today | sickies, the park, and some molars

Sometimes even though things don't go perfectly in a day, it can still be really, really good. That's how our day was today. Steve was up a lot in the night because he's super sick and congested. At 4:30am I got up to feed Riggy and when I came back to bed Steve was up letting his foreman know that he wouldn't be able to make it to work. We both tried to go back to sleep but didn't have too much luck. I think we both finally dozed off right around 6:45, and our lovely little baby was up at 7:15, ready to start the day.

We had sort of a lazy morning, and at the last minute packed into the truck to go to Lap Sit at the library. I made Steve go too, even though he really didn't want to get out of his recliner - ha. I told him the fresh air would be good for him, but secretly I just wanted him to see how cute Riggs is at Lap Sit. Only when we got to the library, it was closed for training. Oops. We had driven to town so I decided to hop over to the big park just a few blocks away where Riggs could at least do something fun.

It was hilarious to push him in the swing and see him kicking and laughing so hard - he really loved it! We got some cute pictures of us taking turns pushing Riggy, and Steve got a hilarious video. I thought he was taking a picture but he was actually filming - so don't mind my ditziness in it. I swear I was meant to be a blonde ha.

I went on a kid-free and more importantly stroller-free run while Riggs was napping and it just happened to be the sunniest part of the whole day. It was lovely to feel the sun, I almost had to take off my long-sleeve zip-up and just run in my tank! Then we sort of dinked around before going to Steve's doctor appointment for his sickness.

As we got closer to bedtime I must admit I started thinking a lot about how it would go. It hasn't been going well for the last two weeks out of nowhere, even though I know it's because he's getting his bottom molars in and hitting a lot of new milestones. I caught myself starting to worry and said a quick prayer and instantly felt a whole lot better. I made dinner and gave Riggs a bath and then started our bedtime routine. He didn't cry when I put him down, but I went to take a bath and read a bit (can't hear the cries over the bathwater running, I know, I'm a baby) in case he did need to cry a bit. After about twenty minutes I could still hear him crying after I had turned the water off, so I got out and went in to try and nurse him some more. He snuggled right in and and comfort-nursed for about fifteen minutes and drifted off to sleep, still nursing occasionally even in his sleep.

I held him for a good ten minutes while he slept, just looking at his beautiful little face and trying to memorize how it felt to hold that warm little body, with his arms up by his face holding his lovey and his long legs dangling down by my side. Although I admit that I initially felt frustrated when I could still hear his cries after shutting the water off, from the moment I entered his room and saw his tear-streaked face and his little arms stretched up to me I was so happy that I'd gone in again and gotten the chance to comfort him. Being a mama is so hard and yet so very rewarding - I can't even begin to put into words how much I love him and how thankful I am to have him in my life.

And now as I sit here and type this, I feel so happy and content with where I am in my life and with the little family God has blessed me with. What a lovely Tuesday :)

happy birthday to me

"Do not regret growing older,

it is a privilege denied to many." 

breastfeeding Riggs in the Target fitting room...ushering in my 26th year with a bang ;)

Since it's my birthday I thought I'd share 26 random facts all about me.

So here we go, lucky you lol.

1.  One of my biggest pet peeves is dirty dishes just dumped in my sink instead of neatly stacked next to the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes.  It's especially bad if they're not even rinsed off.  shudder.

2.  I cried when I watched Phillip Phillips win American Idol.  But seriously, didn't you?  When he got all choked up and couldn't even finish singing?  OMG sob.

3.  My little sister and I frequently have uglyface-offs - we make the silliest/ugliest face we can possibly manage at each other at the same time to see who laughs first.  It's especially fun when we do it over skype and our faces get frozen like that for a few seconds.

4.  I really really really want to be a country music singer when I grow up.  Oh wait...hmmm.  But seriously, I always wanted to be when I was little.  I used to belt out Trisha Yearwood's She's in Love with The Boy like nobodys business to anyone who agreed to listen.  

5.  I've never lived anywhere but Alaska (and sorry, but I don't want to.  I love Alaska, yay!).

6.  I clean whenever I'm mad, frustrated, or just plain upset about something.  And when I say clean, I mean clean people!  For hours and hours until I feel better, I'll find things that need cleaning or tidying or organizing.  Even if it means going out to the garage and vacuuming every crack and cranny in the car!  Cleaning is good therapy :)

7.  Ummm...hello I love Christmas!  But I think everyone already knew that...oops.

8.  I could live on pizza, cookies and water for the rest of my life.  And the pizza doesn't even have to be fancy, actually the more boring the better (I'm talking thin crust, garlic-butter sauce, and a little cheese sprinkled here and there.  Yeah, that boring).  In case you can't tell, I'm not really a foodie...like AT ALL.  But I do like the bread and oil/balsamic you get before the big fancy dinners, so that's something.

9.  I like rain and snow better than sun.  It's just so much more cozy...

10.  Another pet peeve?  Crumbs, or dirt or whatever on the floor.  I rarely wear shoes or socks in the house and a single crumb is enough to make me crazy!  I have to sweep and vacuum right away if I feel one and until I can I can't think of anything else except that horrible crumb.

11.  When I'm writing (like on my blog or when I was in college writing papers), I cannot listen to music with words.  So distracting!  But I can have a favorite movie on as background noise (such as Pride & Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, or Harry Potter).  Does.not.make.sense.at alllll.

