We've Had a Rough Week . . .

and it's only Wednesday!  

No, really, things aren't so bad.  We found out I'm carrying around a baby boy.  I'm happy our son will have a little brother less than 2 years younger than he is.  We also have most of the things we need for a boy.  A few of the newborn things that I had left over from our son I gave away to friends, but it's funny because all a baby's clothes for about the first 3 months can all fit into one drawer.  They are so tiny!  Anyway, it won't take much to get what we need.

I had my annual flu shot on Monday.  Because I'm pregnant, the risks are much higher if you don't get it, so they pretty much make you get it.  I didn't really get sick this time.  Also, my son had 4 immunizations including the flu shot on Tuesday during his 18 month appointment, and he didn't even get a slight fever (and he has a cold).  Anyway, this is all good news.  We've all been sick so much anyway in the last month and a half, who needs another illness to worry about!

My husband has been busy with school and work, and I have been busy with my work at home and school too.  There have been some frustrating things, like conflicting editions of books.  My professor posted our homework in the wrong place, so the class didn't know we had homework until 3 days later.  It's like impossible for me to study during the week if I can't get it done Wednesday, when my son is at daycare.  I didn't even get close to getting it done today, Wednesday.  I have so many questions and am only 1/4 of the way done.  

It makes me wonder how all of the student-moms at the College of St. Catherine make it through.  St. Kate's is like 100x tougher a school than the University of Alaska, and here there are few student-parents and still people drop out like flies.  When I was in college, if I didn't understand something I spent hours figuring it out.  Parents don't have that luxury.  If you can't get it in a short period of time, well then you just aren't going to get it.  I sure salute you student moms at tough schools!  I don't know how you do it!  

That said, I am at the toughest age.  When they're small, you can study a lot more easily.  But, at 12-18 months and for I don't know how much longer they really require your every minute of attention . . . or at least my son does.  He has to be doing what I'm doing or is asking my help with something or he is getting into something that needs supervision.  Sometimes I wish he would sit and watch television for just 1 hour, but he's not that type of kid and I guess that's a good thing!

My Son is Growing Up.

I'm so proud of my 17 month old son. He is getting to be so mature, so smart, but at the same time he can be such a baby. What makes me so proud today is that 3 days ago we cold turkey stopped giving him a small bottle of formula before bedtime. He asked for milk by saying "ma, ma, ma" and doing sign language for milk, but I just told him "No milk" and continued to read him a book. We haven't read him a book before bed until 3 days ago. The first night he cried 10 minutes, the second night maybe 2 minutes, and tonight just a wimper.

I think we as moms and dads think it's going to be so hard to take away a pacifier, stop breastfeeding, stop feeding a bottle, etc, but in the end it's really not that difficult. I want to be consistent and not feed him a bottle from now on, because in a couple of months I want to get him sleeping in his toddler bed. I want to do this ideally a couple of months before the next baby arrives. Friends have done this successfully when their children were my son's age, so I'm hoping it goes smoothly for us too. See, there I am anticipating it's going to be so hard, when in reality it probably won't. And I'm rambling.

It's just hard being a mom sometimes.

We're Enjoying the Perfect Weather.

It has been just gorgeous outside in Fairbanks again.  I can't explain this weather to people who have not experienced it.  It's the kind of calm I think you can only find in deserts, but there you probably see it in the winter, not in the summer.  But, I don't know.  Here, it lasts for a week or two.  These days, without a cloud in the sky, I feel happy as a clam.  It's like seasonal affective disorder, but the good kind.  

The boys put together some new furniture a friend ordered and shipped us from Seattle.

I walked around the yard and in 5 minutes photographed over 15 varieties of mushrooms.  I won't put them all here, but I need a book or a friend to help me identify which are safe to eat.

My husband mowed the lawn and weed wacked for the last time, picked up brush and logs in the woods, and burned a giant pile of debris down by the river.

Our son has the worst cold ever, but he won't nap.  He just wants to be outside too.  We found a new trail at the wildlife refuge in town and had a mother/son Taco King picnic by the lake, while daddy hunted by some bluff on the upper Chena River.  He didn't bring a camera, but I bet the colors were brilliant up there.  Tomorrow, we'll meet some friends at the Chena Lakes.

