A life to remember

Summer of  2010

June 19,  evening. Our flight by Continental Airline to Newark was two hours delayed. But our 10 month-old Zachary managed to entertain himself with the old folks, also passengers waiting. He's such a friendly, smiling little booboo. Most of the women were charmed by his big head, small face, chubby cheeks and bright eyes.

Inside the plane, Zachary made a good impression to the passengers, especially the lady sitting beside us. They became friends and she's very entertained by him. I didn't have good rest and my back ached though. But it could have been worse if there was no bassinet. He's a big boy now and can't hold him long anymore. He slept in a bassinet then I danced him when he woke up yet still tired.

June 20, midday. We arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport, my second time! Daddy made a mistake renting our car the other day then realized that our car was too small for all our luggage. It took us 3 hours to get out finally from the airport. Zachary even napped in my arms in the rental car office, at the stairs. Drove almost 2 hours to Washington Crossing, PA, where Zachary's grandfather (Opa Walt) and step-grandma (Nana Peg) live, Zac slept more in his car seat until we arrived at his Opa's house.

June 20-22, nights..exhausting nights. Zachary wasn't adjusted to time change at all. It's 6 hours time earlier than Hawaii time. He napped at 8:00 pm, woke up at 10:00 pm, played, crawled and etc then at between 2-3 am we drove around for him to go back to sleep. By 4 am he started sleeping till 10 am. I fed him his breakfast that late and had later lunch, after lunch, he napped again for an hour. How about us? Very exhausted. I drank coffee for twice a day just to keep up. His dad had to get some sleep though because he drives.

It was fun, meeting the family again. It was great to meet Zac's cousins and uncles and aunties and family friends. We even met one of the family friends, Marion,  a very intelligent woman, the mother of Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show of Jon Stewart) and she gave a book as a present to Zachary. We also met the babysitter of my husband's when he was a baby and all other wonderful people.  (Nana, holding Zac and Ms. Marion, smiling)

June 23, midday. We drove to Marlton, New Jersey to see my husband's mother and her husband, Zachary's Nana Nancy and Grandpa Jerry. It took us like more than an hour to get there and Zachary just slept the whole ride, which is really incredible.

June 24-25 with "Whisper" a wheaten terrier dog. She's a very loving dog and she loves Zachary. Every time he cries, Whisper worries. He loves his Nana very much, they even have great pictures together. Though his sleeps were still in the same pattern like the other nights.


June 25, afternoon. Started driving from Marlton, New Jersey to pass New York to arrive at Connecticut. The longest ride I ever did. We stopped at some scenic spots to stretch and rest for few minutes. Zachary slept most of the time, and every time he's awake, I did all my best to entertain him. I just got to do everything, aside from feeding him so he won't get bored. So I didn't sleep to with our driver, my husband and his mom so we can all help to take the right direction. After 8 hours, we were still driving in a winding road, so dark that the fireflies look like stars and finally arrived at the Milavsky residence, where Nana's sister and her husband live.

June 26-28. Storrs, Connecticut - the Gordon Family reunion. The first time they met Zachary and he was such a bundle of joy to everyone. His favorite uncle Joe, just made him laugh and smile at all time. The house is great and big. It's in the middle of the woods, which is really beautiful, so green and lushly, full of life and beautiful wild flowers. It was so great to be there adding the wonderful family we belong to now. They're such nice people, friendly, funny, artistic and good-looking. I will not be surprised, when someday Zachary will be known for an art.


June 28, evening. We arrived at the Newark Marriott Hotel, stayed there for a night before flying back to Hawaii. We met my friend, Tessie (with her husband), who's been my friend for a long time and shared a boarding house with her way back in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. It was an exciting experience knowing that we met again, here in the US.

June 29, evening. Back in Hawaii (after 10 hours flight)! the vacation went so fast. We were all tired but thanked God for we made it. It wasn't easy for taking a baby this age in a flight but we survived and we learned a lot. Because of my not-so-good sleep nights during my vacation, I started appreciating my interrupted sleeps with baby Zac at home and feel good waking up in the morning without red eyes :).

Posted in: Baby, Personal, Vacation on Thursday, July 8, 2010 at at 7:05 PM  

We really didn't waste so much time. He fell in love with me in the 3rd day of communicating online, such as email and chat. Of course both sides had competitors and started choosing little by little and ended up with each other's username. Our first time together, in person was August 28, 2007 just a month after flirting with each other online, he came to the Philippines to visit me. We spent our days in Boracay Island, Philippines and it was very dreamy and memorable. Nervous, excited, happy and emotional oh he was that day and I was just confident and felt sure that this is the right man this time.

Of course he had to fly back to Hawaii after ten short days of vacation with me and this time it was more difficult. We just kept missing each other so much, painfully. So he decided to start our papers to get a visa to enter the US. December 2007, he spent his Christmas time with me and met my family for the first time. On the 25th, he proposed for marriage and happily I said "yes" of course.

