family ski at Government Peaks Recreation Area

It was cold today, around four degrees when we headed out, but the skies were blue and the sun sparkled blindingly on the beautiful and long awaited snow. We decided to get outside and go skiing despite the cold temps, and finally made it out the door around ten with enough warm clothes to nearly fill the cab of the truck.

We drove the twenty minutes up to the Government Peaks Recreation Area near Hatcher Pass and sat in the truck for a moment, just staring at the beautiful view from the parking lot/chalet. Then the work began, as we spent the next twenty minutes layering the babies in their warm snow clothes, strapping them into the Chariot and then tucking Steve's down sleeping bag under and around them to make doubly sure they stayed warm enough while we were out skiing. 

It was our first time towing them in the Chariot rather than carrying them, and it went very smoothly. Pulling the extra weight while skate-skiing was definitely tricky, but it was a great work-out. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner skier, I would definitely try classic skiing the first time out with the Chariot, but for intermediate skiers and beyond, I would say go ahead and try it. Downhills are extra fun with the added weight pushing you from behind too. 

It felt so amazing to be outside with the kids quiet, happy and contained for an hour, both Steve and I resolved to get up there skiing more often. Riggs even skied for about 30 minutes, and I was so proud of him for trying so hard, even skiing up an entire hill by himself in the tracks (and with no poles!). Sharing my love of skiing with both kids is definitely going to be a highlight of parenting, I can tell already. 

If you're in the Valley or in Anchorage and want a change of scenery, I highly recommend visiting GPRA - the trails are interesting and just hard enough and the views can't be beat. See a GPRA map, here, and the Mat-Su ski club webpage, here.

we saw three moose on the way up

currently {vol. 9}

m a k i n g
I spent this week organizing the photos from 2014 on my computer...oh my gosh that was a lot of work. I'm resolved to do this monthly in 2015 so I don't have to spend two full days at the end of the year deleting, filing and backing up the years pictures. Now that they're all cleaned up, I'm working on our 2014 part two photo book. I use shutterfly to make photo books with all our family photos instead of printing them out and manually putting them in albums, it works great! I also print out my instagram photos in books using chatbooks. 

l i s t e n i n g   t o
The dryer and washer are both running, KSKA (PRI's The World, to be specific) is on the radio in the kitchen, and Riggs is telling me everything he's thinking about as I type this. The soundtrack of my life, haha.

h o p i n g
A lot of my houseplants desperately need to be repotted and I'm really hoping I can find some cheap but not hideous pots at the thrift store in Palmer. Maybe the subtitle for this should actually be dreaming as I've never had the best luck at this particularly thrift store.

r e a d i n g
Slowly making my way through David Starkey's Six Wives. Every paragraph in this book is packed with historical information making it nearly impossible to read when the kids are awake. Since I haven't been able to commit to any fictional books lately I decided to read some history instead and learning all the actual details about Henry VIII's wives and marriages to them is really hitting the spot for me. 

p u r p o s i n g
I took so many pictures of Riggs with my real camera when he was a baby (see my 365 projects from 2012 here and 2013 here) and I've been feeling a little bit guilty lately about how many I've taken of Raina (not very many). So I'm purposing to keep my camera out and handy so that I can grab it instead of my iphone when I want to capture a special moment in her life. I wish that I would I have started an actual 365 project with her from day one, but I didn't and I can't go back, and late is better than never, right? I might actually have a photo a day of her since she's been born, but definitely not using my real camera.

Here are a few I've taken lately that really capture who Raina right now:

and one of Riggs and Tutka, I couldn't leave them out...

half of a year has gone by

As of January 2, Raina is now six months old. This month she has changed so much and is learning so many new things. She's so interested in watching the world around her and especially in watching every move her brother makes. She spends most of her awake time on the floor or in her snugseat as close to Riggs as possible. She does play with toys and especially loves her little fawn, which is perfect for chewing on.

We haven't been to her appointment yet, so I'm not sure on weight or length yet, but I'm guessing she weighs around 18 pounds. She's in 6-12m clothes and size three diapers and she finally grew out of her newborn and 0-3m shoes this month. She can sit up on her own for much longer now and her newest skill is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She can take her passi out of her mouth but is still working on putting it back in on her own the majority of the time.

The biggest change this month is moving from sleeping swaddled to unswaddled. She sleeps in her crib or pack n play (in our room) for her naps all the time now (no more rock n play) and we lay her down unswaddled and don't pick her up again until she wakes up. Most of the time she drifts off on her own with a little music playing or just listening to our voices as we do our thing in the other room. Occasionally she needs a little soothing, and patting her, rubbing her cheek or gently 'rocking' the pack n play for a minute usually does the trick.

