Tongass National Forest

Juneau is in the Tongass National Forest, a rain forest, so we get a lot of rain. We went for a walk last Sunday out by the Mendenhall Glacier, which is in one of the national parks. It was a beautiful sunny day, so it wasn't too cold. We went out on one of the paved trails to a photo spot, where we found one of the park rangers sweeping the trail. He said hello to Logan and I, then leaned down to see Elise and say hello to her. She promptly screamed and pulled her hat down over her face. We assured the ranger that it wasn't anything personal, while we pulled Elise out of the stroller and calmed her down. Then we asked about the birds on the sandy beach, and why the beach was roped off. This nice man explained that the Arctic Tern nests on the beach near the glacier. These birds take three months to fly to the Antarctic where they feed for three months, then take three months to fly back to Alaska where they nest. We were amazed. He told us how tracking devices have been place on the birds, and they've been found thousands of miles away in only a couple months. I thought it was incredible how far these birds are willing to go to live, and care for having offspring. That is inspirational to me.

Another inspiration is the beauty we see here. This is a picture of the glacier I took when I first moved to Juneau in July 2004.

What a beautiful place has been created here! What a blessing to live here and enjoy it!

Electricity Update II

I know I've done several more posts in the last weeks, but since the electricity shortage, and we're not using our lights, I feel more cut off, so I want to journal/document more, to share our life here. I don't know why having the lights off makes me feel cut off, because we have our curtains open more in the last month than the last three years we've lived here, so we're seeing more of the neighbors, but I still feel more cut off....maybe because we don't have our computer on very much, so I'm cut off from email and blogs, except for once every week. What a wonderful thing the internet is!
Anyways, we wanted to give an update on the electricity situation. The power company has reported that they have the towers back up, and are just reattaching power lines to connect us all back up. The bases to the towers were intact, so that sped the repair process up considerably. They are optimistic about having us back on the hydroelectric power in the next week or so, and are projecting that the cost of electricity will be down closer to 18 cents per kilowatt hour. That is wonderful! Even though we're still going to conserve, we're excited that we could be back on normal power available by next week!!! Then I won't feel so bad on those over cast days when I feel like I NEED a light on. The sunshine this last week has been a huge blessing, both for getting the power company some extra work time to get the problem fixed, and for helping us feel not so cut off, and to be able to be outside to enjoy life!

Frustration Expressions

Elise is a growing girl, and although she is doing a lot better at communicating with sign language, and an occasional verbal word, we are getting to a stage that has other frustrating circumstances that happen more frequently. She is getting so independent, and wants to do things by herself. This is good, and I try to let her do things, and make some choices, so she doesn't feel so helpless. However, we frequently are getting to the point where she gets frustrated. The ways she is expressing these feelings has been causing me some concern. She does three things. She bites herself or anything she can get in her mouth (or get her mouth on, like the gate for the stairs), she hits herself or anything she can reach with her hands, or she cries hard and makes herself throw up. I am trying to be very patient, to let her know if there is something that she shouldn't have or do, and when she tries to do one of these behaviors, I am trying to be patient, to ask her to stop, to say no, and then re-direct her attention to an activity or behavior that is acceptable. We read a lot of stories at mealtime, because that usually distracts her from being frustrated. She wants to feed herself, but there are some things she isn't getting to her mouth, and since we're still worried about her weight, I help her with the tough stuff. This often will make her frustrated, so I try to distract her with songs and stories, and the rainbow making snowflake. Sometimes this works great, sometimes not. There are times when I feel frustrated as well, especially when it has been a struggle to get her to eat, and then she makes herself throw up. Needless to say, I think that it is normal to have a toddler feel frustrated, and want to express that, but I also hope that we will quickly get to the point where she uses more acceptable ways to show her frustration. She is mostly a great girl, and getting lots better at feeding herself with a fork or spoon. She really likes the pastas that go so nicely on a fork. She enjoyed some raviolis the other day, and made a great mess on her face, her tray, her hands, and her white pants....luckily the tomato sauce came out when I treated it! But she enjoyed it....Until she found the stuff was all over her hands....she doesn't like to have yucky hands....

I guess this is all part of the process of growing up, and becoming independent, but I really hope we can move past the biting, hitting, and puking very quickly!
So far, we've not had any throwing up since around May 19. Maybe we're outgrowing this already!!!!!

