The Smallest Fan

Thanks to my dad who works for the NFL we have been to the ProBowl every year that it has been here in Hawaii! He always is able to get us awesome seats and tickets to the awesome tailgating party and this year he definitely outdid himself! The tailgating party was fabulous as always (a $230 entrance fee if you wanted to buy one!) but the seats for the game this year were the best we have ever had...10th row, 10 yard line...pretty awesome and Dog the Bounty Hunter and his crew were on seats on the field right in front of us! And, this year Laura and Dave were here to go with us which made the day even more fun! Joseph had a great first sporting event experience and was a perfect little fan! Hung out in the carrier all day and even slept through the fireworks during the pre-game show! With being a part of the Ducote/delaMontaigne family this will definitely be the first of MANY games that he attends.

Sleepy fan!

Fun at the tailgating party

Rich with the mayor of Honolulu

Joseph checking out the tailgating festivities

The newest Catholic

Joseph was baptized this past Saturday, January 29, 2011 at our church, St. Jude's in Makakilo. At St. Jude's they do the baptisms at one of the masses-at first we weren't crazy about the idea because we wanted it to be more intimate with just our family and friends; however, at the baptism class earlier this month they explained to us that they do baptisms at the mass so the entire community can welcome the little ones to the Catholic church. The ceremony was really nice and Deacon John did a great job and had a touching and meaningful homily reminding us parents that it is our job to teach our children about the values and beliefs of the Catholic church and to instill them in our children...something that we are looking forward to doing.

Aunt Laura and Uncle Dave are Joseph's fabulous Godparents and we feel so blessed to have them not only as great family but also as great friends. They will be wonderful examples for Joseph and we look forward to watching our families grow together. It was so nice to have Uncle Mark and Uncle Momo with us to celebrate as well. Of course we wish all of our family could have been there but at least we had both sides represented!

Joseph wore a baptism outfit from Auntie Patti. It was a little hot at the church so we let his legs hang out which made him much happier and he smiled and then slept through the entire mass! We were very touched that she gave Joseph the outfit-thank you!

After mass we went back to our house for a great Italian meal and cake to celebrate our little man! GNSTGBU Joseph...sign of the cross! (Inside joke for my fam ;)

Sleepy Hiker

We went on our first hike with Joseph this past weekend at Manoa falls with Laura and Dave. It was great to be outside and to be hiking again and so fun to take our new addition with us. He was a fabulous hiker-slept the entire time! Even fast asleep he was quite the attention getter-so many people made comments about him being the youngest hiker out there, or how cute he and Rich looked together and so on...and he missed it all! He woke up long enough to eat and to enjoy the car ride and then was out again in time for lunch at The Counter in Kahala-as Dave says, "If I only ate milk I'd be sleeping all the time, too!"

Mommy's Big Peanut

Gramma gave Joseph an adorable outfit that says "Mommy's Little Peanut" with super cute plaid shorts to match-I have tried having him wear it on three different occasions but we haven't left the house with it on yet. He has either spit up on it or pooped on it so we have to change before we leave. I think he is trying to tell me that he isn't my little peanut, but rather a big peanut (or big nugget as Uncle Brian calls him). Weighing in at 11 pounds, 8 ozs at his one month appointment he doesn't have much longer until he won't fit into this outfit anymore!

Time flies

Wow, is he really one month already? The past month flew by! This was definitely a month of firsts for all of us...here are a few:

First sponge bath by mom and dad: 12/09/2010

First time peeing on mom: 12/09/2010

First trip home/ride in the car: 12/10/2010

First dr’s appt: 12/11/2010

First Army/Navy game: 12/11/2010

First walk in the stroller: 12/19/2010

First restaurant: 12/22/2010-at Roys-nothing like starting off with the best! He is going to have high expectations!

First trip to beach (Ko'Olina lagoons): 12/23/2010

First Christmas Eve and time to church: 12/24/2010

First Christmas: 12/25/2010

First real bath (umbilical cord fell off 12/28/2010) : 12/29/2010

First wedding and New Year's Eve: 12/31/2010

First real smile: 01/05/2011 (we think at least!)

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou

I figured since we spent New Years this year in Hawaii at a local wedding that the title of this entry is appropriate (Happy New Years in Hawaiian). Rich's co-worker and friend, Eric, got married to this fabulous girl, Lesley, on New Year's Eve and the wedding was absolutely amazing. The location of the wedding was the most beautiful wedding spot I have been to (even trumps our own!) Lesley is local haole (and a teacher) with generations of her family being from here (and all Punahou grads) and Eric is originally from California but has been here for about five years. They are a great couple and we enjoy seeing them at work parties and functions and felt very honored to be invited to their wedding.

We thought the wedding was at Kualoa Ranch on the other side of the island but ended up being across the street from the ranch at Hale Moli'i. We drove up and saw this huge white tent for the reception and found out that we had to get on little boats to get to the actual wedding ceremony site. We got in the boats which brought us across the body of water and ended up on this private little beach where they got married at and then we took the boats back to the reception site. So cool! We learned that parts of Lost was filmed here as well as the wedding from the movie "You, Me and Dupree". I already told my sister, Lindsay, that this is where she should get married!

Joseph was a champ throughout the night and was loving hanging out in the carrier. Best part of the night though was during the wedding ceremony he was starting to move around a bit and was due for a feeding so I decided to go and find a place to feed him. There were a bunch of picnic tables set up right next to the ceremony but felt that this was a little too close to all of the people so I walked down the beach and found a piece of wood on the ground and sat down on it. I thought it was a perfect little spot...until the wedding ended and the entire bridal party ended up standing right behind me. I guess this was the "meet after the wedding to get ready for pictures spot." The bride walked up first and just says to me, "I am so sorry Lisa!" Then Rich comes running down the beach and says "I'm so sorry Eric!" We were all laughing and luckily Joseph is a good little eater so didn't even notice when we stood up and walked a bit farther down the beach for some real privacy!

Lesley danced a beautiful hula for Eric and the reception was great! It was a wonderful way to ring in the New Year!

The view of the reception area from the dock on the other side-the boat in the middle is what we had to take to the other side

Once we got off the boat we had to take a little path to the other side of the island to the beach

The bridal party getting ready to walk to the beach

The wedding ceremony

The view on the boat on the way back to the reception

Rich, Eric, Paul and Kevin (all PCL guys)

Joseph at his first wedding