A Girl of Many Faces

Mary-Brenna shows me many different faces throughout the day. Here are just a few.

Mary-Brenna's First Christmas

Mary-Brenna celebrated her first Christmas this year! It was wonderful to spend the day with family! Mary-Brenna was a spoiled little girl, she received some great gifts that I know she will love when she is a bit bigger. Here are some pictures that I took of her with my new flip camera. It is so great to catch some cute footage of her, which means adorable videos are soon to come.

Merry Christmas Grandma Lawson!

For this Christmas, my Grandma's only request was pictures. She loves having pictures of her family all around her house. So we decided to fulfill her request with pictures of her Grandkids and Great-Grandkids. Here is a sample of her Christmas present.

Max and Mary-Brenna (the Great-Grandkids)

Michael, Mary-Brenna and I

Michael, Aiden, Nathen and Max

Uncle Michael is HOME!!!

Uncle Michael is HOME for Christmas! It is so great to have my brother home for Christmas this year. It has been so long since we have seen him (since last Christmas).

This Christmas, Michael gets to be home for 3 weeks. He came home on Saturday morning at around 1:45 a.m., which means he and Dad got to the house around 3:30 in the morning. It worked out perfect that Mary-Brenna had gotten up around 2:30 and was still up from her middle of the night feeding. Almost as soon as Dad and Michael came into the house I set Mary-Brenna in Michael's arms.

He has fallen in love with his sweet niece already. This holiday season he has already said that he holds the right to take Mary-Brenna from anyone who is holding her if he wants to hold her. I think this Christmas is the only time he is going to get away from that.
It is so wonderful to have him home at last. I am excited for him to get to know my sweet little girl and for him to bring some wonderful silliness into the house.

1 Month

I cannot believe that I have been a mom for a month now. My sweet Mary-Brenna turned one month old yesterday! She is getting so big and we are learning so much about her sweet little self.

Mary-Brenna is an amazing sleeper. She has been sleeping so well, usually getting up no more than once in the middle of the night. I truly am one blessed momma. She is funny about taking naps in the middle of the day though. She likes to be held during the day. I don't mind, but I don't get that much done throughout the day.


Mary-Brenna also loves her food. She is a great eater, sometimes too much so. She gets so excited about eating that she eats too fast and starts to choke or she gets a fierce case of the hiccups. She is gaining weight very well and is thriving!

Mary-Brenna loves her grandparents so much already. Everyday she gets to have special cuddle/snuggle time with Grandma and Papa. I am excited to see the special relationships she builds with my parents. I know that they will have very close bonds for sure. Now it is just time for uncle Michael to come home so he and Mary-Brenna can start to bond as well.

My sweet little girl is getting so strong. Grandma calls it starch. Mary-Brenna is working on holding her head up, and she is exercising her legs by pushing up on everything her feet get close too. Often times that is her momma.


I am so blessed to have Mary-Brenna in my life and I don't know what I would do without her. Thank you Lord for blessing me with this little miracle.

Saying Goodbye

We received some sad news today in our family. My Grandpa on my Dad's side of the family passed away this morning due to complications with his cancer treatment. This past week has been hard knowing that he was having procedures done, and then learning that there were complications that came up with those procedures. The doctors put my Grandpa in a medically induced coma to help him try and heal, however he wasn't doing as well as they had hoped. He had a problem with his heart and the doctors were going to put a pacemaker in to help him. We got the call this morning that he didn't make it.

I know that my Grandpa has lived a full life. He has been reunited with all his kids and has met his grandchildren. He loved his family so much and is going to be so missed here on earth. I know the next time I see him will be in heaven, and I am looking forward to that day.

His funeral is on this coming Monday, and I wish I could be there. Thankfully my brother Michael is planning on going (he is going to school in TN where Grandpa lived). I am praying for all my family members to be able to grieve and heal from the loss of a dear sweet member of our family.

We will miss you so much Grandpa Buddy. LOVE YOU and can't wait to see you again.

Pretty in Pink

My baby girl is styling in pink! She received some beautiful flowers from her Aunt Chrysa! So we decided to take some pictures with them.

Spoiled Momma

I am a seriously spoiled momma! My sweet little Mary-Brenna loves to eat (she takes after her momma at that age), and also loves to sleep! She has blessed me with a couple 4-6 hour stretches at night. Thank you Amanda for the tip on swaddling, she absolutely loves it and it helps her get some great rest.


I am also spoiled in having my parents here to help me out. Mom and Dad have been wonderful! They have been willing to step in and watch her for me while I have been able to take some naps. I have to say that is a blessing. They have also been a wonderful support system. We are turning into a great team! Thanks Mom and Dad, I couldn't do this without you!

