Happy 1st Birthday Aurora!!!

Saturday, May 24th, 2008 was a G-R-E-A-T day for all of us. Aurora turned one, and we had a little "party" with the few friends we've made here in Washington.

Travis got to bust out his brand new grill and cook us all his usual specialty, Hawaiian steak. VERY ono. I got us some shrimp so that I could "wow" everyone with Mom's (Abby, this means you) super delicious garlic herb buttered shrimp on skewers. Let's just say that everyone who DOES eat shellfish was coming back for more. We also had hot dogs, caesar salad, potato salad (thanks Chris, was SUPER ono!), rice, and cheesecake squares. After the preliminaries, we got out the REALLY good stuff. Lol. I made my famous "chocolate truffle". For those of you who have not tried this delicious concoction, imagine this for a minute.....layers of chocolate yummies that start with a layer of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, cool whip, and then chopped up Heath bar, and you continue making layers of these things until you reach the top of your bowl, or until you run out of something. Everyone loved it. I'd also made white cake cupcakes, just in case there weren't chocolate lovers present, but nobody really ate the cupcakes. Nobody, except ofcourse, Ms. Birthday Girl. We also had ice cream, but there were only a couple of requests from the kids for that.

Our guests consisted of Travis' buddy from work, John, his wife Chris, their son Johnathan, and their neighbors. Being that I'm a retard with names, I forgot their names. But they were Cuban and they brought us some very good rice to go with our meal, and they offered to bring us some "real food" next time. I can't wait!! Lol.

Then there was our neighbors. Erin came by with her three girls, Ashley, Cora, and they're very little one, Phoebe. Erin's husband wasn't feeling well after an early morning fishing outing, so we got to meet him a little later on during the day.

Aurora's gifts were plentiful and satisfying to her standards, and as most of you could've guessed, she cared more about the wrapping paper in her mouth than anything else. We had Cora and Johnathan help her open all her presents because the two of them (they're both five) were anticipating the "opening presents" part of the party the WHOLE time they were there. So I told them to help Aurora get her gifts open because if we waited for her, we'd be there til Christmas. They were super awesome helpers and were sure to show Aurora all her cool stuff when they'd uncovered it.

As you can probably guess, after all the party guests departed, Aurora went down into a sugar coma, and didn't wake up til a couple hours later. I suppose the excitement was enough to knock her out. Lol. All in all, we had a blast, and wish you all could be there. Thank you friends and family that sent in gifts, cards, and called in to sing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. :-) She doesn't know it much now, but she is one loved kid. ;-)

And in other news, I'd like to announce the newest arrival to the Nater household in Florida. His name is Kala (means "money" in Hawaiian), and he was born on Aurora's birthday, Saturday. Little Boo and her "friend" Buster had a love child (shhh, don't tell Prancer!!), and he's the cutest little thing. He's so teeny, and I can't wait to meet him tomorrow!! :-)

Ok everyone. That's all the updates for now, but as always, take care of yourselves, God Bless you all, and Alooooooooooooooooooooooha!!

-The Hynsons-

PS: I have a video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Aurora, but it's on Travis' computer at home and I'm in Florida right now. I'll get that and the video of Aurora walking up as soon as I get home. :-)

Kahu

Sooooo.....we got a puppy last week. :-) He's a 3-month old, all white, Siberian Husky. He has the coolest blue eyes you'll ever see, and he's a great pup. It took us over a week to name the boy, but we finally decided on "Kahu" which means guardian in Hawaiian. We hope that while he grows up with Aurora, he will learn that his job is to keep her safe.

Aurora and Kahu are already bonding wonderfully. The first night was a little crazy because he was so excited about being in new surroundings that he didn't quite understand that he was playing too rough with everyone. He spent his first night crying in his kennel in the garage, but we shortly found him a chainlink "runner" for the backyard. Our yard is fenced, yes, but Kahu is a kolohe boy and he likes to dig around the fence door. Luckily we have lots of big boulder rocks that we put in and around his holes, so he's quickly learned not to do that. We let him pretty much roam around the backyard as he pleases, and he has quickly learned that outside is where he's allowed to use the bathroom. We let him come into the house throughout the day to chill with us, and all he basically does after the initial dash-into-the-kitchen-and-back-into-the-living-room deal is lay down on the living room floor and nap for a couple of hours. He is one lazy pup, but he sure gets his exercise after we let him out of his pen in the morning.

