I suck! I haven't updated in so long!!! Things have been crazy, insane, psychotic busy. Once we (finally) got our orders, we've been in full gear trying to prep for our move to GA. Okay, that actually only accounts for 50% of my excuse. Another huge occurrence that kept me from updating was Game of Thrones Season 5 started up a couple weeks ago. That meant I not only had to catch up on season's 1, 2 and 4, but I had to finish reading book 5 so there were no spoilers. Priorities.
We move on FRIDAY!!! That's like... 4 days away. I cannot believe how quickly time is flying. Tomorrow, we have our final inspection of our unit on base so we have been cleaning, cleaning cleaning that thing. I wish I could say we were finished, but we aren't. We're waking up early to try to do final touches before our 10am inspection. Ay ay ay. We moved into temp housing yesterday (cleaning with dogs in the house is impossible) and although it's a little creepy, bland, long and creaks like a haunted house, it gives us plenty of room. Ry has his own bedroom, there are two bathrooms, a sitting room with a fridge and microwave and coffee maker, and our own bedroom. Not too bad. The pups freaked out yesterday- being in a new environment and whatnot, but today they've calmed down and they're being little angels.
Ry's been a little on the cranky side. And by little, I mean lot. Poor kid. Not only is his environment constantly changing, but my milk supply has been on the low side. I can't help it. We've been so busy that I have no time to pump/hydrate/eat "enriching" foods. This little boy uses his sweet little fingers to push my boob to try to squeeze out as much milk as he can, but my sensitive skin can barely handle it. I am mutilated. My poor lady parts are completely red and scabby. His tiny nails have even drawn blood. I'm even starting to dread having to feed him-it's like those first two weeks all over again. But I want to breast feed. I don't want to have to go to formula. I like the convenience and the bonding time and the fact that breast milk is in fact the best thing for him. I just need to figure out how to power through these next 4 months.
Ryan got the second part of his flu shot today. Surprisingly, he hasn't been nearly as grumpy as I thought he might be today. It still broke my heart. I cannot look him in the eyes until it's over, because the most devastating part is having him break out into his huge, gummy smile then immediately seeing his face drop like I allowed the pain to happen. But the second I pick his sweet little body up, he stops crying and I get to wipe the tears from his face. It's quick-thankfully.
I can't believe how fast this boy is growing! He grew again a few nights ago. I think his height is catching up. His face is looking so much less like a baby and he's thinning out (although, he's still such a chunk!) I love him. He's been in a new phase of sleep where he tends to wake up at 2am needing to be flipped cause he's stuck on his tummy. When Ry turned 3 months, he learned to roll from his tummy to his back, but after he learned to roll from back to tummy, he stopped rolling the other way. He just decided he was over it. So now, when he's on his tummy and doesn't want to be, instead of rolling over, he just fusses until someone gets him. And he's been taking 2am rolls lately. What a stinker! I love him.
There really haven't been too many updates over here other than us prepping to leave. I've been so busy attempting to just get through each and every day that I haven't had time to stop and enjoy things one last time. I really hate goodbyes, so I kind of want to just dip out and avoid it, but people aren't letting me! I had a friend tell me she wanted to get dinner with us on Friday-when I got there, ALL of my fellow base Zumba instructors were there to surprise me and say goodbye and got me gifts. It was so amazing. I got home and cried-lol! I'm such a lame-ass but I'm really going to miss them. And my wonderful students. This is the place that I got licensed to teach Zumba. This is where I quit my job and tried to go for my dream of teaching. I did Zumba with these people all throughout my pregnancy (I took my friend's Zumba class the day before my water broke). My students have bought presents for Ryan and were there for me when G deployed. They watched me get back into shape these past 7 months. This has been such a giant part of my life that I can't believe I'm leaving them all behind and having to start it all over again somewhere new with a whole new group of people. But that's our life. That's how it goes. And guess what? It just gives me the chance to meet some more amazing people to impact my life :)
Okay, as much as I need to update everyone on my life, I'm too tired to continue. I'm starting to get sick so I need to try to sleep whatever this is off before our road trip. If I don't get to update again this week, I'm going to throw it out there that we'll be driving through Canada for about a week and we'll have no internet or phone service. Don't try calling or texting me and don't get offended if I don't respond. ;) And if you never hear from me again, send the Canadians to look for us.
