Flower Girl

Maching Jammies!  Here is Aubrey with her buddy Maya

Here is our Little Flower at the ConocoPhillips Family Halloween party.  She really enjoys dress-up, and we really enjoy showing her off!  

We're Moving.

The Buck family is moving to Houston.  A few weeks ago Brian was offered a job he couldn't refuse in Houston.  He will still be working for ConocoPhillips, but in a very different role.  His new position is an assistant of sorts to a VP in the company.  It is a neat opportunity for him to meet people in the higher up roles in the company and learn more about what they do.  It will involve quite a bit of travel, setting up meetings, and power point presentations.  It is a 12-18 month position.  It is kind of an honor to get this job, and at the same time it is nicknamed the "Bag Boy."  He is excited for the change after several months of very intense days at work and a lot of time in the field.

There are lots of emotions with this move.  We are very sad to leave Alaska--mostly our friends, our church, and the outdoorsy lifestyle we have so enjoyed here.  We will miss the amazingly beautiful landscape God created here.  This really feels like our home as it is the only home we have had together.  On the other hand, we are very excited for some of the changes this move will bring.  We will be near Brian's parents for the first time in our marriage.  We will be near Aubrey's doctor at Texas Children's Hospital.  And buying a home in Houston is very exciting to us--we are hoping to find one with a pool!  I am really looking forward to the warmer weather.  (it was around 9 degrees here this morning, brrrrrr!)  We go on our house hunting trip on Friday the 31st, and then move down on the 19th of November.  It is all happening VERY fast.

Big Birthday Girl!

Aubrey and I got back from a week in California visiting the Frarys and meeting baby Jace and put together a kickin' birthday party!  We had a blast in So. Cal!  It was in the 80s most of the time.  We got to wear shorts and swim and enjoy some sun.  Brian met us for a couple of days over the weekend before heading to Houston for a conference.  The Frarys and I took Aubrey out for a birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant.  They gave her a piece of cake and sang to her.  She tried to dig in with her hand but the cake was too hot and she burned her fingers and cried.  But that didn't deter her too much; she enjoyed her cake as I cooled pieces for her.  It was so great to catch up with such good friends.  We also met up with our friends we call the Bumpii who used to live up here.  We left the hot weather to arrive home to weather below freezing and snow on the ground and in the forcast.  Winter is in full swing already here.  

Aubrey's party was a lot of fun.  I had so much fun making invitations, planning the food, getting party favors and balloons!  Aubrey wore her pink tutu and LOVED it!  We had lots of kids and lots of adults celebrate with us.  This birthday was really special to us after all that has happened in the last six months.  It really gave us a reason to stop and reflect on how much God has blessed us.  We are so thankful for Aubrey's health and all the friends and family who have been such a big support to us.  

Holding Steady

We just got back from the Anchorage cardiologist's office.  Aubrey is doing well.  Things are about the same as they have been the last couple of visits--which is good.  Aubrey had us all laughing as the Dr. was trying to do her echo and she was dancing to the music on the video he put in for her.  We scheduled an appointment with him for February and will try and get into the Texas doc in between.  Aubrey qualified for some financial aid for all of her medical visits so we are feeling very blessed in that regard as well.  We are thankful for your continued prayers.  We know that Aubrey is special and that God has a special plan to spread hope and life in Christ through her.  We have already seen God doing that through her and it is exciting.

Our funny little girl

Last week for Brian's birthday, we went on a family hunting outing.  Really we went hiking in moose country with a gun.  We didn't see any moose, but we saw some tracks and other signs of moose.  It was a beautiful autumn day.  

Aubrey is getting into more and more every day.  She was very busy while I was making a meal for some friends.

