Maryn Grace 15 Months

Time slipped away in the busy season of three children.  With summer here, I have time to do the extra things for our household.  One of those extra things was getting pictures taken of Maryn.  She is a bit stoic in nature, but they turned out great!  I'll add an update too, so I can look back and remember life with a 15 month old.

Sleeping: Maryn goes to bed around 7:00.  During summer now, she is sleeping until about 7:00 the next morning.  She takes one afternoon nap around noon that usually lasts about 2 hours.  

Talking: She has lots of words now.  We know Duke, Mom, Dad, dog, up, uh-oh, bye, milk, and me-me (we decipher this to be give me-she says it a lot).

Eating: Maryn is getting better at the eating department.  She pretty much eats table food now. We love string cheese, crackers, milk, yogurt, blueberries, and bananas.  We know she is done when she starts throwing it over the side of her tray to the floor! Oy!

Teeth:  She has 6 front teeth now, and we just cut all 4 of our molars in the back.  They are all peeking through!  Yeah for the ability to chew food soon!

Movement:  Bitty is walking all over the place now.  She's close to running too!  She empties every cabinet possible that isn't baby proofed as well.  If you come over to visit, our house definitely looks like it is lived in, as she strings things from one end to the other end.   We've been to the pool a couple of times this summer, and she is getting braver each time we go.

Maryn Grace~ 6 Months

(I just found this draft in my blogger.  I'm guessing I was waiting to add a picture.  Of course that didn't happen, and she is now 11 months old.  I'm sharing anyways, so I can come back and remember what it was like to have a 6 month old).

Weight: 14 pounds 9 ounces 
Length: 25 inches

Sleep: She goes down around 7:30 p.m, and she sleeps until I get her up around 6 a.m.  She is such a happy little girl in the morning.  It just melts my heart to be greeted by her smiles! 

Talking: She's making lots of sounds now.  I hear a definite "Mmm."  She still loves to blow through her lips too.  I think she just likes the way it feels.

Siblings: We are finding the joy in Bitty now that she is a little more aware.  Isla loves her, and she has really found her maternal side.  She carries her babies around the house and feeds them just like Mommy.  Rowan is intrigued when he doesn't have anything else to do.

Dislikes: She hates to have a wet diaper, and she really doesn't like to be ignored.  She's a social little girl and likes for people to pay attention to her.

Firsts: We are rolling and rolling and rolling.  She starting to push herself backwards as well, which makes me think we will be crawling before long.  

We've moved on to real food as well.  So far we have had oatmeal, rice cereal, bananas, peas, carrots, and squash.  She is so interested in food, that we have purchased the little puff things too, and she is just going to town. She sits at the table during our meals just like the big kids, and she just watches us. 

Student Loan Debt Free

We graduated from college 11 years and 9 months ago.  It seems like a lifetime ago.  Alex and I left our undergraduate experience at K-State with a combined 9 years of education and $50,000 in student loans. Since our undergraduate days, I acquired a master's degree as a reading specialist from Washburn University, and Alex graduated with a master's degree in civil engineering from K-State.  We paid those degrees off long ago, but the undergraduate portions have lingered on.

I am thrilled to say as of February 11, 2016, we have paid off all secondary-education debts!  Woohoo just doesn't even describe it.  The end of a chapter, and a welcomed end at that!

Our financial planner just told us it will cost us a combined total of $500,000 to put our three children through a secondary education in the coming years.  I just can't imagine.  We have long ago established funds for each of them to help.  My only hope is that he is seriously wrong about the projected cost of a secondary education in 2027.