Palmer Reindeer Farm

Well fall is here and it has been absolutely beautiful here in Alaska. This is the first year we actually have had a fall. Before the weather decides to turn on us and get cold and snowy we decided to venture out to the Reindeer Farm. I was excited to take Harper, have her pet and feed the reindeer and maybe choose her first pumpkin. Well the reindeer part was a hit but not the pumpkins. The second Jeff sat her down she didn't move in the grass and then when we sat her up by the pumpkin she cried, then screamed. Of course I caught the moment since I was expecting excitement and a smile. Overall it was fun to get out although short and sweet and windy I love all these "1st" moments with Harper.

Harper 9 months

We just love my sweet baby girl. Between me and Jeff we probably kiss this girl a million times a day. Here are her updates at 9 months:

Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz (60%)

Length: 29 1/4 in (95%)

Head: 44.9 cm (75%)

• She started crawling and pulling herself up at 7 1/2 months.
• She started walking along furniture at 8 months.
• She LOVES to eat. She eats 3 meals a day with 3 bottles in between before naps and bedtime.
• She slept through the night at 8 months (It took 1 night of crying it out for an hour and the next night was 15 min and that was all it took... YEAH!!!) Occasionally she wakes up ever so often crying, sometimes it's night terrors and it takes awhile to calm her down (usually with rocking and humming to her) but usually we just go give her her binkie and blanket and she is golden.
• She stands free handed all the time and will stand up in the middle of the room by herself...  (she will be walking in no time!!!)
• She LOVES her TV. She is definitely her daddy's girl. If the TV is on you can yell her name over and over and she won't look at you. And if you get in her way she will move her head so she can still see the TV... silly girl
• She loves to read books and will turn the page whether your ready for it or not. Sometimes she will be patient and wait until you say "OK, turn the page" 
• She loves bath time. Her baths usually last 20-40 min... yes she is wrinkly as a prune when she gets out most times. 
• She HATES getting out of the tub. HATES getting dressed. HATES getting her diaper changed (she makes it very difficult kicking and arching her back)
• She loves car rides and will stare out the window all day (I got a new car so now she can see out the windows and will just talk to herself and watch all that goes by)
• She is very good at self entertaining. Quite often I will put her in her room with all her toys around her and she will just play for up to an hour all by herself... talking, screaming, dancing (I'm usually hiding at the door watching her, taking pics or face timing with family. I rarely get anything done cuz I'm too busy watching her.)
• She says "Whoa" and "Yeah" and occasional "Dada" and she just started saying "mama" :)
• She loves other kids. She doesn't necessarily play with them but along side them. And she loves watching older kids play and will often laugh thinking they are so funny 
• She is a very busy, always on the go baby (she has been ever since in the womb!) 
• She loves the dogs and will often grab Chewys' toy and he will try to grab it or knock her over trying to get it and she just giggles. She will crawl and follow them under my bed. She gets mad that she can't get under the bed with them but she will lay on her tummy and watch them. 
• She still loves animals... all animals. Even stuffed animals :) I've started buying a beanie boo collection for her (I know, kinda lame but I had an obsession with beanie babies growing up and my niece got me addicted to these stuffed animals.)
• At 9 months she has 5 teeth. She is a pretty good teether minus getting a cold with runny nose every time. 

I don't know what more I can say but that Jeff and I are truly blessed. We both just can't get enough of her and her sweet spirit. She loves to cuddle when she is tired and we just both soak it up. We both fight for who is going to go get her out of her crib cuz she is just the cutest, standing up in the corner closest to the door yelling and jabbering until we come and once we open the door she starts jumping and squealing. She is the happiest little thing to wake up to and it just brightens our day.

(Pics in chronological order starting at 8 months)

I've learned that whatever keeps her busy and makes her happy so I can either sleep after working a 13 hour night shift or getting housework done then more power to her. She loves pulling down the DVDs DAILY... and every night I love picking them up because I know we had a good day.

 Happy 8 months pretty girl.

A nice warm bottle right before bed does a baby good. She just passes right out and we love getting in last minute snuggles before laying her down.

Harper just because you can crawl doesn't mean you can go anywhere you want. Crawling in the TV stand, under the coffee table and under your toys gets you stuck, angry and all this momma says is you got yourself stuck, so get yourself unstuck!!! I know I'm mean but she is a smart girl and has learned how to not get stuck. (One would just avoid the obstacle but she just fights it until she conquers it... kinda like her momma:)

"Tada!!!  See I did it mommy... I didn't need your help after all."

