No Vacancy!

We have always been extremely gracious hosts. I learned early on in my life that having an open door policy with those you are close to is an important part of life; open communication, open home, open kitchen, what have you... We (Luke and I) have always allowed our friends and family to use anything we have as needed, to stay with us without expecting anything except a thank you, to eat, drink and hang out at our home without bringing anything. 

We love each and every one of our friends and family members. But the more gracious we are the more we end up getting burned. 

We opened our doors to some of my dad's friends, they flew up and stayed with us, ate our food, used my dad's vehicle. My dad paid to fly them on a float plane and have a guided fishing trip, paid to take them out of Seward to go ocean fishing. AND WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN? After limiting out on Halibut, almost limiting on Ling Cod (which most Alaskans know is pretty hard to do) and catching 2 kings, some silvers and a black bass.... They took ALMOST ALL THE FISH..... Without a second thought, without pitching in for the trips.

When asked about it they played it off that, "you guys have tons of stuff in the freezer, you guys get to fish all the time"

Who can go out on a charter ALL the time?!?! Not us, we were lucky to go out in 2008 and this last weekend. That is FIVE years.... 

It completely pisses me off that someone would do something like that and then just brush it off like they did NOTHING wrong, not ASK about the fish and then tell ME that I don't need it! 

Needless to say our "open door" policy will be revised, which makes me really sad but obviously people these days are more selfish then we are and will take advantage of getting to experience Alaska in its full glory. 

Appendectomy

Nothing sucks worse then being sick as a parent. Not being able to give your child the proper attention and care is always worse then what you are even feeling, except yesterday. I woke up not feeling too good, decided maybe because we had an early and light dinner the night before I was just really hungry. Made breakfast for Ford and I, still wasn't feeling very hot... A few hours later (now around 10:30 or 11am) I started feeling REALLY bad. I text Luke at work and asked him to come home as early as possible. Laid down on the couch and couldn't even get back up by this point the pain was worse then anything I had felt during labor (and my epidural was given really late in the game so I am pretty sure I experienced most of the labor process for myself without intervention). Luke got home around 2:30 after Ford has tried to climb on me and I burst into tears, which isn't normal for me. I walked into my knee surgery, walked to my labor room, I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance for "being a woman"... My dad got home a few minutes later and said, "here is my appendix scar" ... Of course that is exactly where my pain was radiating from so we decided that the ER was the best option. 

We got to the ER around 4, only took a few minutes to check in. Obviously being female they wanted to rule out ectopic pregnancy or a problem with my uterus so I had a urine, blood and Pap test done.... Urine and pap came back normal. Blood showed elevated white counts but nothing crazy so because of my pain area and that we did a CT scan. The contrast isn't too bad going down, I didn't think it was great but it wasn't horrible. Had to wait 90 minutes for the scan, as soon as I got the contrast in my IV during the scan I projectile vomited EVERYWHERE. I felt so bad as the radiation tech had to strip me down and basically sponge bath me.... But at least she didn't have to clean up the CT machine! We waited for results, of course I puked at the worst possible second of the scan BUT they could clearly see a calcification in the area and swelling/some infection. So the surgeon on call was asked to come in to look at the scan and chat with me. We decided there was no reason for a second scan and that regardless of continued observation I would need surgery so just to, "get er done". 

It was about an hour and then the pre-op crew came in, drugged me up and took me to surgery. I remember moving onto the table, talking to the anesthesiologist and then nothing until I was shivering like CRAZY... Then I remember waking up to the nicest male RN and of course feeling very woozy, etc etc. took a while but by the time I got up to my room for the night I felt okay. Especially after the IV pain medication and some fluids. Finally being able to drink water was AMAZING!

Luke stayed with me for about an hour then I told him to go home. He wanted to take me with but I had to wait until I could get IV antibiotics this morning and they wanted to make sure I was eating without issues too. Luke went home about 1 and I got to sleep on/off from about 2 to 6. Probably got around 2.5-3 hours of sleep total. At 6 I got vitals done, got to eat some crackers and take an oral paid med to make sure I could keep it down. At 8 I it breakfast, got more vitals and the surgeon came in not long after so that he could check me out. Said things looked good and I could go home in a few hours. Of course it takes a while to check out BUT by the time Luke and Ford arrived it was only like 30 minutes we had to wait until we could leave. 

It's nice to be home and I'm glad my appendix didn't rupture because if it had I would be in the hospital for 4-7 days. Less then 24 hours is much better, I also felt almost immediately better, unlike if I had bacteria in my abdominal cavity. 

I am so thankful that God blessed me with a knowledgeable hospital staff, that was fast working and not overly fussy about doing a bunch of unnecessary things... That he blessed me with a fast and easy surgery and hospital stay AND that he has blessed me with a great family who is taking over most of Ford's care without being asked too. Some people wouldn't say a surgery is a blessing but I know God has his reasons for things so I will just take the healing day by day and see what his plans for me are :) 

Relaxing... Think again!

I have always loved Arizona, the heat, the landscape, the food, everything. Okay, everything except the creepy crawlies! 

What I don't love is the fact that Ford thinks it's SO exciting that he can't miss a single minute of daylight. He has been going to bed between 9-10pm like normal but waking at 5:45, 6:15 or 6:30ish since we got here... While it's ok because it's nice and cool out in the AM. He has only been taking around a one hour nap each day; totally unlike him to get this little of sleep. 

He must know that soon our vacation will be done and back home we will go. I was so looking forward to a relaxing vacation but I think I will be more tired coming home then I was arriving in AZ...

Scorpions are Evil...

Last night I put Ford to bed, part of Arizona is making sure you watch out for creepy crawlies... I checked his pack n play, making sure it was clear of uninvited guests. Put him to bed, I think he was relieved after our full day, not a peep came out of his mouth until 11:15. I was just laying down when he woke up crying; thinking he was simply having tooth pain from his LAST molar I had decided to pull him out and give him some tooth stuff and change his diaper. Then I noticed he had to two bumps on his hip, asking my grandma to look at them, we started tearing apart his bed and room to see what creature was responsible. Ford started shaking and crying hysterically so we decided the ER was the best option. He started having trouble breathing as his chest was tightening up and his crying wasn't helping. 

We got him to Oro Valley ER and they immediately let us into triage and didn't even get vitals or paperwork before having him admitted to the back because of his severe reaction, as soon as the RN saw him he knew what was going on and went to get the DR. She walked in, looked at him and said, "spot on, book symptoms for scorpion sting"... After an IV they gave him a muscle relaxer, trying to help ease the uncontrollable muscle spasms and flailing of his limbs. Having 6 people in a room working like crazy to help your child is both comforting and extremely scary!

I will tell you, straight up, the worst moment of my life was knowing that he was in the worst pain, he will probably EVER be in and I couldn't do anything but trust that the ER staff would make him comfortable and that as much as I was trying to comfort him, there wasn't anything I could do. 

Luckily, they had anti venom at the ER from a previous sting so it was a very fast process getting it. Normally they wouldn't even give it BUT because of Ford's reaction it was the best option. He ended up pulling out his IV and needing a new one, the RN's were so amazing with him during the whole process and I am so thankful that God blessed us with such a compassionate and trained staff. They gave him some pain medication as soon as the anti venom was done and immediately he became calmer and much more relaxed. We spent 2 hours being monitored to make sure everything was working correctly and without adverse affects. Then we were allowed to come home. 

I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy. There is nothing worse then watching helplessly as your child is suffering in agony, I thank The Lord that Ford was fast to recover and other then being obviously tired, he is back to his normal crazy self. 

When we got home we found the bark scorpion that had stung him, Grandma had her sandal off and smashed it before it knew what was coming!! We have turned the house upside down to make sure there aren't more (at least at the moment) and hopefully the rest of our vacation is BORING compared to the last 16 hours! 

