12 month photos and first birthday

It's hard to believe the Brenna is ONE! This week Pat and I have been reminiscing about where we were this week last year and what we were doing. On December 4th I texted Colleen to say "this day last year I was in labor the entire day...and it's not Brenna's birthday" to which she replied "Happy Labor Day!" 

It's amazing how much she has grown and changed over this year. She is such a happy, fun, inquisitive, funny, outgoing, and wonderful person!!

Here is her 12 month photo shoot:

I think this photo represents that challenge it was to get her to sit down for any pictures :) 

 For her birthday we celebrated with some friends and family at our place. Brenna enjoyed her first (and second) cupcake and loved seeing many of her (and her parent's friends). Her favorite gift was actually one of the cards, from Paul and Madison, that plays the Star Wars song when you open it. Pat was over the moon that this was her favorite :)

Here are a few highlights from the birthday celebrations...

she is obsessed with this card, and dances every time she opens it and the music starts :)

just a little frosting :) but notice, almost the whole cupcake is gone!

so much birthday fun!

Thanksgiving in Sunny Newport Beach

This year for Thanksgiving, the McGah's all headed to Newport Beach! This is the last year Peter and Caroline will be living there so we wanted to enjoy one more warm Thanksgiving while we could. It was the first time all of us have been together since Brenna was born--and she loved it all!!! From the moment we arrived Brenna was so excited to have her grandparents, aunt, and uncle all there to play with!

Our journey the night before Thanksgiving couldn't have been better. I had the day off of school thanks to our Cross Country team winning State. So I had the whole day to do laundry, relax, pack, and then go get Brenna and be off for the airport. Here are the amazing things that happened on the "worst day to travel":
-dropped off the car and the shuttle was waiting for us right away
-got through security in about 10 minutes
-got randomly chosen for TSA pre-check which meant shoes stayed on and nothing had to come out of our bags
-found a table in the food court right away, with a high chair
-had time for Brenna to play in the play area
-had time to grab a drink (and saw Paul Silvi!)
-had an empty seat in our row for the flight
-flight left early because everyone was boarded
-Brenna slept for most of the flight
-Brenna woke up for about 30 minutes at the end of the flight and proceeded to smile at everyone around us

we each go our choice of drinks

ready for California!!

playing in the extra seat before our flight took off

On Thanksgiving, Caroline cooked up an amazing meal for us all while we played and hung out. She is the best!!! Brenna had fun helping out in the kitchen :)

 While Caroline cooked, we took advantage of the 80 degree weather and hit the pool!

Our meal was wonderful and it was so fun to all be together!

seriously amazing!

Brenna and I took many walks around the community Peter and Caroline live in. It was so beautiful the whole weekend.

 On Friday we hit the beach! It was 75 degrees and a perfect day to hang out at the beach. We got lunch with Elaine, Rachel, Finn, and Brannon who drove over from Rachel's house. The boys absolutely loved playing in the ocean and had no fear of the waves!

We got a few family pictures while out to dinner with Bill's cousin and his family!

love

 On Saturday afternoon we headed out to Balboa Island to walk around and enjoy the views and weather. It was amazing to be able to walk around in flip flops and shorts!

All the houses get super decorated for Christmas. It was hilarious to see the yard covered in fake snow next to the ocean :)

Our wonderful hosts. Brenna loved every minute spending time with her aunt and uncle!!

After a fun and sunny weekend we were headed back to Seattle. 

Brenna was excited to be home, but more excited to play inside the suitcases :)

11th months old!!

As each month goes by we have more and more outtakes!! Now that Brenna is walking, it's even harder to get her to sit still for any length of time :)

First Halloween!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Brenna's first Halloween! Pat decided around last March what her costume would be...Yoda!! To celebrate we went over to Grandma Sue and Papa Joe's house. Grandma Sue has loved Star Wars since it first came out :)

Here are a few pictures of our great night together.

And the best one :)

Growing, Growing, Growing!!

9 Month Photos and Update!!

outtakes :)

10 Month Photos and Update!!

outtakes :)

First day of school picture

7 and 8 month photos...and a summer update

I think the fact that I haven't posted for most of the summer means it has been an awesome few months! We have been busy traveling, being in the sun, having play and lunch dates, and just enjoying the time as a family. It is hard to believe that the new school year begins tomorrow. It will be my 10th year teaching, which is also very hard to believe. I have definitely come a long way from that first day of Feehan as I cried in my car on the way to school :)

Brenna is doing awesome! She is crawling everywhere, pulling herself to standing on anything she can find, laughs a ton, and continues to be a pretty laid back baby. Her new school, La Escuelita, has been a good fit so far and we all really like her teachers.

We celebrated her (boy)friend's birthday--Nolan--this weekend. The morning he was born Pat and I went over to their house to watch Ali, Nolan's sister and our Goddaughter, while Ryan and Christen headed to the hospital. It was my first day of school and I was looking more and more pregnant. We have all definitely come a long way since Nolan's birth! I really cannot believe she will be 9 months old in a few weeks.

Here are her month updates and a few other fun pictures from the summer.

swimming at Grandma Ann and Grandpa Bill's 

Brenna loves when Pat plays guitar!

happy baby

Three generations at Ocean Shores 

family pic at the beach

first time in the Pacific Ocean

At the Curt Cobain bridge park in Aberdeen 

Ready for the Seahawk's preseason game

lunch in West Virginia 

checking out the White House

Loving the air conditioning on those hot DC days

off to Congress!

at the Capital...it was really sunny :)

Here is one video of Brenna on her first morning she crawled...she turned 8 months old that day!