Aloha!

We are all having a blast in Hawaii. The trip here was ok...Mason did not want to sleep, but he was in a pretty good mood, so I can't really complain. Our condo is on the ground floor, which is great because we can just open the sliding glass door and play in the grass with Mason. Our neighbors have a little girl who is 15 months old, which is also great for our little guy to have a new friend.

We have quite the water baby on our hands. He loves the pool and the ocean! The kiddie pool is especially great because he can climb in and out of it all by himself. He has absolutely no fear, which is good and bad, as you can imagine.

We still have a few more days left in paradise, but I thought I'd update you all with a few pics of our trip so far. I'll get together a full slide-show when we are home. Oh, by the way, I see A-rage has been getting plenty of snow the last couple of days. So sorry we're missing that.

My little water baby

Cheesing at lunch time.

Baby toes in the surf

Hey, this sand stuff is pretty neat

First taste of shaved ice...it was a hit!

Let it snow!

With the new snow we got a couple weeks ago, Mason and I had to check out his new sled in the front yard. We didn't go far, just down to check the mail and back, but I think he liked it. When we got back in the driveway, I thought he was clapping his hands until I realized he was giving the sign for "more". Hopefully it will be a little warmer when we get back from vacation and we can go some more.

Party time

I can't believe he's already one! What a big boy!

Everyone helped open presents

Going for a ride in my new dump truck.

New red car!

The awesome monkey cake Nana made for me

Phew...that's a lot of cake!

Slacker!

Sorry I've been so late posting pictures...maybe my New Year's resolution should be to update this darn blog! We're leaving for Hawaii tonight (wish us luck on the flights with Mason). I'm sure we'll have lots of cutie pics and stories to share when we get home. Until then...here's a peek at our wonderful Thanksgiving and Mason's 1st birthday.

         Mason's 1st taste of cake...yummy!

Thanksgiving dinner is pretty messy

First taste of deviled eggs...so good!

Thankful

I cannot believe a whole year has gone by already. The last year has been full of so many blessings for our family, and I am full of gratitude for all that I have been given. I am so lucky to have my beautiful son, who makes me feel as though my heart could burst everyday. This last year has not been the easiest of my life, but it has been by far the most rewarding. I am forever indebted to the people who have helped me get through this past year, when at times I honestly thought I was losing my mind. Todd, my parents, Crystal M., Mariah R., Laura A., Cindy, C., and Beth B.,....I wouldn't have made it without you all being here to help pick me up with your love, kindness and understanding. Thanks!

First Halloween

Better late than never, right?

With Haily and Ashton

Trick or Treat @ IBEW
Monkey Mason & Lion Landon


These pumpkins are so fun to play with!

Crafting for a Cure

A friend of mine who also has MS is putting together a fundraising event to benefit the AK MS Society. Right now what we need is people to donate art and/or crafty things we can use. Please let me know if you are interested/able to donate.

You can also help by showing up! And of course...SPREAD THE WORD!!!

CRAFTING FOR A CURE

A fundraising event benefiting the National MS Society,

All America Chapter, Alaska Office

HERITAGE ART & FRAMES

2611 Fairbanks St

Anchorage, AK

Friday, December 4, 2009

5:30pm - 9:00pm

The event will include paintings by local artists as well as holiday themed arts and crafts. 100% of the proceeds of the event will benefit the National MS Society, All America Chapter, Alaska Financial Assistance Program, which provides support to improve the quality of life for Alaskans living with MS.

Who's who?

One thing my mom and dad both keep saying is how much Mason looks like me, especially when I was his age. I kept saying that all I really see is Todd when I look at him. Well, folks, here's the proof...
Incase you can't tell...that's me on the left and Mason on the right. My mom calls this our "snuffle faces". I didn't teach Mason to do it, it just kind of started happening one day. Guess I know where he got it from now.

Counting sheep and catching up

Oh my goodness...where has the time gone? I cannot believe it's almost Halloween. Sorry that I'm such a bad blogger lately...life is just, well, busy!

