Selfish

I must be a bad wife. Today on Facebook a friend asked the question, "How do you help your husband feel loved after you have a baby?" Compounding the oddness of this question was the fact that she had just given birth to her fourth child. I was so tempted to respond, "You don't", but I didn't. It made me think though, was I unaware that I had an obligation to make my husband "feel loved"? To be honest, my husband was not at the forefront of my mind those first few weeks (truly months) after I gave birth. What was? Pain. Lots of it. I was a first time nursing mother with a baby that never really learned to latch on properly (nursing brought its own pain for the first three weeks). Depression, mostly due to hormones. No clothes that fit properly. A body that couldn't perform simple tasks or function properly. And a baby to take care of. I just assumed my husband was a grown man (he was 29) and understood that I was under a lot of stress at that time. Did I neglect him?
After seeing my friend's post I asked Ryan if there was ever a time after Reagan was born that he felt neglected or unloved. I let him know that I was sorry if he ever felt that way. He looked confused and said, "No. That was my job, to help you feel loved after you had a baby. You were dealing with a lot."
Either I am an extremely selfish person or I have the best husband ever. Or both ;-)

New Link

Hola friends and family! You will notice that I have linked to Ashlynn's blog to the right. I know I am a few weeks late on this, but welcome to the blogosphere Ashlynn!

New Computer. Oh, and Disney musings.

Ryan and I bought a new computer and I want to see if my blog will work on here. As you know, we have an iPad and for some reason we can't post anything to our blog from it.
So what's on my mind? Disney. I love Disney! I love everything about Walt Disney, about Disney World, and about the Disney classics. Speaking of classics, I had a "light bulb" moment the other day. Reagan has four shows that she loves to watch: Veggie Tales, The Wiggles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She doesn't much care for anything else. When she was a newborn I made the decision that she would never watch these "modern pollutions", but would instead be raised on the classics. That's right, she would only watch the classic animated movies, none of these "cheap knock-off tv shows". It made me angry that Disney was exploiting their best loved characters and modernizing them in new series' just so they could make more money (or had no fresh ideas). It was sacrilege! But that was before I realized the genius of what Disney was trying to accomplish.
Let's face it, the classics (of any variety) aren't appreciated as much anymore and not every kid is going to grow up in a home where the classics are valued. So where does that leave Disney? It leaves them trying to peddle outdated characters to a new generation that doesn't recognize them. Enter Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If it hadn't been for that show, Reagan wouldn't have cared much when we saw Pluto in WDW back in May. She's at an age where the old Mickey shorts hold little interest for her, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse engages her. Same with Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Yesterday we watched Peter Pan and when she saw Captain Hook she bellowed "Yo-Ho!".
So Disney was right in this instance and I was just stubborn.
Just for fun, here is a list of my top ten favorite Disney animated movies.

1. Sleeping Beauty. The gold standard of fairytale perfection. I think it is both artistically and musically perfect. It has by far the best villain and the best score. And since Michael Eisner never made a crappy, cheap sequel to it that tells me that Disney Studios also holds it in a reverent regard.
2. Beauty and the Beast. Just beautiful.
3. The Lion King. Again, this movie has a majesty about it when the animation and musical score are combined. And Nathan Lane provides some much needed levity to a rather heavy subject.
4. The Little Mermaid. Thanks to two songs "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl".
5. Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Before Harry Potter, there was a harmless apprentice witch named Ms. Price.
6. The Three Caballeros. This was Disney's first full length feature to combine live action with animation. I love the Latin music!
7. The Great Mouse Detective. It's a fun movie, especially if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan.
8. Dumbo. Yes, I still cry when I see his mom in jail. In fact whenever I hear or sing "Baby Mine" I cry. Sweetest lullaby ever.
9. Robin Hood. Oo-da-lolly!
10. The Emperor's New Groove. I laugh every time I watch it!

The Golf Date

 Hi, this is Reagan with a Family update. Mommy would do it but she and daddy have been pretty busy lately so I thought I would do it for them.(And they are having trouble updating on the I-Pad)

Last Tuesday Grandma Cindy came by for a visit and we decided to go Golfing.

I don't really know what golfing is, but we each got stick with a fat end and a colored ball. We hit the balls with the stick on some outside carpet.

 They were very pretty and at first I thought they must be candy so I tried to take a bite.