Tangle Lakes Multi-Family Camping Trip

Before we went camping, I went to the grand-opening of the new kid/baby store in town to get some used winter jackets.  18mo, 24mo, 2T--we're set until the snow melts!  In fact, we're set until next summer and for a steal!  I'm glad I didn't go garage saling this year.  But we did have to weave through 100+ other moms (I counted 2 dads) at the grand-opening to get what we came for--thankfully most people came for toys and furniture.

During our 4 hour drive to Tangle Lakes, which is located on the Denali Highway, we stopped at Birch Lake, an hour southeast of Fairbanks.

Our 4 family, 3 camper/1 tent compound at Tangle Lakes BLM Campround

The boys were unloading wood as soon as we arrived, so of course, our son helped too

Here is a friend's cute daughter, about our son's age,

and her brother, making use of my son's Tonka dump truck.

Conked on the drive home.  5 dogs, 6 kids, 8 parents, lots of campfires and playing with rocks and dirt.  We even went on an inflatable canoe ride.  Our son and our dog were in heaven . . . and we had a lot of fun too!

Smoke, Sickness, Baby Blankets, and More!

I haven't really felt like blogging in nearly two weeks.

First, the smoke rolled in.  It lasted nearly a week.  We were confined to the indoors, where the ventilation system kept us healthy.  I didn't even feel like going places in the car, because it was choking, dark, and depressing.  I contemplated going back to Minnesota, but didn't want to ride the plane alone for 7 hours with my 16 month old.  My husband, who was upset that he could not ride his bike to work, considered driving to Anchorage for the weekend, something we would not ever consider doing normally because it's a 7 hour drive.  My play group did a toy swap, so the kids would be entertained while indoors.  And then it, the smoke, left when a moist cold front came in and hasn't been back in over a week.  

Wildfire fighting is a major deal up here.  Instead of just putting the fires out immediately, to save tax dollars and to keep it natural, they allow the fires to burn, controlling their size and protecting structures.  A lot of it is done with bulldozers.  It's a nasty job.  At any given time during the summers, hundreds of millions of acres have burned and hundreds of millions of acres are burning.  It's usually just a single lightening strike, a spark from a chain saw, once it was a man who dumped his burn barrel ashes out into has back yard.  But, usually it's just the lightening, and let me tell you I NEVER see a thunderstorm or lightening here.  It's just too dry for that kind of precipitation.  So, it doesn't take much to ignite a spruce forest or tundra.

Smoke blowing by the front yard, high in the sky, before sunset

Then, I started to become more sick, pregnancy sick.  I couldn't go into the kitchen without vomiting.  Pretty much any smell whatsoever made me heave.  I layed down a lot, while playing with my son.  His favorite toy is these knock-off Legos we found for $5 at a garage sale down the road.

He is like a stacking pro and keeps me quite entertained.

In other news, we went to see Food, Inc., and it was fantastic.  My husband went grocery shopping and bought all organic.  I still don't, because of the cost, but I do a better job than before I started reading books like Omnivore's Dilemma.  

My cousin Christina had a beautiful baby girl, and I embroidered her a blanket.  I also started a quilt for my cousin Jennie who's expecting in February.  

My husband and I figured out our school schedules.  He's teaching an intro course to Process Technology Monday nights (not during normal work time), which means he'll still get his alternating Fridays off of work.  I will take a statistics course in scientific sampling three days a week.  Alek will go three different places, by my choice, so that even though we won't be able to play outside this winter, he'll still be able to get out and see new things.

My sister-in-law returns to law school in Minnesota today.  We had her and her grandmother over for dinner last night.  Our son really showed his true colors.  He is going to be quite a piece of work at least until he turns two.

A Day to Yourself is a Great Treasure.

My son has started home daycare one day a week.  I know, this is strange, because I am a stay-at-home mom, but it is a luxury I am very thankful to take part in.  Things fell into place.  We knew about this woman, who is really good, only takes people through other people, does daily report cards, only has a couple kids of whom we know the families pretty well.  She couldn't take us before, but once summer rolled around, she said the toddler boys are old enough to have 3 of them. We found out I was pregnant so we thought . . .  why not get him used to another place.  I am most excited to have him form connections with these 2 other boys and the caregiver, because during our Tues/Thurs play dates he is too distracted to pay much attention to the other 3 toddlers.  Also, I think it will be a fun escape for him in the winter, because there aren't many places to take the kids in Fairbanks when it is -40, and outside activities are not an option.