Where should I start? Todd and I managed to find one weekend to get the boat out. We dropped off Mason and headed down to Whittier. Typical weather (awful) but we still managed to have a pretty good time. Hopefully next summer we will get the boat out more and I will feel like it was a good investment.
Typical rain and fog in Whittier.
Even in the rain, it's still so beautiful.
Me...wet and cold and trying to still smile.

Todd and I also had our first long trip away from Mason. Until this point, one night was the longest I'd ever been away from him. I had a seminar in Portland for work, so Todd tagged along for a long weekend. Since we were there for Todd's birthday, I got us tickets to the Jason Mraz concert too. The weather was fantastic and we got in a lot of shopping...including OUTLET SHOPPING!! Todd was able to meet my Uncle & Aunt and 2 cousins that live in Vancouver, WA finally. It was so great to see them...it's been way too long! It was wonderful to get back to Stump Town, and sleep without having to have that extra ear open for baby noises...but I missed Mason like CRAZY and was so glad to see him when we got back. Five nights was a long time for this mommy to be away from her baby.

My uncle let us borrow the "clown car". It was so wonderful being able to have the freedom of a car.
At the concert.
Ahhh, this must be what heaven is like.

I know there has been more going on than just that, but that's the problem with being a bad blogger...if you don't write about the super exciting things when they happen, well, months later they don't seem to be so exciting (or you just plain forget them)

Oh ya, there is one more thing that happened. I turned 30. I have been freaking out about 30 since I turned 23 or so. Now that it's here, it really didn't bother me. Todd invited a bunch of friends and family over for a "surprise" party...that's in quotations because it wasn't really a surprise (oops). It was a great time and my parents did actually surprise both of us by stealing Mason for the night so Todd and I could relax and stay up "partying" with our friends. In truth we did manage to head out to an actual bar...but had 2 drinks and came home to get some sleep. Actually, the best part was the next morning when I got to sleep in!
Mason helping me blow out my candles.


There is so much changing and happening every day with Mason that I will have to save all that for another post. Which I promise won't take as long as this one did to do. I also have lots of new pictures of the little monkey to share!

Happy Grandparent's Day

Sunday is Grandparent's Day...so to surprise Nana and Papa, Mason and Landon went to have some pictures taken together. It was also time for Mason to have his 9 month pictures, so we did that at the same time. Since Papa is leaving to go hunting, we already gave them their gifts...and not a minute too soon because it was getting really hard keeping a secret from Nana!

As you can see, it was hard to get both boys looking/smiling at the same time. And Landon especially was not into getting his picture taken that day. We did get a few cute ones, though.

All the better to see you with, my dear

Mason had his eye surgery today. It was a long morning with no breakfast and no nap, but Mason was generally a pretty happy guy. The surgery itself only lasted about 20 minutes and went really well. Dr. Arnold fixed Mason's strabismus and amblyopia and now our little guys eyes and brain will work together. If you're interested in what he did you can watch a video of the procedure here .

I was able to go into the recovery room and be with Mason as he woke up. He was SO hungry he drank the pedialyte bottle the nurses gave him in seconds! Of course all the nurses kept stopping by to see the cute baby they were told was in PACU...which I have to admit, he was the cutest one around. After getting home Mason slept for about 3 hours and then had dinner. Now he's back to himself and playing with his toys before bedtime.

I know I've been pretty bad about posting updates lately...not because nothing has been going on, though. It's actually been quite the opposite! To sum up briefly, my MS flare is better (5 day course of steroids and then just being patient), Todd and I took the boat out of Whittier a few weeks ago (and survived), I've been working a lot of extra hours because of sick calls at the hospital (and taking extra Vitamin C), Mason now has FOUR teeth (the top two came in over the weekend), Todd has been working all over as rig closures continue (we're thankful that he'll keep his job though), and last weekend the weather was SO beautiful we went up to the lake to play and enjoy the last bit of summer.

I promise to get some new pics up soon!

Rules are rules?

The assembly decided to allow Mark Hall's appointment to be Fire Chief. Mayor Sullivan of course said he saw no reason to change the rule about nepotism for the muni, just bend the rule for this special case (shocking).

