First off, RYAN IS GONE! :( A week ago today we drove up to Calgary to drop him off at the airport to go to Santiago Chile. Yes, for those of you who dont know, Ryan got his new mission call to Santiago Chile. He only had a little under three weeks notice. Salt Lake called our Stake President and told him to give Ryan a headsup that he would be leaving international in three weeks, but they wouldn't say where. A week later he got his call in the mail, turning international into Chile! He was so excited because he was afraid that he was going to be sent to Winnipeg with all the Visa crap he has had to deal with. So he got everything ready in a whirlwind. My parents were very stressed out with having to do it so quick, and so was I. The reason I was stressed was because we were having the Open House and family dinner at my house, and some family staying here, so I had to get my entire house cleaned before then, which I can tell you was a chore. Luckily my fam came and helped me organize my basement crap, that has been sitting there for a year. But everything got done, Ryan gave an amazing farewell talk, and we drove up to Calgary.
I am happy that I decided to go up, even though it meant waking up at 3am the next day to get him to the airport. Ryan, Jessica and I sat in the back seat and sang Disney songs the entire way. Brooklynn and Ben thought we were a bunch of crazies, but it was just like old times. A few times I almost cried singing because it would be a while till that would happen again. I cried lots for Ryan and Brooklynn. By the time he gets home she will be 2.5yrs old! Walking, talking, etc. And she wont have any idea who he is, and wont remember the kind of relationship that they have right now. Ryan spent about 2 hours every morning at my house for a year, waiting for Ben to get ready to go to work. Its really sad, and I could tell that Ryan was really sad to leave her. But he will be a great missionary, and we are all proud of him for being so diligent in his long wait.
Speaking of Brooklynn, holy crow has she gotten big! She is now 6 months old!!!! Half a year already!!! It doesnt seem like that long ago. She is now 14lb 11oz (25%) and almost every other baby who is her age, or even 2 months younger, are bigger than she is. Her 4 month old cousin is 15lb 10oz, my 2 month old cousin is almost 14lbs. But, she is as tall, or taller than them, at 26.5 inches.
She is getting so big I can't even believe it. Her newest development.....she can crawl!!!! Not just army crawl, but one had in front of the other up on her knees crawl. Haha you should see me right now! Some would think that Im a terrible mother, but its fun. As i am writing this, Im tossing popcorn twists on the ground for Brooklynn to crawl to and eat. She reminds me of Boo off of Monsters Inc. crawling after the Cheerios. I can't get enough of it. Its entertaining her and I, working on her crawling and hand dexterity, and keeping her busy all at the same time. But man, she sure figured out how to actually crawl very quickly. Its been two days since my dad decided to work with her on it. She had been army crawling/rocking on her hands and knees, but up till then could not figure out how to move her hands too. But she has figured it out.....now Im in trouble lol.
Today, she also figured out how to push herself up to sitting! Soooo Big! She is getting so much more body control now. But it also means that I cant lay her somewhere for a minute because she can get off. It means that she can do a front flip out of her carseat if she is not buckled. It means that I have to lower the mattress in her crib so I dont find her on the floor one day. It means that I have to babyproof everything. But its so fun :)
She babbles, she squawks, she screams, she giggles. She tries to give mom zurberts, she gives great kisses, gives Hi Five. She understands mirrors. She is just so awesome. And because its my blog I can say that she is the smartest baby ever! :)
Look at that little ponytail! Isnt it cute. First time on Saturday. I cant get enough of it.
