Ryan is on a hunting trip in Kansas for the next few days, so the kids and I are staying with Ma and Big Daddy while he's gone. Tonight, we attended their city's Christmas parade. It was a bit chilly so we dressed in layers. David wore footed pajamas, warm clothes, his Santa hat from last year (yep, still fits), his new super warm hooded coat, and a pair of mittens. Rachael wore warm clothes and her new Santa hat under a fur-lined, hooded snowsuit with built in mittens my cousin, Kim, sent her all wrapped up in a thick blanket. We ate dinner at the Thai restaurant behind us in several of the pictures, then headed right out the door to watch the parade. All the bundling up was SO worth it when I saw David's face. He absolutely loved the parade. It was filled with big trucks, tractors, motorcycles, 4 wheelers, bands playing music, and lots of girls saying "Merry Christmas" to him. He got very good at waving back to them.  

He watched most of the parade from Big Daddy's shoulders

Looking intensely at what was coming next

 We had such a great time

 Ma, Rachael, David, and Big Daddy

 The parade ended with an appearance from Santa. David waved at him as he went by.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We had a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving this year. We spent the first part of the day with Ma's family for lunch, then dinner was shared with Boscoe's family. 

David trying to figure out how to eat the turkey leg

Rachael just swingin' while we ate

Everyone

The weather was perfect and David had a great time playing with his cousins and 2nd cousins. After a much needed nap, we headed to Twinkle and Boscoe's house for dinner.  We stayed the night with them. 

David and his Great-Aunt Carol spending some morning time together checking on Bogie in the backyard

Having a great time playing with Daddy

Uncle Michael put Rachael to sleep all by himself!

Both kids saying good-bye to Aunt Carol

Today is one of my family's most favorite days of the year. It is an all day cooking marathon that includes three generations. The kids introduced Rachael to the most popular activity- crumbling the bread for the dressing. Of course, David didn't remember from last year, but sure jumped in to "help" real quick.

All four kids

Mostly he ate the bread

 And shared some with Rachael

 Aunt Laureen showed him how to crumble the bread

What Rachael thought of the whole process. Maybe next year...

 Just another sweet picture I took today. David wanted to hold Rachael and give her the paci she had dropped.

If someone would have told me this time last year that we would have FOUR kids around the dressing bowl, I don't think I would have believed them. Now, I can't imagine my life without either of my children. I am blessed beyond words and will continue to thank God for my precious babies daily. They are both miracles in their own right. I have so much to be thankful for.

Abercrombie Thanksgiving

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Twinkle's family. We all had a wonderful time seeing everyone. David loved playing with all the kids and Rachael was held by pretty much everyone. 

Rachael with Julie

Rachael with Jennifer

Rachael with Jaycee

David and Jordan being pushed in Grandmother's walker by Shelby

Rachael with Grandmother (her great-grandmother actually)

Rachael with Kelsey

David rolling in the grass

David and Rachael's 90 year old Great-Grandmother playing baseball

Kelsey taking David for a ride

With all the craziness of the week, it did not go unnoticed that our precious little girl turned 6 weeks old yesterday. Rachael is such a sweet, easygoing, beautiful (yes, I know I'm biased) baby. She loves for anyone to talk to her and can easily be coaxed into smiling. She is sleeping well at night. Last night she went 7 hours between feedings, however, it took her 2 of those hours to go to sleep!

David is feeling much better today. His appetite has returned and he is back to his playful self. The antibiotic he is taking upsets his stomach and as a result he now has a pretty serious case of diaper rash. Once we get that cleared up things will get completely back to normal. He is such a tough little boy.

Things have been a little crazy around here the last few days. On Sunday, David was acting strange- whinny a lot and very clingy to me. I brushed it off because he went to the church nursery again that morning and figured he was still just pretending he had a terrible time (even though I snuck up on him in the nursery and he was having fun). But, when the behavior continued into Monday, I knew something was wrong. I thought he just had a cold and my suspicions were confirmed when my throat started hurting Monday night. Tuesday his right eye started draining some yellowish goop and was kind of red. I thought maybe his eyes were either itchy and he was rubbing them too much or he was just tired from the poor sleep he got the night before. So, again I brushed that off. He continued to be way more whinny than usual, but I didn't know if it was due to the cold, because he's an 18 month old, or he had realized that when Rachael cries she gets attention.
Then Wednesday afternoon, while I was nursing Rachael, David put his head on my knee (very unusual). I rubbed the back of his neck and it was on fire! I took his temperature immediately and it was 101.1. So, off to the pediatrician we went. It turns out that David has a double ear infection, sinus infection, and a mild cold. I felt terrible. My little boy was trying to tell me that he felt really bad and I just kept brushing it off. He has been on antibiotics since then. The eye drainage and fever were gone after one dose and our chiropractor said today that his sinuses are clear. He continues to whine, mostly when he wants something. So, for now he gets the benefit of the doubt. I just want my healthy, happy little man back.
Ryan and I have both caught David's cold. Rachael is okay so far. The doctor emphasized several times that if she showed any symptoms to bring her in immediately. I check her temperature several times a day and watch for any signs. I am thankful that she has stayed healthy.

