The Keefauver's + 1

That's right! Jeff and I are having a baby! We were VERY surprised but we can't be more excited. Well I should say now that the morning sickness is not taking over my life I am getting very excited.

Proof!! Sorry if this is disturbing to you! :)

This was me almost two weeks ago. I'm 16 weeks along in this picture and starting to get a little bump. I am now 17 weeks.

We have seen the heartbeat 3 times and have heard it twice. It is strong and fast! 

The pregnancy so far has not been very easy. I got sick starting about week 5 and stayed very sick until week 16. Let me tell you it is not fun, but I am thankful now to be eating things other than saltine crackers!

Pregnancy Highlights this Week:

How Far Along: 17 weeks 

Size of baby: {length of} a sweet potato, {weight of} boneless chicken breast

Measurements: 5 inches, weighs about 5 ounces

Baby Milestones: nervous system is maturing rapidly, the hearing has grown and will be able to hear more sounds, learning the art of yawning. 

Best Moment this week: our contract being accepted on a house we are potentially buying!

Gender: find out VERY soon!!

Movement: Not feeling anything yet

Food/Drink Craving: burritos! Yes this started yesterday and it is the first craving I have had. Not just any burrito but and ground meat, bean and cheese burrito! YUM!

Sleep: I have good nights and bad nights. Good nights I only wake up once to go to the bathroom and am comfortable. Bad nights I am tossing and turning and can't get very comfortable, plus I get up at least twice to use the restroom. I have also had some weird dreams too. 

What I am looking forward to: lots of things coming up: finishing teaching, going to hawaii 

to see my brother and sister in law, finalizing things on the house.

 

Symptoms: can tired be a symptom. If so I am the queen of tired!

So let the games begin.... what do you think I will be having? A boy or a girl? 

Welcome to Paradise Cove!

Welcome to Paradise Cove!

Sorry it has took me this long to finally finish my Hawaii trip. So Saturday night we went to a Luau! It was really fun and bonus... Adam got us the military discount! Holla!

What was neat about this was it was the same luau that I went to about 15 years ago! It is still exactly the same. The costumes and everything... except when I was a kid I didn't get all the innuendoes. Adam, Laura and I had a great time. We came in and they had crafts out on the tables. The first thing we did was make a floral bracelet. Even Adam joined in on the fun!



Then Laura made a crown!



See so pretty!

While she was making this They guy with the seashell horn came and they did a fashion show right where we were. Really they just showed us how to tie a sarong different ways.



Here is Laura and I during the "fashion show!"



They did several other shows but I was waiting in line to get a polynesian tattoo... so I didn't get any pictures... i didn't end up getting the tattoo either... I know. bummer but the line was taking forever and I had to go. While I was waiting in line for this tattoo I did get to see the shower of flowers event! So this guy climbed the tallest palm tree on the paradise cove property... see







There he goes





a little further!



Well he made it! and now it was time for the shower of flowers!



Well we made our way to the table after some pretty pictures.....








Now it was time to eat and enjoy the show! The food was really good and the show was fun. Naturally I was taking pictures the whole time. They aren't the greatest of pictures but hey they work!

Here is the food!







Here is the cool fire guy!







So the trip is almost over... but this post is long enough! I will write in the next day or so finishing out my trip! Aloha

The Diversion!

(This was at 5:30 am on the beach! It was a great morning! Coffee, beach and Jesus time! Great way to start the day!)

Aloha!

So you know how I said we were going to go to Hanauma Bay and snorkel, and go kayaking and all that really cool stuff.... well none of that happened! Told you Hawaiian time is different. No it really wasn't Hawaiian time.

We went to Hanauma Bay and when we pulled up the lady said it was full and just to keep circling around until it was open. Well so we tried this a few times and there was no use. People go there to spend the day there so really if we wanted to go we should have gotten there first thing that morning. Oh well... you learn. Because of this Laura and I did get to see some places we might not have stopped at. We stopped at this scenic point on the side of the road and saw this beauty!




After we gave up going to the bay we decided to go to Kailua beach instead. It is suppose to be one of the prettiest beaches with the most beautiful waters. So we started driving! We were bummed but still excited to go to Kailua.

On the way there we saw that there was a stop to see a blowhole. It was crowded so we knew we had to stop and take pictures and see it!





Well we got back in the car and were off... we needed to get gas in the car so we pulled into the first one that we saw. Laura pulled in like normal and pushed the button to open the tank and it wasn't until then did she notice that the tank was on the other side of the car. ha. well she didn't want to turn the car around so this is what she did.



Isn't that hilarious! I was cracking up! I still am cracking up just thinking about it. Her response was.. "who would put the gas tank on the other side of the car!"

Well we got to Kailua and it truly was beautiful!



