Family Life

We've been home for over a week and I am finally getting around to writing another post. Our week has been consumed with working on getting Allison on a good routine & teaching her to put herself to sleep (we're trying to make it fairly easy for her to transition to having Miss Claire to watch in a few weeks and we're making progress!)

Figuring out life as a family of three has been quite the adventure so far. Thankfully, Allison is a generally good natured little baby. She's been smiling for awhile now and we're able to know how to get a smile out of her when we want one. It is hard to believe how excited we can be over a simple smile! I've found her to be relatively good when I take her out and about with me (although she has her limit of how long she'll tolerate the car seat outside of a car!). Last week we had a little adventure together to go pick blueberries. She slept the whole time, I guess it was a bit boring for her. This week we had a shopping date with Jodi & Bekah. And we've managed to go to the grocery store, doctor's office & take care of other various errands (I now appreciate drive-thrus in ways I never imagined). Here's the two of us on our blueberry picking adventure:


I have to admit that the transition to being a family has been much easier on me thanks to Mark. He is so helpful, even though he has to get up early every day and head off to work. Mark still takes the 'late night' shift (and he's enjoying it even more now that he's figured out how to play video games while on Daddy duty). Mark has been our main chef lately, too, grilling dinner for us almost every night. And he helps with nap time on the weekends so I have time to myself. Here is what Saturday afternoons look like at our house:

Life is a little slower paced now (although not that much slower compared to how tired I was when I was pregnant!) but we're loving every minute!

Home Again

We are home again from Alaska and enjoying getting settled back into more of a routine. Allison is back to sleeping in her crib and I think we all sleep better because of it! We really enjoyed our time in Alaska and were thankful that Mark could join us for the entire time. We were able to visit with so many dear friends. One friend, in particular, Carrie, took the time to come over and do a photo shoot of Allison for us, we loved the result! You can check out Carrie's work here, on her own blog. Here are a few other random snapshots of our time there.

Mark was able to play disc golf several times while we were there. The course in the Wasilla area was rather small and he could do it quickly. I would follow along with the Baby Bjorn - so we took a family picture with the self-timer on the camera. I know the picture is crooked, my Mom liked it that way. Mark also made it through the first 14 holes of the course at Kincaid in Anchorage - apparently that course is rather challenging! He had to cut it short because he ran out of time & we were headed for the beach.


Allison spent every night bundled in a Kiddopotamus swaddler - so my Dad dubbed her the Caterpillar Baby.

The WBC ladies had a shower for Allison & I while we were there, too (it was a joint one with Katie & Lucy - how fun to have little girls the same age!). The only picture I captured (I left the photography to Katie) was of Allison & Christine, Christine was the flower girl in our wedding almost 4 years ago - I thought it was very special to have her there.

While we were there we went through Mom's cedar chest and my old baby clothes. We ended up bringing some back for Allison, too. My personal favorites are the little brown boots, the blue checked jacket (which my Mom made for me!) and the little pink sweater, which my Mom thinks was hers.

Mom, Allison & I spent our last day in Alaska floating on Aunt Pam's party barge. It was a bit of a battle to keep the baby shaded/covered and avoid over heating her (I can't believe I'm saying that about Alaska!). She did end up with a slight heat rash, oh well. Mark and Dad spent the day biking up by Eureka.

First Fourth

We spent the 4th of July with my Mom's family at 'The Cabin' - a cabin on a lake that my grandparents purchased a long time ago. Allison got her second party barge ride and her first real boat ride on this trip. We had borrowed Savannah's life jacket but it was way too big so I have to admit I was a bit nervous, I guess that is what happens to mothers! Anyhow, the weather was once again fantastic and the bugs were scarce (another worry of mine) except for some odd reason the turkey that my Uncle Eric grilled (or roasted on the grill) was one big fly magnet. We had a great time and Allison enjoyed getting to know all of my cousins as seen below. My cousin Brett is quite the character, he doted on Allison AND he was the designated party barge driver, he has grown up fast! And I should mention Allison had quite the experience on the fourth a new outfit (courtesy of her CA Auntie), a new toy (the pinwheel courtesy of my Mom) and a crazy good cake / berry concoction (courtesy of my Aunt Krystal - it looks like a normal cake in the picture but really it is sort of a trifle in a 9x13 pan - it was fantastic). No fireworks were observed by us - it is kind of hard to do that in the land of the midnight sun - but we still enjoyed ourselves!



