New Orders!

As most everyone knows by now, we are due to transfer this year and Kolt received orders to Kodiak, Alaska.  Not our first pick, but we aren't disappointed with it by any means.  We are quite excited to get back to Alaska at least one more time and we look forward to new adventures in a new town on the other side of the state.  And this time with THREE kids!!!  We will be taking a loooonnnngggg road trip through Canada and up the ALCAN Highway into Alaska.  So I'm jumping right back into the blog to give everyone the details on our trip.    As of right now, we are busy busy busy with preparing to leave Florida.  There's still so much to do in such a short amount of time.  We will be traveling for a month so life will be interesting to say the least.  But we are so excited for this new adventure.   

Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust

Every year since Brinleigh was born, I've wanted to make her Halloween costume myself. Pinterest really gave me all the confidence in the world that I could create some magical one of a kind ensemble that would surely make all the other neighborhood toddlers swoon over.  But every year Halloween snuck up on me and next thing I know I'm racing around town to find all the matching pieces of a store bought bumblebee costume. Because if her costume is gonna be store bought, it's for damn sure gonna have all the matching pieces ::insert eye roll here::

So this year, being Easton's first Halloween, I of course turned to the Pinterest God's for ideas. I was mainly on the hunt for costumes to accommodate the Lilebaby carrier since I planned to wear him when we went trick-or-treating. This is where I found the idea for the Peter Pan theme. The blog that was linked was a tutorial for a DIY Peter Pan costume, which I could obviously master because, well... Anything Pinterest can do I can do better🎤

If I was going to make Easton's costume then I had to make Brinleigh's too! I can't have her collecting candy in a generic store bought Tinkerbell costume while Easton was carried around in his glorious made by Mommy Peter Pan outfit. All the other moms would surely judge me for obviously loving one child more than the other.  ::eye roll::

So THREE months prior to Halloween, with all my Pincourage, I began my hunt for all the materials I would need to make not one but two magical and unique costumes for less than $20. (Because I'm also determined to save money.) 

Spoiler Alert: I was still running around a week before Halloween trying to gather all of my materials. (Let's just insert a side eye here to switch it up a bit.)

Brinleigh's costume required a green crochet bandeau, 10 spools of ribbon and 2,397 yards of green tulle which was covered in about 15 pounds of glitter. Some canvas shoes from hobby lobby and two of the worlds largest white poms.  

The shoes were the easiest part of the costume. I painted them with Modge podge, covered them with green glitter and then sprayed them with a glitter sealer.  After I let them sit for a few days, I sewed the poms onto the top of the shoes. 

The Tinkerbell dress (I'm giving my biggest eye roll possible) made me scream, cry, throw things and say A LOT of really bad words. I assembled the dress to look just like a cute picture I found on Pinterest, put it on Brinleigh, realized she looked like a giant ball of green tulle, took the entire dress apart, and then spent 2 days trying to vacuum up glitter from the floor and the couches as well as Gunner's back, my legs & Easton's head.  
Repeat this entire process 5 more times. 
I finally got the dress to a point that was somewhat acceptable and I decided that was going to have to do. I ended up going back and trimming the tulle shorter 2 more times, the last time was two hours before trick or treating. I didn't make Brinleigh try it on again after the last trim and decided to just cross my fingers and hope for the best. 

Easton's costume consisted of a green size 18mo polo shirt and some girls white size 18mo leggings from the kids consignment store and a yard of green felt. I had to cut off half the leggings and dye them green and then cut up the polo shirt. I hand stitched some pieces of felt together to make three different hats before I finally got one that was a decent size for his head. Halloween day I was putting together the outer piece for the front of the baby carrier and I decided that I didn't like how the polo looked. So during his afternoon nap I followed the DIY tutorial and stitched together some more felt to make his top as well. 

Just go ahead and roll your eyes now because Easton ended up staying in the carrier the entire time we were out trick-or-treating and nobody could even see his outfit. So really I could have just made the front piece for the carrier and his hat and called it a day. I didn't try everything on him before trick-or-treating and the carrier piece ended up being too big so I had to tuck it in a little bit and it worked fine. 

