Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

My First Mother’s Day May 12, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Mom,Mothers Day — Kelocity @ 7:42 am

 

My first mother’s day! What a special day for me. The first one I can celebrate with my daughter outside the womb. What an amazing year it has been.
IMG_1643

 

Last year at this time, I was cradling my 9-month pregnant belly, dreaming of what it would be like to become a mother. Wondering if I’d be a mom to a son or a daughter. Hoping he/she would like me! I did everything I could to take care of my little baby while he/she was on the inside. Practicing those mom skills early.

And now, exactly a year later, I’m chasing an 11-month old baby girl around the house, amazed at how fast she is growing and learning. Adele is so easy to love. She makes my job a breeze.

MotherDay

Adele loves to babble ‘mama mama mama’ which makes me smile every time. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that someone loves and needs you so much. But more than being my baby, Adele is becoming my friend. She’s not even a year old yet, but I already see the roots of a lifetime-long friendship forming. I’m so excited to develop that bond over the years.
Motherday2

It’s so important that our kids (especially our girls) have positive role models in their lives. Self confidence is so important to the development of our children. I hope to foster that in my daughter. I hope she views me (and Irving) as people she can confide in and trust.
MotherDay3

I’m excited that I can join the ranks of moms everywhere being celebrated this year. I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful strong mamas in my life to give me advice, encouragement and support. My mama-friends back home inspire me daily. And my LA-based mom group has become a force of nature (watch out, world!) Never underestimate the power of a mother. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Filed under: Mothers Day — Kelocity @ 4:19 am
Tags:

When I was in high school, we had a rule in our home. No one was allowed to call our house after 9:30pm (this was back when cell phones weren’t really a thing yet). It was the responsibility of my sisters and I to let our own friends know. I’m  sure they all rolled their eyes at this ‘silly’ rule, and I’m also sure I probably did my fair share of complaining about it…. but truth is, I always liked that rule. I liked that I had a timeframe where I knew no one would be bothering me. I usually finished it up homework, read, or probably went to bed early. To this day, when 9:30p rolls around, my brain mentally shuts off. Now that I’m a mom, I understand that sometimes kids need boundaries and rules. My mom was always careful to make sure we had downtime and rest in our busy lives. It’s up to us to know what our kids need even if they don’t. Thanks mom, for showing me by example what being a great mother means. That one silly rule will stick with me for the rest of my life, and I’m so thankful for it.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Especially to Grandma and Granmmie because this is their first year celebrating as grandmothers! And to Nini and Great Grammie who celebrate for the first time as GREAT Grandmothers! A special day indeed! So lucky to have such wonderful women in our family.

IMG_7656

MothersDay

MothersDay2

IMG_7634

Happy Mother’s Day, Ladies! We love and miss you and are so thankful to have you in our lives. I’m a better mom because of all of you! xoxo

 

Waikoloa Village May 8, 2013

Filed under: Beach,Hawaii — Kelocity @ 5:09 pm

First of all… happy 11 months old to my baby girl! I’ll have a monthly recap post up soon, month 11 was a good one!

Now… where were we? After our morning of swimming, we headed out on an afternoon walk. But we needed a little fuel for the journey, so we took advantage of the free shaved ice. Mmmm!
IMG_2314
 IMG_2315

On our walk, Little Miss had a siesta along the way. That Hawaiian air can lull anyone to sleep out here.
IMG_2311
 IMG_2312

Along the way, we got to see the lava rocks up close and personal. There’s a trail that apparently goes all the way around the island. Such pretty and unique landscape out here.
IMG_2321

Soon enough, nap time was over and we had arrived at our destination…
IMG_2326

…The Hilton Waikoloa.
IMG_2335

For posterity’s sake… here’s a picture of Irving and I at this exact same spot 9 years ago in 2004! Man, we were so young!
Hawaii- Day 2 (39)

Anyways, we lazily walked the property listening to Adele babble the whole way. She’s turning into quite the chatter box lately.
IMG_2324
 IMG_2336

IMG_2339

We gave Adele a flower in her hair which lasted 1.3 seconds.
IMG_2343
IMG_2340

IMG_2345
 IMG_2350

Fotor0508165859

We had to take some picture-perfect family portraits because the setting was just so pretty!
{Begin Family Photodump}
IMG_2355
 IMG_2363
 IMG_2369

IMG_2372
 IMG_2376
Rock On, Daddy!
IMG_2386
 IMG_2388
 IMG_2391
 IMG_2401

One of us got a little hungry (maybe because we didn’t share our snow cones with her), so we found a lush piece of grass to have a baby picnic by the ocean.
IMG_2411
 IMG_2412
 IMG_2417

Wispy Baby Hair: Hawaiian Edition
 IMG_2423
You guys, she stands up by herself now! And is totally cruising around the furniture! She’s had a huge week developmentally, so glad we get to see it happen while we’re all together on vacation. I’m going to miss her during the day when we have to back to work! Can’t we stay here forever?
IMG_2435

Back to napping, reading, swimming and Pina Colada-ing. Mahalo!