After 2 rounds of muscle relaxers, anti venom and morphine, he was finally relaxed enough to rest a little. He could finally focus for a second or two at a time and got to pick out a stuffed animal, of course it was a giraffe (on the right partially under the blanket) 

This was him this afternoon, enjoying a semi-painless R&R session on the couch! 

I am excited for the rest of our vacation and hope it gets better from here! 

Traveling with a toddler..........

Some people think Ford is well behaved, but he is a WILD CHILD... Okay okay, yes, he is generally as civilized as any toddler can be, he is pretty easy going and "listens" (not the webster's dictionary definition but any parent of a toddler or who has older kids will know exactly what I mean!) 

I had this BRIGHT idea that going to Arizona for two and a half weeks without Luke was a good idea.... I know once we are there it'll be fine, swimming, zoo, children's museum, running, playing with the cats, playing with GGM and GGP (way easier then Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for an almost 2 year old), Ford will have a ton of activities to do. BUT two plane rides totaling 6 1/2 hours is a lot of a little guy. He is pretty good, everyone around us is always complimenting how he acts and is so good on the airplane. What they don't see is my battle with him to STAY IN OUR SEATS! He doesn't quite understand why he can't get up and run around; it's not like he is in his car seat (which if I had more then 2 hands would have accompanied us onto the plane!) plus, he gets SOOOOOOO excited to say HELLO to everyone he wants to walk up and down the aisle, which is fine on flights that don't take off at 5AM! Everyone is trying to sleep and he is happy-go-lucky Ford, who is enjoying all the new faces. Luckily the flight attendants are always SO gracious with us and don't mind if we spend some time at the back of the plane where he can stand up and has a little room to explore! 

He tried very hard this flight (currently almost to Washington) to fight taking a nap... I have since won the battle and he is sleeping in his seat next to me. 

Hopefully he will sleep some more on the way from SEA to TUC as he only got 5 hours of sleep last night and was up from 2:30-7:30... I do not think an 45 min nap (if he sleeps until we land) will do for the rest of the day. 

Well, that was short lived. Oh well lets hope the next flight has better results in the sleep department! 

Growing up...

I have always said to Luke, "one day you will wake up and Ford will be ten". I say it because I know it's true. Everyone says to us, "cherish these days, they grow up fast." "Don't blink, he will be in college before you know it" "if you aren't looking, you'll be a grandparent before you know it" ....... My heart aches so much sometimes to realize that all of these people once laid in bed like I am doing, wondering about their sleeping children; if it is really true that they grow up THAT fast. It seems like yesterday that I had my first horse lesson, first date, first day of high school, last day, got engaged, married, turned 21, moved to Alaska, found out I was pregnant, had Ford, watched him smile for the first time, watched him crawl and walk and run. 

The answer of "do they grow up THAT fast" is simple, they grow up faster then we, as parents, can ever imagine. Ford isn't even two yet and I have cried countless times about the fact that he has out grown his preemie sleeper that Kelsey got him when he was born, that he will never have SO many first again, but that there are still SO many to come. I honestly do not know where the last ONE AND THREE QUARTER YEARS has gone. I know I will wake up tomorrow and he will be married, so it won't actually be "tomorrow" but close enough, at this rate he will be 50 before I can blink! 

I am SO SO SO lucky to have a family that has instilled such amazing memories into my life, so that I knew from the beginning that life goes by WAY to fast for anyone's liking and that if you don't enjoy every second of babyhood, childhood and general life, it will be gone before you know it. 

I enjoy each day and every second that I get to share with Ford, he is such an AMAZING, independent and self assured little man! But no matter how much I adore and love him for the me that I see in him, it makes me so incredibly sad that he is day-by-day slowly letting go of me and learning his own way in this crazy world, I honestly can't imagine how I will feel in 16 years when he is graduating high school, if I feel this way now. 