She's still taking at least three naps, usually a long one in the morning and then two shorter (45m-1hr) naps in the afternoon. At night she 'sleeps' from 7pm to 6:30am, usually waking 2-4 times to nurse. She starts out the night in the pack n play and then ends up in bed with us by midnight usually. My goal this month is to try and nurse her in the chair in our room in the night and put her back to bed in the pack n play instead of bringing her into bed with us. But if it doesn't happen I won't be too broken up...I love cuddling her in the night too.

We haven't started any solids with her yet, and don't have any big plans to. I think we'll start with giving her little tastes of what we are eating and move on from there.

 Happy half birthday baby girl, we love you so much!

it's a new year now

The week after Christmas is always a melancholy one for me. The rush of the holiday season is over, and with it all the wonderful times with family and friends. All we as moms are left with is the clean-up and the exhaustion that inevitably comes with so much change in routine. I prefer to take down all the Christmas decorations right away, first thing on the day after Christmas, but this year we went to Homer the morning after Christmas, so nothing got cleaned up until the day after we got home. As soon as it was all packed away and the needles vacuumed up and everything put back in it's normal place, I felt much better. Things felt normal again, like we could just relax back into our old routines.

And that's how it was for a day or two, until we decided to try potty training Riggs starting New Years Day. There is nothing normal or routine about learning something as big as to stop peeing in a diaper whenever you please and rather stopping whatever amazingly interesting thing you are doing to run to the bathroom to pee on the potty instead. It's  b i g  people. 

I feel Riggs' pain, and I know it's hard, but it's happening. I know he's ready. He know's he's ready. And yet it's still a lot of work. I'm not sure why, but this is such a big deal for me. I'm struggling with patience like I never have before, and I feel defeated half the time. Yesterday he didn't have a single accident, and today he's had three (including poop in his underwear...boo). I feel like the hardest thing for me is the balance between asking him if he has to pee every five minutes, having him try every time the timer goes off, and trusting him to tell me when he has to go. It's so tough!

Also, we haven't left the house, have barely gone outside (and he had an accident outside) and have had no screen time for the last three days. Not going outside has been the hardest on all of us I think, but the thought of taking snow clothes on and off every twenty minutes sounds awful to me and I guess it all comes down to what I'm willing to put myself (and Riggs of course) through. We have church tomorrow, a thirty minute drive from our house, and I'm not sure how it's going to work. I'm pretty much dreading it. Anyway, send good potty training vibes my way and any (and I mean any!!!) advice would be greatly appreciated and even cherished (haha).

My biggest questions are how long to expect before he tells me he needs to go 95% of the time? How do I approach going out in public? And what about long car rides? Help!

Some pictures of what we've been up to lately:

vegas girls trip

I went on a girls trip to Las Vegas with my mom and Raina after Thanksgiving and it was just what I needed. It was my first time leaving Riggs overnight and I was pretty nervous about it, but it went just perfectly, he had a blast with his cousins and also got to have some one on one time with Steve. I was happy to have alone with with Raina, it's so rare with second children! Of course, it was also so much fun to hang out with my mom. We had soooo much fun.

We got there Wednesday and checked into our hotel right away. We were staying at the Aria, and neither of us had stayed there before (it's a newish hotel) and so we weren't sure what to expect. Other trips our family has stayed at the Bellagio and we really like it there. But we were pleasantly surprised by the Aria and really loved it by the end of the trip. It was really nice to stay in a new hotel where everything worked well in the rooms.

We got lunch and then took a nap - we were tired from flying all night, pretty sure Raina was the only one who got any decent sleep on the plane, my mom and I got about 30 minutes of actual sleep, and that's being generous, haha. Once we woke up we were excited to get out of our room and eat some dinner, so off we went.

My mom was in classes Thursday and Friday so I spent those days with just Raina, soaking in the huge tub in our room while she napped in the morning and then shopping the afternoons away. Friday my mom and I ate dinner at Johnny Rocket and shopped at the Fashion Show Mall after she got out of her class. Saturday we checked out of the hotel and went to shop at the outlet mall by the airport before heading home.

It went by way too fast, like vacations always seem to, but I was glad to be home to my boys. I can't wait for our next girls trip though, that's for sure! It's always fun to get away and have some time alone with my mama.

o u r   t r i p   i n   p i c t u r e s

checking in at the airport - someone was excited!

on the plane and snuggled into grandmas lap

(in first class...thank you mom!!)

she slept the majority of every single flight

and didn't cry on any of them. A little fussing

when she woke to nurse, but a little milk in her belly

and she was back into dreamland.

the lobby of the Aria...so pretty!

cloudy and rainy Vegas...a first for us.

the view from our hotel room on day one and then

on the day we left. of course it was sunny then, of course.

she slept so so good while we were there. I think that

might be what I miss most about our trip hahaha

(she hasn't been sleeping well at all since we got home,

waking every two hours most nights after 10:30pm)

all dressed and ready to do some shopping!

