Thanksgiving 2013

For my saving Jesus, my hard working, loving husband, our healthy, handsome little boy, our crazy, fun families spread all over the US, my wonderful friends, whom I miss terribly, my health, our precious little home... This Thanksgiving might just be my most thankful one yet. Each year since Stephen and I met has been such an adventure for us, and this one may be the biggest and best of them all! It was such a blessing to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Fairbanks with the Wall family - my second one in Alaska and our first with Grandma and Grandpa Brown. The evening was full of games, great food, talking, laughing and noisy little kids. This family just keeps growing and it is so fun to watch all these cousins and friends play together! Stephen and I stayed out at his parents house until past our bedtime - really trying to soak up and enjoy this opportunity to spend time with his family. Thankful and blessed... Truly. 

the way my iPhone sees it

So we're here! Alaskaaa! Well, we've been here, but it's high time I started sharing this adventure on the blog. We're here until just after Christmas - two weeks down, four and a half left. The school put us up in a long term hotel and has provided a rental car for us. Stephen spends his day at the hospital, busy in his surgery rotation, while I chase Uriah around playing peek-a-boo. We've been getting to see our family almost every day, too, which we love! It is so fun to watch Uriah interact with his cousins, and I know his grandparents are soaking up every minute with all four of their grand babies together. Church, lunch outings, grocery shopping, time at the gym, play dates, dinner, power outages... We've been having so much fun here (despite the negative temperatures) and are really looking forward to Thanksgiving this week! (And the whole month of December!) More to come, soon enough. For now, an iPhone/Instagram peek at our temporary home and Alaska adventures.

^^ The digs ^^

taking stock 002

In September, I stole the idea of a blog post from this blog who stole it from this blog. I thought it was a fun way to share an overview of our life and my thoughts and feelings during that month. I thought it would be something I could do every month, make it sort of a staple post around here. But, then I forgot October. So, I'm off to a great start. But November is not over yet, and while our most recent changes (moving to Alaska!) probably deserve an actual post all it's own, we'll start our November blogging with this...

Making: uriah food. fruit, peas and corn, to be exact. yum.
Cooking: chocolate chip coconut cookies. ok, well, that was yesterday. but close enough.
Drinking: water. i should say, trying to drink water. does anyone else have a hard time staying hydrated in the winter?
Reading: hp. with my husband, every night. "after all this time? always."
Wanting: a fireplace. so i can properly snuggle and cuddle my baby boy and my sweet nephews in true winter fashion.
Looking: at uriah. he has completely captivated me and stolen my heart.
Playing: hide and seek. my knees are bruised from all this crawling, but the look of surprise on his face when i round the corner... priceless.
Wasting: thoughts.
Sewing: nothing. as usual.
Wishing: we had had more time with my momma in pocatello. i sure do miss my best girl friend.
Enjoying: texts from my daddy regarding sharks and woodland creatures and love.
Waiting: for bed time.
Liking: this chance to connect with family. it's easy to feel forgotten in boise, so far from alaska. it is truly a blessing to be here for the holidays.
Wondering: when uriah will say his first word. and take his first step. we're on the verge of so many "firsts"
Loving: the fact that uriah is now sleeping through the night (!!!) with no efforts on our end. he and i both are getting eight plus hours of sleep and it is magical.
Hoping: stephen doesn't get called in on a surgery tonight. i know it'll happen eventually. but just not tonight.
Marveling: at the beautiful white mess outside my window. it is cold and dangerous but oh so breathtaking.
Needing: some mommy daughter time. seriously though, i miss her.
Smelling: old lady. this apartment is old and my one vanilla candle isn't strong enough.
Wearing: tall fuzzy socks. the proper attire for a snow storm slash power outage.
Following: the norm.
Noticing: my sister's belly getting bigger and bigger. we are so excited to meet you, baby girl!
Knowing: it'll be ok in the end doesn't make it any easier.
Thinking: i should have appreciated stephen's past easy going schedule more, and prepared better for his new busy one. i am missing him.
Feeling: bothered.
Bookmarking: holiday crafts and decorations. all of which make no sense to do here in our temporary home. someday we will be able to get a christmas tree. someday.
Opening: my mind to new thoughts. both good and bad.
Giggling: over uriah's babbles and attempts at talking. he has got my laugh lines permanently dented.
Feeling: sleepy.

nine.

 He is too busy to lay down for pictures now, so I gave him a wipe for entertainment.

^^ He just kills me! ^^

At nine months old Uriah is now crawling! Everywhere, all the time! He is getting faster and faster by the day and is no longer just coming to mom or dad, but exploring every nook and cranny of the house, wondering off without us. I love to watch him crawl and experience this world in a new way. October was a rough month for us with all the changes we made in his routine, plus teething and a cold that is still lingering, finally being able to crawl has made him so much happier! He tries to pull himself up on every toy, shelf, wall, piece of furniture... If it's just the right height he can get to his feet, but is now a pro at getting to his knees and balancing without holding on. He loves to stand and loves to walk holding our fingers. He is so busy and curious that I don't think walking will be too far off - he loves it!

