Photo Card

Wintry Wonderland Holiday

holiday party invitations and thank you cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

It's Spring Time!

Thanks for putting up the swings Grandpa! I need a better picture where they have that "this is the best thing in the world" look.

Cousins playing nice.


Cheezing for the camera.




I love this time of year!!! Cordova, Alaska is a great place to be in the spring. It goes from a quiet little town into a bustling fishing community overnight. The energy is sky high. And speaking of sky.... it seems like you can fit two days of activity into one day because it is light for so dang long! I guess it's one way to make up for the short winter days here in the far North. I was a little worried about Amelia adjusting to falling asleep while it is still light outside. She is doing just fine. It's 11:20 pm and it is still pretty light outside. And did I mention pretty? It is beautifuly outside! Well, it depends on which window I am looking out... anyways.



Baby number two is due in less than two months. Our little one remains nameless. Kinda sad. I feel a little guilty because I don't pay attention to her like I did when Amelia was still "unborn." I don't keep up on my baby reading. I don't have her clothes washed and ready. I just don't. Not that I haven't thought about it. I just don't. But I am going to Anchorage in a couple days for a doctor appointment and sonogram. Exciting!!! Three hours on a ferry with Amelia to get there, two nights in a hotel, and then a 6-7 hour ferry ride back to Cordova. It will be fun!!! We learned from out last Anchorage/doctor trip to just let Amelia pass out in the carseat for her nap whilst we run errands. It's pointless to try to get her to sleep in a hotel/b&b/strange place. And her diet while away from home.... fun! Thank goodness for those fruit/veggie squeezies. You know the ones I'm talking about? Ella's Kitchen?



So Jake and Les are here with the two kids. Well, Les is here with the kids. Jake's out fishing. Hallie is about 19 months old (4 1/2 months older than Amelia). Jay is three weeks old. Both are so sosso soso so cute. I love them. I just didn't realize that kids that age (Amelia and Hallie's age) don't really know how to play together. So there's alot of toy looting and plundering from each other. Some hitting. And alot of fun. No really, it is fun. Just alot going on. I mean, 3 week old (and I didn't mention Les is healing from her C-Section), and I'm 8 months pregnant. At least there is one husband around and Grandma is helping out too. Crazy house! This will definately be a summer to remember. That is if we still have our minds to remember it. haha I'm so funny. We plan on moving into my parents Bed and Breakfast the beginning of August. By then my baby might be a week old. Yes, moving with a newborn! Toughen up Beck, that's what they used to do back in the day, in the middle of winter, with the wildings running about. I have it easy!!! I don't know what I was thinking, it's nice living with Grandma to help out!!! Maybe I'll just be a permanent resident of G&G's house!



Amelia is growing by leaps and bounds. I can't believe how amazing this being is. She is a little giggle box. She loves to be tickled. And she has a sense of humor. The other night she wanted up. So she says: "up." So I said, "up-fffph." She just thought that was very hystarical-like. So that little game entertained her for a whole two minutes. I appreciated her thinking I was funny. I think this mother daughter thing is going great so far. When we put her to bed at night she likes to poke our eyes out and say "eye." Same with our nose, cheeks, mouth, teeth, hair, ear (both of them). The latest is elbows (loves to kiss my elbow), eyebrow, piggies, and tonight: bum. She gives me kisses all day long. Then a ton at bedtime. I love this mom thing!



Whenever we come in the house I have to check her hands for rocks. She loves rocks. Loves to hold them, give them, throw them in the crick. I've found several stashed in her carseat.

Amelia got her 15 month shots last week. She weighed in at a whopping 23.13 pounds and 31 inches long (I think...00ps). So that puts her under 50 percentile for weight and just at 80 percentile for height.

Ok, getting tired and still have to try to upload some pictures.

Cookie

Amelia said "cookie" today! I'm so proud. She loves the frosting coated animal cookies. She loves saying prayer. Every time we say it she folds her arms. She's pretty good about keeping them folded till we say "Amen." We try to keep it short for her sake (and ours too).
Today is another beautiful rainy day in Cordova, Alaska. I decided to do some serious car shopping. Thank goodness my Mom was around to help. She's a serious shark when it comes to dealing with car salesman. Good to have her speak for me. I'm ok at dealing with getting a car, but she's REAL GOOD! So we are going up to Anchorage on Thursday to take it for a test drive and hopefully PURCHASE!
Amelia loves having her Daddy home on the weekends. So do I. She's spent the last 10 minutes blowing raspberries on Jared's tummy. Cracks us up. She likes to give her little sister (my tummy) kisses when it's time to cuddle right before bed.
Yesterday she was helping me get cans of spaghetti sauce out of the storage room when my Mom came home from work. Usually we see Grandma coming home from the driveway and she gets to great her at the door. It's an exciting event for both of them. So when Amelia comes out of the storage room to see Grandma is home and she didn't get to great her at the door she was not pleased at all. She wouldn't go to Grandma. Wouldn't say hi. Nothing. So I told my Mom to leave and then come back. Well Grandma went around the corner of the house and we did our "Grandma's home!" routine. Amelia was thrilled to run down the porch and great her. I'm glad we figured this out.

Move to Alaska

Easter Dress Grandma Songer got Amelia. Hallie has one in blue. It will be fun getting their pictures with their dresses.

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while Mom gets stuff done.

