Fall to Winter...

Now it is freezing on a regular basis. It was 14 degrees in Sterling this AM, I won't lie, I'm glad we are spending the weekend in Anchorage, it was 29 here.

We will be going to the Reindeer Farm tomorrow morning for their Fall Festival, pumpkins, hay rides, pony rides, etc. excited to spend the day with family. I know Ford loves his cousins and I wish we could spend more time with them.

Fall in Alaska is so short, I feel like it was just starting and now it's turing into winter already :( fall is my favorite time of year. I know Ford's birthday is really in the "Summer" but in Alaska it's more like fall by the beginning of September, Luke and I got married in the fall (yesterday was our 4 year anniversary), I love the colors, maybe that's what I love orange so much! Haha.

I can't wait for the dead of winter so we can go to Arizona! Even if it's 60 there it will be AMAZING!

Family time

Although our weekend was crazy we got to spend a lot of time together as a family which was incredibly nice. Luke spent the last week of September and first part of October helping his grandparents pack up their home in Oregon and move it Anchorage. I can't imagine how bittersweet it is for them, they have lived in the house in OR since Tim and Dan were fairly young. But I know that they are enjoying the fact they will get to see everyone on a regular basis and watch the great grand kids grow.

I couldn't help but think about how gas time really goes, it seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant and Noah was born, that was almost 2 years ago!! Now the "babies" are running around after each other, playing and just being normal crazy toddlers.

So hard to believe that this holiday season will be Ford's SECOND one. He has totally become his own person, with his own unique personality. He is such a little ham.

I can't wait until next month when we get to go down to Washington and spend time with everyone. Thanksgiving will be fun but I'm most definitely looking forward to Carl and Silvia getting married then Mark and Anna's wedding! It will be a busy trip, we have family pictures scheduled and so many people to spend time with as well. The great thing is that most of our "friends" down there we consider family so it will be one great trip, being able to see everyone we care about.

Ford can't wait to see his girl friend, Kenzie! Hopefully we will be able to make it more then once next year!

All in All, I think this winter is going to be full of family time which makes me quite excited.

Family time

Although our weekend was crazy we got to spend a lot of time together as a family which was incredibly nice. Luke spent the last week of September and first part of October helping his grandparents pack up their home in Oregon and move it Anchorage. I can't imagine how bittersweet it is for them, they have lived in the house in OR since Tim and Dan were fairly young. But I know that they are enjoying the fact they will get to see everyone on a regular basis and watch the great grand kids grow.

I couldn't help but think about how gas time really goes, it seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant and Noah was born, that was almost 2 years ago!! Now the "babies" are running around after each other, playing and just being normal crazy toddlers.

So hard to believe that this holiday season will be Ford's SECOND one. He has totally become his own person, with his own unique personality. He is such a little ham.

I can't wait until next month when we get to go down to Washington and spend time with everyone. Thanksgiving will be fun but I'm most definitely looking forward to Carl and Silvia getting married then Mark and Anna's wedding! It will be a busy trip, we have family pictures scheduled and so many people to spend time with as well. The great thing is that most of our "friends" down there we consider family so it will be one great trip, being able to see everyone we care about.

Ford can't wait to see his girl friend, Kenzie! Hopefully we will be able to make it more then once next year!

All in All, I think this winter is going to be full of family time which makes me quite excited.

Oh so, Bittersweet, Celebration...

For a whole year Ford has blessed us each day with his extreme, wonderful, amazing little personality and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

After such a tedious pregnancy, not knowing what exactly was going to happen, God blessed me with a quick delivery and has continued to bless me each day, letting me awaken to a wonderful, perfect creation of his each day.

Ford has done so much growing in the last year, it's hard to believe its only been ONE year. He says lots of words, mostly DADADADADADAD... He walks, tries to run, climbs everything, has 12 teeth. He has been to Washington, Oregon, Arizona and of course, all over South Central Alaska. He has been camping, four wheeling, snow machining, hiking and boating. He loves fishing, steering ANYTHING, playing with excavators, forklifts, tractors... Dancing, he LOVES to dance !

All in all it has been a crazy year. I wouldn't trade it for anything, although I might sell him for the right price (JUST KIDDING!!!).

From day one to one year!

I promise....

In the next year I WILL get weekly blogs done!!!! Building a house, not trying to miss a single moment of Ford growing and with it being SUMMER IN ALASKA, I don't remember the last time I could breath....

Milestones have come and gone, from lifting his head (okay he did that right after he was born!) to first words (DA-DA) to WALKING, he's done it all. We will be marking his FIRST BIRTHDAY off the calendar in 8 days! He will have lots of teeth (the count is at 11 and I think might be at 12 by then!), he is saying when he wants to, dada, dog, Elbe, papa, look, okay, hi and although he can say ALL of those, MAMA will not come out of his cute mouth! Dives me crazy, but I know it will be worth it when he finally does say it!

He does this really weird "rrrrrrrrr" -- rolling of his tongue, mostly when he is angry, but has been doing it more when he is happy, it makes me laugh every time because I have never seen a baby do it before.

