Just Another Day

These two should go down in some kind of love hall of fame. 🙂 They were so good to each other.

I love the turn of the calendar page in the middle of winter. We’re closer to spring. My heart is happy about that.

I got the Moby out this week. Our non-sleeper is even less excited about sleep than usual lately. Needless to say, I’m tired. But how can I resist giving in to that sweet little face?

It’s an awful lot of fun to have my little buddies in the school building. Kate often rides to school with me, and sometimes Sawyer stops down to visit as well. They love to draw on the “big board”.

Vera is pretty excited about new foods we’re introducing her to. She dove right in to the spaghetti.

Breakfast out was a treat this weekend. People love babies, and Vera’s great at using her big grin to invite strangers over for a chat. I don’t think her Grandma Tootsie minded showing her off.

February promises to be fast and furious. I’m looking forward to starting a Zumba class with my sisters, hoping the increasing light gives Bill, Vera, and I time to get outside in the evenings, and just generally happy about closing out another month of the winter.

Well, folks, it’s been a cold winter. I’m ready for summer, how about you? That’s not to say that we haven’t had some fun these past months. They’ve been full and moving quickly.

Christmas break was fantastic. We kept our tree on the deck again this year. I like this set-up. We can still see the lights through the window, but there are far less pine needles in our feet. My Christmas cuckoo clock also jazzed the season up, and our elf, Buddy, made his debut. (Sent from a very special family, these happen to be extra special Christmas items around the Bryson house.)

What fun it was to dress our sweetheart up for pictures. She’s so darn smiley. Her shirt in this second picture is from another dear friend (who knows that the holidays cannot go by without watching Elf) and says, “I just like smiling. Smiling’s my favorite.”

We made some tasty venison breakfast sausage over break. Vera helped. Kate also came and helped me bake up some sweets. Auntie April got us matching Christmas aprons… love them!

We enjoyed celebrations with friends and family – all new and different (and wonderful) with a baby in tow.

These besties like to whisper secrets and scheme together. Oh, how fun it is to watch them grow together.

When it was finally time to head back to work, the cold sunk in and we ended up with a couple of extra days off. Then a stomach flu hit, so there were a couple more days at home. But now we’re all well and back into the routine of work and daycare.

Last weekend Bill and I tagged along with April and Jesse for a Wild game. Packing for the overnight adventure was an eye opener. We are no longer a carry-on family. Regardless, it was a wonderful trip. We got to meet up with friends for dinner before the game. Then the  four of us enjoyed a Wild win while our babies stayed back at the hotel with a couple of sitters Bill recruited. Sunday morning allowed time for coffee with another great friend, then shopping with our sitters in hopes of them getting to enjoy a trip to the cities a bit. (The picture of Vera in the Ergo is at the Rosedale Mall. Doesn’t she look excited?)

The weather really has been too cold to do much outside, but we took advantage of an above 0 day to get Vera into her new sled. She wasn’t quite sure about the whole ordeal.

Her hair is still amazing. It doesn’t hold her back  from moving through the house at lightning speeds. She’s an expert crawler these days and loves to  walk around the furniture. We, of course, can’t get enough of watching her perform these incredible feats.

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m ready for winter to be done. I can already notice a bit of light returning, and I’m told there’s roughly 50 days ’til spring. I really can’t complain. Life is good here.

We were happy to have our friend, Inkari, here to stay with us for about two and a half weeks this fall.  Inkari is one of two teachers that guides a group of students from Germany in an exchange program with the Virginia High School. While she was here we got out on lots of boat rides, went on some nice walks and hikes, took a trip to Duluth, ate out, and just had a nice time. It was very nice to see Inkari again after two years had past, and we hope that we’ll be able to visit her at their new home in the next couple of years!

Vera continues to love being outside. She loves boat rides, walks, and just sitting out on the deck.

One of the perks of this school year is that my little buddies are in the building two days each week! Kate and Sawyer began preschool this year, and I’ve even got to bring Kate to school and pick both of them up a couple of days. I just love how excited they are about EVERYTHING!

Last week I got to have a little auntie / niece time with sweet Laurin. She’s getting to an age that makes it easier to just grab her and take her along on quick trips. I’ve never really got to spend time with Laurin without one of the older cousins around, so it was a good little outing. She kept me and Vera entertained with her stories, singing, and made up words.

