30 Days of Thanks: Day #8

Thankful for law enforcement & firemen. Both risk their lives on a daily basis to help save & protect the public. Firemen helped my family when our house in North Carolina caught on fire & law enforcement provided Kolt & I with jobs for several years. Although firemen are generally more liked & appreciated, people aren't usually grateful or thankful for law enforcement until they are needed. Law enforcement aren't the bad guys unless you are doing something wrong & their stone wall attitudes are usually their own protective barrier needed for the horrible things they see & deal with on a daily basis. So instead of arguing with the cop that pulled you over to give you a speeding ticket, maybe you should thank him/her for possibly saving yours or someone elses life when it could have been taken during a motor vehicle accident that could have been deadly because of the speed you were driving.
OH...... & when you call 911..... don't yell, scream & argue with the dispatchers. All that does is prolong the process of getting you the help you are calling for.

30 Days of Thanks: Day #7

Thankful for the mistakes I have made in the past. I am grateful for the lessons I have learned from them & appreciate the paths they have led me down. I refuse to regret the bad choices & decisions as they have helped me grow & some of them have brought me to where I am in life. I have an awesome life, wonderful family & friends, a beautiful & healthy baby girl, & an amazing husband. The mistakes that I have made have helped mold me into the person I am today, & I think I am pretty damn awesome!

30 Days of Thanks: Day #6

Thankful for being an American citizen & having the rights & freedoms that I do, like voting. I think sometimes those of us born & raised in America can tend to take it for granted & forget that there are so many other countries who are not as fortunate as us. So when the candidate you voted for today doesn't win, think about other countries who don't have the choice like we do. And if you didn't vote today, then even though you have the right to speak your mind about the election, you also had the right to vote & chose not to, so shut it!

30 Days of Thanks: Days 4 & 5

Day #4:

Thankful for my dog, Gunner. Mine & Kolt's first "child", we got him when he was just six weeks old. Kolt has wanted a chocolate lab for a long time & I love how excited he was when he finally got one. Gunner has taught me patie

nce & helped relieve me of some of my compulsive cleaning habits. He has been a best friend to Kolt & I and comforted me through a very rough first winter in Alaska. He has brought us joy & laughter & entertains us on a daily basis. He is the greatest dog I could have ever asked for & I am so excited for Brinleigh to grow up with him.

Day #5:


Thankful for my Summer Infant Video Baby Monitor. Because without it, I wouldn't be able to accomplish my most recent feat of putting Brinleigh to bed at a specific time every night in her own room (Instead of whenever she falls a

sleep in her swing in the living room & then her waking up every time she hears a loud noise, & then having to risk waking her up again when I pick her up to take her upstairs when I go to bed). She is only 3 months old & is with me ALL of the time, except for the rare occasion when I run an errand or go to a doctors appointment & leave her at home with Daddy. Therefore, we (mostly I) have some attachment issues & do not like her being any place that I cannot actually see her. This monitor allows me to not only hear her if she cries but see her move, breathe, wake-up, etc. I do believe this monitor is helping me inch closer & closer to one day...... far, far from now..... letting her sleep in her own room by herself. Without me. But even when that day comes, I will still be able to see her :)

30 Days of Thanks - Day 3

Thankful for my beautiful baby girl, Brinleigh Dilan. She is the greatest gift I have ever been given. She has brought me more happiness & joy than I ever imagined I could feel & introduced me to a love that I never knew existed. She has given my life new meaning & shown me that I was meant to be a mother. I thank the Lord every day for blessing me with a great pregnancy, a wonderful labor & delivery experience, & the most perfect, healthy & happy baby girl. I can't even imagine my life without her now.

30 Days of Thanks - Days 1 & 2

I am jumping on the bandwagon & joining friends on Facebook with the daily posting of the "30 Days of Thanks."  I decided that it would be nice to reflect & remind myself of the everyday blessings in my life that I should always be Thankful for, especially since there are so many others who aren't as fortunate as I am.  So here it goes, the first two days of my 30 Days of Thanks.  

P.S.  My list of things I am Thankful for is not in any specific order of importance & the OCD freak that I am, I have therefore planned out which topics I will be Thankful for on which days.  So for those who think "what about the obvious, like your husband?"..............  Well I have not forgotten, I just have a special day reserved for praising my Thanks for him!




Day #1: 

Today we are Thankful for Brinleigh's Uncle Tyler, who helps restore people's power when storms knock it out. Even though it takes him away from his family sometimes, he still loves what he does. Thank You, Tyler, we love you! Happy Birthday from Kolt, Brinleigh, & Lexi.

