Catching Up

OK I am so far behind so here is a quick update and some things I want to make sure I don't forget.
***When I sat down to write this I really did mean for it to be a quick update but I guess considering how much has happened it is a brief update of our lives over the past few months.***

-Around father's day after Lincoln had turned 2 months old he rolled over! Doesn't do it often but is capable of it.

-The day Lincoln turned three months old he got two cuts on his fingers. (Mom has no clue how it happened. She picked you up and handed you to your Uncle and then walked away and saw blood on her arm. I looked at your fingers and saw you were bleeding on your middle finger and your thumb. You didn't care at all. I guess it didn't hurt :))

- Shortly after Lincoln turned three months old he was too big for his baby bath so he got his first bath in the kitchen sink. He stood up the whole time. They kids doesn't love to sit down at all really. He also screams the whole time during most baths.

-When Lincoln was three and a half months old we took our first family vacation to Idaho/Utah for a Harry family reunion.

-The first flight Lincoln was ok. Not great but ok. He screamed a couple different times because he was grumpy and didn't want to eat but was hungry and tiered. (not a good combination) The second flight (the short flight might I add) Lincoln slept the whole way! Thank you Lincoln.

-The trip to Idaho to see family was amazing to say the least. Lincoln was able to see his grandparents again and met a lot of new people. Lots of Aunts and Uncles that were dying to meet him and cousins too. It was so fun to be there with all the kids. The first night we were there Dallon wanted me to play with the chalk with him, He laid on the floor and watched me paint my toe nails, and he was just so fun to be with. I can't wait for Lincoln to be that age so we can play. :)

-I also got to see my best friend Robin and my second mom Anna while I was home. It was amazing! I love those too so much. Every time I see them it makes me so happy and remember so many good times growing up together. I can't wait to see them again.

-I also got to see my friend Rachel! Man that was nice. I haven't seen her in so long. We were always missing each other when we were able to be home because we were both so busy and then I went and moved to Alaska so it really made seeing each other hard. But it was really good to see her and chat and catch up with what's going on in our lives.

-After a few days in my hometown (which I love despite husbands dislike for it's "Ghettoness"), we drove to Bear Lake and went camping with Laura, Payden, Jake, Heather, all their kids, and my parents for a night before the actual reunion started. That was so much fun! I haven't been camping in a long time (even though I debate weather my everyday life is an extended camping trip) it was still fun. I just loved seeing my sis and her little kiddos and my bro and his kids. What fun it is to have so many little smiling faces around. I am so glad our family is growing and we get to enjoy all the wonderful things kids bring to life. Brian, Lincoln and I slept with Laura, Payden, Braylie and Treatyn in their camp trailer that night. It was fun all of us being together.

-The next day the family reunion started and I got to see my sister Kim for the first time in a year and a half! That is a long time people! The last time I saw her was a month after I was married. From being married to then having a child it was a long time in between seeing each other and we were so happy to be together. I really just loved being with all my family. It was a total blast.

-We celebrated my grandmas birthday while the whole family was together and I just have to say that she is the sweetest lady in this whole world. I love my grandma so much. I wish I was closer to her so I could spend more time with her so she could share her wisdom of life with me.

-My grandma started crying a couple times when she was expressing her love for he family and I couldn't help but cry. I can't see he cry and not cry. It also made me stop and think about how in a few short years I will be in her place with Lincoln and all my other kids all grown up with kids and grand kids of their own. I can't believe it but I know that when I get there I will be so grateful, just as my grandmother is, for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and for all the joy and love they will bring in my life. It is truly a miracle and a blessing that Heavenly Father has given to all of us to be blessed with family.

-**Side Note** I have been thinking a lot lately about family and being a mother. It is really amazing. I am so blessed that I was able to carry my child for 9 months and during that time he was able to progress from being a little speck of an organism into being a little human being completely functional and absolutely perfect. That alone is a miracle. Then after that I get to raise this sweet angle Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I get to see him discover new things, and learn and grow and change with each new day. It is amazing and I thank Heavenly Father every day that he has blessed me with this most precious gift.


