Homesick for Alaska

Something about the holiday season always makes me a little homesick for Fairbanks. The holiday season is generally a time to be with family, and at this point pretty much all of my family still lives (or will soon live) in Alaska. Since we can only do one Alaska visit per year, if we're lucky, it is so much easier for us to travel up there in the summer as opposed to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not to mention how much cheaper it is since mileage tickets are impossible to use over the holidays. In fact, the last time we spent Christmas in Alaska was the first Christmas we were married (2005). Ahh, the infamous "everyone crammed into one house and everyone got sick" Christmas. Talk about memories. Not only were Justin and I in culture shock from the vast darkness and the sub-zero temperature, but we also had to battle a stomach bug. I'm sure the Christmas dinner was delicious, but I don't remember being able to stomach any of it.

That was also the Christmas where I actually failed my driving test. Yes, me, the perfect driver who practically aced the driving test on my 16th birthday. Who knew you could gain so many years of experience behind the wheel and at the same time proceed to forget all the stupid driving factoids that never mattered to begin with? Hello! I'm not applying for a motorcycle license, so why would I need to know how many motorcycles can travel side by side and one behind the other on an interstate freeway with four lanes, in New Jersey, headed north, when its raining, if no one is around to hear them...

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad. My ego is still a little bruised. But really, the only reason I even tried to take my test (without studying) is because I had turned in my Alaska driver's license only weeks before in Washington in order to have a proper Washington license with my new married name on it. I was worried I was going to be restricted from boarding the plane to Fairbanks if I didn't have the proper ID that identified me as Jody Gimlin rather than Jody Binder. But my assumption that I could get up to Alaska and just get a new Alaska license was incorrect because they made me take the stupid test.

Now, you might ask: Why all this trouble for an Alaska license when I am no longer a resident anyway? Well, in case you didn't know, Alaska has no sales tax. So, my handy dandy Alaska license has saved me a pretty penny or two on large purchases in Washington over the years. Thus, you see why I was so adamant about getting the license replaced.

After my complete failure of the test - and I say complete because I didn't even get through 16 of the 20 questions before I had exceeded the maximum amount of incorrect answers - the Alaska DMV told me I could try the test again in two weeks. Yeah, right! Even if I was going to be there two weeks later there was no way I was going to put myself through that embarrassment again. So I settled for just getting an Alaska ID instead of a license. By the way, Justin was not with me when this whole DMV incident occurred and it took me a few days to overcome my pride and admit it to him. He has never let me live this one down, and I'm sure as soon as Kendry is old enough to understand what a license is Justin will be telling him that his mother can't pass driving tests.

But I digress... obviously, being so far from my family this time of year is the first reason I get homesick for my home state. The second reason would be: SNOW! It is completely unreasonable to expect an Alaskan girl to survive through the holiday season without the most magical form of precipitation. When we moved to the LC Valley three and a half years ago everyone failed to tell me that the valley gets very little snow each year, if any. I have been going through withdrawal ever since. And I think its especially hard now that we have Kendry because I am so excited for him to experience snow for the first time. And I mean REAL snow, not this half inch stuff you wake up to at 7am, only to have it melt by noon. No, I mean the foot of snow that keeps you inside (except to go play in it) and that sticks around at least until Christmas. The kind of snow where a kid can make a snowman without having to use all of the snow in their front yard. Really, how sad is it to see a snowman who looks like he is half grass, half snow sitting in a perfectly snow-free yard. Pa-the-tic! (said in sing song voice)

Alright, I'll openly admit that after a month of being back in the Alaska cold and snow I would probably be ready to come back to Washington, but for now I'm going to be a bit nostalgic. Oh, Alaska, how I miss thee...

Another year...

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Its amazing to think that another year has passed. On one hand it feels as though we just celebrated our third anniversary, and on the other, after going through our first pregnancy and having a baby over the last year, it seems like we've been married a lot longer than just four years.