Kahu is great when it comes to having a high tolerence for children. When our neighbors came by to meet us, Kahu escaped out the front door, but didn't dart down the driveway. Instead, he went up to the neighbor's kids, Cora and Ashley, and layed out on the grass to get a bellyrub. Ashley, the older child of the two, started to rough house with him, and to my astonishment, he loved it. I still didn't know this dog personally, and he's letting some strange kid pretty much use him as a horse. When Aurora is in the feisty and rebellious mood, she loves to go up to Kahu when he's sleeping and pull his hair. He'll open his eyes for just a second to see who it is, and then he goes right back to sleep, letting Aurora continue to harass him. Like I said, Kahu's a great pup, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will grow up to be a great dog as well.

Aurora is being taught how to be "nice" to Kahu, and loves to pat him on his belly. Anytime she sees him, she lets out loud and delighted squeals. Sometimes when he's being too jubilant, she starts talking to him in her baby jabber and it almost sounds like she's trying to scold him. They're a great team, and I certainly am glad we got Kahu. He's a great addition to our family.

Thanks Zach and Fern!!

Aurora acting like she owns the place, as usual.

So as I mentioned in the previous blog, Travis and I were camera-'tards when it came to our roadtrip from Florida to Washington. We completely forgot to establish camera-readiness for when we met up with our brothers. Thankfully, however, Trav's brother, Zach, had HIS camera ready in California, so we received some awesome pics from both Zach and Fern today. Again, THANKS GUYS!!

Daddy and Aurora...



Daddy and Chubby Cheeks...

The happy munchkin with her Uncle Zach and Daddy

Uncle Zach and Miss Aurora

Look how she's clinging onto his shirt. SO CUTE!!

Aunty Fern and Miss Hana-Bata-Nose

Awwwww......

The familia...we shoulda got some random dude/dudette to take pic so that Fern could've been in it too. :-(

Our New Hale

So as all of you know, Travis, Aurora, and I are finally living together in a not-too-shabby place in Yelm, Washington. Yelm is a growing town (still not much bigger than Williston...a few big grocery stores, a car wash, etc etc, and LOTS of housing, but still a "small" town), and for me, it's major highlight is the SUPER Wal-Mart. "Why?," you may ask...well, because there is NEVER too many people there!! :-) I can always find parking in the HUGE parking lot that isn't too far away from the entrance. YAY!!

I promise to post many more pictures of the inside once I get the whole house unpacked and in order. Yes, I have not finished unpacking. Don't ask. Lol.

Now on to the little one....

Aurora is nice and adjusted to the new house. One of her favorite conquests is climbing the stairs, and for those of you who already knew that, I bet you didn't know that she knows how to climb DOWN now too!! Travis taught her a few days ago, and she did it a couple of times, but she prefers to pretend she's a damsel in distress and likes to be rescued anyway.

She is also very into letting us know when she doesn't want to do things. She shakes her head from side-to-side when we ask her to "come" to us, or "you want to brush your teeth?", or "GET DOWN!"....well, she just smiles at me with that last one...and THEN shakes her head "No" at me.

She does have her cherished moments where she spontaneously comes over to me and wraps her little arms around my neck and squeezes as hard as she can. We call that "Love Love". Or, we say "Kiss Kiss" or "Damelo Beso" and she opens her mouth and leans in for a kiss. I don't know why she keeps her mouth open, BUT she doesn't bite anymore!! :-) YAY!!

On April 12th, she took her first steps. On occasion, she will stand on her own for a few seconds, but eventually falls back down and continues on crawling on her hands and knees. She's also developed a strange crawl where she plants both feet or one foot one the ground and crawls that way. Back when she first took her first steps, she seemed enthusiastic about her ability. Lately, however, she's retracted a little bit, and doesn't really take much interest in walking anymore. But I'm sure in time she will.