Irony came just one day later....now Sullivan wants to end Fill the Boot because of the rules against panhandling on Anchorage streets. So, it's ok to bend the rules for your buddy, but not so much for disabled kids once a year? Oh boy.

Gotta love politics.

Hard times for Anchorage

Unless you've been living under a rock (or you don't live in the MOA) you know that this city is facing crazy budget issues...which includes the layoffs of AFD staff. Luckily, at this point, Todd isn't at risk of losing his job, but we all know these layoffs aren't the end. 2010 is just around the corner.

Patrick Flynn wrote an interesting blog you should check out about the potential appointment of Mark Hall to Fire Chief. The assembly needs to pass a special "allowance" so this can happen because of nepotism rules...personally I hope they don't do it. I won't say much more than that because I don't want anything I say on here to negatively affect my husband (although, I should point out that this is my personal blog). Anyway, his blog is here

Next, you should check out and pass along the next blog about AFD, located here which is the AFD Status blog. You can also follow them on Twitter.

That's all for now from this AFD wife :)

Recovery

Yesterday went really well. I was in a little pain when I woke up in the recovery room, but the nurses took care of that right away. The biggest thing I remember is everyone kept yelling at me to take deep breathes because my O2 sats were too low. I have a drain in each side that Todd has been checking and emptying. I slept most of yesterday, and today I've just been hanging out in bed. So far, so good. I go to the doctor on Monday to change my dressings and hopefully get my drains taken out. I can't wait to see what I look like now! I have no idea what I'll be as far as size goes, but I can already tell that I'm much smaller (even underneath all the bandages and ace wraps).

I'll keep you all updated. As far as I can tell, the anesthesia didn't affect my MS symptoms much. My hands are a little more numb than usual, but that could be from a lot of things.

I think I may go take another nap now.

So long, girls

Today, July 30th, 2009, I put on a size 34H bra for the last time. Tomorrow morning I go to the Ak Surgery Center at 8am to have breast reduction surgery. I'm sure the procedure will go smoothly, and I totally trust my surgeon (Dr. Jana Cole). I'm a little worried about how much it's going to hurt after, but I was told it doesn't last long. I will try to at least keep people updated on Twitter...maybe I can even get Todd to post an update blog.

My family is going to help with Mason since I won't be able to lift anything for 2-3 weeks. That will be the worst part of the whole thing, I know. Hopefully it will fly by. I know I am so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing family that is so willing to help out. They're awesome! And of course Todd will take great care of me, like always.

So......wish me luck......can't wait to show off my "new" girls :)

Colorado 2009

Sorry it took so long to get these posted...enjoy!

Home again

We made it back home safely. Mason is a great traveller! He slept on both flights and adjusted to the time difference and sleeping in a different place like a champ! I'm working on getting a slideshow of our pictures...but in the meantime I thought I'd share a Duncan update.

While we were gone Duncan lost an eye. My brother (who was housesitting for us) called me when he came home from work to Duncan's eye looking like this...

He took him to our vet, who determined that the eye wasn't salvageable...so she removed it. Now he looks like this...

Actually, it looks a lot better than this already. Poor little guy. We don't know how it happened, but it looks like he was biten.

Leaving on a jet plane

We are leaving tonight for Denver. I dropped Mason off with my parents this afternoon to play for a while so I could actually get some packing done. It's amazing how much more we have to take for such a tiny little person! I'm hoping that Mr. Mason sleeps on his first flight...for us as well as all the other passengers. Todd and I are both excited to see family and show off our little man. I'll try to post some pictures while we're gone.

Little Miss New Boobs

I guess if you never watched "Friends" that title doesn't mean anything to you, but it's the perfect line for this post! I finally got my letter of approval from my insurance company for breast reduction surgery!!! For anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that this is something I have wanted for a VERY long time. And it's finally happening!! I just called the surgeon's office and scheduled my surgery for July 31st. I can't say that I have ever been excited about having surgery, this is definitely a first.

Fun jewelry

I found this site the other day and want to share it with my friends. It has handmade jewelry from a woman in Georgia. I ordered the Esme's Espresso set. She shipped it the next day! I love both the bracelet and the necklace!!! Anyway, just a little plug for Rachel. You should check her out!

