I'm a mom!

Sorry for so long since last post. I appreciated your messages. All is good, just busy.

Logan was born 2 weeks late on 4/21/13 after 36 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing. After all that, he ended up being a csection. He is amazing and wonderful and so sweet. I miss sleep more then ever, but he's worth it!

In other news at the end of June we are moving to Fairbanks!!

Brrr...Will write more when I have more time. :) Miss hearing about everyone's horses and life. I don't have as much time to read blogs. Feel free to fill me in via the comment section.

T- 2 weeks +/-

I honestly have no clue how in the world people ride all the way through their pregnancies. I am exhausted getting out of bed in the morning, I couldn't imagine going out, getting your horse, tacking her up, and going for a hack. Those people are obviously WAY more dedicated than I am...WAY!

I am now 38 weeks and feel like a house. Not doing a whole lot but sleeping. I was really sick for the past two weeks and am still on antibiotics. I can't wait to be done with those. This is my last week of work and I can't wait to not have to worry about that.

For your viewing amusement...my fat pregnant butt.

Hopefully before too long I'll have a photo of my less fat pregnant butt and a picture of the little guy to go with it!

Getting ready for baby...

I'm currently +/-6 weeks from my due date. Baby is due April 8th, and I honestly am really ready to be over the whole pregnant thing. Everyone takes cute pictures of themselves with their cute little baby bumps...not me. I have a few photos, but that's it. My husband took one of me over the weekend and between the wind and the fact that I had pulled up my hoodie, I honest to goodness look like a very fat penguin... Seriously...

I've been going through my horse things to sell off some stuff. I "think" I sold my saddle on Sunday. She took it on trial, and will let me know by tomorrow if it works. I think it's only fair that they get a chance to try it out because I would want the same chance before dropping $1,000 on a saddle. I "could" hold onto it, but if we're moving to Alaska, I don't want to pay to ship it up there, and then what? It's going to sit around and collect dust. There isn't exactly a ton of opportunity for riding that I can find. I won't be buying a horse in Alaska, I know that much.

Other news, in true Denali mom style, I got knocked over on February 13th by a friend's son and popped my ankle. They did x-rays that night, but it was so swollen that nothing would show up. I was on crutches for a week, and now I am in a walking boot for 5 more weeks. They didn't want to do more x-rays to check for a break, and said that it's not displaced if it is broken, so just wear the book. I asked about not wearing the boot and the doctor offered to cast it for me....never mind, I'll wear the boot. So much for a second opinion.

Happy Birthday Denali

Today is Denali's 9th birthday. Hard for me to believe that she was just a young mare of 4 when I brought her home. I called and talked to her owner today, who gave me a heart attack. He left me a message that said the following:

What he said: "For the past 10 months Denali's been doing good, but now she's so great."

What I heard: "For the past 10 months Denali's been doing good, but now she's not so great."

Insert FREAKING OUT.

I seriously just sat at my desk and bawled (mind you, I was at work and on my prep.) I gathered myself together and called him back. He laughed at me and my inability to hear him. He said she's awesome with a big winter coat on. He didn't blanket her (which is good because she really hates them) and she is at a good weight and happy.

That makes me happy.

Happy Birthday Denali! I love you!!

Mack Truck

I wrote, and posted this last week. I had it up for a whole of 20 minutes. Maybe. One person read it, Ophie's mom, and sent me a text, which caused me to freak out, so I took it down. I've told some of the people who need to know, so here it goes...

I was so 100% sure that I would miss riding when I was pregnant that I expected to spend most of it in a horse deprived depression. Not so. It's hard to miss doing something when your back hurts so bad, you can barely get out of bed. I feel like I got hit by a Mack Truck, or better yet, came off of a certain Thoroughbred.

I am still enjoying playing with the ponies who come into the non-profit that I am on the board of directors for. It always amazes me A. How anyone could POSSIBLY ever allow their horse to get into that kind of situation, and B. Watching the light come back into their eyes as they gradually realize that they are safe and will be taken care of. It's a great thing. It's a great organization.

No new news on Denali. Her new owner is a great guy, and she's a lucky horse. I'm very happy that she found him, but I do still miss her. With 10 weeks or so go to before baby is here, I am grateful that everything has worked out the way that it has. I couldn't imagine paying board and paying for baby. I will have another horse someday. I enjoy playing around looking at ones that come up for sale (either friends selling, or dreamhorse) but I am not having a hard time waiting.

