Thanksgiving and Beyond

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it! (Abby)

"We're pretty sure that this baby food isn't what we have been smelling all morning!!"

Yummy Thanksgiving treats!!

"SHOW ME THE TURKEY!!"

Braxton and Shandra. He's getting so big!!

Abby is licking her plate clean!! It must be good!!

"This is good stuff!! Why doesn't our baby food taste like this?"

"I'm as stuffed as a turkey."

The table that Shandra and I decorated for the Women's Hospitality Dinner at our church!!

Mom, Linda Browning and Grandma Jeanie at our church's annual Women's Hospitality Dinner!! We had a great night!!

Rory playing with their house.... she loves to ring the doorbell!!

"I'm not getting into anything... honest!!"

We're not entirely sure what this face is all about, but it's adorable!!

"You are in my bubble, Mom!" ~Abby

Strike a pose!! Tyra Banks would be proud!!

Abby's got this standing alone thing down!!

"Umm... Mom... there's something in our play-yard that I need to investigate"

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We decided to stay in town this year because a good deal of our family lives here in town (not that we didn't miss everyone that we didn't get a chance to see). It was so good to get a chance to spend quality time with our family (and some friends who were here from out of town)! We decided that the girls were old enough to sample some of the Thanksgiving yummy treats. They definitely approved of this plan. At Thanksgiving lunch, we gave them their own plates and put little samples of different things on the plate. Both enjoyed feeding themselves (and each other) and getting a chance to really dig into what they wanted. Abby even licked her plate clean after she had eaten everything on it! Not the best table manners, but we'll try better next year! :) I guess that it was time to pass the cooking torch this year. My mother and grandmother "let" Shandra, my dad and I do most of the cooking this year. Everyone survived, so I guess that it was a success! We even decided to brave the "Black Friday" crowds this year. I don't think that's an experience that I ever wish to have again. There's no deal that's worth getting up at 3:00 in the morning and getting hit over the head for. Yes, that was my wonderful experience for that day. Overall, though, we had an excellent Thanksgiving break! It was so nice to have Michael home for 5 days straight (the girls would definitely agree with that assessment). I think that the girls' first Thanksgiving was a big success!

The girls are still growing by leaps and bounds. It amazes me how much they change from the time they go to sleep at night to the time that they wake up in the morning!! They both now jabber ALL THE TIME! We don't always catch exactly what they are saying (or even most of it), but the jabber and chatter never stops (even when they are sleeping). I love to lay in bed and listen to their nighttime talk over the baby monitor. It makes Michael and I laugh almost every night! The girls are both going to sleep on their own at night, now. It has taken some work, but we are able to put them down and they go to sleep on their own! I knew this routine thing would pay off!! The biggest thing in our house right now is that we have two little girls who pull up on everything, are cruising up and down the furniture and trying to stand alone. Actually, Abby has got the standing alone thing down pretty good!! She will be holding onto something and then just let go and stand for a long time by herself with no support!! What a big girl!! She has tried several times to take a step, but hasn't quite gotten her balance well enough, but she is so close. She's such a tenacious little girl that we know she will have it down before long. Rory can stand by herself for just a couple of seconds. She still really likes to have the support of someone or something, but her doctor told us that even doing that she is way ahead of the game developmentally!! They can both walk pretty good if someone is holding onto their hands and walking behind them!! People ask us all the time if the girls are crawling yet and I love the shocked expressions that we get when we tell them that they had crawling down several months ago and are now working on trying to walk. Rory has also figured out how to climb up on things. She loves to climb and tries to on everything! We had taken their pack-n-play to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving and it was in our living room when we came home for a while. Rory figured out how to climb up on it (while it was folded down and in the bag) and sit up on her knees on top of it. She would then jabber at us like she was really telling us all something important. Of course, Mommy ruined her fun because I was too afraid that she would fall, so I asked Michael to put it away. It hasn't stopped her from climbing on everything else, though. Each girls' personality is really starting to shine and develop! Abby is more reserved... up to a point. She doesn't mind letting everyone know what she thinks, though. She tolerates her sister for a while, but when she gets frustrated, everyone needs to just back up and give her some space. It always shocks people when she just starts yelling and jabbering really fast. During those times, I'm really glad that I can't catch most of what she is saying. Rory is very laid back... as long as she gets her way. She has a bit of a temper, but it comes and goes fairly quickly. But, she can chew you out with the best of them. Both girls are so lovable and absolutely adore their Daddy!! Anytime I tell them "no," they go tell on me to daddy. All you hear throughout the house is "dada, dada, dada, dada" whenever I have told them "no." They do the same thing when Daddy gets onto them, except they come to me saying "mama, mama, mama, mama." It's funny! We are starting to gear up for Christmas and the girls are loving it! The bright lights and Christmas music are so much fun to them right now. They are also very curious about the presents that have appeared under the tree. Rory has already opened two of the gifts, so the tree and the gifts are now inside their play-yard. See, we can still outsmart two ten month old babies (can you believe they will be ten months old tomorrow?).... not for long, though, I fear. It's going to be such a fun Christmas this year!!