ZumwaltOhana.com

We're Back (but better?...)

Sorry for being down so long, but we're finally back up!  Now we'll begin working on getting this thing up-to-date.  Thanks for your patience.

Service Announcement

I (Zak) have just completed moving our domain (ZumwaltOhana.com) from one domain registrar to another to prepare for the loss of our Hawaii email addresses at the end of this month.  Rather than changing our email addresses every time we move in the future, I've set us up with email addresses provided by our new domain registrar so that as long as ZumwaltOhana.com is up and running, we'll have email.

Even though Kathy and I don't expect to lose our @hawaii.rr.com email addresses until the end of this month, please begin using our new email addresses now so that we have some buffer time to work out the kinks.  Our goal is that by the end of this month everyone we care about will be using our new email addresses and we'll leave behind our @hawaii.rr.com addresses smoothly.  So, from henceforth our email addresses will be:

Zak:  zachary@zumwaltohana.com

Kathy:  kathy@zumwaltohana.com

Please let us know if you experience any problems with these accounts.  And don't forget to update your address books!

BZ2 Update

My friend, Katie, has pointed out a time or two that I have yet to post any fat girl pictures.  So, I thought I should get around to doing that.  Sunday I thought about it and the camera was handy, so I had Rebecca take a shot for posterity.

Other than the little mishap with my back, which is getting much better, the pregnancy is going very smoothly.  I am much less swollen this time (last time I had to take my wedding rings off before I even started showing--at like 3-4 months) which makes for many less aches and pains like carpal tunnel (which I had last time in both hands very badly) and sciatica.  That has been a real blessing!  I have had more digestive issues with this child.  I think some of it has to do with allowing myself to get too hungry before I eat and then when I do eat it tends to make me sick!  That's not good, but obviously avoidable if I will just pay attention!  I'm starting to swell now, so I will have to start adding more flax seed to my diet again.  Last time that helped a lot.

I think this little munchkin is going to be just like his/her dad in that they both need almost no sleep to function.  This child is in constant motion.  And it doesn't matter when I go to bed or get up--BZ2 is ALWAYS moving!  We can always hope he or she just wiggles a lot even while sleeping--also like the father!

Koa has started preparing for the arrival of BZ2 by carrying a stuffed animal (usually a horse) around in his blanket and feeding it with a bottle I got out for him to use.  He tells me when it is crying and puts it to sleep every once in a while.  One day he was carrying around my rice bag (that I had been using for my back) and told us the baby had a poopy diaper.  Zak went and got a cloth diaper out and helped Koa put it on the rice bag.  I'm glad they both have active imaginations! :)

Today Koa says he is waiting for his baby sister.  If this is true we may need The People to offer up some suggestions for girl names because we are not making any progress in that direction.  So, fire away!

Updates

I just thought I should let folks know what the status is on our move.  Amazingly we are learning that God can even work in spite of the Navy!  I have never seen anything happen so quickly when the Navy was involved, but they are (with a little prompting from Zak) speeding us through the check out and move out process.  We are scheduled to pack out our household goods next Wednesday.  We only have one pack out since they were going to do the big one on Wednesday and one on Thursday for our 1000 lbs we opted to just mail a few things instead of do a 1000 lb shipment.  So, if anyone has any tips on how to get the most bang for your buck in shipping, let us know.

We are having a little hang up with getting our car shipped off the island since we still have it financed and Zak doesn't have a job lined up.  They are going to require a co-signer in order for us to take it with us we think, but they haven't officially made the decision, yet.  However, we have already started that process since we don't have a lot of time for them to be making decisions and then come up with a plan B.

We have had lots of showings of our house, but no offers, yet.  We had a repeat showing the other day, so I guess that is a good sign.  We'll see if there are any bites from that.

I had a little mishap on Sunday while shaving my leg in the shower (yes, I know that sounds ridiculous!).  I somehow threw my back out.  It was actually my hip, but it was incredibly painful in my whole lower back/hip area.  Sunday was incredibly miserable as far as that went.  We had an open house that afternoon and couldn't be in the house so we went and hung out at Brad and Rebecca's and I just laid on their couch for as long as I could. 

Then the girls from Stroller Strides threw me a baby shower/going away party.  It was an eighties theme and they were all dressed up in the lovely fashion of the eighties.  It was pretty funny.  I don't have any pictures, yet, but I am hoping to get some soon.  The cake was made by one of the girls and it was beautiful!  It was a fun party other than the fact that I couldn't move.

Monday morning I was still in an incredible amount of pain, so I called my mom and she gave me some exercises to do on the floor while laying on some rolled up towels.  That made a huge difference!  It still isn't cured, but I have done the exercises and a few others every day since then in addition to keeping ice on it as often as I can and that makes things livable.  I am just hoping I can get past this little hurdle before we are packing and flying!

