Am I skinny yet?

Hey ya'll. So it's week 2 of the Body Transformation challenge and I decided to come and update ya'll on what's been going on...Sorry it took so long, it's just that my body has been in shock from all this exercise and I think it's finally outta shock!! LOL.

So, I "officially" weighed in with my trainer at 299...I know...shocker cuz I look like I'm only 295 huh?! Yeah, I was a little surprised. Actually, for the past 4 years and past 3 pregnancies, the 290's have been my average weight. So, it wasn't that much of a surprise. On Monday Jan 10th I went into the Gold's Gym in Sugarhouse to meet my trainer Ben and to workout for the first time with him....well, that's what I THOUGHT I was gonna go in and do. I didn't know that I was gonna go in and throw up, pass out and die!!! Ya'll think I'm lying....OMG...after the first 5 minutes, I thought that I was gonna survive. 5 minutes after that, I was wondering where the nearest emergency exit was so that I can tell the ambulance which door to pick me up from!!! THIS GUY FREAKEN HATES ME!!! That was my initial thought. I thought, DUDE, he hates fat people, ESPECIALLY ME!!! He was working me like I was an athlete and this was AFTER I told him that I hadn't worked out in over a year and before that it was very few and far between. He had NO LOVE!! We were balls to the walls the whole time. About 25 minutes into the workout I told him that I didn't feel right and that I thought I was gonna pass out, so he let me sit down and catch my breath. He asked if I wanted to walk to the drinking fountain and get a drink and when I looked up and saw the drinking fountain, even though it was only about 15 yards from where I was sitting, it felt like it was a million years away. I forced myself to get up and go get a drink. As soon as the drink was done we continued to work out....then my hearing started going in and out. LOL...I WAS DYING!!! I think that's a sign that yer about to pass out....he was talking but all I saw was moving lips and now sound. OOOHHH....just talking about it is bringing back bad memories....Long story short, we only worked out for about 40 minutes...and that time INCLUDES the time I took to sit down and catch my breath and get my drink of water...so really, I only worked out for about 30 minutes. When I was done, I was feeling like throwing up, my whole body was shaking; I think it was in utter and complete shock!! I knew I wouldnt be able to drive home, so I had a friend pick up my husband and drop him off to the gym to come and drive me home....yup...that's how bad it was!!!

I did NOT know that I was going there to DIE!!! I'm so glad he ended early. I didnt wanna go back for day 2 but I went and every day that I went last week got easier and easier. I still struggle with stamina and strength but Ben pushes me to my limit every time and I notice my stamina and strength getting better and better. I have been soooo SORE for a whole week STRAIGHT but I love it. It's the only kind of sore the I love. My friends keep asking me what kind of exercise that I do and my answer is SO honest..."I don't even know". LOL. I don't know if it's my mind just trying to forget what the hell it just did or what, but for the life of me I cannot tell them every exercise we did. I may remember a move or two but we do SO much in that hour and it's so hard core that I totally forget what we do. All I look forward to is for that damn clock to hit 6:30pm so that I can leave.

I've been living off of rabbit food (salads, veggies and fruits) and water and been exercising all week but I was so nervous about weigh in today. I wasnt sure that I had lost anything but today on the show I weighed in at 290...that's 9 pounds in a week!! YAAAAAAAY-UH!!! The only problem with that is that now Ben wants me to lose that much EVERY WEEK!!! Dude, I'm telling you, this guys is SUPER NUTS!!! But that will be my goal...I dont think its possible but I like to still set my goal high, so that I am at least WORKING for it. And if I only lose 4 or 5 pounds, hey...its still 4 or 5 pounds. I dont wanna set it for 4 or 5 cuz then I'll only work "4 or 5" level. Get what I'm saying?! okay..good.

Well, all of us 6 contestants are doing good and I am happy for that. I keep waking up thinking "Am I skinny yet?" but I know that if I work super hard, that one of these days I will wake up thinking "WOW, I'm skinny" :)

Drum roll pleeeease........

