weekend full o' fun

In spite of a rainy muddy day, we all had a blast at the University of Hawaii football game! Both girls are big fans of tailgating (or at least they are fans of the constant doting and attention from our friends!). Juneau loved the football game. Well, she loved the first quarter before she fell asleep. Nova, on the other hand, isn't really a big fan of sporting events quite yet. She kept trying to fall asleep, and then as soon as the fans started cheering she would totally jump out of her skin and get terrified. This happened at least 30 times before we finally descided her little nerves had had enough and we left in the last quarter. poor little sweet nova. she wants to be tough, but she is just a sweetie at heart. We always joke that while Juneau's 1st birthday theme was "Juneau Rocks", Nova's first birthday theme will be "Nova: I'm afraid of loud noises".

seriously, everyone is really going to die when i post their halloween photos. i broke out in uncontrollable fits of laughter yesterday at nova, and she was only partially costumed.

and here are cute pictures of our cute girls.

Tailgating in the Rain

Daddy and his girls

Nova in her new big-girl bath seat

Aunt Betsy's favorite thing to do when she watches the girls is dress them up in pretty dresses and take their pictures.

I finally got a picture of our room arrangement. We decided this weekend to move Juneau to her own room because she has been waking up when we wake up at the ridiculous hour of four-thirty a.m. That wasn't really working out, so we moved her over to the nursery. I had to take a picture of what our room has looked like for these last few crazy months.

The first night of our new sleeping arrangement was somewhat of a catastrophe when cris checked on Juneau (who is being treated for swimmer's ear) and she was burning hot. He took her temperature and it was 104! he repeated it at least 10 times, and it kept reading around 103.7 and other scary numbers. We gave her some tylenol (which brought her temp down to 101) and kept her in our bed for the night. She is now on topical ear antibiotics, as well as amoxil for a presumed external as well as middle ear infection. poor baby! She is already acting so much better, and is nearly back to her usual self. Today she really started trying to stand on her own, and is even trying to take a few very wobbly steps. Nova on the other hand is looking like she wants to crawl at any second. we may soon have 2 mobile babies on the loose. sounds like major trouble is headed our way soon!

i'm about to embarrass myself

2 halloween's ago cris and i dressed up as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth. My mom's friend at work is going to be Dog this year, and wanted to know if i had any pictures so that she could give her friend some ideas....so, in the spirit of halloween, here ya go mom! This picture would make any mother proud.

if you are still reading, and haven't already thrown up a little bit in your mouth, stay tuned next week for AMAZING first halloween pictures of the girls' AWESOME costumes. and they are even partially homemade.

Adopting Juneau is definately one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to our little family. We love her so much, and she fits in so perfectly. Every once in a while cris or i will comment on how it seems like she has always been a part of our family. I know everyone who adopts a child looks at things a little bit differently, but we look at Juneau's adoption as a one-time event. what i mean to say is that adoption is the way juneau became our daughter, but now that she s here she is just our daughter, not our adopted daughter. That being said, there have been a couple of things that have come up lately that have made me realize that i am probably handling things with her a little bit differently because she is adopted. For instance, Juneau is a typical one year old when it comes to going to sleep. Basically, she doesn't want to do it. Usually we take her up to her crib, lay her down, and then sit in the room with her until she falls asleep, which could sometimes be a VERY long time. The same thing at nap time. I want to get to the point where we can lay her in bed, and then just leave and let her fall asleep. The problem comes when she cries. I want her to know that we are going to be there for her, and i worry that by not going to her when she cries she will feel like she can't trust us. I think i worry about this more than usual because i'm not sure how things were for her in the orphanage for the first 10 months. I'm torn between wanting her to develop the habit of being able to go to sleep without someone sitting right next to her, and wanting to be there for her any second that she might need her mom or dad. I wonder how long it will be before i stop worrying that aspects of her behavior are related to her adoption. i worry so much about little things that probably have a lot more to do with her personality than her adoption. For example, Juneau isn't really a "silly" child. If you make funny faces, or talk silly to her she just kind of stares at you like something is seriously wrong with you. she doesn't have those giggle fits that a lot of little kids have. She seems happy overall, but doesn't really laugh a lot. I think she just has a very serious personality, but the contrast between her and Nova (who breaks into incessant giggling at random times) is striking. It's hard not to worry about her being unhappy or not well adjusted. it probably sounds like Juneau is ALWAYS serious and NEVER laughs. that isn't true, she does love to play, and definately laughs and giggles when Cris is playing with her, i think i'm just overly analytical of the situation because i want everything to be happy and wonderful for her.