If I had any advice to share with someone about being a parent it is; really, truly, time flies, there is nothing more special then your children, no time wasted with them, nothing makes you feel more fulfilled in life then watching them figure something out, laugh for the first time, learn to run or climb, no matter how scary it is for us, they become little PEOPLE so fast, you must treasure every waking second and a few (okay, a lot) of sleeping ones too.... If you don't you will wake up one day and realize your kids are grown, even if they aren't even two yet! 

From this....

To this! 

Spontaneous Saturday!

After a morning of cleaning, building and playing with Ford (like normal) we decided to head for Homer. It was a GORGEOUS drive; not a cloud in the sky almost no traffic.

My dad had just gotten through saying, "my day isn't complete, I haven't seen a moose" and one crossed the road about a 1/2 mile in front of us. Then we saw a cow and yearling a few miles down the road.

We stopped at Deep Creek and got some pictures of the mountains and Dad took some of Ford, Luke and I. We walked along the beach in Homer, it was super quite down on the spit because almost nothing is open at the moment. There was not even a breeze, which is weird, but it nice not to be blown around while taking pictures of Ford and Luke. Ford is not obsessed with BALLS. Anything round is, "ball, ball, ball" and him pointing and saying please.... We walked down the pier and every time he saw a buoy he would say, "BALL!".

A couple of our friends have lived in Homer and I had a great time eating lunch with this at the beginning of the week (they were driving back to Anchorage after a weekend in Homer)... Anyway, they said next time we came down here that we NEEDED to eat at Cafe Cups ( http://www.cafecupsofhomer.com ) HOLY COW... I wish I had enough self control to get pictures of food before eating. Some of the best food I have ever eaten. We got their Calamari appetizer, it was a HUGE portion and was lightly breaded and fried, homemade aioli sauce accompanied it with fresh lemon wedges.... Hands down the best, probably freshest and most tender calamari I have ever had. For my entrée I had was FRESH rock fish tacos, AMAZING..... Luke had a caesar with prime rib and Dad had their soup and salad combo. It was all homemade and some of the best food I have ever had. Whitney told me I HAD TO GET DESSERT... I am so glad she told me that because I asked what the desserts were tonight before we even ordered anything else. I had THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER PIE of my life, I do not think I can even attempt to find a place that makes something superior to it nor do I want too.

I am fairly sure that "Cups" will be on our MUST DO LIST every time we go to Homer. I plan on spending my 25th (and golden) Birthday there in July. I am sure that it will become something that we share with people as they come and visit us as well. I wish more owners and chefs would take as much pride in their food as they do at Cups. You can taste the passion and love that is behind the invention of each dish that they produce.

I will make sure that I post pictures of our little day trip, after I load them onto the computer. I got to play with Dad's new T4i. I think I might have to "borrow" it... Forever ;)

What goes in...

I think it's funny how people always have an opinion about how to parent a child, it doesn't matter if it is sleep habits, feeding, play time, car seat choices, etc. I always try and curb my opinion and explain that ALL kids and babies are DIFFERENT! People with 2+ kids can tell you, each is unique and required different teaching, rules and had different issues and strengths then the other children in the family.

One thing that I have always found interesting, is what people FEED their children. I by no means feed Ford 100% organic, no GMO, all hand-made-from-scratch food.... I am lucky to be able to fish, hunt and produce fruits/veggies for our family. Cutting out a lot of the processes garbage you get at the store AND making sure we are putting the minimal amount of antibiotics, pesticides, etc into our bodies.

Most people feed what is easy, fast and somewhat healthy for the family. It is rare that you have a family that has time to make 100% of things and make sure the "food pyramid" is completed each day.

In our household, I try and limit carbs, starches and sugars. We focus on whole grains, veggies, lean meat, fish and fruit. I do love to bake and drink coffee... I have yet to find GOOD healthy cake recipes and such, so every once in a while you just have to splurge!

The one thing we absolutely stay away from, especially now that we have a child who eats EVERYTHING and wants HAT YOU ARE PUTTING IN YOUR MOUTH... Is Sodium Nitrite.

