4th of July Week & Mom's Visit

For the past few years I don't even remember really going out and celebrating the 4th of July.  Sadly,  I think the last time we went anywhere for the 4th was when I was pregnant with Baby Moe.  Last year I was working full-time, so I wasn't able to do anything with the kids.  So this year I wanted to make sure we did SOMETHING because I finally had it off (since I'm on maternity leave).  Luckily for us my mom flew in the morning of the 4th.  It's funny because I never told her about us trading in our car, and getting the Pilot.  So when we picked her up from the curb, of course she's looking for the black camry, and instead I pull up and stare at her, and she just looked and turned away then realized that it was me driving.  So then she had the biggest smile, and she said "I was wondering how we were all going to fit in the car!" lol.

After that we headed over to Herriman to pick up my little sister.  We stayed about an hour or so chit-chatting with my Aunt Nela, and then we left, picked up a couple rotisserie chickens from walmart (my fav!) and then headed home.  Of course my mom came with goodies for us (thanks to my sister Mele and BFF Neva for getting them for us!)... she came with teri-burgers, redondo hot dogs, portugese sausage, and hawaiian chocolates.  You have no idea how long I've been waiting for all of these! lol.  My mom also brought fish, and as soon as my husband saw it he got so excited because the fish she brought is used to make Ota (tongan raw fish) and my husband loves my mom's ota.  So as soon as we got home, my mom made a big ole bowl of ota for my husband (he's so spoiled by her and he knows it too! lol) and he fully enjoyed every bite of it.

After getting our bellies full of yummy goodies from Hawaii we got ready and headed out to Fehi's family's BBQ. They had been there all day, so by the time we got there they were done eating, but the music was playing and everyone was chilling and some were up dancing.  There was a dog there, and Kesaia got so excited! So far she loves dogs and babies! lol.

After spending a few hours there we decided to go and buy some fireworks for the kids to pop, and then grabbed some pizza and drinks to snack on. We then headed over to Jordan Park to find a spot to watch the fireworks show.  Like I mentioned earlier the last time I remember celebrating the 4th was when I was pregnant with Baby Moe, and that time we did the same thing... go to Jordan Park for the festivities during the day and then the fireworks show at night.   The fireworks show started at about 10pm and it was pretty cool.  Everyone was loving it except Moe.  He hates fireworks.  Everytime he would hear or see it pop he would yell No! and then ask us to go to the car or go home. lol.  Eventually Fehi got him calmed down, and he enjoyed the last couple minutes of the fireworks show.

Moe scared of the fireworks wanting to leave LOL

And that was basically how we spent our 4th.  My mom went out with her friend and they watched the fireworks show up at Sugarhouse park. The next day was a rainy day so we all decided to just stay home.  Yesterday (Friday)  because it was a nice, sunny day we decided to head out and we took my mom to the new City Creek mall in Downtown SLC.  I absolutely love that mall, though I do wish they had more stores that I liked (cause it's all about me right lol)... like an Old Navy would be nice if it was there.  Anyhow, my mom really liked the mall.  It's just cool how the built it, in parts of the mall it has a roof (which I heard is motorized and can open up) and so there's air conditioning in parts of the mall, but it still feels like it's an outdoor mall.  It's something I've never seen before.  It reminded me of Ala Moana but with a glass roof and A.C.

We spent a couple hours there just walking around and looking at everything, then shopping at Macy's (they have some really good clearance racks!), and of course I had to get my favorite Pink Pina Colada Smoothie from Kneaders bakery, and then right before we left we let the kids play by the water fountain area (they also have a small splash pad there that the kids play in).

After we left the mall we grabbed some ice cream from Coldstones, and then dropped my mom and the kids (except Hinckley) off at home.  My mom wanted to catch up on some sleep (since she was up with Moe the whole night lol) and so we let all of them sleep while I made Fehi take me to Old Navy. :) I had a gift card that I got from Delta that I wanted to use up, and now that I'm not pregnant anymore I thought it'd be a perfect time to go shopping.

side note: with this pregnancy I gained only about 9 pounds the first 36 weeks of my pregnancy, then the last 2 weeks before I gave birth I had gained like 8 pounds (oops! lol) so this pregnancy went well as far as weight gain.  When I finally was able to weigh myself (on Monday the 2nd) I had lost almost all of the weight gain.  I'm about 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.. and probably 20 more pounds to be at my goal weight. But right now I'm pretty happy with my weight and how I look post-pregnancy.. I don't feel like I have as big of a belly as I did with the other two.


So after finding two dresses and two cardigans that I loved I called Fehi to tell him my dilemma (because I didn't want to spend that much on clothes) but he told me to just buy it all. Thanks hubby, I love you! ;) So I did, and ended up spending ahem $85 on everything after I used the rest of my gift card. We headed home after that and then just chilled in bed, until about 9pm when we decided to go out and take the kids to a move at the drive-inn theaters. This is our first time going with our kids, and we decided to watch Brave and The Avengers. Moe hates the movie theaters, and so we thought he'd like this because we could just sit in the car, but nope he was hating it at first.  Finally after probably 30 minutes of him complaining, he let up and starting running around on the road.  We watched Brave and part of The Avengers and decided to go home because we were all falling asleep lol.

This week has been a good one! and I'm glad my mom was able to spend a few days with us.  She left this morning to San Francisco, but before she left she made another big bowl of ota for my husband. Talk about spoiled.  lol. I told my husband that I wished his mom would make me something that I liked all the time. BAHAHAHA. jk. I'm just glad that they have a great relationship, and that my husband loves having my mom in town. :)

More pictures from our outing at City Creek Mall:

Baby's First Day

So I've been watching a show on TLC called "Baby's First Day" and the episode I watched had a mother on there who was going through labor and birth unmedicated, a.k.a. all natural.  While watching this, I started to reminisce by own experiences going all natural with both of my kids.  When she would scream, I would remember those times I screamed. When she talked about the pain, I would remember that same exact pain.  But as soon as she pushed and welcomed her little one to this world, she cried, and of course I cried. lol.  I started to feel a little anxiety as I was thinking about how I'm going to be going through all of that again. But then I remembered how joyous it was to welcome a new one into this world.  So my anxiety has turned into excitement, I only hope that this birth will be like the others, and I'll be able to handle going unmedicated again. :)

I should name this blog "Diary of a Pregnant Woman" lol...

Giving Thanks: Day 7, 8, and 9 :)

So I'm gonna cheat a little bit, cause this post deserves to have 3 days worth (even more) of giving thanks!  :)


Today I'm giving thanks, and am so grateful for my Mother: Kesaia Ongoongotau Mafile'o.  All my life she has always worked full-time to support our family, and she was always that mother that made sure to take her children to church.  That's especially one thing I'm grateful for, because even though our father didn't  take us to church every Sunday, my mom, without fail, got up every morning and made sure we all went to church.  She sacrificed so much, and even continued with her schooling while we were in high school.  She completed with her certificate in Medical Assisting, and has continued to work with the same company since then. She continually provides love and support for me and my family, especially my husband.  She actually never met Fehi until she came up for our wedding, but she has loved him and has treated him like a son since day one.  Sometimes they'll gang up on me and it's me against my mom and my husband lol.  This woman is my superhero, she's endured so much in her life to better our lives.  She's my hero, and I'm grateful for the wonderful relationship I and my family have with her.  LOVE you mom!

My mom and my son Moe when he was 2 months old

My mom and step-dad with my children, their grandchildren