After five months of waiting my visa (fiancee) got approved then it was time to pack. Enjoyed the remaining moments with my family and friend and took off to be with my husband. May 13, 2008 I arrived in Hawaii and started a life with him. Challenging- everything is too beautiful, too much to ask for and I learned to adjust the life of being ahead. June 15, 2008, father's day, we got married in the famous tourist destination, Ko'olina though we held it on the outside property, very beautiful, naturally fancy Secret Beach. Indeed, first time to feel so secured and really happy once again.

Today is June 18, 2010.. 3 days passed our wedding date, it's been two years since we declared ourselves as one (and counting). I love being married to him and he told me that he would never want any wife other than me :).

Posted in: Bryn Kaufman, Personal on Friday, June 18, 2010 at at 3:38 PM  

May 22, 2010 at 12:55 am.

I woke up with an excruciating pain in the top of my head. I sat on the bed with my baby in the back, sleeping on his tummy. I tried to figure out what's going on, while I was pulling my hair area where the pain was. For a moment, I thought I had a brain tumor or something. The pain ran down my neck and my left ear.

I was about to panic when I heard baby Zac moved, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position. He was off his pillow so I grabbed him up so I can put back on his pillow....then,  Jesus Christ! A 2-3 inches long centepede crawled out from my baby Zac's underneath! It was hiding under baby Zac in the pillow!

Adrenaline rush, quickly held baby Zac to run towards my husband's room and called that I got bitten by the centepede in my head. So he went down to the garage to get the insects spray. I gave baby Zac to my husband, got the spray, and find the centepede myself to kill it. I moved all the pillows in our bed and there it was! sprayed it, it tried to run away and sprayed it again and boom! it curled in itself, poisoned but fought to live so I crushed it baby Zac's little hard book.

I didn't feel good with my head with the pain, but I was so relief that it didn't bite baby Zac at all not ended up in the emergency room. I always believe that guardian angels always protect babies from harm. With what happened, I was just very emotional that it was incredible that the centepede hiding under baby Zac's tummy, didn't bite him. Thank God and angels for the protection!

Now, I'm just recovering from the centepede bite in my head because i'm sure that was happened, with the icepack in my head. Good thing, the bite is not deadly and non-toxic, so i'm good.

Posted in: All About Faith, Baby on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at at 2:53 PM  

When a TV commercial of "Your Baby Can Read" appeared on the screen, my husband realized that it might be very helpful for our baby to introduce him to reading for future benefits. So, he ordered it at Amazon.com.

It comes with a lot of stuffs actually. The set includes, 5 DVD set with sliding word cards, 5 lift-a-flap books, 50 word game cards, 82 dual sided cards, correction pen and a re-usable card, and the DVD guide for parents on how to use the mediums.

We've been letting our baby Zac watch the video of first stage of learning. We are absolutely amazed of the attention he's giving to the words. He doesn't watch all of it, but he never misses the nursery rhymes in the middle of the show, "The Twinkle, twinkle little star," and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  As of now, he started working on his "wave" and "bye-bye" with his arms and we didn't teach him that. He got it from watching the DVD. So, we keep doing the gestures with him so he would always remember. Taking one step at a time, I bet our baby can read too soon. :D

Posted in: Baby on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at at 12:51 AM  

The Man

My husband, is the man and the windsurfer.

Posted in: Bryn Kaufman on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at at 12:18 AM  

You may click on the link if you would rather watch the news right from KHON2 Hawaii News
Insurance, Immigration Split Couple for Baby’s Birth

Posted using ShareThis

A windward Oahu couple anxiously awaits the arrival of their first baby, but immigration and insurance issues will split them up for months approaching the birth and after. The mother can't get maternity benefits in time so she'll be having the baby in the Philippines and they want other international couples to learn from their experience.

When Ellen from the Philippines met Bryn from Kailua, they had a lot in common, including what they wanted in a family.

"I knew right away I'm going to have a baby, so we even talked about it online already, you know, 2 kids," Ellen Kaufman said.

They married last year and sure enough…

"After 8 months then it was, ah!, honey, I'm pregnant, so it was just like that," Ellen said.

But they hit an unexpected roadblock -- they say they can't get coverage for maternity benefits until a year after Ellen's green card comes through, and they've been waiting for the green card since last June.

"We didn't find out that we couldn't get maternity until we knew she was pregnant," said Bryn Kaufman.

That means paying out of pocket for the birth which could hit tens of thousands of dollars if there are any complications. The same would cost just a couple thousand in a Philippines hospital. So she leaves next week for the Philippines to await a Sept. 6th due date, by coincidence, her own birthday.

"I's kind of ironic that you have to go to a third-world country in America because the health care is so difficult and expensive to get," Bryn said.

It'll be weeks more after baby Zachary is born before he can come home to his nursery and their puppy, Snowy.

"She can't come back right away because then we have to get a passport for the baby so they allow the baby back in," Bryn said.

