Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

On June 10th, at 11:43pm, a little girl was born. She was born on her maternal grandfather's birthday (I miss you Grandpa Sam).   Little did the new parents know, this little girl would soon be fighting for her life. Spinal meningitis would try to take this little girl's life, but God had other plans. After the watchful eye of the doctors and her parents, this little girl made a full recovery and is living an amazing life!

Having my own children now, I can't imagine what it must have been like for my mom and dad. I was their first born child and to be so sick at such a young age must have been terrifying!  One things for sure, as I celebrate my birthday today, I have a better understanding of a mother's love. Thank you to my mom and dad for loving and supporting me in all my successes and challenges over the past ... we won't say how many years :-) 

So how did we spend the last week- cleaning up puke!  Ha,ha,ha... You wouldn't be able to tell by the picture above, but Leinna came home on Monday afternoon after being sick during her nap at day care. You could hardly tell she didn't feel well as she kept playing away.  However, she continued to be sick at dinner time and didn't eat much for the next few days.  Then Papa and I were both sick on Wednesday night- I'm not sure if it was the same bug Leinna had or if we had a touch of food poisoning.  In either case, it should be against the laws of nature to have both parents sick at the same time with two young children. We had a very challenging couple of days to say the least.

We did find time to play, as Leinna is doing a great job of teaching Lukkas the fine art of talking on the phone.  When you'd ask Leinna who she was talking to, it ranged from friends at day care to family members. The part I loved is that she didn't even hesitate to tell you who she was talking to. 

 

 

We also found time to play Leggos, which Leinna is very serious about. You don't mess with her Leggo towers! 

 

And Mr. Lukkas continues to grow and change every day. He's starting to go a little longer during the night between feedings, which was greatly appreciated as we were getting over being sick. When he's awake, he's fully engaged in his environment, watching every little thing and trying his best to get his opinion heard.

Looking forward to spending my birthday with my family. 

Have a wonderful week everyone ~ Much Love

 

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

 6 years ago today, I married the perfect man for me. I started my day off getting up early to go golf with my dad. Yep- golfed my best game ever! I figured if Leif was going to go golf with his groomsmen, I was going to go golf too! One of the things Leif and I both miss about living in Cordova- no golf courses except on the Wii!

 We were married at Terry Peak, which is located in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.  We were married out on the ski lodge deck and then had the reception inside.  I wanted a fall wedding but with the Jacobsen side of the family being all educators, that wasn't going to happen. So, fall color scheme would have to do. My bridesmaids all had different color Gerber daisy flowers: red, orange, yellow and pink and the groomsmen had ties that matched the color of the bridesmaid he walked with.  

It was such a wonderful day filled with so many memories. 

And now, I celebrate 6 years of marriage with...

 SNOW!  Not any new snow- thank the Lord. 

 But still plenty of snow in the yard.

 It is melting - slowly- but it is melting :0) 

It was such a treat to be in Anchorage and see that spring does exist this year!

Our past week in Anchorage was filled with busy doctor appointments for Papa and I. We did squeak sometime in at Lake Hood watching the float planes take off.

 When the plane would come by, Leinna would say the color of the plane and then wave to the pilot.

When the plane turned to take off, Leinna would scream, "BYE, BYE PLANE"

It was so stinking cute - almost as cute as Mr. Lukkas on the ferry.

 9 1/2 weeks old now and what a flirt! I tell you - he's all smiles and full of stories. He even chuckled out loud a few times on the ferry ride home.  

Nothing more precious then a sleeping toddler!

We had quite the battle getting her down for a nap- even had a few other passengers come back to make sure we were okay. Yep- we were fine, just my daughter screaming bloody murder because she didn't want to sleep.  We knew she was tired and she's been borderline with a cold and, after a busy few days in Anchorage, well... she was going to take a nap. Period.

Have a wonderful week!

 

Last Week of School!

While Papa was busy with the last week of school activities, we were busy exploring. Although it wasn't as sunny as last week, we did bundle up and go for a hike.

Did you say hike Momma?  

Well, more like a stroll through our local Nirvana Park. I love how a few steps in and you really feel like you drove out the road and are hiking around in the forest.  Leinna had a blast walking around all the little trails. 

Then we found the water :O) 

Once I showed her how fun throwing rocks can be, she was entertained for quite some time. She was cracking me up in the fact that she had to count to ten each time before she could throw the rock. Boy, I made the mistake one time of just trying to skip the rock without counting, and Leinna made sure to tell me we had to count to ten first. 

When the rain set in, we entertained ourselves by jumping on the bed. 

And yes, we had to count each jump to ten before she would laugh and fall down. 

Mister Lukkas is busy watching his big sister do all these fun activities. I can already see that he's trying to figure out how to keep up with her. 

Being 8 weeks old now, Lukkas sure is smiling and cooing. Leinna gets such a kick out of when Lukkas 'talks' to her.  

Here Lukkas and I are looking at each other in the mirror. He thought it was so funny and actually laughed out loud! So precious...

And yes, even though it's the middle of May and we are still wearing warm pants and coats...

we are still all smiles as we head out for our adventures. 

Our adventures next week include all of us (including the dog) heading to Anchorage for some unexpected doctor appointments for Momma and Papa. Should be a fun ride on the boat later this week. 

