Shakin' and a Hikin'

After being awoken by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake (largest and longest shaking I have felt!) this morning, Joey and I joined our mom hiking group for an amazing hike along the Rabbit Creek Trail in South Anchorage.  This was a new trail for us, so I was pretty excited about checking this out.  The weather was pretty sweet, 67 degrees F and sunny!  Per-fect!

We're not exactly sure how far we hiked...maybe 4-5 miles roundtrip.  This was the view on the way back to the vehicles. 

Joey was on the lookout for bears!  There was lots of fresh bear scat, but we weren't worried since there were 27 parents and lots and lots of kids in our group!

Towards the end of our hike, I let Joey walk a little bit on his own.  Of course, he found all of the puddles!  Since we were so close to the car, aka. a change of clothes, I let him splash away!  He loved it!  It really was an amazing day for this hike!  I hope we have many more days like today before we leave. 

Sunny Days

Since our summers are so short and some quality vitamin D time is never guaranteed, Alaskans

 drop everything to spend their times outdoors when the sun is shining!   This past Friday was one of those amazing, pinch-yourself, "I can't believe I live here" days! 

 Joey and I went to our friend's house for a little deck picnic and sun bathing!

 It was so weird to only have to put my kid in shorts.  Oh, and sunscreen! 

 Our friend even set up a kiddie pool so the kids could play in the water on the deck with...

 a VIEW!!!  Isn't this view absolutely incredible?  If i lived here, I would never leave my house. 

Joey didn't seem to care too much about the view, but he did like being able to run around half naked in the Alaskan warmth...something we don't get to do very often!

Joey also learned how to blow bubbles!  This really made him happy!  It was truly a great day out in the sun!  We will be leaving Alaska soon for southern California, and I'm not gonna lie, I am looking forward to some heat...not 100+ heat that our NC peeps have been experiencing, but a little bit warmer than 69 degrees! 

Camping, Try Three!

So, Joey and I tried to go tent camping again this past weekend.  Michael was in NC, so if I was going to camp, it was just going to be me and the kid.  (I did join a couple of my friends and their kids, so I wasn't completely alone...which helped a lot!)

 This is our lovely tent and tent site....that we didn't sleep in!

Instead, we slept in the Durango.  I set up the tent, but then I decided that maybe it would be better to sleep in the vehicle.  This way, when Joey cried himself to sleep, he wouldn't disturb the entire campground.  That's my main problem with Joey crying at the tent site...it's not that I can't handle his crying, I can't handle bothering everyone else for a super long time!  Five to ten minutes of crying is one thing, but any longer than that, I feel bad and feel like I am infringing on others. 

This was taken at 430 A.M.!!  See how light it is!  Ugh!

I did our "normal" bedtime routine (even though it was much later than usual, 900 P.M. vs 630 P.M.).  I then just laid him in his pack-n-play (yes, it fit in the Durango AND I was able to lay my sleeping bag out alongside of it!) and left the vehicle.  One of my friend's husband and I both checked on Joey every few minutes.  I'd say in about 10 minutes, he was out!  SCORE!!!  I was so happy and relieved!  We may just have figured out our solution to tent camping...camp in the car!  Ha ha! 

 I stayed up and hung out with my friends until 130 A.M.!  Yikes!  I got into the car and just laid there.  There was still light outside, so I had a hard time going to sleep.  I guess Joey is not the only one that needs darkness to get some shut eye.  I slept on and off until Joey woke up at...356 A.M.!  OMG!  In his defense, he had a poopy diaper.  I changed his diaper and tried to give him some milk, but I think the fact that it was light outside and mommy was sleeping next to him in the same "room" was just too much.  It was play time, not sleepy time!  

 

So, we were awake from 356 AM until 930 AM when we decided to head home.  Since I got no sleep at all and our whole group was going to be fishing (if Michael would have been with me, we would have fished, but I didn't want to deal with Joey and fishing by myself), I decided to call it a day.  We had a great time and I didn't want to ruin it by pushing it too much. 

When you have kids, you learn that it's really not about the destination anymore, but the journey.  When I hike, I had to give up my old goals of always making it to the top.  It would drive me crazy not to make it to the end, so I wasn't enjoying the hikes as much as I could.  Once, I got it into my thick head to just enjoy the journey, I immediately started enjoying hiking again!   I can safely say that this mantra also applies to other things where kids are involved.  Normally, I would have made myself stay the entire weekend to camp because that was the plan.  But now with this new mindset, I left early, but had a great time!  