296....that is not an area code....that is my official weigh in weight. EEEEEEEEK.... That is a big number but it just makes me wanna work even harder at trying to make it a smaller number. I went to weigh in today at the West Jordan Gold's Gym. They asked us to come in a sports bra and short shorts or a 2 peice bikini. Ummmm...BIKINI??!! No thanks. So I went with the other option.
So I went there fully dressed with the shorts and sports bra under my clothes. I took off the jeans....ok, feel ok....then they asked me to take the shirt off....AAAHHHHH....do I HAVE to?!! So the shirt comes off. After the initial shock of standing there half naked in front of 3 skinny, healthy strangers, it wasn't that bad. I got on the scale and they took down my weight. Then I had to hold this thiny ma gingy in front of me so that it can measure my fat or body mass index....I mean...it's a thinky ma gingy, what the heck does that little machine know...it told me that I was 46% fat....46 PERCENT?!! FOR REALS...I dont believe it. I'm just big boned. LOL...and that is the mentality that got me to 296 pounds!! LOL. But 46 % WOW. That's about half of me....half of me is just FAT!!! Welllll, I aint trippin...I am bound and determined more then ever to get this done. I NEED IT!!
After I left the gym, my trainer called. He was the winning trainer in last year's "Lighten Up" competition that Fox and Gold's Gym did. He sounds good. I heard that he is hard and I cant wait to really work out. We wont be able to meet up until Monday, due to busy schedules. But until then, he has challenged me to drink only water, cut out salt/sodium from my diet and to do at least 1 hour of cardio every day. I will take him up on his offer and hopefully when we meet on Monday I will have lost a pound or 2....a pound is a pound, right?!
Well guys. I can't even tell you how excited I am for this change/challenge. It's gonna be great!!

Big Buddah's Body Transformation Challenge

Whew...I'm so glad that Fox 13 named their challenge an easy non tounge twister name...sheeesh...you mite freak around and cuss, saying the name of the challenge. None the less...that is the name. The goal...DUH!! If it's not obvious from the name then you're slow. It's to see who can transform their body the most, in 12 weeks.

So, I was sitting in bed...maybe eating a donut, maybe chips, who knows....and Big Buddah from Fox 13 comes on and is advertising a challenge. To apply, he says, hop online at fox13now.com and fill out the application. I thought...what the heck....why not? I put the donut, or chips or whatever healthy snack it is I was eating and hop online. The application is pretty simple and clear cut. Name, address, age and weight and then you have to submit a recent picture and a little essay on why you should be chosen. Hmmm...why should I be chosen....*LIGHT BULB* So the title of my essay, "Choose me because I'm fat"....I mean...why else would you choose me. Your not gonna choose me because I'm skinny...geeez. So I write a little simple essay on me and my life in a nutshell and I submit it.

The page rules said that if we were to be chosen, that we would know by Dec 30, 2010 at 5pm. I applied Dec 26 and the 30th comes and 5pm comes.....and goes. And I figure, ah what the hell...I'm still gonna go on a diet cuz that's been my new years resolution for 15 years now, why break tradition. I'm a little bitter that I didnt get picked but WHAT EVER!!

So, the new year comes and I still have dieting at the top of my resolution list. Just because it's at the top, doesnt mean it gets the most attention because like the past 15 years....that resolution starts on the 1st and ends on the 3rd....but that's for another blog. So, I'm sitting on the phone with my mom and the other line rings. I dont know the number so I dont click over, I continue talking to my mom. After my conversation with mom I notice I got a voice mail from that missed call. I check and low and behold...ITS FOX 13!!! The lady from marketing and programs director calls and leaves a message for me to call her back. Even tho the deadline has passed I'm still very very excited to see what she has to say, even if it IS to tell me that I didn't make it. I call her back and she appologizes because she didnt know that her dead line to call the contestants was on the 30th. She informs me that I have been chosen and that I need to be at Gold's Gym the next day at 10:30am for a live show at 11am....AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I am beyond excited at this point.

I am sooo excited to start this BODY TRANSFORMATION. So it includes 12 weeks with a personal trainer and a 6 month membership to Gold's Gym. I am excited and grateful that my new years resolution wont end on the 3rd and will actually go until April, hopefully longer. I'm going to use this opportunity to learn what I can about how my body works and workouts that work for me. They will also help me with meal plans, which is a big issue with me. I like every thing dipped in butter and deep fried in mayo....sooo yeah. You can imagine how I got this hot bod that I have right now.

I do have 1 worry....getting pregnant...ugh. Well, not ugh, but hooiii!! 5 years ago I wouldn't have this complaint because until 5 years ago, we didnt even know we can get pregnant. But now that I know that when I lose weight I get pregnant, I dont wanna get pregnant during this body transformation period. I have no insurance and so yeah...I guess we'll be spending a lot of money on condoms!! HA HA HA.....

I will be blogging weekly about my journey to a healthy me and I will share techniques that mite help ya'll and meals that ya'll mite enjoy. Thanks for all the support out there. I will definitely need it :)

HERE'S TO A NEW YEAR AND AND NEW ME!!!

My humble hubby

That is my finger poking thru the bottom of Teki's work boots.

If you know Teki, you should know that he is a simple man. He doesnt ask for much and he his needs AND wants are super duper minimal. But leave it to me to minimize them even MORE.

Teki has been complaing for a while about his work boots, saying that his socks get wet all the time and that he needs new boots. Every check, I find something else to spend money on and he just sits back and lets me use all his money on waste time stuff. When he asks if there is any money left over for some boots for him for work I tell him "NO! Next check", and it's been "next check" for a few months now.

