The Harmons

Harmon's July (Part Three)

2011-09-13T15:54:00.001-08:00

Ok - So JULY is alllllllllmoooossst over and the Harmon's have been busy busy busy. But what can I say if I stay at home with nothing to do {read: I have three kids, when do I ever have nothing to do?!} I go stir crazy. Well my friend Jen who has a three year old that is in Blake's Pre-K Class on post thought it would be a great idea to go tent camping. What the heck, what could go wrong, as long as she could start a fire we would be good to go. :) She assured me she could start a fire. So off we went my two little men and her little man set up to Pine Mountain, GA where we would spend the weekend there. Us moms and the boys...in the wild... {was I ready for this?!} Was Jeff ready for a weekend of Daddy/Daughter Time? Was I ready to be away from my precious little baby girl?

The ride up there (40 min) went well because the boys napped. We get there and proceeded to unload. I brought a packed car of stuff. Much more than I needed, but I didn't want to be without something and have my weekend suck. Anyways. So I go to set up the tent. I had ordered a special 8 person pop up tent. My friends had one and they raved about it. Jeff and I had talked about wanting to do more camping, so we splurged and got the tent. It said it took 2 min to set up. UMMM Yea - that 2 min lasted about 30 minuets for me. I wrestled with the tent, called it a few choice words and finally got that bad boy up. I {the queen!} slept on an air mattress while the boys slept on some mats. Our camp site looked grand for our little pow wow of 5.

Lots went WRONG during our trip. The "fun lady" who plans activities went on vacation. So our night hike we wanted to go on {which we got everybody dressed, bug sprayed, flash ready} was canceled. The Movie night, canceled, the pool closed.... this did NOT make for happy boys at all! So instead we played with fire, roasted marshmallows, went on a bug hunt, played with glo sticks. We made it work and one day we went to Callaway Gardens and swam in Robin Lake because Military got in free there! So all in all it was a great weekend. But I will never.do.that.again. PERIOD. It was hard, I was cranky. Packing up/unloading by myself was horrible. But the memories that the boys and I will have will forever be worth it. Next time: Daddy comes along!!

Our campsite. My tent is the one on the left

Blake and Ian by the fire - after this we told ghost stories

At the lake. I must say it was nice floating without carrying Laurel - and lounging in the sand.

Poor Blake. Got bit 20 times in one leg. WITH bug-spray on. Swollen leg. Lots of benadryl for him.

Exploring by campsite.

Reading a compass

Boys by the lake - exploring. This was the back yard to our tents. NICE

Site from other side

I guess I should tell you that Daddy and Laurel did just fine. I however, missed her like crazy and this maybe TMI - but Laurel had been cutting down her nursing so I thought I would be fine without her. Well low and behold I forgot my pump. For those of you that have nursed before - yes - you got it right. OUCH! We all survived though. :)

Harmon's in July Part 2

2011-09-13T07:09:00.002-08:00

Like I said July was a busy month for us!!!

So after Alaska we went "cabin camping" with our good friends the Thom's. It was in Lake Eufaula right down the road {about 20 min} from us. Gorgous 2 bedroom cabin right in front of a sandy beach on a lake. It was HOT - and the power went off for about 2.5 hours. THANK goodness our laptop had some battery life yet because the kids {They have a 7 year old girl- Emma and a 4 year old boy- Logan} could watch a movie! After the power came back on the AC blasting- we were all happy and settled. On Saturday we had a Army Party and the guys (Matt & Jeff) co-workers came out to enjoy some sun, beer and cookout food! It was fun!

Our view - and our little friends who came and visited us daily!

Laurel loved looking at the ducks!!

All the kids playing.

Emma had brought Barbie and Ken - and Blake was very interested because he had never seen them before!

Ian is playing with water - We are preparing him for college!

We had some friends over for Blakes 4th Birthday Pary. A friend of mine let me borrow her massive water slide which made some for some fabulous water fun for the kids since it was super hot outside. We enjoyed some yummy cupcakes from my favorite bakery. Blake wanted bug cupcakes instead of a cake and enjoyed some pizza. It was very hot outside, the kids played with the slide and all the parents stayed inside in the nice cool AC! :)

Brothers

Set up

Friends

Silly Birthday Boy

Yummy Cup Cakes

Present Time!

Harmon's in July (AK trip)

2011-09-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

I know I am back posting because I have been awful at keeping everyone up to date. I just can't find time to do this blogging thing. Three kids - and now 2 jobs {I'll get to that later - prob in Aug!} I just have little "ME" time. However, I'm trying my best to catch you guys up to speed in what we have been doing - which is A LOT!!!

Now July, what in the world happened that month. How sad is it that I have to open up my 'Mom's Plan it Monthly Calander' {which if I leave at home I feel lost, read: more like panic} to see what our family was up to. It was 2 freakin' months ago. Man, I think I need to do some major remembering exercises, because this brain has shut down. Quit working! PERIOD.

July was a huge month for us. It was our trip to Alaska! We had to visit the state {we are still residents} and be in the state for 72 hours to get our PFD {read: $$$} Holla! Yes, that was one of the reason - but we also had to check on our house that we still own up there. We had some major work done on it {more like you better fix this before the poop starts shooting thru the pipes again!} so we had to make sure that the Alaskans' peeps were fixin our shit. {literally!} haha Which, they weren't! Oh well, if you are a fellow Alaskan, you know the service is sssssssllloooooooowwwwww!

It was a great family trip. Wish we could have stayed longer - but with Jeff in the Army, leave time is few and far between so we went over the 4th of July holiday!

Oh I should say that Laurel got tubes put in here a few days before the trip. She had been going on her 6th ear infection since Jan. So here she is pre-surgery. Everything went great. Last thing I wanted was a infant to get an ear infection before the trip and deal with all the pressure {read: SCREAMING} on the plane!

Moments after this cute picture was taken she was screaming because she was hungry she had been NPO for 12 hours and she was like Feed Me NOW!

OK so on to our AK trip. It was fun, long, but fun. We flew out of Atlanta, then to Seattle then to Anchorage. Stayed at a hotel that I have stayed in before. Nice, plenty of room! We walked around Anchorage, visited Portage Glacier {From the car - it was raining! . We wanted to drive to Seward - but then quickly realized it would be to much on the kids. Went to the indoor splash park {boys LOVED it and Laurel enjoyed splashing around} , walked around the zoo {kids had so much fun! poor Blake got bit my a mosquito and his right eye was swollen shut! Quick trip to Wallgreens to buy some Benadryl fixed it - 2 days later. I should have taken a picture but my good camera battery died! Should have done the iPhone - oh well!} - then drove to Fairbanks {Loved the drive, and made me miss it so much! but then we got to Fairbanks and it was cold and rainy and my 20 min drive around town by myself - I quickly changed my mind to : lets visit but not live here anymore! I wouldn't be sad if we got orders, but eh, not to live, just visit! } to visit our house {OMG! They didn't fill up the freakin' sewer line and it was so messy - made some phone calls when we got back and threatened to sue if they didn't fix it because it had been 4 months since they started and we paid in full. Funny after that phone call it got fixed!!} and my co-workers and had an awesome brunch. {Again made me miss my friends and the yummy fresh fish and yummy food, but slooowww service} Then we drove back to Anchorage to fly back home. LOTS of driving. Never again will I do that. {Sorry a lot of pictures ahead!}

Eating before getting on the plane in Atlanta

Yummy!

Near Glacier - Love AK

Laurel at zoo. She wouldn't keep her shoes on!

Ian at the zoo

Blake at the zoo! He's a bear!

Laurel checking out this crazy Llama!

The start of the Iditarod!

Family Picture at North Pole, Santa was on Vacation!

Jeff & Blake (Click on pic to see Blake's hilarious face!)

Yea! Laurel was at Santa's House!

In Santa's Sleigh

Our drive back to the airport

Harmons in June

2011-07-24T03:58:00.005-08:00

School has let out - and now the summer begins. Full of fun filled sunny hot days. I have to say a week after Ian had been out of school, I was ready for him to go back! HA! (Is that bad of me?)

With the boys out of school for the summer I started working 2 days a week - during the week. I no longer had to work just weekends so we would be able to do more family outings and have more family time. I found a fabulous babysitter for the kids (Ian's baseball coach)! It worked out perfectly. So I was able to get some adult time in, use my brain, fix some kids, make some extra money. (And feel like I was contributing to the finances since I do spend most of the money! HA)

June is a big month!! Jeff and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe that we have been married for 9 years. Craziness!! Another big day is my birthday - I turned 31!! We wanted to something wild and crazy - so I booked us one a skydiving adventure. We would jump out of an airplane at 14K feet. More of a adventure I wanted to do than Jeff - but being the best husband anyone could have, he came with me and was going to do it!

They pack the chutes in the room where you wait to get manifested.

Waiting our turn!

We went on a Saturday and it was very busy - so you go knowing you are going to have to wait to get manifested. Well, we waiting for 5 hours and then it started to pour down rain - we were the next people to suit up too.... Oh well... now we have a rain check for us to go again - its good for 2 years -so all we have to do is find some time and attempt to go again! The only bad thing was I got a migraine. 1- because I prob wasn't drinking enough of water and it was rather warm and 2) I think my adrenaline started to kick in because we were next to go up and then I couldn't release it properly?! Who knows, so I got a headache and puked all the way home. So we had a 8 hour date and all we did was hit the Arby's drive through and pull over a bunch so I could barf!! So sexy and romantic!! hahaha

In June we also said goodbye to our good friends the Hurley Family. Jeremiah got a new job and they were going to be moving up to Rhode Island. Its hard to say goodbye to such great people - but the Army is small, we will more than likely see them again during a duty station. Blake misses Reagan, and is still asking to go to her house. She was his first BFF!! Maybe I'll get a wild hair up my butt and drive up there during spring break! Get ready for us Hurley's!!

At the end of the month Laurel finally got tubes put in her ears - she had been having an ear infection a month since January. Poor Baby Girl. She was miserable. Blake had tubes in his ears as well when he was one. Guess they got mom's horrible eustation tubes.

Laurel getting ready to go back ot the OR - shortly after this she realized that she was NPO and couldn't eat or drink anything and got really pissed off!!

Harmons in May

2011-06-25T06:21:00.006-08:00

May.

May was full of more baseball, baseball parties, friend’s birthday parties, camping and graduations. Also Jeff’s cousin got married and we made a quick family weekend to North Carolina.

Ian graduated Kindergarten May 25th. His ceremony was so cute. Full of songs and what each student wanted to be when they grew up. Ian said he wanted to be a “Skate Board Rider”. We told him just as long he goes professional in the X Games and makes lots of money – so he can buy his old parents nice thing and set us up in a nice big retirement house. HA! I got this on video – and when Ian walked across the stage to get his diploma I tried to videotape and get a picture, well I learned I can’t do that! I got a horrible picture AND I accidentally tilted the video camera up – so I didn’t get Ian’s diploma getting on tape at all! I got all his entire class, except him. I am a horrible mother and he will probably be in therapy for this for years to come!

Ian and his teacher Mrs. Muse

Ian getting his "fake" diploma! He is 1st grader now!

Blake also graduated from his Army Post Pre-K Program. It was so cute, I also got this on video – and had friends take the picture. Which, I still have to get! Again, I am sure that Blake will be in therapy as well since I don’t have a picture of him getting a diploma either!

Our quick get away to North Carolina was fun. We saw Jeff’s cousin get married and had fun at their reception. It was kid free! Jeff’s aunt hooked us up with a baby sitter who watched the kids in the hotel room! SCORE – Date Night! It was great to catch up with the Harmon side of the family – it had been a few years since we had seen them all. We all met up for breakfast the next morning. It was a blast seeing the kids play with all the grownups. The Harmon’s’ were excited to finally meet Laurel as well!
We can never have a good picture!
{See picture under another post few days ago of us all dressed up!}

My mom and Ron came up over Memorial Day weekend. That was great to see them as well. Ron hadn’t seen the kids in a while and mom hadn’t seen Laurel since she was born! Also, we had plans to go camping – so they watched the kids one night and we were able to go camping with our friends – SCORE another KID FREE Event! We had fun sleeping in our two man tent. We had taken the kids out the day before to go swimming in the lake and enjoy a day in the sun. We told ourselves we are going to go camping more often and do more outdoor things (weather permitting, since it is 100 degrees in the summer here in the south) because the boys just loved it. Laurel- she tolerated it! She enjoyed the water!!

2 man tent with electric! Gotta have coffee.

Me and Laurel enjoying the water

Our campsite

Jeff cooking us some yummy breakfast - with skillet! HA

Harmons in April

2011-06-25T05:02:00.004-08:00

Baseball.

Blake played his first ever sport! He was on the Cardinals T-Ball. He loved it. Although when he didn't get a nap or stayed up the night before he was a bit grumpy and would cry on the infield...with all the other 3 year old. It was hilarious to watch them play, all trying to tackle one another to get the ball. Blake was one of the smaller guys on his team however; he did awesome, and I think he will make us tons of money because he is very marketable.....he is a switch hitter!!!

Ian did coach pitch. He was on the Storm. He grew a lot from last year. We were worried because this team is from 5-8. He was the youngest and smallest person on his team. But he did hang very well! He started out playing outfield and then came to 3rd and then ended playing on 2nd for the rest of the season. He did really well. He would hit and get on base 3 out of the 4 at bats. We can’t wait for Ian to grow and play more baseball.

Beach.
The kids and I took off to NC while Ian was on spring break. I visited my friend Melissa whom I have known since the age of 2. We last met up in NYC when Ian was 6 months old. Since then she has gotten married, had Ella and moved from Cali to NC. So when we are both on the east coast I thought it would be great for us to meet up and reminisce. It was great to catch up & meet her family. We enjoyed great food –REAL PIZZA!!! - the beach, and an aquarium. Good thing is it won’t be another 5 years until we meet up again because they are coming to my brother’s wedding in August! Can’t wait. The kids had so much fun playing! It was great- Melis and I childhood friends and now our children playing together.

Here are a few pictures from April...

Boys at Beach

Blake T-Ball

Ian Coach Pitch

Ian

Blake

At the beach

Laurel sun bathing

At the aquarium

Relaxing, looking at fish

Attempt to get all the kids in one picture. Ella, Ian, Blake & Laurel

Harmons Summer Update

2011-06-24T09:45:00.004-08:00

I always say this. I am a horrible blogger - I'm trying to get better at it...excuses, excuses.
Here is what is going on with us this summer.

