7 Months!

As I sit down to write this, I realize that it's late November. Baby girl is already 7 1/2 months old! My sweet and active daughter is more than halfway to her 1st birthday! How am I so behind on realizing this? I think to myself.

Perhaps it has something to do with the Big News that we announced last month? And us needing to pack up our whole house in a matter of days...and having to list our house for sale...and all those house renovations...oh, and our long-awaited trip to visit my family in Hawaii? Yes to all of the above. This past month has been ridiculously intense. Ken got a job offer in Eastern Washington the day before my 30th birthday (read about that here), and within a few weeks, we were packed and headed to Hawaii for vacation, en route to Washington for this next chapter in our journey.

And somewhere, in the midst of all these changes, Ruby turned 7 months old. Bubs is learning and growing in extraordinary ways, with each passing day.

Here are some of Bubs' latest milestones:

• She can almost crawl !!!
• She can rollover both ways and when she can't reach a toy, she rolls over to it.
• Bubs can say "Da-da!" and "Hi!" and "Ok!" She also looks at Daddy and smiles when I say "Da-da" more often than not. 
• She has said "Ma-ma" or "Mah-mee" a couple of times, but doesn't say it nearly as much as "Da-da!" (So, I'm not counting it yet as a real word. Hehe.)
• Bubs can sit up on the floor (without support) for longer periods of time. 
• She can also stand, with support, and almost pull herself up to standing position by holding on to me.
• Bubs can recognize her name! She loves it when I call her "Ruby" or "Baby Girl."
• Baby girl loves to smile and chat with just about anyone friendly who gives her attention.  
• She has tried lots of new solid foods in the past few weeks (such as green beans, rice, carrots, sweet potato, bread, chicken, peas, and poi) and likes most of them, while continuing to nurse full-time. 
• She still loves her jumperoo and bounces happily in it each day. Just this weekend, Ken moved her jumperoo to the highest height setting. (I'm not sure what we're going to do when she grows out of this!)
• Baby girl's eyes are currently hazel colored (greenish-brown toward the center and blue around the outside.)
• At Ruby's 6-month checkup, she was in the 92nd percentile for height and weighed around 18lbs - so healthy and strong. I'm looking forward to seeing her measurements at next month's checkup! 
• Last but not least, baby girl seems to be teething again! I can just barely see her top two front teeth trying to break through the gum-line. Her baby teeth are so cute!

Ken and I praise God for our little lady. She's so full of joy. Her middle name means "reflection of the Sun/glistening moonlight." That, she is.

Here's a video of our baby girl's contagious laugh. Click here to watch. And one more video of Ruby's first time swimming in the pool with my Dad, Ken, and me on Maui.

And before I head out, here are some of our latest pics. :)

Aloha from Maui!

Two years.

I can’t believe that’s it been nearly two years since we last visited my family on Maui.

Ken and I flew here right after we bought our first house in Alaska (read about that), in January of 2014, and I still remember grappling with mixed feelings at the time - I missed Maui terribly, especially after visiting, but also recognized that the intense longing for ‘home’ that I felt, could really only be met in Christ, and that rather than a particular physical location, home is the place where Ken and I, and now Ruby, build community together. It can be anywhere. My sweet little family and I are home, when we are together. That’s how our last trip to my homeland of Maui, helped me understand my desire for home - for a place of safety, community, and fellowship. It was a great trip for launching us into the next season of homeownership in Alaska, and now ironically, we are back in Maui as we transition from living in Alaska to Eastern Washington.

Maui is a great place to relax and recharge, and for the introvert in me - to reflect, as my family and I prepare for so many new adventures ahead.

It’s incredible being back here. Temperatures in the low to mid-80s, tropical breezes to balance out the endless-summer-sun, local-style grinds (i.e. plate lunches, spam musubi, chow fun) available 24/7, and endless amounts of fresh Maui-grown apple-bananas (think: tiny, baby bananas that are sweeter than Chiquita’s and taste apple-y) and perfectly ripe strawberry papayas - juicy, succulent, firm-meets-soft, orange flesh. Mmm. I’m home. The home I spent my adolescence enjoying with my parents and two sisters, Kehaulani and Nohealani. What an amazing place.

This is Ruby’s first trip to Maui, and it’s the first time she’s been able to meet my side of the family. She loves it here. My family, my friends, the ocean, the food - she even loves poi. This comes as a complete shock to me, because I hate poi. Perhaps I've been missing out? (For those who don’t know about poi, it’s a Hawaiian specialty, made from cooked taro root.) We’re so proud of our baby girl!

Here are some photos from our first few days here!