I continue to feel blessed to have such great care for Vera while Bill and I are at work. Today I got this picture of our sweet girl and our friend Amanda’s little Josey. I love pictures of these two together. It makes me wonder what they’ll be like as they get older.

It’s unbelievable to think that six months have passed since we first met our beautiful girl. She’s sitting up easily and scooting all over the living room. She loves getting her hands on any technology that we happen to leave near her. She’s been eating cereal for the past month and has recently added in some vegetables. We’re still working on better independent sleeping… I think she’d have it down if her mom wasn’t such a softie and didn’t jump at every little noise. I keep reminding myself, though, that she’ll only be small for a short short time.

I’m back to work after a fast and fantastic four and a half months! The transition went more smoothly than I anticipated, thank heavens. Vera is a champ at daycare, and we feel very lucky knowing that she is well take care of each day.

So while Vera’s playing at Jill’s, I’m playing with this group of 33 fifth graders. I have to admit, I was very nervous about having such a big group this year. It seems to be working just fine, though. They are a really nice class, and I have an aide who is a great help! In the picture above we’re out flying our paper airplanes or the first science lab of the year. That was a little exhausting. 😉

Hooray, our deck is back and ready to be enjoyed. The old deck was in really rough shape and needed to be replaced, but when Bill went to start on the renovation early this summer we were met with foundation work that needed to be taken care of first. It’s been a long process, and we are so thankful for our brother-in-law, Jesse, who designs and oversees all of these projects! We’re grateful for the help of lots of family who pitched in in various ways. 

Our house still has a long list of things that we will need to fix / update, but we take it one  at a time and enjoy all the fun things we’re able to do because we live where we do.

Last weekend we headed up to see Grandpa Poderzay. Vera showed off her rolling / moving around skills, and she wasn’t short on smiles. Grandpa seemed to love the visit, as did I.

Around home I’m just trying to keep up with the shenanigans. It’s not uncommon for me to turn around to see Vera wearing her pants on her head or laying upside down on her dad when the two of them are together. 

We also  started solids with Vera last week. I guess we haven’t really committed to it… while she’s not disagreeable, she’s not overly excited about the delicious rice cereal we’re offering her. It’s a long process that requires a bath afterwards, so I will admit we’ve only really tried a couple of nights. I really thought that this was going to be our ticket to a full night’s sleep, but alas, we’re still partying through the night.

At 5 months old, our girl is still very smiley and generally quite happy. She is starting to show concern when Bill or I (or Jill during work days) leave the room, but she’s also playing more independently when we’re within view. She flips both ways, though tummy to back is a rare event to be captured. She scoots around the floor – often making a complete circle, and she appears to be getting ready to crawl (I’m okay if she takes some time with that one… not sure I’m ready for all the gates!). We’re still having an awful lot of fun!

We’ve been having another exceptional summer. We are so lucky, as educators, to get time to enjoy the sunshine and warmth. It’s been a little sad this year, because Bill had to start back to work earlier than usual. He’s able to work four ten-hour days, though, so we get long weekends together.

All summer I have marveled at my stargazer lilies as they grew and grew with very little attention from me. (I actually forgot about them until mid-June when they got too big to ignore!) By the end of July we had these beautiful pink blooms off the front of our deck. So much joy over such a small thing.

We got to celebrate love and commitment with two sets of dear friends this summer. Mary and Adam had a fantastic string of events to celebrate their family, and Jen and Chris had a beautiful wedding and reception that we were honored to attend. Unfortunately, I am more often carrying a baby than a camera these days, so all I have to show for these things is our latest family picture taken at the Judas wedding reception on Elbow Lake. 😉

Together with the neighbors, we recently got a new-to-us boat here at the lake. We have all loved my dad’s boat for the past 27 (!) years, but we found a good deal on this used Bayliner and couldn’t pass it up. It’s been wonderful to be out on the water.

Vera continues to enjoy time with her cousins. Both babies are growing quickly. And big cousin Kate likes to come on walks with Vera and tell LOTS of stories along the way (when she’s not singing).
 