The Magic of the Simultaneous Nap

"What? I meant to sit backwards in the bumbo. i can get out of this situation any time i want"

We like to say that Nova is an easy audience. She'll pretty much laugh at anything you throw at her.


Does it look like mass chaos in the Stickley home? Because it certainly feels like it!

addendum: i was just reading through this post, and I realized that neither Cris, Nova, or Juneau are wearing shirts in any of these pictures! that's a little embarrassing! I swear, the babies don't just run around in diapers only! They have a whole closet full of adorable clothes....seriously!

The Perfect Game Day....

Ohio State Wins

and

Michigan Loses...

not much to report

things are going pretty well. we are definately are in a routine, which is great. the girls are doing amazing. Juneau has become so communicative the last couple of weeks. She knows a couple of baby signs, which she has been doing great with. She knows how to say "eat", "more", "all done", she also blows kisses, and waves hi and bye. She is still not walking (and the tendinitis in my elbow from carrying her 23 pounds of chunkiness can't WAIT until she is able to walk), but she is very close. We think it's really funny that her personality is so incredibly similar to Cris'. I don't know if it is because of how much time he spends playing with her, or if it is just her natural personality, but it is already evident that she is going to be sooooo similar to her dada.

Nova continues to be just about the sweetest little thing ever. She is doing great with sitting up. We still can't leave her sitting unattended, but she will sit for a few minutes at a time. She LOVES the jumperoo, and has been going crazy in it. She is still getting up about twice/night, but we are going to start trying some different techniques to decrease that.

I keep wanting to post a picture of our bedroom to show how ridiculous the setup is, but so far i haven't been able to get it clean enough for long enough to actually snap a photo. We have our big bed in the middle of the room, and juneaus crib attached to one side, and Nova's crib attached to the other side, so it is kind of like a little co-sleeper on both sides. It's a pretty good system for now, just because they still need a decent amount of attention in the night, and it's better than having to go all the way to the other room anytime someone spits out their pacifier. I think juneau would be ok in her own room, but Nova still has a ways to go.

we took junebug to the pool the other day, and she had such a fantastic time. i wish i had some pictures. it was actually kind of cold/windy that day (well, i guess if you consider 72 degrees cold!), but she was getting so chilled, and her skin was actually turning blue, but she wanted to play so badly that she kept making her sign for more in spite of being freezing cold! she is putting her face completely in the water for a second or two at a time. she's such a little daredevil.

anyway, what is a post without pictures? here a couple of pictures from sunday. we usually just dress them in tshirts or onesies, but last week they both wore very pretty dresses to church, and they looked so cute i had to take their pictures! This is as close to a sister picture i got the whole day!

Little Miss Photogenic - NovaJo

I bought Juneau this little hat before we even had her referral. it was the very first thing i bought for her. she looks super cute in it, but it is on the small side.

Just for fun we busted out the Ao Dai Cris bought for The Bug in Vietnam. I was nervous it wasn't even going to fit her (seriously, this child is HUGE), but it did, and she looked very cute! She wore it for a total of about 7 minutes, but i did snap a few photos in the mean time.

Finally, I can't resist putting up a little peak of the beach house we will be staying in when the whole gang comes for Christmas! i LOVE family vacations, and it gives me something to look forward to and plan for everyday! I'm already starting the list of all the fun stuff we are going to do. I hope everyone is ready for some serious fun because we are going to have an absolutely amazing Christmas/New Years!

A view from the Lanai

The backyard of the house :)

lots of good news!

so, i know it's only october, but we are already so excited about the holidays! We are getting the whole Matus gang, Grandpa and Grandma, and maybe even great-grandpa and great-grandma to visit! It is our last Christmas in Hawaii, and i CANNOT WAIT to spend it with our very awesome family. It has been really hard to be so far away from home with these baby girls, and I am so glad we will get to share Christmas/New Years with everyone!

The other great news is that Juneau will soon have a little buddy from her orphanage in Tam Ky right here in Hawaii! One of the other families who has been working with our adoption agency just got lightening fast approval to travel to Vietnam and get their baby boy! He was only a couple of months old when Cris was in Vietnam, so he is a little younger than Juneau, but it is going to be so neat for her to have a little playmate from her hometown!

