Alaskan Girl

Let's face it...

I am an Alaskan Girl

Every summer that I have spent away from Alaska I come to realize just how much I miss it.

And it doesn't help that people constantly post pictures of the homeland to secretly make me even more jealous.

I miss the fresh clean air

I miss the beautiful mountains

I miss moose in the front yard..or on the side of the road

I miss berry picking and camping

I miss my family and my Dad's love for the outdoors

I miss Chena Lakes

I miss bike rides down crappy dirt trails

I miss pink and orange sunsets

I miss shoveling snow in Bunny Boots

I miss the Ice Park

I miss making snow forts and snow-ball fights

I miss the midnight sun

I miss taking 7 hour long trips to Anchorage and admiring the beauty of the earth

I miss the friendly people willing to help you when you need it

I miss football managing with amazing girls

I miss the Northern Lights

Image credit goes to Ron Lafleur .. he's pretty much amazing.

I miss trips to Safeway at 1130 at night and renting from BlockBuster

I miss the roundabouts decorated with Christmas trees

I miss the Santa Clause House

I miss four-wheeling with best friends

I miss driving the suburban in -30 weather

I miss my old schools

and my old teachers

I miss the Institute building where so many fond memories were made

I miss these three ladies, all grown up with families of their own :)

I miss pretending to tan on the trampoline..when really you spend more time shooing bugs away

I miss the opportunity to just pick up and go fishing any time you please..with a little preparation, of course. 

I miss how you can feel so at peace with the world just by stepping into your own backyard. 

I miss my hometown

I will always be proud to be an Alaskan girl

I Never Want To Forget

My Four Month Old

Sheesh, I felt like I just wrote a post about Elena being a 3 month old..and here we are, 4 months! Here are some things I never want to forget about my 4 Month Old.

I never want to forget

Birth Day 

That when our eyes glance first thing when we wake up..or at 2am.. she immediately beams with happiness. She is seriously one happy baby! She is such a good reminder to always, always be happy.

Her favorite thing to chew on are her fingers..or my fingers.. or her clothes haha.

She is sleeping fantastically well. Usually a good 3-4 hours during the day and then once she wakes up at 1 and falls back to sleep she sleeps for a long time, usually until noon, but sometimes longer.

Sometimes she thinks the things Lydia does is funny.

I never want to forget

One Month

How extremely ticklish she is. And I love her chubby baby laugh. It's my favorite.

How she knows exactly what a bottle is and the fatty inside her gets super upset when it's all gone haha. We call her Chanchita (like Chancho, from Nacho Libre ;) )

I love how her nose crinkles up and her eyes curve down when she smiles really big.

Her chubby baby rolls

I never want to forget

Two Months

Her poofy baby cheeks

How she kicks her feet so fast it looks like she's trying to run in the air.

How when I lean in to give her a kiss, thaaat's when she decides to burp (thankfully not barf) in my face. Ahem... we need to work on her manners...

Three Months

How the older she gets, the more of me I see in her.

Today, Four Months

Our House

Here is what is happening recently in the Hernandez household.

Jonathan: 

He works M-F at the testing center doing data input and research during the 7 week break while students aren't there. They do things like find out when students come in the most during the day and where to make improvements in what areas and getting feedback from teachers. This is perfect for him because it's somewhat low-key, it's what his major is all about - sociology - researching, and it's only a few hours a day so it's more time with us. :) He bought us tickets for the University of Texas at BYU game next month, so he's basically counting down the days for that trip! He's also turned a new leaf and is eating healthy and exercising every day and we watch The Biggest Loser together for motivation. It's for reals. And I'm so proud of him. :)

Anna: 

I've been trying lots of new (7) recipes this week. 4 of which were in the crockpot. I'm also trying to be healthier. We've totally cut out soda and junk/fast food from our diets and I think it's saved us a lot of money and we feel better and we've been having my brothers in law come over a few times so I've enjoyed having family over. I love the togetherness. Uncle Alex actually asked me if he could pay me to cook for him for a month (haha) but I told him I couldn't since it's very rare that I make dinner every single night, let alone 3 meals consistently each day. It was a nice compliment though. Now that school's out I have lots of time to browse pinterest for different recipes and I have time to shop at the store for a week's worth of meals and I have time to make food (or I guess put it in the crock pot haha). I've been very proud that we've made it a whole week with only eating at Jimmy John's once (which was for our picnic at the park). I really want to keep it up. Also, a thing I've found funny.. now that school is out and I have lots of free time, I have not pulled out my sewing machine once! What is wrong with me! When I was stretched for time I wanted to make so many projects.. now that I have lots of time I barely think about it. I do want to make something soon, though. Just gotta find that perfect item.

Lydia: 

 We've made a few trips to the park in the last few weeks, and spent some days outside on the grass of our apartment (I know I'm from Alaska and I'm supposed to be all outdoorsy, but I really dislike getting all sweaty being in the heat for long periods of time..basically.. I miss the fresh Alaskan air and not frying in the sun). Yesterday we went with some friends on a picnic, stopped at the carousel and finally went to the splash pad and Lydia had a little bit of fun although she can't do much (she's kind of small compared to the bigger kids who splash/ride down the slides)..and then she eventually biffed it on the cement and scratched her knees up and we had to go home because it was too traumatic for her to sit in the stroller in pain. She later pulled off her bandaids off her knees and gave them kisses :). Lately her favorite show to watch on Netflix or Youtube is Pingu....err...haha yeah. It's a British-Swiss claymation show where the penguins speak gibberish (literally) and just play around, but she will seriously laugh at the tv and sing a long with the opening song and say "Mingu mingu!" She loves that show. Definitely not educational, but it's her fave.

Elena: 

Now that she's passed that fussy/needy newborn stage, she is seriously such a sweetheart and I love it when she's awake. She doesn't mind being in her swing and she is extremely smiley. She loves it when you make eye contact and speak gibberish to her and she is so ticklish it makes my heart melt. I love it when she laughs as I kiss her cheeks and tickle her ribs. Her face is lit all the time. She is a good sleeper now. She will sleep a good 3-5 hours at a time during the day and at night sleep from 9-1 and then 3-noon. It's pretty amazing.. only a little off, but I'm not sure how to fix her schedule, so for right now it's okay (I get to sleep in..once I go to bed at 3 haha that is, if Lydia sleeps in..).

Well, that's us! I haven't blogged much because I'm trying to make up for lost time with Lydia and Elena. But this is what we've been up to recently!