Why?

Why?
Oh the joy of that simple question. Yes, Leinna has begun to ask, "Why?" to just about everything we say. It's so hard not to laugh when she asks because she has such an innocent look to her eyes- like she really wants to understand more. It's just too bad she doesn't quite understand your explanation and so she asks, "Why?" again and again.

At least we have a new dish set and a "hut" to distract her with. We don't have a very large living-room so we draped a blanket over the treadmill. Leinna thinks it's pretty neat to go sit in her "hut" and have a cup of tea!

Meanwhile- Mr. Lukkas is busy growing. He had his 2 week check-up - weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches long. All this growing is hard work and Lukkas often finds himself snuggling with Papa at the end of the day.

When Lukkas is actually awake- usually in the mornings, Leinna is busy giving him hugs and kisses.

We have been beyond blessed to have Grandma here with us. She will be heading back to Wisconsin on Friday this week. We are ALL going to miss her help and are so thankful she was able to spend over a month with us.

We had beautiful weather this past week. It's been rainy this weekend, but we'll take the rain to help "melt" away the snow. Hoping for some more sunshine as we enjoy the last week with Grandma.

Happy Easter

What a busy first week at home!

Mr. Lukkas celebrated 1 week of life!
He's such a good baby and is starting to settle into a little routine.

Leinna is adjusting well to Lukkas and has found that being the big sister is hard work!

The nap time pictures above just warm my heart. She's in her room and you can see her bed to the left there. She has recently decided that she needs to read more books than what Momma and Papa read to her before she goes to bed. She stays quiet in her room and occasionally you can hear her reading the story. When I no longer can hear her, I sneak up to her room to see how she's fallen asleep. Just love the 2nd picture- looks like she was trying to get down to go to her bed and just decided that was far enough. Too stinking cute!

As well as adjusting to life with 2 children, we also prepared for Easter!

Leinna had fun coloring eggs!

The Easter Bunny brought plastic eggs to hide instead of the ones we colored - didn't want to risk not finding one and having the house stink later! Leinna had fun finding the eggs and realized each egg had a special treat inside!

After finding the eggs, Leinna saw her Easter "baskets".

Grandma gave her a My Little Pony that had a little duck with it.
She was so excited to see the duck!

Leinna also received a play set of dishes and here she's pretending to feed herself and then of course everyone else had to have some too!

Amazingly - we were all dressed and ready for a photo shoot before heading to church this morning. A feat I'm rather proud of myself for :O)

Leinna and Lukkas ~ April 8, 2012

The Jacobsen Family ~ Easter 2012

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter spent with your loved ones!

(Now that both children are napping- time for Momma to nap too!!)

Welcome to the world ~ Lukkas!

March 28, 2012 ~ Happy Birthday Nugget!

Nugget is a BOY! Born at 10:38pm weighing 8 pounds 14 ounces and 21.5 inches. Labor and delivery went well - nothing too exciting to report. Total time was about 12 hours, I did have my blood pressure dip a bit, but the nurses were right on top of things and kept me and the baby safe. Towards the end of labor, the baby was still pretty high and my nurse Yvette thought we may need to consider a c-section- BUT FIRST- she wanted me to try and lay in this position. I did and hurray- things moved right along and he was born without needing to do the c-section.

Baby's name: Lukkas Hans

I couldn't wait for Leinna to meet her new baby brother. My mom/grandma Julie came from Wisconsin to help with Leinna and plans to be here until April 20th!
I'm so very blessed to have her help!!

When Leinna walked into my room, she looked a bit nervous to see momma laying in a bed. However, once she realized I was okay, she was all about checking out her little brother. She loves touching his toes and giving him hugs!

Yes- in good ol' Papa fashion he had to wear his fugitive shirt on the day we left the hospital. He wore the same shirt when we left with Leinna.

Rookie parenting move- it was a little chilly, so we bundled Lukkas all up and then we were told by the nursing staff that his snowsuit was too bulky to be safely secured in the car seat. So, we unbundled him and covered him up with blankets.

The blanket in this picture is the same blanket Leinna came home from hospital in, as well as me and my mom. A very treasured blanket that I hope I will be able to pass down to my grand-kids some day.

We left the hospital on Friday and did all our crazy Anchorage shopping (i.e. Costco run, last minute Target/Fred Meyer items...). Sunday was our ferry ride home- the "slow" ferry was our mode of transportation. When booking the trip home, I thought how perfect, a night trip (5:30-midnight) - Leinna will sleep after dinner and we can all get some rest. WRONG! Leinna did not sleep AT ALL on the ferry ride home- and we had a very cranky almost 2 year old. Her new favorite thing is "NO, I DON'T WANT TO!" Thankfully, Lukkas did what he does best- eat, sleep and poop! The only challenge for him was keeping him warm because the ferry was definitely chilly.

