Father's Day Hiking!

Hey everyone, just catching up on our posts. We had a really good father's day. Mary got daddy a really cool picture book that her and mommy designed and made using Snapfish.com!! Dad really likes it. We also went hiking in a natural area near our house and then went for a nice Sunday drive in the Shenandoah National Forest. Here is a picture of Mary and daddy on the hike:

Aunt Angie Visits From Iraq!!!

Mary had a very special visitor this past weekend. Her Aunt Angie got to visit her while she was home on her R&R from Iraq. Angie and Jason were in Washington DC on some business, and since we are only 2 hours down the road they drove down to visit for a few days. Mary took to Angie very quickly. It was a great visit and great to see them.

Mary loves to help out with the cooking in the kitchen!!

Mary having a conversation with her Aunt Angie as Uncle Jason watches in the background.

We are also working very hard to get Mary fitted for a stander. Mary loves to be in the stander and loves to chase mom and dad up and down the halls!! You can really see how tall she is getting when she is standing!

Swimming Fun!!!

Hi All, sorry we have been SO bad about updating Mary's Blog! Ryan started his first week of school this week, so he has been busy "studying" every night. We all (Ryan, Kate, Mary and Jackson) managed to make it to the pool in our neighborhood one afternoon this week. Mary LOVES the water and had a great time. Here are some pictures:

Mary paddling with her arms and legs.

Mom holding Mary in the water.

Mary enjoying herself on the lawn chairs after a nice swim!!!

We'll post more next week!!!

Memorial Day Trip to the Mountains!

Mary got to go to the mountains again during Memorial Day weekend to see her friend Jadon from Tennessee. Here are some pictures from the trip:Mary enjoying some bubbles on the porch with Mommy.

Mary and Jadon sitting on a bench, Jadon was helping Mary sit up straight.

Mary playing a concert for everyone, Jadon is in the background enjoying the music.


We celebrated Mary's 15 month birthday, as well as Jadon's 16 month birthday, and his sister Emma's birthday. Here is a patriotic cake that Kate made for the occasion.

Welcome to Virginia!!

Hey everyone, we wanted to update the blog with some pictures of Mary playing in her new house. Mary is doing much better now and we are finally getting settled in. Mary is developing quite a personality, and she like to imitate everything that mommy and daddy do. She is making lots more sounds, and likes to tell you "what sounds monkeys and ducks make"

Mary is quite the musician on her triangle.


Relaxing after a concert!

She also likes to play the drums.

Here Mary is playing her triangle and her drum.

Sitting in mommy's lap.

Sitting in Grandma's lap.

Doing a puzzle in her kid kart.


Playing in her kid kart.

Mary has become quite a little artist.

Here she is showing off some of her artwork.


Daddy and Mary relaxing on the couch.

Mary's New Sling!!

A few weeks ago Mary got a very cool package in the mail. It is a sling that some people made for her and she likes to use it very much. Here is a video of Mary using the sling to play her musical instruments:

Mary's Trip to the Mountains!!!

Hey everyone! I know its been a while since we've posted anything, so here are some pictures of our recent trip to Monterey, VA. We went to visit Jan and Cathy, who are our friends Wendy and Robert's parents. They have a great place that was very secluded in the mountains. It was great to get out of our toxic rental house and get some fresh air. Mary felt much better up there, even though mom was nervous about going over the 4 mountain ranges to get there.

Mary enjoyed picking flowers.

We went for a nice walk in the Big Valley and saw lots of cows, sheep, goats, deer and other animals.

Mary and Mom at the Confederate Breastworks on Shenandoah Mountain.
Check out Mary's cool new shades!
Mary and Dad enjoying the nice weather!Hope you all had a great week! We are finally getting moved into our new house this weekend (hopefully) this whole move has been such a mess.

Mary in the News

Hi Everyone -

Sorry we haven't posted in a few days. First off, Mary is home from the hospital. She came home Friday, but then had another ambulance ride on Saturday morning as she dropped her oxygen to 50 and briefly stopped breathing. Ryan and I worked on her and were able to bring her back. Once at the hospital her lungs were clear and she was smiling and talking. We think she's having a hard time adjusting to the new climate and with allergies. We continue to be aggressive with her airway clearance and are praying she will shake whatever it is very soon.

