My Big Fat Mouth

So, as soon as I tell you all that OMM is sleeping well at night, he starts waking up and fussing/crying for two hours. We've been doing this for the past week, and I am so tired, and tired of it. My parents didn't explain to me just how hard parenthood was going to be. Pretty sure that OMM is suffering from a mild cold, separation anxiety, and just plain stubbornness. The good thing is CRM can sleep through OMM crying, so at least one of my children is getting the sleep he needs.

Husband has been off working 96 hours straight, he'll finally be home on Sunday. I'll be SO thankful for the company. It is lonely out here with only my two non-verbal boys. Husband will be back to work for a 24 hour shift on Monday, Wednesday, and then works from Friday until Tuesday, another 96 work "day." I'm taking lunch off on Tuesday for a much needed break. I'm going to have lunch with old coworkers, and I may even get my hair cut!

Being a Homemaker is HARD

I had this vision that once I quit my job to stay home full time I would magically have all the time in the world to do all the wifely, motherly, homemaker stuff that I felt was neglected when I worked. One word, WRONG. Staying home is mega hard work, maybe if my kids, or one on them was in school, it would be easier. The first three weeks I barely stayed afloat. My only accomplishments were getting the laundry done (not always put away wrinkle free) and keeping the dishwasher running enough that you could sometimes see the sink and counters. I spent a lot of time worrying that I wasn't stimulating Gumba enough, what do you do with a two year old? And how do you balance the needs of one needy child with the other needy child? The weeks were also spent sleep training Gumba-ba. After three weeks of hair pulling, crying (me and baby), and frustration, I found a saint who has given me sound advice (at least I think) and the support to get him sleeping. I'll say that it worked fairly quickly. Within a week he had gone from waking every hour with an hour and a half wake period in the middle of night, to waking up twice to nurse and putting himself to sleep quickly if he woke. Hurray! Well, there are set backs always. Both boys have ear infections, so, now I'm back to listening to Gumba-ba cry several times a night while I re-train him to sleep. The hope is of course that it won't take as long this time. I myself am getting over a cold that knocked me on my butt. I've officially been home for a month now and finally feel like I'm gaining ground. A friend gave me a great website for daycare people/stay at home mom's so I feel better about the "educating" part.

Husband has been gone more then any of us really like. He is working three jobs: Lieutenant at the fire department, preceptor with the paramedic program at the hospital, and he just recently started working for a military medivac company. I'm making sure he's enjoying himself, and have on more then one occasion let him know that my sanity is worth more then the extra shift he can pick up. He is averaging seven days off a month. I know that's pretty typical, but of the 25 days or so that he is working, 15 of those days are 24 hour shifts. Plus, he works at the hospital at nights. It has been typical for us not to see him for four days at a time. Let's just say I'm here a lot by myself with the kids, and getting Gumba-ba to sleep better has been a necessity.

So, my hats off to those women (and men) out there that have choosen the more difficult path to be fully involved in your kids all day lives. Keep up the good work. And, if I've learned anything, it's rest when you can, and make sure you get out of the house when you can for a little "me" time.

What a Week

The last week has been a pretty big one for the McGilvary family. Husband had a successful hunting trip, he shot his moose while on the trail to get to camp. He was gone for less than two hours. When he called and said he had news I thought the four wheeler broke again. So, with the moose and the fish my dad gave us, we're stocked for this winter. Hip hip hurray for Husband!

Gumba has been a busy little bee. He is very proficient at crawling now. He has even gone so far as crawling away from us into the bedroom or kitchen. Plus his whining about being able to move away from me has substantially subsided. It's pretty amazing how fast he took to crawling, and it's pretty cute when he crawls up to me and pulls on my pant leg to be picked up. I can't believe how cute he is! The other big Gumba news is he is now pulling himself into a stand position on anything he can get his hands on. He's taken two good spills so far. But, today (I think) he's started to figure out he needs to hold on. With all the changes this week, I can't imagine what next week has in store.

Solid foods are going really well. Gumba ate a lot of zucchini I had frozen. He hates green beans still. Peas are a new favorite. He loves bananas and applesauce. I'm still making the food. Last night my mom helped me make a bunch of stuff to store. For the next couple of weeks Gumba will be eating peas, green beans (hopefully), applesauce, yams, mango, nectarines, carrots, and bananas. My biggest fear is I'm not giving him enough variety. Oh, and I think next week we're going to give oatmeal with bananas a try. I was thinking today that in a couple of months Gumba will be able to eat what ever Husband and I are eating. How crazy is that!

Hope your week was as great as mine!

Forest Fires...

Take Husband away...again. Husband went out to Nenana on Friday, and today I received a phone call saying he was headed up to Circle to provide structure protection. Not sure when he'll come back. So far it's been something like the third warmest, or driest (can't remember) summer on record. Obviously this isn't helping with keeping fires under control. However, this year isn't as bad as 2004; the summer which all other summers will be forever (hopefully) compared to. 2004 was the worst fire season on record, over 6.6 million acres were burned over the summer. To put this in perspective, Connecticut has approximately 3.5 million acres to it's name. Fairbanks was bathed in smoke for weeks, and to top it off it was HOT HOT HOT. I believe our top temperature was in the low 90s. Very few people have air conditioning because it's Alaska, so we all sat inside sweating, praying for sweet relief. My relief came when it was time for Husband and I to go on our honeymoon. Thankfully it's now August and the daytime temperatures are starting to dip a little. Still can't open windows though, or take Gumba out for very long. We've had ash falling at our house off and on again for weeks. I can't imagine what's in the air that we're breathing. It's off to single parenthood again. I hope Gumba cooperates and makes the next however many days it may be, pleasant.

Husband is Home :)

Husband is home, safe and sound. It turns out that he wasn't even worried that I was mad at his abandonment of me. Originally he told me he would be gone during the days only. That was the last I heard from him for eight days. There was a fire out past Ester where a company does logging. They had 120 people working on it. Evidently Husband slept by a lake making sure the water pump kept working. He even has a sunburned lip to prove how much napping he did! He had a lot of fun, and made a little extra money. With that money and the donation from my dad we went and bought a couch!!! We are really really excited. We have never owned a new piece of furniture. Our "couch" at present is a used, old futon that is extremely uncomfortable, we've had it since we got married. The couch is soft, and comfortable, and the end recline. I'll post a pic when we get it on Wednesday.