Kristin: I started working 2 days during the week so that I am able to have weekends free to do fun things with the family instead of working during the weekend! I have a great sitter - the boys and Laurel love her!! :)

Jeff: He is still working away hard being an Instructor for the newly promoted Captains. He is doing great things! He is implementing new teaching modules and running things smoothly on his team! He is also doing more mini-triathlons! Go Jeff!! :)

Ian: He finished Kindergarten and is now a 1st grader! He is getting so big. He is reading at a 1st grade level, able to do addition and subtraction, count money and do money math, and write very well. We are so proud of him. He has accomplished lots during this past school year.

Blake: He is doing fun things. He is enrolled in a summer Pre-K program and is getting better at writing his letters. We are working on the A,B,C's and counting. He will join his brother at St Anne for the 4 year old Pre-K Program! He is excited to be going to a big boy school!!

Laurel: She is now 10 months old and into EVERYTHING! She is crawling, pulling up, eating everything and signing. She will do baby sign for milk, eat and kiss. We are working on more, and water. She is a joy. She loves her brothers very much tries so hard to keep up with them.

Gotta love fluff (cloth diapers) butt. She fell asleep like this after going to the pool

Us at a wedding in May

Laurel 7 months old

Blake an the airshow

Ian at the airshow

Late Merry Christmas

2011-01-17T09:55:00.002-09:00

Ian and Blake decorating the tree

Attempt to get a Christmas Card picutre

Here are a few pictures from the family decorating the tree! Enjoy.

Im a horrible Blogger!

2011-01-17T09:21:00.002-09:00

So its the new year, 2011 and my new years resolution are to loose weight, and blog more, and keep the family updated more with pictures, phone calls etc.

You would think that after 5 months - this family of 5 would have it together. I think we do, however, my personal time is - well - what personal time? Who am I joking?? I will try to keep you updated in our adventures of the Harmon Five!

A lot has happened....

2010-09-21T09:52:00.003-08:00

since the last time I posted. We added another member to our family!Laurel Kristin Harmon arrived Aug 17, 2010 @ 1507 (307pm) weighing in at 8 lbs 6 ounces and measuring 20 inches long!

Labor Story: (pics at the end)

I woke up at 4am not being able to sleep 1) because I was fat and pregnant and 2) I was hungry and 3) I was having some stomach aches (so I thought! ha). So I grabbed a snack and hopped on FaceBook hoping someone was online that I could chat with to keep me company. Low and behold my friend Anna (my nurse friend from AK was online) she just recently had a baby so she was up as well. I was chatting away with her telling her my "aches" were every 6 mins. Well that comes to no surprise because I was having contractions throughout my whole pregnancy - all of which were regular. I was up on Labor and Delivery a few times to get checked out and all they said was "Yup, your contracting, go home - its not time!" So I wasn't thinking anything of it. They continued to be 6 min until 6am then they were coming a little bit stronger so I got off the computer, called my doc, woke up Jeff told him to take a shower & get ready because it was time. I ate breakfast, called my friends - got the kids ready to go to school- dropped off kids at friends house - then went to the hospital. Finally got out the door and to the hospital by 830. By this time my contractions were about 4 min apart... but tolerable. With my history of quick deliveries thought I would labor fairly quickly so I wanted to get to the hospital before my contractions got any closer together!

After triage hooked me up and my contractions were off the charts - they called my doc. My cervix was 3 cm (same as when I was at the doctors the day before) and my "bag of water was bulging". So they admitted and started pitocin since I was going to be induced in 2 days anyways.

Got checked in Labor and Delivery by 930 and all hooked up with pitocin. No biggie - contractions now hurting but I really wanted a drug free delivery. By 11 they were stronger - I was holding on to the railing strong - but still I wanted a drug free delivery. I was now 5 cm and good to go just waiting to get to 10 to push! Something in my brain was like this is the turning point now - if you don't get one you wont be able to get one.... Jeff was like (something along these lines) "Babe you should get the epidural, this is our last kid, "enjoy" your labor". So I was like what the heck - lets do this. So got the epidural. Oh my, how I forgot how nice they were!
Doctor came in at 1pm to break my water. I went from 5cm to 8 in 15 min. The nurse ran out to the nurses station and told the doctor not to go anywhere because I was going to have this kid any min now! Well took me a while to get to 10 - by 2pm I was ready to push - but this time I was on oxygen because the babies heart rate was staying pretty low. I pushed a few times - doctor came in and said nope you are getting a C-Section baby isn't coming down and her heart rate is considerably low.

CRAP (well that isn't the word I said)

I didn't want a section - for people that know me -I like to be in total control (who doesn't?) and this meant giving up control for a surgery that I didn't want. So I broke down - crying, sobbing, hyperventilating the whole nine yards. I was scared. Period. Majorly scared.

Wheeled into the OR around 230. Jeff was there after I was all settled - still crying. I think the whole thing was that I knew too much information being a nurse. They did the "time out" - I freaked out because I knew they were getting ready to "cut".I heard them asking for the instruments which I knew what they were used for... I couldn't associate this time as the birth of my daughter - only an emergency surgery and was praying that they wouldn't leave something in my body.... ugh.

I squeezed Jeff's hand and told him not to stop talking until Laurel came out - low and behold she came out with a perfect little body. My baby girl! :) Born 307pm. Then Jeff went off to the nursery to be with Laurel and then they started doing "the count" - where they count all the items they used to make sure they don't leave anything behind - I started getting worked up again. Thank the Lord I had an awesome anesthesiologist because I was getting nauseous and hurting - and he hooked me up! Drugs are great! :)So - recovery time went well. Then off to mother baby unit I went and was able to finally hold and kiss my baby girl at 815 pm. A little ticked off a bout how I had to wait 5 hrs to see her... but it all worked out.

Lets fast forward 12 hrs now - its 4 am - and the nurse comes in and expects me to walk!! WTF. They just cut my abdomen and you want me to do what?! You want me to walk to the bathroom and pee?? Ummm NO! (I forgot to tell you Nurses make the worse pt). I followed the rules though and even though I thought my incision was going to burst open and my organs fall onto the floor - I was able to get up and walk and use the potty!

Recovery wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I survived.

Oh geez, dont I like fabulous? Seeing Laurel after waiting 5 hrs!

Big Girl

Meeting Laurel

There she is!

Blakes Birthday

2010-08-13T12:30:00.004-08:00

Buzz and Woody! His favorite!

Dad bought poppers

Blow out those Candles!

Birthday Boy

Yummy Cake!

Im a bit late in posting these... but here are pictures from Blakes Family Birthday Party. We enjoyed ice-cream cake and he enjoyed opening all of his presents!! :)

Pictures for my Grandma :)

2010-08-13T12:13:00.003-08:00

Here ya go Grandma! Pictures that you have been asking for!!

38 weeks 2 days pregnant.

Baby Laurel at 34 weeks gestation

Me 30 weeks pregnant

Sew Many Projects.

2010-07-23T11:08:00.005-08:00

Since I have been only able to work one day a week for a while now and having to take it easy and with the boys at summer camp pretty much 4 days out of the week. When I am not at the Doctors (which is 2-3 times a week) I have taken up sewing! :) Its nice and relaxing and I am able to make things for Laurel & the boys. Here are my latest projects!! :) (Don't look to closely at the stitching, I am still learning.) Might have to click to enlarge!

Snowman with satin edge

Crazy flower prints that were on sale!
Blanket cost: about $3.75

Snowman with minky fabric

Blake with Frog Blanket. I made the same one for Ian and Blake since Laurel was getting a bunch, they wanted me to make them one. Blake is now Linus because he carries it with him everywhere and he, "Loves his new blanket, Mommy! Thank you" He tells me all the time!
Blake picked out the fabric from the discount rack! Great find - Im starting them early!

Pink Blanket

Pink Hooded Towell Blanket I made! For about $6!

Hanging up!

Ducky modeling hooded towel....I'm sew proud! :)

Satin Minky Comfort Thingy - had extra Fabric so I just sewed it together.

Happy Birthday Blake

2010-07-16T08:51:00.004-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Blake!

Here is Blake a few hours old in the NICU
Our little man 3 years old!

Baby Laurel

2010-07-07T15:43:00.003-08:00

So here is our little girl at 33 weeks. I went to the perinatologist to get an ultra sound (they were nice enough to switch it to 4D since she was showing her profile) since I have Gestational Diabetes - I tend to have big babies - so they want to monitor her. Well, as usual - I am cooking a huge baby girl in the oven. She is measuring in at 5 lbs 11 ounces at 33 weeks. Regular babies gain 1/2 lb a week each week - they are hoping to get me to 38 weeks...... uh oh!

Baby Shower/BBQ Bash

2010-06-22T14:01:00.004-08:00

This past weekend my mom (Lori) and my Brother (Kyle) and his girlfriend (Leisa) were up from VA to visit - just happened to be my 30th birthday weekend. My grandma was turning 80 that weekend as well - but due to a PICC line that she was getting taken out, she was unable to make the trip....WE MISSED YOU!!

But my friends threw a Baby Shower for me while the boys hung outside and grilled and drank beer and everyone enjoyed the 18 foot water slide that we rented. Don't worry, I didn't go down it in fear that when I crashed in the pool Laurel would pop out! Despite a rain storm right in the middle, we had a blast. Thanks everyone for all the neat gifts, I know Laurel will be excited to use them all! :)

Again, it was great friends, and great food. Thanks to all that came and celebrated!

Gram Gram going down slide

Ian had so much fun and asks for a water slide everyday!!!

Me and the waterslide...to bad I couldn't go down, it looked fun!

Yummy Shower cake!!

Ha Ha, thats Jeff!!

Sparklers before bedtime with the Family

Alabama Sunset

The Dirty 30!!

2010-06-21T11:37:00.003-08:00

The day has come where I am 30! On my birthday I enjoyed a Maternity Photo Session with an awesome lady! Ginny Dainels A few days before (at 6pm it was 100 degrees with 100% humidity!) - Jeff and I with the boys met up with her to do a family session to capture everyone before Laurels arrival. Just in case she comes early I did the session early! I want to get a book to capture my pregnancy, the boys, Jeff and I - and then her newborn shots. She did an amazing job and it was fun to get all dressed up for my birthday and do a photo shoot! Please enjoy the sneak peaks she sent me.... as soon as the gallery is up I will post the link with password!! Enjoy!

Mini Vacation!

2010-06-21T11:11:00.003-08:00

We traveled up into Alabama to Birmingham so Jeff could run an Xterra Race! It was a half marathon of trail running, and a little part thru a huge mud puddle - which was a couple feet long. We went with our good friends the Hurleys and met up with some more Hurleys' (Jeremiahs brother and sister in law).

We stayed in an awesome spa resort : Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa it was awesome and we will be staying there next year when I run the race! :) They had an awesome pool with water slide and now that Ian can swim very well with a life vest on he had a blast. Blake is getting better with the life vest and the floaty ducky that he is glued to.

So the morning of the race the Hurley's and Jeff got ready to run the race. (We had adjoining rooms) so when they left - it was me and 4 sleeping kids. 4 kids ages: 1,2,3 &4! We managed to play, eat breakfast, get dressed, potty and go to the car.... only to miss everyone cross the finish line! So I didn't get any pictures. :( I should have been a little faster... but loading up 4 kids and being 29 weeks pregnant was my workout for the weekend.

We enjoyed our pool side service of sandwiches and drinks and fruit and lounged around that afternoon.

All and all it was a great weekend with great friends!

Every night there was a bag pipe guy playing he walked around the hotel. It was pretty cool after dinner one night we caught up to him and Dawn took this picture of Blake and I. Jeff had to take Ian back to the room due to a headache (he played 4 hrs in the sun and was super tired and dehydrated). But here is the one picture we have! Enjoy!

Baby Laurel & Pregnancy

2010-06-01T08:26:00.006-08:00

I have some time on my hands. Blake is watching cartoons and Ian doesn't feel so good. He has been having a headache since yesterday afternoon - so I'm killing time until we see the doctor this afternoon. (Another Dr, saw one last night) I probably should be doing laundry and catching up on some household chores, but blogging is keeping my mind off Ians headache... which is making me think about his Brain Tumor....

Here is some happy news. I am 28 weeks pregnant and despite a rocky start of the vertigo and getting that fixed and the Gestational Diabetes (which I am not taking meds for) and the hormone shot that I have to take every week (in my bootie) to try to keep her from coming to early... geez that sounds like a lot doesn't it? I feel fine... with an occasional contraction/Braxton Hicks daily. The Army Base has finally kicked me off post to a civilian doctor (which I have been trying to see all along with the history of my preemies) so I will start seeing her next week - since my history of delivery at 35 @ 33 1/2 weeks are fast approaching.....

Here are some pictures of the nursery. Really can't do to much since we are renting the house but I am nesting, so I'm setting it up little by little. :)

Crib with Flower Quilt made by Chelsey and Jeffs Baby Blanket (the yellow one) still waiting on bedding to get mailed to me. And we aren't leaving the crib there with my fear of her getting tangled in the blinds and getting all wrapped up!

Pink Pink Pink

Baby Laurel

Cute Foot!

Gobbles

2010-06-01T06:39:00.003-08:00

Word of the day: Gobbles.

Blake loves playing with his "Gobbles" in the pool.

Class of 2023

2010-05-31T15:04:00.006-08:00

May 20th 2010 marked a very special day for Ian. He graduated Preschool! The ceremony was very cute, they sang, read poems and walked across the stage to get a diploma and a medal. This was very emotional for me. I thought I wouldn't get all teary-eyed. But to see my baby boy walk across the stage, I was so proud and saw him as such a 'Big Boy' now. He is off to a Catholic School: Saint Annes for Kindergarten. He is very excited, as so am I, but my baby is growing up!!

We were also very excited to have Jeff's mom Terry and her husband Wayne come down for the weekend to share in this very special moment for us. They were also here to see Ian's last T-Ball game. All and all it was a great weekend!

After Graduation. Proud Brother (who was just interested in the cupcakes for the after party)

My Ian all graduated!

Exiting the stage.

His teacher Ms. Sonya & Ian

So proud, walking to get his diploma

Grandma Terry & the boys sharing some lunch. (I have to get the good picture off thier camera of the 4 of them)

I forgot...we went to the SC Zoo!