I may type as we road trip via Microsoft word and copy and paste into posts as we hit internet. We'll see if I have time. Next time I update, I may be in the lower 48 :) :) Here's to new experiences, adventures and a fresh start. Farewell, Alaska. This has been unforgettable. xoxoxo.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
6 1/2 Month
This month has flown by!! I can't believe this boy is going to be 7 month old in a weeks. Ay caramba! That sounds so grown up. And he is grown up! He's now facing forwards in his stroller-and he LOVES it. My runs are so much easier now because 1. It's 40 degrees outside and beautiful! No more boring indoor tracks. 2. Ry stays so content watching the scenery change in front of him. It's really encouraged me to go even further with my runs.
Not only is he out of his car seat carrier for the stroller, but also for carts when we shop. I caved. I'm totally one of those obnoxious mom's who bought a cart cover. Not because I'm worried about cart germs, but because I wanted a little extra padding in the seat for when Ryan tips. And guess what? The cart cover I got came with a mini Boppy-looking pillow that smooshes in there and holds him up. It's awesome!!! And, like with running, it makes shopping SO much easier when I have a content baby who just looks around all happily. I don't care how uptight it makes me look as a mom. However, I do gets lots of comments from other shoppers. I've had grandma's ask me where I got it for their expecting daughters and I had another woman tell me, well, she told Ryan technically that he has a great mommy who treats him like a prince. Fact. Plus, so many people love talking to him while he sits up like a big boy and they constantly tell me how cute he is. What's not to love about that?
This boy has been doing so well eating solids. I feed him once a day towards the end of the day when my milk supply is lower. He's been devouring avocado, bananas and rice cereal like it's his job. He'll yell at me between bites until he gets the next one. As for my milk supply, it's having it's ups and downs. I've been baking lactation cookies right and left trying to up my supply, and I think they have been working. The only thing is I wish there was something a little healthier to stuff my face with-although I do switch out the butter for coconut oil and I use less sugar than the recipe calls for. Yesterday, I even threw some blueberries in them with a few chocolate chips. They were good! But more importantly, they're helping me continue to feed my boy.
We are now officially at the disgusting poop phase. His diapers stink! I can no longer throw dirty diapers away in the garbage without the whole house smelling. They've been banished to the outdoors with the dog poop. I've seriously gagged a few times changing diapers. Not to mention the fact that every time he poops, there seems to be dog fur in it... poor kid. He's going to be ingesting fur for the rest of his life.
This week, my mom has been in town visiting for her spring break. We've had such a fun time! Our original plan was to drive up to Denali on Monday after my class and camp over night and come home the next day. Then I had to teach Wed night and we were going to drive back up to Fairbanks and Chena for the last 3 days of her trip. We were going to use these drives as practice for when we drive down to Georgia. So we drove down to Denali and by the time we got there, it was 7pm. We didn't see any animals, and we were only a couple miles out from Fairbanks, so my mom suggested that we just keep driving and come home Wednesday. We did! We kept driving. I passed out in the car and my mom and G woke me up at 1am. We were parked in some random truck stop (creepy) but the northern lights were out and they were amazing!!! They were across the entire sky. I watched until my eyes could no longer stay awake. At about 4, the dogs started barking so we were on the road again. We went to Walmart and shut our eyes for another couple hours.
That actually worked out well because Walmart was the only thing really open at 6:30 in the morning. We were able to stock up on groceries, toiletries and get some apparel to wear in the hot springs, since we had only brought camping gear. In fact, the only other clothes I brought were fleece footie pajamas. Not cute. We drove the extra hour up to Chena and my mom got to see a moose in the middle of the road! So that was exciting. I think she was starting to believe that there were no animals in Alaska.