 

Pool Floaties May 7, 2013

Filed under: Hawaii,Swimming — Kelocity @ 4:50 am
Tags: , ,

On Saturday, we checked into our hotel and Adele took a nap and then we headed straight to the pool! But you can’t take an 11-month old swimming without an inflatable tube, can you? Daddy to the rescue! Adele was pretty excited at the idea.
IMG_2199

SWIMMING!
IMG_1729

The pools are salt-water and the water was so refreshing. Don’t let Adele fool you, though the air was cooler that day, the water was warm.
IMG_1735

We think she was still a little jetlagged that first day, she wasn’t too impressed by much that afternoon. It’s a lot to take in for a little kid!
IMG_1737

This towel hoodie was Irving’s when he was a kid! 
IMG_1747

That night, we baked a pizza in our room and called it an early night. Adele hit the sack at 6:30p (and slept for 12 hours + 3 more in the morning! For those who are counting, that’s 15 HOURS with a short milk break in between!) Hawaiian air tuckered her out I think!

Irving and I picked up a movie (Silver Lining Playbook– Loved it!) and were asleep ourselves by 8:15pm. I could get used to this!

Sunday morning, while Adele was sleeping the morning away, we enjoyed coffee, bagels and mimosas on the patio outside.
IMG_2208
We were up at 6a so we had three hours to soak in the Hawaiian morning sans baby. I dove into a book for the first time in months.
IMG_2206

Once sleepyhead did decide to wake, she had a fruit and yogurt breakfast with us.
IMG_2215
 IMG_2230

And then it was time to hit the pool again! She was much more awake this time and she loved it! She was ready to take on the waves.
IMG_2234

The kiddie pool is 1ft. deep and has a pebble beach (instead of sand). This is a mother’s dream. No sand = no mess. Awesome. 
IMG_2247
IMG_2249

We let her play with some beach toys for a while.
IMG_2252

And then we brought out the pool floatie! She was a fan.
IMG_2260
IMG_2265

They won’t let you take pool floaties in the big kid area because there are waterfall ledges and waterslide shoots that could be dangerous, so we took her for a walk down the lazy river instead.
 IMG_2269
IMG_2292
Haha she makes the funniest faces now, but this one shows off her four big teeth in the front! She’s working on getting two more, they started coming in a few weeks ago, but they seem to be taking a while for some reason.
IMG_2295
 IMG_2298
 IMG_2300

After our swim, we spent the morning at the Hilton Waikaloa resort!

To be continued!

 

LAX –> Hilo May 6, 2013

Filed under: Hawaii — Kelocity @ 3:45 pm
Tags: ,

This trip to Hawaii is really the first true ‘vacation’ that we’ve taken as a family. It’s not a typical ‘Kelley and Irving’ trip either. We usually go-go-go-go and visit as many landmarks and historical sights as we can possibly squeeze in.

This time is different. We had no real agenda. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Traveling with Adele has been easy and fun. She’s a great traveler anyways, but she really kicked it up a notch on this trip. I think we’ll keep her.

Friday afternoon, the three of us boarded a non-stop flight from LAX to Hilo. We were lucky enough to score a whole row to ourselves, so Adele got to stretch out and play in between us. She did great, we even got compliments on how well behaved she was at the end of the flight from fellow passengers. She took a nice two hour nap on daddy in the middle and both Irving and I were able to read a few magazines. Bliss. She snacked on puffs, a food pouch and some milk when she woke up and before we knew it, we were landing.

We booked one night in Hilo so we wouldn’t have to make the two hour trek to Kona at 11 o’clock at night. Irving spent a couple of years going to college in Hilo before we met, so he always gets excited to see his old stomping grounds. We had to stop at one of his favorites restaurants when we were in town, and the owner recognized him! It’s been almost 13 years since he had been there! Crazy!

Our hotel room had two beds. I got a glorious bed to myself and Adele and Irving shared. All three of us slept for a solid 8 hours. Irving was up early and headed out to explore Coconut Island while Adele and I got another hour of sleep in. He was out there before sunrise, it looked so peaceful and beautiful.
IMG_2055
IMG_2082

There really isn’t anything like a Hawaiian sunrise/sunset, right!
IMG_2099

Meanwhile, Adele and I got ready and took some pictures in the room.
IMG_2122
 IMG_2128

Soon, Irving came back to get his girls, and the three of us were out the door for a walk at 6am. (Because of the time difference, we’ve been going to bed pretty early and waking up between 5a and 6a. I NEVER do that at home, but out here, it just feels right!)
IMG_2106

You can’t really read it, but this Banyan Tree was planted by Emelia Earhart in the 1930s.
IMG_2109

IMG_2111

The purpose of our walk was to get some fresh air and take in the pretty scenery — err… just kidding. That is a lie. We were on a mission to find some fresh malasadas. Mission accomplished. We split a Coconut Cream and Passionfruit Jelly one. Mmmm.
IMG_2112
We headed back to the room around 7:30a to pack up and get on the road. But first, let’s just take a minute to check out the amazing signage inside the hotel. Huh?
IMG_2114
 IMG_2118

I’m embarrassed to tell you how long it took us to find our room for the first time.

Anyways, around 8a, we hit the road to travel to other side of the island to Kona. It was a pretty drive and Adele slept the whole way there.
Screen Shot 2013-05-06 at 3.41.45 PM

Pinch me, I can’t believe our little family is in Hawaii! More pictures to come!