On March 1st we moved to Alaska! I just thought I'd get this post started. I need to find the camera to add pictures. Amelia has experienced playing "by" the snow. She's not really a fan of playing in the snow. We went from living in a cold house to a very warm/hot house. Kinda interesting saying that. You'd think that in San Diego I would be saying how warm the house was, but it WASN'T! (To be fair it was a cold winter there and the house doesn't hold heat very well.) And here in Alaska the fireplace is always running so it's been very warm inside. Jared says he hasn't had a chance to get cold here and is a little frustrated about always being so darn warm! :) Warm or cold, I can be happy either way. I just like it that I don't have to worry about my baby being cold. Jared loves his job at Plumbline. We are very thankful he was hired on there. He enjoys the people he works with and for. He likes helping the customers out. And whether he likes it or not he seems to keep up on the town gossip. He's learning what it's like to live in a small town. He lived here for about 6 months before we got married, but spent most his time on a boat or at my parents house. Now he's working in town. He didn't waste any time in becoming involved in the community. The first week here he made a peanut butter and jelly pie for the scouts cake auction. It went for about $60. The second week he got involved in coaching the high school baseball team: Cordova Wolverines. He absolutely loves it. Tonight he is going to a town meeting about 4-wheelers. Some people want to make places four wheelers go unaccessable (basically). I am very proud of his willingness to give of himself like that. Enough about Jared, lets talk about our little superstar! AMELIA: LOVES LOVES LOVES her cousins. The other day I went to visit my Mom at the high school. She always runs over to Grandma and gives her a hug. Then she wants something (typical kid). She usually gets a cracker. Then she just wants to get down and run around. Well on the way out we usually roam the hall in the school for a bit. We don't play much outside and the house has a lot of running space, but it's nice to run in the hall at the school. Well, we saw MaKayla and Erikka in gym class. MaKayla came out first and scooped Amelia up. And my little girl was soooo excited to see her. Then Erikka came out and said hi. They couldn't stay out long. And when they went back to class Amelia was VERY unhappy. She LOVES to play with the big girls. She loves it when cousin Zack acts like a goofball and makes her crack up. She loves tickling Quincy's feet. She is a little attention hog at the dinner table when family comes over to eat. Out of nowhere she'll crack up just to get everyone's attention and to make them laugh. At church Amelia loves to run around with the other kids. There is one little girl in particular she likes to play with: Deshka. I don't know if that's how her name is spelled. She's a few years older than Amelia. She likes to run after Deshka and watch her play. We had a playdate with one of my childhood friends. Penny's daughter is 2 1/2. She is a sweetheart and very good playmate for Amelia. The girls had fun running after each other and pulling every single toy out. I loved watching them play together. It brought back fun memories. I'm not stressed. I know that things will work out. But it's a little frustrating trying to find a place to live. We enjoy living at my parents house and feel no pressure to leave. But I really want to have our own place by the time our 2nd baby is born. It's going to be a full house around here in May when Jake, Leslie, Hallie, and baby #2 (Jay?) move in too. We have an option. I'm excited about it but it's not a sure thing ... yet. So far I'm not stressed about it. What I am stressed about: Giving birth to baby #2. The hospital in Cordova does not deliver babies. So what the women of Cordova have to do is one of three options: #1: Emergency delivery at Cordova Hospital. Not for me. Mo Money. Option #2: Home Birth. Something I've considered. But my awesome doctor in San Diego said she strongly advised against it. I have big babies and it's not a good thing to take chances on in this small town... I'm not completely trusting in our medical facilities if anything was to "happen." Option #3: Go to Anchorage a few weeks before the due date, live in a hotel, and give birth at the Hospital in Anchorage wtih a happy epidural. I am going to have to go for option #3. Not very happy about it. What I've enjoyed so far: Cooking dinner with my Mom every night. Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Amelia. Seeing old friends. Making new ones. Watching it snow. (Don't enjoy being in the snow so much) Going to dinner at my Aunt Chris's house. Pizza Party's!!! Saying: "Amelia, let's go brush your teeth." And she'll go running for the bathroom. She loves brushing her teeth. Visiting Jared at work. Amelia loves visiting the lolipops, I mean her Dad, at work too. Seeing so much of my family. Going to Zack's basketball games. Amelia likes to go too. A warm house. What I miss: Mexian Food! Friends & Family SD Weather Target Driving 75 mph on the 8. Jared getting home from work by 3:30. Going to the park almost every day. My Hair Girl. My Doctor. My Dentist. St. Patrick's Day Dinner at Mike and Kelly's. (Missed seeing Linda and Billy) :( Ok, I better stop.

Happy Birthday Amelia!!!

February 6, 2011

First thing Birthday Morning. All dressed up for church. I love this face! Grandpa helped out alot for Amelia's birthday. Here he is helping Dad make Duck cupcakes. Amelia is very good at saying "Duck."

Amelia putting the finishing touches on her Birthday sign. She loves the crayons Cousin Hallie gave her for Christmas.

Amelia's Birthday Sign

Oh Boy!!! She loves to color!

Duck! (Meow)

Good job Dad on making a fabulous Birthday Cake.

Guests cake, I mean ducks in the pond.

Ok, don't let her get into them yet....

Ducks make us happy.

Ok, DIG IN!!!

She ate very slowly and enjoyed every bite.

Come on, Grab it!

Frosting Everywhere

Give Mom some sugar!

Happy Birthday Amelia, We Love YOU

Niles Family February 2011

Family of 3.5

I'm a little over 3 months pregnant here.

Four Generations

Baby #2 due July 24th!!!

Christmas 2010

This was our best Christmas EVER! We had a blast watching our baby girl open her presents. She liked the wrapping paper more than the presents. She got a ton of great presents. We made out pretty good ourselves.

She LOVED her dollie.

Grandpa helping Amelia put together her Sit and Spin.
Look at her hand!!!!

Piglet+Amelia=Besties

Give the poor kids some wrapping paper!!!

I'd rather cuddle with Daddy than play with my new toys.....

The Niles Family

Christmas 2010

Opening of the presents