Her vocabulary is getting a bit more extensive. She says "Dada", "Dad", "Da" a LOT more than she says "Mama" or "Mum", and in a much happier tone. The only time she calls for me is when she's mad that I won't pick her up, or after we put her in her crib for the night. Other than that, she sure loves to call out for her Daddy. She recognizes who is who and knows how to associate some words with items. For example, when I ask her, "Donde esta agua?" she looks at her cup of water. When I say, "Where's your cookie?" she looks at the toast cracker I'd given her. When it's dinnertime, she lets me know she's hungry by jumbling lots of baby jargon in with "num num" somewhere in there. And I've finally figured out what "Baba" is....Bottle.

Aurora loves to suck on ice cubes, as the video below portrays. Don't worry. We supervise her efforts very very closely when she's gumming it down. Watch her facial expressions as she touches the ice. I unfortunately missed the initial expression, but this quick preview gives you an idea...

Aurora has a newfound pleasure in feeding US food. She finds it quite humorous when she picks up a piece of food, holds it out to either Travis or myself, and we lean in and gobble up her whole hand in our mouths until she releases the food. She will alternate between feeding herself and feeding us. She is learning to share. :-)

"Here Daddy...Want some saimin?"

"You're so funny, Daddy!"

Banana-milkshake face

Travis and Aurora have become very much acquainted at this point. They are like long lost friends. She loves to play rough with him (spinning around, wrestling, hanging upside down, or sitting on his shoulders) and always seems to know when 5 o'clock rolls around and that Daddy is supposed to be home. Once she hears the garage door opening, she whips her head around and says "Dada!" And when he comes through the door, she is the first person to get greeted upon his arrival because nobody can ignore that precious smile from ear-to-ear.

Daddy giving Aurora a bottle after work.

Rough-housing in the kitchen

Our trip to Washington was uneventful (Thankfully!) except for two very quick, but very worthwhile visits. Aurora got to meet her Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Zach for the first time. My brother, Jimmy and his family (wife, Jennifer, and daughter Maylina, 8) live in Chandler, Arizona. We stopped in only for a couple of hours, but it was well deserved after crossing 6 states prior. The following day, we made it across the rest of Arizona into California, where we met up with Travis' big brother, Zach. We also were privileged to meet Zach's girlfriend, Fern as well. Zach and Fern were gracious enough to give Aurora a nice LOUD toy to keep her occupied and happy for the duration of our trip. And yes guys....she STILL loves that stupid turtle. Lol. I unfortunately have no pictures of either reunions because both Travis' and my cameras died somewhere along the trip and we didn't know where our chargers were. :-(

Aurora was not the best of travellers THIS time, but who can blame the kid, right? As a matter of a fact, I retract that statement. She was GREAT for being cooped up in her carseat for 6 days. We made several necessary stops at rest stops, restaurants, and hotels to recooperate and stretch out our limbs. Aurora very quickly learned what getting back into the carseat meant, and was sure to let us know that she was NOT happy to return to the seat so soon. It took a while after finally arriving here before she realized that getting into the seat now doesn't mean we'll be taking a drive all day long. The trick is distraction. ;-) That turtle toy sure does come in handy now-a-days....

Travis is becoming adjusted to his new post and new company slowly but surely, as I am becoming quite acquainted with the house. Travis has gotten to know a fellow soldier named SPC John Zonker so far. John's wife, Christine, was very eager to get acquainted with Aurora and myself. They have 17-year old and 5-year old sons, but to my horror, I've forgotten their names as I've only met this family once. Besides Christine, another acquaintance who is quickly becoming a close friend is Kate. "Katie" (as I like to call her to drive her crazy) is an Airman's wife, and her husband is stationed on McChord Air Force Base. Kate has 5 kids, 2 of which are newborn twin girls. She tells me a hundred times a day how adorable she thinks Aurora is (how ironic...), but I can't get over how darn cute HER kids are!! Kate's already been awarded a gate key to our community, because I keep telling her I'm going to go crazy being cooped up in the house without occasional visitors. I've visited her home on McChord once before and enjoyed the company and the chaos that ensues when that many kids come together in one room. Kate's been to our home once, but we plan to make our visits more regular.

So that's about it folks. I've included everything that I can think to include. I apologize for not having more pictures, but I promise to keep my posts frequent.

Take care everyone, God Bless you all, and don't be afraid to write, email, or call. :-)

-The Hynsons-

(360)894-1493
18124 Sundown Ct SE
Yelm, WA 98597

hynsons@gmail.com