Rory and Abby's 3rd Birthday

Rory painting her plate at her party

Abby decorating her plate at her party

Rory about to put her hand print on her plate.  She wasn't too sure about painting her hand.

I was so proud of Abby putting her hand print on her plate.  She usually has a meltdown when there is any paint on her hands.  She didn't even cry.  She just hyperventilated a little. :)

Rory blowing out her candles

Our big "3" old Aurora Lynn

Abby blowing out her candles

Our big "3" year old Abigail Lee

Jonathan Merriss acting silly for the camera!!

Jacob Merriss ready to eat cake!!

All the boys at the party.  

The girls opening presents from Aunt Shannie and Braxton

Rory and Abby opening their doll house from Grandad and Mimi Sue

Rory and Abby opening their bikes from Papa and Mimi.  Rory got a "Tangled" bike and Abby got a Disney Princess bike.  They are so excited to get to go ride their bikes.

The Birthday girls

The girls' painters palate cakes.  

Abby's cake

Rory's cake

We had the girls' 3rd birthday party this past Saturday.  They are both very excited about drawing, coloring and painting, so we had the party at Brush with Art, a local art studio.  The kiddos at the party each painted their own memory plate that was finished off with their hand print.  All-in-all, the party was a huge success!  The girls and their friends had a good time painting, eating cake and checking out the new presents.  Hopefully, it will get warm enough soon so that the girls can ride their new bikes and jump on their new trampoline.  They are itching to get outside.  I hope that Mother Nature cooperates soon!!  It's so hard to believe that our baby girls are 3 years old.  They are growing up so fast!  The girls had a wonderful birthday this year.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make it a special day for them!!

Happy New Year... A Little Late

Rory is giving Daddy a pretend haircut.  He's such a good sport!!

I'm not sure who is the most tired in this picture

My sweet Rory and I

Daddy and his precious Abby

Rory was very excited that she got to ride the blue horse on the carousel

Abby really loved the carousel!!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. 2011 is already shaping up to be a pretty busy year. We are in full-swing in planning a birthday party for the girls and planning for a new baby in April. Our calendar is already filling up and we haven't even made it through January yet.

The girls will be 3 years old in two weeks. How is that even possible? They have grown from tiny little babies that depended on their Daddy and I for everything into toddlers who don't want us to do anything for them. It is so much fun to watch them learn and grow every day. It's amazing the things that they pick up and learn. We have been working hard on their alphabet, colors, numbers, shapes and much, much more. Both girls are doing wonderful. They can both say their ABCs and count to 20 by ones and to 100 by tens. They both know all of their basic colors and shapes. They are starting to recognize letters by sight and sound. Rory has even started realizing that you can put letters together to make new sounds. Both girls are still enjoying their gymnastics class. They usually manage to scare me every week, but they are doing great! They have started doing flips in class. Of course, the instructors are right there, but it still scares me. They have mostly focused on somersaults, but this last week, they started front flips. The girls thought that was awesome! This last week, Abby decided to try diving off an 8 ft. tall mat to the couple of mats stacked on the floor. All the other kiddos climbed down, but not my daughter. Rory and Abby are both getting very excited about their birthday. Rory informed her Daddy and I that she didn't really think that it was fair that everyone else has gotten to have their birthday before she gets to have another one. We tried to explain to her that is how it works, but she was not happy about it all the same. The girls love to draw, paint and color, so we decided to have their birthday party at a local art studio. The kids at the party will get to paint little projects and then take them home. I think it will be a lot of fun!

We are getting ready for Madelynne to make her appearance. At my last check-up, the doctor said that our sweet baby looks to be very healthy and very active. She is estimated to be about 2 lbs. and 14 inches. She's growing well!  The girls are starting to get really excited, too.  Even Abby is starting to come around a little bit.  She still doesn't like anyone mentioning Madelynne in connection with being "Daddy's girl," but she has started to talk to her some and has even told us that she "loves my siser."  That is huge progress!  Rory is excited beyond belief.  She wants to know everything there is to know about babies, where they come from, how they get in Mommy's tummy, how they get out of Mommy's tummy... etc.  Needless to say, we're having conversations that I won't be prepared to have for several more years.  :)  

It seems like we are running every day.  We look forward to all the joys and adventures that 2011 has in store for us.  

Christmas 2010

The "Carter" Family
Isn't this a great looking bunch!?!?

The Hanna Family
Our Precious Rory

Our Sweet Abby

Christmas Twins

(I love this picture!)