Our plan was to dress up as a family.  I was going to be Tiger Lily (because Wendy Darling was just too plain) and Kolt wanted to be Captain Hook.  But shortly after this plan was discussed, his deployment schedule changed and he ended up being gone on Halloween.  I decided I wasn't going to dress up since Kolt wasn't going to be with us and then the day before Halloween I changed my mind again.  Shocker!  Since it was so last minute I decided to just use what I had at home and wear something resembling Wendy.  A blue shirt, some ballet flats and a ribbon in my hair.  Done!

We went to our friends Kate and Coopers neighborhood and Kate went out Trick-or-Treating with us.  Brinleigh was a little apprehensive at first but after the first couple houses, after realizing she just had to knock on a door and someone would appear and dish out handfuls of candy for her, she quickly adjusted.  After every house she would ask if we could go to another one.  She had a great time and we ended up walking for about an hour and a half.  Her bucket got so full that she asked Kate to carry it for her, LOL. 

Easton fell asleep in the baby carrier. 

Milestones

We've hit a major milestone in the Foreman house. Easton is now sleeping in his crib. In his room. Across the house from us.  It wasn't exactly planned, it just kinda happened. And he took to it so quickly that I actually wasn't prepared for it. I didn't have a monitor for his room yet so I was putting him to sleep in his room, staying awake or sleeping on the couch with his bedroom door open and when he woke up around 1am I would nurse him and wait for him to fall back asleep in his crib and then have to take him from his room to my room to his rock n' play. And then he would usually wake up again and I would put him in the bed with me. Which is what I was trying to get away from. So after a few nights of realizing that apparently he liked sleeping in the crib, I had to order a monitor camera for his room. Thank you Amazon and same day delivery. Amazing!  He is actually sleeping so much better now than he was before the crib. I think he was getting too cramped & he likes the space in his crib. And I've also realized he likes to sleep on his side, which he couldn't do in the swing or the rock n' play. So now he is going to bed between 8-9pm, sleeps until about 4am, I get up and change his diaper and nurse him and then he goes back to sleep in the crib until 7:30-8am when we wake up for the day. This is also where my amazing new rocking recliner comes into play. I wanted 

a rocking chair so badly when Brinleigh was a baby but we didn't have anywhere to put one in the house in Sitka. So I made it a point to get one with Easton. Kolt, being the amazing husband that he is, took my pregnant ass to several furniture stores and walked around while I tried sitting in 50 different chairs until I found THE chair. And an amazing chair it is. So now when I wake up in the middle of the night/ early morning, I can nurse him and rock him without leaving his room. 

I was extremely picky about the chair that I wanted. They are so expensive and pretty much the same price as nursery chairs, so I decided if we are gonna spend that kind of money, it's gonna be worth it. So I wanted a rocking chair and recliner that we could eventually move into the living room and use after Easton out grows it. 

As far as Easton's baby monitor, we are still using the one we bought when Brinleigh was a baby. We still keep a camera in Brinleigh's room and the system we have allows us to add up to four cameras. So I just ordered an additional camera for Easton's room and the monitor scans back and forth between cameras every eight seconds. 

Also, as you can see, he sits in the double stroller seats now without his infant car seat, which I've decided is now too heavy to carry him around in so it just stays locked into the base in my car all the time. Time to shop for new convertible car seats!

Back in Action

As if I don't have enough going on in my life right now, I've decided to bring the blog back to life.  Again.  Mostly because it really is the easiest way to keep our family updated on what's going on in our life, across the country, wherever that may be.  AND.... Well..... Easton has kinda gotten shafted with the info updates.  Poor little man.  So, even if it's a short quick post from my phone, I vow that starting today, Little Alaska Baby is back in action.  But speaking of..... We need a new blog name. ( Item #729 on my To-Do List )

Just to get everyone up to speed though....

Kolt left at the end of July for a five week deployment to Kodiak, Alaska.  It's been me, a teething baby, an annoying dog, and an extremely sassy four year old for the last month.  Brinleigh started VPK (Pre-K) at the beginning of August and she goes Monday-Friday from 9am-Noon.  It's a Christian preschool located at a church about ten minutes from our house and we are all absolutely loving it so far.  I have finally gotten back to working out again and it has been so nice.  After I drop Brinleigh off at school in the mornings, Easton and I head to the Dunedin Causeway and walk/run our three miles for an hour before heading home for a snack, diaper change and a quick nursing session before going back out to pick up Brinleigh.  It has really helped us to get more of a consistent daily routine down which is sure to get all screwed up as soon as Kolt comes home this weekend.

I have jumped back into my crafting but stepped it up a little and I am testing out some new projects and opened up and Etsy shop.  It only has a few items in it so far, but I'm surprised at how many orders I have received without even promoting anything.  Back to school chalkboards were my main items and I posted them for sale on the local moms facebook group and it ended up being very successful.  I'm working on creating a Facebook page and an Instagram account for my shop, but this is all still very, very new and there are no guarantee's that it will work out or be a permanent thing.  Mainly because I really have no room in our apartment but we are testing the waters.

I've also decided on Halloween costumes for this year and I'm finally taking on the challenge of making them myself!  A goal that I have had every. single. year since Brinleigh was born, but this year..... It's on!

And..... Lastly... We have made the transition into cloth diapering!  I'm in love and I wish so badly that I had done it with Brinleigh. Especially since we potty trained her so late. Our whole goal with this decision is completely finance based. We simply just want to save money and after adding all the figures and seeing the numbers, well it just made sense. So we (I) have quickly been trying to gather all the necessary items and while Kolt has been gone, I have gotten us almost 100% cloth diapered. I'm still working on a few more things that I need to order so as of now we are running off the bare minimum, but at least Easton is rocking a cute bottom now.

  

 

Welcome to the world Easton Ryder

Easton Ryder has finally arrived!!!! After being a week overdue and having to make a last minute decision to have a C-section due to his size, our little man was born on March 28, 2016 at 3:51pm weighing a whopping 9lbs 10oz & measuring 21.5 inches long. 

I had a doctors appointment on my due date, Monday- March 21, where the doctor checked my cervix & determined I was about 2 1/2 cm dilated. However, my cervix was still pretty far back making this whole process super painful. She wanted me to come back two days later on Wednesday for an ultrasound and also decided I should go ahead and schedule to be induced.  I preferred to not be induced, but obviously with no signs of labor, we didn't have much of a choice.  When I sat down with the lady who did the scheduling, I chose to be induced Thursday/ Friday that week. She insisted that the hospital was pretty adamant about not inducing before 41 weeks so we scheduled it for Sunday/ Monday. This meant I would be checking into the hospital Easter Sunday evening at 7pm and my pitocin would be administered Monday morning.  Now that I was facing induction (and pitocin = more painful contractions) I was determined to get the labor train in motion.  My mother-in-law came into town to help us out a few days prior so we were all set to get this baby out!

On Wednesday I went into the doctors office for an ultrasound where they checked my fluid and umbilical cord placement to make sure it wasn't wrapped around the baby's Neck. They explained to me that they like fluid levels to be around 12, they worry if they're less than 5 but they can be as high as 20-25. Mine were at 19 and the umbilical cord was not wrapped.  When I asked if she could tell how big the baby was (the doctors kept estimating he would be about 7 1/2 lbs since Brinleigh was 7lbs and I was guessing he would be about 8lbs) she prepared me by explaining that since I was full term the measurements were always bigger than the baby actually is. He was measuring at 9.9 lbs +/- 1.3 lbs but the ultrasound tech was estimating he would be more between 8-9 lbs. He was gonna be bigger than expected but we still had confidence I could deliver him vaginally as planned. She was able to get some 4D pics and they showed chubby cheeks and plump lips. I fell in love!

On Thursday the doctors office called me to ask if I could come into the office the next day. My doctor received the ultrasound notes and was concerned about my delivery plan and the size of the baby. They wanted to counsel me on alternate delivery options (i.e. C-section) and discuss their concerns. I lost my shit. 

