Finally, a Pedicure

I finally get my pedicure. I have been waiting to get it for seven months, not an exaggeration. My thought way back around Christmas time was that I wanted pretty toes to go along with shaved legs while I labored and delivered what turned out to be an 8lb baby. Little did I know that mentioned baby was going to be early and I was going to have ugly toes during labor and delivary, but would have smooth legs. Ever since then I've been trying to get the universe to align just perfectly so I could make the trek into town on a weekend day that both Husband and I had off. Obviously this was not as easy as one would expect, since it's now been six months. Here a few reasons why it's taken so long:

1) Baby was too early and on my appointment date I was probably exhausted, unshowered, breastfeeding, and changing mountains of dirty diapers.

2) Husband ended up working on the day I was supposed to go in.

3) Gumba laid down for a nap, so did I. I woke up ten minutes after my appointment had started.

The universe is playing a sick game this time around also, but I've found a way to fool it. Husband is out with Forestry trying to keep a forest fire at bay and I have no idea when he'll be home. My appointment is tomorrow morning and I haven't heard for him for three days. So, I found a babysitter, and am just estatic. I hope the pedicure is all I've ever wished for. Not for a lady that treats my feets as if they would a lead brick.

For Crying Out Loud

Okay, does anyone have any words of wisdom to give Husband and I, because we are, or at least I am, at our wits end. We have been blessed with a very handsome, very fun baby (during the day) who then turns into a crying, screaming beast at night. We first tired the "attachment parenting" technique, going to Gumba every time he cried or waked up, giving pacifiers, nursing him. When this failed to solve the problem of him waking up every hour or two, we finally succumbed to the holy grail method that EVERYONE boasts about, the "cry it out" (CIO) technique. We've been at it now for four weeks, and he still has nights (more then less) where we are forced to let him cry anywhere between 20-90 min at night. I asked the pediatrician why he hasn't learned yet, mind you everyone says that you'll have three difficult nights, and she couldn't come up with why he's still crying for so long. I do still nurse him during the night. I figure we either have an incredibly stubborn child, or a dumb one. At this juncture I'm not sure which is best. So, I've decided that my maximum time limit for letting him cry before we soothe him is 40 minutes. Does anyone out there have a similar experience, or have some advice to give us? We could sure use it.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July everybody! Ours was busy, and a lot of fun. I hosted the annual family get together that included both my parents driving up from ER and Husbands clan. His clan includes his parents, sister/BIL and their seven children. I got a little over zealous and started inviting a smattering of people I thought would like to come, mainly friends I don't get to spend nearly enough time with. Most went to the parade and watched Husband drive a firetruck while I stayed at home and listened to Gumba sleep.

Once the parade was over with gobs (a slight exaggeration) of people showed up and ate lots of yummy, and mostly unhealthy treats. My parents spent lots of time with Gumba, they hadn't seen him in a month. Between them and everyone else, I think the only time I spent with my son that day was when I was breastfeeding him! Gumba's cousin is just three weeks younger than him, and they had a great time together. Here a few picks of them having fun.

Gumba's cousin is almost crawling, whereas Gumba won't roll over. The difference is he sleeps on his back while she on her stomach. So Gumba is a little developmentally behind. Oh well, at least he's happy. The weather was nice, hot, but it kept the mosquitoes at bay. Husband treated all the cousins to 4-wheeler rides (ATV for those out of state!). They had a blast. I hope you all had as much fun!

Jumperoo kicks a$$

Here is a video of Gumba in his jumperoo. He jumps so hard in it, it's amazing. Once he moved it a foot forward. We've been putting him in it since he was ten weeks old. Gumba has always loved to stand/jump and our arms got so tired we decided to try it out, and he had good head control early on so we could. I'm not sure how parents survived without these things, they are amazing, and make good babysitters :) Enjoy watching.

So, ignore the tubes and the IV in his head. This is one of the best pics we have of Gumba after his was born. We didn't take many pics immediately after his birth, and had no idea most of our pics would be of him in intensive care. But he was still darling, and his head looked pretty normal after birth. I forgot to mention that he was 8lbs and 21.5inches when he was born, and yes, my dates were right. My in-laws grow 'em big before their born.

Here is Gumba presently, enjoying tummy time. He now weighs in at a hefty 18lbs 5oz, and is somewhere in the 27.5inch range. He's quite the monster! Not crawling yet, and doesn't care to roll over. Gumba can "tripod" which the pediatrician says is a skill above rolling over, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so. I'll have to post a video of him in his jumperoo, pretty amazing how much he likes to jump and stand.

