May 2011

I can't believe how May has flown by.  Most of the month was beautiful here in Anchorage, Alaska.  We are feeling settled in and quite at home here already.  We have been spending every spare moment outlside (especially whenever Kai is sleeping.)  With the long days we can easily put the kids to bed around 7:30 and get at least two or three hours of yard work in before we go to bed!  This is the time of year where everything has gone from the dead brown of winter to bright and alive with color.  I LOVE this time of year.  We have worked diligently at planning, building and planting our garden and working on our yard.  The neighbor boys are hydroseeding our back yard at this very moment.  In Alaska, a common gardening technique is raised bed gardening, so the soil is warmer for the plants to grow.  We started our seeds in the laundry room window a couple of months ago, and have now transplanted everything to the yard.  We built an arbor and gate with a wire fence to hopefully keep pests (moose) from eating our our hard work!  Kai is still crawling so, in order to bring him outside we pretty much have to commit to a bath afterward.

The kids are adjusting well to being here.  Kai is sleeping well again--that is where the change affected him most.  Aubrey is doing well with the change also.  She has settled in after a little transition time.  We all love our new home and all of the space we have to play.  All the work there is to do here is what we love to do.  The kids had late winter colds but have been healthy for some time now.  We love to walk to the zoo from our house.

We have been connecting with old friends and excited to meet some new.  We will be hosting a couple of BBQs for people who are connected with our church and live in our neighborhood this summer.  We are also taking a trip to Montana to meet up with family for a week in July.  Both sets of parents are coming to visit us this summer as well.  

It is an interesting thing to move away from a place for a couple of years and then move back.  It is certainly an easier transition than moving to a new place, though.  I am out of "Momma Time." So I'll have to add pictures next time!

New Home, Easter, Birthday

Easter Cuties!

Malakai's Birthday cake was gone in one bite!

It has been a busy few weeks.  We closed on our home without a hitch.  We LOVE it.  We have room to play and move.  We may paint the kids rooms, but other than hanging pictures, we don't need to do anything else to it.  We moved in and spent about 2 weeks getting things unpacked, arranged and settled.  Now we are really enjoying it.  We spent a couple hours raking leaves, burning sticks and "working" in our yard the other night.  We are starting our garden--the plants are starting in the Laundry room, and we are building raised beds in the back yard.  We LOVE that type of work.  Aubrey is loving it too.  It is so quiet and beautiful here.  We see moose quite often and we can walk to the Zoo from here!  

We had some friends over for Lasagna on Easter.  The kids enjoyed hunting for eggs and playing. Then we celebrated Kai's first birthday all week.  Monday (the actual birthday) we went to Chucky Cheese for our family celebration.  The kids were asleep by the time we got home, so we opened his presents the next evening.  We had a little Birthday BBQ on Saturday for him.  It felt so good to entertain in our new home.  We are so thankful for little Malakai.  He brings so much joy to our lives.  He is such a happy kid most of the time and so sweet and loving.  His first year was an extreme one for the Buck family! but we are so blessed.

The Waiting Game

Two weeks. We close on our new home in two weeks. It is hard to keep the two kids occupied each day here. I have been planning outings and activities for the kids and I to do each day. We have spent lots of time catching up with old friends. We have been to the library, zoo, playland, indoor playground three times, one mall, and community rec center kindergym time twice. I signed Aubrey up for a gymnastics class and have plans to go to the indoor waterpark, and a church moms play group this week! Aubrey and I do a little homeschool preschool each day--usually when Malakai naps. Brian and I have been meticulously planning our garden, and the fence around it to keep moose out, and the compost bin! We are anxious to be homeowners again! We will have a large yard in our new home (over half acre) so we have been planning what we want to do with it! This place is very nice and I am thankful we could be in a place like this in this meantime. It is comfortable and fairly quiet. We are on the 4th (top) floor with views of the mountains. We have shopping carts in the garage to bring groceries and sleeping kids up from the car in the elevator. Brian works really close, too. Malakai has grown a lot since we got here over a month ago. He now crawls everywhere on his knees and pulls up and cruises all around the furniture. He is such a happy kid most of the time. I thought he had crawled down the hall to the kids room where Aubrey was but she came back not knowing where he was. . . we heard a "splash, splash" and ran to find him laughing and splashing his hands in the toilet! Aaaah!