2010-05-31T14:43:00.005-08:00

I forgot to write about our Zoo Trip to SC! A good friend of mine who I met in Savannah when we lived in our apartments there got married on April 17th. She is a very special friend for she drove me to the hospital when I was in labor with Ian. She was there for me every step of the way during the deployment. Cynthia Hutson-Poterfield will forever have a special place in my heart!

We were excited to make it a family trip and explore the zoo. The boys had such a great time and the weekend went smoothly! Although Jeff had to take Blake out before the wedding happened in the church (he was getting cranky and wanted to draw in all the bibles)- both boys behaved good at the recption! Here are a few pictures from our quick trip to SC!

Cynthia makes a beautiful bride!

Feeding the horse at the zoo.

My friend: The Smiley Goat

Feeding Nectar to the birds.

Loving the tiger!

May has almost come and gone...

2010-05-23T14:07:00.006-08:00

Wow, I have been horrible about updating the blog. We have been super busy here in the Harmon Household.

In the last week of April the boys and I headed on down to Mexico City Beach, Florida. My good friend Dawn has a friend with a beach house down there so 4 Army Wives (two which were pregnant) and 7 kids under the age of 4 moved into a 4 bedroom beach house. It went quite well with just a few meltdowns and we actually made it to the beach and back everyday!! Ian was quite adventurous and ran right into the ocean while Blake was scared of the waves and just stuck to making sand castles.

Then the 2nd weekend in May we made a 12 hour trip to Outer Banks to see Jeff's cousin Jackie get married on the beach. For some reason when we got the invitation quite some time ago I thought it was in a part of NC that was 6 hrs away. Even when I called and made the hotel reservation I was still thinking it was 6 hrs away. Well when I packed up the day before and printed off directions I was like OMG.... this place is 12 hours away!! We did the trip anyways and so glad that we did. It was long - left after Jeff got off work at 1pm Friday, and then left 9am Sunday - both of us worked on Monday! We were tired!!! We saw Jeff's side of the family that we haven't seen in such a long time. The boys enjoy the beach again - this time with Dad & the Harmon Gang.

Ians First T-Ball Game.

2010-04-25T05:17:00.004-08:00

Ian had his first T-Ball Game! He was very excited, and enjoyed playing. He had three great hits. He also played 1st and shortstop. I do have to say that it is quite hilarious to watch 4-6 year olds play baseball. Ian's Team: Cardinal's, is a new team. Full of kids who have never played before.... so.... makes quite a game! :)

Ian getting ready to bat.
Blake cheering him on

Team Cardinals. Can you see Ian?

Tons going on in this picture! However, Ian is ready for the batter. (on 1st)

I have to get better at posting!

2010-04-25T04:37:00.005-08:00

Wow, been a month since I have last posted. We have been doing a lot. I just have been super bad about posting and keeping up with this blog. I will try to do better. So sorry family and friends! :)

Well we had Easter.

The Easter Bunny came that morning and the boys had fun outside hunting the eggs. First time they were able to hunt outside since we have been in Alaska for most of the Easters they have been here on earth! :) It was fun coloring eggs in the driveway a few days before and then finding them outside!!

Coloring eggs with our good friend Reagan.

Looking for eggs

This is the first time that I didn't cook! The whole plan was that we were going to go to Church as a family. First time ever! The church may have fallen down if this did indeed happen! However; Ian had a bad ear infection and was battling a 102 fever, so that didn't happen. Also, our friend down here that we meet- their son was going to get Baptised and they were having a reception afterwards. So Blake and I just went to the reception and ate. While Jeff and Ian sat at home. :( We did bring them home some eggs and some cake.

With my best bud Reagan

Walking with mom

Been a while...we are here.

2010-03-26T12:49:00.003-08:00

So. We have been super busy. I feel bad for not updating the blog! Here is what is new that is going on. I am charging the batteries to the camera and will be able to download some more pictures to the blog. I will get better about posting! :)

* I am 18 weeks pregnant! ITS A GIRL!! I got an ultrasound done at this fancy place at 16 weeks. I have my big anatomy ultrasound here on April 1st so we will double check. The place I went to says they are 100% on gender identification....better be because I have bought some pink! I start the Progesterone shot once a week next week until 36 weeks. This will help lower the risks of me going into preterm labor. We all know my history with Ian & Blake. We want to keep this baby girl in the oven as long as we can!

* Ian is playing T-Ball. His first game is April 10th. That is opening day. He does pretty well running the bases, and hitting. We have to work on his aim. He enjoys hitting his baseball set that he got from Grandma for Christmas. It is nice to be able to play outside in the sun in a fenced in back yard and not have to worry about the kids!! :)

* Ian will be attending St Anne's Catholic School in the fall for Kindergarten. The schools are the best down here in the south and with Jeff and I both working in Ga - there is no after school program here in the elementary school down the road that would suit our schedules. So off to private school he goes. We will be taking donations for his education - please make payable to Jeff or Kristin Harmon. :) Also, the donations will go toward his uniform funds! haha.

* Blake is liking his K3 class at the Growing Room. He is learning a lot and enjoying his friends. They have a summer camp for his grade as well. He is enrolled and should have tons of fun. Once the pool opens up here at our housing complex he will be enrolled in swimming lessons! (As well as Ian)

* I have started working on the Pediatric Floor. I have enjoyed working there. A different adjustment to AK, but its fun! I have even worked in the PICU a few days which I hope to get more experience in. I am full time right now until the middle of April and then I will be part time/ PRN.

* Jeff has started teaching his students at the MCCC. He is enjoying his class and sculpting the minds of all these young CPTS. Also, some good news is that Jeff will pin on Major here in the next few months. More to come on formal pin ceremony and the promotion party in our backyard with great food and tons of beer for all.

Important Dates if you would like to come visit:

(of course everyone is welcome anytime!)

April 10th: Ian's opening day and 1st game of T-Ball
May 20th : Ian's preschool graduation 7pm.
June 19th: Kristin 30th BBQ Party!
July 17th: Blakes 3rd Bday Party!
Aug 14th: Ian's 5th Bday Party & celebration of 1st week in Kindergarten! (This is pending the birth of baby girl Harmon...not sure when she is going to come!)

Ok Wrap Up...

2010-02-06T07:45:00.004-09:00

So I haven't been the best of updating the blog. So here in a nut shell is what has happened in a month.

* I'm pregnant! (Ian says there are 2 babies in my belly, one girl and one boy)
* I am hating Tricare!
* Going to do cloth diapers and breast feed this baby. (Ian & Blake were breastfed, but not cloth diapers)
* Jeff left me Atlanta when we were picking up his car at the military car place. He drove off with my keys...long story short and after a cab ride to the ATL airport to rent a car and he realizing he left me and a cab ride back to car place...he came and got me!
* Ian is signed up for T-Ball
* Ian went to Atlanta for neurosurgeon visit. Very nice office, MRI scheduled in May - everything looks fine. No problems.
* We traded in Jeff's Wrangler for a Land Rover (third row seating)... Love it!
* Both boys have started school. (Well daycare, but I like this school!)
* I'm waiting for my GA RN license so I can start working!
* Jeff will be teaching at the Captains Career Course.
* Blake and potty training are not going so well. I'm frustrated.
* We are going to grow our own veggies this summer.

I thinks that's about it. I will post pictures of our house very soon!!

Day Nine. South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa

2010-01-01T06:46:00.004-09:00

Day Nine Wyoming, South Dakota,Nebraska, Iowa

We woke up refreshed and ready to go. Today was going to be a big day and we were very exciting. Our plans for the day were to see Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower and the Badlands. We were only about an hour from Mt Rushmore so we saw that first! It is just simply amazing.

However; here is a funny story:

I research and call before we go to make sure the weather/roads are good to go and they are. I see that the park is free to enjoy! (Score!) I neglect to see that you do however; have to pay $10 to park your car. No biggie you think except when we go to enter the park we have no cash – again another no biggie- except for such a well known and highly visited national monument they don’t take credit or debit cards to pay for the parking! Even airports have the option to pay with credit card for parking! The lady agrees to let us in and makes us park the farthest away (outside the parking garage deck) and to go into the gift shop to access the ATM and then swing on by and pay. Which we did and come to find out that parking pass is good for a year – who’s going back after we have already seen it? I don’t think they are going to be putting any new presidents up anytime soon since the whole thing took over 13 years to carve!

Ian walks up and is amazed – he keeps saying look at those big heads! And as we walked closer, the heads kept getting bigger. He really enjoyed the binoculars that were kid size and just the perfect size for him to get a better look at the ‘Big Heads.’

We took a ton of pictures! And then off we went. The next major thing we wanted to see was Devil’s Tower. It was off the road quite a bit but we were sure that we could see it while we were driving – which was the case. I was all excited, because I loved the movie The Close Encounter! I saw it, grabbed my camera, focused and had a perfect shot but then we were going around a bend in the road so I had to wait – got it focus again and clicked so very excited I got the shot – hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Jeff especially liked driving through and seeing the Badlands. This is where his favorite president, Roosevelt, initially kicked some butt. It was covered in snow, but still pretty neat to see.

South Dakota is very boring, and flat. Really not much to see. I joked with my friend Kaisa about living out here. I texted her as we were passing her hometown. I even asked her about the World Famous Tractor Museum that we kept seeing signs for. Even a native born and raised didn’t know what on earth I was talking about. Must not be that World Famous then! Haha.
Since SD is so flat and the rest stops are few and far between we thought we found a bigger stop that had food and gas. Well, come to find out it was just a gas station with no food available for 45 miles. At this point the kids are starving and crying for food. As a good mother what did I do? Let them loose and said pick what ever you want to eat for lunch . (At this critical point I was about to have a melt down. The kids rarely get candy and or chips, so this was an exception to make everyone stay happy at this particular point in the trip!) So there lunch was doughnuts, chips and water! Oh so healthy I know – you would have done the same thing!! Haha.

We also passed the hometown of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I grew up on Little House on the Prairie, and Jeff was so lucky we were traveling with the boys because if it was just us two we totally were stopping there and taking a tour and taking tons of pictures…instead we just drove by the exit and I just wondered what it was like to see!

Another funny thing we saw (I think it was in SD) were all these signs for the McNasty Brothers. It was a two person band what looked to be at a jazz joint. That would have been interesting to see if we were kid free.

We ended up in Souix City, Iowa. We just briefly entered Nebraska for a mile and then back into Iowa – but we are counting it as a state!

Next stop: ST Louis!

Miles Traveled:
Lost count… I think we are up to 4000 at this point.
Animals seen:
Birds, horses, cows.

Day 8. Rest of Montana, Wyoming.

2010-01-01T05:51:00.003-09:00

Day Eight. Rest of Montana, Wyoming

Montana is a friggin' huge state. Over 600 exits! I thought we would never make it to Wyoming. There were some interesting things in Montana that we noticed. Signs for a Testicle Festival! See the picture for proof.

You make have to click this to get it larger!

We can only wonder what in the world they do at this interesting gathering! Im sure this is a normal thing with a funny name but I can’t imagine anything that isn’t disgusting or terrifying. Also there was a town called Smeltyville which coincidently smelt like onions when we drove by it on the ole' famous I-90 East. Last but not least we passed an exit for Crazy Woman Creek (or something along that lines, can’t really remember) but Jeff said he would gladly drop me off here. After 8 days of close quarters and traveling over 1500 miles together, you can only love that person so much!! Haha.

I really wish I kept up with typing along the way because I would have remembered all the funny stories that happened, but we were so crunched for time or tired or the kids were going wild that I didn’t have time to sit and type every day at the end of the day at the hotel room. I am kicking myself for not doing this.

This was a bad day for the kids. I shouldn’t say bad because they are terrific travelers. We had to stop quite a few times to pee and have lunch early because we ran out of snacks in the car. Our friend Scott that was traveling with us decided to go ahead and not stop because he was feeling good and drive on down to Gillette, WY and find us a nice hotel for the night. After lunch the boys took a long nap and we were able to cruise right on to Gillette. Scott found us a nice and inexpensive hotel for the night. It was a Fairfield Inn (a branch of Marriott). It had everything we needed, a laundry room, King Bed with a Queen pullout sofa in the other room, 2 TVS (this meant we could watch the news and not cartoons!) FREE breakfast in the morning (all the hotels we stayed in provided continental breakfast..the only way to go!) and last but not least a WATERPARK inside the hotel! We actually checked in around 7ish and Jeff went to Applebee’s to get curb side to go (finally a decent place to get a salad!) and I took the boys over to the water park. Ian loved it he was fearless ready to jump in the three foot deep lazy river. I opted to stay on the baby side which was only 1 foot deep. The only problem is Blake HATES showers, and there was water squirting everywhere, and dripping everywhere…very shower like. He hated the water park. He kept telling me to go home. (The boys now refer to home as whatever hotel room we were staying in at the time!)
All the showerlike items in the baby area!

After pool time was over it was time to do some wash…. I went to grab my wallet and grab some quarters….wait where was my wallet it was nowhere to be found! I left it in Missoula, MT!! In the hotel room!! CRAP! I called there and they said I had to wait until morning to talk to the head housekeeper lady that was in charge of all lost and found. I set my alarm, called & verified my wallet and belongings were still in there as well as Jeff’s workout shorts – and they said they would mail it to Alabama for me! Thank goodness. Four loads of laundry and a bedtime of 1145 – we were exhausted. Next stop Iowa!

Miles Traveled:
To many to count! Just A LOT
Animals seen:
Horses, Buffalo, Cows, birds.

Day 7. Washington, Idaho & Montana

2010-01-01T05:17:00.004-09:00

Day 7. Washington, Idaho & Montana

We finally got off that god forsaken vessel. Driving off was fine – just waited our turn and off we went. The only bad thing is – the itinerary kept saying we were going to arrive at port at 8am. There was a confusion that the purser behind the desk (read: who didn’t speak much English) was trying to tell us the time we were getting in and we really couldn’t understand because the boat ran on AK time except when in Bellingham….so arrival time, in AK time or WA time? Long story short, we arrived at 1030 – 2.5 hours behind schedule.