Baby Gumba's Birth Story

Here is the post that will be all about baby Gumba, but I do see a lot of these in future, so don't be thinking this will be the only one. Gumba was born in December, three and a half weeks BEFORE his due date. Husband and I are were not expecting this, since I took the very practical approach to pregnancy and imagined that my real due date was two weeks after the one the midwifes gave me. My SIL's all have gone over and I read in a book that most first pregnancies go an average of eight days past the due date. So, yeah, when my water broke at 3am I was a tad bit surprised. Husband had to get the car seat out of the box and install it, I had to figure out what I wanted to take the hospital, Didn't have that suitcase you always see in dramas/comedies ready to go. Because Gumba was so early I had to go to the hospital, in AK the midwifes are only allowed to assist in pregs that are 37-42 weeks. Husband and I waited a few hours before going to the hospital, I knew as soon as I went they would start the unofficial countdown of when they expected Gumba to come. Arrived at the hospital around 6:30am where in I was asked multiple times if my water really had broken, and just how sure I was. That was REALLY annoying, like I can't tell a bucket worth of clear liquid from a little yellow urine. Ugh, hospitals. They also were VERY insistent that I change into one of their horrible hospital gowns. I refused. I was definitely not the ideal patient following every suggestion or whim of theirs. Every hospital personnel that came into the room was given the same shpeal, there was a reason I wanted a birth center birth, don't give me anything, let me do my own thing, yadda yadda yadda. By noon the nurse kept saying, "you aren't progressing (like we want you to) are you sure you don't want anything, we have drugs for this kind of stuff." I kept declining, she kept offering. We found out later that she (who was older) had really never seen or assisted a COMPLETELY natural birth and was a bit nervous. Can you imagine, a nurse NEVER seeing a birth without drugs? Shocking I know. By 3pm I knew that the clock was ticking, I mean, imagine a woman whose water broke 12 hours ago not in active labor. So, yadda yadda yadda, I got active labor started. Had to move pretty much immediately into the shower, where I stayed for the next five hours. A midwife came to the hospital to be support, and to assist as my advocate. The midwife was amazing. I refused to give birth on my back, which the doc was completley understanding about and really worked with me. And then at 9:20pm little Gumba came into the world. I'll spare you all of the details, but pretty interesting the stuff that happens to your body, but those out that there that haven't done this yet, nothing bad.

And then the real drama came, Gumba had to be in the hospital for the next 10 days, and then we finally got to take him home. December/January were the coldest months in recent memory. While we were in the hospital it was between -45F and -50F. It was awful. But Gumba is doing well now, we've moved on from him being sick to sleep issues. So, everything is on track. I'll post pics next time, can't get it figured out.

Give me one more shot

Hi all, yes, I know, it has been a year and a half since I blogged. I've been busy. Husband and I bought another house, had a baby (he's adorable), and have been getting our rental ready, well to rent. But, I have been thinking about the blog for awhile now, and I'd like it if you all gave me another shot at this thing. I feel like my life is in more control now, and I can finally dedicate myself to this thing for at least one blog a month. And, now I have a great reason to have one, Gumba, the most precious, adorable baby boy ever. Note-Gumba is Husbands nickname for baby boy, kinda cute isn't it! So, hope you all have fun reading "This is My Life?" I'll try to make it honest, if not interesting, and maybe a little boring.

I'm Sick

That's right, I'm sick, have been for about a week now. I've realized two key things about having the sickness:

1) Almost immediately after becoming sick, you forget what it feels like to be well, and wonder if you'll ever not be sick again.
2) I regress back to my childhood and want husband to do everything for me.

I should be on the upside of this thing now. I feel a little better, just can't talk very well. Luckily I don't have the painful throat that so often accompanies the sickness. I hope you all are feeling well and keeping warm this winter!

HELP!!!!

Holy crap it is cold here. Yesterday was bad enough, the temp hovered around -35F for most of the day, and today....get this -39F. Yes, you read that right, it is 39 degrees below zero. I'm pretty amazed at how well I'm handling it. Last year I wanted to cry. For those who are even thinking about thinking that because I was born and raised here that I should be some super woman with great genes to withstand this...there is no way. I walk outside and I swear that my body feels the need to donate all of my heat, because within 30seconds I get cold. We usually don't get weather like this until the end of January-February, and luckily it is only supposed to last about a week. For all of you out there, think warm!

Yeah, sorry about that

But now I am back. I've had a few mini crisis' in the past, and I am embarrassed to say this, in the past two months. But life is good right now. I do have a few stories about the pets, which I will post over the next couple of days. The first is about Lilie's toe, or rather, her dew claw. About a month ago Lilie tore her dew claw, and I had been so wrapped up in my own dramas that who knows how long it went unnoticed. We took her the vet, who had to rip the nail away :( I can only imagine how painful that must have been. But, after a week and a half of antibiotics, her toe is growing back! Sure it is a little deformed, and we don't know what it will look like in a year, but we're happy to say that Lilie is no longer licking her toe excessively. She's feeling better!

Stay tuned, the next post will be about the cats, the dogs, and the Christmas tree.