Alaska Update

We have been in Anchorage for a little over a week. We have been looking for houses and are currently waiting to hear from one we put an offer on. (the third house we have offered on.) We are renting a furnished 2 bedroom appartment downtown. It is cozy and fine, but we are anxious to get into a home. We have nice views of the mountains and were able to see some dogsled racers from the kids's bedroom window last weekend. Aubrey likes the snow, but thinks it is too cold here. She has already had several play dates and loves her friends here. It hasn't been the easiest transition for the kids. Malakai arrived in AK with double ear infections and Aubrey seems to have caught a new cold just as her last one was almost gone. Neither kid is sleeping very well, so far--consequently, neither am I. It will be nice to get settled somewhere in our own beds again. I'll try and keep you posted. . . We are excited for the Iditerod start this weekend. Brian likes his job, and the challenge of doing something a little different. It has been fun catching up with old friends.

We are off to the Caribbean for a week with family before the big move. We were so blessed to have family here to share in such a special day for Malakai.

Moving Day!

The big truck is pulling up any minute!  We are off on another adventure.  Feb 21st we will be flying to Alaska to once again make Anchorage home.  We are excited--though it is always bitter-sweet to move.  We will greatly miss living near family, our church home, our neighbors, and the friends we have made--not to mention the pool and the sunshiny weather!  Aubrey, at 3 years old, is SO excited and keeps telling us how much she loves snow and all the things that go with that.  Malakai will hopefully become a little more flexible through this transition!  They're here--gotta go!

October 2010

I realize I have not touched the blog in some time.  Thank you so much for checking it and continuing to pray for our family.  I think I have wanted so much to feel "normal" again that things like writing in the blog got put on the back burner.  It always forces me to reflect on all that has happened in our life--and sometimes I just don't want to do that.  

Brian returned to work full time just three weeks after being released from the hospital.  He feels as good as new. Brian expected the doctor to say he could go back to work after two weeks but he encouraged him to take one more week off--so we took a mini-vacation to a resort in Austin.  It was good to get away.  We are still trying to work out what the best activity level for him will be.  A stress echo revealed that his heart isn't handling exercise as well as it should--so for now, the orders are to try and keep his heart below 120 bpm.  We have been able to hike and play some tennis and do yard work at that level.  Contact sports are off limits for now.  I have been amazed at Brian's ability to focus on what he can do and not on what he can't. 

Brian and I have very different ways of dealing with all that has happened.  I do a lot of internal processing and occasional conversations with good friends--but I want distance from the pain and fears of that week and the implications for our future.  I want to focus on the day to day and try and not worry about the future.  Brian on the other hand takes a much more proactive approach.  He has immersed himself with information and connected with people who have walked a similar road.  He joined some organizations made up of people who have HCM or have children with the disease.  These communities provide support and advice for families as well as advocate for heart healthy legislation.  The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Coalition recently flew Brian to Washington DC to share his story with lawmakers.  They are hoping to save lives through awareness and training.  Brian sees his arrest as a platform God has given him to share Christ with others.  And wants to be able to make the best decisions for himself and our children to keep everyone healthy.

This summer, besides adjusting to having a new baby and recovering from a cardiac arrest in the family. . . My parents came out for a nice long visit.  My dad built us a beautiful window-seat in the living room.  My mom and I made the cushion.  We took a last minute trip in September to Nashville to spend time with Brian's sister Lori and her family.  That was a great time. Aubrey started preschool at our church two days/week.  She loves it.  It took her a few weeks to talk to her teachers, but she is settling in well now. At home she is as spunky as ever--and never stops talking!  She definitely has a mind of her own and a strong will for such a sweet little girl.  We went camping with Brian's folks one weekend and I cut Aubrey's hair for the first time.  Aubrey's birthday was Oct. 7th and we had a lot of fun celebrating it.  She brought cupcakes to school on  the 6th, we celebrated as a family on the 7th and then the next Saturday we had a costume party!  

Malakai is really a delight and a blessing in our family.  When I look back on that week Brian was in the hospital and Kai turned 8 weeks old, I am so thankful for him.  He is such a sweet baby and he got a lot easier for me that week--in terms of eating and sleeping well.  I think that sitting and nursing him every 2-3 hours was so good for me in so many ways.  He is just now about 6 months old and I just adore him.  He is so smiley and friendly.  He loves attention.  I am thankful for those two mornings a week when it's just him and me at home.  

I think I'll stop there.  Know that our family is doing well and so appreciative of all the prayers and love you all have shown us.