Without my son in the house, it is so quiet.  I miss him terribly.  It's hard to fold his clothes without longing to hug his cuddly sweet-smelling baby skin.  But, at the same time, things are so easy without him getting into everything.  I tended to my red wiggler worm compost, which has become too moist and acidic and has exploded with white, stinky worms.  I did laundry, sorted through my son's clothes and boxed the 12 month stuff, cleaned the dog, clipped his nails.  Then, I painted my own toenails.  I haven't done that in at least 2 years!  All this, by 9a.m.  I think I may even whip up something amazing for dinner.  I think this day to myself is going to be a very good thing :)

February is The Month.

Our baby is due to arrive February 23.  I don't put much confidence in that date, though, because my son was born 3.5 weeks early, and I'm a small girl who's pretty active, so I just can't hold a big baby in my belly as long as a big, tall girl who doesn't ever get on her feet.

The crazy thing is that at least 5 people close to me are having babies around the same time, 3 of them within a week of me.  Usually babies come in bunches, but usually I think over 2 or 3 months, not over a couple weeks.  These are the dates:

Feb 17 (cousin Jennie)

Feb 20 (cousin Dani)

Feb 23 (me)

Feb 24 (good friend's son Nicholas)

March (college roommate Alicia)

March (cousin Sunny)

These are the True Signs of Pregnancy.

Forget nausea and frequent urination. Almost every pregnant woman in her first trimester has those. For those of you who have been pregnant before, this is old news. But, in my opinion, these are the sure-fire signs of pregnancy:

1.  You cry hysterically over Princess Buttercup and Wesley's 

     words in the Princess Bride

2.  Acne erupts like Kilauea, as if you are 13 again

3.  Your pants fit fine in the morning, but are unbearably tight in the evening

4.  You awaken at 3a.m. and feel so faint that if you don't eat a cracker 

     immediately you may die

5.  You crave a tuna-fish sandwich all day, but after you make it you cannot 

     stand the sight of it

6.  You nap at 10a.m. and 4p.m., but still can't make it much past 8p.m.

7.  You eat breakfast, lunch, lunch, dinner, dinner, and then continuously 

     before bedtime, but you can't poop

8.  You wish you hadn't become pregnant

9.  You can't remember how old you are

10.You gag for no reason

11. Life is miserable

This is My Dilemma.

So, we've been ordering this certified organic food box from Washington state for about 6 months now.  It costs $48 per small box, and we get a small box every other week.  I think $12 of it is shipping, and the other $36 is for the food.  By the time the food hits my countertop, something is always going bad, like a soft onion, a moldy orange or brown, soggy greens.  You absolutely have to use "fresh/green/Evert" bags to make the stuff last.  There're a lot of things in the box that I need recipes to cook and that I would not normally purchase, because I've either never heard of them or some (e.g. red dandelion greens) are really not that good in my opinion.  And, I think I can probably buy organic food at Fred Meyer or Safeway for a better price.  

So, why do we buy this?  The real reason is that I don't always want to have to wash pesticides off of my food, and if I shop in the store I'm going to buy non-organic because there are a lot more options and it is a lot less expensive.  But, more importantly, I hate going to the grocery store.  These fruits and veggies really cut down my shopping time, and they are insurance that my composting red wiggler worms will have plenty of scraps to eat.  It's amazing what we'll pay to avoid a burden like grocery shopping.

Plus, gardening in Fairbanks is a lost cause.  I'm embarrassed to show this.  My carrots and green onions may never mature.  And the lettuce and radishes were overgrown when we returned from vacation.

What is wrong with my beans, anyway?

Not that they'll feed me or anything, but at least the new trees are thriving.

This is Why We Live Here.

We awaken at 7a.m., have breakfast, play. At 8a.m., in long-sleeves, we go for a walk through our subdivision's dirt roads. It's about 2 miles and we don't meet a single car. It's bright. The skies are clear and blue, and it is a perfect 70 degrees. It's dry, but fresh. The air smells of white spruce trees, fireweed, and tundra grass. Light-pink flowered wild rose bushes, purple fireweed flowers, and red raspberries dominate the undergrowth. It's time to pick the berries.  

I pick. My son eats. There are no woodticks, no snakes, no frogs, no bugs. Anything that survives the winter is big and slow, and these are mostly night-time mosquitos and the spruce beetles that eat the trees. We don't meet a single bug this morning.