I have been gone all day long just running around with a cousin. Finally I come home and there is a huge box in the livingroom....YAY!!! It's my new boots that I ordered online during Cyber Monday. Opened up the box, hecka happy and excited. Put em on and strut around the house with em on. I look back at him and he's sitting on a couch, holding the baby and I notice that he looks a little tired and flustered cuz he's been home with all our kids all day. I ask "do you like em?" and he nods "yeah, they look really good". It never EVER crosses my mind that he asked for new work boots during the summer. Finally he asks Liz to go and get his work boots. He grabs em and says, "look babe" and I turn around and he sticks his finger thru the boots. MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN I felt like a freaken A-HOLE!! LOL.

This guy is SOOO HUMBLE and kind. He has been lining his boots with plastic shopping bags during this fall and winter weather to stop the rain and snow from getting into his boots, which by the way never works cuz his socks get wet all the time....and I dont know why wet socks didnt make me realize how seriously broken his work boots were. But that is just the kind of person he is. He will just sit back and let me blow money on whatever the hell I want to while he goes to work in wet, holey boots. I love this man of mine!!! He's seriously the best.

So, right now he is at the store looking for some new work boots. My cyber monday "deal" was 55 bucks for the boots I got and he just called and asked if he can buy the 27 dollar boots cuz the 20 dollar ones are too thin!!! THIS GUY...I'm telling you, he is seriously killing me with kindness!!!! If it sounds like I'm braggin about him...I AM!! :) He's too kind...but that's not good for me cuz I'll end up running this guys into the ground. LOL. I love how he will do ANYTHING to make me happy, even if it means letting me get expensive waste time boots instead of warm functioning work boots for him. I HELLA LOVE HIM!!
These are the boots that I ordered....and I freaken LOVE EM!!! :) Thanks babe. Yer the best!!!

Drawing Blanks

Can I just say that I hella freaken love my kids. They are the cutest ever. I know every mother says the same thing about their kids...and every mother is CORRECT!!! :)

I been wanting to come and blog....just write...anything....about what ever has been going on. But I just havent been on cuz I've been drawing blanks. Sunday we.....uuuhhh....we..... ummmm... weeeeeeeeeeeee...... Well, Monday we did some....uhhhh...Monday? Mooooonday? Hmmmm...Monday weeeeeee...... Well, last Saturday there was this one ummmm....it was uhhhhh........ Hmmmm....Sunday. Oh yeah, Sunday wellllll.... YEAH! Drawing blanks. LOL

We DID go to San Jose on Saturday for my brother's football game. Utah State University against San Jose State University. WE WON!! YAY. It was a fun game and it was good to go with my sister Karma, that lives out there and my mom, who works out there. The kids had a blast and the weather was sooo nice. We tried to catch a 6am flite back so we got to the airport at 5am....HELLA got bumped off the first 3 flites and finally got a flite out at 1pm and got back into SLC at 4pm. That was a VERY long day. Good thing I had left baby Line here in SLC with her daddy. It was just me and the 2 kids. Isi did pretty well. I was mostly worried about him if we were to get stuck at an airport..which we did. Oooh the GLAM life of standby!!!

Isi was cooperative during the flite tho. I was happy. He had fun during snack time. He dipped his Biscoff cookie in sprite...I dunno. I guess he gets that from his dad. To pass the time between take off and landing, I had him watch a movie on the laptop.

So, I learned that I can travel with 2 kids and not kill any of em. I will have another test this Friday. I am taking all my kids to Arizona for a birthday party...ALLL THREEEE!!! So we'll see how that goes. This is when Benadryl comes into play, I guess.

Be careful what you wish for...

This baby birth has the been the most different. My first birth was a sad one. No cry after I gave birth, no diaper changes, no baby to take home. All in all a very very sad experience. My second birth was a scary one. We went in for a routine check up and they discovered that he was in fetal distress and so he was an emergency C-section. As soon as they pulled him out, he was rushed to NICU. I didn't get to hear him cry. I didnt get to hold him and didnt even get to see him until I left the OR. He was in NICU for 4 weeks and the whole time I had to pump for him and they fed him thru a tube, then thru a bottle. By the time he came home he was used to the bottle and so breast feeding was a challenge. I breastfed him for about 2 weeks after he came outta NICE and then we were stricktly bottle.

