Trooper's Blessing

We blessed Trooper on December 18, 2011 when he was 6 weeks old.

We were lucky enough to have my dad and grandpa here to stand in the circle with Brent as he gave Trooper a priesthood blessing and truly wish Dad Lambson and all Trooper's uncles could have been here as well. We didn't get a ton of pictures that day, but we did take some pictures of Trooper in his little blessing outfit that Grandma Lambson (Brent's mom) made for him. It is seriously THE cutest thing I've ever seen and I have to show it off.

We need to get some better pictures of him in it now that he's smiling more.

But can you believe that little tie?! So cute! I wanted Trooper to have something in white Hawaiian print since he's our little Hawaiian baby, and I'm lucky enough to have a mother-in-law who's a master seamstress; we just sent her the fabric and she whipped this up and sent it back to us. Better than I could have imagined. Thanks Mom!

My dad also took some family pictures of us on Trooper's blessing day.

My Graduation (..kindof..)

So it's all kind of confusing.. transfer credits, three different BYU's, finishing in December 2010, graduating in April 2011, and walking in December 2011.. long story short I graduated from BYU Provo with a BS in Public Health but got to walk at BYU-Hawaii. I'm pretty sure I got the best of both worlds: study at the school with the degree I wanted and walk at the school with the coolest tradition... leis.

Graduation Banquet

Singing Aloha 'Oe to the graduates

The honored alumnus of the evening.
Look at those beautiful leis!

Graduation Day. Dec. 17, 2011
Vendors line the street outside graduation to sell leis... fresh, candy, shell, etc.

And then we walk outside and get showered with leis from our family and friends.
Ummm... I did pretty good for a haole. And I smelled sooo good!

Remember how I said I did pretty good for a haole (white person)? 

Well, look at some of these Polynesians...

Trooper must be pretending to sleep while he tries to steal Dad's gummy bear lei that he bought for himself. Well, he says he bought it for me, but he knows I don't like gummy bears, and he was ecstatic to take it off my hands...

And then we went to celebrate at the shrimp trucks. Yes, Tra and I are wearing the same dress... we figured it wouldn't be a big deal since I'd have a gown on most of the day.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Traci, Amars, and Kinoshitas for coming out to celebrate with me and Brent and Trooper. And thank you for the beautiful leis! It was absolutely wonderful having you all here and you made my Hawaiian graduation even better than I had hoped for! Love you.

2 Months

Trooper Boy is two months old now. He weighs 10 lbs. 9 oz. and is 23 and 1/4 in. long. He's tall and skinny; 25th percentile for his weight and 75th percentile for his height. 

He's giving us tons of smiles now, especially in the mornings. He always seems to be super happy if he wakes up in the middle of the night too, which leaves me torn between putting him and myself back to bed or staying up to marvel at his cuteness. A few times he has slept 8-9 hours at night, but the usual is about 7 hours. I'm not complaining. He's a super efficient eater and usually only needs about 5-7 minutes before he's full--also not complaining. I was worried about it at first, but the doc says his weight gain is on track and sufficient.

He's interacting with us a lot more now-- likes us to play with him when he's awake. He's also cooing, which is the cutest thing ever. He loves to move his little body, as you'll see in the video. He also loves to grab things. Especially when he's eating or getting tired, he loves to have a handful of my shirt or my hair. If nothing else, he's getting pretty good at grabbing a fistful of his own hair... so I have to coax him to let go. But it's pretty cute to see him cuddled up, clenching on to my shirt with both hands as he falls asleep. In short, he is such a good baby- doesn't cry much, sleeps then eats then plays then sleeps again, goes down for naps and bedtime relatively easily- he's spoiling us. We think having him is just the funnest thing ever. For real. He's awesome.

Our December

Ah... there's so much to blog about that I'm overwhelmed and I've been putting it off. Sorry. But here we are. Our camera wigged out on Christmas Eve and we lost a bunch of pictures, so I'm waiting for a cd of pictures to arrive from my dad and then I'll blog about my family's visit, my graduation, and Trooper Boy's blessing. But here's a sneak peek--courtesy of the iPhone.

With Brent's 3 week break from school, our December included a lot of outings, mostly to the beach. With that said, Trooper is getting really good at having his diaper changed in interesting places... 

like the trunk

and on the back of a surfboard...cool boy.

Brent is getting pretty dang good at surfing.

And I just enjoy relaxing on the sand with my little boy.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Kise cousins eating delicious food and playing fun games. They LOVE having Trooper around; always offering to hold him and burp him and rock him... it's nice! Here's Lydia cuddling up with our boy:)

We feel so blessed to be surrounded by loving family out here even though we couldn't be home in Idaho for Christmas. Our Kise cousins really are the best. 

Trooper woke up extra happy on Christmas morning.

We read the Christmas story in Luke and then took Trooper out to see what Santa brought him.

As you can tell, he was super duper excited. But he really does love that ball. I think it's a staple toy for any baby boy. Then we headed off to church , with Trooper in his adorable Christmas sweater.

Sweater, no pants. That's how we roll in Hawaii. 

After church, we came home to open the rest of our presents (and eat muddy buddies, I guess).

Brent got me a colorful pack of sharpies (which I've seriously been wanting my whole life) and Brad Paisley's book! He knows me too well. I also got outfitted to become a yoga master, which I'm quite excited about (thanks Mom and Dad Lambson)! Brent got a ukulele (Adam, get ready to jam) from Mom and Dad Brady, which he's been learning how to play and he loves it! 

Trooper got a bumbo,

lots of new books, and some puppets. 

Brent promptly set the shark up to look like he was eating Trooper's head.

Trooper also got a little LeapFrog puppy named Scout from our cousin Ashley. He loves it! It keeps him happy and entertained for quite a long time. 

Thanks Ashley!! 

While we missed being at home with our families, we had a fun Christmas as our own little family and created some of our own traditions.

We spent New Year's Eve at the beach. We watched the sun set on 2011 at Sunset Beach.. how fitting:) It was beautiful.

2011 was amazingly good to us. 2012 brings Brent's graduation, the MCAT and med school applications, and moving away from Hawaii (I already get misty-eyed when I think about it). But bring it on 2012, we're excited to watch our little Trooper grow and to move on to the next phase of our lives.