Summer Adventures

Wow, what a summer.  We have had a great one that is for sure.  A little rainy all around, but it was spent with wonderful people.  Uncle Michael was home for the summer, and sadly he is back a school.  We aren't going to see him again till October, but that is going to be here before we know it.  We have missed Papa so much this summer.  He has been off in Afghanistan all this while and has missed his little granddaughter becoming mobile.  He is heading back to Alaska the first few days of September.  He is scheduled to leave Afghanistan on September 1st, but we will see how long it takes him to get home.  Those planes have been working hard all summer so there is bound to be some repairs needed on the way home.

We have been to some weddings this summer, and have one more coming up on Friday.  I am so excited for all my friends who have gotten married this summer.  I know that God has some great plans for them together.   Jaleen only has a few more days left as a unmarried lady and she has been doing a wonderful job maintaining her cool.  I am so honored to be a part of her wedding.

Mary-Brenna has had a lot of fun seeing people this summer and learning how to play with others.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the summer!  

Mary-Brenna has discovered the joys of looking in a mirror.  She had a ton of fun at this one in particular.  She talked to and kissed this mirror for a good ten minutes!

Mary-Brenna had a great summer with Uncle Michael.  Here is a cute picture of them with Mary-Brenna in a beautiful sweater made by Ms. Janeen!

Mary-Brenna had a great time playing with her cousin Max the other day.  Here is a sweet moment between the two of them.

The Brown family came over the other day.  Miss Charlotte helped give Mary-Brenna a bottle before her nap.

After dinner with the Hunners and the Olsens, Mary-Brenna decided she had a lot of energy and climbed up the roof of the car.  Silly girl!  Thanks Mr. Ryan for keeping me safe up there!

Here is Mary-Brenna enjoying a bath.  Splashing is so much fun!

I am looking forward to some more adventures before snow comes!  Till next time!

And she is crawling!!!

Mary-Brenna has started crawling this week!  It was so cute to see her leading up to it.  She would get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth.  Then she would push herself backwards with her hands.  On Monday (June 27th), Uncle Michael put her pacifier on the floor and she crawled to it.  It was adorable!  I was so excited, I know my smile was a mile wide.  It was really sweet that my mom's dear friend Maren, who was here with her husband Chris for their high school reunion, also got to see her crawl!  Maren and Mary-Brenna became good buddies while they were here.  Now nothing in the house is safe!  Soon she will be chasing our cat all around the house!  Look out world here comes a mobile Mary-Brenna.

Today Mary-Brenna also pulled herself up on the couch!  I tried to get it on video but she only did it once :(  Hopefully I will catch it on film here soon.

7 Months

I cannot believe that Mary-Brenna is already 7 months old!  She is doing so much and has gotten so big.  She is now 17 pounds and just over 26 inches long!  She has her first tooth (bottom right), and is now getting up on her hands and knees all by herself.  This past Saturday (June 4th) she did a push-up!  I was so amazed, I cannot believe I didn't get a picture.  

Mary-Brenna is eating rice cereal, peas and she tried sweet potatoes today.  I am making my own baby food which is going really well.  I love that I can get 20 days worth of baby food for $4.00.  Mom has a great big food processor that does wonders for pureeing her food.  I simply cook the peas (or sweet potatoes), let them cool and puree them in the food processor with water to the consistency that I like.  I store them in freezer bags in 1-2 servings.  

Mary-Brenna has now had 2 bike rides on my bike.  I got a child seat for my bike that goes in front of me.  Mom also got Mary-Brenna a sweet bike helmet!  Mary-Brenna does wonderfully on the bike, she sits really well and doesn't bobble around.  

 

  

Uncle Michael is also home for the summer!  It is wonderful to have him here.  We have missed him so much!  The house dynamic has changed with him being here, but in a totally awesome way.  There is a new kind of silliness that happens.  It is fun!  It will be fun to hang out this summer.  

 

 

Here is a sweet picture of Mary-Brenna and her friend Britta!  Britta is just a little bit younger than Mary-Brenna and I know they are going to become great friends.

Mary-Brenna is getting to know her cousin Max!  Max is almost 11 months old, and the sweetest little boy!  It is a lot of fun seeing Max grow and do things I know will be coming up for Mary-Brenna.

Dad has made it to Afghanistan now, he got a little delayed on his way there due to a broken airplane.  But they got everything fixed, and headed back off to Afghanistan.  We miss Dad so much.  I know Mary-Brenna is wondering where her Papa is.

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.