Uriah has three and a half teeth now, the second top one just barley breaking skin. I love that you can see them all in his goofy little smile. And I think he's starting to notice they're there - grinding his teeth, playing with them with his tongue, and most recently and the funniest of all, he breathes through his mouth all raspy like. Maybe he can feel his breath going through his teeth and thinks it's fun? We don't know! But he flattens out his mouth and chin and crawls around the house making these funny noises. Our little mouth breather.

He is starting to eat more solids, usually at least three times a day, still nursing in-between. It's not hard to tell if he's getting enough food, but too much food. He is so interested in eating that even after a four course meal, if he sees it or smells it, he has to have it. We can't eat in front of him without sharing half our meal - he's not the easiest baby to take to a restaurant. He could eat constantly! Which is awesome because we've never had to worry about weight issues, nor is he a picky eater, but trying to convince him he doesn't need dad's dinner after he just ate his own isn't easy. The boy's got a one track mind! He'll go about two hours after nursing and three after eating solids. His favorite foods are still the sweet ones, fruit and sweet potatoes, but he loves his veggies, too! We most recently introduced beans, but still not meats.

Even though he's still in size 4 diapers, 6-9 month pants, and 6-12/9-12 month tops and onesies, I can tell that his body is changing. He is slowly getting taller and his belly is slowly thinning out. He's still got plenty of chub and a few rolls, all of which I am hoping stay around for as long as possible!

Uriah was sleeping through the night in Boise, waking up just once for about twenty minutes and was able to put himself back to sleep. Since we've been here, though, his schedule has slowly gotten worse and worse. Wether it's the new house, new bed, teething, cold, we don't know, but because you can hear him crying almost anywhere in the house, we couldn't let him cry it out for my parents' sake, so we regressed back to getting up twice a night. He still goes to bed around seven (I can't extend his bedtime to save my life! And the few times I have, he still gets up at the same time in the middle of the night and in the morning, so it didn't do me a lot of good.) He's up and midnight, again at four, and up for the day around seven. I used to get up with him five or more times a night, so I guess I can't complain, but I am already looking forward to getting back home at the end of December and getting him back on a normal schedule!

He's made the transition to three naps a day, sometimes still snagging a fourth. His afternoon nap is always at least two hours long, the others one hour. Now that he's crawling and even busier than before, he gets tired really quickly and at least once a day, usually in the morning, wants to lay down for about a half an hour. He doesn't sleep, I can always hear him in their babbling quietly and then he lets me know when he's ready to get up and play again. He likes his quiet alone time and I think it's so sweet that he takes that time to recharge.

Uriah said his first word, too! ...Sorta. A couple weeks ago Uriah spent one hour being hyper. Can babies be hyper? He was smiling and laughing at everything and crawling all around, rolling over, babbling like crazy. It was the happiest I've ever seen him! In all his babbling that evening he said "dada" abut four times! I loved it and was so excited! But, he hasn't said it since ;)

Outside is still his favorite place to be. He loves watching and intreating with other kids. He loves bath time and chasing the cats around. His favorite movie is Pocahontas (I put in Disney movies during the day to keep me company when the house is so quiet and it's the only thing that will ever draw his attention to the tv!) His favorite toys are currently my empty mint container, a Bitty Bear book from my old American Girl Bitty Baby, and balls, preferably ones small enough for him to carry.

He is truly a joy and this age is so fun! Everything is new and exciting and I love getting to experience it all with him!

The Wall Family

Pictures and pictures and more pictures! Are you sick of us yet?! I don't know about you, but I just can't get enough of those outrageously handsome blue eyes! Even in the pictures where he's not too happy, he still melts my heart with his good looks. (Uriah. Though Stephen sure makes my knees go weak) But, I am, after all, his momma, and even while throwing a tantrum after taking him away from the outlet, or crawling around in a smelly diaper with a snotty nose, I still see him as my oh so perfect and handsome baby boy. He could get away with murder, that one!

We ventured out a couple weeks ago as the sun was setting to take these pictures with my momma. Uriah at 8 months old and Stephen with eight plus hours of sleep - this was stuff I wanted to document! I love how they turned out, so colorful, bright, and fun! Thank you, mom, as always, for entertaining our little man while taking pictures. Talent!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! (Yesterday!) My sister's trunk or treat at her daycare was a pre-Halloween success! The kids got to trick or treat at the decorated cars in the parking lot and then make their way through the decorated daycare with their parents, who got to see the place and ask the staff questions. Our little elephant and safari get up were a hit, though I think it was the "yurt" (Sportsmobile) that all the kids liked best. We spent our actual Halloween being cozy inside by the fire, being both happy and sad that Uriah turned 9 months old, eating brownies with the Hunts, handing out candy to a record amount of trick or treaters, and chatting until bedtime.

Thanks for being so good to us, October. Thanks for the pumpkin everything and excess baking excuses. Thanks for the warm weather and yellow leaves. Thanks for all the family time and fun and laughs. It's been real, October. November, let's see what you got!