The Kids

Fall has been fun for us. After making the adjustment to having a new family member, we've been busy.


We had a nice crop of leaves this year. Abby loved raking them up and jumping in them. (We never got around to actually picking them up from the lawn!!).

And Will has been growing like a weed. He takes 6 oz. of milk at a time (50% more each feeding than Abby did at this age)! We go in for his 2-month check-up this week. We look forward to seeing how the huge appetite affects his stats!

Thanksgiving

We had 3 days of Thanksgiving this year, rotating among all our families. Boy were we stuffed!

One of the highlights of the weekend was celebrating the last big family holiday in Emily's grandparents' home. They are moving in January from their home of 40 years into an apartment.

Abbyism of the week:

Emily: Jesus' daddy, Joseph, was a carpenter.
Abby: What is a carpenter?
Emily: Someone who makes things out of wood like a chair or a table. What else can you think of that's made out of wood?
Abby: Uh, like a buffet.

Abbyism of the week:

Debbi: We'll take Coach's car because it's a hybrid and can go faster than Grammy's car.
Abby: Is your car a lo-brid?

Baby Care

Abby's been super helpful when it comes to taking care of Will. She's helped with his first sponge bath, his first walk, and one of his first bottles (Brad got to do the very first). In general, she's a doting bis sis', almost to the point of smothering at times. I know it's out of love, but I keep a close watch because she has also been known to punch him in the head! Don't think it was malicious, just experimental. We cut that experiment short and Will wasn't even phased!

Sponge Bath

Sunday Stroll

First Bottle

Abby Helps

Care Bears in Town

The Care Bears came to the mall at the beginning of November, so we HAD to go meet them (turns it "they" were just one bear!). So, we packed up the kiddos and Will had his first trip to the mall at a week and a half. WAY different than our approach to going out when Abby was that size!

Halloween

Okay, okay, I know it's a month late. I'm TRYING to catch up. Brad took Abby trick-or-treating with some of the neighborhood kids.

I got to stay home and hold down the fort (and the candy bowl--quite literally at times) with 1-week old Will. I sat outside so I wouldn't have to keep answering the door. It was the first night with a little chill in the air. Of course.

Abbyism of the week:

Abby: Can ballerinas be boys?
Mommy: Ballerinas are only girls, but boys can be ballet dancers.
Abby: When I grow up, I think I'm going to marry a boy ballet dancer who's nice.

Wow! It's been a while since I posted. We've been a little busy since then. William Thomas Buchanan was born at 4:40 in the morning on October 24th. And now he's getting hungry, so I'll post a pic and try to return again sometime soon . . .







Here are some more pics now . . .

Daddy & Will

Big Sister

Buchanan Family

He's a peeper!

Abbyisms of the week:

Abby (in her car seat): Mom, Sophie is hitting BB.
Emily: That's not very nice. We don't hit people.
Abby: Well, Sophie does.
Emily: Who is Sophie?
Abby: She's one of my friends from High School. She was the first one to get married.


Abby (also in the car): Is this (song) the Dixie Chicks?
Brad: No, but it does sound like them, doesn't it?
Abby: Then, is it Madonna or Ariel (The Little Mermaid)?

Birthday Fun
Brad's 30th birthday was this last week. Wow! He's been celebrating for 2 weeks straight! We had a bowling party for him at the end of September knowing we would be busy with wedding plans and preparations. And, he's been milking the birthday meals out of everyone he knows ever since! :)

We hadn't taken a family photo that I can remember since my brother's wedding last October, so here's an updated version from our party (sans Cocoa). Updated, at least until we add a new member in less than 2 weeks . . .

Wedding Success!
Well, we got Jenni, Brad's sister successfully married off last week. It was a beautiful weekend and a beautiful wedding. No matter that the minister skipped the vows and went straight to the rings! Of course, he realized his folly and went back to make sure this thing was legal! :)



Abby was yet again a beautiful flower girl. And she discovered that she really likes maraschino cherries. I think we counted about 10 throughout the course of the night!

Brad's sister is getting married next weekend. It'll be fun for me to be a bridesmaid at 8 1/2 months pregnant! I bought the shortest heels I could find and I get a special dress all my own! :)

And, of course, Abby will be the flower girl in her third wedding in 1 1/2 years. She's already begun modeling her dress, but I think she's a little confused . . .