All of Denali's tack is currently sitting in the baby room. I stare at it daily and know I "should" sell some of it, but can't bring myself to do that yet. I have decided to sell my saddle (that I bought the day before I found out I was pregnant.) I don't want it sitting around for who knows how long. It fits "okay" but when I get another saddle, I'm just getting custom. My legs are so fricking long that nothing fits right (jeans or otherwise.)

Now for the part that caused the freak out:

We have some other news, but I have to keep a lid on it for a little bit yet. Only our close family knows (well most of them) but I can't say anything publicly for a few more months. SO, if you are my FB friend, PLEASE don't post anything. I am not ready to deal with the work fall out.  My husband has been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity job wise and so he has accepted it. Positive is that I am going to get to be a stay at home mom (for a year at least, I know I'm going to go nuts.) Negative, we have to leave Seattle. I love it here so much, and know I'm going to be super depressed when we go.

Where are we moving you ask? BFE (if you know that term) AKA: Alaska. I swore up and down our entire marriage that I would NEVER EVER move there EVER, but with a baby on the way and the opportunity for him to have an amazing job and I get to stay home, it's hard to pass that up. Living in AK will limit my horse access/ownership even more, but heck, maybe I'll get a sled dog team.... I have spent the past week and a half on such a roller coaster of emotions. Part of it I'll blame on pregnancy hormones, part of it on work stress, and part of it (most of it) on trying to figure out how to move to Alaska (it's not cheap.) Joy. We're going to start a blog to cronicle our adventures in Alaska, but I think it's going to go something like this, "Day 58: Dark and Cold."  "Day 59: Dark and Cold." etc. Heck, at least now the sun is rising before 10am.

Guest Post

I asked a while ago if anyone wanted to do a guest post (pretty much because my life is boring, and full of non-horse related things.) Plus, who wants to hear about a pregnant lady? I don't. SO without further ado....The Guest Post! Let me know if you'd like to post one. Also: I did not pay Cuna's Mom to write this. Promise! 

Hello readers of Denali's Mom's blog! This is my first ever guest post, but it sounded like a fun idea and DM is totally fun, so here goes. 

You all know DM as the zany and fun blogger who sporadically entertains the blogosphere. Now she's threatening to bring forth a small human, and all I have to say is this: DM is going to be one kick ass mom. 

And I've actually met her. 

I met her the way the rest of you probably did--I was perusing horse blogs and I ran across one called "wild pony beast". No one can pass up a title like that, so I kept reading. It was funny. It was honest. Most of all, it was human. She never tried to be anyone she wasn't and she made me laugh, constantly. 

Fast forward to last January. I was headed to her end of the world for the weekend. I wanted to know about horsey hotspots in the area, and to my great surprise, she offered to take me on a tour! 

Because I am a paranoid freak, I dragged a friend along to meet this mysterious internet woman who might be an ax murderer. We met on the street in front of her house. There was this awkward pause. That moment of "I-know-you-but-I've-never-met-you". 

And I think that's the last time we were quiet for the rest of the day. We toured barns, visited tack stores, ate more fast food than I'll admit to, and got home well after dark with prizes in hand. She had nothing but the best to say about (almost) everyone and we had a great time. 

That genuine, funny, down to earth style? That's real. That's DM. She laughs at the rest of us, but she laughs at herself just as much. She's one smart cookie, but doesn't rub it in your face. No matter how scared she is, she'll be motivated by how much she cares instead of how much she doesn't want to be there. 

I'm a horse person and I don't really know a lot about kids. I do know that she took great care of Denali, one of the more challenging mares I've ever met. Even when she was trampled and bruised by Denali, she felt terrible that the mare might have had a bad experience. She overcame her fears on Vera, another mare who offered a challenge. 

Now she's embarking on a new journey, and that unique combination of humor, intelligence, and sheer grit that makes her a great horse person and a great friend is going to warrant labeling her as "Kickass Pre-mom of the Year". 

Phone Calls

This past weekend was crazy. I had a million of things to do. I ran out of work on Friday to go out to decorate the barn for our Holiday bazaar, and checked my phone. There was a message from Denali's new owner. My heart dropped. I figured all was fine and listened to the voice mail.

Owner: " Hi, this is ####, can you give me a call as soon as possible.


My heart dropped and I figured it would make the most sense for Denali to knock herself off on the busiest weekend I've had in months. So as I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown I called him back.

Sigh...all is fine, he had a random question about her and laughed when I told him I was worried about her. He all is well and then proceeded to talk to me for thirty minutes. I love him. She's a lucky, lucky girl!!

In other news, I got my car back last Wednesday. Totally gross, and disgusting. It still runs, which is great!


AND in other exciting news, we found out what we are having!


It's a BOY!