Photo Shoot

When Hudson was 10 days old we had her very first photo shoot. We had a great photographer, and our baby girl was a beautiful subject! The hardest part is picking out which ones to print...enjoy!:)

Hudsy-Sudsy

Before Hudson was even born we had already picked out Hudsy Sudsy as the perfect nick-name for her during bath time. She absolutely loves her bath time. She just sits all calm enjoying the warm water. This may be a precursor of things to come such as spa days! She does not like getting out of the water into the cold air ( I know...what baby does?!) but once she has her diaper on she enjoys being lotioned up and massaged-who wouldn't:). She also loves to have her hair brushed.

Post-Bath, lotion, massage and fingernail clipping! Speaking of...fingernail clipping is NOT something I look forward to. Scares me everytime! But, she's pretty stinkin' content and is close to smiling!

Hudson Sue Fries

Since I managed to skip blogging for the majority of my pregnancy, I figured I may as well update now that our sweet girl has joined our family! Hudson Sue Fries was born January 15, 2011 at 8:35 a.m. She was 5 lbs 9 oz and 17 inches long. It was quite the pregnancy...sick everyday and such (hence the lack of blogging) but oh so worth it. My belly was quite huge (see picture below) so I think we were all suprised when she came out so little. We had started with the Geneva Wood Midwifery clinic and had originally planned to deliver at their birthing center, however our plans changed. A few years ago they discovered I had fibroids. Apparently they are quite common, however mine our HUGE. So, as my pregnancy continued I started seeing an OB/GYN as well as the mid-wives. Because of the fibroids my doctor wanted an additional ultrasound at 32 weeks to see if there had been changes in the fibroids and make sure the baby was still content. Well, she was happy as could be...in the breeched position! And of course, the biggest of my 4 fibroids had grown and was 15 cm. At 36 weeks I was at my appointment with the Mid-wives and they were concerned about her being in the breeched position and scheduled a external eversion, where they turn the baby from the outside. Sounds painful if you ask me. As it got closer to the appointment I wasn't feeling good about it, for multiple reasons: it's painful without fibroids let alone with, there's no guarantee that she'll stay head first, it could cause distress to the baby which would then lead to an emergency C-Section (and Mike couldn't be there for the appointment, so if something did happen, he'd miss it). Mike and I decided that we would rather have a healthy baby via C-Section than try and get her to flip, not to mention that there was still a chance that she would turn on her own. So, I cancelled the appointment. The next day I had an appointment with my doctor. I was quite nervous to see him because I wasn't sure if I had messed up his schedule too much, and although he didn't schedule the procedure I know how medical providers love when you go against their suggestions:) He, thankfully, was totally fine with it. He then did an ultrasound in his office and saw that cord was too close to her neck, so he wouldn't have performed the procedure anyways. I was very greatful that I listened to my instinct. He said that she still had plenty of room and could turn on her own, but it would have caused problems had he done it. He said that the earliest he schedule C-Sections is 39 weeks and I was at 37. So I scheduled my next appointment with him for the next week, fully expecting to be there. Hudson had different plans. 4 days later I woke up to my water breaking. Mike called the doctor on call and they told me to come in. 5:30 a.m. my water breaks, 6:30 a.m. we arrive at the hospital. 7:00 a.m. Mike looks like a ghost from them explaining what would happen during the C-Section. 7:30 a.m. Mike decides it's best if he doesn't go in the operating room. I let him off the hook...I'd rather have him alert to help with the baby, then passed out in a bed next to me! 8:35 a.m. Hudson Sue is here. My big fibroid had grown to 20 cm and I lost double the average blood loss, so I was pretty pale! One of the smaller fibroids was in the way of where they do an incision for the C-Section so they had to do an additional incision on my uterus. I was in the hospital for 5 days and even then my doctor seemed to want me to stay longer, but I was ready to be home. My mom came up for 5 days to hold the baby and help out, which we are very greatful for! And now, it's 3 weeks later. We had Hudson's 2 week appointment and she weighed in at 6 lbs 2.4 oz and is 19 inches long. I have become quite good friends with the glider chair in our front room and have enjoyed my time of doing nothing but snuggle with my baby. Enjoy the pictures!

37 weeks

Nursery

Baby

We are having a baby! We couldn't be more excited and have never looked forward to January more:). Since I'm so late in posting, here's the transformation:

5 weeks

8 weeks

12 weeks

Iditarod 2010

Our day at the iditarod. I had just written a little blurb on it. It got lost. So here's a brief synopsis:
Fur Rendezvous 2010
Running with Reindeers
Carnivals in cold weathers
Weird Contests
Fake Iditarod Start (see photos below) Lance Mackey is even in one...he just won for the 4th time. Kind of a big deal
Burgers at The White Spot
Frozen Toes...Good Fun!

I like your teeth...

