How does one say good-bye?

*Warning- this could be a tearful read *

As we are getting closer to meeting our "Nugget" ...

(34 weeks - literally a basketball tummy!)

we are also getting closer to saying good-bye to our amazing dog, Koda.

We adopted Koda from the Fairbanks Human Society in March 2006.

(Koda playing in the Nenana snow!)

It all started with Leif taking me to the movies and we watched the movie 8 Below. I loved watching the huskies in that movie. After the movie, probably the next weekend or so, we were headed to Fairbanks and I asked Leif if we could just "go look" at the humane society. On our drive into town, we talked about what kind of dog we would like "some-day."

(Koda hiking Ski Hill in Cordova)

We both agreed that we wanted a large dog who would enjoy the outdoors with us. I shared that with all my childhood pets, I never named one. If I had my own pet, I always wanted to name it Koda.

(Koda supervising Grandpa's salmon catch)

So we walked into Fairbanks Humane Society (remember - just to "look") and there he was. A one and half- year old malmute/husky mix, whose given name was Koda. How in the world was I suppose to leave him there? Our only problem was the fact that Leif and I were getting married in June down in South Dakota and then had already planned a 2 week trip to Australia followed by a month and half of of traveling to see family in friends in Wisconsin and Colorado and then a trip through Canada before taking a ferry back to Alaska. It didn't matter- I couldn't leave him!! So, we called my parents and asked if they would dog sit while we were in Australia. They agreed and for the rest of the trip we had planned - Koda "marked his territory" in throughout the mid-west and into Canada!

Koda has had many adventures and his most recent one of being the "big brother" of our family, just proves what a blessing he has been to our lives.
He is so gentle and kind with Leinna.

While this is a young picture of Leinna, to this day, she snuggles up with him on his blanket and will sit against his belly telling him all kinds of stories. Koda just lays there and listens to her.

So as I said, while we prepare for "Nugget's" arrival, we are also preparing to say good-bye to our beloved Koda.

Koda is allergic to something in Cordova and it's affecting his skin. He's lost 90% of his hair from the middle of his back and belly. The medication we first tried made him gain a significant amount of weight. So, we switched to a different medication and when he lost the weight, it was apparent his rear hips now had arthritis. Koda is no small dog- weighing around 150 pounds and when sitting comes to my hip level- to have arthritis in his back hips really makes it challenging for him to stand up and go up and down stairs. The new medication he was on seemed to help at first, but as I said, he's now lost a good amount of his hair. One of the side-effects of the medication can be kidney damage. While, we haven't been to the vet yet to confirm, we believe Koda has more than just a skin allergy going on. He hasn't been able to control his bladder/bowel while we are at work, which in away has been a blessing. Gross - I know, but it's given us a chance to see that he has blood in his stools.

So between his skin dander/hair falling out all over the house (I literally have to vacuum twice a day), the blood in his stools and the shear fact that his eyes look at me like, "I'm tired - I love you and I'm trying to hang on for you- but I think my time has come" we've decided it's time. I've been praying that Koda would just pass on his own in the middle of the night. However, if this doesn't happen soon, then Leif and I have agreed that we need to bring peace to Koda.
Until that day comes, I hope that Koda knows how much I love him and how much I will miss him when he's gone. I trust that when he is gone, he will find the best snow bank in heaven and continue to watch over us from above.

Bah-Humbug Week

Valentine's Day occurs this week and we at the Jacobsen house say, "Bah-Humbug!" When Leif and I first started dating one of the many things we had in common was our dislike of Valentine's Day. We don't like the commercialization of love. We believe you should show your love all year round and don't wait for one special day on the calendar to surprise the ones you love with special dinners, gifts or even just special time together.

With that... I do have to say it was pretty darn cute watching Papa teach Leinna how to make the Valentine's Day pinwheel move that Grandma sent.

She had so much fun with her pinwheel.

Thursday Night is Breakfast Night

Leif and I love breakfast food! In fact, we served a breakfast buffet for our wedding reception, which was 4 o'clock in the afternoon - WE LOVE breakfast food! So, we have our own family tradition of having breakfast for dinner every Thursday night.