The sand was nice and soft. The water was so clear and beautiful... but there is a catch. Kailua is on what they call the windward side of the island. You can say that again. It was SOOO windy! So the sand was beautiful until it started blowing in your face the whole time and sticking to you! it was pretty until you started to lay down on the beach and get sand in your ears and up your nose. I am still trying to get all the sand out!

We were there about and hour and left! When we got back to Waikiki...I had to redeem the Kailua beach by going to our private beach and enjoying the peacefulness of it! :)

The day finished nice with finishing Pride and Prejudice and then seeing this....




It was a good day even with the improvising!


Well I am off to the beach! Check back tomorrow for pictures from the Luau we are going to tonight!

Mahalo and Aloha!

Scenic Route

Aloha from Waikiki!


This has been such a sweet amazing gift! It is out of the norm for me to just rest and be still and not have to think about getting things done or what people are doing, or what is going on. Since I have been here I have been in awe of the beauty of God's creation. It is such a sweet gift to sit and just watch the tide coming in and out and listen to the sound of the waves.

Yesterday, Laura and I decided to take a little adventure. We took a drive to a place called the Pali lookout.



Our drive was quick and easy sailing! Well until about 2 minutes before we were about to get there it started to rain. :( It rains quite a bit in the mountains here so we just figured it would be over soon!

We got there and it started to POUR. You could see all the tourists and their kids, and the cameras around their necks running to their cars. It was an amusing site. Well Laura and I haven't gotten out of the car at this point so we just decided to hang around for a few minutes to see if it let up.

Lo and behold about 5 minutes later it stopped raining. All but about 10 people were gone so we had the look out all to ourselves! Nana nana boo boo! It was awesome! It would have totally been a different experience with all those people there.


This is the view from the lookout. Sadly because it was just raining we didn't really get the best view of everything. We should have been able to see the ocean but the silly ol clouds were in the way!



Here is Laura with baby Ellie taking pictures!




We left to come home and we had to go about 5 miles out of the way because they don't let you U-Turn in this place. Really? Who doesn't let you U-Turn. I understand certain intersections it can be dangerous, but every stinkin one? So needless to say we took the scenic route home.

We got back, ate lunch and then decided to go to the beach.



So nice and relaxing! :)

Last night when Adam got back from being on call we decided to go out to dinner. And let me tell you... The Cheesecake Factory is the BOMB! yum!


(sorry it is kinda fuzzy)

This gets to be two more meals and let me tell you... I am super excited about that!

It was a fun day! Now that the weekend is coming I think we are going to be picking up some pace especially since Adam has off for the next 3 days. On the agenda for today ( I think... Island time often gets the best of us) snorkeling at Haunama Bay, Kailua beach, maybe even Kayaking at Kailua, and the rest is history! Stay tuned!

Mahalo and Aloha!

Sunsets and Views

Aloha!

So I have spent one full day in Hawaii so far. In case you didn't know I am on Oahu at Waikiki! I am 5 hours difference in time from Texas and the views here are AMAZING!!!

So because Adam and Laura are here for a month it was cheaper for them to get a condo than to pay for a hotel. Let me rephrase that.... it is cheaper for the Army to pay for a condo for the month than for them to pay for a hotel! The Army gave us a pretty sweet spot!

Well Adam just happened to find this amazing condo! It is right and I mean right smack dab on the beach! It is amazing. The condo doesn't have ac but it truly doesn't need it. They have this huge window that stays open 24/7 and fans going in the room. So needless to say I am going to miss the sound of the ocean all day long. It has been my favorite thing sitting in a chair right by the window just looking out. My bed is also right by the window so i get the best sounds of the waves. I don't mind waking up in the middle of the night hearing them!

Here is the view of the private beach for the condo.



I have been waking up between 5:15 and 5:30. It is really neat because when I wake up it is still dark outside but within a matter of 10 minutes everything becomes alive. Seriously. This morning at 530 it was just barely light enough to see and I saw the first surfer go out. Crazy. within a matter of minutes there were 8 of them out in the water right in front of the condo.

anyways... back to the topic at hand. Yesterday mid morning I looked out the window and this is what I saw!



It was a complete rainbow! such a sweet reminder of God's promise and I got to enjoy it because I was being still!

Here is another picture that I had from yesterday from my window! Laura and I were just talking about sailing and how we would love to go sailing sometime and I saw this really cool sailboat. it was picturesque.




Yesterday wasn't too eventful. We just hung out in the morning. Around noon I went down to the beach and stayed till about 3. (praise the Lord Laura had spf 70 because I would have FRIED if I wore the spf 30 i brought! ha) When we came back in we got ready and went on a long walk to a market that is a few miles down the road from our condo. It was HOT but fun seeing all the different things. We got back, cooled off, made dinner and then began to watch the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. Since Adam was on call last night we made it a fun girls day!