I'd also like to add a comment about Allison's socks. I know they are supposed to be folded down as does Mark. However, Mark decided leaving her socks pulled up her legs would both help keep her warm and protect her from the sun. And apparently since he had to wear knee-high tube socks when he was little he thinks she should as well. I've hidden all the sharpies in the house since he was talking about adding some red, yellow, orange and green stripes to the socks - YIKES!

Allison's Alaskan Adventure VI

We were blessed with fantastic weather in Alaska last week (and I kept thinking it was great honeymoon weather for Ben & Anita). One thing I think I have always done while in Alaska is make a trip up to Hatcher Pass, which happens to be my favorite recreational area. This trip was shorter & simpler than most since we brought Allison along. We squeezed in a picnic with my friends, Gayle, Vince & Christine. The weather was fantastic and the view couldn't have been better. Here is one side of what we looked at during our picnic:

Vince selected this little beaver-made pond for our picnic. There was a flat ledge where we sat to eat and enjoy our food and then play in the pond. There was was a beaver lodge in addition to the beaver dam which made up the pond.

Here is our picnic baby. And yes, that is a fly on her tummy. It did not stay there long, I was just distracted with taking a picture. Unfortunately, I didn't get another one. I guess it is just a realistic picture of our picnic, flies included!

Vince started building 'sailboats' out of leaves & soon Christine & Mark joined in. They would put the boats in at one spot and cheer them on, hoping they would make it to the end of the pond before falling apart or getting stuck. There was the perfect breeze to propel the boats (and keep mosquitos at bay!).

Allison's Alaskan Adventure Part V

Mom & I took Mark & Allison on their first trip to 'The Beach' last week. 'The Beach' would be a Clam Gulch commercial set net site that our family friends operate, my family spent many family vacations at 'The Beach' along with several other Alaskan families.

Mark got to go out in the boats with the Doner clan, here he is getting geared up!

Mom & I sat around with the other ladies and observed. Allison fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn when we went on a short walk and stayed in it, fast asleep most of the time we were there.

Mark climbing into the boat (one boat is used to deliver everyone to their individual boats which are tied up out in the ocean).

Checking out a small king in Mark D. & Heidi's boat.

Mark tossing some salmon into the tote. Note: Heidi can chuck salmon 3X faster than Mark. Not that any of us are surprised. She is pretty amazingly fast at getting her slippery gloved fingers under the gills!

Allison getting up close & personal with Peter & Johanna's catch. Note, she is squinting from the sun, not trying to get away from the fish.

Allison hanging out with the camp cook, Merry, in the Clam Shack. The beach is almost resort like compared to when I vacationed there years ago - that was back in the day of the brown trailer, non of this running & heated water in the clam shack stuff back then!

Allison's Alaskan Adventure Part IV

Last Tuesday we went up to my Aunt Pam's house for dinner and to enjoy the beautiful weather. The evening was perfect for a float on the party barge (a dock with a small motor attached). Even though Mark & I got married at this lake Mark had never seen the second half of it, so we did a full lake tour. Allison slept through most of her first 'boat' ride - I'm pretty sure that means she enjoyed it. And as a side note, I'm pretty sure this picture was taken after 9 pm, gotta love the land of the midnight sun!

Allison's Alaskan Adventure - Part III - The Wedding!

Flying to Alaska (with a 2.5 week old infant) and being in a wedding three weeks after having a baby was not exactly something I would have planned....but my dear friend, Anita, was getting married and I definitely didn't want to miss it. So we flew up here and I gave the local seamstress quite the challenge in trying to get my dress to fit. They definitely don't recommend trying to adjust a dress to fit in the initial weeks after a baby - but oh well! Anyhow, I'm sure my photographer friend, Katie will have a fabulous collection of pictures soon, but to satisfy my California sister-in-law here are some pictures of the big day. Unfortunately the pictures of my hair (which I loved, by the way) all turned out blurry - the gifted Amanda Bacon took care of that detail for myself, two other bridesmaids and the flower girls - all in a few short hours - yes, she is amazing!

Anyhow, here you go with some pictures - the other light blue bridesmaids - Aimy, Carrie & myself:

Allison in the arms of her Alaskan Auntie (who decided she likes to hold her as long as she is sleeping):

Allison & I with the beautiful bride - she did look amazing: