June 25, 2010, Fairbanks, Alaska, 7:40 a.m., Alaska Time~

Good morning, all!  Hope this finds y'all well!  We are doing great; in just a little over two months, our second child will be here!  I can't wait; I've gotten so huge I feel like a beached whale!  LOL 

It's another boy.  Soon, little Maverick James Hammer will join big brother Frank, Jr., his daddy (Frank, Sr.), and me, his mamma (Katrina).  And also "Opie", our (large) Ragdoll cat as well as our Norwegian Forest cat, "Aurora Borealis Of The Far North".  We will be a complete family.

The fact that I am able to have children is nothing but a miracle.  When I became paralyzed several years ago, children seemed out of the question for me, but then God allowed me to conceive and birth Frank, Jr., with relatively few problems.  And now He's allowed me to become pregnant again, and we are going to have another son in just a few short months!

Frank likes western shows on television, and he's always said that if we had another son, Maverick would sound like a good name.  So that is how we came up with it.  I wanted something more in the line of Pierre Jacues, in light of my Cajun heritage, but Frank won out.  So now we will have a boy named Maverick.

Life for us is going as well as can be expected.  I pray it continues.  I don't know what I would do if something were to happen; ever since surviving Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, nearly five years back, I've had this horrible fear of losing everything again.

I don't want to lose my husband, our older son, and definitely not our home.  I've come to love Alaska (except in the winter, that is!), and I have made many wonderful friends here.  I don't miss the summertime storms or the heat and humidity that was so commonplace in Louisiana!

If we were having a girl, I was going to name her Paisley Louisiana:  Paisley after a friend's little girl (she's three and is the cutest little thing!), and Louisiana after one of my closest friends, Louisiana Mayrah Sandusky, who lives in Tennnessee (she was my nurse for a time when I was in the hospital).  Maybe there will be a Paisley Louisiana in our future, but first, Maverick James Hammer will have to be born, and he will have to grow up!  LOL

Besides Maverick coming in a few months, we will also be getting a new pet:  an Alaskan Malamute named Grinnin' Jack.  He's always smiling; he's such a good natured little dog.  He belongs to a friend of ours who is going into the military (Marines); he's giving Grinnin' Jack to us, so we will be gaining a dog as well.  I just wonder how Opie and Aurora, our cats, are going to take it.  If I know them, they are not going to be very happy AT all!  There's going to be a lot of spittin' (not to mention, hissin'!) goin' on!!  LOL

Well, Junior is up; I hear him singing in his room.  I will write in here again, hopefully before Maverick arrives.  If not, Frank will; in either case, you will be informed as to how we're faring.  Until then, take care of yourselves, and may God bless you as much as He's been blessing us!

~Love, your friend in Alaska, Katrina Ann Hammer.  :D