This past Thursday, Leif was out of town for a conference, but Leinna and I still did breakfast night consisting of french toast and turkey bacon.

While we were eating dinner, Leif called and asked me to go look up the coil gauge on Leinna's mattress as he was at the store getting ready to buy the mattress for "Nugget". So, I quickly went to look up the number as Leinna was just about done eating anyways. When I came back to the kitchen this adorable little girl was greeting me....

Yep- she smeared her sticky, syrup plate in her hair. Might I say, it looks like she had a grand time. I couldn't have been gone more than 2 minutes...

Love that the plate was stuck in her hair!

We did get the plate out and straight to the tub we went. Leinna kept touching her hair and saying, "stuck" Ha,ha, ha... What a crack-up!

I was surprised that the syrup washed out easily. After Leinna's bath, she kept touching her hair and saying, "all gone" - Yes, Leinna we got the sticky out of your hair.

House

House- is the theme for this posting..
First - our house caused Leinna to have an ouch on her nose. Okay, the house didn't cause it but Leinna will tell you that the bottom stair sure is mean!

To make a long story short- Leinna likes to climb up and down the first step - well she lost her balance and landed on her nose!

Now for the fun "House"

A teacher colleague/friend has a daughter almost 1 1/2 years older than Leinna and thought Leinna would enjoy this doll house that her daughter played with.

Leinna was so excited and played with the doll house and people for quite a long time. The perfect toy to help distract the fact that Papa is going to be out of town for the whole week!

An actual play house for two cute little girls! We took a visit to our friend Amelia's and she has a play house made from cardboard boxes. What a great idea!! Amelia was a gracious hostess and showed Leinna into her house. The girls loved it!!

Peak-A-Boo through the house window!

Great to be able to catch up with Amelia's mom and actually see our girls playing together without us mommies having to model how to play. Before we know it they'll be wanting to spend the night with each other :O)

Busy week = much needed rest

We certainly had a busy week with our trip to Anchorage Monday and Tuesday, followed up with basketball games this weekend. Leinna decided to create her own little nap spot.

Nah- just kidding!

Such a silly girl - she was playing hide and seek with me :O)

We did go to the basketball games both Friday and Saturday night. All the activity and loud noise, plus being a little later on bed time -sure made for a sleepy girl.

I love this picture of her asleep because it's EXACTLY how I sleep. Feet kicked out of the covers, one leg up closer to chest, hand by my face. I feel very fortunate that while we had a later bed time she still went to bed easily. She's always been a good sleeper and even slept in this morning until after 8am!! YAHOO!!!
I'm hoping 'Nugget' realizes that Leinna spoiled us with being such a great sleeper and he/she needs to follow in the same pattern :o)

30 weeks with nursery set-up

During our extra week of no school last week, we took Leinna to day care for a few days so we could get some projects done around the house. One of the projects was getting the baby room set up. With Leinna, she's been in her own room since birth and we'd like to do the same for 'Nugget'. However, with only 2 rooms upstairs, we thought it best to put 'Nugget' in our room instead of sharing with Leinna until the baby is sleeping through the night. So, we rearranged some furniture and now have a wall dedicated to baby furniture. Just need to order a mattress for the crib and I think we'll be ready.

Baby #2 is getting more and more real as the time ticks down - I have 6 weeks left before maternity leave - not that I'm counting :O)

10 Weeks to Go

After a week of no school due to our weather, I completely spaced out that we were headed to Anchorage for doctor appointments on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Thankfully my pregnancy brain remembered last Friday and I had a chance to get a sub and go in and make sub plans. Speaking of pregnancy brain, I almost left my purse on the flight home today- thankful in so many ways that Leif made the trip with me - he's the one who asked me if I had my purse. Whew- was able to go back and get it since we were not off the plane yet. Leinna also made the trip to Anchorage for her 18 month check-up... more on that in just a bit....