Washington sure does have a variety of terrain. One minute there would be snowy mountains and curvy roads, then the next looked like a dessert with shrubs and a dusting of snow.
When we stopped for lunch, we were looking for a BBQ joint, but it turned out to be a gas station BBQ and we opted to skip that because we were trying to limit our bathroom breaks! We found a truck stop/family restaurant that suited just fine. When we pulled in we looked over both of our cars. Scott noticed that he had a metal spike sticking out of his newly bought Blissex Tires! So after we stuffed ourselves full of fatty foods Jeff and Scott changed the tire (read: with NASCAR like quickness) while the boys ran in a grass pasture collecting pine cones and doing who knows what with them. They had fun – and it pooped them out – they slept for a good portion of the trip!

We then drove into Idaho. (entering the state horrible, horrid windey roads !) Nothing much to see, then exiting the state same thing….scary roads. (per Kristin).

We tried to get every state sign that we drove through. But I couldn't get the correct camera functions to take it...so here is Idaho

Montana was snowy on and off. We forgot about the time change, so finally we got checked into the hotel in Missoula at 10pm. All the kids wanted to do was run around the hotel, so when we sat down to eat we had to get it to go – which was fine with us. And our dinner was so awesome. ( I had put scrumptious but Jeff is making fun of me, so I changed it just for him. Haha)

Yummy!!

View outside our hotel room in Missoula, MT.

Day Three-Six. The Malaspina.

2009-12-20T19:47:00.005-09:00

Day Three-Six. The Malaspina.

Driving onto the Ferry
Nothing exciting to report been on the boat now for 24 hours. Stopped at Juneau at midnight – we were all sleeping and then another stop at 1130 at Sitka, AK. Nothing much to see, just connexes on the loading dock and a terminal. The view, however; is always great! The biggest problem is keeping the kids occupied by coloring, playing cards and playing adventure on the boat. Ian is pretty good at navigating his way back to our room – 137! Good thing, just in case we lose him on the boat.

Scott has once again amazed the kids by his juggling ability and Jeff fascinated Ian by the money behind the ear trick with a bouncy ball.

One exciting event that did happen today was that during our naptime a crew member knocked on our door and I answered. She asked are you Kristin our Pediatric Nurse. I said yes. She was like come to the Purser Desk please. Oh crap I was thinking. Turns out a 7 week old had a bump on his head and the new mom was concerned. This mom we also found out has 3 strains of DNA. 2 regular and one strand of complete crazy. She kinda followed us around the ship saying she was looking for us. She invited herself into our game of Texas Hold them, stole a chip or two from the boys. We just couldn’t shake this chick.

Our routine was practically the same every day. Wake up at 8am, Jeff and I would shower we would wake the boys up at 9am – go to the café – which was an exciting event for us. Out of the 50 or so tables there were about 6 “special ones”. These included illustrations of variety of Alaska Animals. One table was full of different whales, another birds, under the sea animals, bears etc. Heaven forbid that someone was at a table that we didn’t eat at! (read: major meltdown by both boys!) We would try to instill learning time and teach the boys, but it ended up which one was the biggest and he was going to eat all the other animals on that particular table. Then there was a movie usually playing shortly after breakfast. Then off to lunch, then nap time (read: peace and quiet to read a book, or actually take a nap, since when have we been able to do that?), then up to the café to stare at all the weird species of humans that also are traveling on this public transportation (read: defiantly not cruise like!) vessel.

Our last stop before our long 30+hour voyage of pure sea to Bellingham, WA was Ketichan, AK. This stop we were at port for 5+ hours so we thought we would wonder around this town to get off this ship! Ate lunch at a diner, went to the local pharmacy for some nail clippers (read: boys nails were turning into shears!) and then to a local grocery store to pick up some gossip magazines and a sailing one for Jeff (read: he thinks he is going to invest and pick out a sailboat and take me around the world) and a calling card – which this town had none. I was trying to call the HR lady in Columbus, GA because she sent me an email wanting to schedule an interview for a Pediatric and High Risk/Special Care Nursery position. AT&T Tower was down, but able to use internet….its all set up! Wish me luck on December 30th.

Then back on ship and more sailing……

Miles Traveled this trip:
Who knows – a lot of nautical miles!
Animals we saw:
Sea GullsSpecies of birds
And weird species of humans wondering this ship!

Funny Story: Scott had told Ian that a whale was going to come on board and eat him. So Ian was preoccupied of staring at the window trying to find the whale before we came on board. It took us lots of explaining that it would NOT happen!

Day Two

2009-12-18T21:30:00.002-09:00

Day Two. (Pictures to come, have to download them to the computer)

Day two went pretty well. We woke up in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada to no fire alarm which is always pleasant. The hotel we stayed at, The Alcan was pretty decent. 2 queen beds, a microwave, coffee maker and a small fridge. Best of all when we arrived it was pitch black and in the morning the view was spectacular! Simply amazing; snow cap mountain ranges for miles. After a quick bite to eat at the attached restaurant we were off. Unfortunately we slept in late and weren’t able to use our loonies, so we kept them :)

The rest of the drive through Yukon Territory was uneventful except driving thru Destruction Bay. The roads turned a little icy and the wind was horrible. But despite that - not to bad. However, when we entered into British Columbia, it seemed to just have a dumping of snow. It was a complete white out, the road was white, the mountains were white – the only thing that was telling you where the edges of the road were –were the pole markers spread out every few feet . Entering back in to the United States the guard actually scanned our Passports. We drove through no problem and then 45 min later we stopped to stretch our legs right before Haines, AK. This is where we saw TONS of Bald Eagles. Too numerous to count, they were everywhere. We were lucky enough to pull in and one fly in a tree right in front of us and eat his prey. We captured some terrific pictures of this giant bird eating some type of fish!

Haines is a small town, with a main street and an IGA, VFW and a couple of cute little mom and pop shops. We ate lunch there at an old timy Saloon made of wood. It would have been straight out of “North to Alaska” except it was painted blaze orange and had the interior décor of something from a 1970’s elevator, and then were off to the terminal. We got there super early primarily because we didn’t want to drive in the dark and have the roads completely frozen for us. We got our tickets parked our car in lane 2 (which was labeled lane 3 for some reason) and waited inside for almost three hours. Jeff and I were about to kill the kids, but what can we do, they have been cooped up for a long time in the car and all they want to do is run around. We have misplaced the case of their Disney DVDs and the only one we have is Ice Age which has been watched million times this trip and they are getting sick of it. The kids read a dinosaur book and played tag with some other children in the terminal.

During the nighttime meltdown of both children we drive on the ferry and board our room. (read: box) of 2 bunk beds and our sitting room is a ratty old chair in the middle of the bunk beds. We do have a window though, which comes complete with one of the best views of the Alaskan Wilderness. Maybe Alex Supertramp should have taken the ferry instead!!

Once on board an announce was made that if any Doctors, Nurses or Medical were on board and willing to volunteer their services, please give them your name. I gave them my name at the same time thinking, please no emergencies this trip but secretly hoping to do something exciting!
We should also mention that our good friend Scott, Jeff’s fellow company commander is on this trip with us. He is headed to Phoenix City to spend the holiday with his family then heading up to Huntsville, AL to work with Space Command as his next assignment. He is great with the kids and most of all can entertain them by juggling any three toys in their toy bag!

We ended the night by Jeff telling stories to the kids before bedtime. Then Ian and Blake told their own haunted story. Blake’s was this: “The monster. Haunted House. Bad monster, took snacks. ROAR. The End.” (read: with hand motions, like he was holding a book, turning pages)

Funny Sayings:
Kristin: “Blake did you poop?”
Ian: “Yes he did.”
Kristin: “Well how do you know?”
Ian: “Because his butt stinks”
Day Two:
150 miles this leg
Animals seen this trip:
CrowsBlue eyed black dog
Eagles- too numerous to count
Dead Buffalo (in guys truck at hotel)

Day One

2009-12-13T20:09:00.006-09:00

Day One

Note: Jeff and I are both writing this blog so it back and forth. :)

It all started at 550 am with the fire alarms going off in the hotel that were staying in. Jeff was working out and came back to the room as I was getting the boys ready to evacuate. Turns out the bozzo next door to us burnt his popcorn. Damn those people visiting and still on EST wanting a snack let us Alaskans sleep!

The ten hour drive to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada went fairly well. Here are a few funny stories we'll share.

1. Jeff's two most repeated phrases during our ride. "Calm down you crazy lady!" (read: I was still freaking out about getting across the border without our vehicle registration - turns out they just wanted our passports like Jeff was saying all the time) & "Look a mountain!" since Jeff was driving I was in charge of photography. He wanted a picture of every mountain as we took each bend of the Alaskan Highway.

Look a Mountain! (click to see full image)

1. I told the officer I was military and he asked if I was PCS-ing (military term for changing station) It took everything I had not to do my best Rodney Dangerfield impression and say: "No officer, but my wife is and she's driving me crazy!"

2. "I am not peeing in that shack" Restrooms are few and far between in Canada - and I wasn't about to take a leak practically outside (read: wooden outhouse) at -4!

3. "I think I sweated a lot." Ian had a little accident while he was sleeping.

4. "That was some scary shit!" As Jeff finished passing a 18 wheeler with no taillights, kicking up its own white out blizzard, and in the dark. (read: 3pm) Ian's response: "What shit Daddy??" We'll be watching our mouth a little bit better this trip.

5. "Does your laundry take American quarters? It's only fair since I get yours back all the time from our soda machines." Jeff asks the hotel attendant. "Nope, you have to put Loonies in them," she replied. I figured that was a little cruel, however, our crazy people just sit in homes not contributing, theirs clean laundry albeit from the inside of a small machine. Unrelated, but interesting, their dollar is made of metal and has a duck-like creature on the back .

Day One

496.5 Miles-made the timeline so far
1 Moose
1 Brown Blob in distance pretty sure it was an animal
1 wolf and or huge ass fox
1 giant red grease spot

Day Before the Road Trip....

2009-12-12T20:48:00.005-09:00

Empty House still on the Market $279,900
Box and Sleeping Bag as chair: $20
Listening to Jethro Toll on Dads Ipod: Priceless

I guess this could be counted as day one... but we will call it Day Zero (Jeff says the Army calls it this)

Day Zero: 5 miles to Hampton Inn

Long story short, our movers were less than professional. They smelled like weed, packed my stuff up semi-nice, and loaded up super slow. It was a three day pack job and on the third day they were loading until 10pm, the last truck drove out - although they ended work at 3pm the previous days and took a 10min break every hour and a 1.5 hr lunch. We are definitely putting an Inspector General Complaint about this move. HORRENDOUS!!!

Anyways that was the past three days. We packed our Jeep with about 800 or so pounds of our stuff that we will need until our household goods arrive. Jeff and I are master packers with our Sky Box on top and the space in the back of our Jeep.

Our house is clean, we hired a clean out crew - so nice not to lift a finger. They have to come back tomorrow and do some touch ups. They had trouble cleaning Ian and Blake's artwork off of the walls, so they actually put a fresh coat of paint on the wall!

We then headed over to the Hampton Inn. Very nice hotel. We are in a King Suite. King bed for Jeff and I and a queen pull out for the boys. We stayed here due to the Free HOT breakfast and the pool, however; didn't take advantage of the pool tonight because we ran out of time and the boys were super tired after watching the classic Rudolph Claymation movie. We will stay at these in the lower 48 for sure! Hope they are just as nice.

We are ready for our 8am drive out of Fairbanks. Just one thing....we forgot the registration to the car...so please pray that the Canadian folks at the border don't ask us for it!!!! We're freaking out a little bit, but with our "Strange Brew" knowledge, we'll be able to talk our way through the checkpoint. We thought of everything else- took it out of the car do something, and it got packed and not placed back in the car!! CRAP!

Day One: Drive from Fairbanks, AK and stopping in Tok, AK for lunch and fuel up... then stopping in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory (Canada) for the night.

Miles: 500

Barbarian 6....Out.

2009-12-03T16:38:00.004-09:00

Jeff had his change of command ceremony on Dec 2nd. He was in command for over 33 months. He did such a wonderful, exceptional job. Another chapter in our lives is now over. Awaiting what comes next! Jeff also found out right before the ceremony that he is the most deployed officer in his year group! Craziness!! Here are some pictures from the ceremony.

Getting in formation for the Change of Command Ceremony.
In front for the last time...

Jeff getting the guidon....

Jeff passes his Guidon to LTC Reed, the company is no longer his.

LTC Reed passes the guidon to the new CPT.

Marching back.

LTC's Speech

Jeffs Speech

Happy Thanksgiving.

2009-11-28T16:47:00.003-09:00

Well we joked about ordering pizza or getting Chinese on Thanksgiving because I didn't' want to cook, but I couldn't' do it. I went out the day before and got the basics and cooked up a quick Turkey dinner for us all to enjoy. We have just been to busy with finalizing everything up here in Alaska, it really doesn't feel like the holidays at all! Here are some pictures from Turkey Day!

The best turkey I have ever cooked!

Didn't have room for it in the fridge so we Alaskans keep the bird on the porch!
(I actually kept it in the fridge, but people actually keep it outside!)

Blake and Dad full of Turkey

Jeff's guitar from Iraq. Made it back in one piece.

New Photo Lense.

2009-11-21T18:40:00.004-09:00

So as a gift to myself I bought some new lenses for my digital camera...I'm trying to learn how to use them. (Now I need a shootsac - asking for this for Xmas) Hope to get some great shots while driving to AL/GA/VA! Here are some of the boys with my portrait lense. I haven't edited them.... so I'm sure I can make them better. :) Might look better if you click on them to look at correct size

Ladies, watch out for Ian!

Muscles!

More Muscles!

Fun Bath time!

Smiles in Bubbles!

Focused on cookie by accident...

Love this one of Ian! Whats he been up to?

We've been busy!

2009-11-19T13:53:00.004-09:00

We are still alive! I promise. We have been going non stop since before Halloween. Right now we are getting ready to leave Alaska on Dec 13th which is coming up so very soon. In between then and now we are trying to catch up on winterizing the Jeep because we are taking the ferry and driving to Georgia, do all our dr check ups, dental check ups, dog check ups, car check ups so that when we arrive in GA we can sit back and relax and enjoy the nice temperatures. Here are some pictures of what the boys have been doing! Enjoy!

Still Here...

2009-11-16T05:41:00.003-09:00

Hello everybody...

