Thanksgiving and weekend

We had a nice Thanksgiving lunch with Rick's family (a big group....parents, grandparents, sibling, aunts, uncles, cousins). Abby was a little "off".....for example, she didn't want to have her picture taken which was unusual. She fell asleep right before we had to leave to go to my family dinner. Then when she was eating she got sick. Yuck. Talk about losing your appetite! She was sick all night and some Friday morning. Thankfully, today she seems like her normal self. I am just praying that the rest of us don't get it. Abby is singing at the Hanging of the Green tomorrow night and our family is supposed to light the advent candle, so we don't want to miss the service!

Rick is on his way back from VT after the Hokies hung on to beat UVA by 3 points. I'm keeping up with JMU's score...they are playing in the first round of the playoffs, ranked #1. GO DUKES!

Thanksgiving continued

I want to share some lyrics to one of my favorite songs (from the movie White Christmas, which I will be watching soon!):

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Happy Thanksgiving!

The pilgrim girl and Indian boy!

Happy Thanksgiving! Even though our country is facing hard economic times, compared to the way folks live in other parts of the world we are still extremely blessed. This year, as every year, I am thankful for my wonderful husband and sweet Abby, my parents, grandparents, and Rick's family. I am thankful that Rick's business has been financially successful as well as allowing him some flexibility to spend more time with us. We are especially thankful this year for the addition of our precious Andrew and our nephew Whitt.

God has given our church a special blessing this year in Dr. Somerville. He is truly an answer to our prayers of 2 years. Jim is not only a wonderful speaker and leader, but a wonderful man of God. First Baptist is lucky to have him.

What are you thankful for?

Abby's Thanksgiving Story

Abby got out one of her Thanksgiving books and said she would read it to me. Here is the story....

There was a pilgrim named Andrew. He wanted to know God, so in 1520 he walked to America because he didn't have the boat. He got to America and had turkey food. Then he knew Jesus.

Andrew's 6 month check-up

Andrew weighs in at 19 lbs, 3 oz and is 26 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height, which is what he has been since birth....growing along a good curve. He did great for his shots (5!). He is 2 lbs larger and 1 1/2 inches taller than Abby was at 6 months.

What Abby's been doing

Happy Brown Day, November 5th!

Abby continues to LOVE preschool. She is so happy to go each morning. She is learning a lot. Just today at lunch she told me all about Pilgrims. She is also really enjoying being in the "Angel 4's" choir at church. She can't wait to sing at the Hanging of the Green service. She pays good attention in Mission Friends and can tell me about the missionaries they are learning about. On Saturday Grammy, Abby, and Mom went to Disney on Ice. She was a little scared when Ursula came out but otherwise she loved it. She says her favorite part was Cars and Tinklebell (Tinkerbell to the rest of us).

What Andrew's been doing

helping Daddy with the dishes

yes, he is under the coffee table!

there is the back end

eating cereal and applesauce

YUM!

Plaguemaker

We only had three at book club Thursday night, but we had a great discussion. Plaguemaker was a really good book. It was a thriller about an FBI agent and an old man who are trying to stop an enemy of the US from launching an attack against us using fleas carrying the bubonic plague (the book details how this can be done). It was scary but I couldn't put it down. Tim Downs, the author, did a great job weaving in the different characters who were involved in catching the attacker. The old man helping the FBI has a back story which serves as his motive for wanting to get involved. I kept wondering if the book was really a Christian fiction book....but finally at the very end you see the reason. I highly recommend it!

Once I finished Plaguemaker I realized.......I didn't have another book to start! I have some on their way from amazon, but they haven't even been shipped yet. So I went to the book store looking for something cheap and short to keep me going while I wait. I picked up a little novel co-written by Angela Hunt and Lori Copeland, two authors I have read and liked before. It's called The Island of Heavenly Daze. It's very light and humorous, and I'm finding it quite endearing. Of course it is the first of a series of 5 so I'm sure I'll end up reading them all.

Thankful

Abby's class made a Thankful book. Here's what her page said: "I am thankful for my hippo and my brother Andrew."

Here are some things I am thankful for:

Andrew is 6 months old!

Yes, he is six months old today! In some ways it has flown by, in others it feels like he must at be least 3 :)

He is trying so hard to crawl, but in the meantime he just rolls anywhere he wants to go! His favorite person is still Abby. He is starting to notice the TV and is particularly interested in Sid the Science kid. He always needs something to chew on, but no teeth left. He is starting to babble...bababababa. He loves the exersaucer and his rattle. What a sweet baby!

Busy Days

It's been awhile since I've posted, we've had a lot going on. Rick went to the VT game Thursday night (YAY Hokies!) and Mom came to visit while he was gone and through the weekend. We did some Christmas shopping and got Andrew's 6 month pictures taken. The big news is we have finally dropped Andrew's 11 pm feeding. So now he sleeps basically from 7:30 pm-7 am. This is huge! Most babies drop that feeding way earlier, but because of his reflux we couldn't give him a full 8 ounces at once. But with the addition of rice cereal to his formula he is spitting up so much less....so we tried it and it worked! Thanks to Mom for being the guinea pig (she had the monitor in case he woke up in the middle of the night wanting to eat!).

This week will be just as busy. Rick and I are helping out with Upward Basketball evaluations at church. My night should be interesting as I know zilch about basketball readiness skills. Hopefully I'll be fitting jerseys or something like that. Thursday night is Book Club. We're reading Plaguemaker by Tim Downs. I'm about halfway finished. It is an FBI-type thriller (yes, they have Christian fiction thrillers!). It's very intriguing. It should be an interesting discussion.

Something is wrong with the potty!

This is what Abby yelled from the bathroom yesterday evening. Rick and I went in there, thinking it was probably a bug (she is afraid of bugs of any shape or size). We discovered her problem: the toilet water was blue! We tried to explain it was because Mommy cleaned it, but we still had to flush before she would use the potty.

Welcome to the World!

Several of our friends have had babies in the past few days/weeks....

Welcome to the world....
Katie Joy Ross (Mark and Jennie) 10/21
Luke Moore (Leigh Ane and Steve) 10/28
Ben Tillar (April and Addison) 10/29
Rebecca Hatcher (Whitney and Jason) 10/31

More Halloween pics

Abby liked trick-or-treating in theory (getting candy) but she was scared to go knock on doors. She went to 3 or 4 houses.