I think Joey really enjoyed hanging out with some of his little buddies out in the woods!  After this camping trip, I think I am really ready to camp with Joey.  This is a good thing because we head out on our big camping/road trip to California very soon!

Joey and his new pal, Malley (this is Ethan's pup).

Battle Wounds

And I totally forgot to post this photo in yesterday's post!  Since Joey is so active these days, it is inevitable that he obtains some (or a lot depending on the day) scrapes and bruises!

Yesterday, we were playing chase in the living room and as he went around the corner, he tripped and his head hit the wooden lever on the recliner!  See the scrape on the top of his forehead (in the red circle)?  There's a pretty good mark there today!  Joey also gets some pretty big bumps from those darn mosquito bites!  See the one on his cheek (by the blue arrow)?  That just happened right before I took this photo! 

A Day in the Life of a Boy...

Okay, so all of these photos were not taken within the same day, but most of our days go a little something like this. 

Cheesin' for the camera!  Joey really does like the flashing lights!

He really loves all animals.  Our friend, Amy, brought her new pooch, P.J, over to hang out with us.  Joey LOVED P.J.!! 

 Joey has figured out how to climb into and sit in drawers!

As well as, climb onto the dishwasher door! 

Joey likes to switch up his palate.  He is eating an orange AND a dill pickle in this photo!  Gr-oss!!!  Joey loved it, though!

Joey also discovered what fungus is.  Our yard is full of mushrooms, so Joey has a playground full of fungi!   Joey is so inquisitive right now, it's amazing!  I'm so glad I get to spend all of my time hanging out with Joey as he learns the world around him. 

On Top of Spaghetti

One of Joey's favorite meals is spaghetti!  We usually prepare this meal with small rotini, elbow macaroni, or small shaped noodles.  However, I only had regular spaghetti noodles the other night.  Here's how that unfolded...

He really didn't like the long noodles.  He didn't understand that he needed to chew/bite these noodles so he "choked" on them because he tried to swallow the noodles whole! 

 Once, I cut the noodles up, he ate them right up with no problems!  :)

I guess he also thought that instead of using a normal-sized spoon to help scoop up the noodles, he needed a giant spoon!  Go big or go home, right?!?!   

This little guy makes me laugh so much, especially at meal times. 

Goodbye

Gloria (Nana), Grandma Fay, and Aunt Holly

The world lost an amazing woman this week.  Michael's maternal grandma passed away this past Friday. This was really rough on the entire family, but we all know that Grandma Fay is in a better place without any pain.  I am so glad that Joey was able to meet his Great Grandma back in April.  Michael was also able to fly home this past week to spend a little time with his grandma before she passed.  We are all very sad that Grandma is gone, but we know that she will never be far from our hearts.  We love you Grandma Fay! 

Mama's Day Off!

Since I was supposed to be gone on my backpacking trip all last week and I was so super bummed about not having some "me" time, Michael and Leanne kept Joey on Friday, so I could go out and enjoy myself...alone. 

It was INCREDIBLE!  I love my son, I really do, but it was so nice to have some time to just myself.  I felt like the old Sara again.  I left my house at 830 AM and didn't get home until 1130 PM!!  I felt like a dog off of a leash!  I tried to fit as much as I could into my day as possible!

I met my friend, Jill, for a super leisurely breakfast at our fav breakfast spot, Snow City Cafe.  Then we went on a 16-mile bike ride.  Yes, I said 16 miles.   

Then, I met my friend, Lanny, and we hiked up Flat Top, the most popular hike in Anchorage!  (Yes, I may have overdone it just a tad on the physical exertion part, but that's what I would do if I didn't have Joey with me...long or steep hikes or long bike rides!  Oh, and my back did hurt just a little the next day, but not too bad.  :) )

After the hike, I met my friend, Kate, for dinner and a movie!

Our other friend, Liz, met us for the movie, and then her and I went out for drinks at a real bar!  It was so nice!