"Nugget" 30 weeks ...

Finally got a glimpse at this little one's face thanks to much effort by the ultrasound technician. Now why you may ask was I having yet another ultrasound - I'm not sure if I've blogged about this yet or not- but here goes... During our routine 20 week ultrasound, the technician noticed a hole in the baby's heart. My doctor gave me the choice to wait a month and do an ultra sound again or go ahead and schedule an appointment with pediatric cardiologist. I was by myself at this appointment and I had such an overwhelming peace about the decision- let's wait a month. So at 24 weeks, I went back for follow-up routine with the support of a very dear friend and the hole was gone!!! Thanks to many prayers and positive thoughts sent to this little one - the technician saw no signs of the hole that was previously there. My doctor did recommend that we confirm there were no issues at 30 weeks with another ultrasound. So- we were blessed with great news- that the baby's heart continues to look great! This was also the first ultra-sound Leif was able to attend. We had Leinna with us so I'm not sure how much he was really able to pay attention - but he was still able to be there. Baby looks good and actually measuring a week further along - I've been hoping for this baby to come on March 16th - why you ask? My mom arrives on the 15th and Leif has to return to Cordova on the 18th provided no labor has started. Not that there's anything wrong with a St. Patrick's Day baby- but the 16th seems like the best day to have a baby! This way Leif will be there - I'm so nervous that he will miss the birth by coming back to Cordova until our actual due date or when labor starts. Wait a minute- as if I have any control :O) We'll just enjoy these last few weeks until our "Nugget" makes his/her appearance.

Miss Leinna also had a doctor appointment- 18 months. What a big girl she is. She was even weighed on the big girl scale instead of the infant scale. With only one shot today, a not so good night of sleep, and 2 days of cat naps throughout the day- I have to say she did amazing!! She loved flying and stared out the window for most of the time. During our take-off from Cordova we had a few tummy ticklers that she just laughed at. Everything looks great for Leinna- she's definitely a tall one - 34 inches- that's almost 3 feet and she's not even 2 yet! She's grown 3 inches in the past 3 months. Leif being the math teacher pointed out that if she continues this growth pattern of an inch per month, she will be 40 inches at her 2 year check-up. There's a saying that you take a child's height at 2 years and double it to figure out his/her adult height. Well, if this holds true for Miss Leinna- she would be 6 feet 8 inches tall!!!

This extra week of no school- led to baking chocolate chips cookies. Leinna hasn't shown much interest when I was baking, but this time she did.

She had to have her own apron- good thing I had another apron that I was able to roll up and tie around her.

Then she had to have her own mixing bowl and tool.

And of course- any baker enjoys licking the spoon when the baking is done.

She sure had fun pretending to bake with Momma!

Well, it's been a busy past few days and back to work tomorrow. Little Leinna called it a day around 6:30 tonight which is 2 hours earlier than normal. I must say, my bed is calling my name too! Until next time - we send our hugs and love to all who read about our adventures!

Yummy Snow!

Leinna's efforts to help with snow removal!

Yummy!

Now yellow is her favorite color - going to have to teach her about NOT EATING yellow snow!

Thanks to the hard work and effort of my wonderful husband- we have the deck cleared, the snow moved away from the windows on the backside of house, access to our fuel tank for heating oil, garage can be opened again to get the 4-wheeler out, AND we have found the stairs to the deck again!

Being 7 months pregnant, I did what I could to help. Often my job was to take the small shovel and break up the snow pile so Leif could use the scoop shovel to move the snow. My mid-west work ethic wants to be out there helping him much more and for longer periods of time. However, this "snowpocolypse" as they are calling it, has taught me that it's okay to help my husband in other ways- such as having a hot meal ready when he comes in, keeping Leinna entertained so he can rest, and many other ways. Leif is keeping a positive attitude and made a comment about this is the best work out he's had in a long time and then weighed himself and realized he's lost over 15 pounds this Christmas break due to all the snow shoveling.

Even with ALL THE SNOW - Mother Nature is still amazingly beautiful!