-Ok so after the reunion we came back to AK. WOW was that a journey. We left Utah at 1pm to drive to Boise get on our flight at 9pm. We got to AK at 2:30 am. Slept in the car til 5am. Then flew to camp and got here at 7am. Then my amazing husband went straight to work and worked till 9pm that day! He amazes me, really. Lincoln screamed for about 15 min straight (it felt so much longer) on the first plane while we were just sitting in the plane waiting to take off. FINALLY I got him to go to sleep right before take off and he slept that whole plane ride. He didn't even wake up when we landed. He woke up for about an hour while we were getting food in Seattle and then when we got on the next plane and I put his jammies on he fell asleep and only woke up to eat the rest of the trip (Like all the way to camp...that's a long time people! he did great)

So as far as whats been going on since we have been back from vacation.....

-Lincoln is now 4 months old!!! So crazy! month 3 flew by really fast.

-Lincoln is sick :( He started with just being congested but now he is congested and has a cough. His dad is also sick and between the two of them blowing their noses (ok I suck the boogies out of Lincolns nose but you get the point. There are lots of boogies everywhere!) and coughing up stuff, I am so surprised I haven't gotten it. Lets hope it stays that way and the boys get better soon. Lincoln's Doc wants to see him in a couple days but I'm not sure we will be able to get into town. We'll see.

-Don't know if I have mentioned this yet but we are being filmed for a tv show that is coming out in December about Alaska gold Mining and so it has made things interesting this season. It was totally weird at first but now we have gotten use to having extra people around and a camera showing up in your face at a moment notice. They said they want to interview me in the next couple days...not looking forward to it. I mean I have been video taped doing things around camp and taking the lunches out to the guys but I really don't need them to just point the camera at me and ask me lots of questions. No thank you. But it will be happening anyway, unless they forget...lets hope they forget.

-We found a place to live! Oh man am I excited! It is a nice 2 bedroom 1 bath place that has been remodeled. I am so excited. I am really looking forward to moving in somewhere and knowing we will be there for a while. We have only ever stayed at a place for 2 months so thinking we will stay at this place at least for a year if not 4 years is amazing! I am so happy I will be able to unpack everything and know I wont be needing the boxes back right away.

-I am so happy for my hub to be starting school! He has always wanted to further his education but we never knew when that day would come. We have thought really hard about it and change our plans many time (ask my family) but we are very excited that he will be starting his schooling this month to become a Professional Pilot and get his Bachelor degree in Aviation Management. The boy loves the sky so that's where he'll be for a long time :) I am so happy to see him happy and excited to take on this new adventure :)

Ok so that it for now. No photos because of the internet problems we have here but at least I have internet right?!

2 Months Strong

Ok so I wrote this blog post about a month and a half ago so forgive me for not posting it. Since we are living in the bush right now I can't upload pictures to blogger so I haven't been motivated to blog much. It has been so long though that I figured I mine as well post something with out pictures so here you go. :)

Lincoln just had his 2 month check up and along with that he had his shots. He did pretty well I thought. Of course he screamed during them and was upset but right after it was all done he just went to sleep. What a good baby considering he spent that whole day and night in his car seat. (Thank you Lincoln for loving your car seat. If you didn't it would be a miserable time for you and mom.)

Anyways the stats from his doctor appointment are:
Weight: 12lbs 15oz, 75%
Hieght: 23.5in 60%
Head: 30%

The doctor said he is doing very well developmentally wise and is probably a little above average!!! YAY for you Lincoln!!
Also we discussed his poor eating habits and throwing up constantly with the doctor and she said that since he is gaining weight well that it wasn't too much of a concern but to continue to keep him propped up and don't lay him down flat plus give him gas drops 4 times a day. It seems to be helping and I hope he grows out of this fast because I go through a lot of burp cloths in a place where its not always easy to do laundry.
Over all though she said he is doing great! He is a healthy happy boy :)


We flew into town for Lincoln's doctor appointment and it was his first flight. He did great, slept the whole way.