It was a wonderful day and I was so happy to spend some good quality time with four of my pre-baby friends, especially since we are leaving soon.  I really was excited about seeing Joey the next day.  I think every SAHM needs some time to herself every once in awhile to get rejuvenated! 

Final Alaskan Visitor

Well, after a month of back to back to back visitors, our little Alaskan B and B is officially closed!  We have less than two months left in Alaska, so we will be spending the rest of our time exploring the state ourselves, saying our goodbyes, and packing up!  It's a very bittersweet feeling.  Okay, enough about that right now, let's talk about Aunt Leanne's visit!

Aunt Leanne (Michael's sister) was only here for a few short days, but we made sure to pack as much into her trip as we possibly could fit!   We took her hiking down in Girdwood, Thunderbird Falls, Eagle River, Hatcher Pass, and Byron Glacier!  She got to see some wildlife up close and personal at the conservation center, as well as out in the real wild!  She got to eat lots of good Alaskan food and spend lots of quality time with her favorite nephew!  :)   Here are some photos from her adventure...

Joey and Aunt Leanne on the Winner Creek Trail!

Aunt Leanne taught Joey the swing game.  You know, the one, two,...

THREE!!!  He absolutely loves this game now!  Even if we weren't playing it, he would.  He would sound like he was saying "one, two, three" and on his three, he would drop his legs out so he could be swung.  It was really funny how quickly he picked up on this game!

Joey loved spending so much time with Aunt Leanne!  He even gave her a daisy to show her his love!

Michael and Leanne got to spend a lot of well-needed sibling time together, too.  When Joey was napping or in bed, the two of the them would go check out some other sites in the area while I stayed home with the babe.

At Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass. 

Yes, Leanne wore shorts and there was still snow on the ground!  Ha ha!  In her defense, we were supposed to do a 10-mile hike this day, but Joey was having a super bad day and we decided to skip that hike.  Leanne just never changed...she was a little chilly though! 





Joey really loved hanging out with Aunt Leanne!  We all did, actually.  We're so glad that she was able to come and see us!  We had a great time and were sad to see her go. 

Published!

Well, not exactly published, but part of my blog has been printed and made into a book!  :) 

There's a site that will turn your blog into a book.  When I first started doing this blog, it was to keep all of our friends and family back home in the loop.  A way to make people feel like they were right here with us through this crazy journey.  However, once I found out that I could turn my blog into a book, this became more about a baby/memory book for Joey and myself. 

 We printed out the whole pregnancy journey and made that our first book.  We went with the soft cover versus hard cover (a lot cheaper) to see how the book turned out.  We really, really like it! 



There's a table of contents, all of my stories and pictures, even a dedication page!  It turned out really nice and we are probably going to make the next books with a hard cover.  If there was ever any doubt, I have posted almost double the stories during Joey's first year than I did during my pregnancy!  So, the First Year book is going to have to wait a little while before it's print date due to the increased cost of more pages!   

Fourteen Months

Our little baby is getting closer to closer becoming a little man!  Joey hit the big fourteen month of his life today!   

He has become so much more independent just within the past month!  He loves to go to the park!  The slide is his absolute favorite!  He would go down the slide over and over and over and over... 

He is so inquisitive and curious about EVERYTHING!  If it can be picked up, opened, closed, moved, or whatever, he's into it!

 He doesn't walk anymore, he runs!  The little guy can't get places fast enough!

He still really enjoys imitating us.  He likes to pick up the remote controls and point them at the T.V. (Ooopss!  So much for waiting until Joey was 2 years old to let him watch any T.V.)

He has no problem asking for help.  When he wants assistance getting down the steps, getting into the high chair, getting up on the couch, walking through tall grass, he will put his hand up so you will grab it and help him.  He has also learned how to climb within the past day or two!  Not sure if I'm ready for this stage!  Ready or not, it's here!

Joey hasn't really said any new words, since "Mama" and "Dada", but he does understand us when we say certain things to him.  When we ask if he's hungry, he'll run to his high chair.  "Wanna take a bath", he runs to the bathtub.  "Where's your ball/car?", he'll go get the ball/car and bring it back to you.  He knows who the puppies are.  He also "understands" the whole Skype thing.  He gets really excited when we turn the computer on and family members are in the little black box!

We are so amazed at all of the new things Joey can do every day.  Happy Fourteenth Month Birthday, Joey!