My wonderful hubby and I

(This is our first professional picture together since our wedding)

Christmas Cousins

Mom, Dad and their "big kids" :)

Mimi, Papa and their precious grandkiddos

We are having a wonderful time gearing up for Christmas this year! It's so fun having two little ones who are so excited about the upcoming festivities. We've already started all of the Christmas parties and fun traditions. The girls are so interested in understanding everything that is going on. They ask about the lights, the music, the decorations and about Jesus. It is just amazing to watch them enjoy everything about this season! We had some family pictures made with my family this last weekend. It is so nice to have pictures of our entire family together! The girls had fun showing off their princess dresses and Braxton had fun showing off his princesses!

Our New Little Girl

A week ago, November 22, Michael and I went to my doctor to find out if we are expecting a little girl or a little boy. After chasing our little peanut around for a while, we found out that we are expecting another beautiful baby girl!! Michael and I couldn't be more excited!! The sonogram technician told us that she is healthy and VERY active. We actually thought that we weren't going to get to find out whether to decorate in pink or blue until our little bundle arrived because they had so much trouble getting a clear look at her. Imagine, Michael and I having an active child. LOL. All of her measurements looked wonderful and there is every indication that she is perfect in every way! Today, I hit the half-way point of my pregnancy. How on earth can that be possible? It just seems like yesterday that Michael and I found out that we were going to be adding to our family. Now, we only have a few more months until our newest bundle arrives!! The girls are so excited about having a baby sister. Rory makes a point to talk to her new sister every single day. Abby thinks it's a little weird to talk to Mommy's tummy, but she gives in every once in a while. As a family, we decided that our new little girl's name will be Madelynne Ranae. It's a name that all of us like... even the girls. So, in a few months, we will be welcoming our little Maddy into our family!!

It's been too Long

Abby and Daddy on the 30 ft. hay tower

Rory showing off how big she is this Fall

Headed into the corn maze

Rory searching for the perfect pumpkin

Headed back on the hay ride

Abby loved the hay ride

The girls are so proud of their pumpkins

Our Pumpkin Family

Rory was so proud of the sun that she made in Puggles

Abby painting her picture with an apple

Rory getting ready to paint. It's her favorite thing to do at church!!

"Puggles sit so very still,

When they bow their head to pray.

Amen"

(That's the girls' Puggles song that they sing in class each week)

The girls being silly in class

Abby showing off her carrot

Happy Rory

Big Abby smiles

The Puggles class

Miss Amber helping the kiddos make peanut butter bird feeders

We have been busy here lately at the Hanna house. Michael and I joke that we see each other as he runs out the door to work in the morning and as we fall in bed at night (both of us usually asleep before our heads can hit the pillow). The girls keep us busy, busy, busy. Between gymnastics and church, I feel like we never slow down, but it's been great!!

The girls are still super enthusiastic about gymnastics. They start asking about 4 days before gymnastics day if it's time to go or not. They absolutely love it!! One of their teachers came to me a few weeks ago and discussed with me the possibility of splitting the girls into two separate classes. She was concerned that Rory's "larger than life" personality might be overshadowing Abby just a little. I agreed to try it out for a few weeks to see how things went. Michael and I have been amazed at the changes in Abby. She usually relies so much on Rory to take the lead, but this has forced her into a situation where she has to make her own decisions and be her own person, not just Rory's shadow. She has become more outgoing in gymnastics, at home and at church. The teacher spoke to me again here recently and told me that she is so pleased with Abby's progress. She has started taking the lead on some activities and is one of the first to volunteer in new situations. Rory, of course, just wants to be the center of attention no matter who is in the class with her. LOL. I guess this solved the question that Michael and I had about whether or not to put them in the same class once they get to school. Both girls are flourishing in their gymnastics class. It makes me nervous when I see them doing flips, walking on the balance beam and swinging on bars hanging from the ceiling, but the instructors are always there and the girls love every single minute of it. Of course, every piece of furniture in our house has become a gymnastics station, but that's alright. At least they know how to properly fall now. LOL.

The girls are also doing wonderful at church. They go to their Sunday School class on Sunday mornings and to their Puggles class on Wednesday nights. Puggles is a group through the AWANA program at our church that helps kids learn about the Bible and memorize verses. They are both doing so well in both classes. Their teachers compliment them on how much they are able to retain from the lessons and stories. Michael and I love when they come home and teach us the newest songs that they have learned in class. It's amazing to us what vibrant little girls they are becoming. (One of their teachers took the pictures of them in class).

