Dad is off to Afghanistan

 

My dad left for Afghanistan yesterday morning (May 29th).  Mom took him into Anchorage at 3:00 in the morning to get him to the airport for a 6:00 flight to Minneapolis then a connecting flight to New York.  Dad is meeting up with the New York Guard Unit that is also going to Afghanistan, and they will be traveling there together.  Today, Dad is leaving New York around 4:00 in the afternoon and heading out in a C-130 to Scotland (where he will spend a day and a half), then Turkey and finally Afghanistan.  Dad is going to be in Afghanistan till September.  Thankfully Dad won't be going out onto the battlefield.  He is a boss on the flight line, so he will be keeping planes flying while he is there.  Since there isn't that much else to do there besides work, Dad will be working long hours to keep himself busy.  We are going to miss him so much while he is gone.  Mary-Brenna is going to change so much in the these next three months.  I know he doesn't want to miss any of it, but it will be a sweet reunion when he gets home.  Love you so much Daddy!

Bye Aunty Chrysa!

  
My dear sweet friend Chrysa is leaving today for Virginia with her family.  I am going to miss them so much while they are gone.  It has been great knowing them here in Alaska these past 10 years.  Chrysa has been such a wonderful friend to me since we met at the beginning of our 8th grade year at Teeland Middle School .  Chrysa and I played volleyball together in 8th grade, and were soccer rivals in high school.  It was the green versus red for those 4 years.  Chrysa went to college out of state (in Virginia actually), and she graduated in May 2010!  She came back up here after a trip to Peru!  She found a job and has been enjoying Alaska life here ever since.  This past winter/spring her family decided that they were ready for their next adventure and are heading out to Virginia.  We are going to miss the Meaney family so much!  But I know that God has a great plan for them while they are down there.  Chrysa, I love you so much and am going to miss seeing your smiling face here in the AK. 

Squeeling Girl

Mary-Brenna is finding her voice.  Here is a sweet clip of her telling me all about her day!

Meeting Ryder Josiah McGinty!

On May 7th Mary-Brenna, Mom and I got to go into Anchorage to visit my dear friend Shayna and her sweet new precious little boy, Ryder Josiah McGinty! It was wonderful to see Shayna looking so well after having little Ryder. She had him 3 weeks early (which I think she was completely okay with). She had a hospital birth, and everything went well for her. Little Ryder was only 6 pounds and 13 ounces. It had been a long time since I held a baby that small. Mary-Brenna was 8 pounds and 11 ounces. The last baby I held that was that tiny was my cousin Aiden who is now 3 1/2. He is so big! But anyway... back to Ryder.

I loved being able to snuggle him and talk with my good friend Shayna. She is an amazing mom and I know she loves being a mom already. I believe that her brother Alan is coming back to Alaska here soon (maybe even today). She is so excited to share her little one with him. And I know Alan is so excited to be an uncle. My brother Michael was the same way. He had to wait until Mary-Brenna was over a month old before he got to see her. Such a long time!

In my eyes, Mary-Brenna is so small. I primarily see her next to her older cousins or older babies at church. So seeing Mary-Brenna next to Ryder was a bit of a surprise. I didn't realize just how big she really is! Here is a sweet picture of the two of them at Shayna's house.

We had to make sure Mary-Brenna was gentle with Ryder.

Rice Cereal

At Mary-Brenna's last doctors visit, she was given the a-okay to try some rice cereal! I was considering trying to make my own rice cereal, since I am planning on making my own baby food. But throughout my research I learned that making your own rice cereal doesn't give your baby a good balance of nutrition that boxed rice cereal does. So I picked up Organic Brown Rice Cereal by Gerber for her first food. Mary-Brenna's first food experience was hilarious! She had no idea what to do with the spoon or what was on it. Mom and I made the cereal really thin, so it wouldn't be quite so different. She choked a bit while eating the first time. But has gotten really good at it.

I tried to introduce her to another new food this past week, but she wasn't having it. I tried avocados, research said that they would be a good first food for babies, since they are mild in flavor, and have a lot of great nutrients in them. Mary-Brenna was having nothing to do with them however, the face she made was priceless, I cannot believe I didn't have my camera with me when I was feeding her. I then tried mixing it with some rice cereal, but that made her even more mad. I tainted her perfectly good rice cereal.

I have had to give Mary-Brenna some prunes with her rice cereal the past couple days so we can keep her digestion regular. It seems to really help, and she gobbles it up!

Mary-Brenna has had a cold since we got back from our trip up to Fairbanks for the UAF Graduation. She is coughing, has a snuffly nose (which she hates me getting cleaned up), and a fever. Poor baby! She hasn't been eating that much rice cereal these past couple days, but I am sure when she is feeling better she will be back to her usually self and gobble it all up!

Hazelwood Necklaces

Recently, Mom and I were given a tip on getting babies through their teething process. We decided to check it out and found a few extra things about it as well.

These hazelwood necklaces are designed to help babies get through their teething process as well as other things. These include: heartburn, gastric reflux, skin problems (psoriasis, acne, eczema), arthritis, osteoarthritis, migraines, cavities, "tummy troubles", or any aliment associated with surplus acid. The hazelwood on these necklaces draws the surplus acid from our bodies through the contact with our skin. There have been many testimonies on how well these work, and I am excited to see if they work well for our family. These necklaces and bracelets come in a variety of colors, and need to be replaced fairly regularly due to the fact that the beads fill up. Once they are full, they no longer are effective.


Mom, Dad, Mary-Brenna and I all got necklaces and bracelets from Pur Noisetier.

Hopefully these will help Mom and Dad with their arthritis issues and help Mary-Brenna get through the teething process with a little bit less fussiness that is normal for an infant.

Here are my necklace and bracelet. I ordered the white and Amethyst set.