Sodium NITRATE is found in some plants, when you digest it, it does turn into NITRITE but this is a naturally occurring process. NOW when you get people in a lab creating all these things to make meat last longer, LOOK red... Yes, they dye meat that goes to the store because 90% of people THINK it is fresh if it is red NOT brown. NEWSFLASH... Brown meat is just fine! Green... No, brown, yes!

Anyway, back on topic... Adding Sodium NITRITE to meats helps them cure and last longer (hot dogs, sausage, bacon) ... It is not good for you. I would go on and on but I think this article does a pretty good job! (NOTE; the FDA has tried banning SN from foods since the 70's... So obviously it is an ongoing issue)

http://www.processedfreeamerica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=355:hot-d..

Family time

We had a blast in Anchorage this weekend for Noah's 2nd birthday party! I can't believe my nephew is TWO!!!! Pretty soon we will be celebrating Makayla's 2nd birthday and then FORD'S!!

It's so much fun to watch them grow and learn new things. They enjoyed sword fighting at Noah's (Pirate themed) party!!

Dad and I (ford too) will be going to Portland at the end of the week, so we can visit my grandpa and Ford can meet him! We are visiting with A LOT of people while we are there and that's fine with me. It's nice getting to see as many people as we can since we don't get down to the North West as much as we'd like. Luke isn't coming, he has to stay and work, but that's okay, it'll still be fun!

Growing, growing, growing...

I am not sure why I thought Ford was still little?! Today I decided to reorganize all of the clothing he has out grown, hoping to condense it a little more then it is. Plus, there is a stack of all different sizes that just never got packed in their respective boxes.

Oh boy was this a bad idea... Opening up the Newborn tote, I started getting flash backs, of how small he used to be. The preemie sleeper that he wore the first night we had him home is smaller then the onesie he is wearing today [pictured below]. Thinking back on the fact that the preemie sleeper when all the way to his feet, brings tears to my eyes. There is ONE newborn diaper left, I guess I kept it as a keepsake, to remember how small me really was. When we had to fold over the front of it so it was small enough for him to actually wear!

I can think back with each shirt, jacket and pair of pants and tell you something about the day he wore each of them. It is crazy to think that in the last (almost) 17 months, he has done SO much. We have so many memories, in this short amount of time.

He is currently feeding HIMSELF lunch next to me, telling me, "All Du" and giving me the sign for "finished"... I don't remember the specific point in which he has gotten to be so independent and BIG... But he has, as much as it breaks my heart that really, he is no longer a BABY, I know in my heart he always will be MY baby, 6lbs 5oz, taking his first breath laying on my chest...

Operation Feel Good

So I have stonewalled myself at my pre-pregnancy weight for the last 15 months. ENOUGH!

Diet, exercise, lifestyle change, blah blah blah. Everyone has their own way and reason to lose weight.

What is mine?

I want to FELL GOOD!!! So I am calling my weigh loss journey... OPERATION FEEL GOOD!

Every woman loses a bit of herself when she becomes a MOM, we go from taking care of ourselves and those close to us (husband, fiancée, boyfriend, etc.) to taking care of something IN us and then another human (or humans) that are PART OF US... We sacrifice, time, sleep, food, etc for these beings. Would I or any other mother I know have it ANY OTHER WAY, no!!! BUT... We all need to do SOMETHING for ourselves and I am getting fit!

My rules for this weight loss are simple;

1) Goal weight is 30lbs lost BUT when I feel good I will maintain!
2) IF I cannot fit into my vast array of jeans when I hit my "feel good" point. I will THROW THEM OUT! I will not mop around that I can't fit into a pair of PANTS!
3) This is 100% for ME! I want my sexy back, I want to FEEL like a woman again!

I am following Weight Watchers and doing Power 90 and Brazil Butt Lift from Team beach body. I highly recommend the workouts and having some sort of food intake tracker. It makes you think about what you put in your mouth!!! I like that I can track my workouts while tracking food. Plus watching activity points rack up is AMAZING!!

My goal is to be FEELING GOOD by May 15th!! I have already lost 3.5 lbs since the 31st so I think I'm on my way!