Welcome Home Mary-Brenna

Mary-Brenna is finally here! She didn't come into this world in the most normal of circumstances but they were the perfect circumstances for my beautiful baby girl.


The journey to bring Mary-Brenna into the world really got going on Friday morning (bright and early). I wasn't far enough along at that point to stay at the midwifery, so Mom and I went back home to try and get some rest and hopefully make some more progress. In the afternoon I started feeling a lot more and by 4:00 I was feeling enough to give the midwifery a call. They had me come in and I labored there from 5:00 on. I made some good progress throughout the night, leading me to be about 7 centimeters at around midnight. They broke my water and really thought that it was just a mater of hours before I would be ready to push. However, at 4 in the morning, I was still at 7. I had a choice to make at that point, go into the hospital or continue to labor at the midwifery until the doctor would be there. I chose the midwifery route and stayed there until about 8:00. At that point I was still at 7 and it became evident that something else needed to be done. We got ready to go to the hospital and the doctor was notified that I would be coming in. I got there around 9:00 in the morning. They got me all hooked up to an IV and we waited a little bit for the doctor to get there. It wasn't long before we had a good plan in place of giving me some medication to help increase the intensity of my contractions. I wasn't on the medication long when the situation took a turn. My midwife noticed a rapid change in Mary-Brenna's heart rate, it jumped from 135 to over 200 beats per minute. They gave me enough time for the medication to work out of my system and ruled out that it was the medication that caused this change. It became clear in a very short order that an emergency c-section was necessary.

And so the prep began. Throughout all of it I was still working through contractions (that was not so fun). When they got as much done in the birthing suite as they could they wheeled me off to the operating room. My doctor was wonderful and held my hand while I was getting my spinal done. My mom was able to come in as soon as they confirmed that my spinal took. It was so great to have her there, I have to say I was nervous about my little girl. They worked fast and before I knew it I heard a sweet cry from across the curtain. Mom was invited to look across the curtain to see her and she was telling me just how perfect she was. My doctor held her head over the curtain for me to see for a moment before handing her off to the nurses and the pediatrician. At first her heart rate was normal, and then the next moment it was high again. They let Mom go over and see her while they were checking her out and held her out for me to see before whisking her off to the nursery.

While they were sewing me back up (oh wow that sounds strange), Mom got to stay with me. I was shaking a bit afterwords, and let me tell you that that was a weird feeling, I only felt from about 3/4 of the way up my stomach to my head. I wanted so much to wiggle my toes, but no could do. When they were done I was scooted out to recovery and told I could see her in about an hour. When I was done with recovery they wheeled me out to the nursery and let me see her. I held her hand and talked to her. The pediatrician filled me in on how she was doing, and the plan was for her to be transferred to Providence if things didn't turn around soon. Shortly after I left the nursery however, her heart rate went back down to normal. It was amazing and the doctors were so shocked. Thankfully we were both able to stay out in the valley for our hospital stay.

Mom was able to stay the night with me for the two days we were in the hospital, which was wonderful. Mary-Brenna was able to be brought to my room around midnight on Saturday night. From then on, she was able to be in my room with me, which I loved. I felt so bad for my little girl, she had to have an IV for fluids and antibiotics and she had to get her heals poked every two hours to test her glucose levels. I was so thankful when the tests came back and she was able to get her IV taken out and no longer get poked.

Monday was a special day, we got cleared to come home! Mary-Brenna was all checked out by a doctor and given a green light to go home. I was cleared in the morning by my doctor to go when she could. Mom and I enjoyed our "Celebration Dinner" and then we were discharged. We got home around 8:15 Monday night and it was so wonderful to spend a night in my own bed.

Mary-Brenna has been home for a day and has done wonderfully. Dad was able to stay home today and help out which was wonderful. He held her while I took a nap this morning (thank you Daddy), and watched her while I got up and moved around the house a bit (walking is good for a c-section patient). Tomorrow is a check up with her pediatrician to make sure all is well. Hopefully more wonderful days with my sweet daughter to come.

The wait continues...

And so the wait continues for little miss Mary-Brenna to make her appearance. My due date of October 24th came and went without the addition of a sweet little girl. But hopefully that wait will end soon.

This past week I have been feeling a lot more happening inside, which is great. I am getting nice and uncomfortable, which Mom loves! Walking has become an interesting task, in that I no longer walk, I waddle! Mom has long since past me in the speed department in walking. I have to ask her to slow down when we are out walking around. I think she is really enjoying her new knees. I am looking forward to being able to keep up with her again here soon.

The past couple nights I haven't been able to sleep like I normally am. Contractions keep waking me up. I have to consciously try and relax and breath through them so I can go right back to sleep (well kind of).