Dr. Visit

On Wednesday, May 28, I had a visit with Dr. Welling. He is a great doctor, and took a look at my right shoulder, which has been in pain off and on for months. He diagnosed me with a strained levator scapulae muscle. This muscle runs from the diagonal tip of the shoulder blade, up the neck to one of the neck vertebrae. It helps stabilize the arm as you lift things in front of you or to the side. It helps with posture, and as I found out from doing some research on the web, is often injured in instances of whip lash. I don't have whip lash, but I do have a small child, and the activities involved in caring for this wonderful child, like feeding her, playing with her, bathing her, carrying her, and so forth, have put strain on this muscle. Dr. Welling told me that it sounds like I have been re-injuring this muscle repeatedly, thus the pain comes on, the muscle starts to heal, and the pain subsides, then something pulls it again, and the pain comes back. There isn't really anything that can be done, or needs to be done like surgery, or physical therapy, but he suggested finding some stretches from the internet, that could help this muscle, as well as taking anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen for a period of ten days, to give the muscle time to heal. He also warned me that if I don't find a different way to do the activities that are causing the damage, and the muscle continues to be re-injured, that more serious injury can occur. So, I've been taking motrin, and trying to handle Elise in a different way, and to use my left arm a lot more. Logan has also been wonderful, and is helping feed Elise, and carry her when he is with us. This is a big help, especially when we go out, and she becomes incredibly clingy. So, we're trying, but it may be slow going trying to learn to take care of Elise left handed!

Books

My big sister Shalynn gave me a book for my birthday by Shannon Hale. It was called Book of a Thousand Days. I was slightly sceptical, but started reading. My first reaction was, "how do you pronounce these names?" But I kept reading, deciding I could pronounce them however I wanted. I ended up being more interested than I had foreseen in the outcome of the story. Since finishing that one, and enjoying it thoroughly, I have borrowed one of the others by this same author, called Princess Academy. I just finished reading that, and was again pleased that I enjoyed reading it so well. The plots were interesting, and had some unforeseen twists. They were easy to follow, and I found myself eager to pick them up and complete the reading. I am now looking forward to reading some of her other stories, as I will be borrowing them from family members. It was very refreshing to read a new book, as I've spent lots of time re-reading old favorites like the Jane Austen books, and the LM Montgomery books. These new books by Shannon Hale were great, a good reading experience, and both books had the message that one person can make a difference. That is a wonderful message, I needed to be reminded of.

Our Third Anniversary

Wednesday, May 28 was our third wedding anniversary. Logan had to work a long day, but he did something really special for me. In the past, when asked what I would like for a special occasion, like birthday, or mother's day, I replied that I would like a letter from him. He doesn't really enjoy writing, but has done one or two notes on cards in the past. This year, on this occasion, I didn't tell him I'd like a letter, but that is what he did for me. It was wonderful! I know it took a lot of effort, and time, but it was wonderful. I am one who needs to have something solid, concrete to look at again and again, especially on those hard days where getting Elise to eat is a struggle, and there is a lot of throwing up going on. So, I am tremendously grateful for a husband who listens, and who is willing to fulfill my needs, even if its challenging. I have the long letter hanging on our shelf next to the table, so I can read it when we're doing meals, or projects or play time in the kitchen. It is a real pick me up! Thank you Logan!!!
He also got us a beautiful rainbow maker....a stained glass snowflake. We've seen these in different stores around Juneau, and always thought they were beautiful. It was a surprise to find the most beautiful one hanging in our window Wednesday morning, with the letter attached. Thank you sweetheart for giving us something beautiful to enjoy every day! It makes fabulous rainbows, and entertains Elise during breakfast when the sun comes through the window.


We love Logan!!!
And its been a great 3 years, with ups and downs, and lots of memories. We hope to have many more!

Memorial Day

To celebrate Memorial Day, we got together with a bunch of families from church, and went to Lena Point for a fun time. It is a rocky beach, with picnic tables, and some fire pits. We made one of our favorites, tin foil dinners, and took a walk down on the rocks. Elise was her shy self, and cried when people tried to make conversation with her.
We had a fun time meeting some new people, spending time with old friends, and being out of doors, especially on such a nice day.
We really do live in a beautiful place! We're hoping (Elise and I) to do more walks this summer and check out more of Alaska's beauties. We love spending time with Daddy too!!

Elise stuck pretty close to Mommy and Daddy

We love being together for fun times!!!