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.

Abby's First NICU Reunion Celebration

Daddy, Rory, Abby and Mommy in the bouncer together!! It was so much fun!!!!
Michael and Braxton jumping together. Michael is a super dad and uncle!!
Braxton holding Rory. Don't they look so much alike?
Mimi Cinda sharing and special snuggle with Abby
Braxton headed for a piggy ride with uncle
Grandad Hanna helping Abby go down the slide for the first time!!
Upside down Braxton
Papa and Abby having a great time together!!
Gigi with Abby
Rory and Abby having fun in the bouncer. Haven't they gotten so big?!?! It's hard to believe they are 8 months old now.

Abby and Rory in the Princess bouncer all by themselves. Such big girls!!!
Daddy helping Rory go down the slide for the first time
Braxton sliding all by himself. He played super hard today!!
Grandad Hanna and Abby
Mrs. Kathleen, one of the precious angels that helped Abby so much in the NICU. We can never express how much she means to our family!!

Our proud family!!
Daddy and Abby ready for a great time!!
Papa, Abby, Mimi Cinda and Rory
Braxton never stopped today. I bet he sleeps well tonight!!
Abby (crawling) and Rory (laying down) having fun in the Princess bouncer!!

Today was such a special day for our family, especially Abigail. The Baptist St. Anthony's NICU had a special reunion for all of the patients that have come through there since it was opened 10 years ago. It was held at Jump 'n' Jive (a local hot spot for kids). The girls and Braxton (along with Aunt Shandra, Mommy and Daddy) got a chance to bounce in huge bouncers, slide down slides and much, much more!! Mainly, though, we had the awesome opportunity to see many of the doctors and nurses who worked so hard to help Abby those first few days that she was here and staying in the NICU. We also got a chance to see many of the people who had children in the NICU at the same time as Abby. It was an amazing experience to see those special people again. I can't help but tear up every time I think about the special angels that helped our precious little girl come home to us. We could not have asked for a more special group of people to be with our little angel through the tough first ten days after she was born. It was such a special experience to see how everyone is doing now and let everyone see how much Abby has come along in the past 8 months. Our family was also able to attend. Grandad Hanna, Papa, Mimi Cinda, Aunt Shandra, Braxton and Gigi came to support Abby today and to show how proud they are that she has done so well!! Michael and I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing support system that has helped us so much. Abby and Rory both got really neat t-shirts that have all the awesome things about the BSA NICU on them. We look forward to the next NICU reunion. Today was such a special day that we will never forget!!

Random Pictures

Daddy sleeping with his sweet babies. Makes you wonder who rocked who to sleep!!
Daddy and Rory ready to cheer on the Dallas Cowboys again. Rory is now sporting her Cowboys outfit, a bow that Mimi Cinda made and socks that Mommy made. Her outfit is complete!!
Three Cowboys fans headed to watch a game!!
Rory has started playing under her exersaucer. It's kind of like her own little secret play-place where sister doesn't like to go. Notice that she also has Abby's pacifier along with toys under there.
It's just too hard to get awake in the morning.

These are just a few random pictures that we have taken over the last few weeks. Enjoy!!

New Discoveries

I don't have any new pictures uploaded yet to post (I know, that's why you get on here to look at the blog), but I do have a quick update that might interest some people. I can not believe how fast the girls are developing new accomplishments every day. It's amazing!! I never realized how fast little ones discover they can do new things. Two nights ago, we were at my Grandma Jeanie's house. Her living room is a sunken living room with steps to get anywhere else in the house on every side. The girls were watching Braxton run back and forth through the living room, taking each step at a run. Finally, my mom asked Braxton to slow down and show the girls how to get up the steps, so he did. What a great little teacher he is!! Within the hour, Rory had figured out how to manuver up and down the steps!! There's no stopping her now!! Abby worked so hard and couldn't quite make it up the steps. While she was trying, though, she pushed herself up into a complete standing position!! OH MYLANTA!! She had to hold onto the steps for balance, of course, but she stood up all the same!! We were all so shocked. It was so exciting (and a little scary) to see her stand up. Both girls are going all over the place now and are into EVERYTHING!! I spend my day moving things and discovering all the new things that the girls can get into. We have tried to baby-proof, but, amazingly, there is still plenty for the girls to get into. Nothing like outsmarting the parents at 7 1/2 months (almost 8 months) old. In addition to the new crawling/standing feats, the girls are adding new words to their vocabularies on a daily basis. Abby is now saying, "mama," "dada," "hey" and "oh." It's too funny when she says "dada" because she thinks she has to yell it at Michael at the top of her little lungs. We're not entirely sure why she does that, but it does get his attention. Rory is now saying, "dada," "mama," "uh-oh," "bubba" (that's what we call Braxton), "bye-bye" and "papa." Last night, we were driving in the car and Rory was going down the roll-call. She was saying "Mama, Dada, bubba, Papa. Mama, Dada, bubba, Papa." We couldn't help but get tickled at her!! It's so neat to hear them say their words!! We are having so much fun watching them learn and grow!! I'll try to keep everyone up to date on the new discoveries in the Hanna household!!