Now, I know these people exist. I've heard of them. I've just never experienced something like this first hand. Enjoy:

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday (already makes more sense!) returning a few items. The line to customer service was a little long, but I didn't want to have to come back, so I decided to forge ahead. As I was standing there the man in front of me looks at me and says, "You have two different shoes on". I then look down, even though I knew I didn't, only because I HAVE done this before! :) As I see that I have the same shoe on both my feet he says, "Oh, no you don't. They way you were standing made it look like you had two different shoes on." I reply, "You had me scared there for a bit."
The crazy man at walmart (CMAW) then says to me, "Whoa! You have nice teeth." (really, nice teeth...??)
Me, "Thank You".
CMAW, "How old are you?"

At this point, I want to entertain this a bit, I still have a while in line!

Me, "How old do you think I am?"
CMAW, "21"
Me "No, but thank you!"
CMAW, "25"
Me, "No, but thanks"
CMAW, "20?"
Me, "No, but thanks ALOT!"
Me, "I'm 29"
CMAW, "No way!" (yes way)
CMAW, "How old do you think I am?"

I pause for a moment, not sure if I should respond to this, but what the heck, "umm..41?"

CMAW, "That's close...real close."

Some silence, I'm not sure where it's gonna go from here. I didn't have to wait long.

CMAW, "Do you know why I look my age?"

Ummm....awkward silence. Again, not for long.

CMAW, "I fight."
Me, "Oh, like AFC fighting?"
CMAW, "Kind of, but I'm too old for that, I do Ji Jitsu (sp?)."
Me, "Oh, I see."
CMAW, "Let me tell you a little bit about the MMA and AFC fighting.....(he went on some big thing about how they didn't use to have cages and pads, or something of that nature. I wasn't quite following)
Me, "Uh huh"
CMAW, "I wish they would have had that when I was younger. Would have kept me out of jail."

A kind nod from my direction. Wonderful!
At this time I then pull left hand more in the way of the eye. I know where this is headed.
He switched subjects at this point and started talking of sitting on the couch and flipping through T.V. channels. I nodded again.

CMAW, "Sometimes when I'm bored of flipping through channels I go to work."
Me, " Yes, it's always nice to have a little cushioning in the bank isn't it?"

A little more awkward silence..

CMAW, "So do you know anything about Ji Jitsu?"
Me, "No."
CMAW, "Well I like to invite, now I'm gentle, but I like to invite girls over and well, wrestle with 'em a bit. But I'm gentle."

Oh yes, the old "wrestling routine"
I couldn't respond. Didn't know how. A few thoughts were going through my head, such as, I wonder if he's going to follow me? Is there cameras getting all of this? And of course, this is really happening to me.

CMAW, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Me, "I have a husband."
CMAW, "A husband? I didn't even look at your fingers yet!"

Ah yes, my teeth and fingers

CMAW, "Don't ever cheat on him"
Me, "Deal"
CMAW, "Don't let him cheat on you"
Me, "Okay"
CMAW, "I was married once. She cheated on me. I have a kid though."
Me, "Oh, how old is your kid?"
CMAW, "She's 23. She's got a kid too. Now I'm a grandpa."
Me, "That's cool. Kids are fun.'
CMAW, "Yeah, but they're in California and I'm in Alaska"
Me, "Yes."

At this point, we still have a bit of a line ahead of us...

Me, "What part of California?"
CMAW, "Chico. But I'm from the Sacramento area."
Me, "Oh, my husband is from the Sacramento area, Lincoln actually."
CMAW, "oh yeah" (while nodding with slight confusion)
CMAW, "so your family's from California?"
Me, "No, my husband is from California, my family is in Utah".
CMAW, "Ahhh..Utah, that's a nice place too. You must be a farmer. There's lots of farms there."
Me, "No, I grew up in the city. My husband grew up on more of a farm than I did".

Line is moving forward some. It's his turn.

CMAW, "That's amazing. Your from the farm and grew up in the city and he's from the city and grew up on a farm."

Me with a kind nod, now in complete bewilderment.

Immediately after he's moved to a cashier the lady right next to him opens up. I walk forward and start to return my items. I look over and he's there cashing his government check. Unfortunately, the check wasn't dated until 2/3/10. It was 2/2/10. The whole thing could have been avoided!

Note to self...don't go close to Wal-mart at the beginning of the month!

Our Getaway

Last weekend Mike and I went on a little getaway down to Girdwood. It's the big ski spot here in the AK, but is beautiful, especially in the winter! My boss was ever so gracious to let us stay in his cabin. We had a wonderful few days. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain and ate at the Seven Glaciers restaurant and enjoyed just relaxing and watching a few movies. Enjoy these beautiful photos!

Our House....

The Blog neglection is Over!! I am sorry it has taken so long for this post to happen, but I was waiting for the house be completely decorated, I realized, it's never going to be completely decorated! So, here is our house now. When it changes, I'll take more pics!
Please refer to a few posts down for the "before" shots!

We are loving our house! You all should come visit!!