When I had this new baby, she was a healthy baby. We heard her 1st cry, we were able to see her right away and also hold her as soon as she was cleaned off. It was so special to go thru that. So I vowed that I would breast feed her for at least 12 months, since everything was on track. After about 3 weeks of getting up to feed her every 3 to 4 hours, I WAS DONE!!! I couldn't imagine doing that for a whole year. I told Teki, "I wish that you could do this. This is the most annoying thing ever. I am tired, I'm soaked every freaken morning and I'm tired of this. I don't wanna do this anymore". I put her on a bottle. We switched every other feeding between the boop and the bottle. Then it was 2 bottle feedings then the boob. Then it went to bottle feedings all day and just give her the boob at nite when we were in bed. Before I knew it, my milk supply is almost non exsistant. NOW, nooooow I wanna breast feed all day but there is nothing there. She sucks and sucks and sucks and only gets a little bit of milk. I feel bad cuz I know she is starving but because I am not REALLY ready to let go of that part of our bonding, I make her stay on the boob and suck. So basically she is sucking for free...what else is that called....oh yeah-child molestation!! LOL.

So, I decided that I will take her off the boob :( I wish that I kept her on the boob and stuck it out. I guess that's what I get for being selfish. I am so sad that I am closing this part of mtoherhood and our bonding. But I guess I just need to be careful what I wish for, cuz it'll come back and bite me in the ass!!!

Liz's BIG adventure!!

Today we decided to let Liz fly by herself to San Jose. We were all supposed to go today. My brother who coaches football up at Utah State University, up in Logan, is playing San Jose State tomorrow, so we all decided to go up there and watch the game. This is only possible cuz Teki works for Delta, so we fly for free and my mom and sister live out in San Jose, so we have a ride and a place to stay. If not for those things, we woulda been rooting from home cuz we are BUTT BROKE!! Anyways, we were all supposed to go today but a dear friend of mine had a baby shower today that I really really wanted to go to, so we decided it was time we sent Liz on her own and see how she does.

Liz was SOOO excited, needless to say, but me and Teki were over here sweating balls. Although, she is probably the most book smarts girl we know, her street smarts or street credibility is NO BUENO!! She will freak around and get her butt kidnapped. But we need to learn to let go and let her learn and live and experience life. So far, we have sheltered her so bad but she is getting older now and we realize that she neeeds to, as Mariah Carey says "Spread her wings and beging to fly" (Butterfly song). So Teki takes her to the airport and fills out the paperwork needed because she is an "unaccompanied minor" and she is off :) Teki gave her his cell phone so that she can call us as soon as she touches ground and as soon as my mom picks her up. While at Walmart, I get a text from Teki's phone; "I'm in California". I just had to laugh so hard. She is such a texter, ALREADY!! I tried calling but she didnt answer, just another text; "I am waiting for grandma". LOL.

So, I guess that I can breath a little easy knowing that has a little streed cred!!! LOL....she aight. She aint gangsta like me, but she is getting there. Before we know it, we will be sending her all over America to "pick something up from so&so". If yer poly, you know what I'm talking about!! hahaha...Me and the other 2 kids will join her tomorrow, right before the game starts. We will cheer out little hearts out for the Utah State AGGIES!!! WOOT WOOT!!!

My little girl is growing TOO FAST!!

ps. its been a while since I've blogged and I've found a few blogs that I wanna follow...can someone please tell me how to follow these blogs...thanks!! :)

Counting my blessings...

We were married for 7 years before we even got pregnant. In the meantime, we had the blessing of adopting my sister's baby, that she had out of wedlock and at a young age. We are blessed to have Liz in our lives. But to have a child of our own was a prayer that we held in our hearts but a wish that we had come to terms with, would never happen. Finally the Lord blessed us with our son and due to circumstances beyond our reach or understanding, the Lord saw it fit, to take him back to heaven. Devasted and not really knowing if that same opportunity of having a baby of our own would come along, we kept the faith and continued on. Two years after our baby passed, we were blessed with antoher baby boy. Elated beyond words, we embraced this little blessing and cherished our new baby boy.

My body works in a different way. When I am bigger, I don't menstrate or ovulate, and since I have been big almost my whole life, my reproduction system is totally off. I dont know when I will menstrate, therefore I have no idea when I ovulate or ever if I WILL ovulate. So when in Janurary when I found out I was pregnant, I was surprised and excited. This pregnancy was SOOOOOO different from my pregnancies I had with my boys. My boys was such a breeze but this pregnancy I had morning sickness from the beginning to the end. That's how I knew it was a girl. In April, it was confirmed that we were having a girl and Teki insisted from the beginning that we name her after his mom, Ailine Kinikini Lao.

This baby has been such a joy to be around. I won't lie and say it's been kicks and giggles this whole time. She is 7 weeks old and is a tiny baby but she let's her pressence be known. She has a soft little cry but she cries a lot. She doesn't eat much, but she eats alot. She isn't awake for long, but she is awake a lot and so you can probably imagine my frustrations at times. But when I look at her little face when she IS crying, or eating or just awake, I thank God for sending her to me. I'm thankful for her little voice, and her appitite and her little mood swings.