David and I took Rachael to the doctor for her one month check up this morning. She is growing so fast and is in perfect health. She weighs 9lbs and 4oz (50th percentile) and is 21 1/4 inches long (50th percentile).

She is starting to focus on things and really loves the mobile in her pack-n-play. 

Her big brother loves to watch her watching the owls. He always lets me know when they stop so I can wind it up again. 

All the cousins stayed at Ma and Big Daddy's house this weekend. They had SO much fun hanging out together. David thinks his big cousins are the coolest and just loves playing with them. Both big cousins enjoy holding and helping me take care of Rachael as much as they can. 

All four all snuggled up

Helping Cate fill up the wagon with leaves

 Hauling off their load of leaves

 Saturday afternoon all of the girls attended a baby shower hosted by David and Rachael's future Kindergarten teacher. Rachael was practicing raising her hand in class and is wearing the "party clothes" she gave her. 

Rachael turn one month old on Monday. Time is flying by. Here's a precious video of her. She gets the hiccups all the time just like David did (and still does). It seems like at any given time at least one of our kids has the hiccups. 

Because this is Ryan's busy time of year with work, we don't get to see him as much as we usually do. We were able to sneak in a couple of days together at one of our favorite places earlier this week. We went out to my family's farm in Alabama and had a great time, just the four of us. David, of course, absolutely LOVED it out there because he got to play outside, ride on the tractor, Ryan's 4wheeler, AND help Ryan shoot his gun! 

On the Bush Hog with Daddy's old arrow

 Doing what he does best- playing outside

 He just got off the tractor and wants to ride again

Daddy putting on David's ear protection before they shoot the gun

 He thought it was hilarious

 One of my most favorite pictures ever

Rachael going on her very first tractor ride

And of course our sweet Bogie joined us as always

  

Yesterday morning we attended church with Ma and Big Daddy. David stayed in the Toddler Room. I knew he was in very good hands because Cate had loved the head teacher when she was David's age and hated to leave her when she got too old to be a "toddler". After I described our last attempt at leaving David, she reassured me that he would be fine. She asked what kind of toys he liked most, and off they went to find every truck, train, and tractor in the room. They gave me a pager just in case. It was difficult for me to concentrate on the sermon as pictures of David screaming went through my mind. I kept the pager close to me and wondered several times, "Is this thing working?" When we went back to pick him up he and the teacher had their backs to the door looking out the window. She turned around first, then told David to look. When he saw me, the crying began. He tried to fool me into thinking he had such a horrible time, but when I would ask him if he played and had fun he always nodded 'yes'. For the rest of the day he had to know where I was at all times. There is clearly still a lot of separation anxiety, but we are (both) making progress.

Rachael came to the service with us. There's NO way I could handle being away from both of them. She was absolutely perfect, sleeping through the entire service. At the end we waited to show her off to a friend. While we waited many people walked by us and would remark about the "cute baby", or "how precious"... But, one man, who clearly didn't have much but his faith and his family, stopped and asked if he could pray for her. With our permission he laid his hands on her and began to pray. He prayed that she would know God as her Savior and that He would always be with her. His words were simple, but very poignant and special. We thanked him and he left. It was a beautiful moment.

Prayerful hands

Ma and I headed to the store yesterday (with both kids in tow) to get them both some winter clothes. It was quite an adventure to say the least. As it turns out David really likes to go shopping. Well, mostly he likes to rearrange the entire store! After I laid out the clothes to take the picture above, I had to pause. Maybe my hormones are still all out of whack, but I began to tear up at the sight of the cute and feminine girl outfits next to the rough and tough boy attire. I thanked God, yet again, for the gifts He has given me: