Thanksgiving 2009

Our Beautiful House

"For real, Mom?" ~Abby

The girls were big helpers this year!!

The girls helping Mimi Cinda crack the hard boiled eggs

What a beautiful bird!!

YUMMY!!!

The girls didn't wait to dig into all the yummy food!!

Papa carving the turkey

Braxton's cheesy grin

Rory looking at the tree

The girls enjoying the Christmas tree

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. The girls and I really enjoyed having Michael home for five days straight. The girls didn't want him to go back to work. Rory even begged him saying " Daddy, no go work" the night before he had to go back. Michael was just about ready to melt. We spent the day before Thanksgiving at my Grandmother's house cooking. I got the honor of preparing a good portion of the dinner myself this year, so I made all of the deserts and other preparations the day before. On Thanksgiving morning, we all got up early to watch the parade together. The girls were mesmerized by the huge balloons! It was so neat to watch them get so excited!! Michael and I agreed that we would like to take them to an actual Macy's Day parade some day (but not soon). After the parade, we all jumped in and started cooking. My Dad and Michael prepared our turkey this year. They decided it would be fun to fry the turkey. It turned out beautiful and soooo yummy (and there was only one minor grass fire). The girls even got to help prepare the salad and deviled eggs. They were so excited to help!! Mimi Cinda let them sit on the table while she was preparing the eggs and she would hand them an egg to throw to crack it open. There were eggs flying against the wall, table, Mimi Cinda and each of the girls, but they had a blast helping crack the hard boiled eggs open. After our wonderful lunch, we spent the afternoon playing games, chasing kiddos and just having a good time.

On Friday, I decided to brave the crowds at the Black Friday sales. I always say that I'm not going shopping on that day and I always end up in the rush of things. This year, I came away with some interesting stories. At Wal-Mart, I had a woman hit me with her shopping cart 5 times in an attempt to get me to move out of her way. I would have moved if I could, but I was blocked. So, after a short discussion, she decided that hitting me again would be a bad plan. At Toys 'R' Us, there was an employee that continually yelled in a shrill voice at invisible people. After standing in line for 2 1/2 hours, I was ready to get away from her craziness!! Then at Sears, my dad was sitting in his van reading the flier and this women (at 4 a.m.) came up to his window wearing dark sunglasses and just stared at him. She stood there for a good 5 minutes before Dad rolled down the window and she wanted his flier. It was soooo funny!! Dad was really creeped out.

Last weekend, Michael and I decided it was time to decorate for Christmas. Michael got out and put up lights on our house. We really wanted the girls to be able to see all the pretty lights. We also put up a blow-up reindeer in the front yard. The girls are fascinated with all the decorations!! After the outside lights were hung, we put up our Christmas tree. The girls went crazy over the tree!! Michael and I bought each of the girls a special ornament to hang on the tree. Rory got a Mommy bear reading to a baby bear. Abby got a Tinkerbell ornament (my family calls her "Tink"). They love to look at their ornaments each day when they get up in the morning. We sing Christmas carols with the girls. We are all starting to enjoy the Christmas season. This year is so much fun because the girls are really old enough to enjoy everything!! Michael and I have enjoyed sharing everything with the girls and watching the wonder that the Christmas traditions have brought for the girls!!

Rory's First Haircut and Random pictures

Rory ready for her haircut
Here we go....

Rory sat so still and turned her head when the stylist asked. She did so well!!

Rory showing off her certificate and her new haircut!!

Daddy and Rory with their new haircuts

Rory's new hairstyle

Rory's hair looks so cute!!

Rory's certificate for her first haircut

Braxton ready to rock!!

Uncle Mike and Braxton rockin' on Guitar Hero

Braxton wants to be just like Uncle

Abby in her hot pink sunglasses

Too Cool...
(Don't they look so much alike in this picture?)

Cool Rory

Toby cuddling with Shannie

Lazy puppy.. LOL

"It wasn't me!!" ~Braxton

Yummy!!!

That was some good cookie

Opening presents

She looks really mischevious

I think Braxton enjoyed the cookie

Cheese!!

Such a good picture of mom

My wonderful husband

Rory and Abby waiting for birthday sweets

Me with my Birthday Cookie

My Birthday Cookie

Rory loves on Toby any chance she can get

Braxton loves Toby. He really needs a puppy of his own.

Toby loves his belly rubbed... LOL

As always, this last week has been a busy one in the Hanna household. This last Saturday (Nov. 14) I celebrated my 27th birthday. My family and friends made it a very special day for me. I had a meeting that morning for Jazzercise. After the meeting, though, one of my very best friends, Jennifer Merriss, and I went shopping. We had a really great time!! We even found an awesome sale on kids' clothes and might have splurged just a little. :) That evening, my family took me out to eat and then had a small party (just our family). My wonderful husband bought me a birthday cookie (that he helped design himself) and we had an awesome time with family. The girls even tried to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. Both told me "Happy Day Mommy" several times!! Who could ask for a better present?!?