He LOVES and I do mean LOVES, to dance, he has started "singing" with the music too, which melts me heart, he has gotten SO big in the last (almost) year it is just amazing to me! I know every mother says, "my baby is SO cute, smart, amazing," pick yours word... But it's true, babies are cute, smart, amazing, etc etc. they mature and grow so much in such a short amount of time. They go from being reliant on you for EVERYTHING to being little PEOPLE, Ford is currently playing BY HIMSELF, pushing his Hot Wheels Car down his little Farris Wheel toy, learning to do that by watching Luke and I put the wheebles down it, now he thinks ANYTHING that rolls can go on it! -- boys and their toys!

I can't wait to put pictures up of his birthday present, but that will Jane to wait until next weekend :)

Until then, here is a current picture of Ford!

Food...

So Ford has pretty much been eating everything now. The pediatrician was very impressed and told us he doesn't need to come back until he turns a year old!

This month I have really started letting him eat table food, his new favourite things are moose shepherds pie and spaghetti.

I can't believe how big he has gotten and that he isn't eating baby food anymore. Although it is nice because I don't have to make special food for him. Downfall is... Now he gets mad if I'm eating and he isn't!!

Ready for a party???

It is kind of crazy to think about how fast 8 months has gone by. A year ago we didn't even know we were having a boy (officially, even though I KNEW... Mommy instinct).

As fast as this has gone by I know I need to start planning Ford's birthday. The summers up here are always so action packed I know I won't have much time to plan it and people will be gearing up for hunting season when Ford's birthday rolls around, so planning we must do!

I am thinking a truck theme... A boy can never have too many toy trucks right?!?! And it would be fitting with Ford's name and all :)

I better start looking on Etsy and ordering decorations!

Whoopsie!

I think I am to energetic before bed time!! Playing with Ford while putting PJ's on and now he is not interested in being calm and sleeping at all.

Oh the joys of having an 8 month old!

Great Grandparents, Arizona and Babies...

A week long vacation was way easier to plan without a baby. I don't know how people travel with more then one child and Ford is "the greatest baby" according to everyone we have had the joy of flying with. Every lady and most men have commented on how CUTE he is, how HAPPY he is... I guess I really do have a good baby :)

We got to do a lot of the same things we normally do in AZ, like Desert Museum, Sabino Canyon, swimming but had to plan on taking extra time of it all getting Ford ready. It wasn't actually has bad as I thought it would be and he was a generally happy boy, like normal. The hour plus car rides did get to him, he is starting to realize he is STUCK inside his car seat!

We got to eat TONS of good food, I'm sure I gained a couple pounds. Haha. My grandma (Ford's great grandma) got to meet Ford for the first time. It was quite fun. I forget how much I love and miss her until I see her. Grandpa Burt had lots of fun with Ford too. He is a little less then a year younger then his youngest grandchild, so I know he enjoyed playing with him!!

Hopefully we will get to take Ford back this winter and be able to go to Washington too. Thanks to companion tickets and lots of airline miles! Pictures will get posted as soon as "GGM" sorts the 800+ she took!

Adventures

2012 is shaping up to be a year full of adventures. Not only have we had tons of firsts with Ford but as a couple we are learning how to become parents. Thank the Lord for his hand over us when it comes to sleepless nights and a sick baby. I know the patience I have had is NOT from me alone.

We will be going to Arizona in a few weeks. I cannot wait for my grandma to meet Ford. She is such an amazing woman and the little time we spend together is priceless. Ford will get to go swimming for the first time... And I can't wait to show Luke all the amazing things there. If you haven't been to Tucson, I highly recommend it. Sabino Canyon, The Desert Museum, etc. are all very cool things to see. The Gaslight Theater is a must, food is good and the shows are GREAT! Frost is a great little Gelato place, it is delicious!

We sign papers tomorrow to purchase property and plan on building a house this summer. It's scary but exciting. Luke got a great job offer with a construction company. He is excited to learn something new and it will help us cut costs with building our house.

I can't believe this year is almost 1/3 of the way over. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring and the blessings God has for us.

Getting in the groove!!!

So I have finally started working out... Jillian Michael's 30-day shred (it kicks your BUTT!!) and started weight watchers again. My goal is to get back to the weight I was at in 2008. I loved my body back then and even though I have never been "skinny" I loved how I looked. After getting pregnant and having a baby EVERYTHING changes... Not just your belly. It's HARD to get your abs back, your skin in looser, your hips are wider, you feel like your hair is falling out (because your body doesn't shed it during pregnancy) ... Everyone smiles and says, "you look great for just having a baby..." my thoughts, I HAD A BABY ALMOST SIX MONTHS AGO... Yeah, I looked good a week after having him... But I still look the same 5 months later... NOT OKAY with me! Taking action is the only way to get my body back to where I want it to be!!!!