On Friday we went to the dr's office and met with the on-call dr who suggested we schedule a c-section. Even though the ultrasound measured the baby at 9.9 lbs, neither us or the doctor believed he was actually that big. However, in the chance that he was, there was concern of a broken clavicle or shoulder distocia and the complications they could cause for the baby. When the doctor explained the possible complications and health risks a vaginal delivery could have on the baby, I knew what had to be done.  The doctor had to leave to go deliver a baby so we had about 3.5 minutes to make our final decision. We cancelled the induction and scheduled a c-section for Monday at 3pm.  I cried. 

I stuffed my face on Easter Sunday because I was instructed not to eat or drink after midnight that night. 

Monday, March 28, I was able to sleep in a little bit before having to start getting ready. We had to check into the hospital at 12:30pm and my C-section was scheduled for 3pm. At about 11am I started feeling some contractions, although I didn't believe they were real due to all the false ones I had been having randomly throughout the week. But they got stronger.... And longer.... And closer together. When we left the house a little after noon I finally started timing them. They were strong enough that when walking into the hospital I had to stop during the contraction. We checked into the maternity floor and were instructed to sit in the waiting area.  Me and my now very painful contractions, Kolt snapping pics of everything on his phone, and our 5 pillows and 7 bags.  A nurse finally came out and got us and helped carry our bags to the room while I breathed hard through contractions. "Wow, you brought a lot with you" the nurse laughed...... My family doesn't call me the bag lady for nothing. 

The hospital room was really nice and very spacious with a table and chairs for all my bags and a couch that unfolded into a bed for Kolt to sleep on. My nurse instructed me to change into my hospital gown after I wiped my body down in a very specific way with large antibacterial wipes. After I had prepped myself, I emerged from the bathroom and found Kolt completely dressed head to toe in blue surgical scrubs. I climbed into my hospital bed to endure my now extremely painful contractions while nurses strapped me to machines and kept poking me over and over before finally getting my IV in correctly. My nurse, Lacey, (the only one who's name I can remember from that day) checked to see how far dilated I was and then went and got another nurse. The second nurse then also checked my dilation and as they both somewhat whispered to each other and looked at the clock, I started to worry. They never told me how far dilated I was and with my frequent, long and painful contractions, I didn't care to ask. What I do remember was that they reassured me that as long as the doctor wasn't running late (she was coming from the office) we would be fine.  Well that was reassuring. Do not tell me that after a week overdue, a stressful weekend of accepting the emotional decision to have a c-section, and all of my research, that now my body might just push this baby out before I even get into the operating room! Deep breaths. 

At 3pm Nurse Lacey walked me with my iv pole and Kolt down to the operating room. We had to pause a few times for my contractions but slowly we made it and Kolt was instructed to wait in a chair in a little cubby area outside of the OR.  It was like a little Daddy's C-section jump seat.  Lacey opened the door to the OR and it was like walking through the gates of Heaven.... Bright lights everywhere. It was a huge room, kind of cold, full of machines and medical equipment of course.  (Why do they make it look so small and dark on Greys Anatomy?)  I had to climb up onto the operating table and sit and wait for my spinal block to be administered. I was nervous but strangely very at peace with the whole situation. I looked around nervously and made eye contact with Lacey, who reassured me she would be right there through the whole process. I was introduced to my team which was all females (I thought that was awesome) and my doctor came in and greeted me. She explained a little bit about the procedure and how everything was going to work. The anesthesiologist told me what she was going to do and the baby nurse came over to be my support person. (This was Kolt's job when I had my epidural with Brinleigh's delivery.) The baby nurse was an older lady who had an extremely calming auroa and made me feel very comfortable. As I sat on the side of the operating table, I held onto her as she instructed me to arch my back like a cat. She coached me through the entire strange feeling spinal block process with her angelic voice. I felt some stinging pokes of numbing medication in my back before the large needle was inserted. During the spinal I got the most painful shooting pains down my left leg (I didn't ask why) and they were so sudden I remember trying to stay as still as possible and not jerk from the unexpected pain. After the spinal was done the nurses helped to lay me down and continued to prep me for surgery. I had to stretch my arms out to the sides and a blood pressure cuff was put on my right arm. Both arms got strapped down and a drape was hung over my chest right in front of my face so that I couldn't see anything below. Then they put this air tunnel thing over my arms & chest that blew out warm air, I guess to help keep me comfortable in the cold room. The anesthesiologist was on the right side of my head with her machines that monitored me during the entire surgery and when the baby nurse checked on me I asked if my husband was still outside the OR.  I felt like they had forgotten that Kolt was waiting in the hallway and I started to panic thinking he would miss the birth. She reassured me that he was still there and would be brought in before they started the surgery.  I tried moving my toes and couldn't feel anything. Absolutely nothing. It was almost frustrating because I was telling myself to move my feet yet nothing was happening. Such a weird experience being completely paralyzed basically from the waist down.  The doctor checked on me and the team started their briefing on the procedure, stating my name and pregnancy info and what exactly they were going to be doing. 