The bond between Jeff and Harper is unbreakable. He loves making her laugh and she will just giggle and giggle and giggle. She truly is her daddy's girl.

Harper was slowly waking up from her nap. I wanted to get a pic of her cuddling with me. When I turned the camera around so we could see ourselves I started making funny faces and she smiled. Love her cheesy grin.

Harper chillaxin and watching TV... and then I got in the way trying to get her to smile and apparently whatever she was watching was more important than me!

9 month check-up... she was all about the big window. The Dr ended up saying I should probably hold her because we couldn't break her away from whatever was going on outside to do her check up.

Jeffs mountain goat hunt

Hopefully I can get Jeff to sit down and write about his trip to Valdez for his 2nd attempt at a Mt. Goat with his brother Josh. They were very successful this year and both shot their goats, had gorgeous weather and Jeff even came home with a black bear as well. Not sure how excited I am that my house is going to start looking like a animal museum but I love that he gets to hunt and enjoy the outdoors in Alaska.

The beautiful 6 hr drive to Valdez... incredible weather.

 The view from the top of the mountain where they were hunting. Talk about a hunt of a life time.

Harper and I did our best to stay busy... and she did her best to keep me up all night for 3 nights in a row so we enjoyed all the cuddles and nap time we could get. Last year I really struggled with Jeff being gone. He wasn't able to call or anything for 5 days straight. This year their phones worked off and on on the mountain so I heard from him via text almost everyday. I love him so much and I'm so proud to be his wife and mother to his kids. Congrats on your hunt babe!!!

Valdez- Last camping trip of the year!

Our first labor day in AK we went to Valdez with friends and we wanted to make a tradition of it. Last year we went to Vegas for an early anniversary getaway so we decided to go to Valdez again this year, since I'm sure in order to make a tradition of it you have to go more than once. We had so much fun our first year there that I was nervous that maybe it was just a good year for weather, fishing and bear viewing so I was a little nervous but we weren't disappointed. The first day of fishing was a bummer... we caught nothing. But then Jeff got in a groove and caught 3 or 4 the next day (only fished a few hours) and the last day he caught 3 in an hour... we were sad we had to leave cuz he was just getting in a rhythm. Fishing in AK is different every where you go so it takes time to get the swing of things, learn the tides, whether to use a treble hook, bait or single hook. I forgot how much bigger silvers are than reds.... they are big suckers... so much that Jeff had hooked probably the biggest silver ever for him and I couldn't net it cuz it was too big for our net (and then it got away... needless to say Jeff was pretty upset with me and all I could do was smile, say sorry and walk away to give him space to cool off) In all we came home with 7-8 Silvers.

And then there is the bear viewing... the reason I love Valdez. Our first year there we say a handful of black bears and 3-4 grizzlies. Well this year we left seeing 27 or so black bears (we lost count there were so many, and some may have been repeats from previous days) and by day 4 I was getting depressed I hadn't seen my grizzlies. I think last time we were lucky to see the same grizzle 3 days in a row along the banks but now that we look back he was injured (had a hook in his paw) so i'm sure it was had to climb up the trees and into the forest. We drove around everywhere looking up and down streams at high and low tide, just waiting for some grizzlies to come out. Our last night there I wanted to drive down to the other side of the bay one last time (Jeff was done and had no desire but I was driving so he had no choice, I went anyway) He looked down one stream and said, oh there's another black bear. I started to turn around (Jeff didn't like that plan either since we had already seen our share of black bear) but low and behold when we went back it was a grizzly. I was in heaven. And not just a grizzly, a sow and a cub. I got out of the truck and stood on the bridge to take pictures. Then I heard a noise come from the brush and out came another cub. (Now these cubs were about 2 years old, about the age they start leaving their mommas). I turned to Jeff, who was watching from the truck, and just as I turned back to take more pics the water beneath me started rippling and another cub came walking up the stream (remember I'm on a bridge, 12 feet up from the water... I felt super close to these animals.) At this point over 20 people had stopped and were watching these bears (in Valdez, whenever you see a bunch of cars pulled off the side of the road you know there are bears in sight) After watching for 5 more min or so I heard someone gasp and to my right just down off the bridge was another cub... 4 grizzly cubs total... that's pretty unheard of for a grizzly. I would've thought maybe some were 2 years old and some yearlings, but they were all the same size. It was incredible and I was in HEAVEN. I got what I wanted and I couldn't stop talking about it to everyone... and of course rubbing it in there faces that I live in the land of the wild... it's a zoo everyday in Alaska.

Momma grizzly with 3 cubs... the other cub was across the river.