We wish everyone good health and a blessed week.

Happy Memorial Day and we are thankful for those who have served and those who continue to serve to keep us safe.  

Fun in the Sun!

This past week we had beautiful sunny days and we took advantage of them!

My apologies for the photo quality- a quick snap with the cell phone camera to capture our dog, Bailey, patiently waiting for us to get ready to go outside. 

After a quick photo shoot to document Lukkas being 7 weeks old, we headed outside!

 Leinna loved wearing her sunglasses and sitting in the chair - well for about 30 seconds. Then she was off collecting pinecones and rocks.  So thankful my house sits away from the road and I can just let Leinna roam around. She did test her boundaries a few times, but once she learned how far she could go- she did a great job of enjoying her time in the sun.

The City of Cordova recently opened a new and improved playground area.

I was impressed to see a smaller playground set-up for younger kids.  

Leinna was SO EXCITED! 

 We must have gone down the slide for a good 15 minutes, before Leinna realized there was other items to play on.

 This was Leinna's idea of climbing the cargo net :O) 

So the playground also has a bigger set for older kids. I thought for sure Leinna would be a little nervous about climbing up to the big slide. But - nope! No fear what-so-ever!!

 She didn't go down the big slide as much - but as you can see- she was all smiles all the way down! 

So you may be wondering- what was Mr. Lukkas doing while sister was enjoying the playground?

 Yep- there he is sound asleep in his car seat which fits into a stroller...

blowing bubbles.

So thankful for the past week of sunny and almost warm (57 degrees!) weather.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

As both little ones are taking a nap, I find myself overwhelmed with emotions today. 

Over the years the word "mom" as had a variety of meanings.  When I was young, mom was the person who made yummy dinners, provided comfort when I was sick, and made sure I did my chores.  When I was a teenager, mom was the person who drove me crazy and who I thought had no idea what I was going through- yet little did I know she knew exactly what I was going through and without her guidance and prayers- we may not have survived those teenage years. In my 20's, mom became the person who I could seek advice from as I journeyed into adulthood.  In my 30's, I am honored to now hold the title of mom.  I frequently seek my mom's advice on parenting issues and don't know what I'd do without my mom's guidance, prayers and love. 

As I type I hear, "momma" from upstairs as Leinna is waking from her nap. My heart surges with love as I think - wow, I am a momma. I have the joy and privilege of being a momma to two wonderful children. I hope one day they too can look back and be thankful. 

 I know I'm beyond thankful for my mom and the role she's plays in my life. 

I love you mom!

Little Miss Diva and Mr Flirt

Many of you that follow our adventures through this little blog, know that Papa is anti-girly-girly things for Leinna. So, when some dear friends of our brought this "Diva" outfit for Leinna, I couldn't stop laughing!!

I have to confess that the feather boa was short lived-

  as it was shedding pink feathers all over the house!

Well, since Miss Leinna had her diva outfit, Mr. Lukkas decided he needed to be entertaining as well. So, you can often find him giving you his little flirty smile :O)  He's also starting to find his voice- I'd forgot how sweet those cooing sounds are. 

When we are not busy being diva's and flirts, we still find ourselves reading books to each other...

and Leinna has decided that a new toy for Lukkas must be for her too!

Even though she's been a bit jealous of items for Lukkas, she is very loving to him - almost too lovey at times.  Above she's trying to share her snack with Lukkas. It was a bit challenging to try and explain that Lukkas was too little for a Cheerio when her sweet heart was set on sharing with him.  

Yep- another injury- at least it wasn't her nose this time!

The picture really doesn't do the goose egg that formed on her forehead justice. Poor girl was walking up the stairs from the pantry to the kitchen and slipped and hit her head on the door frame! OUCH!! It looks much better this morning- but she's definitely going to have a nice bruise. Good thing her bangs hide it pretty well. 

Well, as I sit her and type this, the weather has gone from heavy rain, to very wet slushy snow and then back to heavy rain. The snow is not really accumulating, but still- more snow in May. Ugh...  When the weather gets like this, it makes me want to back my bags and head back to the lower 48 where spring and summer are emerging. Maybe I'll just go take a nap and dream of warm weather :O)

Smiles and Snow!

We are starting to see smiles from Mr. Lukkas - and not because of gas :O) 

Lukkas is 5 weeks old now. We'll be headed to Anchorage in a week for check-up and shots. Not the funnest trip to make, but looking forward to seeing how much he has grown. 

Lukkas is settling into some what of a routine, but not really. We average about 3 hours between feedings and sometimes 4 hours during the night. He's also started to enjoy taking baths. His first couple of baths he cried the entire time, but now when he hears the water running, he either gets calm and just listens or gets excited and starts moving his little legs all around.  On the days that Leinna goes to day care, Lukkas seems to sleep a lot more, until she comes home and then he's wide awake and watching what is big sister is up to.

Yep- SNOW!  On May 2nd, we had between 3-4 inches of snow!

Who would have thought that I'd be taking his first snowfall picture in May!  So glad it didn't stick around and was gone within the next day.

I'm amazed - capture a half-way decent photo of the 3 of us. Papa was at work and we were playing with the camera to entertain Leinna. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! Much Love ~