Chena was a blast! We called them a few days earlier and asked if they allow dogs. They said yes, but only 2, so when we checked in, we didn't mention how many dogs we had. It was SUCH a relief that we weren't given a hard time or turned away. We went of a dog sled ride which was pretty awesome. It wasn't a long course, but it was still quite an experience. We visited the ice museum they have there, and it was very impressive. We even got to drive martini's from ice martini glasses. By that point, Ryan was extremely unhappy since he refused to nap if there were things to see, so we went back to our room and tried to get him down to sleep. Finally, my mom watched him while G and I had a date night and stuffed our faces with calamari and king crab legs then headed into the hot springs. It was so beautiful!!! You can't beat a natural hot tub in the middle of the snowy mountains. That was probably one of my favorite things we did in Alaska. Then again, I'm also a girl who's all about relaxing and pampering versus camping and four-wheeling.
We drove home Wednesday morning. We left Chena at about 6am to make it in time for my night class. It was a long ride but we made it. And most importantly, the baby and the dogs made it. They all did AWESOME. The dogs were so good in the back of the truck. They had their dog beds and Cato was a little king sitting on top of all the blankets we stacked back there. Denali didn't whine like I thought he would and he didn't throw up or jump out the window next to a highway like he did on our previous road trip. And Ryan was mostly content playing in his seat with his toys and instead of stopping to feed him, we gave him bottles while we drove and I'd pump in between-making our stops less frequent and shorter. We still had to stop for diaper changes and to let the pups out/feed them, but I think for the most part, our trip down to GA should be better than expected.
Speaking of, we FINALLY got our orders last week. You know, less than a month away from our moving date. We leave Alaska on the 24th. I can't believe it! That's 3 weeks away now. I'm going to miss it up here so much. This is where we got married-twice. This is where we spent the majority of our relationship. This is where our son was born (and Cato's son). This is where I got my Zumba license and discovered that teaching is my dream job. We've had SO many experiences here that it's unbelievable when you string those memories all together. I've made a lot of friends-most of whom have already left, but still a handful that are not military and live out here. As much as I've complained about how far away we are (which we are, I'm sick of paying so much money to leave the state), I truly am going to miss living here. And now, I'm going to spend these next three weeks busting my butt trying to get everything packed, cleaned, settled, organized, and just plain old ready to go. It's going to be so insanely hectic.
No pictures today. Until next time. Hopefully I find more time next week to update. I rarely have time to just sit and not be bothered. But I wouldn't want it any other way :)
Not only is he out of his car seat carrier for the stroller, but also for carts when we shop. I caved. I'm totally one of those obnoxious mom's who bought a cart cover. Not because I'm worried about cart germs, but because I wanted a little extra padding in the seat for when Ryan tips. And guess what? The cart cover I got came with a mini Boppy-looking pillow that smooshes in there and holds him up. It's awesome!!! And, like with running, it makes shopping SO much easier when I have a content baby who just looks around all happily. I don't care how uptight it makes me look as a mom. However, I do gets lots of comments from other shoppers. I've had grandma's ask me where I got it for their expecting daughters and I had another woman tell me, well, she told Ryan technically that he has a great mommy who treats him like a prince. Fact. Plus, so many people love talking to him while he sits up like a big boy and they constantly tell me how cute he is. What's not to love about that?
This boy has been doing so well eating solids. I feed him once a day towards the end of the day when my milk supply is lower. He's been devouring avocado, bananas and rice cereal like it's his job. He'll yell at me between bites until he gets the next one. As for my milk supply, it's having it's ups and downs. I've been baking lactation cookies right and left trying to up my supply, and I think they have been working. The only thing is I wish there was something a little healthier to stuff my face with-although I do switch out the butter for coconut oil and I use less sugar than the recipe calls for. Yesterday, I even threw some blueberries in them with a few chocolate chips. They were good! But more importantly, they're helping me continue to feed my boy.
