My birthday!

So some of you know that my sister-in-law, Heather, and I share a birthday. This means that we have to agree on where to go for our birthday dinner, since we all end up going out as a "double birthday" thing. It wasn't so hard this year as both of us had coupons for free dinner (up to $30) at Benihana, where virtually everyone in the family likes, but rarely eats at. We have such a cute picture of Dakota, Brayden, George, and I there, but unfortunately, George had to reconnect the network with a different IP address (or something similar, I have no clue what he does!), and now we can't find the cd or cord for the printer/scanner, so I can't scan the picture in and show you! So I suppose when we figure out the printer thing, that's when you'll see this cute picture. After dinner with my side of the family, we went over to our brother and sister-in-law, Lizzie and Alan's house for a little birthday celebration for me. Lizzie is an amazing baker, and finds the absolute best recipes for cakes and cookies and the like. So, this year it was double-chocolate mint cake, which was SOOOOOO good!

      Blowing out the candles....

Koda and mom!

Alan and Tyler

Luke thouroughly enjoyed his cupcake!

And, as an *almost* tradition, Lizzie, Alan, George, and I sat down for a cut-throat game of Settlers of Catan. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the four of us looking like total "Magic"-like nerds playing a dorky (but insanely fun) game!

Also, most of the pictures are curtesy of my new camera George got me for my birthday! It's 10 MP and WATERPROOF!!! Which means we'll be able to use it in the pool or water park when we go on our vacation in November!

My domesticated side!

For Christmas, I got my very first sewing machine! I think I've really only sewed a few things in my entire life, including a rudimentary backpack at my Aunt Carol's house somewhere around age 8 or so, a hideous skirt made in 8th grade Home-Economics, probably hundreds of fleece socks with my mom, a couple simple blankets, and just last fall/winter for the boys (Koda, my twin nephews Tristan and Curran, and my nephew Cole), matching "quilt"-like blankets. Those last ones were probably the "hardest" sewing I've done, and it was also with the help of my mom. In reality, what ended up happening, was that I did all the cutting, all the pinning, and all the organizing, and SHE sewed. BUT....it really got me into the sewing bug. So, that's what I told George I really wanted for Christmas! Nothing fancy, just a very simple sewing machine. So what did he get me, you ask? He took the "simple" think literally, and my machine is a "Singer Simple"! In reality, while it is a fairly simple sewing machine, it pretty much has anything I'll ever want to do, so I was happy as ever! Personally, I don't ever see myself using all 14 different types of stitching, 5 length settings, etc, but you never know! My guess is that I'll never get to the point where I'll need a fancier machiene! So, I've been a busy bee since about 3 weeks ago when I finally got around to setting the machine all up and figuring out something to create with it! I've made a purse for my sister-in-law, Heather, for her birthday, an *almost* finished purse for my friend Beth for her birthday (which was yesterday!), a baby blanket, spitty cloth, bib, and an "embellished" onesie to match the cloth and bib for my soon to be new neice or nephew! I'm not so sure I'll be so eager to continue sewing this much in the next week or so, as Dakota gets back from Kodiak tomorrow morning, and school (for him and I) start back up on Monday, so my time will again be a bit limited. But, I have been enjoying my sewing adventures thus far! Here's a few pictures of my creations:

This was Heather's purse, and because of my lack of planning skills, we had to take this picture on the way to the birthday dinner in the car. I couldn't pass up recording my very first creation on my new sewing machine!

My new baby niece or nephew's stuff....minus the bib since I haven't finished it yet!

Beth's purse.....except it's missing 4 buttons and attaching the straps!

My greatest Loves!

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I'd better get on the ball and share my love for everything that I love!

#1:

My sweet, sexy husband! And because either one of the boys or I are always hanging on him, there's rarely a picture of *just* him. But I love this picture! He's such a great husband, and the best dad to our kiddos. I love everything about him....even those *few* flaws that drive me crazy! :) I couldn't have a better life partner!

My next love (the next 2 are tied!):

This perfect little booger is such a great son, big brother, cousin, and friend! He has such a big heart, always wanting to make friends and make sure people feel included. He's compassionate....especially when I'm not feeling well or Brayden's crying-he knows when people need a little extra love! And...he's a LIVE WIRE! He keeps George and I on our toes, and it seems as if there's never a dull moment!

Next up:

THIS cute little man. He's a very good baby, usually sleeping through the night, and pretty much consistently smiling! He's the perfect addition to the family, and couldn't imagine our lives without him now! He brings such joy into our home!

My Mom and Dad:

They are the best parents I could ask for! My life the past few years has been CRAZY, and they've been there for me through it all. My mom is so incredibly strong, going through cancer treatments while *still* flying when she can and watching Dakota and/or Brayden when I have class. They've helped George and I so much, and I'm just very thankful that THEY are MY parents!

There are *plenty* of other things that I love and that I'm thankful for, but really, these are the ones that matter the most! I'm thankful to live in a country where we're free, and that we live in such a beautiful state. I'm thankful that I have had the opportunity to get a college education, and that I have the opportunity to *hopefully* go to medical school. I'm especially thankful that I have the most wonderful husband to support us right now, both financially and emotionally, and the support he shows for my dreams for our family!