I miss going to Bikram Yoga. It's pretty expensive up here so I may save up and buy myself 3 months for my birthday. I LOVE the heat and intensity of the workouts. But for now I'm doing 30-day shed at home and eating well. We will see how good I look in 10 weeks (when we go to ARIZONA!!) and then I will decide if I really want to spend the money on yoga. Although I love it so much I might, even if I look how I want. I guess it's not like it will hurt anything!

I want to be HEALTHY above all else, so I can play with Ford and teach him how to be healthy. I would hate for him to grow up being lazy because he sees his parents not being active!!!

Mobile... Maybe.

Ford has gotten pretty good at scooting on his back, he still refuses to roll from back to stomach even though he knows he can. So he scoots around, circles, straight lines, where ever he wants to go he will scoot... Until he gets angry! Then he just stops and yells. It's pretty funny!

On his belly he will roll onto his back and he does TRY to scoot it is mostly legs right now but the last couple days he has been reaching and grabbing whatever he can to try and pull himself. It will only be a matter of time before he can scoot all around :( what happened to my tiny baby who loved to snuggle?! He has turned into a big baby who loves to MOVE!

I doubt he will be crawling long before he is walking. He is ALWAYS standing up and can pretty much stand by himself now...

They grow up WAY to fast!

Joys of being a mom!

There are too many joys to count, but my favourite one is waking up and seeing the first smile of the day when I get Ford out of his bed! Everyday starts off good when you see a gummy smile :)

I cannot lie, it satisfies me in ways I can't even describe when he is being grumpy for someone else and as soon as he sees me or I pick him up he stops. It reminds me of the eternal (I guess you can say maternal too) bond that we share, nobody can take it away or have that same bond, it cannot be duplicated nor weakened in anyway.

There are many things that warm my heart and feed my soul, but God has given mothers a special bond with their children that is second only to the relationship we SHOULD have with Christ, when it comes to these two things.

If God feels this way more so with us, then I can only imagine the heartache he feels when we do not wake up smiling for him every morning. Having God be our creator and allowing us to "create"(I use "" because obviously GOD has created each baby) and grow life is an amazing blessing, I have come to believe in the process of becoming a mother, that God has allowed us to "create" life so we understand the relationship that he wants with us. There is NOTHING stronger then the relationship between parent and child. If we all tried to create a bond with The Lord that mirrored the bond we share with our children (as mothers, as "creators") then this earth would be an amazing place full of Godly people. God has given us an AMAZING gift that many people do not think about or understand, once you become a parent you see life in a whole new light, you can now see the joy, heart ache, the ups and downs, that God goes through as he calls us to him, as we are HIS children, HE created us, it is HIS joy that shines down on us daily and HIS heart that aches when we turn our backs to him. The better your relationship with HIM, the more he will bless the relationship that you have with YOUR children.

Okay, I got off topic of where I started at, but oh well, I think it turned into something thought provoking and worth reading!

Mobile...

Ford has gotten really good at MOVING!!! He still has not realized he can use his ARMS AND LEGS at the same time. But he uses them separately... It's quite funny to see him inch worming along.

He can also turn himself around in a circle and roll on his sides, but he doesn't roll all the way over from back to stomach. He will roll stomach to back though.

I think he will be crawling as soon as he realizes he can use both his arms and legs together!!

Here is a picture in his suit at church yesterday :)

SMILE :)

Ford's first tooth broke through on Saturday. He was very upset all day but has been his normal self since. I still can't really see if but you can definitely feel it!

On Monday we went to Outback for dinner, I got a baked sweet potato ad shared it with Ford, it's so much fun having him eat "real" food now. He was so excited when I gave him his first bite. I hope that he continues to like the healthy foods we introduce to him.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

We have had quite the week of weather. It got above freezing (around 35 degrees) on Wednesday and then proceeded to SNOW yesterday. In 6-8 hours we got about 10 inches, although I does compact when it is on the ground so I am not sure if we got more according to the National Weather Service.

We have already had 90 inches of snow this season, which is double what the normal is for this time of year.

Ford loves the snow which is great since we live in Alaska, I would feel bad if he didn't like it!

I took this picture yesterday afternoon when we had about 3/4 of what we got total. The deck had been totally cleared off before it started snowing. Yes, the top of the bumbo is even with the top of the snow!!!!

2011 recap!

January-- found out I was pregnant, Noah was born
February-- got to see little man for the first time and barfed a lot... Lol made 115 Lifetime friends
March-- Fur Rondy, makayla was born
April-- rhino trips and sterling, Chaz and Kristin moved up here
May-- found out Ford was a boy, camping, Luke's birthday
June-- visit to Washington, camping, rhino trips
July-- eureka, Set, Katina and Noah visited, Tim and Tammy visited, my birthday, new car
August-Alex visited, fair, rhino trips, fishing, Orion was born
September- Ford was born
October- 3 year anniversary, Ford's first smiles
November- whole family in Oregon for thanksgiving
December- Ford's first Christmas, lots of snow, zoo lights, Chaz deployed...

2011 was an amazing year full of so many memories... Cannot wait to see what 2012 will bring and what God has in store for us... Hopefully Whitney will have Riggs soon, starting the year off in an amazing way :)