Tonight, I got in a little fight with Teki. I just wanted 1 night, just ONE night that I can sleep all the way thru the night and not have to wake up to her cry or make her bottle or change her diaper. He told me that he works and goes to school and on top of that he has to be up in the morning to get Liz ready for school and go on a field trip with them in the morning, so he had to sleep. For a split second, I wished this wasnt my life. How selfish can I get??!! This is why I really started to blog again. I needed to talk crap about myself and vent about me. What if she just wasn't here? Would I rather have that life? HELL NO!! I cannot imagine life without her here. So what if I only sleep in 3 hour intravals. So what if I only have time to shower every other day. So what if the house is a mess. I wouldn't want it any other way. I would much rather not sleep, smell like a sweaty horse and live in a hoarder looking house, then not have her here with me. Sometimes, well...if you really REALLY know me, you know that "sometimes" word should be changed to "MOST OF THE TIME".....I take things for granted. I am not humble and I am selfish. I am glad that I have an annoying hubby and cry baby kids here to keep me in check.

I am so thankful for all my little blessings here with me. I wish, everyday I wish, that my oldest son was here with me, but I know that he is in a better place. Ailine is such a cute little baby and I look forward to all the mile stones that we will be going thru with her, as well as Isi as he is in the middle of his terrible 2's. And I also look forward to any other blessings that the Lord see's fit to send to me and Teki.

I'm back...I think.....

Soooooo, yeah. The last time I blogged was about a year ago....I think it says Nov. 26, 2009, to be exact. It's like, you know when you have a class, and you skip class for a few days and you go back and you are so far behind that you dont even wanna deal with it. You feel overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done in order for you to catch up. Finally you just stop going to class.....out of sight, out of mind. Yeah...that's kinda how I felt thinking about coming back to blog. I missed a few days, then it turned in to a few weeks, then a few months and before I knew it, a whole year had passed by and I havent blogged. I just feel like SOOOOO much has happened that I just dont know where to start. So I guess I'll just give a little synopsis.

So, since my last post in November 2009 here is what happened:
Dec: Decided to tell Liz she was adopted...this is a gooood story and when i'm not lazy I'll tell the story...it was so sad... also started a diet...
Jan: Isi turns 2, went to Maui for a week w/4 of my BFF's, found out I was pregnant...
Feb: officially ended my diet and found I had lost about 18 lbs :) filed our adoption papers with the court.
Mar: Turned the big THREE-OH!! I feel soooo old. Finalized our adoption to Liz (another cool experience)
Apr: My angel turned 4, sealed Liz to us in the SLC temple (another cool story :))
May: Liz turns 9, we find out we are having a girl :)
June: Teki turns 30
July: Pregnant, HUGE and hot as hell....
Aug: refer to "July"
Sept: had my baby girl 9/24
Oct: My baby brother Asa gets married
Nov: I get back to blogging...

I think that about sums it all up.

Other then that, there has been HELLA crap that has gone on inbetween the workouts and the baby but I think I wanna start another post. Just wanted to catch everyone up to speed with my life. So, wish me luck that I keep "coming to class" so that I don't get overwhelmed with all the super fun and exciting things that happen in my life *sarcastic voice* YAY!

Elizabeth D'Vani Lao....the next ANTM!!!

That's right...I said it...My baby is gonna be America's Next Top Model!! hahaha..she was in a Keiki Pageant last Friday and SHE WON!!!! Well, to be fair to all the other lovely contestants, it was a popularity contest....meaning that the girl selling the most tickets WINS!! hahaha....whew...good thing too, cuz my daughter has 2 left feet and is clumsy as hell. So choosing a winner any other way would have screwed any chances we had of winning!! hahaha.... So, I got my game face on and I hella got my hustle on and sold her 101 tickets. She won by a landslide thanks to friends and family who supported and helped buy tickets even tho they knew they couldnt make it. Liz had the time of her life and wants to do it again. We will definetly have to refine our dancing and waving skills before we enter into any other pageants. Although, I must say; for having 2 left feet, Liz did pretty dang good on her talent.

My mother in law worked all nite and all day to put together her "ethnic" wear and I helped make her talent costume. My sister in laws Liti, Nia and Tai helped teach her a routine to a fast tahitian beat and that was her talent. I was sooooooo broke, so I borrowed a dress from my cuzzin....I aint got no kinda shame, shoooot....She wasnt gonna wear the formal dress all the time so it was a waste of money to me to get her a formal dress.
Anyways, just wanted to come and post some pix on here from the pageant and tell eveyone thanks for the support.

Hooooold on....change is coming....