Mary is a little star. A week ago a news crew from Fox 17 in Nashville came out to the house (well, our friends house because we were about to move) and shot a story on Mary and her fundraiser. To view it click on the link below:

http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/top_stories/vid_1524.shtml

It aired on the morning show this morning and will air again on the 9 p.m. news. We're not sure how long it will be on their website.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support for Mary. Will update more when we can and add a few pictures of the little pumpkin!

Kate

New Home and New Hospital

Hey Everyone! I know it has been a few weeks since we've updated Mary's Blog. We've been in the middle of moving to Charlottesville, Virginia. Ryan drove last Thursday to meet the movers on Friday at the new house, and then flew back Saturday to drive with Kate and Mary on Monday. We made the trip in one day and Mary did great in the car. When we got here we all got a little bit congested, like we were waking up in the morning congested. We don't know if it is from allergies or from a little bug, but Mary is definitely taking it the hardest. She has had a lot of mucus and secretions the last few mornings and throughout the day and this morning after her morning treatment and feeding she had a little crash. Her oxygen saturation dropped to 82% so daddy put supplemental oxygen into her BiPap, but that only helped a little and she was having a lot of trouble breathing so we had to call the ambulance to come and take her to the hospital. That was very scary for us, since it is the first time we had to do that and in a new place and all. But the ambulance crew was great and after a scary ride to the ER (her sats dropped to low 60's on the trip) we got her there an they got a large mucus plug out of her at the hospital. After that she got rapidly better and we are just in the ICU now for monitoring. She tested negative for flu and RSV so we are hoping it is something that will pass quickly and we can go home.

Please continue to keep little Mary in you prayers and we know you all do! We are looking forward to her race in May and hope to raise lots of money and awareness for Families of SMA.
Hope to see some of you there!!

Ryan and Kate

Mary would like to announce . . .

. . . that she is going to be a BIG SISTER!!!
I know many of you who read this blog already know this, but Mary wanted to make it official and tell everyone the big news! Yes, we are expecting a little boy in July!
The other big news is that we are all moving to Virginia in a few weeks! Yep, we sold the house and we are moving to Virginia so Ryan can start graduate school at UVA.

Mary also wanted to show off her new boots! (Actually they are daddy's)
Don't we look alike?

We hope everybody has a great weekend!!! Check back for more Mary news!

Happy Easter!!

Mary had a great Easter! She had a visit from her cousins Reagan and Alexander, their dog Bailey and parents, Ross and Jenn. I'm attaching some pictures from the visit.

Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!!

Mary found an Egg!

Putting an egg in the basket!!

Decorating Eggs!!

All dressed up for church!!

Wonderful Weather!

Sorry that this is the first update in a while, we have been VERY busy. I wanted to catch up on sharing some pictures.
This picture is of a hiking trip we did on the Ashland City, TN greenway. It was a beautiful day, 70 degrees and sunny! Mary had a really good time.
Here Mary is just hanging out with Dad wearing Mommy's sunglasses, looking cool! (Mary, not dad)
A few days later, we got about 6 inches of snow overnight. Mary and Sam went out to play with the neighbor kids who were building a snow fort. Here our neighbor Joey is holding Mary. How do you like the look she is giving him??
Sam really enjoyed eating the snow!!

As you can see, both Mary and Sam had a really good time!!

MARY IS ONE YEAR OLD!! Mary turned one on February 28 - what a GREAT day! She had a wonderful birthday party with her friends last Saturday and she sure got spoiled. Thank you to everyone who sent her well wishes for her birthday. We've included a few pictures of her special day!

Mary loved her balloons that Uncle Ross, Auntie Jenn, Reagan and Alexander sent!




She had a great time playing outside with her friends and loved the balloon release!







Here is a picture of her butterfly cake. Her party was all butterfly themed! Thanks Kathryn for helping with the cake!!










As you can see she really cleaned up!! Mary had a great birthday and was spoiled just like she wanted it! Thank you to everyone!










Mary will be starting speech therapy this Friday. She says a lot and likes to have conversations with Daddy - especially in the evenings. She continues to smile and bring us joy every day. We love her so much! She is also very excited to get back to swimming next week! We are so proud of her and are so happy she is such a big girl - we can't call her a baby anymore!!