Things have been fairly crazy around here....as usual! The senior residents all take turns acting as the "chief resident", and this has been my turn. I am constantly swamped by all of these crazy duties, and having to solve the issues no one else wants to deal with. every day i get a little more behind in my work, and pretty soon i may actually drown in paperwork. for real. i am looking forward to November, when I get a little break away from work to attend the Cosmetic Gynecology Conference in Vegas! I went last year, and it was really fun, so i am definately looking forward to it again.

This weekend we went to the Iolani Palace for Children and Youth Day. It was a typical Hawaii event....WAYYYY too many people in too small of a location, but it was still fun. I'm trying to cram in all the fun stuff i've been wanting to do into the next few months. it's reallly starting to sink in that this is our last year on this little island, and i want to maximize our time, so you will probably be seeing all kinds of fun pictures from our weekends. In fact, Friday while cris is officiating for the volleyball game, Nova, Juneau and I will be on the northshore at the Shrimp Festival....how fun does that sound? All you can eat shrimp from a variety of different shrimp trucks. In case you haven't been to Hawaii, you probably have no idea what these shrimp trucks look like. they are seriously a little scary looking, but oohhhhhh sooooo yummy!!!

here are some pictures from the last week:

June Bug graduated from her rear facing baby seat into a big girl carseat. Here she is trying it out with Nova.

Nova Chillin' with her husky

Surely you didn't think you had seen the last adorable pigtail picture...right? Don't worry, there will be many more ridiculously cute pigtail photos to come.

And just so nova doesn't feel left out, here is a shot of the hairstyle she's been sporting. This is one sweet Mullet. People work for years to get this kind of mullet, and nova was just gifted naturally with it. try not to be jealous.

Daddy's Girl

This is Juneau in the Sling I made with my own two bare hands. Well, my bare hands, a sewing maching, and a pattern i found on the internet. My friends hate when i carry it because they swear it looks like it's gonna bust open at any second and June-buggy's gonna end up on the ground, but i have faith in my awesome sewing skills...sort of....
Keiki Hula...If we ever come back to Hawaii this could be nova and juneau!

Daily Life and a little update

Well, we are in i guess what you could refer to as a schedule. sort of. Cris usually drives me to work around 0530, and betsy watches the girls (who usually wake up around 0600) until Sally arrives. Cris usually is home by 3 p.m. and then he brings the girls to the hospital to pick me up around 5 p.m. This varies a little on a day to day basis, but that's the general idea. '

Check out my Big-Girl Pigtails!

Juneau is 12 months, and doing so well! She knows 3 babysigns, "eat" "more" and "all done". She usually uses them appropriately, but sometimes she gets so excited that they all get used simultaneously and it is a little confusing. She is pretty close to walking, and loves to walk while holding our hands. She's kind of a chunk, and although we haven't weighed her recently, she is busting out of her 12 month clothes. She LOVES music. Her favorite song since she came home has been Johnny and June Cash singing "Jackson". She also loves to watch her adoption video. She watches it several times a day, and every time seems more and more enhralled. She still gives little hugs, and is learning how to blow kisses. Juneau is adventurous and independant. She loves trying new things. Her personality is on the serious side. She does laugh when we play with her, but spends lot of time investigating things and just exploringMommy and Pretty June-bug

Enjoying her first birthday cake (a few days after her actual birthday)

Nova will be 5 months this week. She is unbelievably sweet. Her personality is so different from Juneau's. She oozees sweetness, and makes these adorable little giggle sounds. She is kind of a scaredy cat, and cries at silly things, like getting in the elevator. Her bottom lip quivers when she's scared, and then she makes the saddest face! She is sitting up somewhat on her own, but is still pretty unsteady. She is reaching and grabbing for anything and everything. She has been trying a little cereal and some baby food. Not much really makes it into her mouth, and most of what does make it into her mouth she usually spits back out, but she really enjoys trying to eat! She still wakes up twice during the night to eat, but i don't really mind because she drinks her bottle and goes straight back to sleep. Nova's awesomely huge smile

Our lives are TOTALLY different with these two girls, but we couldn't be happier right now. At night when the girls are asleep and we have a few minutes to just sit still we will often just talk about how amazing it is that things have turned out the way they have. There are definately stressful times (and lots of them!) but the rewards of getting to be Juneau and Nova's parents make the rough times seem so trivial.

Juneau trying to show Nova where her tongue is

Hugs!

Mommy reading to the girls after a long night at work