Liz is forever pulling her hair onto her face, like covering half her face...you know that kind of style....I could never understand it. Anyways, and it freaken bugs me. So everytime I see her doing that, I always yell at her to pull her hair back cuz she looks like an animal!! Yeah, I know..I need change what I call my kids! hahaha....so I was expressing my concerns about her always doing this to one of my cousin's Lote and she tells me, "duh Betsy, cut her some bangs." *LIGHTBULB*.....Good idea.

So when we get home, I ask Liz, "Hey Liz, would you like some bangs?". And mind you, I was saying it in the tone of voice like, you don't really want bangs do you??, type of tone! LOL..and she turns around and says, "Oh yes! I would love some." So I you tube some bang cutting tips and we attempt to cut some bangs. I sent a picture of our final product to my brother Asa and this was his response

"hahahahahahahha.....LOL LOL LOL...dang Bets, that's messed up...why you do that to my neice for"

Sidenote...I dont know why the hell I even sent it to him....hell, he's been in prison half his life, he don't know what's style and what's not!!!! hahahaha..that's what I told myself, after i got his text.

I think I did good. Asa's girlfriend is a hair stylist and she said I did good and that if I wanted to, I can take Liz there and she will texture her bangs for me, which I'm sure in hairstylist terms that means-yeah, you hella F#^&ed it up. LOL. But, I believe myself and I think I did a good job and better then that, LIZ LOVES IT!!!

It's about that time!!!

So here I was, slaving away at my job (facebook) when my son wakes up and comes to the living room. He's just walking around and whatever, then I notice that he starts to pull his shorts off. I don't pay him no mind cuz he usually likes to walk around the house in just his diaper, he's animalistic like that sometimes. LOL.

So, I just glance at him as he's trying to pull his shorts off, and I go back to work (facebook)....cuz by now, I've gotten into work and I'm soooooo deep in my studies(being nosy on people's status).

Then I start to notice this smell....and it gets stronger and stronger and all the while, I was stuck on my work (the computer screen). The smell becomes so strong, it's starting to overwhelm the whole living room and it actually breaks the trance that the computer put on me and I turn, only to find him bucket ass naked running around the living room and hallway. He had taken off his diaper and I think he was hinting to me that he is ready to be potty trained!! So, I think it's about that time. He even left me little brown hints all over the floor. LOL.

So, instead of going with my first instinct, which was to slap him and drag him by his hair to the shower, I pick him up and rush him to the toilet!! :) He was a PRO!!! He got that toilet all figured out, probably from him spending so much time in there. Between following me and Teki into the bathroom, I'd say he spends a good amount of his day in that room!!! LOL. So he finished the rest of his "duty", no pun intended, in the toilet and I help him off. Then we clean him up with his baby wipes and he walks over to the side of the toilet and flushes the toilet!! *tear*....my diaper days are coming to an end!!!! YAY for potty training....I'm sure he wont actually be ready for another year or so but I'm glad he's leaving me little "hint's" to help me realize that potty training time is getting closer.

This is how we do it!!!

So I had been busy running around AALLLL week(last week) with one of my BF's, trying to get last minute things for Yeti Vaivaka's wedding. So Saturday evening, after the reception, Teki calls me and says he booked us on a red eye to New York....Holy freaken last minute....and this is how we do it.....Don't eeeeeeeeeeeeever get up and pack a backpack of clothes, drop yer kids off like yer dropping off bags of potatos and head to the airport......it takes about 20 minutes for me to pack a diaper bag for my son for church, but tell me I'm going somewhere outta town and I'll be packed and sitting by the door in 5 minutes. LOL...... Teki's uncle who is married to my cousin, live in New Jersey and had a baby blessing the next day, on Sunday. So we get on the plane and here I am looking forward to a nice 3 hour and 40 minute nap on our way to New York, but I guess you can't have it all, cuz that was THEE most uncomfortable ride EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! And to top it off, there were some first class seats open but the stupid bon darts at the counter didnt wanna give it to us!!! hahaha....(That picture up there to the left is of some famous bull....I'm guessing)


This is our first time to New York and I am so excited/scared/excited/nervous/excited and soooooo excited!!! LOL. We got in around 545am. His aunt tells us "when you get here, dont trust the cab drivers cuz they will try to hustle you, ask the person at the courtesy desk to direct you to where you can get a 'cheap' cab." When we get off the plane and come down to outside the airport, THERE IS NO COURTESY DESK!! HA! So we're walking around downstairs, looking hella lost and even worse, looking like some freaken tourist. The taxi cab drivers are staring at us with dollar signs in their eyes, but I guess that's how they always look cuz we asked around and the flat rate between JFK airport and Mahattan is $50. LOL...sidenote, if you ever go to NY and wanna go to Manhattan, a cheaper way to go is JFK airport to the Air Train,$2, and then from the Air Train station, you can catch the Subway, $5, to downtown Manhattan.....that's an FYI. So we catch a cab, cuz we were trying to catch the blessing at 10am. Everyone stayed in downtown Manhattan, but the blessing was in New Jersey, which was about a half hour drive. So we get to the hotel and get dressed. His uncle, Sione, had rented a "Le Bus" type bus for everyone to go, cuz there was quite a few of us. It was a good blessing. We doubled the congragation. They were surprised that so many people had made it out for the blessing. After the blessing we head back to Manhattan and were free to use the day as we wished.(this picture to the right is just of New York...I can't tell, but I think it's just down the street from Times Square...and the streets REALLY ARE just full of taxi's.)