Today was a busy day. Rory and I were vaccinated for the H1N1 virus. That was interesting. We took Abby last Friday to be vaccinated. Michael and I debated for a while, but ultimately decided that vaccinating was the best option. So, when the vaccine finally became available, we jumped at the opportunity. After our trip to the doctor, Rory and I met Daddy at a local salon to get her very first haircut. I was a little nervous about how it would go because Rory is never still. She shocked me, though. Daddy got his haircut first and she watched what was going on with him. The women at the salon were wonderful and explained to her what they were doing. Then, it was her turn. She sat up on the little booster seat in the salon chair and waited for the woman to begin cutting her hair. She didn't move the whole time that we were discussing how much to cut off and what I wanted. She sat extremely still through the haircut, pictures and tears (from Mommy). The stylist was so impressed!! She said that she had never had a kid of any age sit so still for a haircut before. Because she did so well, the salon presented Rory with her very own certificate for "bravely completing" her first haircut!! She was so proud of her certificate that she had to show it to everyone!! Rory did so well. Michael and I are very proud of her!! And, her hair looks so adorable!!! We are planning to take Abby to get her first haircut as soon as it gets long enough. I am glad that we have the opportunity to take them separately for their first haircut. I think it was so special for Rory to go by herself and get all the praise for being such a big girl! I hope it will be a special experience for Abby as well.

Michael's Surprise 30th Party/ Our New Family Member

Michael's 30th Birthday cake... Look at all those candles
The Birthday Boy

Michael blowing out his candles

The Merriss Clan

Braxton and Rory (I think she's done)

Abby chillin' with Gigi

Michael liked his XBOX 360

Rory helping pick up the trash. She's so helpful.

Toby and Rory snuggling in the morning

Fun puppy play time

Meet Toby Hanna

Rory's a little zoned out... LOL

Toby has claimed my blanket.

Abby and Toby playing together

Rory and Daddy snuggling

Everything is going well at the Hanna house. We have had an incredibly busy couple of weeks. Tomorrow, November 10, Michael will celebrate his 30th birthday!! This last Saturday, we threw him a surprise 30th birthday party. It was sooo hard to keep it a secret from him and I thought many different times that he must suspect something, but he promises that he didn't even begin to think anything was amiss until the day of the party. Whew!! It was especially hard to keep a secret with two little girls repeating things they would hear Mommy say on the phone like "party, cake, surprise." I had to be very careful around the girls. I could have never pulled it off without the extremely generous help of our friends and family. We had about 20 people at the party. I think that Michael was genuinely happy about the party and he thinks that it will make turning 30 a little easier!!

Also on Saturday, we welcomed the newest member of our family into our home. We have a precious little dachshund puppy. He is wonderful!! I went Saturday morning before the girls woke up to pick him up. When I got home, the girls were eating breakfast and drinking their morning milk. It took them a minute or two to register what was going on, but then the squealing began. They were soooo excited!!! We spent the morning figuring out a name for him. We settled on Toby. It's easy for the girls to say and it fits him. Rory calls him "Tubby," though. It's too cute!! He has been such a wonderful addition to our family so far. In the mornings, the girls will run in to see Toby and will lay on the floor to cuddle with him. He loves to cuddle with the girls. Abby and Rory have also been very gentle with him. It's amazing how fast the three of them have become attached to each other. It's so much fun to watch. The girls will go to another room and Toby is right behind them. They were all instant friends. We decided to start looking for a puppy when Abby's allergy specialist told us it would be good for her to be exposed to a short-haired dog on a regular basis to help her body build an immunity to pet hair. God provided the perfect puppy for our family from a loving and wonderful home. We are once again blessed!!

The girls are doing well. They have both been cutting teeth again. Luckily, they've just about got all of their baby teeth (except for all their molars) in. They are both changing and doing more and more every single day. I took them both to the doctor last Friday for a well-check. The doctor told me, once again, that both girls are amazingly above the developmental curve for their age group. She was shocked when Rory carried on a complete conversation with her about leaving and watching the fish in the waiting room before we left. She told us that she has 3 and 4 year old kids that she sees that don't carry on conversations like that. She is still a little concerned that Abby is still not gaining very much weight. She had gained about 1/2 pound since her 18 month check-up. The doctor wants us to take her to a GI specialist to make sure that her little tummy is absorbing the nutrients from her food. This is just a precaution, but she believes that it's a good idea. Since she hasn't steered us wrong yet, we agreed to see the specialist. We will be going sometime in the next month or so. We are praying that everything turns out alright.