My new trick!

Besides being incredibly mobile now-he's up on all fours, but not *quite* crawling completely...just scooting really well-he has now decided that he loves to stand in his crib! He can't quite get up on his own yet, but with just a bit of help, he LOVES to stand up! And, he thinks he's pretty hot stuff when he does.

We definately can't resist his cuteness! He's such a great baby, usually sleeping through the night, and almost always happy, unless he needs to nap or eat! And he *does* love his food! Dakota absolutely LOVES having a little brother, and he's a GREAT big brother, always helping us out with him or keeping him occupied. In fact, whenever Brayden's fussing and George or I are busy, Dakota will turn to one of us and say, "I know, I know....I'll go entertain my little brother!" They are just simply too adorable together!

Ignore George's uber-long hair. I think this was the day before a much-needed haircut!

We love his little nakedness!

Winter walks...

Besides skiing/snowboarding, we really don't get out much in the winter. Even though I was born and raised here in Alaska, I still really don't like the cold much. But....I decided the other day to go for a walk with the boys. It wasn't *too* cold out (maybe around 15 degrees), and I had bought Brayden the cutest sherpa-like snowsuit that he had yet to wear, and I really want to get some use out of it! He looked so darn adorable in it!

Brayden's Room

I never got around to posting pictures of the "nursery" before Brayden was born....and now he's almost 8 months old! So I'm slow, but here they are:

You can't tell very well from the pictures, but the colors are a very light, muted blue, chocolate brown, and a buttercream-type yellow. And I love the stripes. It took us forever, but turned out so great! I really should post a few pictures of Dakota's room too, because it's not a traditional paint-job either! Nothing like this, but still very original and cute! Koda would probably yell at me for just calling his room "cute". Apparently, "cute" is SO uncool now that he's in Kindergarten. In fact, he informed us the other day that he and a couple of his friends at school are now in a "Dude Club". They all "signed up to be Dudes, and there's no girls allowed!" Ahhhh, he's getting to that age!

Lots of new stuff!

So I have again become a complete blog-slacker. Not to say I've been lazy, because I definately haven't, but because I haven't gotten around to update the blog! Here's a semi-quick update on our lives:

After Christmas, we drove back down home from North Pole. We were extremely lucky up there though, because the day before we got there it "warmed up" to around 15-20 degrees, and it didn't dip back down below zero until the day we left! We spent New Years Eve over at my brother, Scott, and Heather's house. George made his AMAZING homemade pizza (we've been perfecting it, by the way, and it IS amazing!), and then we did both a dark chocolate and milk chocolate fondue with a menagerie of fruit, pound cake, angel food cake, etc. Soooooo good!

Dakota came back home from his visit to Kodiak on January 2nd, and on the 3rd (I *think* it was on the 3rd) we went snowboarding at Alyeska. Now mind you, I am a SKIIER. But, in the name of adventure and learning new things, I decided I'd try out snowboarding. I bought a board setup about a month before we found out I was pregnant with Brayden, so I wasn't able to go boarding at all last year, so this was my first time since I went just a handful of times in Jr. High! George thinks it went ok, but I say it was a complete disaster! Dakota was leaving me in the dust!!! HE'S trying to "coach" me down the hill.....pretty humbling being shown up by your 5 year old! Although it was *kinda* fun, I still think I'm a skiier at heart. I may try it a few more times, but I guess I'll have to see in the end whether I end up selling my board and boots in order to buy some skis!

It was nice to get back to the daily schedule when Dakota's school started back up on the 4th. That gave me a week before my school started back up again, which was a nice little transition. I'm taking a Chemistry and a Math class, and *so far* it hasn't been too brutal. Besides the 5 week math class I took almost 2 years ago, it's been since Sophomore year of high school (which was spring of 2000) for REAL math and science. My GER's at UAF were hardly "real" math and science. I took the science class deemed "Rocks for Jocks"....yes, the idiot science. I never thought I'd need Chemistry or Biology, so there wasn't much point in taking them.....until now, I suppose. So to make things more to the point-the classes aren't killing me yet, so I'll keep at it!

And Brayden's big announcement: He FINALLY got his first tooth on his 7 month "birthday" (January 18th)! He had been sick all week with a fever and not eating. But, lo and behold, we felt in there, and when he chomped down, it HURT! So we're all excited about him having a tooth (really, just a little stub at this point at the gumline!). And then last night, Brayden was laughing at George and I almost uncontrollably in his crib (we call this around bedtime laughing being "loopy"-both boys have this!) and I noticed what I thought was another tooth coming in! So being the wonderful mother I am, I completely broke up the laughing to stick my finger in his mouth to feel for this second tooth! And it's there! So in 3 days, he got both of his bottom front teeth! And, it's a good thing since he's starting to REALLY not want his bottle as much, and if he sees ANYONE eating ANYTHING, he's pissed until you give him some REAL food!

And....in addition to his teeth, he's so close to crawling it's insane. The past 2 days went from just on his tummy trying to kinda scoot around to getting up on all fours on a semi-regular basis!

And because I simply can't post to the blog without at least ONE picture, here's 2 of the 3 cutest guys on the planet!