HOOOOOO-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-COW, I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!!! It is JUST as it is in movies. We were there for a little over 24 hours but seen and did sooooooooooo much. So we changed for the day and Teki's aunt suggested we take the bus tour, but we wanted to go at it by foot and "experience" everything. Teki's cousin Esu and his wife Sela took us around since they have been there plenty times. Maaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnn, what a freaken blast. Lemme tell you, WE EXPERIENCED it all. We walked down to Time's Square and saw MTV and TRL. Then we hopped in a cab and went further down to where you can shop off the streets, I believe they refer to these "stores" as the black market....hahhahaha.....well, we didnt go down the famous Canal Street but sa'll good cuz we upped it one more. How? Well, I'll tell you how. You know how people slang drugs on the corner of the streets....weeeellll, in New York, they slang everything else on the corner of the street. LOL. So we'll be walking by and like a group of guys are just sitting on the corner, and you think that they are just chillin there talking to eachother, but as soon as you walk by, they all turn around and all you hear is, "hey ma, you want purses, shoes, jeans....I got Coach, Louie, True Religion....what you want ma".....so Esu says, yeah....I swear he did this to just freak us out....cuz we follow this guy, and you think he's taking you to the store, but he goes in an APARTMENT complex, down the hall, up the elevators, down another hall, thru one door and then he turns around and locks it and I'm thinking, 'ok, this is the part where he kills us, RIGHT?!!'...then he opens another door and points us to go in ANOTHER room...and I'm thinking....'grrrreat, another room, further in so NOBODY can hear us scream'. hahaha....then we turn around and were in a room full of purses, shoes and jeans! hahahaha....and that my friends, is what you call STOLEN GOODS!!! hahahahaha.....Uhhh...needless to say, we partook of the "goods" and it was gooooood!!! LOL. (That picture up there to the left is of the Brooklyn Bridge)




This picture is a night shot from the top of the Empire State Building. That was such a rush to be up there and look down. I am sooooooo mad I didn't have my camera. I forgot it in my friends diaper bag and so we had to take pix with his phone....LOL...sorry, that's why all the pictures are such bad quality. Anyways, so yeah....we went up to the top. Sione has a personal driver, Giljen, a nice little Koren guy and he took us on a little tour of NY...it was nice. He took us by the Smithonian Museum, the Manhattan temple, the Brooklyn Bridge, Katz Deli (made famous by the movie "When Harry met Sally") which has the BEST freaken sandwhiches EVER....soooooo goood that I cant even explain it...you just gotta go there and eat one. Where else....ummm...he took us by Wall Street and we saw the NYSE building, which by the way another sidenote...Wall street was named for a wall that was put up on that street to keep the American Indians from going to "their" side of the city. So there used to be a big wall there and when the wall came down they kept that name, and it has been known as wall street since then. We went to ground Zero...it was blocked off and you really can't see anything. They are building just ONE tower in that place of the Twin Towers and it will be called "Liberty Towers". There was soooo much we did and saw in that 24 hours. I can't write it all down cuz this post is long as it is....hell, I don't even know if anyone has even read this far down!!! hahahaha....I just CANNOT stop talking about it. I'm sure everyone around me is soooooooooooo tired of hearing about our trip...geee, imagine if I was there for more then 24 hours....LOL


Weeeelllll, I just cant tell you how much I enjoyed our little get away. We caught the last flight back on Monday and got back around 10pm on Monday. I'm so glad I was able to make it out for Sione and Katie's baby blessing and so glad I had the opportunity to experience New York. I am definitly planning another trip out there. This time I wanna see the "real" New York...you know...the GHETTO!!! LOL...My brother Laisa served there in the ghetto and so were going back with him so he can take us around that part of New York. This last pix is just of the Late Show...I dunno...I dont even watch that show....just took it cuz it was there and it was cool!!! LOL. Hope you were able to understand my blabbling....if not, you just GOTTA GO some day...and when you go, hit me up cuz I will hella drop my bags of potatos off somewhere and join you!!!

Dilly Dally....