The Harmon's are still here. We are just super busy. I will have time to update soon. We are getting ready to move, in 28 days!!! So lots of planing and puring along with MRI's Dentist appts, Physicals, Car Appts. AHhhhhhhhhhh

We have something to do everyday of the month until Dec 3rd!!! Well, not everyday, but pretty much!!

I'll post pics up here soon of what we have been doing in the mean time. Love you all!!

Winter Hike

2009-10-27T18:03:00.004-08:00

Another thing that was on my Must Do Before We Leave AK was to go on a hike while there was still snow on the ground. This would count as my Winter Hike :) While Kyle's friend was up here we took the opportunity to get a babysitter and go with Leisa and Kyle on a hike. Our plan was to go to Angle Rocks, however, remembering how steep it was when we did it in the summer and how many times I fell on the decent, I thought that it wouldn't be such a great idea to do this particular hike in the snow! We opted on the Granit Tors 3 mile loop. Which provided great scenery along the river bank and in the woods. :) Again, AK provided us with many great photo ops! Enjoy!

3 mile loop

Pumpkins

2009-10-23T21:26:00.004-08:00

So during nap time I went out to the store to purchase some pumpkins. Not the greatest selection; however, I thought it would be fun to surprise the boys when they woke up. I had this vision of us as a family carving pumpkins at the table. Hmmm didn't turn out that way. Kinda turned out that Jeff and I did all the carving and boys telling us to hurry up because they wanted their pumpkin done! They wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins at all... oh well...it was fun to see them squirm when they tried to touch the 'guts' of the pumpkin!!

Jeff and Ian cutting the pumpkin

Going in for the guts

Ian doesnt like it one bit!

Blake going in....

Yucky!

Kyle and his Yankee Pumpkin

Mine and Kyle's Pumpkin

All three.

Doing lots!

2009-10-22T16:19:00.004-08:00

With Jeff being home we are staying busy with fun activities and enjoying what is left of our time here in Alaska! The most recent is that we went "hiking" on some trails at the local Creamers Field. The boys had a fun time looking for feathers of cranes and listening for birds that were still in the woods we wondered through. We looked at all the different leaves, and trees and explored the unknown. It was maybe a mile that we walked - good exercise and wore the boys out!! Please enjoy a few of our favorite pictures.

Boys on a Bridge

Exploring

Walking with Mom

The three boys

Checking out a bird house

Good Eatin'

2009-10-04T16:46:00.003-08:00

Just had to share that Jeff made this awesome kick ass burger. The breakfast burger : Beef Burger with a fried egg and bacon & cheese!! We'll have a heart attack after eating it, but it sure was yummy!!

Update on us!

2009-09-29T08:16:00.003-08:00

Holy cow it has been a crazy fest ever since Jeff has returned home from his Deployment.

It all started with Blake getting a fever for 48 hours that wouldn't' come down. It was as high as 104, and with his runny nose and cough, and the increase of H1N1 at the Pediatric floor I was nervous it was flu....HOWEVER, Jeff was due in that night! So Kyle stayed home with the kids while they were sleeping because Jeff couldn't come home at a reasonable time - it was 3am Sunday when the buses pulled it. It was great to see him! We come home, Blake sleeps thru the night - we wake up Jeff surprises the boys with breakfast! Ian was so excited. Blake on the other hand felt like crap and couldn't care less who Jeff was -so after breakfast off to the ER we go. 5 hours later we return home . Blake has an ear infection and upper respiratory infection.

Ok whew, glad thats over with - we all take a nap. So much for family time on Sunday.

Jeff reports to work on Monday. He comes home we eat lunch - I leave for work to work 3-7. He watches the boys. Just remember we are still reintegrating. Boys weren't so nice for Jeff.

I come home from work - boys in bed, Jeff in bed. Blake has been fever free for 24 hrs! Hes better! Thank goodness.

Jeff goes to work on Tuesday, as do I. Im totally loving the family time!! NONE!

Wednesday comes. I have off, Jeff has part day home by 1030! Finally we can have time as a family!

Thursday, Friday are great.

Now to Saturday the day of my big race. Im on a team for the Equinox Marathon Relay. Im running the last leg 9.2 miles - all of which is pretty much downhill starting on top of a mountain with an elevation of about 2200 feet! Im getting ready, Jeff and the kids are playing in the room. Then I hear this big boom and then crying !! Ian slipped on his socks while dancing and then landed right on his arm. After much debating, Ian seems to be fine and I make it to my hand off station just in time to complete the race. 2 hours and 7 min later I finish my 9.2 miles with Jeff, Ian, Blake and Kyle cheering me on at the finish line. It was such a great experience! I loved every step I took running thru the trails in the birch trees.

Last week was great - bought the boys bunk beds, which are being delivered this week, and got a big screen TV! Now all I need are mattresses!

Biggest news... We found a house to rent and possibly buy in Alabama! Its a 5 bedroom 3.5 bath 2 car garage - this house is huge (over 3000 sq ft)- it has a dining room, living room, formal living room & an eat in kitchen- and a loft! Not to mention the HUGE fenced in backyard! My friend lives in the neighborhood and she loves her house and there was one for rent on her street, a smaller house (4 bedroom, 1900 sq ft) - so I inquired about that... well she then said there was a house for sale (5 bedroom) and maybe that I should contact the realtor about renting since its been on the market for a while. So I did - and within three hours I got the house for rent cheaper than the 4 bedroom on the same block!!!! We have plenty of room come visit!

Now, since Jeff has a job....all I need is one and daycare....start praying people!! :)

school time

2009-09-02T14:36:00.003-08:00

I don't know how you home school mommies do things. It took forever for Ian to listen to what I wanted him to do, and all the patience I had to sit there and try to teach him a few things without blowing up and yelling . We are working on his name. Today he wrote Ian by himself and needed help with Harmon. I wrote it on another piece of paper and he copied it onto his line. We are so proud!!

Nothing really going on...

2009-08-30T22:07:00.006-08:00

Just waiting on Jeff to come home!

He should be home sometime in the middle of Sept. Time is going so slow for me. As the FRG (Family Readiness Group) Leader I am in charge of making phone calls (read: I delegate) to my group of wives to let them know that their loved one is one his way home. We have had three flights come in and which I have made calls - and one more flight before my loved one comes home. Just a little bit different this time. Oh well, my excitement will come. Whats a few more weeks when its been close to a year anyways...right?!

The house is still on the market. 8 people have looked at it, but it hasn't been the "one" for them. It has to sell and I know it will (it better) Im just ready to move on...we have orders so we are just waiting our time out here in AK. As I will miss this place dearly, I am ready to move on with our lives....

Ok, well. ....nothing to exciting going on - Ian has an ear infection, Kyle has landed a great job, Blake and I have colds and its been rainy and cold this past week. Don't I sound happy... haha

Here are me and the boys tonight, goofing off

Ian Turns 4!!

2009-08-12T19:44:00.002-08:00

August 13th, 2005..... this little guy was born.

Ian Alexander at 2 months

Ian is 4!!!!!!!

Birthday Pictures!

2009-08-02T18:04:00.003-08:00

Blake had such a fun birthday party. He enjoyed all his friends and had a blast running around with his gang! Much fun to chat with the mommies as well!! :) Thanks for all the birthday wishes and gifts.

Happy Birthday to Blake............

Those cupcakes are good mom!

Thanks for the gifts, friends!

Playing all nice with my friends!

Whoa, Mom & Dad got me my own bike. I don't have to share anymore!

Im a little late....

2009-07-28T11:04:00.004-08:00

Few Hours Old!
Im 2 years old!

Blake turned 2 July 16th....Here is my baby!! We hare having his Birthday Party today!! More pictures to come!! Happy Late Birthday Blake!!

My Loves

2009-07-26T09:59:00.003-08:00

Raspberry Picking

2009-07-26T09:51:00.005-08:00

We went to a little farm, Pearl Creek, I believe - or Basically Basil. We went with one of my good Nurse Friends, Anna, and her 2 children. The kids had fun picking and eating. Now I have to find a recipe to make a pie before they go bad! Next week is Blueberries!! Yummm! Another check off my to-do-list in Alaska before leaving. We are trying to keep busy with fun things to pass the time before Jeff arrives home in about 8-10 weeks!

Ready to pick!

Look at all those raspberries!

Look close at Blake's Pink Stained face. He didn't quite get that you had to put the berries in your bucket!

Valdez

2009-07-24T08:54:00.003-08:00

I know that I am late posting this but I have been crazy busy!!

Our trip to Valdez was awesome and I am so excited that we were able to go and experience with with my best friend from grade school, Sarah!

The drive down was great. 6 hrs in a car and the kids did really well! We got to the campsite - and we rented a trailer that was stationary down there. They were really nice! It had propane cookers, and an oven and a fridge with a freezer. A seating area with table- a couch that turn into a bed, and 2 bunk beds and a large bed in the back. This is seriously the way to go with kids. I said I would never camp in a trailer but it was nice!! :)

We then went on the 6 hr Glacier Cruise in which we saw Sea Lions, Sea Otters, 3 Humpback Whales, several Bald Eagles, Puffins, Ice Burgs and a huge receding Glacier.

Then we camped on more night, and drove back the next day. It was a short trip but well worth it!! Enjoy some pictures.

ME and the boys at the Glacier

Blake sleeping!

Mr. Sea Otter

My BFF Sarah and I at the campsite, wine and bug zapper!

Eating dinner!

The House Knows!

2009-07-14T12:08:00.004-08:00

The house knows that its going up on the market this weekend. It has decided to have a couple of things break!

Before we went on our way to Valdez the well thought it would be nice to stop producing water, therefore; when we got home from running our errands - I had the dishwasher going, and some clothes in the washer - the holding tank was BONE DRY. I thought I had plenty of water to do those things. Apparently not!

So we had to wait till the morning to get water. Poor Sarah - travels over 4000 miles to visit me and now we can't flush! We get water - then we pack up and leave. We come home to a full holding tank (thank goodness) BUT no water pressure. It was dribbling out of the facet! Well couldn't' call a plumber on the weekend because it would cost to much for them to come out on the weekend. So I wait till Monday to have them come...2 hours and a couple hundred dollars later...we have water pressure!!

THEN my garage door breaks....its possessed. Having someone come out to look at it. Then later that afternoon I look out my front window and what do I see?!!? ANOTHER FALLEN TREE!!

Ahhhhhh I tell you I don't know how much more I can take. Its to the point now that I just laugh. Ive been thru so much while Jeff has been deployed...all I can do is laugh!! Oh...and drink some wine! :)

The realtor comes on Thursday to take pictures and the house goes on the Market on the 18th... I'll be drinking LOTS of wine. :)

Busy July...4th of the July

2009-07-13T11:19:00.006-08:00

Well we went to a small town about an hour away called Nenana for the 4th of July. Our friend had a friend who grew up there and mom still lived out that way and she said they had tons of fun activities for kids and then we would head out to her mom's house for a BBQ.

We had a blast. They had tons of kids games...such as three legged race, potato hopping race, potato run race, egg race - and the coolest thing was that 1st place won $1 and 2nd place 50 cents and everyone else that participated won a quarter! :)

I did the three legged race with my girlfriend and Kyle did the potato sac race. Ian had a blast doing numerous races. He came home with $1.75. (We are pretty sure he won the carry the egg race, but the judges said otherwise...oh well)

After the races we went to my friend's friends moms house. (Confusing I know) We enjoyed some fabulous food and met some great people. There were tons of kids and the boys enjoyed playing on the swing set - a MUST have for our new house when we move to GA!

Enjoy some pictures of our fun fourth!!

Ian getting ready for the potato sac race

Trying to help him along...few seconds he fell over.

Getting out of the because he fell...he said it wasn't fun anymore. :)
Uncle Kyle's turn!

Blake watching the festivities.

Getting ready for the potato race

Egg race.

Whoops dropped the egg after the race was over.
Ian got his quarter!

Loving this swing at the BBQ

Midnight Sun Run

2009-06-28T12:27:00.004-08:00

After getting back from Seattle on Thursday I worked a 12 hour shift and then on Saturday enjoyed a fun day of planting flowers and playing with the kids in the yard. Later that afternoon I met up with my three RN girlfriends and enjoyed some Thai food and great Cake that one of them made for me.

They then dropped me off to run a 10K with another RN friend! She was a sport putting up with me and a full stomach... bad of me to stuff my face...(but it was my birthday outing!). It was so much fun. The race started at 10pm and was still light out - well more like overcast because it was sprinkling/ raining. I loved it. The neighborhoods were awesome, playing music- having cookouts, offering beer & water & lemonade. They even had sprinklers set up and were squirting you with squirt guns despite the fact that it was raining. I would totally do this again if we are here next summer (don't think we will be, don't panic family members on the east coast! hehe) We crossed the finish line at 1 hr 24 min. However, it did take us 20 min to do the first mile due to the 3000 people that were running it to... so maybe knock a few min off of that time? So maybe I did it in a hour 20 min? ! I forgot to start my clock when we went across the start!

After that I enjoyed some drinks at a bar with my nurse friends. I had an over night babysitter so I enjoyed my frist night kid free in almost 4 years! I had a great birthday celebration!

At my friends house right before the race 900 pm
After race - about 1145 pm.
Fun night out.

Back from Seattle

2009-06-26T16:08:00.006-08:00

Hello there.

Time flies since I left for Seattle and then we are back and back to the grind. I have been so busy since I have gotten back. So here is the update from Seattle.

First of all - even though I just had a 4 hour flight from AK to Seattle - traveling by yourself with 2 kids SUCKS! I caught the famous red eye out of AK and was lucky that it wasn't a full flight and Blake was able to get his own seat (this will come to haunt me later...you'll see). And all in all was a pretty good flight. We left ontime right at 0130 am (WOW a first for me) and the boys didn't fall asleep until 345 am. We then landed around 6. Not to much sleep.

Getting a rental car was a nightmare and the car seats they gave me were hideous. I said I am not putting my children in those and you need to find me some other ones! That took forever. To the Westin we went and slept on that nice heavenly bed! It was super nice to take a nap for about 3 hours before I had to travel back to the airport to pick up my brother. The kids were both asleep when we picked up him and woke up when we got back to the hotel. Ian was so excited to see him. Ran right up to him and said "unlce Kyle is here" and gave him a big hug. Blake (who was just a few months old when Kyle left AK) doesn't know him, but seeing Ian so excited screamed and ran right up to him as well. If Big Brother Ian is excited, well so should he I guess! :)

We arrived Sunday and enjoyed the warm weather outside after some power naps. We went to Seattle center and went to the Childrens Meusem. The boys LOVED it. They could run around and explore and just have a super duper time!