This is all a little emotional as the whirlwind takes place around us.  When Zak called yesterday to tell me we were going to pack out next Wednesday I was just in shock!  As the day we had planned for quickly approached I didn't think there was any way it was going to happen this fast and maybe God just had a different plan.  I was pretty ok with that!  I was on my way to the Kam Flea Market when he called to tell me our final dates.  I realized that all of the sudden we were in our "last times" list.  This was going to be my last time to shop the Kam.  I realized I'm just not ready to go! 

We made it our goal while we were living here to make the most of it that we wouldn't have any regrets when we left here--wishing we had spent more time doing (fill in the blank).  Unfortunately, I think that is coming back to haunt me right now.  We have enjoyed this place to the fullest and have had so many significant experiences here--getting married, having our first child, buying our first house, making some of the best friends in the world, and lots of travel.  We've certainly enjoyed the culture and the 'aina (land).  We will have many fond memories to take with us and maybe some day we will move back, but for right now I am just very sad to leave it and slightly less excited about the adventures ahead.  The irony is that I felt this same way eight years ago when I moved here FROM Portland!  I'm so blessed to have enjoyed the places I have lived and have great things to look forward to in the future!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Koaisms Kontinued

Every since I made the last Koaisms post I have been wanting to make another because he just keeps doing things that make me think, "I've got to write that down so I don't forget."  So, here is more little boy silliness for The People.

• "Burger cheese, please!"  This boy loves a cheese burger (without pickles!)  The other day I put him down for a nap and several minutes later I heard this phrase coming from his room.  It was the first time I had heard him say it.  I wondered if he was talking in his sleep or if he was just in his room playing.  So, I peeked my head in the door to see what he was doing.  He immediately looked at me since he was wide awake while ordering his cheese burger and I said, "Did you just ask for a cheese burger?"  Very sincerely he asked, "You want one?"
• "I dot it!"  This is Koa's version of "Do it myself!"  Sometimes he will ask for my hand when he is doing something, but quite often when I offer my hand to help him with something he says, "I dot it."
• "Baby toes."  We have just recently started letting him watch videos other than Signing Time once in a while.  We have a couple of Veggie Tales DVD's that he really likes to watch, but it took us a while to figure out that he was asking to watch a video since it sounds like he is saying "Baby toes."  The first time he said it it was because he thought he needed a band aid and the only band aids we have in the house have Bob and Larry on them.  The sad part is those band aids have been around much longer than our child has!
• "Let's talk my day."  Since before Koa could actually talk I have made it a habit to try to talk to him about his day before he goes to sleep at night.  Sometimes we review lessons he might have learned, but we also just talk about the events of the day.  Now we do it as a family and Koa counts on it.  Sometimes it comes before the prayer and sometimes after, but he never lets us for get to "Talk my day!"
• "Life, death, reslkdjflsn"  I guess Koa is already picking up on common "prayer language" because almost every time we say, "Thank you for Jesus." he jumps in to add, "his life, death and resuroijolkton." 
• "I have a idea!"  He says this with the most sincerity and with plenty of hand motions.  I don't think he has a clue what it means and I'm not sure where he picked it up exactly, but when we ask him what his idea is he just continues to repeat himself with more and more emphasis.  Sometimes he follows it up with, "I found a monster!!"
• "There's too plenty!"  For some reason he hates it when we fill his cup up unless it is totally empty.  When we are getting ready to leave the house I will always check to see if his sippy cup needs to be filled and he gets upset and says, "No!!  There's too plenty!"
• "1-2-3-7-8-2-3..."  Even though he has been able to recognize all of his numbers and letters for a while now he has shown no interest in trying to say either of them in order.  He has just recently started trying to count things, but this is generally the order in which he counts for all things.  He will end on whatever number he thinks the answer is, though.  He does know when things are in multiples of two or three, so he will choose one of those numbers to stop on.  However, when we have him count to three before he jumps he will never jump!  He just gets stuck in the repetitive pattern or 2-3-7-8-2-3-7-8-2-3... and just stays on the step.  We eventually just push him.  Just kidding, Regina. 
• "I starving!  I need shlocate!"  He loves his chocolate.  He doesn't get a lot of it, so it is always a real treat and it is easily his favorite!  He uses as much drama as he can muster to see if it will get him what he wants.
• "No flamies!"  Sometimes when we are all together in bed or on the couch or something Zak will pull us all together and say, "Family!"  Well, Koa started doing this when he would come get in bed with me if Zak was already gone.  He will put his arms around me and say it just like Zak, but now when Zak does it he has started to yell, "NO FLAMLIES!", as he starts to giggle and squirm.  However, the other day when Zak and I were both very busy getting ready for our dinner party I guess he was feeling a little neglected because he told Zak, "Daddy, let's do flamies!...To the couch!"
• "Your turn!"  In true two year old fashion Koa finds it very difficult to share!  However, if there is something he doesn't want to do he is more than willing to share.  Sometimes our conversations go like this..."Koa, it's time to pick up your toys."  "No, Mama's turn."  If anyone has any tips for helping a two year old learn to share better, please do tell!! 

I'm sure I will think of more as the days go by and there will be many more Koaisms to come but for now, I hope you enjoy some of his silliness as much as we do on a daily basis.