WHOA!!! It has been such a looooooong time since I've blogged and so much has happened that I don't know where to start....I guess we'll start from the very begining, a very good place to start. And first thing is, I wanna let ya'll know that I'm still alive and beautiful...hahhhaa....freaken R, yeah right...I haven't been out walking in about 2 weeks and I feel like crap! It really does help to have people to go with and lately my walking partners have all been busy. Either that or they havent been calling me - JERKS!!! They dont want me to be skinny like them...hahaha...I guess if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself....I'll start next week (story of my life) HA!

Liz is still enjoying her training bra. We need to go out and have her choose some that she likes. She thinks she is just some HOT SHEEEE when she has one on!! LOL. Isi is still very naughty and likes to test me....but I guess he always fails his tests cuz he gets whipped all the time!! hahah..calm down people who don't hit their kids...its just a pat on the butt. He knows that I am the discplinary in our family so he tends to draw towards Teki and Liz more....ah well...less diapers for me to change. LOL...kidding. He cracks me up soooo much and I just love being home to watch his little personality come out and develop and he is reminding me more and more of Teki....just a little goof ball. We are entering the "Terrible Two's"...so I'm NOT looking forward to that. Teki is doing good at school...least, that's what he's telling me. I'll know the truth when we get his grades next month.

I can't believe that the year is almost over. It has been a great year so far and a lot has happened. This is my most favorite time of the year...candy at halloween, turkey for days in November and then christmas...love the feelings, love the smeels, love the snow, love the family time....love love love it all.

On a side note, halloween was good and I will need to post pix of me cuz I was freaken scary, if I can say so myself....wwhoooeoooww....goosebumps....I just scared myself just thinking of my costume!! hahaha....well, here is another blog that is just kinda all over the place....SORRY!!!

Growing up Gotti....Lao style!!

Sooooooooooooooooo...we've been putting off getting a training bra for Liz for a while now because of 2 reasons. First, we don't wanna face the reality that she is getting older and second, we don't wanna face the fact that she is getting fatter...hahaha...no kidding. But for reals tho...isn't that sorta a young age to get a training bra...she is only 8 years old. LOL. I told Teki, that I swear, if she wasn't so feti we wouldn't be having to get one so soon. But I guess me and Teki are to blame for that....well, partly us, the other part I'm going to blame on genetics....oh crap...we'd be partly to blame for that too....so let's just blame it on the rain!



Aaeeeeeeeeeeeenyways......so we bought her a little training bra. I was a little excited to show her and explain to her how to use it because this will be my very first "girl talk" with her. This talk will prepare me for the many "talks" to come....period's, boyfriends, kissing...you know...the works!! So she comes home and I tell her I have a "surprise" for her, another sidenote...I know I've had a lot in this blog...I feel all over the place with this blog...sorry....sidenote:everything and anything we buy her, she LOVES to get it as a "surprise". LOL..so like if we buy her a toothbrush, instead of saying we bought you a toothbrush, we say, "we got you a surprise"...with EVERYTHING...even candy...eeeeeverything......OMG....so where was I...Okay, yeah. So I tell her that we got her a surprise and she automatically closes her eyes and holds out her hand and I drop the training bra into her palm. She open's her eyes nice and wide, with a huge smile on her face, as she always does and asks, "what is it?". Iiiiiiit's....a training bra!!!!! "Huh??". Then her dad, from the side (cuz I didn't think he'd make it thru this experience cuz she will FOREVER be his little girl) it's for your tata's.
Liz: Ewwee...so it's a bra?

Me: yeah, sort of. It's supposed to help train you how to use a bra for when you get older. You usually have to wear one when you start to have boobs and GIRL, yer starting to have boobs.


Teki: Yeah, everyone who has boobs has to wear one.


Liz: Cooooool, so you and mom have to wear one.


Me: No, just girls.


Liz: But dad has


Me: (before Liz could finish) FOR GIRLS!!!!


Liz: Oooooh...COOOOL!!!


So we put it on. As soon as the bra went on I felt like she was already lost to the world!! It's all down hill from here, next she's gonna be talking about boys, then kissing em, then HOLY HELL!!!......Please grant me the strength to raise kids in this evil world!!! LOL. I can't believe that we are at this point in her life already. I swear she just got outta diapers like....last week!! Where has the time flown too, cuz I wanna book the next flight there. Liz, on the other hand, looooooooooooves her new waredrobe addition. She said it feels weird but she likes it and she feels like she can "work better in it", cuz we were cleaning house when she put it on. HA!! That will all change when she's older. For now, we'll just enjoy watching her grow up...now I realize, like really really realize, how fast she is growing. I love how Teki handled the situation. He did very well. Just kept quiet and watched us take

care of business. He'll have to prepare himself for the BIG talk about the birds and the bees!!

Our BIG little girl!!

Elizabeth D'Vani Lao