Aubrey makes me laugh every day.  She is so funny.   We were given a little girl's snow suit (that should fit in about 2 years!)  Aubrey wanted to put it on when she saw it.  She was like a big marshmellow.  .  . and she liked it!  "Ralphie, I can't get up." She seems to have a thing for shoes.  She is always bringing me her shoes and insisting that I put them on her little feet.  Even in jammies she wants to wear shoes too!
We have had a week with Brian out of town, and he is due home tomorrow.  We can't wait.  Aubrey misses her daddy.  We look at his picture in Aubrey's "Who Loves Baby" book and she kisses him and gives him cuddles.  She talks on the phone to him and even gives the phone kisses when he is on the other end.  She is still not quite walking.  She does pretty well as long as she can hold at least one hand.  She takes 1 or 2 steps on her own.  Hopefully Daddy doesn't miss her first real steps!  She's so close.

48 Hours

Brian went to Dallas this past weekend for our friend's wedding.  He unfortunately got stuck in Salt Lake Sunday night because of a volcano.  Meanwhile, early Monday morning (3am) Aubrey woke up with some diarrhea.  In the morning, it was clear she was sick with that and a fever.  Knowing that it is very important for Aubrey to stay hydrated because of her HCM, I called the doctor and got an appointment to see a pediatrician at 2:30 pm.  Brian was in Seattle by then, but unreachable until then.  When I took her in they told me they wanted her admitted to the hospital immediately to get an iv going.  So a nurse walked me over to the Children's hospital (same building as the pediatrician.)  It was very upsetting for Aubrey to have so many strange faces poking her and listening to her heart and measuring her and weighing her.  So it took a long time (a few hours) to get her set up, but eventually they gave her a mild sedative and she calmed down so she could have an echocardiogram and get an iv started.  

Her heart looked about the same as the last few times.  The pressure gradient was a little higher in the outflow to the aorta, but that is easily explained by the slight dehydration she was experiencing.  Brian finally got there during the echo.  I felt so relieved to have him with me.  That first night in the hospital was pretty rough.  Aubrey didn't sleep that well once the sedation wore off.  The nurses were constantly coming in to give her medicine, check her vitals, or just stop the beeping machines every time she moved and disrupted one of her lines.  Aubrey wouldn't sleep unless one of us was in the crib with her, so we took turns squeezing in the crib and stretching out on the tiny little pull out bed for parents!  Needless to say, none of us got much sleep Monday night.  

Her fever went away in the night and by noon the next day she had had her last loose bowel movement.  On Tuesday they had to redo her iv, the first one slipped out, and it took 3 tries--and a LOT of crying--before they got a vein.  I cried, too.  It is so hard to see your baby hurting and not be able to do anything to make it better.  We all slept much better Tuesday night, they kept the tubing in her arm, but unhooked the iv, so there was no more beeping that night.  They finally let us go home at noon today (Wednesday.)  And we rejoiced! 

It wasn't a very fun couple of days.  They were worried she had some nasty virus (she didn't) so she was confined to her room and couldn't play anywhere else until a couple hours before we left.  The one thing that Brian and I were so thankful for was that the Olympics were on tv this week! The timing was great for us to get lots of time to watch.  Aubrey Ella seems very happy to be home, but it is becoming a struggle to get her to take her medicine.  I am afraid the hospital has made her more opinionated.  She got really good at saying "Ma Ma!"  

A Close Encounter

For those of you who don't live in Alaska, here is a glimpse of the things we deal with here. . .  We had a beautiful day here today.  I wanted to enjoy the outdoors and I was tired of chasing Aubrey around and pulling grass, rocks, and other "goodies" out of her mouth.  So, after I changed her cold, wet clothes (she pulled a bucket of cold water on herself,) I strapped her into the chariot and went for a jog with her.  I was running through the park near our house and paying more attention to Aubrey than to where I was going.  When I came to a T in the path I looked up and saw a moose right in front of me!  If I had reached out my hand I would have touched her nose!  I gasped and then turned on the after burners!  I have seen a lot of moose, but not that close up!  I quickly thanked the Lord for protecting us.