Happy Halloween!!

Busy, busy little bug..

The Hanna's first family Halloween!!

So beautiful!!

Trick-or-Treatin' is fun, but it has worn these two little ladybugs out!!

Rory was being silly at Great-Grandma Hanna's house. She put a doily on her head and wore it as a hat for a while!! Silly girl!!

Rory playin' the spoons with Great-Grandpa Brauchi. So much fun!!

Abby exploring her Great-Grandparents' house. Isn't she such a big girl?!?!

Abby sitting with her Great-Grandpa Brauchi. They are great pals!!

Rory with Memaw Brauchi

Look at this precious ladybug princess!!



Abby's not too sure about this whole dressing up idea, but she sure looks adorable!!

Rory and Abby in their "My Magical Power is being Cute" shirts. Too true!!

Look how cute I am!!

The girls had a wonderful first Halloween!! Everyone made it such a special day for them. They were dressed up as ladybug princesses. Too cute!! I do believe that they were the most beautiful little ladybugs possible! I was so proud of how well they did today. They really didn't fuss with their costumes much and they seemed to really enjoy showing off for everyone. Abby kept smoothing her little dress down all evening. The girls even got to wear special bows that Mommy made especially to match their little dresses!! We had a chance to see all of our family that lives in town. We visited grandparents and great-grandparents all evening. Everyone seemed so excited to see Rory and Abby. All of our family helped to make this such a special event for the girls. They were given clothes, bows, snacks (no candy yet) and all sorts of goodies. Daddy and Mommy even got a little into the Halloween spirit. Daddy wore a t-shirt with a tux on it and Mommy wore a shirt with a scarecrow on it. We're not too into going all out. The only bad part of today was that someone decided to steal one of our scarecrows from our scarecrow family that we had in our front yard. Michael and I bought our first scarecrows right after we got married and have added as our family has grown. Someone stole our Mommy scarecrow. It was sad and we had to take down our little family to prevent anymore from being stolen. All-in-all, though, we had a really nice Halloween and I don't think that the girls could have had anymore fun if they had really tried!! After all, that's what Halloween is for!!

Bedtime at the Hanna House

This video is a small glimpse into bedtime at our house. At this point in the evening, the girls have been bathed, fed, rocked and are ready to go to bed. Sometimes, the last step is easier than others. The girls will usually lay down after a little rocking time (Michael and I really enjoy the one-on-one time with each of the girls before bedtime). Rory has gotten where she tells us bye-bye before she goes to sleep. She often drifts off saying "bye-bye, bye-bye." It's too cute!! Eventually we will get to "night-night." You will notice that the girls' mattresses have been moved down because they are both getting too tall to have them any higher. I can't believe how big they are now. Rory weighs 19 lbs. 9.6 oz. Abby is 16 lbs. 4.6 oz. Their doctor told us to start looking for "big girl" car seats because they need to move up when they reach 20 lbs. It's amazing how fast time flies!!

Party Animals... What FUN!!

Mimi Cinda and Rory
Shandra and Braxton
Braxton... What a sweet little boy!!!
Rory and Abby sitting like big girls at the table
It's Papa's birthday!! (10-09)

Abby got caught playing with Aunt Shannie's boots
Rory made it up the steps
"I'm back again!!!"
Here comes Abby up the stairs
Papa and all three of his grandkids

Rory ready to head home. It's cold outside!!
Braxton took the liberty to dive into his cake on his birthday (10-14). He really enjoyed licking the frosting off!!
Braxton playing patty-cake with Abby and Rory. They are having soooo much fun!!
Yeah Rory!!
Abby has found some cabinets to climb.. big surprise!!


These are Braxton's toy stars that he named "McCain" and "Sarah." Too funny!! He got them from the Republican headquarters here in town. Guess who he hears about all the time!!
It's cold... Abby's bundled for the outdoors
Happy Birthday Aunt Shannie (10-16)
Do you think the whole thing will fit?
Daddy and Rory. Don't they look so much alike in this picture?

Rory going down the slide at Braxton's party
Braxton driving a submarine
Braxton's ready to skate for the first time in his new skates
Go Braxton... Go!!!!
Rory and Abby chowing down on their puffies. They are big fans of their puffies!!

There's more than one way to play with an exersaucer
Braxton got new skates from Uncle Mike, Aunt Taira, Rory and Abby
Look at his Mr. Potato Head
The jungle-gym at Braxton's party. It was soooo much fun!!
Braxton blowing out his #3 candle on his Thomas the Train cake

Rory and Abby playing at Gigi's house
Abby is done with her nap after church.. "Someone get me out of this dress!!"
What a big girl!!!
Rory's standing up all by herself!!!!
"Is someone going to pick me up?"

October is always a busy birthday month for our family. We start out the month with Grandad Hanna's (Michael's dad) birthday. Then we have Papa's birthday, Braxton's birthday and Aunt Shandra's birthday. These take place all in a two week span. Needless to say, it's been party time around here!! On Grandad Hanna's birthday, we had a chance to go to Michael's parents house for a small family get-together. It was good to see everyone. Then, for Papa, Aunt Shandra and Braxton, we had small family parties at Grandma Gigi's (my grandmother) house. Braxton then had a big birthday party for him and all of his friends. He had a wonderful Thomas the Train party at our church's playroom. They have a huge jungle-gym for the kids to play on. Braxton and about 10 of his closest friends played until they couldn't stand any longer. It was a good time. He got so many new toys and had so much fun!! It's going to be interesting trying to get the girls back on their schedule again, though. They have enjoyed partying so much this last week and don't really think that they are ready to be done with all the exciting events.

