Rest In Peace William Leon Major

William Leon Major
July 18, 1922 - February 9, 2009

For a full look at this amazing life, please go to
http://web.mac.com/vicdenisewallace/William/William_Leon_Major.html
The site has been recently updated wtih new pictures and a farewell page.

I'm so glad that Hailey got to meet her great grandpa. Although it had been a year, almost to the day since we were able to visit, having these pictures of her with him are priceless.

A shadow box of Grandpa's WWII War medals

Grandma and Grandpa celebrated 60 years this past summer

Grandma Martha Major with two of her grandsons, Justin and his older brother Jamie,
and Grandpa watching from above.

I am also thankful that my mom lives so close as she took in me and Hailey (since my foot is broken and I needed help with her) so that Justin could drive to Fairbanks as soon as we got word of Grandpa's failing health. Justin was able to make it to see his grandpa before he passed away. Knowing he was able to get there in time brings such a comfort to me.

Valdez Gets a Baby Store!

One of my dearest friends opened up a baby store in Valdez! Little Ones of Alaska opened on February 3rd and has been hugely popular ever since.

Brandy's eye for fabulous merchandise is to be praised. The organic cotton and bamboo clothes are adorable. The lead free toys are a hit. And stuff for mommy too, everything Valdez was missing.

True to the name, here are Brandy's little ones; hers and her friends from all over Alaska...of course the majority are from Valdez. Such a special touch.

Thank you Brandy for taking on such a huge task to bring wonderful things to the
families of Valdez.

25 Years is a Good Run...

...but it had to come to an end eventually.

Yep, it's broken. First one ever.

I so wish that I had a cool story to explain this, but I really don't. I had just put Hailey to bed the evening after my last full day of work. Walking into the garage, I went down our three steps and when I hit the door mat at the bottom, I caught the edge of it. I rolled my foot too far and "pop" goes the bone. Amazingly it really didn't hurt at all unless I put any sort of pressure on it. As my darling daughter had just gone to bed, and there was no serious pain, I figured we could wait until morning to go to the doctor.

That was an experience all in itself. I showed up as hobble-in at 10:30am. At 12:30pm they informed me that the doctors were on rounds (i.e. lunch) and that no one would see me until 2pm. So we left to grab a bite to eat as neither of us had eaten all day. Hailey luckily was waiting all this out at my mom's house. So with one shoe one, and one froggy sock, Justin carried me piggy back into the Totem Inn for a quick burger before getting back to the doc's office. All this drama for them to say, "Yup, looks bad, you need an x-ray". No stuff sherlock. Finally by 4pm, my xrays were complete and my doctor who admitted that he really didn't know much about orthopedics (comforting, huh?) gave me the boot. Literally. And a pair of crutches. He said 4-6 weeks, come back and check it out again. I'm scared that when I go back they'll say that it didn't heal right, so I'm really contemplating going to Anchorage to get a reassurance opinion. As long as the volcano doesn't blow anyways. (For more on that, check out www.ktuu.com)

Needless to say, this whole last day of work, slowing down thing didn't quite go as planned.
Ended work, broke my foot, threw a baby shower, hosted a mini superbowl party, started weaning my daughter (going great by the way), crutching around, and tomorrow is the grand opening of my great friend's new baby boutique, of which I am supposed to be helping if I would quit hurting myself. Happy new year to me.

Monkey Business, Part II

Yes it is true, the monkey business continues. Hailey got an adorable, functional, and thank goodness, sturdy bookshelf for Christmas. She put it to good use. (I'm having trouble uploading photos right now. I'll try to get them up soon. The point was that she figured out how to climb up the bookshelf within minutes of unwrapping it. I have video proof too.)

But that is not all. With the New Year came some great new accomplishments for Hailey.
1. She started walking. Ok, well she started walking right after Christmas. The 29th to be exact. But it is continually being perfected and is a milestone worth noting.

Yesterday was a BIG day for my little one. To continue the list, because:

2. She got her first hair trim. Those shaggy bangs were always in her eyes. AND

3. The monkey crawled OUT OF HER CRIB. I put her to bed, but apparently she was not ready. She was crying from the moment I left the room. All of a sudden, the crying sounded much closer to the door. Sure enough, she made it out. I dont know if she crawled onto the rocking chair by her bed; if she swung her leg over and shimmied down; or if she wend head-over- tea kettle. I thought this was something that we had to prepare for closer to 18 months. Should of known better with the monkey genes that run through her blood. Needless to say, our project tonight is to lower her bed down to the last notch. Yay (with sarcasm).

Monkey Business

One of Justin's parents favorite stories to tell about his childhood is about the time they came into the kitchen to find a toddler-sized Justin (maybe about 3 or 4) up on top of the refrigerator. Justin also tells stories of how he climbed light poles in high school. Now he runs the ladder as a firefighter. I was warned often to look out when we got around to having children.

Turns out, the monkey gene runs in the family.
We are in sooo much trouble.

Yup, this last one was not staged at all. I looked over and she had conveniently pulled the drawers out like stairs and proceeded to climb up them. And like any good mother, I took a few pictures before I took her down.

At one year old, we are definitely in for a long journey of monkey business to come.