Playing at the Childrens Museum

Ian loved this water thing. You pushed the buttons and could squirt high powered water to move a ping pong ball.

Blake loved this thing. You pushed the button and a gust of air would shoot up and blow the beach ball.

Monday we drove to FT Lewis. To see the Neurologist which everything turned out ok. :) He checked out fine. Then we ate at Olive Garden. Oh my... how I miss eating out! Also, we went shopping at the mall. Very exciting. I hit up a HUGE sale at Eddie Bower and added some nice things for my birthday. Then ate out. yummy!

Out to Eat

Ian loves his Uncle Kyle

Tuesday we had no appointments to go to so went to Pikes Market. LOVED that place. There were so many yummy fresh foods and veggies and milk and eggs and flowers. I ate the most juiciest peach there ever! I gave Ian 5 dollars and he and Kyle picked out a huge bouquet of flowers for only $5! It was the best. If I totally lived downtown Seattle i would be down there every day I had off. Then we went to the Aquarium. They boys enjoyed the fish and wondering around and checking things out. They loved the penguins. Then back to the hotel to nap then out to dinner and off to the Space Needle. They loved the Needle, we were "High in the sky" according to Ian. :)

Pikes Market

Store called Ian on the way to Pikes Market
Flowers!

My $5 Flowers Ian picked out. LOVE them.
High in the sky!

Very cool!
Wednesday was my birthday and Ians big day at Seattle Childrens Hospital. We checked in and off we were to the pre-op area. Things run much differently then they do here in Fairbanks. More, smoothly. Ian was able to pick out the flavor of his "laughing gas" mask. I walked with him to this gurney and held his hand while they put the "laughing gas" on and he went to sleep. Gave him a kiss and walked away. They pulled the curtain and before I could get to the room I heard the nurse say IV in and they wheeled him to the MRI. I got breakfast and came back and shortly after he came too. They also recover differently. He came back to me still sedated while in AK they go to PACU and wake up there and come back awake. They used this certain anesthesia which was awesome and I need to call them to find out because Ian was asleep for 30 min and woke up pulled his oxygen off his nose and sat up and said I want a Popsicle. IV came out, then we were off. I was like wow, I don't have to sit here for an hour and you take vitals. (they were taking them frequently while we were in the room and Ian was sleeping). Then off the neurologist office where they told me the tumor is still there. Hasn't grown. Its just sat there for the past 9 months. And that is just we want it to do. Big sigh of relief. Now we go to MRI's every 6 months for 3 times and then go yearly. Every 6 months I will start to get stressed out has it moved, what is next. I hate not knowing if this tumor is going to grow, I want to control it and hit the button and say DELETE. But that is not how things go. So we just wait...

Ian snoozing away. Sleeps like his Daddy with his eyes open!

After the MRI we came back for another power nap (Kyle was watching Blake) we hit up the pool and then the Zoo & out to our last dinner. The Zoo was ok. Tacoma Zoo is much more nicer and has more animals. (We went there last time we were in Seattle) To bad I didn't the know the B 52's were playing. I totally would have gotten tickets! Then we to Cheesecake Factory and Ian told the waiter it was my birthday and they came and brought cake and sang to me. He was so very proud that he told the waiter! :) It was the best food I have had in a while. YUMMM! Can't wait to move to the lower 48 and eat some yummy food.

Ohh Penguins

Huge Octopus

Then off to catch a plane the next day and off to work on Friday...

Update on the Harmons

2009-06-11T17:38:00.004-08:00

So I used to be so good at Blogging. Lately I really haven't' felt like sitting down and typing, however; I do a lot of surfing on the Internet and a whole lot of nothing.

What is going on.... My trees are gone that were down from a rotten birch, and the people that took my tree actually cut down quite a few dead ones in my yard. Now I don't have to worry about them collapsing due to all the earthquakes we were having or just falling down because they were super dead. (and very close to my house I may add!)

I have a landscaping crew coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate on how much it would be to fix my yard. Just needs some touch up this summer that Jeff isn't here to do and then I can take pictures all pretty because we plan to move out of here around January 2010. So seeing that it snows first week in October I need pictures of what our yard looks like in the winter. :) SO in the next few weeks I will be planting potted flowers and things to make our yard have "curb appeal".

Exciting news, since I had mentioned that we were moving probably around January 2010 - we will finally be heading to the "Lower 48". Returning to Fort Benning, GA. Jeff got the job as a Small Group Instructor. He will be teaching Infantry men that have recently been promoted to Captain. Basically its a class on how to be a good Captain in the Army and have a command. This is exciting to us because it will be a non-deployable duty station. We should be here for about 3 years I am thinking and will be nice to have Jeff home for three years. Now that I think of it, I will have a full-time husband. I haven't lived with Jeff longer than 6 months without him doing any field time so this should be interesting to have a semi-normal life!! haha. I will keep everyone posted as to when we leave!

Blake, Ian and I are getting ready to make a trip down to Seattle for Ians check up with the Neurologist and Neurosurgeon. He will be getting a repeat MRI and we are planning on having no changes! Hoping for everything to be the same as the other two he has had. So, in spite of having do some tests, we are making a little vacation out of if. My brother from VA is flying to Seattle to meet us (I need help with Blake while at these appts) and we are going to do tons fo fun things. We are staying at the Westin downtown Seattle for three days where we will explore the Space Needle, Aquarium and Zoo. I have all these plans but traveling with toddlers can be stressful so we will see how they fair on the trip. Then we move to the Westin in Bellvue just north of Seattle for the lats 2 nights. I couldn't stay at one hotel for the entire trip because there is some Conference going on. I wanted a Spa hotel that also had room service, kid friendly and a pool! We will be there for Jeff & mine 7 year wedding anniversary and also my 29th birthday. The Army will cover the cost of the room.... I got a $450 room for $160!!Thanks to military discount! The Westin gives great discounts. So while I'm there i plan to get a massage... Kyle, (my bro) is there to babysit!! Happy Birthday to me!

Then Kyle will be returning with us to Fairbanks! He wants to get away from Va again and will be getting a job and helping me around the house until Jeff gets home. It will be great company. I miss him tons. Ian is extremely happy that Uncle Kyle is coming to play with him!

So that is whats up with us. I will update while we are in Seattle!

Enjoy some pictures of the boys the past few weeks.

Bought the boys some squirt guns to have fun with. They are trying to get me!

A trip to Pioneer Park with our good friend Reagan. Ian was pulling them around!
Jungle Safari Ian

Jungle Safari Blake
(yes I know I have to tighten his straps)

We toured the Large Animal Research Center
and learned all about Muskox- don't the boys look thrilled?

Bah Hum Bug

2009-05-30T23:17:00.004-08:00

Tired to p0st this a few days ago...something went wrong..so here it is:

Deployments stink! Whats been new: 2 trees down in my yard, dogs digging around my house making new holes for me to fill up, garage door is broke, Seattle trip coming up for Ian to see the neurologist again and do some more scans and one of my good Army Girlfriends is PCSing in a few weeks, my best friend is getting married and I can't be there!!

On a happier note: my house is clean, and we all are healthy & my girlfriend that is getting married is coming out to visit in July!

"The Hole"

2009-05-17T20:15:00.004-08:00

So I typed about my hole caused by break up and rain last fall...here are the pictures. Thanks to Dawn who watched the kiddos and lent her husband Jeremiah to me !! 3 hours later we were able to fill it up! Most of it anyways...the majority of it is filled. The part that isn't is really small and I could do by myself .... or Kyle if he is able to come up here and help me get the house sell ready....

Yes I did say SELL!! I think if our cards are played just right we will be out of here anywhere from late November - Late December. But, also, it could be summer 2010 - but we are hoping for this Dec. Trying not to get too excited....Please Pray that Jeff gets his job that he wants down in Ft Benning....

AFTER

BEFORE

The Past 2 weeks -Grandma Visit.

2009-05-15T18:17:00.007-08:00

One of my favorite pictures of Great-Grandma and her Grandson - can't you just feel the joy and laughter and love?

My grandma came in on April 30. We had so much fun with the boys. I hadn't seen her in over a year in a half. Last time was when Blake was 4 months old and he is nearly 2!!

She arrived when the temps were 75! We enjoyed the 4 days of the warm weather because shortly after it turned to overcast, wintry/rain mix. Because of the high temps breakup happened quite fast. All the snow melted, and caused me to see what a mess my yard was. Covered in toys, trash the dogs had carried out, and tons and tons of poop! Then I walk to the side of the house and see the HUGE problem. I guess the down pours we had just before the snow came last year, made a nice little river thru my back yard...well I knew about that. But then break up happened and the rush of the snow melting forced my little erosion problem turn into a huge mess! And the hugest problem of it all - all this erosion was happening over my septic tank. 4 feet of dirt missing and you could see my tank. Scared that the ground was going to finish thawing and then my septic tank shift and break off and make a nice poopy pool in my back yard - I frantically called to get it pumped. It was time for it to happen anyways. And then reassured me that it wasn't going to shift and break and that all I had to do is fill up the hole with some pit run. Yea - me fill a 4 foot by 5 feet long or bigger hole with pit run...very very funny!

Ok, well back to vacation. We hit all the hot spots in Fairbanks. She enjoyed everything. Even the vist to an Ortho Doc to get her knee drained of excess fluid -something that could have happened after her knee surgery earlier in March. Most of all she enjoyed going to the indoor pool every Monday for family swim. She sat in the sauna and hot tub and I swam with the boys. Ian did oh so well. I think I am going to enroll him in some swimming lessons if I can.

Another exciting thing is we sat in the hot springs and then we saw a moose. So Gma was quite content that she saw a moose! :) Eating lunch at Chena Hot Springs and the waiter comes over and says look out your window...and what do ya know mama and her babe!

I guess I should mention too I was a bit spoiled...Grandma loves to do wash - so at every given opportunity I was doing wash and she was folding it oh so nicely and putting it into organized piles. Made putting laundry away so much more easy! I told her that she was working to pay off her rent.

Here are some pictures of her 2 week vacation.

Gma and her moose

Picnic in Denali Park

The only snow left! At the Alyeska Pipe Line

All of us at Santa Clause House in North Pole

Reading bed time stories to the boys.

Busy 9 days since last post

2009-04-29T18:37:00.005-08:00

Well let me start off with that We have been pretty busy. Or trying to at least! A lot of happened! Brief update:

Both Cars died in one week! I won't go into details...but about 2 grand later all is well! :) Let me tell ya, got the title in the mail for my Jeep and then ka*boom.... Stuff happens that way, huh?!

Gutters clogged. I wish I was 10 feet tall so I could clean the damn things myself. Didn't want to buy a huge ladder - so I had to hire someone to come and clean & do yearly maintenance... also b/c of all the snow melting it was running off the side of the gutter making a nice divot/hole for me to fix later!! Thanks!!

My children are getting on my freakin' nerves...can a mom say that?!! Doing everything in my power to keep them occupied and happy. Thank the LORD the temps have been in the 60-70's to melt the damn snow! Its nice to get outside and play in the mud/slush/water puddles.

BUT now I have melted dog shit to pick up now. Bad thing about having dogs. It was fine when the poo was frozen - was trying to stay on top of it... but when it warms up super fast the frozen poo melts and turn to mush - now I have about 40 loads of crap to wait to dry out before I attempt to pick it up!! NICE! Thanks Trooper & Maggie. :)

Can you tell that I have hit the holy hell Kristin can't stand one more minute of the deployment?! How many more months to go!?! Please, don't remind me. Just send Jeff home right now! :)

The only good thing that has come out of the past couple of weeks is that I broke down and got a housekeeper. Let me tell you she is a God Send. I said I would never have one, I have been missing out BIG TIME!! It has helped me stay on top of cleaning. (Gotta clean for the cleaning lady!) I have her once a week to get the deep cleaning down, then I think I will have her come every other week - Im hoping to become a better housewife and only need her that much. 2 dogs, 2 kids, working part time has taken a tole on my house and my outlook on life. I can afford it, then why not take advantage.....and enjoy life a little more.

Ok, as I type this I think my washing machine is possessed, I better finish this up before it comes bouncing out and attacks me! haha

Also, my grandma is coming in town tomorrow for 2 weeks. So excited...haven't seen her in over 2 years!!!

Ok, hope you all are having a better time than me. :)

Snow & Bubbles

2009-04-20T16:10:00.004-08:00

So the warmer weather is nice and all the snow is melting. :) Nothing really to exciting going on right now. My grandma will be coming out to visit at the end of April for 2 weeks. We'll have some exciting pictures to share then! But for now, enjoy the boys playing outside with a new toy I got them! As always we miss Jeff, and miss you all soon. Jeff should find out the list of jobs that are available in May and we should find out shortly after that how long it will be until we have to move....

So focused on getting the bubbles out!

So serious while playing!

Hahahah This is super fun!

Mom, show me how to do this again?

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T19:31:00.003-08:00

Happy Easter Everyone. We miss you and love you all!!

Bored one afternoon

2009-04-11T19:23:00.008-08:00

We were all bored one afternoon and even though the temperatures have been great for playing outside - I really didn't want to get all bundled up and go outside and play. So we checked out this new place in town called Bonkers. Its an indoor play area that has putt putt and a giant ball pit. The boys enjoyed themselves. Another special day for the boys and me. We enjoy playing!

Big Ball pit. Blake would have stayed in there all day.

Playing Putt Putt

Ian loved Mini Golf!

Special Day

2009-04-11T19:13:00.005-08:00

I thought it would be fun to have a fun Ian and Blake & Mommy day. We grabbed some Ice-Cream at Wendy's and then caught a movie! They had a blast! :)

Watching the previews

I see you taking a picture of me!

MMM popcorn is soo good!

Ice-cream before the movies. We all shared one!