Vera turned 4 months old on the 13th. She continues to amaze us with all of her baby “tricks”. Most recently she started laughing for us. She can get us to do all kinds of stupid things to try to hear that sweet giggle.

It’s been tough to get back into a jogging routine since Vera came along. I typically go in phases where I stop running completely for weeks / months at a time (winter) and then kick it back up to 5 days a week in the summer. I expected it to be tough to start running again, like it is every year. But I didn’t expect it to feel nearly impossible! Lucky for me, my good friend Jenny had invited me to do The Color Run with her back when I thought I’d be a running fool this summer.

Here I spotted Bill in the crowd – hence my goofy face!

Bill was there at the finish line to catch me moving through.

The farthest I’d run before the “race” was 3 miles, and I’d only done that once. I even contemplated skipping out on the event altogether. But I didn’t, and for that I’m glad. This was the most fun I’ve ever had running. It’s not a timed race, and everyone is there to have a good time. By the end you’re plastered in color. And best of all I got to visit with a friend I see too rarely. This was certainly one of the highlights of my summer!

Jenny and I after the color throw

My favorite fans came and cheered me on!

We have had a wonderful summer so far! The weather has been nice, and we’ve had lots of time with family and friends.

We celebrated Barb’s 60th birthday at the family cabin near Bemidji. It was a beautiful weekend  filled with lots of visiting.

Cousins

Vera got to spend some time with her cousin, Abby, while we were in Bemidji. Abby is about 2 and a half months older than Vera. Libby Lu has also been out to play… she is about 2 months younger than Vera. It is amazing to see the difference in development at these little one’s stages and so fun to see them together!

And Vera’s not the only one enjoying time with her cousins…  Kraig, Amy, Brock, and Isaac drove over in the “Moose Caboose” to stay with us over the 4th. We always enjoy having them here!  The rest of the Aune crew that was in the area threw together a little game of baseball one day.  Fourteen people from our family were not there, but it’s still quite the bunch!

With all the commotion, Vera learned how to sleep standing up! There were several times that I’d be walking around with her in the Baby Bjorn and she’d just conk out!

Done With My Masters!!!

I finished up my Master’s degree back in May; life was awfully busy then! It’s been fantastic to not have any school work this summer, but one down side is that our learning team hasn’t had to meet like we have each week for the past 2 years. So, the four of us (plus two babies) met up for breakfast at one of our favorite summer work spots! It was so nice to relax and visit!

I know that this site is going to become flooded with posts and pictures about Vera. That may be boring for anyone out there still reading this little project, but it’s hard for me to avoid. For the past 10 weeks, I’ve been side by side with my little monkey for the majority of every day. We have only spent about an hour at a time apart when I’ve gone to run an errand or something. I’m sure that I’ll relax a bit as she keeps growing, but for now I am perfectly content to be nearby just in case she needs me. But – there are a few things in my life that haven’t been Vera-centric… so I’ll share.

My good friend, Jen, is getting married in early August. We celebrated her upcoming wedding at a shower a couple of Saturdays ago. It was lovely! One of the games we did was to make a toilet paper wedding dress on one of the girls at our table. Lucky for us, we had beautiful little Laurin who agreed to be our “bride”. Apparently she didn’t know what she was getting herself into… and she was not amused. 🙂

Another wonderful friend (also named Jenny) is having a baby in early August, and so I got to celebrate at her shower this past weekend. I am so excited to meet her little one!

These lovely neighbors have been over to visit and play. Yesterday Bill and Kate stayed in the lake swimming until night time. Both kiddos are getting so big!

It’s really starting to feel like old times around here with more and more kids running around. I love watching these monkeys play together at the lake. It reminds me so much of my own childhood – campfires, swimming, and just plain fun.

We are working hard to get Vera excited about sleeping in her Pack N Play. She never did get on board with her bassinet, and she’s not shy about letting us know that she’d rather sleep in our bed…

Though it’s been a slow start to summer, we’re taking advantage of the nice days when they’re here! We’ve gotten out on the lake a couple of times, and Bill and I take turns in the sauna and swimming most days.

These months have gone incredibly fast, and our sweet girl is growing and changing rapidly. It’s so much fun; I wouldn’t change a thing!

Libby Morgan Glass joined our family on June 11. She is absolutely beautiful.