Last weekend, we took the girls to the local Pumpkin Patch with a group from our church. We went last year and the girls loved it so much. They had an even better time this year because they were big enough to participate in more of the activities. While we were there, a local new crew was doing a story on how to pick the perfect pumpkin. They thought the girls were too cute and followed them around for a bit to get some good shots of them picking out pumpkins. They were actually on the news that evening and were so excited to see themselves on tv. LOL. We had such a good time. Both girls loved the cow barrel train, the jumping pillow, the ducky derby races, the "Texas Sized" volleyball, the 75 ft. slides, the hayride, and the pumpkin patch. Abby even took a stab at climbing the 30 ft. hay tower. She took off and Michael had to climb as fast as he could to catch up with her. There's that confidence... LOL. The highlight of the day, however, was picking the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Michael and I were so tickled watching Rory and Abby go from pumpkin to pumpkin trying to find the very best one. We were in the patch for a good 30-45 minutes while they made their selections. It was a fun day, but we were all exhausted when we got home that afternoon. The next evening, we sat in the front yard and carved our pumpkins. Michael and I thought that they were too young last year to carve their pumpkins, but we decided to try it this year. We let them pick out the face that they wanted and draw the hair on the pumpkins and then Michael and I did the actual carving. The girls were so excited to have their very own pumpkins!! They go to our front porch every day and say hello to our "punkin family." We plan to take them trick-or-treating on Sunday. They are so much fun this year!!

Michael and I are starting to make some room for baby #3. This last summer, we converted our extra room (which had been used for Michael's office) into a playroom for the girls. Now, we are working to turn that room into a nursery. Nothing like redoing a room twice in the span of a year. LOL. The girls are a little nervous about what is happening to their toy room, but they have really taken the changes so far in stride. We are trying to do a little at a time so that they don't feel like we are just pushing them aside for the new baby. We have also enlisted their help in some things, so they can feel like they are part of the excitement of getting ready for baby, too. There are days that they seem very excited about having a baby brother or sister and then some days not so much. They have a ton of questions, but it's fun to watch them try to figure this whole thing out. One of my favorite questions so far has to be when Abby and I were talking about the baby one night. She said, "Mama, is that baby in your tummy?" I told her, "yes." She got a very confused look on her face and said, "Mama, why'd you eat that baby?" I just about couldn't keep a straight face as we discussed that God put the baby in Mommy's tummy. I didn't eat the baby. I think they are going to love being big sisters!! We will be able to find out in a little less than a month if we are expecting a boy or a girl. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy seems to be flying by. It's amazing!!

Well, I think that's all that's going on right now. Like I said before, we've been so busy here lately that it feels like we are running in circles sometimes. I'll try to do better on my blog posts, but I make no promises.

Gymnastics

In this video, Abby is running and trying to hit the ball hanging from the ceiling with her head. It helps to teach them timing and coordination!!

Here's Rory's attempt at hitting the ball. I thought it was so funny that she has to "ready" herself each time before taking off running. LOL

In this video, Rory, Abby and another girl from their class are chasing a ball that is hanging from the ceiling. This helps with timing, coordination and teamwork. All of the kiddos loved this activity!!

Turn your head sideways.... Now you can see!! In this video, Abby is walking a "balance beam" that is made out of a pvc pipe. The rounded edges of the pipe make them have to correct their balance repeatedly. This will help them learn to correct their balance before they get on the taller beams.

Keep your head turned.... In this video, Rory is tackling the pvc balance beam, as well.

These videos were taken this morning at the girls' gymnastics class. In the first two videos, the girls are running and hitting a ball. This activity helps to teach them timing and rhythm. In the third video, the girls (along with another little girl from their class) are chasing a ball. This activity helps them to learn timing, coordination and team-work. In the last two videos, the girls are walking on a balance beam. It's a little hard to see and you have to turn your head sideways to see the video, but they are walking along a pvc pipe tube. This helps them to learn balance and how to correct if they start to fall. While in their class, they also do work on trampolines, climbing walls, mat work and flips. The girls are enjoying their gymnastics so much!! I really believe that this class is excellent for them!! This morning, they went into their class all by themselves and were not bothered at all that Mommy wasn't in there with them (there is a small room behind the class with a window so that the parents can watch). I think it bothered me more than it did them... LOL. We are so proud of the progress that they have already made in their class and know that they are going to do so well throughout the rest of the year!!