"Snowy, you know I cuddle him every morning, I play with him, so I'm kind of just worried,” Ellen said. “Just me and the baby, and then without Bryn."

They say they understand insurance companies may be wary of opening floodgates of immigration just for birth if coverage were more quickly granted, but…

"When you're married to a U.S. citizen that's been paying taxes paying insurance for 20-plus years, then it should be looked at differently," Bryn said.

In the end they say they just don't want to see other couples have to go through the separation they're about to.

“If other people knew that this was the situation then they might do their family planning a little differently,” Bryn said. “I guess the lesson is to check into it before you even start thinking about having a baby and know, what’s going to happen, and are you going to be able to get insurance? It would be nice to see the system change, but that's not easy.”
The state's largest health insurer HMSA says there are waiting periods for this and other certain coverages. They say read the guide to benefits and know what is covered so you select the plan that is best for you. They can only insure residents of Hawaii, and someone is not a legal resident until he or she has a green card.

Posted in: Publicity on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at at 11:25 PM  

For two days, I couldn't log in at blogger.com. Happy today finally, I'm online again. I didn't know what's wrong. Blogger.com has a bunch of explanation for that but there's so much information that I got tired figuring it out. Yesterday, I tried to open my blog, it didn't work. I thought, I'll give it more time to fix itself. So today, boo yah, it opened!

Also one thing, I tried to add a Live Traffic Feed widget on my blog but it seemed kept having a problem. I tried adding it, once i'm done, nothing happened, nothing added. "sigh" I will try again and hopefull can find one that will work.

Posted in: Blogging on Saturday, April 17, 2010 at at 1:29 PM  

My husband kept asking me, "I still don't understand Facebook," and I replied, "You don't have to understand it, just make use out of it." It's been 5 years since I was a member of facebook, but it's been 2 years since I have been really using it. I noticed that it's much useful, when my friends and family signed up as members of this social network.

I believe I understand Facebook, more even now that I am married. When I was single, it didn't help me much, in terms of 'dating' or 'making friends.' Because of Facebook, I can communicate with my long distance friends and families, like every minute of the day, online or offline, as long as we check our Facebook. It helps my friends and families to know what's going in my life, through pictures and 'status' and some long lost friends found me there. These people just can message you anytime and you'll know it right through you inbox email.

It's more fun because you can state "What's on your mind?" and your friends can just say anything about it. Some people make funny statements, some people vent and let it out, some people tell their moods, some brag on their achievements, some share their words of wisdoms, some express their undying love to their lovers, some comment on what's going on the world and some introduce their newborns to the world and some just plain and simple and jut put some emoticons or mood symbols and etchetera. You just learn from them, if you let it in. Then you find yourself smilling, laughing, amazed, surprised, almost cried, angry, sarcastic everytime you read these different statements on "What's on your mind."

So, you don't have much to do and need to kill a time? Hundreds of games and applications on Facebook you can just join and start being a fan and addicted. You'll see, time will fly fast for you. Like to chat? u don't need a messenger, just click on the friend online and start a conversation.

I love Facebook, it's just very helpful for my online personal use (or even professional).

Posted in: Personal on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at at 12:26 AM  

Babies are born cute so we can just love them to death and when they get older, not a baby anymore, we have instilled that love they would always feel everyday of their lives. Anyway, babies stay cute whatever they have gone through compared to older people. \

Babies pee and poop in their diapers yet mommy or daddy, or sister or brother or baby-sitters, find it fun to wipe those little tush and change new diapers. But when you're older, you really don't want do that that's why there are comfort rooms.
There are so many words that you can describe to a baby, but one word I always heard about my little boy:

Posted in: Baby on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at at 12:06 AM  

Baby Zac is not so fond of laying down with stomach. He always has trouble everytime we do a tummy time with him. Eventually, we noticed that he likes to stand up and tries to walk. At 7 months, he's able to sit without assistance and able to stand we, holding his hands or arms. We realized he has strong legs so we decided to get him a walker.

It's was amazing the first time he walks through his walker. He has all the smiles in the world. This walker has amazing features and baby Zac finds it very easy to move forward, to back up and to run towards us. The musical toys with it is such an entertainment for him. It's not loud and he smiles when it's making funny sounds. His walker makes him go around the house without hesitation and look for anything unusual around the house. But, that's right, we had to re-arrange our house so he has a lot of space walking around and put away stuffs that can fall when he bumps into them.

Posted in: My family, Personal on Sunday, April 11, 2010 at at 2:14 PM  

Sometimes, a great gift comes with a great pain and luckily, we live with it's worth. Delivering a baby is a mix of emotions. Exciting to finally meet your little one, painful in the body when he's ready to come out to see the world, the happiness is undescribable and it's such a miracle happening in every woman's body. So sometimes, new moms can't help to let those tears of everything to come out. Here's Zachary Kai, fresh from mommy's womb. Born in the night of August 17, 2009, 5 lbs and a happy one.

Posted in: My family on at at 1:59 PM