The good, the bad, and the ouchie

Mason is quite the little motorer lately. Which is great, except that it has made for a lot of bumped heads and such. He usually recovers from his bonks pretty quick, especially when Mama is around to snuggle him.

I have had my fair share of ouchies lately, too. Last week I went to see the breast surgeon. Ok, I'll back up. This all started because I want to have breast reduction surgery. So I went to my doc to get a letter for the insurance company. She did a breast exam since I hadn't had one since I stopped nursing and she found a lump. So off I went for an ultrasound and then to the breast specialist. (about the reduction, I did also see the plastic surgeon, just waiting to hear back from insurance about whether or not they'll pay for it) Back to the lump. I saw the breast surgeon last week and she felt around, said it's probably either a lactating adenoma or just a clump of tissue, but she biopsied it to make sure. Ouch! It wasn't awful, but definitely not something I would want to do again. At one point I was afraid she may puncture my lung with the needle.

My second ouchie was today. I've had ongoing problems with my right ankle...fractured, surgery, more surgery...so it kind of goes through phases of doing really well and hurting a lot. Lately, it's been pretty bad. So I called up my good buddy Dr. Chang and had him check it out. He thought that a steroid injection in my ankle would be really helpful. No problem, I say. The actual injection really didn't hurt, but HOLY CRAP did it start to hurt about an hour later. I've actually spent most of the day now in bed with ice on it because walking makes me a little dizzy and I want to cry. Hopefully this feels better quickly! I'm about to break out the crutches again.

More good things...Mason went to his first wedding yesterday. He was so well behaved, even though it meant is nap time got a little postponed. Father's Day was also yesterday, and we hosted the family for another fun BBQ at our house. Todd and I went down to Homer Friday and spent the night so we could look at a boat Todd is interested in buying (he actually made the guy and offer today). Mason stayed with my parents. I'm thinking this is something we should plan monthly...not necessarily Homer, but a night away. It was great!

MWF seeks...

Does anyone know if there are any book clubs in Anchorage? Preferably not one made up of middle-aged or older women? Please let me know what you know!

What's the number?

I went to see the PPD woman on Wednesday. She was actually very nice, and not at all loony. (it just seems to me that a lot of counselors are kind of loony and into meditating and such...which just does not work for me)

Anyway, one thing she does want me to do is start numbering my days. Kind of like the pain scale we use for patients, although instead of ten being horrible, I-want-to-die pain, 10 is beautiful-birds chirping-perfect day and one is a I-don't-want-to-go-on-living kind of day. Along with numbering them, I also need to think about what's going on the days that are lower numbers.

She also gave me names of some books and websites that I still haven't checked out, but I'll probably get around to it this weekend. I have a feeling that once school is over my stress level will drop dramatically...so in 62 days we'll see if that's true. This last semester not only sucks because my classes are lame and require TONS of writing that I just do NOT have the time for, but also because, since it's my last semester, I just don't really care that much. I think in high school we called this senioritis.

And by the way, in case you're wondering...so far, today is about a 4.5 (I thought I would switch it up a bit, using decimals sometimes ala SJP in SATC) No real reason for the lower than average number, but I think this may just be my baseline most days unfortunately.

Labels

I went through and labelled all my previous blog posts. It's a combination of my OCD and the fact that work is really slow today :)

New adventures

Mason made his first trip to the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. We didn't spend the night this time, but had a nice day trip. Mason loved being outside so much and slept the whole way home.

Here's Landon and Cameron on the 4-wheeler. Landon just LOVES anything his Daddy does (4-wheeler, jet ski, etc)


Last night was our first 'parent and me' swim class. Mason was definitely the youngest one in the class, but he still LOVED being in the pool. He would even let me float him on his back, which the instructor said most little ones won't do. We tried to get pictures, but the camera had a hard time focusing because of all the movement.