Funny Blake

2009-04-06T18:19:00.003-08:00

Hope this Video of Blake works

Working & Playing

2009-04-04T14:42:00.005-08:00

I have to say I am glad to be back into domestic world. This past week was super busy for me. I usually only work two days a week - but after working three 12 hour shifts in a row- it reminds of how I enjoy just my 2 days - spread out! I felt like I didn't see the boys any during that time. We would wake up at 530, eat a small breakfast, pack them in the car. I would then pick them up at 8pm and do a quick wipe down and put on pajamas and then in bed...only to follow that same routine for 2 more days. I enjoy my job, but also enjoy my time home as a parent. I give props to those woman who are a SAHM. I couldn't do it. I need my two days in the job world. Great for those of you who do it! I wish I had the patience to do it. Also, I make a bad housewife...thats another post. Im a bad cook (I bake well though!) - and trying to get better at cleaning and organizing..with age I progress! haha...Anyways...I just don't know how those families with both parents working 80+ hours a week do it. When do they spend time with the kids, and have family time?

On the days off before & after my three days - we enjoyed doing tons of activities. We played in the snow for about 2 hrs one day. The weather has been consistently above 10 for the most part. A few mornings it was below freezing, but quickly warms up. The sun is now up around 630 till around 9pm. This is posing a problem for Ian because he is quick to tell me. "Mom the sun is still up- its not bedtime. When the sun will go down I will go to sleep!" Ummm not in Alaska Kiddo - time for the Black out shades to appear again! All this sunlight means one thing...spring is coming!

We also painted some eggs. I cut out construction paper eggs and then went to town. We will do the "real eggs" for the Easter bunny to hide soon. I think I may go to the store and try to grow a flower inside. Ian's classroom is doing that and he is so excited about it that he wants to grow one at home!

Well here are some pictures from this past week. Enjoy!

Blake LOVES to sit on the potty - but nothing comes out yet...slowly it'll happen!

Covered in snow!

Showing off the artwork on his body!

Craft time!

Brotherly Love!

Favorite Pics from Hawaii

2009-03-22T16:50:00.007-08:00

Blake and I at luau
Ian at luau

Blake chasing all the "doggies" on the island at the luau (me chasing Blake)

Chilling during the car ride

Waterfalls near Lihue

Relaxing by the pool

Me and Ian on Beach.

Grand Canyon of the Pacific

Near Spouting Horn on South Shore

Running away from the ocean.

Playing in the sand

Pondering Life

Beach Buds

Picking up Jeff at the airport

Hawaii...

2009-03-22T09:35:00.004-08:00

Here is a quick recap of our trip in Hawaii. :)

The flight out was horrible. Most of you know, who live in Fairbanks or have visited the only flight that you can get is the 1am flight out of here. Not sure why I can never fly at any other time...anyways. That flight is never on time. Well, Jeff packed my laptop - and my phone Internet was being so slow (didnt think to call to double check) so I couldn't check the status and Jeff was in a rush to just leave and get checked in. So we leave at 11ish and check in at 1145 - to find out our plane is an hour late - we wont be taking off until 2am ish. YIKES. So we had lots of time to kill - good thing too because while we were going through security - our double jogging stroller doesn't fit through the x-ray so they manually check it....WELL.... we forgot to wash Jeffs bag and gloves before leaving (read: Jeffs gloves and backback have been sitting in the back of his Stryker for 6 months exposed to God knows what) so what happens?? Well there was residue on his glove that got transferred onto the handle of the jogging stroller where they swabbed for the test: The test for explosives..... All of a sudden - there are a lot of people by our stroller, taking our bags - and telling us that they have to do a search and pat us all down. They were doing there job, questioning us where we worked etc. The stroller tested positive for RDX, ax explosive that Jeff is exposed to all the time! Just an exciting story to remember for this R&R Trip.

The boys did fairly well on the plane trip - sleeping most of the way. Blake did have a couple of crying spells, which really weren't that bad - but as a sleep deprived parent, trying not to piss everyone off on the plane the situation is 100x worse do to stress than it usually is.

By the time we got to Honolulu we had to catch a 20 min flight to Kauai. At this time Ian is just yelling no more planes I want to go to the beach. He calms down and we finally check into our condo. We left AK 0200 am and arrived at our condo at 5pm the next day. The place was lovely. Just like the pictures on the website. 2 bedroom 3 bath condo with an wonderful kitchen! Stainless steel everything - and a view of the ocean from our bedroom and living room. :) Plenty of rooms for the kids to play and plenty of space outside that they could run around in and we could sit on the lanai and watch them as we chatted, drank tea, or tasty tropical drinks.

Blake wasn't a fan of the grass or sand. I dont blame him - all he knows is snow! It took him a day or two to learn that it was ok and he would finally walk on it. We pretty much just chilled at the condo for the first couple of days. Hanging out by the pool, the beach and taking walks along the ocean. The boys loved it. We enjoyed it.

We rented a car Thursday and Friday and toured the South and West shores of Kauai on Thursday. gorgeous coasts view, and wonderful valleys - we stopped at pretty much every guide thing in the book along the way. There is only one road that goes around the Island - so you'll pretty much see everything. We stopped at Spouting Horn, and the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

On Friday we stayed close to the area - didn't go to the North Shore like I had wanted because we were going to an Luau that night from 5-9 and wanted the boys on best behavior. So we stuck to the East side and drove around Kapp'a and Lihuie and found a great park for the boys to play with and play on the ocean. It was great. Then we went to the Luau. That was fun - the PIg that they had cooked, wasn't as good as i thought it was going to be and the Poi was just plain - kinda nasty - an equivalent to lettuce - really no taste. The boys loved the dancing and the drum playing of the Hula Dancers. Very nice.

Then the rest of the weekend we stayed at the condo playing in the ocean, pool etc. As much as I would loved to do more - I have to realize that we have 2 toddlers and traveling with children isnt' that easy. I guess when they are older Grandma and Grandpa can take them as Jeff and I can really "vacation" .

We really enjoyed ourselves. Very laid back, slow and relaxing. Just wanted the doctor ordered.

We are here

2009-03-20T15:11:00.002-08:00

I know its been a while since I have posted. Jeff arrived in Fairbanks on March 6 and will be leaving on the 21 - tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed his stay very much. We hung around the house for a few days before boarding a plane and flying to Hawaii - we stayed on Kauai for a week. PURE JOY! Then we just hung out at home for the remainder of his R&R. The countdown for 6 more months will start here shortly... enjoy some pictures. :) I will type of our vacation here shortly! :)

Ian says the funniest things.

2009-02-28T12:41:00.003-09:00

So my one girlfriend is about 25 weeks pregnant and we told Ian there is a baby in her belly and showed him the ultra sound pictures that she had gotten. He was really fascinated by her growing belly - and then when we got home he asked me why I had pictures of her baby on our fridge. Referring to Blake's Ultrasound pictures...the kicker was this morning.

Ian: "Mommy I have a baby in my tummy."

Me: "You do, I thought just Dawn one in her tummy."

Ian: "Its ready to come out."

Me: "It is!"

Ian: now pretending like he going to throw up "Its out mommy."

Me: "Wow, that was impressive Ian."

Ian: He is now digging in his pants and pulls out a girl Little People Figurine. "Its a sister!"

Me: "A girl!"

Then he runs away. I wish we were programmed with cameras in our heads so we can video record and push our nose or something and it recalled and able to be printed out! :)

Movie Day & Wheezy Blake

2009-02-25T15:52:00.007-09:00

So I know its been a while since Ive updated...been down in the dumps and really felt like posting anything. Im out of my gloom because Jeff is coming home for R&R in the beginning of March and we are going to HAWAII! I hope to rejuvenate myself and get some fresh air, fresh food, and some SUN!

Since I was off from work and in a bad mood - I needed to get out of the house. I so I took the boys to the movies. I ventured out to see Hotel for Dogs at noon - thinking that nobody would be there on a Friday I was right - it was just us and another couple. :) Ian loved the movie, Blake enjoyed the beginning and was yelling "doggies, doggies" and pointing and waving to the big screen. IT was really cute. Then he got all cuddly (he NEVER is) and felt super warm, and feel asleep. I thought it was from the blanket and sitting with me all wrapped up... we get home and he has a 102.2 fever. YIKES...then starts getting wheezy...long couple of days of sick baby ahead...

At the movies. They had fun and enjoyed popcorn and juice!

Despite feeling bad with a fever, Blake smiles and waves to the camera, I must say its cute!

Anyways - on Saturday I made a trip to the ER because Blake was getting to wheezy and I couldn't control it with the inhaler I had here at home for him. Sometimes I wish I could have the authority to call in my own prescriptions because I knew exactly what he needed - and the ER gave it to me. Few treatments later, leaving with more inhalers, steroids and an antibiotic... and 4 days later we are doing good. Still some wheezes and a prolonged expiratory phase, but we are hanging in there. NO more fever - which means no more clingy baby trying to be glued to Mommy's hip! :) This is when I wish I had a great baby wearing sling that I could whip out. I couldn't find Ian's when he was a baby, trust me I looked HARD!

Here is my poor baby in the ER with all of his comforts...blankie, passy and his lion from daddy.

Baby Blue Eyes!

Sleepy time more cozy thanks to Dad!

2009-02-13T16:27:00.006-09:00

Jeff has been nice and sends the boys gifts every couple of months so they get something special just from him and it comes in the mail and its very exciting for the boys to get mail. A month ago Jeff sent them a stuffed tiger and lion. Next time we know to get them each the same thing becuase they fight over them because they are different! haha. Here are pictures of boys cuddled up to thier new stuffed animal!

Results

2009-01-31T20:22:00.005-09:00

Hello everyone. I cannot thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers through this trying time in our lives right now. Ian's MRI results came back from the Radiologist here at FMH. They said that the tumor/lesion is still there, in the same spot, the same size! So for right now we are in the clear. I still have to send the films up to Seattle for the Neurologist and Neurosurgeon to review - but I am sure that they will say the same thing.

Ian this time around was a little bit more scared. I think he knew what was going on. Once again my good friend Renee was working that day and was the OR nurse for his case. So a familiar face was great for him. She said this time he really didn't talk much and sat there and look scared - you could tell. So next time, should be 6 months from now, I may have to use versed or some oral anti-anxiety. The anesthesiologist wanted to use it this time, but I said no because I knew he would be ok. And plus as a Peds Nurse I have experienced not so nice things when kids are waking up from having some versed. Let me just say this: They are possessed by Satan for a little bit and are VERY hard to manage. I did not want that happening to Ian.

I couldn't have asked for nicer nurses, and care. Since I work there I know a majority of the staff, and they were more than accommodating and making sure I was ok and comfortable. Which I am sure they do for all patients, and not just treating me extra special. People popped in and wished nothing but the best for Ian's results. I am truly blessed to have such a great supportive "hospital family". FMH will always have a special place in my heart.

So here are a few pictures of Ian on the morning of the MRI. We are waiting to go to MRI room.

In the wagon, ready to go!

Im nice and cozy in my warm blanket!

No more pictures mom, lets get this over with!

Horsing Around.

2009-01-25T13:23:00.004-09:00

A blog that I check out every now and then is hosting a give a way for this awesome rocking horse... 5 mins for giveaways ...check it out and vote for Ian!

Picture I am entering...this is one of my favs of him. He thought the diaper cream was lotion. He is always: "Horsing Around!" SO if you like my picture, please comment on the 5 min of giveaway and let them know that Ian should be a finalist! :) Thanks.

Lots going on.

2009-01-24T21:07:00.006-09:00

Long story short. Army sucks, Tricare sucks, getting approval for an MRI sucks! After much calling, and spoon feeding the idiots on the other end of the phone, and me about to hyperventilate - Ians MRI scheduled for the 22nd DID not happen. It will be happening on the 29th. I hope to have good news as I update you all on his results. We are hoping for no change/no growth. If there is any change at all we will be going to Seattle to talk to the Neurosurgeon to see what our options are at this point in time.

ON a happier note here are some silly pictures of the kids this week!

We have success standing up!! Woo Hoo! Only a accident here and there.

Brotherly love

Aren't they adorable?

Hmmm who am I going to call. Blake loves to wear his boots EVERYWHERE

Mom and her boys!

Crazy Hair Ian.

Ians New Trick. He did this while I was in the shower. He thinks hes part kangaroo!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T11:43:00.004-09:00

Pick a lane...any lane. Driving the other day after a fresh snowfall.

Boys

2009-01-18T13:42:00.005-09:00

Here is a cute picture I took (with my phone so its not the greatest) the other night while we were all cozy on the couch enjoying some wonderful cartoon just before bed!

Break out the Bikini!

2009-01-14T19:44:00.003-09:00

Its +43 outside. Im dead serious. It was about 40 below on Sunday, now its positive 43!!! Great weather. No gloves, no snow pants, no heavy jackets! Its lovely. I actually shoveled my porch today because the snow as melting. The only bad thing about this nice temps - makes for some creative driving. Slushy roads makes for bad drivers, more wrecks so you have to be 10 times more careful. The dogs are loving it, I am loving it - we can get outside to breath and freeze our snot and play for a change in stead of play in the house!

Ive been lazy and haven't charged my battery to the camera I have - and cant find my iPhone charger to the computer to download the pictures Ive taken.

Ian has been great with potty training. He has been good for 2 weeks about with only maybe 3 accidents. Im so proud. I have been teaching him about standing up to pee pee because he saw one of his good boy friends at school do that. So we tried it out today...lets just say - Ian likes to get creative and "swirl it all around". Now the one time I wish I had some 'male parts' so I can show him not to spray his pee everywhere. haha. Maybe I can borrow one of my friends husband from work. How do I go about asking that!? That could make for an awkward question! haha. Totally kidding, you should know!

Blake is doing great. Repeating, or at least trying to say everything I say. He calls Ian something I can't quite repeat - its his own little word.I know hes trying to say Ian. We are working on - so very cute. I love the bond they have. They sit and play and get along so well - the otehr times he is pulling Ians hair and trying to bite him.

I will upload pictures too.

I Have a valentines craft to do - might not get done since its so warm out...

Why do I live in Fairbanks...

2009-01-09T18:07:00.002-09:00

I mean, the Army sent me here (we switched someone for Ft Drum to come here)... but here is an article in the Daily News-Miner the other day about why we live in Fairbanks. I ask myself the same reason...why did we switch? This is quite funny!! ENJOY!

Cold Snap makes you wonder: Why do we live in Fairbanks
by: Tim Mowry

Why do I live here?

That was the question a hitchhiker I picked up on Chena Hot Springs Road last week posed as we descended down the Steese Highway into the cloud of ice fog that has been disguised as Fairbanks for the past 10 days.