About thirty minutes into the movie I began to notice some change outside and we paused the movie and grabbed our cameras! (Laura loves photography just as much as me) You ready to see this? I am going to show you a series of the pictures!

This was in the very beginning of the sunset. I thought this was gorgeous!



Wait it gets better. Same sunset.



During this whole time I am singing "sunrise, sunset" from fiddler on the roof and thinking how much Jess would love this. So I texted her a picture and then took this one!



Within a matter of 10 minutes the sun was gone. I will leave you with one last shot from the sunset!



Jess, I hope you enjoyed these pictures! :)

Aloha! Tomorrow I will post about Laura and my adventure we are taking today!

Hawaii: First Class Style

(does this picture make anyone else think of the Pixar short film with the clouds?)


ALOHA!!

Ok so my brother is in the Army right? He was given orders (by his request) to be stationed in Hawaii for a month so that he could do a rotation with orthopedics at Tripler Army Base. Rough life I know!

Anyways, Adam and Laura invited me to join them for a week in Honolulu for this occasion. I had a free place to stay and the flight would be easy to get thanks to me dad who travels every week. Needless to say I struggled deciding whether I would join them or not! :)

When my dad was booking the flight with his reward points the Lord did this really sweet and special thing. At the time he was booking the first class seats were worth less reward points then the coach class seats. So it was a better deal for my dad to get the first class tickets then the coach. Can you believe that? This is insane.

I have been really hesitant and almost ashamed to tell people where I was going and how I was getting there for a while. Well my flight left yesterday and can I tell you how spoiled first class flyers are? First off at check in I was helped immediately. My luggage got a priority sticker which means when I land it is one of the first suitcases to come out. I didn't have to wait in that awful long line for security because I was flying first class. I got to board the plane first. When I got to my seat this is what I saw.




I had my own nice pillow and sweet quilt. I had all the space I wanted. My chair FULLY reclined. I was overwhelmed. This was awesome! The flight attendant I met while I was waiting in the gate and she knew me by name the entire trip. It was pretty special. So right after I was seated they came around with beverages while we were waiting for everyone else to board and get situated. They also brought a menu of what we would be eating. Can I show you how awesome this was? prepare yourselves....



So we started off with mixed nuts and dried fruit. I know this is nothing really special but oh it was. It was warm and they tasted so good!



Next was a really good salad! They also gave me a glass of wine to go with the meal.



Then I had Salmon and asparagus. Now I normally don't gravitate towards seafood but I couldn't help myself. Why get pasta when you could enjoy something fancy and really this was a once in a lifetime thing. I may never get to do this again... so I went for the Salmon and it was AMAZING!!! Who new airplane food could taste so good!



To finish this meal off I had a hot fudge sunday and some coffee.

So what did I tell you? Pretty special huh? Oh wait.. but before we landed in hawaii I was given this..



Fruit and cheese and crackers! ha.

So my food was pretty neat! Did I mention that the seats fully recline? I have never slept better on a plane than I did on the way over here... and just in case you don't believe me I took a picture of the guy sitting next to me sleeping! haha. I know a little creepy but I wanted proof of how it actually reclines!




So that is my adventure thus far! I can't wait to enjoy the beach today. Mahalo ( thanks) for reading... until next time, Aloha!

New Adventures

So I really haven't done this whole blogging bit in a long time! I have always kept up with everyone else's blogs but when it actually came to writing mine I had no desire. But I am going to try again! We will see how long this lasts! :)

I just recently, as in yesterday, moved into my own place. It has been a rush of emotions. One part of me really loves being able to have my own place and decorate really cute without having to ask permission from other people. One the other hand I will miss having my amazing roommate, I am solely responsible for payments (those nice rents where you get to split the cost in fourths), I am nervous that my old habit of isolation will kick into high gear.

So the bad out weighs the good right? Nope. To tell you the truth this is one of the scariest decisions I have had to make. I know this is exactly where I am suppose to be. I have only been here two days and I know this is my home. It feels like home. I am trusting the Lord will provide a job ( did I mention I don't have one?), I am trusting that he is going to protect me, and take care of me. I am obeying where the Lord has called me so I know that in the end this will definitely be the BEST thing for me. In Romans 8:28 it say "and we know that for those who love God, all things work together, for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

I might not see the results now. It might be way down the road till I see why the Lord has called me to live by myself. It might be tomorrow when I find out why I am suppose to, but I am completely confident there is where the Lord has me.

Is it scary...yes.

Is it challenging... yes.

Am I going to have to trust that the Lord is going to have to take care of me.... yes.

Have I already been scary by my coatrack thinking it was a person who broke in my house... yes. (its true... twice within a matter of 5 minutes. So I moved it! )

Will God take care of me... MOST DEFINITELY!


So needless to say this is a gift! I want to be joyful in it! And it just means you all need to come and hang out at my place! :)