12.  My favorite TV show is House Hunters on HGTV.  I watch it every time I am at my parents house if it is on (we don't have cable).  And I always get mad if the people choose what I consider to be the wrong house.  I just want to go to those people and be like, really?  And I get really mad sometimes at how much you can get for your money in some parts of the country versus here in Alaska.  So jealous!

13.  This summer I went a little crazy during the rainy weather and watched Sense & Sensibility every day for about a week straight.  And for some reason it always would seem to be just ending when Steve got home from work.  Judging by the looks he would give me when he came in and saw it on, again, I think he started to seriously doubt my sanity.

14.  I found a CD in the ice rink behind the high school one day when I was walking home from the 4th grade.  I played it all the time and to this day all the songs (I Had a Farm in Africa, Somewhere in Time, Terms of Endearment...) are seriously some of my favorites ever!

15.  I hate chicken.  You know that nasty white gel that forms around the edges while it's cooking?  Yeah, totally grosses me out.  However, I love eggs, prepared nearly any way.  Hmmmmm...

16.  I love lamp (Seriously.  Try coming up with 26 random things about yourself!).

17.  When I say the word "mitten", I don't really pronounce the "tt"s...so it sounds more like mih-en.  Also I made the word "dad" into two syllables when I'm talking to my own dad.  Like this:  dad-da.  And it's not dada.  It's just a really really whiny daddddddd.

18.  I hate bugs.  Especially moths and spiders.

19.  I wear sandals even when there's three feet of snow on the ground.  Seriously people (mom), I'm just walking from my car to the grocery store, I'm not going to freeze to death.  (I do have boots in the car though, just in case).

20.  I don't like shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, crab, lobster, or any other nasty creature that crawls or floats around in the ocean (I do like Salmon and Halibut though). 

"Wow that looks delicious, I think I should eat it" - what's wrong with people?!

21.  And while we're talking about food...I hate raisins.

22.  I like Emily of New Moon better than Anne of Green Gables (and I really really like Anne of Green Gables).  L.M. Montgomery was an amazing author who created some of the best characters ever.  

23.  I let myself get stressed out really easily and always have to remind myself to c.a.l.m. d.o.w.n.

24.  I don't like coffee and I don't drink coffee.

25.  I'd rather be too cold than too hot.

26.  I do not feel like I'm 26 at all.  Sometimes I still feel like I'm just a kid dreaming about being a wife and having a baby and then I realize I have all that now and I'm so thankful for this beautiful life!

So bam, there you go, now you know way more about me than you probably ever wanted to ;)

Weekending

New teeth (more!), fevers, cluster feeding, napping, sore legs, Prairie Home at St. Olaf (laughing WITH the Lutherans lol), wild hair (not caring), piece cutting, heart swelling, sunny/windy/rainy day.

rainy morning visitors

As awareness started to creep into my mind, I wondered what exactly it was that woke me up.  I laid there listening, at first hearing only the sound of Riggs' stuffy breathing next to me (he has a bad cold), then I heard it, the sound that had probably woken me up, and my eyes popped open.  

Crunch, crunch.  Silence.  Crunch, crunch, crunch.  Someone was walking around behind our house, just outside of our open window!  I extracted myself from Riggy's grip and slipped on my sandals as I quietly left our room and headed for the kitchen window.  I hadn't wanted to look right out of our bedroom window, in case it was an intruder.  My heart was pounding a little as I crept up to the kitchen window to peek out.  What I saw surprised me...there wasn't just one intruder, there were three!

A mama moose and her two little ones were slowly wandering around the yard, sampling the trees and shrubs at their leisure.  I felt a smile grow on my face as I went to get my camera and the new to me 100-400mm lens my father-in-law had let me borrow when I was in Homer.  I slipped quietly outside to take some pictures, praying the dogs wouldn't notice the big, furry visitors.

I tried to be as quiet as possible, but they all noticed me right away.  I was happy that I was on the porch, close to the door and safety.  Mama moose are very, very protective of their little ones, and I didn't want her to feel threatened at all by my presence, so I kept my distance.  I was so glad to have the lens, so that I could finally get some closer pictures of them.

I was so thrilled to see them root around on their mama to nurse, I've never seen that in person and it was special for some reason to share that moment, since I had been nursing my little one just moments before.  The ears on those calves were huge, and they moved them this way and that way to listen to my every movement.

Mama listened closely too, and kept her eye on my nearly the entire time I was out taking pictures.  Smart mama if you ask me!  There are lots of dogs and bears around our neighborhood, and she has to be alert all the time to protect not just one baby but two.

I wished they would have stayed all day so that I could observe their little family group, but they slowly meandered out of sight.  As I was outside watching them, I noticed something else, some other movement up in the trees.

Chickadees were flitting all around a dead cottonwood tree, and I saw a hole near the top that they seemed to be gravitating towards.  I took plenty of pictures, but from where I was standing, I couldn't clearly see what was in that hole.

Then I came in the house and imported the pictures from my camera, and I saw a little face and a long beak peeking out of the hole.  Now I'm so glad that I found the little spot, as bird watching has become a favorite past time since we moved out here.  I think it might be a Northern Flicker Woodpecker, but I'm not sure.  Any ideas?