A nurse brought Kolt in and directed him to a seat next to my head on my left side. He stroked my head and talked to me through the procedure, keeping his head low by mine. He didn't want to see the surgery process and I think at this point he was more nervous than I was. The doctor started the procedure and would tell me when I was going to feel pressure or movement. All I could feel was my body being jerked from side to side, but no pain. The doctor told me there was going to be lots of pressure, the anesthesiologist asked Kolt if he wanted her to take pictures for us so he handed her his phone and then all of a sudden I heard tiny baby cries and I immediately broke down into tears. Kolt looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "he's here babe" as I looked at Kolt and cried "that's him!" With Easton's delivery I wasn't exhausted from pushing or in any pain from contractions, so I was more aware and in the moment when he arrived and the tears just flowed down my face. The doctor said "Oh yeah, He's a big boy!" While all the nurses agreed and I immediately felt relieved that we chose the c-section. The anesthesiologist unstrapped my arms and they wrapped him in a blanket and placed him on my chest while I continued to cry tears of joy.  I fell in love. 

They took Easton to clean him off and weigh him and Kolt cut his umbilical cord while the doctor finished my procedure and closed me up. At this point I was relaxed, relieved, joyous and just felt like going to sleep. After weighing him they told me 9lbs 10oz and 21 1/2 inches long. I was shocked!  Completely surprised. I can't believe I was carrying such a big baby around in my belly. But he was beautiful and strong and he was ours. 

Once the procedure was done and I was stitched up they moved me from the operating table to my hospital bed which they had wheeled into the OR. They handed me my baby boy and wheeled us back to our hospital room where we would be in recovery for a couple hours.  Probably the most peaceful couple of hours we had the entire hospital stay. 

Later that evening Kolt's mom brought Brinleigh to the hospital to meet her new baby brother. She was excited to see us and willing to hold him but absolutely would NOT give him kisses. 

Welcome to the world, Easton! You have added so much more joy and love to our little family and we can't wait to experience life with you!

Our First Visitor

This is a tad bit late but if you haven't figured out by now, that's how I roll.  So we had our first visitor in Florida a couple months ago.  Kolt's mom came to stay with us for a week in April and we loved every minute of it.  We took her around exploring, experienced some new things that we've been wanting to do since we moved here, and had a long overdue date night (our 2nd since leaving Sitka!).  Brinleigh absolutely loved bonding and having special time with her "Geema" (Pronounced:  Ghee- Maa).

We spent a day at the Zoo and Brinleigh was such a trooper.  Since she loves animals, she was all about it and did surprisingly well for being in the heat for several hours with a late nap.  She got to feed a giraffe and some goats but wanted nothing to do with even getting close to the stingrays.

We went to the Sponge Docks right down the road from our house and had lunch at an amazing little Greek restaurant.

Spent a day at Clearwater beach which was awesome.  We paid $20 for parking so we tried to make the most of our time there.  We rented a cabana which provided us with some shade in between the walks to the ocean to fill up a bucket of water only for Brinleigh to dump it all out as soon as we got back to our chairs.  We had lunch at a great place called Crabby's Bar and Grill which had delicious buffalo shrimp and this alcohol concoction that was pure bliss.  After lunch we did some shopping in a surf shop that had indoor surfing with glass windows all around so you could watch people.  We walked down the strip and checked out little shops and got some ice cream.  It was a great day!

On the last day we went on a Dolphin sightseeing tour which Brinleigh didn't seem to sure about until we actually saw Dolphins jumping in the boat wake.
Watch the Video Here!