It's been an interesting week in our house (besides all of the parties). The girls, as always, have been making new discoveries. At my grandmother's house, she has a sunken living room. There are steps to get to the rest of her house from that living area. The girls have cautiously tried to figure out exactly how to manuver the steps because they have desperately wanted to explore the rest of the house. Both girls have now figured out how to quickly go up and down the steps. There's no stopping either of them now. They love to "chase" Braxton through the house. He will run from them and they will both crawl after him as fast as they can possibly go... laughing the entire way. It's so cute!! Both girls are also now pulling up on everything!! Rory figured out how to pull herself up today for the first time and she just can't seem to stop herself now!! We are so proud of her!! Abby is not only pulling up, but she is walking while still holding onto things. For instance, she will pull up on the couch and then walk the length of the couch while still holding on. At times, both girls will just let go and, of course, topple over. But, I don't think that it's going to take them very long to figure out how to start taking steps. They can already take a few steps when we hold onto their hands and help them steady themselves. It's just not going to be very long and that scares me!! It's hard to keep up with them while they are crawling. The prospect of running after two little ones who can also run really has me frightened. :) The girls have also gotten more teeth. Rory now has three teeth completely in and another one on the top trying to push its way through. Abby's bottom right tooth is pretty well in and we think that she is starting to try and cut her bottom left tooth. We've learned quickly to keep our fingers out of their mouths (although everything else goes right into their mouths). They are both talking more and more all the time. They are also getting to the point where they try to mimic things. That's just too funny!! The other day, their Great-Grandpa Brauchi put a rubber band around the end of two spoons and showed Abby how to play the spoons. She took them from him and started hitting her knee just like he had done. It was so cute!! She then proceeded to hit him in the face and chew on the spoons, but it was fun while it lasted!! Rory also throws her hands in the air when we say "yeah Rory!!" when she does something new or fun. It's too adorable!! We have so much fun with the girls and can't believe how fast they are growing!!!

Has it been 8 months already?

Abby sitting on her knees in the play-yard a couple of days ago. Rory is just having a good time!!
Abby standing all by herself today!! She was not happy that Mommy took a picture before picking her up. She's not spoiled at all. :)

Here we are at 8 months. What a wonderful time it has been!! The girls are growing so fast and furiously that we work daily to stay on top of the game. It amazes me that we have gone from having two little tiny babies that could fit in one hand to two 8 month old girls who are definitely a handful. Each day is such a blessing with Abigail and Aurora. Michael and I wake up each day eager to see what our little angels will be doing next. The last couple of days have been exciting around here. This morning, Rory woke up fairly cranky and wanting desperately to be right beside Mommy. As I was giving her a bottle, I noticed something in her mouth. I started feeling around and she has two more teeth poking through in the top front of her little mouth!! No wonder she has been a little fussy. Then, this afternoon, little Miss Abigail (who has been experimenting the last few days with trying to get her legs under her to stand all by herself) decided that she couldn't get Mommy's attention good enough by sitting on the floor. I had gone to the other room for a minute (the girls were in their play-yard) and I heard "mammma" come from Abby. When I came around the corner, Abby was standing up, holding onto the side of her play-yard trying to see where I had gone. Of course, as soon as she saw me, she started crying for me to pick her up, but I had to grab the camera first. She has been trying for several days to pull up on everything that she can get to and, now, she's accomplished her latest goal. She's such a persistent little girl and we had no doubt that she would get it sooner or later, but we just weren't prepared quite yet. Michael and I have decided to finalize the baby-proofing this weekend since we fear that walking may creep up on us in a hurry (especially once Rory decides to copy her sister's latest feat). The girls' great-great Aunt Ann (who is in town for a visit) bought the girls each a push-toy to help them learn to walk!! She is great and the girls love her and their new toys!! Yesterday, Rory also decided to add a new special treat to her repartee of tricks. She has, for a while now, been saying "bye-bye." We were practicing our words, like we try to do each day, and I was waving at Rory as she said "bye-bye." To my surprise, she started waving back at me and saying "bye-bye." This morning as Michael was leaving for work she waved at him and said "dada bye-bye!" What a brilliant little girl!! The girls went to their doctor today to begin their RSV shots for the winter (which we are so thankful for). The nurse weighed each girl and, oh my, how they have grown. Rory weighs 18 lbs. 12.6 oz. Abby weighs 15 lbs. 4.2 oz. They sure have come a long way from 5 lbs. 2 oz. and 4 lbs. 11 oz. when they were born!! We are so proud of their progress. We are now feeding them three full-meals a day with bottles and snacks in between. Both girls are able to feed themselves finger foods (although it's a little messy sometimes). They love trying new and exciting things to eat. We started them on meat baby food this last weekend. To our surprise, they seem to like it alright. Not, of course, like they enjoy their fruits or even their veggies, but they don't really seem to mind eating the meat. Now if we can just get a few more teeth, we can really start on the good stuff!! Well, that's most of the new happenings here for now. I promise to try to keep everyone updated.