**This post was because it was Tyler's Birthday.  On this special day he is currently out of state & away from his family, helping to restore power to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  He also missed taking his three children trick or treating the night before.  Tyler works many hours & being on call during storms can take him away from his family for days at a time, even when he is working locally.  He has traveled south to help other states in their time of need & now he travels north with many, many other linemen from all different states to help restore power that was lost during Hurricane Sandy.   

Day #2: 

Today I am Thankful for the Coast Guard. They are the responders who put their lives at risk "so others may live." From saving people from life threatening waters to interdicting drug smugglers, they are the sometimes forgotten Hero's of the sea. The Coast Guard has given my husband a sense of pride & my family a sense of protection. They have provided us with a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, & food on our table. The Coast Guard has given us the opportunity to travel & live in different places, meet new people, & make some lifelong friends. I am Thankful to the Coast Guard for giving my husband a job that he loves, which lets him provide for our family & allows me to stay at home with our baby girl. Semper Paratus!

      

Happy Halloween!

I have been super excited for Halloween since it is Brinleigh's first "holiday".  I ordered her a cute butterfly costume from target, however, the Newborn size I ordered is a 0-9 month size.  Ummmmm..... there is a pretty big size difference between a newborn and a 9 month old.  Needless to say, it was ginormous on her little body.  I went on a hunt for costumes small enough for her that were still in stock since it was so close to Halloween.  I found a cute giraffe costume in 3-6 month size at Kohls.  She is still in 0-3 month size clothes, but this 3-6 would hopefully work.  I expected it to be a little big on her, even with clothes on underneath, but it fit a whole lot better than the butterfly costume.  Since the costume is pretty gender neutral, I put a couple bows on the ears to let the world know that my adorable baby giraffe is indeed a girl.  The outfit she wore underneath her costume was a "My First Halloween" onesie & some black pants with little white polka dots.  I also took one of her black headbands & instead of attaching the black flower clip that goes on it, I attached an orange bow clip instead.  Brinleigh also got to wear her Halloween outfit & her costume several times, not just once.  

Last Friday the Coast Guard set up a haunted house in the hangar.  They had two different tours, a mild one for the kids from 3-4pm and then an adult tour from 4-5pm.  There was also a costume party at the Eagle's Nest (the bar on the Coast Guard Base) afterwards.  So the kids party was from 3-5pm & then the adult costume party started at 8pm.  Kolt didn't have to work this day, but he did have to go in & work the haunted house for a few hours.  I dressed Brinleigh in her giraffe costume & took her up to the hangar to walk thru during the mild tour.  Kolt met us & escorted us through the haunted house, showing me where people were hiding & the more gruesome acts that would be set up for the adult tour.  We didn't walk thru with a tour guide or with a group of people & since all of the coastie's inside the haunted house knew it was Kolt & that we had Brinleigh, nobody jumped out & scared us or anything.  It was kind of like a walk-thru just to see it.  But I do have to admit that it was a pretty awesome haunted house & that just from seeing the mild tour, I would have been scared out of my mind to go on the adult tour.  Brinleigh & I went home afterwards & didn't go to the costume party since Kolt had to stay & work the haunted house.  Oh & for those who are curious as to what he had to do..... he got to run a chain saw & scare people with it.  He was "behind the scenes" so he didn't end up having to dress up.    

On Halloween night the town has "downtown trick-or-treating" for all of the kids.  They close off the main road that runs through down town so that no cars can drive through & all of the businesses hand out candy.  This starts around 4pm & ends at 6pm.  Since most of the stores close at about 4 or 5pm, the shop employee's will close their store but keep the front doors open & sit at the front door to hand out candy as all the kids come by.  Kolt had to work but I took Brinleigh downtown & we walked with my friend, Kate.  I carried Brinleigh in the baby wrap & she fell asleep by the time we had gotten to the end of the street.  But we got a few pieces of candy in her bucket, not that she can eat any of it.  Of course she had no idea what was going on, but it gave me something to do with her outside of the house & it gave me an excuse to dress her up in her costume.  After we were done trick-or-treating we came home to pass out candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.  By the time we got home it was already dark & trick or treating had already started.  The entire town of Sitka pretty much brings their kids to Coast Guard housing to trick or treat.  It's enclosed, no traffic, & all of the houses are really close together.  So after navigating my way down the road outside of housing which was lined on both sides with cars, I get stopped at the gate where Coasties are blocking people from driving into housing.  I had to show my I.D. to get into my neighborhood where I could then only drive about 3mph since there were children EVERYWHERE.  Once we made it home, Brinleigh & I stood out on the front porch handing out candy for about an hour.  She got numerous compliments on her little giraffe costume & ended up falling asleep again before we came in the house.  All in all, it was a good night.