our favorite place to eat is at Olive in the bellagio

if you're lucky you can get a table out on the balcony

and watch the fountain show while you eat

we were right at the edge of the balcony, it was beautiful!

cozy in our solly baby wrap

when the carseat/stroller combo got old she was so happy to snuggle in with mama

her first taxi ride

the grounds of the Aria are beautiful

this photo doesn't really need a caption, does it?

dinner and malts at Johnny Rockets

I love my mommy so much. we loved lounging around

in our robes and wished we could have stayed longer.

she was such a happy girl while we shopped and shopped and shopped.

happy girl even though we were checking out

looking back at the strip from the airport

why did it have to be sunny and warm on our last day?!

pampered first class baby on the flight home

lately and slowing down the Christmas season

Sigh. My poor blog. I have been so absent from this space lately, both physically, as is evidenced by lack of posts, and mentally - I just haven't had the mental space to even think about blogging or my blog in general. It's hard to put into words what been keeping me so busy. I guess it can be summed up in one word...life. Life is just busy busy right now and so full and theres still so many things I want to do that I can't fit in. Blogging just hasn't been a priority for me right now, and to be honest, I've been okay with that. But don't worry little blog, I still love you.

You know what else I love? Instagram. It's such a good way to share little snippets of our life and have them there as a record for later when I've nearly forgotten about what we were up to at a certain point in our lives. It's faster than blogging and admittedly a lot less work. And you can print out little books with all your pictures and captions, thereby using Instagram as a journal of sorts. I use chatbooks and have loved it so far. I even made a few custom books for family members as Christmas gifts this year. So I guess my point is that even when this space is looking pretty bleak I usually take time once or twice a day to post on my IG account, so be sure to follow along with me @lifealaskanstyle.

..................................................................................................................................

Yesterday was Christmas Sunday, and it was so full and yet so laid back and relaxed and warm and cozy. We all dressed up and went to church, then headed downtown for brunch afterwards at the Valley Hotel (our favorite breakfast place by far in Palmer). Then we walked just down the street to Vagabond Blues for vanilla chai (me), green tea (Steve), hot cocoa (Riggs) and cookies/treats all around.

When we got home the kids went right down for their naps and Steve and I watched a movie together. I wrapped presents while we watched and am now pretty much done with presents, other than edible presents, which I'll be baking tomorrow. As soon as the kids woke up we got them dressed again and piled into the truck to head back to church for the Christmas program and yummy treats afterwards.

Yesterday was special because it really truly felt like Christmas, maybe for the first time this year. I've always loved Christmas so much, but it's been hard for me to adjust to being the main source of all the magic. I'm the one (well, technically me and Steve, but let's be real...mostly me haha) doing the decorating, and planning the fun Christmas outings, picking out the presents and then wrapping them with care, and teaching Riggs about what Christmas is all about. I don't get to be the one on the other end of that anymore, and it's definitely much more stressful and less fun than I imagined. It's a lot of work, even with the simplest of Christmas traditions and I'm still getting used to my changing role, nearly three years into parenting.

Yesterday was one of those days that made me realize what really makes Christmas so magical, it's about sacrifice and love for our family and friends. Jesus' life on earth was the perfect example of that, the example that we strive to imitate in our own lives. It's only by God's grace that we can even attempt to love those around us in the way we should, putting others before ourselves.

Baking cookies with our kids, despite the mess we know we'll be cleaning up after. Staying up late getting ready to host our friends for Christmas parties. Wrapping presents during nap time, and then rewrapping them after the baby rips the paper off five minutes after they wake up from their nap. Putting in extra time at Church to prepare for a special Christmas service. Baking hundreds of cookies for friends and neighbors. Spending half the day in the kitchen on Christmas day making that amazing Christmas feast for family and friends. The list goes on and on and on. Throughout it all, trying to remember the reason we're spending so much time making this season special.

Yesterday was winter solstice, and I thought a lot about it for some reason. This winter hasn't been ideal, and it's hard for me to get fully into the Christmas spirit when there's no snow. But I realized that snow or no snow, winter is a reminder of the amazing rhythm of God's creation. I love this quote..."the countryside sleeps in winter and within it lies all the potential of spring, summer and autumn." Instead of rushing around trying to decorate our houses perfectly, trying to get just the right gifts for everyone on our lists, trying to make every last party, trying to host the perfect party, we should be taking time this season, time to reflect and prepare for the year ahead of us.

"This is the solstice, the still point of the sun
it's cusp and midnight, the year's threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath..."
Margaret Atwood

I hope all of you have a magical Christmas week and take time to acknowledge and enjoy all the beautiful things God had graced you with in this life. Take an extra moment at each Christmas gathering to look around at friends and family and relish the time you have with them. Watch your children's faces as they experience all the magic of Christmas and let their joy and wonder seep deeply into your heart. Enjoy a plate of cookies cross-legged in front of your brightly lit tree.