I am 11 days over due as of today, and only have until Sunday to have her at the Midwifery (their rules, not mine). If I have her after that then I have to go to the hospital. My midwife seems to be pretty happy with what she is seeing however, and is hoping that either today or tomorrow is the day. If I don't have her sometime tonight, then I get to take Castor Oil tomorrow morning (not looking forward to that) to see if we can encourage things to pick up their pace.

As my friend Joe put it, Mary-Brenna's lease is up and it is time for her to move on out. It is just a matter of finding what is going to persuade her. Pictures of this sweet little girl will come soon. I know I am super excited to meet her (I am just really tired right now).

Donut Saturdays!

My Mom had an amazing idea! She realized that we do not get together with the families that we love nearly enough. So she started thinking of a way in which we could try and get together with these families more often. She decided to take a leaf out of our Pastor's book and suggest donuts! I mean, who doesn't like donuts? No one I know, that is for sure.

We started by taking donuts over to my aunt and uncle's house to enjoy with them and their two sweet boys. It was a great morning full of yummy donuts and a lot of great play time! It is always fun to get together with family.

We continued adding families to our Saturday mornings, and have even extended this to Friday evening movie nights. For Saturday mornings, we are now bringing over pans and batter to make donuts fresh at our friends houses. And for Friday evening movie nights we let the family pick the movie and we bring over everything to make some yummy freshly popped popcorn (via my mom's stove-top popcorn popper).

My dear brother loved this idea when we told him what we were up to. He wants to make sure that we do this as much as possible while he is home this Christmas. I think we can accomplish this for sure Michael!

I am a lame blogger!

I love looking at others blogs, I am just terrible at posting new things about me. So here is a quick recap of this past summer/fall before other new posts get added.

June 2010: Mom and Zoe healed up really well. Mom went back to work, slowly but surely adding more and more hours into her work day. I also finished my last class for school! Officially done with my bachelors degree!

July 2010: Mom hooked me up with an awesome temporary job. One of the offices in Mom's building needed a temporary receptionist, and Mom put in a good word for me. I sent in my Teacher Certification application, so that I could be in the highest category of substitute teachers.

August 2010: I continued to work at HomeState through the third week of August. I awaited my Teacher Certification from Juneau and started substitute teaching. I also finally received my college diploma from UAA.

September 2010: I continued to substitute teach throughout the month of September, and received my Teacher Certification from Juneau! My dear friend Michelle also hosted a baby shower for me and my sweet little girl. I was so spoiled at the shower. Mary-Brenna will want for nothing that is for sure! Thank you everyone who was able to be there, and all those who were not able to make it.

October 2010: I subbed up through the 15th of October. And then it was time to wait for my little one to get here. The countdown was on at that point. I had been feeling some braxton hicks contractions, so I knew I could be having here at any time. My due date of October 24th came and went without a sweet little baby.

Well I think that is a pretty good update as of what has happened since my last post. More to come soon!

Two Patients Staple Free

Here is an update on my two patients:

First off, Mom is doing great! She has been up walking around and has actually gotten out of the house a couple of times! She still has some stiff and painful moments with those new knees but she is doing great! I am so proud of her. She actually got her staples removed today, she said that it stung, it apparently didn't hurt that much but it did sting. She has fresh pieces of tape on her knees to help her wounds continue to heal. Look out she will be invading church this Sunday!

So on to my second patient. Many of you are not aware that our silly dog Zoe decided to get hurt two weeks before Mom's surgery. She got hit by something large and moving (we are not sure what because we have yet to find a Dr. Doolittle to help us translate her story), and ripped a 6-inch gash in her leg. We took her into the vet and got her all stitched up. She was doing great, that is until we had to leave for the hospital for Mom's surgery. We left her in the very capable hands of our neighbor. Emily did a great job looking after her. Thanks again Emily! When we got back however, Zoe was so excited to see us that she reopened her wound by about an inch. I had to take her back to the vet to get some staples thrown into her leg yet again. She has been healing up from that reopening for about 10 days now and it was time to get those pesky staples out. She too is now staple free, and what she loves even more, she is cone free!

Let's hope no one else in my family needs to be stitched up any time soon!

My Mom is AMAZING!!!

My Mom is truly Amazing!!! For those of you who do not know my Mom has been dealing with arthritis pain for about 3 years now. She has had a hard time getting around because of the lack of cartilage in her knees. At the beginning of this year she decided that it was about time to do something about it, and thus began physical therapy. Even though the intentions were good, the results were not what mom was looking for, so she went to a surgeon she knows for another opinion. It was decided then that she was a prime candidate for new knees, and so the process began. Mom was referred to an amazing doctor in Anchorage, who if need be, will be able to do a follow up knee replacement when Mom wears these ones out.

