the story of the mu'u mu'u

in our family, we have a tradition that on the first birthday of every child we celebrate with a big luau! with kalua pig, and lomi lomi salmon, and poi, and teriyaki chicken, and haupia, and waioli tea room carrot bread,  and hawaiian mac salad, and chinese chicken salad, and chicken long rice, just to name a few. the luau is also, the ONLY time i would dig back into the recesses of my closet and pull out the hawaiian mu'u mu'u (aka, the tent dress with flowers on it, not very flattering!) and wear it. it seemed the only appropriate place to wear such a thing. that was until earlier this year.

 

nani, inherited a mu'u mu'u from her cousin a few years back and it has hung in her closet unworn because it was too long for her. last year when we celebrated kawena's first birthday, nani was finally tall enough to wear it. she has been wearing it ever since!

 

on the last trip my parents took to hawaii, my mom came back with a mu'u mu'u each for lala and kawena, as well as a hawaiian tie for mitch. the girls were thrilled because now everyone had something hawaiian to wear. i was excited for my girls to go to church looking so cute in their hawaiian dresses, little did i know what was really going to happen!

 

since that visit back in june when my mom came bearing gifts, almost every sunday the girls would beg me to wear my mu'u mu'u and i would respond, "is there going to be a luau at church today?"

 

they'd say, confusion in their voices, "no, of course not!"

 

"then, i guess i'm not going to wear it!" ( i know that sounds mean, but what grown woman wears a mu'u mu'u to church.... in oregon?! i haven't seen any in the 8 years that i've lived here!)

 

they'd get all moppy and whine. if i was a better mother, i guess i would have just worn it, but i wasn't!

 

then, i had my bout with ohss. i missed church for 5 weeks straight. when i finally returned to church, i had lost some fluid from my abdomen and my belly had gone down from a 5 month pregnant belly to a 3 month pregnant belly. so, i squeezed into my biggest skirt. it is important to know that everyone, but me, was wearing their hawaiian clothes that day to church. by the time sacrament was over i felt sick to my stomach because my skirt was so stinkin' tight. so, mitch had to take me home for the last 2 hours of church.

 

of course, when the girls and mitch got home that day they laid into me about how "if you had worn the mu'u mu'u then you wouldn't be feeling so bad" blah, blah, blah! granted, they were right, but i was stubborn.

 

the following sunday, i swolled my pride and came downstairs ready for church AND wearing the mu'u mu'u (and very comfortable, i might add). you would not believe the looks of pure joy and excitement (and disbelief) that i saw on the faces of my children and husband! in that moment i realized how stupid i had been. so what if i'm the only grown woman that wears a mu'u mu'u to church in oregon? so what, when i see the faces of my sweet children light up to see their mother wearing the matching mu'u mu'u with them to church!?

 

i did tell them that it wasn't going to happen all the time, but that i would occasionally wear it to church with them. they were excited about that!

 

so, today was "hawaiian sunday". i told the girls last week and they have been anticipating this sunday ever since! as the day drew closer, even i was excited about it! you must admit, it's gotta be pretty darn cute to see a family of all girls walk in to church each wearing pink mu'u mu'u's and the husband/dad wearing a pink hawaiian tie...especially in oregon! i began thinking of the great family photo we could snap after church. i'll bet you can't wait to see it either! i did snap a photo, however, it wasn't quite the photo i had invisioned!

 

 

you see, we had a little accident during sacrament meeting, today.

 

i was sitting with a contented little kawena on my lap, actually being able to listen to the talk being given when i noticed how warm kawena's skin felt against my dress. i thought, "hmmm, that's strange. i wonder if she is getting sick and is fevered?" so, i felt the rest of her and she felt normal. so, i lifted her off my lap and noticed a nice, warm puddle of pee on my lap, slowly soaking into my mu'u mu'u! strangely enough, only MY dress got wet! the little rascal!

 

so, we will have to wait until the next "hawaiian sunday" to capture the cute little hawaiian family all dressed up for a luau!