Even after more than 22 years in Alaska, I didn’t have an answer for him.

Cold snaps like the one we have endured for the past week and a half are really the only time that I wonder what I am doing living in Fairbanks.

What am I doing living in a place where you have to cut your way through the ice fog with a chainsaw?

What am I doing living in a place where thermometer watching is considered a spectator sport?

What am I doing living in a place where I have to dress up as if I were skiing across Antarctica just to drive to work?

What am I doing living in a place where I spend half my time hauling, cutting and stacking firewood in the summer and the other half time unstacking, hauling and burning it in the winter?

What am I doing living in a place where I have to fill and haul five-gallon jugs of water at 45 below?

What am I doing living in a place where you’re happy when the weather forecast calls for a high temperature of 35 below.

What am I doing living in a place where you can’t see a stop light that’s 10 feet in front of you?

To be honest, I’m tired of it.

I’m tired of fighting my wife, Kristan; 10-year-old son, Logan; and three Labradors for space around the wood stove.

I’m tired of seeing nothing but two dashes on my indoor/outdoor digital thermometer, which “only” goes down to 30 below before the dashes appear.

I’m tired of wondering when the only one of our three vehicles that is still running will break down.

I’m tired of bolting upright in bed every time the furnace comes on in the middle of the night, which is my Pavlov-conditioned cue to go stoke the wood stove because the temperature in the house has fallen below 50 degrees.

I’m tired of wearing bunny boots for slippers because the tile floor in our house is so cold you’d frostbite your toes if you didn’t.

I’m tired of letting my car warm up for 20 minutes only to climb in and find the seats as stiff as plywood.

I’m tired of not going skiing because it’s so cold I can’t muster the motivation to do so, even though I know it won’t be that bad when I get out there.

I’m tired of watching movies from Blockbuster because it’s too cold out to do anything else.

I’m tired of wearing polypropylene underwear 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I’m tired of having square tires every time I park somewhere for more than an hour.

I’m tired of waiting for the renters who live in my old cabin to call me and tell me their water pipes are frozen or the Monitor oil heater stopped working or the door is frozen shut or some other cold-related problem that I will have to try and fix.

I’m tired of everyone you talk to on the phone who doesn’t live in Fairbanks asking what the temperature is.

Most of all, though, I’m tired of people like me griping about the cold and wondering when the cold snap will break.

This is Fairbanks and for some crazy reason we choose to live here.

I’ll let you know when I figure out why, but first I’ve got to go start my car to let it warm up, assuming it will start

Just plain Cold

2009-01-07T19:50:00.003-09:00

Greetings everyone for about the 10th or so day that we've had that the temperatures have been at least 40 below. There have been a few outings in which the temp was 50 below. One of those times I had to go grocery shopping. I was lucky enough to have one of my friends come over to watch the kids while I was gone for about an hour or so. Made shopping a whole lot easier. It would have taken me 30 min to bundle them up and 30 min to undbundle them!

Ian is potty training. Today is day six of forever! This is the third attempt at trying and third time is a charm so far. Day one was fabulous, he told me every time he had to go. He didn't have a poopie that day though - I was prepared for the worst day two. And boy was it awful. He woke up dry and then proceeded to pee his pants the whole day & do a number 2. Not fun at all. We had gone to the store to pick out a toy for when he was a "big boy" and had a few accidents. Well, he wasn't to please that it was sitting in the bathroom and he wasn't able to play with it. Well, he now has his toy. He is such a big boy. We even went to Drs checkups and he told me had to go, went to preschool and told the teacher he had to go! By, Golly I think hes got it!! Now on the teach Blake..Im starting him way early. I want to be diaper free.........

Giveaway I would like to win!

2009-01-01T09:28:00.000-09:00

So I love my DS - I like to play while the boys are sleeping... relaxes my brain and takes me "away for a bit" I love Brain Age. This game here looks pretty neat. I have entered her contest and if I post about it I get addionital entries... here is to some good luck in 2009! Zen DS Giveaway at Loving Heart Mommy.

Last day of 2008: PJ Fun Day!

2008-12-31T18:57:00.008-09:00

Well today it was way to cold to go out. I think it stayed 45 below zero all day long. So I made an executive decision that today would be PJ Fun day. We would play all day and do fun things! What a way to end out the year 2008! Ian did have a problem with staying in PJs all day long he wanted to "pick out his outfit" so he picked out some fleecy sweats to wear.

Ian the future ROCK STAR!

We had nice warm foods all day long and watched our new movies that the boy got for Christmas. Followed by warm chocolate milk and our Craft Project! Look for it in your mailbox here shortly! I had done something like this with Ian when he was a baby and made a pillow for everyone...this blog that I read daily perked up my memory: Just For Fun

LET IT SNOW!!

Start off with Painted White Foot Prints
Ian enjoyed painting Blake's foot!

Decorate how you want - Blake is applying snow flakes. He also helped with the hats on the snowman's head!

Ian applying snowflakes, He enjoyed painting the noses and some hats as well

The finished product: 12 Let It SNOW pictures!

I hope to have a nice rest before waking up in 2009. This will be highly likely because Blake is getting his 12 month molars. All four at them at the same time! I have been ora gel-ing, having him suck on Popsicles, Tylenol-ing, massaging gums - hes has been quite the pillmister the last few nights. So much that he just wants to be held and he has NEVER been a co-sleeper! One has broken thru - lets just hope that the other 3 will pop and this mess will be over with!!

I leave you with my wish for you for 2009:

May peace break into your house. May thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like bubble gum and may only laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell always of success. May happiness slap you across the face and your only tears be those of joy. May the problems you had, forget your address!

North Pole Ice Park

2008-12-29T12:06:00.003-09:00

We had a blast at the North Pole Ice Park. :) The kids had fun (grownups included)!

Playing in negative temps!

Grandma and Blake down the ice slide

Ian down the Ice Slide

Ian, Gram Gram and Grandpa Ron playing in swirly ice thingy. (sorry mom, to cute of a picture not to put up. she requested no pics of her on the website! hehe)

Ready to go home...had to get a pic of North Pole AK!

Christmas update...

2008-12-29T11:43:00.003-09:00

My Mom and Ron were out here for about a week. Despite Ian and I being sick for about 2-3 days - and then Ron getting sick a couple of days later we had a great visit. Lots of fun playing at the house a trip to the UAF Museum, out to eat at few of my favs - trip to some of the fun stores in town. We were going to go Dog Mushing, but the dropping temps said otherwise. Glad that Mom and Ron were able to experience 40 below zero. Not sure how much they appreciated that since they are from Va Beach!! haha.

Christmas day was super fun. The boys got some great gifts from Santa's from all over the lower 48! Here are a few pictures from Christmas! Ian & Blake have enjoyed watching all the movies, reading books, playing games and playing with toys - not to mention staying cozy in new PJS!

The rocketship that Ians been asking every Santa for!

Rachet the transformer!

Blake opening up his present

Blake first thing in the morning, waking up!

Santa at the school

Baby its cold outside....

2008-12-29T11:36:00.002-09:00

This picture says it all!!! this was taken 28 Dec around 3pm!

Sometimes I wish...

2008-12-22T18:37:00.006-09:00

I had the skills of a plumber & washer machine repair person.

WHY you ask ??

Well for starters, my dear husband, left without showing me how to shut the water off and change the water filter on our water-thing-a-ma-bob. Well let me rephrase: shut off the water to the house - there are so many nobs out there. I know how to change the filter, but I am scared to try in fear of water spewing all over the place! Of course I am blaming this on him; even though I have watched him countless time and Im sure that he has showed me countless times, but the time that I wanted to learn, and was ready to pay attention was right before the deployment - stress galore - so lets add Plumbing 101 for Kristin! So, this little lesson got shoved to the end of the "to do list" and never got done. Now, my water pressure is pretty low. Im pretty sure I could pee with more force than my shower spits out!

Now on to problem number two: water temperature. I am not sure if because of the recent drop of temperatures that its taking longer for our water to heat up faster - it is coming from way down below the frozen ground from our well.... Well I looked at the damn contraption for nearly 45 min looking for a temperature gauge of some sort... unless its starting right at me, I couldn't find it. And there is NO owners manual to this thingy! I think its called a broiler?!

It doesnt help that most of my lady friends are military families and the husband is overseas...

OH - and to top it off my washer machine broke today - and its monday - and on mondays I do wash... so im going to be SUPER behind because the fix it man wont' come until the 26th. Thank god for warranty! I thought I would go a little "green" and buy the water efficient front loader ones - they are FAB - but barley a year and a half old it breaks...crappie...I must have a super dirty family...

UGH....

Jeff says hi!

2008-12-16T22:28:00.004-09:00

Here is a picture of Jeff. The story behind this picture is that Al Qaeda once lived in this house, or did something to this house - hence the hand prints. That is the mark of Al Qaeda. All the Iraqis wont' go near the mark for fear of something bad would happen... I guess Jeff doesn't think that... He says Hello!

Jingle take two

2008-12-12T13:41:00.004-09:00

Ok, so the first video ending not so well I thought we would try another one... Blake didn't want to stick around...prob a good thing b/c he would have knocked out his brother this time! :)

Christmas Video

2008-12-12T13:25:00.003-09:00

Here is a little Christmas video of the boys. We are attempting to sing Jingle Bells. Blake got a little to 'jingley' with his bell....

Missing Daddy

2008-12-11T11:46:00.007-09:00

Today I am feeling a little better - yesterday was the pits - Ian has the stomach bug. He is felling a little better...but not quite there yet. He is also missing Daddy big time today - took a picture of our fridge (full of daddy) and was walking around the house crying. So sad! Also, Blake has taken to love his "Blankie" he has his pacifier... but now he likes his blanket and his is pacifier. Heaven forbid if we take them away!

ps - I have found a new addiction: picnik.com (great for editing pictures!)

Potty Training

2008-12-10T11:11:00.002-09:00

SO - potty training was going ok...then Ian got a stomach bug which forced me to put up pullups b/c it was awful! So now we have taken a million steps backwards. The bug is still around so I need pull ups until its all cleared up.... I need to hire someone to potty train for me... why does parenting have to be so hard? :)

Anywho...here is a cute picture of Proud Ian when we were going pee pee on the potty!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T19:32:00.004-09:00

Waving hi to Daddy. Happy Thanksgiving!
Better one - without the passy! My loves, my boys!

I am thankful for all of my friends and family! My good friend Dawn and her daughter Reagan met us at the DFAC on post to enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner. It was so yummy and I didn't have to cook or clean up either! I think we are going to start doing this every year! :) Enjoy our pictures!

Seattle Pictures.

2008-11-27T20:35:00.008-09:00

Although the trip to Seattle was very stressful. We did enjoy ourselves very much- despite all the talk about Ian's Brain. Ian really got to know his Aunt Brooke, Uncle Spencer and his cousin Kaylee. We went to the zoo, and went shopping (shopping in Fairbanks is scarce!), and had some great food (also, not many restaurants up here). He also enjoyed the airport very much. We had gotten to the airport early in Seattle, ate dinner and watched the planes take off and land. He even got to meet the pilot! He thought was the coolest thing ever! So here are a few pictures. ENJOY.

Ian and his cousin Kaylee

Ian and some animal - Can't remember what it was.

Ian liked playing with Dora's hair!

Ian and Kaylee "raced' with jackets on every night before bed. So cute.

Update

2008-11-15T09:42:00.003-09:00

We were off to Seattle Childrens yesterday. A beautiful hospital, that would be my dream job to work there! It was wonderful, kid friendly, bright colors. As soon as you walked in you felt welcomed. They had a greater on every floor. I must have looked super lost because she walked right up to me. She asked where I needed to go...I choked when I said Neurosurgery. Never in a million years did I think that I would be in a consultation about my child with a neurosurgeon. But if I were to do it - it was a good thing that I was doing it there. They are in the top 10 Childrens Hospitals in the Country. Also, the doctor that I was going to was voted best doctor in Seattle for 2006-2007.

So he was in surgery so we had to wait on him...not a big deal at all. Just made my nerves a little hyped up. We chat with him...Good news. He is NOT calling it a tumor. He is calling it a lesion. So pretty much hes not sure what it is. A lesion is some form of brain injury. That part I don't understand. I was so emotionally drained and It was just Ian and I - I really wasn't thinking right to ask the right questions, nor did I follow my own advice when I tell patients at my work - write down questions to ask the doctor before you go into the visit.

So, with this lesion we are going to do a follow up MRI in 3 months. We are not in the clear yet - if this "thing" changes shape, position, size we return to see the surgeon and discuss a biopsy. And then go from there. If there is NO change in 3 months we will have an MRI every 6 months for a few times then it will go yearly. All results will be sent to Seattle Children's and they will discuss Ian's case in front a a tumor board. He did say that Ian could have this thing for ever and never bother him. However, if it did change size, shape or position - it would be classified as a tumor and he said that he would be 90% sure it would be benign.

I cannot thank you all enough for all the great thoughts, messages, prayers! We just need to pray now for no growth and just maybe, maybe the next MRI it could be gone. I know that is wishful thinking - but now I can relax just a little and enjoy my brother-in-law and sister-in-law a little more and enjoy playing with thier little girl Kaylee- pictures to come. They have been wonderful to us so far! :) I can't thank them enough.

"My God, in Him I will trust"

2008-11-13T21:13:00.003-09:00

So I flew into Seattle yesterday (Thursday) and saw the pediatric Neurologist today. I got the worse news possible: "Your son has a low grade glioma" which in layman terms, he has a tumor, but if it were to any type of tumor, this is the one that you would want.

We are off to Childrens Hospital of Seattle to see a Neurosurgeon tomorrow and talk about what our plan is from here. It still could be something just super tiny that he will have for the rest of his life - or could be something horrible that I am not quite ready to grasp yet. As of right now I am a mess. I am keeping strong and trying not to let my mind wander and cry every time he says something cute or even enters the room.

Right now I am just thinking why me, why did God choose Ian to go through this. Why did God choose this time in my life to present this with Jeff deployed and a house in AK with 2 dogs and a 15 month old. What is his ultimate goal? What am I learning from this? How is this supposed to make me stronger?

My mom sent me this bible verse and I am clinging onto it for dear life! Psalm 91, verse 2, "I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."