Our first day home was full of unpacking and getting the laundry done. Lukkas found the best spot in the house was to hang out on the couch while everyone else was busy around him.

Just love this photo because Leinna use to sleep the exact same way. I'm finding some similarities between the two and already some difference. One big difference is diaper changing! YES, both Papa and I both have been peed on already :O)


Bailey has welcomed Lukkas into the pack. She still hides upstairs all day, but she's very aware at night when I'm feeding Lukkas and keeps me company.

Grandma Julie snapped this photo last night...

The new Jacobsen family night routine

It's so good to be home and enjoying this time with my family. I feel so blessed.

Waiting for baby to arrive

Hello Blogger friends and family - finally able to give you an update- but first, here is how Leinna spent her time waiting for Baby Nugget to arrive!

A neighbor of the friend with stayed with had an extra sled and said we could borrow it. What a life saver! With sunny weather and mild temperatures, we were outside as much as possible. The friend (Ruth) we stayed with has a gentle slope to her driveway- a perfect first hill to go sledding on!

Needless to say - Leinna LOVED it and would say, "Wheeee" all the way down the hill.

We also spent some time shopping.

Miss Leinna needed her own pair of sunglasses!

We spent time coloring and finger painting with Grandma.

And- we found ourselves back outside again!

Sure thankful for our friend Ruth and her hospitality.

40 Weeks... baby can come any day now...

It's the Final Count Down!

Well, blogger friends and family, as this week of "lasts" approaches, I'm going to be taking Leinna's advice...

"When you face plant in the snow, you might as well get up and eat the snow along the way!"


This week promises to be a very busy and emotional week.

Here we are at 36 weeks with "Nugget" - We are in our "last" month - amazing how fast this pregnancy has gone by. The doctor in Cordova said things are looking great and then gave me his home and cell number 'just in case' I went into labor before getting to Anchorage. Let's pray that doesn't happen! This is also my "last" week of teaching at Cordova Jr/Sr High School.

My "last" knitting project for awhile...

I made Leinna a green blanket before she was born. It's hard to see the pattern on this blanket because of the color, however I followed the same stitch, just made my own pattern. I like it and think it turned out great. I enjoy knitting very much and hope that when I find my routine with two young children, I will again pick up the knitting needles and get creative!

Not really a "last" in the next few pictures, other than signs that Leinna is moving towards more and more independence.
We received yet again more snow! Leinna was determined to walk down the stairs by herself.
Well, with all her snow gear on and the snow surrounding her- I figured it was probably the safest place for her to practice.

Here she is planning her route!

Half way there!

Success! She was so proud of herself and spent a good 15 minutes going up and down the stairs while I pushed some snow out of the way. Leif was out of town and I was NOT allowed to shovel - so I did my best by pushing snow to make a few paths for us and the dogs.

As an earlier blog stated, these are our "last" days with Koda.

He's been such a wonderful dog and I wish so much that I could make him feel better so that he could stay with us longer. However, I realize that death is apart of life and I need to remember all the wonderful times we've had with Koda.

We'll be headed to Anchorage in 6 days!
My next blog update will be announcing whether our Nugget is a boy or girl :o)

Snow, balls, jungle gym

February "24 hour Blizzard" 2012...

So we went to bed Saturday night after a beautiful day in Cordova and woke this morning to over 6 inches of snow. The snow continued throughout the entire day. By early evening the snow ramp you can see Leif on - the snow on the side was up to his shoulders! Crazy day of snow- we have a late start for school tomorrow provided the weather doesn't intensify over the night. Leif has had such a busy two weeks, shoveling snow all day was the last thing he wanted to do. Wish I could have helped more, but as I approach 36 weeks of pregnancy- thought it best to stay inside and entertain little miss Leinna.

I'm just amazed that she's almost 20 months - which puts her closer to 2 years old than 1 year old. She's become fixated on carrying the two balls around with her. It's so funny to watch her try to pick up another toy while holding the balls at the same time. She gets so frustrated, but refuses to put on of the balls down.

She's also been loving Leif's football collection.

That's my girl... missing football season now that the Super Bowl is over.

However, Papa to the rescue for providing some entertainment.

She loves to play "Jungle Gym" with Papa!

Such a busy, silly, little girl.

Getting anxious to meet "Nugget" - in a short 2 weeks we'll be headed to Anchorage to wait for baby's arrival. "Nugget" has been very active and hitting a few nerves that cause me to catch my breath or grab my belly for a few seconds- poor Leif is on edge thinking something is wrong or I'm going into labor. I'm going to have to try and hide my discomfort a little better so Leif can relax some :o)

Well, even though here in Cordova we have a late start tomorrow, doesn't mean Leinna will sleep in. I really should get my round little belly upstairs for some much needed rest! We hope everyone has a great week! Pretty soon we'll be posting about the addition to our family!!

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.