We are now officially at the disgusting poop phase. His diapers stink! I can no longer throw dirty diapers away in the garbage without the whole house smelling. They've been banished to the outdoors with the dog poop. I've seriously gagged a few times changing diapers. Not to mention the fact that every time he poops, there seems to be dog fur in it... poor kid. He's going to be ingesting fur for the rest of his life.
This week, my mom has been in town visiting for her spring break. We've had such a fun time! Our original plan was to drive up to Denali on Monday after my class and camp over night and come home the next day. Then I had to teach Wed night and we were going to drive back up to Fairbanks and Chena for the last 3 days of her trip. We were going to use these drives as practice for when we drive down to Georgia. So we drove down to Denali and by the time we got there, it was 7pm. We didn't see any animals, and we were only a couple miles out from Fairbanks, so my mom suggested that we just keep driving and come home Wednesday. We did! We kept driving. I passed out in the car and my mom and G woke me up at 1am. We were parked in some random truck stop (creepy) but the northern lights were out and they were amazing!!! They were across the entire sky. I watched until my eyes could no longer stay awake. At about 4, the dogs started barking so we were on the road again. We went to Walmart and shut our eyes for another couple hours.
That actually worked out well because Walmart was the only thing really open at 6:30 in the morning. We were able to stock up on groceries, toiletries and get some apparel to wear in the hot springs, since we had only brought camping gear. In fact, the only other clothes I brought were fleece footie pajamas. Not cute. We drove the extra hour up to Chena and my mom got to see a moose in the middle of the road! So that was exciting. I think she was starting to believe that there were no animals in Alaska.
Chena was a blast! We called them a few days earlier and asked if they allow dogs. They said yes, but only 2, so when we checked in, we didn't mention how many dogs we had. It was SUCH a relief that we weren't given a hard time or turned away. We went of a dog sled ride which was pretty awesome. It wasn't a long course, but it was still quite an experience. We visited the ice museum they have there, and it was very impressive. We even got to drive martini's from ice martini glasses. By that point, Ryan was extremely unhappy since he refused to nap if there were things to see, so we went back to our room and tried to get him down to sleep. Finally, my mom watched him while G and I had a date night and stuffed our faces with calamari and king crab legs then headed into the hot springs. It was so beautiful!!! You can't beat a natural hot tub in the middle of the snowy mountains. That was probably one of my favorite things we did in Alaska. Then again, I'm also a girl who's all about relaxing and pampering versus camping and four-wheeling.
We drove home Wednesday morning. We left Chena at about 6am to make it in time for my night class. It was a long ride but we made it. And most importantly, the baby and the dogs made it. They all did AWESOME. The dogs were so good in the back of the truck. They had their dog beds and Cato was a little king sitting on top of all the blankets we stacked back there. Denali didn't whine like I thought he would and he didn't throw up or jump out the window next to a highway like he did on our previous road trip. And Ryan was mostly content playing in his seat with his toys and instead of stopping to feed him, we gave him bottles while we drove and I'd pump in between-making our stops less frequent and shorter. We still had to stop for diaper changes and to let the pups out/feed them, but I think for the most part, our trip down to GA should be better than expected.
Speaking of, we FINALLY got our orders last week. You know, less than a month away from our moving date. We leave Alaska on the 24th. I can't believe it! That's 3 weeks away now. I'm going to miss it up here so much. This is where we got married-twice. This is where we spent the majority of our relationship. This is where our son was born (and Cato's son). This is where I got my Zumba license and discovered that teaching is my dream job. We've had SO many experiences here that it's unbelievable when you string those memories all together. I've made a lot of friends-most of whom have already left, but still a handful that are not military and live out here. As much as I've complained about how far away we are (which we are, I'm sick of paying so much money to leave the state), I truly am going to miss living here. And now, I'm going to spend these next three weeks busting my butt trying to get everything packed, cleaned, settled, organized, and just plain old ready to go. It's going to be so insanely hectic.
No pictures today. Until next time. Hopefully I find more time next week to update. I rarely have time to just sit and not be bothered. But I wouldn't want it any other way :)
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