Happy New Year Friends and Family!
We just realized we haven't posted since August, or pre-Aksel! Oh, how fast the last few months have gone and how our lives have changed in that time!
Please welcome Aksel Forrest, born on September 17th, at 8:31 pm. He was a hefty 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long.
Aksel arrived 10 days late following a very long, stressful, painful, scary, challenging, and frustrating labor. Despite everyone's best efforts, especially Jennah's efforts over the course of four long days, he had to be delivered via cesarean. Nate was by Jennah's side the entire way, doing his best to be supportive and helpful. The first four and a half days of Aksel's life were spent in the hospital as Jennah recovered. He is a tough kid - to survive that labor and delivery and prosper as much as has (as you'll see at the end of this post).
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| Jennah after getting an epidural on day three of contractions, she is in much less pain at this point. |
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| Such a tiny little human! |
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| One of his first photos after birth. |
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| Finally leaving the hospital! |
Since those beautiful fall days in mid-September, when we were in our own world of managing contractions, calling and visiting the midwifery, to the six long days in the hospital - since those days life hasn't really slowed down. It has been a blur of learning to care for an infant, sleepless nights, restless days, lots of coffee, lots of stress, almost no exercise, but mostly, lots and lots of love for this sweet little human. During the first two months, if we accomplished one thing during the day, such as a trip to the coffee shop, we were happy. But, with each day we gain experience and add things to the accomplishment list. We sleep and exercise more, cook food, clean the house, and eventually life enters an increasingly more normal and more productive rhythm.
Aksel and Jennah struggled to nurse effectively for the first month and half. Feeding was a 2 or more person job and took twice as long as it should. Despite this, Aksel gained weight like a champ. We would say that he prospered while we withered away. Today the nursing efficiency has improved and Aksel is one hefty, healthy chunk! Jennah is one incredible, hard-working, and loving mother!
During the first couple months we were lucky enough to have Kathy, Jennah's mom, helping us. We certainly could not have done it without her. She was able to give us breaks to be normal adults, cook us food, go grocery shopping, run the dogs, and many other things to help our family and home keep ticking. Not only that, when Jennah returned to work, Kathy returned to Anchorage. She is currently Aksel's nanny and will continue to be living in Anchorage through March. We are incredibly grateful for her sacrifice and hope the winter weather improves so she can enjoy what Alaska has to offer.
Despite the less than ideal early winter weather up here, we were able to get out with Aksel. We've been out for some hikes and strolls in the neighborhood. Soon we will start bringing him skiing and biking and out on longer adventures.
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| Out for a stroll with the doggos. |
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| Hiking along Turnagain Arm |
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| Strolling through downtown Anchorage. |
During the second half of November we took advantage of Jennah's FMLA leave and went to Hawaii for a total of two and a half weeks. Our first week was spent on Oahu: four days in Kailua and four days on the North Shore. We enjoyed the warm weather, but didn't do much. Travel is quite a bit different with a little one, so our daily activities were limited. But, this allowed us to simplify and focus on the little things.
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| Aksel did great on all four plane rides. Of course, he was in his happy place. |
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| He slept much more than we did on the planes (and off them). |
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| And he even got this beach relaxation thing down right away! |
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| He loved the hammock |
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| The best times to visit the beach were at sunrise and sunset, as it was the coolest temps and we didn't need to worry about sunburn. |
The second week, including Thanksgiving, was spent on Kauai with Nate's parents. It was great to spend time with Rick and Bobbie and for them to spend time with Aksel. Everyone really enjoyed the family time. We even got to sneak away a few times while Grandma and Grandpa baby sat.
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| Aksel dipping his toes in the ocean! |
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| Three generations for Jones boys, and Bobbie! |
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| Aksel learning to SUP. |
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| Are we being over protective or just good parents? |
We returned to Anchorage via a red-eye flight that landed early in the morning on November 30th. We had just gotten home, showered, gotten Aksel to sleep and dozed off when the house started to shake violently. A 'massive' 7.0 earthquake hit just a few miles from Anchorage. We sprang out of bed with Aksel in Nate's arms, ran down the stairs as they wobbled and the walls swayed, and then we ran outside (not the best thing to do, but hey, we were more than half asleep). We were lucky that only one small dish broke and some photos fell, but the only thing we really lost was a little sleep. There was no going back to sleep after that! Others in southcentral Alaska were not so lucky. Some had water pipes burst, gas leaks, and even some houses collapsed. Some roads buckled and collapsed, causing terrible traffic. Schools and many businesses were closed for an entire week afterwards. The following are a couple photos from the local newspaper.
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| We had driven over this section of road, near the airport, only 3 hours earlier. |
Oh, before we go on we must tell you about the awesome new bike trails just minutes from our house. They are designed mostly for downhill riding and are a bit over our head so we'll be taking them easy, but it is just great to have so many more trails available to us on our rides right from home! They are great in the winter on fat bikes too!
We had a really great Christmas this year. Jeff and Tyler flew up for two weeks and one week, respectively. We did all the Keidel family traditions. Jeff and Tyler got to meet Aksel and have plenty of quality time together. Aksel got the vast majority of the gifts! We also got snow, which has been a fantastic gift for everyone.
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| Aksel turned 3 months old on December 17th! |
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| One happy Grandpa! |
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| And a happy uncle. |
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| Aksel's first Christmas and first of many readings of "The Night Before Christmas". |
Every day is a new adventure and we are trying to soak in all of Aksel's changes as he grows so quickly. We are looking forward to many new milestones and achievements in 2019. We all hope that your 2019 is one of health, happiness and love.