Lincoln's One month Check up

We had Lincoln's one month check up last week and the doctor said that Lincoln is doing really good. He weighed 9lbs 12oz and 22 inches long! He is in the 25 percentile now for his height and weight. His head is 14 3/4 inches around. I was so proud of him. Since having to supplement him with formula because his jaundice was bad and then finding out he had a little lactose intolerance it was a struggle for him to gain weight but a week and a half before the month check up I stopped giving him formula or his lactose pills and he still gained lots of weight!
Lincoln is doing really well and putting on the baby fat by the day it seems. We are working on him sleeping at night on his back instead or in his boppy pillow. Its going ok, not great but ok. Lincoln also is starting to smile more often and smiled at me for quite a while for such a little guy last night. It was so fun to see him express happiness. I can't wait for him to start smiling and giggling all the time.
Motherhood is the best thing ever!

Parent's Came to Visit

So April 15th my parents were able to come and visit for Lincoln's blessing (which was on Easter) and they stayed for 10 days or so. While they were here we mostly just sat on the couch at my house and talked (fun I know). But really my dad wasn't able to take time off work and neither was Brian so my Mom and I did a lot of chatting and working on a project/present for Laura....its a secret so I can't say what it is but it was a lot of fun. Besides just laying around my house we did manage to break the boys away from work for a little while and did a few fun things.

Grandparents seeing their grandson for the first time ;)

One day my parents went up for a short flight with Brian and I am so proud of my mom for going up even when she was scared and she didn't have her motion sickness patch on. Good job Mom!!!

After that Brian took my dad out to the mine to see it and Brian let him fly once they got off the ground and he really loved the whole thing.

The other fun thing we did was going to the natural hot springs that is an hour outside of town. It was really fun. I had always heard of how awesome this place was from all the locals and Brian had been there once so we just had to go. Unfortunately I didn't have a suit here in Fairbanks cuz we left our summer stuff in Wasilla. So I was just going to go in a tank and short but when we got there they said they rent suits for free....totally gross right. Well they looked and smelt really clean so I figured that would be better than long baggy basketball shorts and a gross work out tank from when I was 16. So I rented one and looked like an old lady instead.

Brian playing with Lincoln at the hot springs.

Anyways....The day before my Parents left it was Easter Sunday and we were able to bless Lincoln. I was totally late to church because I was trying to get Lincoln ready and I wanted to feed him enough so he would sleep through the blessing. Then on the way to church my dress strap broke when I was getting in the car. Thank goodness my mom had a safety pin holding her shirt together that she took out and fixed my strap. Thanks mom for giving up your outfit problem to fix mine. love you! So as soon as we finally got to church I sat down and took Lincoln out of his car seat and right then they announced that Lincoln would now be blessed. So I handed Lincoln over to Brian and then he received a wonderful blessing from his father. I think he will be a very good leader with a strong testimony in the gospel. :)

The men that blessed little Lincoln

Grandma and Grandpa Baker

Grandma and Grandpa Harry

The new Bakers

We really enjoyed having my parents here and can't wait till we see them again!

Lincoln Douglas Baker

Lincoln is 3 1/2 weeks old now and I figured its about time I write down his birth story somewhere before I forget what happened. WARNING: This is a long post and contains labor details.

So my due date came and went and we still didn't have our little boy. That was a Monday and on Wednesday we had a doctors appointment. She said I still hadn't progressed past a one and was still 80% effaced. So she asked me if I was ready to have him and if I wanted to be induced. I said yes I was done and ready to have him here so she called the hospital and they were completely full with 3 women on a waiting list to come in and be induced when they had an open room. My doctor said it could be a few days and I was totally bummed. I told my doctor though that I was a little worried Lincoln wasn't moving much. (I knew he was still moving but I was worried it wasn't enough) so she sent me over to the hospital to have them monitor his movements for a little while.

