehow, the pictures ended up chopped. Hopefully by the next time I update, I'll have this figured out!!!

ALOHA!

2008-04-22T15:16:00.012-10:00

We are finally jumping on the blog bandwagon so we can keep you all updated on what's going on with us!

Makayla is now 2.5 years old. She's your typical sassy, active toddler. She is in her third week of preschool. She goes to the YMCA two days a week for 2.5 hours and she loves it! She does a great job with her ABC's, numbers and colors! She usually counts to 13 or 14 and then jumps to 17 and 19. :D

Here is a picture from her first day. Excuse the crazy hair! :D

Monday, she decided to get into my makeup. She thought it would be a great idea to paint her face with all day lipstick. Yeah, that was fun to try to get off! Poor thing had red cheeks from me trying to rub it off and there's still some left on her cheeks. :D

Miss Mak loves her baby brother. *Most of the time :D

Elijah is 6.5 weeks old. Time is flying by! He had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he is 22 inches long and weighs 12 pounds! He's in the 75th percentile for weight. He got a clean bill of health and the doctor said he looks great! Dr. McEvoy confirmed our suspicions that Elijah does have strawberry hemangioma on his forehead. We are just going to watch it's growth for now. It should fade when he's a toddler but I am going to be doing some research on them so I can be armed with information in case we have to fight for a referral to see a dermatologist. We are pretty sure that where it is located, that it won't grow to bother one of his eyes.

He seems to be a happy boy (for the most part). He smiles a lot! He was smiling up a storm and even let out a couple little laughs last night as I was trying to get him to go to sleep.

This is probably the only time that I can say Elijah favors me a tiny bit. It's probably just the cheeks and all those chins. It's only in this picture because the kid looks just like his Dad!!! :D I'll have to find a picture of me as a baby.

The Fuller Ohana

January

December - Part 3 - Texas

December - Part 2 - Alabama

December - Part 1

October/November

Off to Kindergarten we go

HE'S HOME, HE'S HOME, HE'S HOME!

May

Kauai

The start of R&R and Easter

New pictures

Christmas

Overdue pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas

Pumpkin Patch, Zoo, Halloween

Parties!

Thunderbirds and the Bishop Museum

Saying "See ya later" and Mak's birthday

Professional pictures

Makayla's birthday party

July/Aug 2009

Our FL trip continued...

Our first family vacation! *tons of pictures!

Way overdue photos

Easter weekend... Part 2

Easter Weekend... Part 1

Paradise Cove Luau

Ice skating in Hawaii

Elijah's 1st birthday! *Lots of pictures ahead!*

New pictures for February

Bowling and Ace of Cakes

Random pictures

Christmas!

Halloween pictures

Pumpkin patch

Random pictures

Makayla's party and Nana & Dewpop's visit

Mak's birthday & Eli's 1/2 birthday

Makayla saying Humuhumu....

Professional pictures of the kids

I'm slacking again...

Bathtime, story time, Build a bear and more!

4th of July

Lastest pictures of the kids and the zoo

A Bird's Eye View

The beach, Family Day & Elmo

Bubba's visit

Mother's Day

2 months!

Poor Elijah

Sea Life Park

I'll figure it all out soon

ALOHA!

Elijah's 1st birthday! Lots of pictures ahead!