And finally, Mason has been eating quite a few new foods lately. He is a great eater, as his Papa says "he's a little PIGGO". On his list of foods he's tried are rice cereal, oatmeal, pears, prunes, carrots, peas, applesauce, squash and sweet potatoes. His favorites so far have been carrots, peas and prunes. And his definite least favorites are squash and sweet potatoes (can't blame him for that). We're trying to start introducing him to the sippy cup (with water in it) as well...he seems to be getting the hang of it already!

Something's gotta give

Today I filled out paperwork to terminate my x-ray position at PAMC. I really feel overwhelmed lately, and I just don't have the time to dedicate hours to them. I can honestly say I will miss the people in the department...but I'll still be around, I'm sure.

My plate now has one less thing on it!

No sleep for the Loys

Mason has decided that sleeping through the night is no longer something he wants to do. Since his 6 month shots last week, he has been a total crank, actually. At first I assumed it was from the shots, but shouldn't that only last for like a day? I do think he is teething, but how long can that last with no teeth? He is seriously the only kid around with no teeth! Just red gums and lots of fuss!

So many people have told me that I just need sleep. Well, excuse my language, but NO SHIT! Do you think I don't know that? The problem is that I can't sleep. Even when Mason was sleeping through the night, I always have one ear tuned in to hear him. I wake up all through the night, tossing and turning. The only time I actually get any sleep is when I take something...and even then I can't sleep through the night. And taking something isn't exactly an option most nights. So please, do me a favor, and stop telling me to get some sleep. If I could, I would.

Drowning

I am so totally in over my head lately. I feel so overwhelmed most days! Being a mom is hard, hard work, which I knew going into this, but at the same time I really had no idea at all. It's rewarding, and I love my son so much I could explode, but, damn if I don't want to run away some days.

Added to being the mother of a 6 month old (who, by the way, has decided he no longer wants to sleep through the night), I work more than I would like (part time, Ha), I have two very needy dogs, I have a husband who, as helpful as he would like to be is not home very much to actually help, I'm taking my final 12 credits for my BS degree. Basically I am finding it impossible to be a good mother, wife, daughter, friend, student, employee, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and I have taken to crying...a lot.

So, duh, I have post partum depression. Yes, I've been seeing someone for it. Yes, I got put on medication for it. And yes, it is kicking my ASS! I just finished reading "It Sucked and then I Cried"...which was like I had written it myself! Good book, you should check it out, even if you don't have PPD. Anyway, this basically is serving as my apology to all my friends, family, animals, coworkers, and especially my beautiful son...I know I'm not myself, I can feel it in my bones, but I'm trying. I'm trying really, really hard, and I'll hopefully get back there soon. And in the meantime I promise not to actually throw anything, run away, or hide under the bed.

Use your words

If only Mason could just talk, then he could tell me what hurts. He obviously does not feel good. My dad called me today around 1pm to let me know something was up, and when I picked the little guy up around 2pm he was hot and cranky and really cuddly. Now, normally Mason is a happy, easy going baby who does not like to snuggle, so all of these things indicate a problem. Problem is, who knows what it is. Is he teething? Does he have a cold? A bellyache? WHO KNOWS?!?! Even the pediatrician doesn't know (I took him in so she could look at his ears just to be sure it was nothing obvious) So now he's sleeping, which is pretty late in the evening to be sleeping (which, according to my dad is what he did all day). I may wake him up soon, just so I can have some chance of sleeping tonight. Ugh. It just breaks my heart when he doesn't feel good!

What we've been up to...part 2

The weather this past week has been crazy nice in Anchorage. Mason and I have taken a walk in the Chariot pretty much every day. On Wednesday we stopped at the park and discovered that Mason loves the swings. He's big enough to sit in the baby swing alone and smiled and laughed the whole time. He also takes great naps after our walks, an added bonus for everyone!

We are signed up to take a parent/toddler swim class. I'm hoping he likes the pool as much as he likes the bathtub. I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to show off from his first swim lessons.

I can't believe it's been 5 months already. People weren't kidding, time really does fly by!

Fun in the garage with daddy requires ear protection. Plus, it's really fun to talk to yourself with ear muffs on.




















I love dressing him in overalls. I think he's pretty cute in anything, but overalls are especially cute!












Fun with mom after his bath! He is such a happy baby!