Busy days!

Wow! We've been busy and time has been flying! I can't believe its been so long since I blogged! So sorry!

The twins had a great time trick or treating for Halloween! They looked so cute in their little FSU cheer and football outfits! They liked the whole concept of getting candy at every house! They got excited to see the decorations too! (not any scary ones in our neighborhood) And of course, they've been practicing ringing our doorbell for weeks..so that was fun to get to ring everyone else's! We had to pull all the candy that had any peanuts or peanut butter from Annabelle's little pumpkin bag! She wasn't happy about it! Poor thing! They had learned to get the candy and start sucking it through the wrapper while riding in the wagon to the next house! We eventually had to take it all and give them little bites along the way! They were pooped when it was over! Little Abigail was a precious little sweet pea in a pod! She had her own little pumpkin bag too but unfortunately mommy had to eat her candy ;) She fell asleep after just a few houses. That moving around gets her everytime! I think Daddy was pooped too as he pulled the wagon! My friend Melissa and her little one, Chasity, came over and went to houses with us! We all had a good time!

The twins are jsut growing and learning so much! Annabelle has discovered that when she sneezes, people say, "Bless you"! She is always fake sneezing and then waiting for everyone to say it! Silly thing!

Cade has become very affectionate! I can ask him for a hug and he comes up and wraps his arms around my neck and gives me a "good" hug! He also gives yummy kisses! Wow! I could just eat him up! Annabelle has also learned how to give a kiss on the lips since watching him! She has always just leaned her head in to give love up to now! Darby was the lucky recipient of her first kiss while spending a little time home from BAMA! Always so great to have her here!

Cade has fallen in love with books as much as Annabelle. His favorite one is a Tonka truck book! He also loves his Jay Jay the airplane books! I can't tell him no when he comes to me with them. He would sit there all day in my lap..right next to his sister! :) Sweet moments!

We did have a scare that actually probably shut down my blogging for a bit! Its been a couple of weeks, but we were moving plants into the basement since the weather was getting really cold. The twins were outside in the yard with us and to make a long story short, Annabelle fell into the small pond ( not the 6 ft deep one, thank goodness) It was only about 3 ft deep and had pond plants in it to catch her somewhat. She apparently went under, came back up, and got a scream out! Shane was the closest to her and heard her! He climbed in the water, shoes and all and got to her quickly! I'm so glad I never saw her until she was out on the grass. She was scared and cold, but fine! We got her into a warm bath and calmed her down. It made our hearts stop to realize how fast those things can happen! Whew! God is definitely our protector! We're so grateful He was with her before we ever even heard her cry! It was wonderful that my older baby was there for my younger one! We were so thankful for him too!

We all enjoyed some great family time this past weekend! Darby came home! I could just hug her all weekend! I'm so proud of who she is and all she's doing at BAMA! She's so humble about what God's allowing her to be apart of with starting the chapter of IJM! She's gaining support from many of the churches in Tuscaloosa and has been working with different groups to raise awareness throughout the Southeast! She's also working with a Christian singing group called 10th Avenue North to possibly perform in Tuscaloosa in the spring. Unfortunately she will be studying abroad in Argentina and Peru in the spring, so she won't be here to see it all! ( Be still my heart- I will miss her so!) We are blessed to have such an amazing young lady in our family! I've said it many times, I take no credit for how wonderful she is, it's just a God thing! Anyway, on top of getting to see Darby, Jamie's daddy and sister, Sylvia came up! It was so great to see them! The twins and Abigail really enjoyed them too! Poor Grandaddy had to read endlessly one day to them! We got to take a picnic lunch up to the office on Friday to eat with Daddy and Izzy ( Elizabeth- a family friend from Jamie's hometown)! It was fun! The twins were delighted to press their faces on the window of a cubicle! Little piggy faces were so silly! I had some cleaning to so there! Abigail really enjoyed some snuggle time with Aunt Sylvia! She slept in the same room with her each night! Aunt Sylvia had a secret weapon to get her to sleep ( she would hold Abigail close in her arms, and take her hair down out of a pony tail and let Abigail hold it and rub it! ) Apparently the baby loves her hair! I've tried it, my hair must be the wrong length or texture, because it doesn't seem to work the same! I may have to get her back up here! :) I do wish we had longer with them all, but I'll take any time we can get!

Annabelle never ceases to crack me up! This evening I looked at Abigail and told her that she smelt like spit up and needed a bath! Annabelle climbed down off the couch, went to the other room, and pulled Abigail's big plastic baby bathtub into the den and said "bath"! She understands everything we say! We took the twins into our bathroom and put them in the garden tub! Jamie leans over the side and lets them play for a while before he soaps them up. He was busy telling Annabelle not to dump a cup of water on Cade's head, when she decided, okay, and dumped it on his head! He was so shocked, he didn't say anything. She did it 2 more times while we were laughing! He was still in his clothes from work and was soaked! Oops! It amazes me what that little girl can do to him and get such a good reaction! Cade too!  He can just belly laugh and we all are laughing, no matter what has just happened!

Cade has just really blossomed lately! He can go up and down the stairs while holding on to the bannister railing! This was a big deal for his physical therapist! Annabelle has learned too! He was doing it a little bit before, but now its everytime!  He flashes that big smile and is so proud of himself! He just seems so happy lately! I'm so glad..we could tell he was frustrated at some of the things he struggled with for a bit! There is still nothing like that little laugh of his!

Jamie actually played softball Monday night with old friends! I' ve been bugging him to for a while! It's so fun to have a little break and get out! Shane headed down with him and I think they had fun!  When I asked if they won, I got the response, "We snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory"! Oh well! At least he was laughing!

Abigail had an appt with the ENT last week! She's up to 18 lbs! Goodness! we still didn't get a pass on the low pitches in her right ear, but they think its probably still from fluid in her ear! Thats common apparently for babies with Downs. We are putting off the tubes until at least February. Bless her heart, she had a hard physical therapy session today! We saw her breaking point. She worked so hard and does try to extend backwards sometimes when she's sitting up. We're trying to teach her body not to do it, and our compensating tactics upset her! This also is common. Sweet Cade and Annabelle came and touched her gently and brought her toys trying to comfort her! They love her so! Her therapist assured me its just a hiccup, and that we will get her past it! Her strength is so good! Its just a silly thing they do.. not wanting their knees bent up under them ( makes learning to crawl hard) and extending backwards to straighten out. Hopefully the exercises we are doing with her will get her past oit sooner rather than later!

Shane has been so great! He's having a lot of fun with his Outdoor Adventure Club at the school! He has a camping trip with them this weekend!  They will be leaving from the school! I'm sure they will have a great time! He's involved with other clubs too! He's the president of FBLA and stays busy with it all! So proud of him!

I'm hanging on! ha ha! Most days at least! ( I did 7 loads of laundry between yesterday and today- and I did 3 on Sunday, so I shouldn't have been behind) LOL! I find myself snickering that when I try to get a restroom break, I'm actually happy to see 10 little fingers poking under the door so I know that they're not getting into something! How different life is now!  Hard to keep up sometimes, but so fulfilling! Jamie was laying on the floor playing with the babies yesterday and commented on how sweet these times are and how blessed we are! Its so true. We may be as tired as dogs at the end of the day, but we wouldn't trade it! It's all going way too fast!

I hate that this entry has been so scattered. Kind of the state of my mind ( lots to catch up on and I'm trying to watch the CMA's too! LOL)! I'll do better, I promise- well, maybe ;) I'm sure I've forgotten a ton, but I'll add it in when it comes back to me!

Night all