So the reason for my Mom's amazingness... She had her knee replacement surgery on Friday (May 7th). She was nervous going into the surgery, I know she was apprehensive about the method of anesthesia, but she was so brave! Her surgery lasted about 1 1/2 hours, and she came out with flying colors. The doctor called me himself to let me know that everything went well and that Mom was in recovery. I was so thankful to have my Grandma there with me waiting, she made the time go by faster and was a real comfort for my nerves. About an hour after surgery we got to see her. She was so tired, but that was understandable, she had just had two knees operated on. Mom was able to stay in bed all day Friday, experiencing what I am sure were some very weird sensations of her legs waking up from the nerve blocks.

Saturday was the day Mom got to try out putting weight on her new knees. The first time she tried to stand she got dizzy right away and had to sit down pretty quickly afterwords. Better to have her sit and get her barrings rather than hit the floor. She tried again later that day and was able to stand for about 5 minutes, and shuffle to the side before she started feeling lightheaded. I was so proud of her, she was amazing, and so brave to try and hold herself up on those new knees.

Sunday was the day for true wonders. Mom was really nervous about having to get up and walk around, she knew she would have to but she hadn't even taken a step yet. Her first trip was short, just across the room to sit and then back and she did wonderfully! She stood up right away with the walker and walked across the room, sat down for a few minutes and then walked back to bed. She did great! After that the physical therapist came in and she had Mom up on her feet again walking to a chair across the hall. She is a rock star! Later that afternoon Mom walked a loop around the floor and she conquered stairs! Mom said that there was no way she thought she would be doing this 2 days out of surgery, but she was!

We got to bring her home on Monday, and it has been great having her back here. She is able to rest without doctors poking their heads in and she feels much more comfortable. I am so proud of my Mom, she is a rock star and she can do anything she sets her mind to.

Love you Mom!

Graduation Fast Approaching

Well my graduation date is fast approaching. May 2nd! I know it is crazy! I am bummed that my dear brother wont be able to make it, he still has classes down in TN. For my graduation my dear cousins Sydney and Taylor were willing to take some amazing pictures for me. Here are some of my favorites.

Pampered Chef Party!

You're invited to my Pampered Chef Cooking Show!

That's right! I am hosting a party at my house. All the information is posted here. Please let me know if you can come or not.

Cooking Show Details:

Show Date:
Thu, Mar 25, 2010

Show Time:
6:30 PM

Please let me know if you need directions.

Awesome Botswana Pictures!

Here are some amazing pictures of Michael's trip to Botswanna!

Michael helping out in the kitchen. The church provides a meal every day for the orphans there. Awesome program!

My brother playing soccer in flipflops! Go Michael!

A beautiful cheetah that the group got to see.

Michael's battle wounds from the cheetah!

Michael to Botswana!

My dear brother Michael is heading off to the very warm Botswana on January 10th! He just left us here in Alaska last night. I am going to miss that boy so much! He isn't going to be coming back to Alaska till next December. This summer he is planning on either Interning at a hospital (his number one choice), or will be taking summer classes. He wants to finish his degree in four years, which will mean getting in as many classes as possible whenever he can. Go brother go!

I think this is a funny picture of Michael. What a face!

About Botswana though, Michael is going down there for 2 weeks. He is going down with members of his school in what is called a "Go Trip" down at Union. There are a total of 7 students going (Michael and 6 peers), and two adults (a professor and his wife). Their goal while they are down there is to spread the Word of God to as many people as they can. They are also going to be focusing on making sure the people down there know the truth about God. There may be many individuals who have false beliefs about God. The team wants to make sure they leave there, knowing that people have a real idea of who God really is. Ashley Brown, a pastor at our church, gave Michael 13 Bibles to take down to Botswana with the team. I am sure those will put to great use!

Now for those of you who, like me, have no idea where Botswana is, I am including a map!

Oh and the capital of Botswana is Gaborone. Michael says its pronounced Haboroni. I said that is sounds like a cross between Habanero and Macaroni. Mom and Michael laughed at me!

Week Long Intensive Study Classes

So I am now back in the swing of things. I have been taking college classes all week long. In the mornings, I have had a 4 hour long creative arts class, then in the afternoons I have a 3 hour long health class. It has done quite the number on my brain. I have yet to get back in the classroom to see my kidos, that will be on Tuesday. We have a professional development day on Monday, so it will just be the staff there. Next week the college classes continue. I have two days of intensive science class on Monday and Wednesday. And I also have a regular class on Tuesday nights that will continue throughout the semester.

I will start my residency soon. I get to be "teacher in charge" for 30 days (6 weeks). Which means I am the one who writes lesson plans and is the teacher in the classroom. My mentor teacher, Julie, will be at school (I think), but I am going to be the one in the class. Last quarter I had a good amount of time practicing this, Julie would leave the room for periods of time to let me get used to teaching by myself. I am really looking forward to my residency, but I am also pretty nervous. I hope it all goes well.