A lot has happened since November 12, 2005: our first Christmas together in Alaska, bringing home our first furbaby, Justin graduating from college and getting a job with Regence, our move to the LC Valley, purchasing our first home, taking up backpacking, summer vacations in Alaska, home improvement projects (and maybe a little buyer's remorse), fertility struggles, the success of our first IVF cycle, the loss of our first furbaby, the birth of our miracle baby, parenthood... Joys and heartache, laughter and tears - through it all we remember just how much God has blessed us.

Pearly White

Kendry had his six month check up today. Mommy's little beanpole is now 28.5 inches long (97th percentile) and 16lbs 15oz (39th percentile). It still puzzles me how he could be 10lbs 5oz at birth, and then have his weight gain taper off so much while he keeps getting longer and longer. But he really has put on a belly and thigh rolls over the last few weeks, so maybe its just a matter of time. Of course, the 6 month check up also meant shots. Not to mention that the appt was during Kendry's morning naptime. Needless to say, he didn't have the best day at daycare and was tired quite early on this evening. However, I managed to entertain our very tired little boy for a few minutes while Justin captured some photos at just the right angle. Can you see his very first pearly white poking through? Look very closely and you'll see it on the bottom right.

I think Kendry is confused as to why we aren't letting him playfully chew on our fingers anymore.

Birthday and Half-Birthday

Over the last week we celebrated Justin's 29th birthday and Kendry's half-birthday. Justin never cares to make much of a fuss for his birthday, but I still try to put my creative skills to work to make it special and memorable. We always go out for dinner with Nana and Grandpa, but when I asked Justin what he wanted to go for dinner he joked that a Costco hot dog and slice of pizza would treat him just fine. Well, we ruled that out for obvious reasons - somehow it doesn't seem all that grand to dine on your birthday dinner while surrounded by shopping carts filled with economy size laundry detergent and toilet paper (these are the first Costco supplies that came to mind because both are currently on our shopping list). We ended up going out for an Italian dinner, which was delicious. But I still found a fun way to give Justin a hot dog for his birthday.
Yes, that is a birthday cake in the shape of a hot dog and fries. It was incredibly easy to make; the only hard part was making three different color frostings. Once we got home from dinner with Nana and Grandpa we celebrated with cake, ice cream and, of course, presents.
Four days later, we found ourselves in Quincy for Kendry's half-birthday. I still cannot believe he is six months old already. But Kendry was determined to show us just how quickly he is growing up and marked the occasion by cutting his first tooth. He also did a wonderful job of sitting up all by himself for the photo shoot we did with Andrea on Saturday. Could he be any cuter?Of course, now I have to come up with an even better cake idea than the hot dog for Kendry's first birthday. The first 6 months went by so quickly, you can bet the next 6 will go even faster. Should I start planning the party now?

Halloween

Kendry's very first Halloween, albeit probably the easiest Halloween for the next ten years of his life since we didn't trick or treat, was quite a success. Crafty person that I am, I just couldn't bring myself to get a store bought costume for Kendry, let alone spend the crazy money I've heard some mothers shell out each year for a costume that will never be used again. No, I was going to be Supermom and make the costume myself. I wanted to make something basic that he could wear like regular clothes and not be uncomfortable in, not to mention easy to clean up since he would no doubt spit up all over it. (Kendry is still a major spitter-upper) Granted, my costume idea wasn't all that original given the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean over the last few years, but I'm still quite proud of myself. The best part? I found some parrot fabric and made a little stuffed parrot that velcroes to the shoulder of the costume. Kendry's favorite part? His sword - obviously because he can stick it in his mouth.

We also carved our family pumpkin a few nights before Halloween. Unfortunately, mommy forgot to leave Kendry's binky with him at daycare that day, so he refused to take his morning nap. Thus, we had a very fussy baby who did not have much patience for pumpkin carving, photos, or mommy and daddy getting their kicks by sticking the pumpkin stem on his cute little head.