Clapping at the sight of the berries

All in the mouth, none in the bucket

We eat again.  Yummy.  I am pleased by our simple life this morning.

It's Time for Hot Licks.

We're back from our splendid vacation on the farm, where I grew up, in Minnesota (pictures to come).  

I have one major gripe. How hard is it to feed my dog 1/2 cup of his dog food twice a day? I mean, the guy I used to work with who has pugs would let him eat dog food continually, so he would gain 30% of his weight in less than 2 weeks. This is the same guy who feeds his dogs bacon and eggs for their birthdays. My in-laws can't resist table feeding; plus, the last time he came back he was limping for about a month. And my husband's friend's place is good, but dirty. There are other dogs, big dogs. He comes back with an infected face (okay that's what happens to pugs who play outside a lot), but this time with severe vomiting and diarrhea as well. One of the big dogs apparently got into Harley's allotment of food, and who knows what Harley ate to compensate.

On the bright side, despite the fact that it maybe only rained once while we were gone, the place is greener than ever. My husband's grandma took care of the newly planted trees and garden, and I think the retired neighbor's to the left snuck the river pump and fire hose on our yard daily, because the lawn has not ever looked this good before! And, as a bonus, the retired neighbors to the right mowed their entire lawn. The wife likes it to grow wild, supposedly for geese, and every time she goes to the lower 48 her husband mows it :) It looks much better mowed.

I'm not really as pleased to be back as I thought I would be. Yes, I'm glad to have my dog back, puke, poop and all. And I'm very happy to sleep in my king-sized foam bed. I'm excited to see my play-date friends. But, other than that, I could leave it. The summer is winding down. Forest fires smoke has replaced our clean air.  And the town of Fairbanks leaves much to be desired.  

But, now that my errands are done, there are some summer favorites I will hit up tomorrow:  the Egyptian Felafel Stand and Hot Licks Ice Cream Shop.

I Spent a Night-and-a-Half Away from my Son.

My husband and I survived Kesugi Ridge, Denali State Park. About 20 miles, close to 5,000 feet in elevation gain, 35-50 pound packs in a day and half. There was wind, sun, but no rain. It was challenging and cold and windy, but it was gorgeous. We didn't see any other campers. It was amazing. I have bruises on my clavicles and hip fronts to prove it. I took 2 naps today and can barely go down the stairs without yelping in pain. It was our first backpacking trip together. It was the first time we left our son overnight. We missed him (and Harley even) terribly, but it was worth it.  

Little Coal Creek trail ascends through dense spruce and crosses a beaver dam.

Ferns, blueberry bushes, and other greenery crowd the path.

Before you know it, you've ascended 2,500 feet and are on Kesugi Ridge.

Yes, there was snow . . .

  and large rocks to hop.  I felt like I needed a granola bar after each section of 

these pesky rocks, because I burned so many calories trying to balance.

But, after each climb, there was a spectacular valley.

Beef stroganoff, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, 

a good night's sleep for some

but not for all (pesky sunlight I hate you)

And Mount McKinley was still there in there morning.  

By the way, it is visible along almost this entire trail.

Day 2:  These blueberry bushes sure have roots a lot crazier

than the ones on my berry farm growing up in Minnesota.

If you look closely, you can see the trail along the ridge.  This section was a bit hairy.

It was grizzly country too.  I was thankful we brought a gun.

We like to call this "Hidden Valley."

Checking the GPS

This is about where I thought Ermine Hill Trail should break off.

Pumping/filtering water for the 4th and last time

Nervous and tired, but it's just so pretty

4 hours later:  Finally, here is where the trail splits!  Thank Goodness!  I'm pointing to the trail to Byer's Lake.  We went right instead.  We finished at 9 p.m.  It took us 20 minutes to get picked up as hitchhikers, because tourists are jerks (thank goodness for German-Alaskans).  I actually cried toward the end of those 20 minutes because I didn't want to walk another 8 miles (with pack) along the Parks Highway to our car.  We made it home by 2 a.m.  I love to hike, but hate to camp on a Thermarest, especially in sunlight.  My own bed felt really nice, if only for 3 hours until the baby woke me :)  Grandpa (babysitter) had left at 5 a.m., once he realized we had come home early!  He later reported that the baby asked for us, but stayed busy and happy regardless of our absence.