She Did It!

Since October we have been waiting for Abigail to be able to ride her bike. At first she couldn't quite reach the pedals and once she could reach them, she had to figure out how to move them. I have been working with her for many weeks. She wanted to get it right and really wanted to wait to ride until she knew she could get it right. Today, she finally kept her feet on the pedals and made it go all by herself - twice! I was so proud of her.

Painting

On Wednesday it was too wet to play outside, yet it was very mild weather, so we went to play on the back porch. (I am so glad we have this at our house). Abigail wanted to paint. I considered waiting until after Hannah went to sleep, but then decided that the eisel has two sides and the girls could each be on one side. So I dressed the girls in their paint shirts and gave Abigail water colors and Hannah washable paints. This was Hannah's first time to paint using a brush. The girls had a great time, although when it was time to get ready for lunch Hannah had to show her drama queen side.

I'm Thankful For...

Precious little girls! It is amazing to watch them grow every day. Abigail is now voicing her own prayers that include all of our family members and the dogs, usually twice. On Monday she was sick and so we prayed for her. After lunch she stopped and said a prayer herself thanking God that she was sick and also that she would get better and thanking God that she was about to take a nap. It is great to see her little mind work to begin to understand that we can talk to God about anything and know that He hears us.

New words - Quiet, little smiley face Hannah is saying doggie (dog-da), alligator (chom, chom with hand motions for chomping)
Abigail saying words like delicious (de-ye-shus)

Yeah for Books!

Just wanted to show that my baby has reached the age of interest in books! It's just happened in the past week (along with other things, like separation anxiety and screaming when we don't get our way - Mommy is so mean!). Abigail took to books at a very young age and I was wondering if Hannah would ever want to sit still with me through one book. I keep books in her bed so she can look at them when she wakes up, and we try to read to her during the day. The other day she brought me a book to read to her and sat through all of it and then this week she picked one up on her own and looked through it, yeah! I know they all develop differently and have different interests, but I am glad that books are now a part of Hannah's interests.

Park or Horses?

This past Friday Shawn took the girls and I out to breakfast (my favorite meal!) since I was going on a retreat this weekend. After breakfast we were going to take the girls to the park or to see the horses again. We let Abigail choose and of course, she picked the horses. (Yes, Shawn, I admit, you were right!). We have not been to our park in a long time, so I thought she might pick that. She is my daughter, I should have known she would have picked horses, I mean, I would have, too! We did not get to see the horse that was so friendly the last time, but we did meet a new, even friendlier horse and also one that was sort of the same color as "Spirit". Abigail did not claim any horses as her own this time, but she did think that Spirit now lives just a short distance from our house! We also had a fun time driving the barn dog nuts as he tried to figure out where we were hiding the squeaky toy - a.k.a. Hannah's new shoes that she got from Aunt Carmie in Texas. They squeak every time she walks. Poor dog is probably still looking for that toy.

That's My Horse

A few months ago we rented the movie, Spirit, a Disney cartoon movie where the horse is the main character. Abigail fell in love with it. We finally sent it back to Netflix thinking that she might move on to something else. Nope. She kept asking to watch that movie again. We thought that we would look for it at Christmas for a gift. One day I had taken the girls over to a friends house to watch them while I went to the doctor. They had the horse movie! Well, my friend ended up giving us the movie because she said her girls never watch it. Abigail was so happy! We' have been wanting to take Abigail to see some horses around our area and even in Texas when we went, but it just hasn't worked out. Well, we didn't have much planned today and I researched stables in the area and found one less than a mile from our house, on the same main road to get to our subdivision! We took the girls out and they had all the horses outside in corrals. Abigail and Hannah really enjoyed the horses. There was one horse who was more friendly than the others. He would nibble and lick our hands and he even would nuzzle my neck. He was a real sweetheart. Well, that's the one that Abigail named as being her horse. (She's also claimed a dog that lives behind us as "her big dog" even though we have never met the people, nor the dog!) The owner of the stable said even though they don't do lessons, we could come visit anytime.

Two Little Princesses

After a great time outside earlier today (love being back in Florida with the 70 degree weather and sunny skies!) we came inside and the girls wanted to play dress-up. Abigail always wants to wear her Cinderella dress (that's the only Disney princess movie I've let her watch so far because there's not a scary monster/witch of any kind), Hannah had a hard time making up her little mind, so I picked out the Snow White dress for her. They did sit still for a pic, so here's the pretty princesses. In the last picture, Abigail is actually hugging and kissing on Hannah.

Daddy's Girl

It is so fun to watch our children grow and change. We have noticed that just in the past week they are doing so many new things. For Hannah, she is growing more attached to Daddy. When Shawn leaves for work and gives Abigail her hug and kiss, Hannah now puts her little arms up and does her grunting sound effects saying, "Don't forget about me!" She loves to say bye-bye and blow kisses right now.

Visiting Friends

While home in Texas, I got to visit some great friends of mine, Dinah and Carmen (Aunt Carmie). It was great to see them. It is amazing how much all our girls have grown! Carmen used to watch Abigail when I was teaching school in Texas. Dinah and I taught together. Our girls are pretty close in ages together.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. God is always so good! Our musical went very well and sounded awesome with the choir and orchestra. The music ministry blessed us with a very special gift and sweet card that everyone signed.

On December 21 we left after evening church for our road trip back to Texas. We thought that traveling through the night would be easier for the girls, we were proved wrong this year. We got away around 8:30 and the girls slept for a good while, until we stopped for gasoline the first time. It was about 1:30 or so and they were both wide awake. They were wide-eyed and looking around at all the sights. I think that Abigail might have dozed a little off and on and Hannah did not fall back asleep well until we finally entered Texas. I guess she wanted to make sure we made it to Texas! We stayed with Shawn's parents and then mine and had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. I will add another post for Dinah and Carmen! Here's a few snapshots of the girls opening and playing with gifts.