 There was all kinds of rocks, bumps, and hills on the green rugs and dad was good about hitting the balls around them.

 There was also lots of pretty blue water, but mommy wouldn't let me play in it.

My job was to run down the green carpet, chase the balls and throw them as far as I could.

Then to run and pick them up and run some more. 

There were some pretty rainbow buildings....

Mom and dad kept hitting their balls into a little hole, so did grandma. 

I got to walk around a lot.

   Grandma really liked the pirate ship.

After a while I found some hills to run up and down on...

And a little fishing village...

 I had such a good time. 

I can't wait to go again. 

I guess I should let you know that Daddy has started working at Dish Network. Mommy is studying a lot and she sometimes sighs and says things like...."I miss Hawaii", but we like living in South Carolina, the house is bigger than a large closet, which Mommy says is nice and I have made lots of new friends. The best part is I live near Nona and Poppa and my cousins so I get to play with them.

Aloha Friends - We'll see you soon.

Reagan's Baby

Sorry it's been so long! I will have more posts later for Easter and the aquarium. With moving and Ryan being sick and the new baby it's just been very busy!

When Reagan first laid eyes on baby Jade (her new cousin that was born last week) it was a Kodak moment! She just stared at her reverently and then gently stroked her hair. Last Sunday, April 29th, the Lowry's finally celebrated Easter and that meeting between Jade and Reagan was hilarious! They set Jade on Reagan's lap and it didn't take long for Reagan to start chewing on Jade's tiny arm with her toothless little smile.
Reagan loves children and especially babies! So really the following story shouldn't have come as a surprise:

I wanted to buy Reagan a toy that she could treasure. She has several toys that others have given her, but she doesn't have one from her parents. I did some research and decided that Sophie the Giraffe was the toy I wanted to get for her. We went to the store and as we were walking around Reagan gave out a squeal of delight! I turned to see the shelf holding all the baby dolls. I looked back at Reagan, she was grinning from ear to ear and trying to jump out of Ryan's arms reaching for the baby doll. We took her over to the Sophie giraffe and I held it up for her to see. She couldn't be less interested. I held up the baby doll and she freaked out! Now was where I had to be the mom. I wanted her to want the giraffe, but she really wanted the baby doll. We bought the doll.

And she loves it! She talks to it all day long in her little baby babbling language, "ma ma ma da da da ba ba ba da da." It sits with her in her car seat, rides in the stroller, and greets her in the morning. She loves her baby!

25 Years Old

So for my birthday I just made a coffee cake and we had friends over to play Phase 10 Sunday night.

Baagie and Kalia. She was born in August.

Ryan gave me another birthday hat. Check last year's post to see the pink version.

The new dads.

The expectant parents. Zach and Lauren are due some time in May or June. I can't remember which one.
I didn't get pictures of our neighbors from Houston, Zach and Sarah, they came later.

             So today was Skye and Reagan's last day at church in the Laie 5th ward.  We both got to speak in church and Skye also was the chorister as usual.  I believe that our talks went well and Reagan did a good job of not being too loud.  After Sacrament meeting was over they all sang "Aloha 'Oe" to us, bringing up several flower and Kukui nut Lei's to say goodbye.  The entire song Reagan was Laughing and excited to see so many people coming up to her and saying goodbye.  She is such a ham when she is around people, always smiling and laughing to get their attention.  We also went over to the temple and got some family pictures taken which we will poast later, after our photographer gets them back to us.

"Aloha 'Oe"

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali

Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele

E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko

Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace,

A ho`i a`e au

Until we meet again

`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai
Ke hone a`e nei i

Ku`u manawa

`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha

A loko e hana nei

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani

Nâ pua rose o Maunawili

I laila hia`ia nâ manu

Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aloha 'Oe"

Proudly swept the rain by the cliffs

As it glided through the trees

Still following ever the bud

The `ahihi lehua of the vale

Chorus:

Farewell to you, farewell to you

The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers

One fond embrace,

'Ere I depart

Until we meet again

Sweet memories come back to me

Bringing fresh remembrances Of the past

Dearest one, yes, you are mine own

From you, true love shall never depart

I have seen and watched your loveliness

The sweet rose of Maunawili

And 'tis there the birds of love dwell

And sip the honey from your lips