When I was at the hospital they said that since I already was in the room and a few people were being discharged I could stay and be induced!! YAY!! I was so excited I didn't have to go home again with out my baby. So they started me on some medicine to help soften my cervix and when they checked me it hadn't done anything then I got on this other thing and it didn't do anything either. Then they started me on Pitocin. My contractions were coming every 3 minutes as I was walking around the halls with my IV stand. Finally around the middle of the night I started to dilate. I was in pains so I asked when I could get the epidural. The nurse checked me and said I was barely a 3 and said they like to wait till I get to a 3 1/2 or a 4 but I could have some other pain meds till I get there. I said I didn't need any meds I would just wait till I am far enough along. About 20 minutes late the nurse comes in with the anesthesiologist and said since she was here right now and she wanted to go home that they would give me the epidural now. I was pretty excited. It went really well and I didn't think it was painful or a big deal at all. It was so nice to not be in pain and just got to sleep for a while. Well when my nurse midwife came in that morning she checked me and said I was only at a 2!!!! Are you serious?!?! Apparently the nurse was wrong in the middle of the night and that means that I got my epidural way too early. So for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon I didn't progress at all. My doc (midwife I call her my doc) said that this wasn't normal and that there were a couple options....I could go home and wait there for something to happen....they could increase the amount of pitocin to see what happened but that had to be monitored closely to make sure Lincoln would handle it ok....or we could do a balloon thing.They wanted me to get far enough along to break my water but once that happened there is no turning back and if nothing worked to dilate me and increase my labor then there would be a chance or a c-section. Well I wasn't about to go home so I said lets increase the pitocin and hopefully get far enough to break my water. About an hour later I was to a 4 so the doctor on call came and broke my water (my doc had tried when I was at a 2 but couldn't break it yet). So once my water broke that afternoon things finally got going.

When I was at a 7 I told Brian if he wanted to eat he better go now and get food and hurry back. He wasn't too worried cuz it had taken me so long to get to where I was. I called him once and told him I was feeling a lot of pressure and he asked if He needed to come back I said no it was fine. Then the doc came in and checked me and said I was a 9 and that I would start pushing in the next hour. I called Brian and told him to get back as soon as he could. I started pushing about a half hour after Brian got back. I pushed for about and hour and forty minutes. Toward the end Lincoln's heart rate was going down so my midwife stepped in (there was a medical student helping out) and told me to push really hard we needed him to get out so she helped grab him and pull Lincoln out a little. It was such a relief to have him out and on my stomach. Brian cut his cord and then they cleaned him up a little and finished taking care of his cord and gave him back to me so I could have him on my chest skin to skin. It was amazing!

While I was holding Lincoln and the doc was taking care of me I started to bleed more then was expected so then gave me a second IV in my other arm a shot in both of my sides and pills under my tongue to help stop the bleeding. Because of the shots I got sick and threw up twice. The first time I was rocking Lincoln to get him to stop crying and throwing up at the same time haha.
After everything was under control I was totally out of it. I couldn't make full sentences or keep my eyes open. I really didn't know what was going on around me. I just remember calling Laura and not knowing what I was saying to her or what she was talking about. Then Brian got back from getting me food at Wendy's (I really wanted a burger fries and a frosty after he was born) and I only ate some of the food half awake before I finally fell asleep.

The next morning we went to the nursery for Lincoln to see his doctor. While she was checking him out I was standing there and I got really hot and light headed and dizzy so the doc said I need to get back to my room. While we were walking (staggering) down the hall holding on to the wall the nurse came behind me with a wheel chair. I felt so much better once I had sat down. Later that day I got two units of blood. After the transfusion I felt so much better. I felt like I had a clear head and some energy. It was so much better! So I finally got released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon.

Lincoln's Doctor said he had jaundice so on Sunday morning we went back to the Hospital to have his blood drawn to get tested. His levels were too high so we got a belliblanket for him to wear at home for light treatment for his jaundice. He was on that for a week and had his blood checked everyday while on the belliblanket and got to the point he would just sleep while the pricked his heel and took his blood.

The next week Lincoln started losing weight so he was checked and found out that he is a little lactose intolerant. So I have been giving him a lactose pill every day.
Currently Lincoln has gained almost 1 pound (after losing half a pound) so he is doing really well and is really happy. :)
Lincoln is a good baby. He cries only when something is wrong. I change his diaper and feed him and he is all happy again. Oh and he also is now taking baths without screaming! Brian and I are proud parents and think our little guy is the best little boy ever.

Here are some pictures of the labor and delivery and time at home. Enjoy!

Walking around the halls.

Lincoln and Me. I was so happy he was FINALLY here after 31 hours of labor.

Brian is such a proud daddy.

8 pounds 21 inches long

Cute boy!

Going home from the hospital.

Lincoln's first bath at home.

Lincoln with his belliblanket.

Being a little cutie.

Lincoln giving mommy kisses.

He really is his daddy's little boy.

Our little family.

<3 We love you Lincoln!! <3