I have officially past the one-month-to-go marker on my pregnancy. Can't believe it! The second time really flies by. My due date is 4 weeks from today. I went in to the doctor last week and he thought I was measuring small, so he ordered a sonogram. How I can look small at this point is beyond me! I feel huge!

Anyway, I'm happy to report that Baby Will weighed in at the 50th percentile for his gestation, which is great news for me since Abby was in the 90th when she was born.





Oh, but did I mention that they said his head was especially big? Sigh.

But ain't he cute? He's filled out A LOT since our last picture of him. This is a picture of his beautiful face and his left arm and hand in the thinker pose. He's watching you . . .

Wow! Where did September go? Guess I've been a slacker blogger. There are worse things. In the middle of the month, we went to a music festival at Abby's preschool to hear the Imagination Movers. Apparently they're a pretty big deal. On Playhouse Disney and everything. They put on quite a show. Of course, we had to buy a CD and get it autographed!

Abby also had fun with craft time. A good time was had by all.

Tis the Season!
I went to 2 baby showers this weekend. One for a friend from college, and the other for me and 3 other women in my Sunday School class all having babies this fall. All told, I know 7 women (including me) due within 6 weeks of each other in the fall, plus another 4 due in February or March! Here I am with some of my pregnant friends (and Tyler!). I'm officially at 32 weeks today, leaving only 8 weeks until my due date. Little Will will be here before we know it!

Abbyism of the week:

Abby: Coach (Brad's stepdad), did you get your haircut?
Coach: No, why?
Abby: Well, you have a hole in your hair! (Steve does have a hole in his hair, right in the middle!)

Abbyism of the week:

Abby: Daddy, can I talk to my babies for a little while (before going to sleep)?

Brad: Yes, for a little while if you'll do it quietly.

Abby: Good because they were talking to me and I didn't know if I could answer them or not.

Abbyisms of the week:

Brad: I want to go out to dinner, but I don't want fast food.
Abby: Well, you could have slow food.

Brad: (In prayer at dinner table) Dear Lord . . . help us to be mindful of . . .
Abby: Dog poop

What a hoot!

Abby has had Vacation Bible School and swim lessons this week. A busy little girl. The other day, we were driving to swim lessons listening to the Beauty & the Beast soundtrack and Brad said something about Lumiere the candelabra. Abby started laughing and said, "No, Daddy, he's not a boo boo aba, he's a candlestick! Silly Daddy!" We all got a chuckle out of that one.

I have less than 3 months to go until the arrival of our little "manchild" (doctor's term, I promise!). These pics were taken at about 20 weeks (4.5 months). One shows the profile, one the face looking at you, and one, the manchild himself. Abby is excited and spends the whole day telling me what she will and will not share with Baby Will. She also tells me she will change his diapers and give him a bath. If only I could hold her to it!

Abby has quite an active imagination. She has a doll, Aurora (named after Sleeping Beauty), and one (Aurora's) Sister. Their best friend is BB, an imaginary boy who likes eating very strange things. Sister is the one most often found by Abby's side, but at any given moment unexpected or unacceptable behaviors could be attributed to these 3.

Several weeks ago, we were sitting at the breakfast table and I asked Abby to do (or not to do!) something--I can't remember what. Her response to me was "Well, Sister doesn't have to do that." I retorted that Sister was a doll and she was a girl (I had been getting the "Sister doesn't have to" response a lot recently). She smugly respondesd that Sister was a girl too. Ha! I can laugh about it . . . now.

Here's our pretty princess on her 3rd birthday. She is definitely quite a character. One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to capture some moments of her childhood for us all to remember.

Yesterday, I noticed that she had a little bruise on her face. I didn't remember her hurting herself there so I asked where she got it. She told me quite plainly that she and Sister (the much-loved doll and accomplice in her many escapades) were trying to stop a firetruck and it ran into her and gave her the bruise. I was quite taken aback by this response. I asked Brad if he knew where the bruise came from. He said he had gotten the same story about the firetruck! What an imagination!

Welcome to our blog! A friend of mine said she uses a blog to keep up with all the fun things her son says and does. Plus, I just know I should be recording these things somewhere! So, with Abby just turning 3 and Will due in another 3 months, I thought it was about time! Here goes . . .