Thanksgiving 2008

God has been so good to us. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for. When you really stop to think about all the ways God has blessed you, it is truly amazing. Counting your blessings is a full-time, 24/7 job! At least, that's the way I see it! The Thanksgiving holiday is a perfect time to remember that, but actually, we should thank God everyday for what he has done for us.

Of course, one of the greatest things I am thankful for this year is our beautiful new baby girl. She has made a wonderful addition to our family! Since this was her first Thanksgiving, of course, I had to buy her a special holiday outfit. When I dressed her, I noticed the outfit was very "gender neutral," so I decided to add the Clemson headband bow. Nothing screams "girl" like a giant bow on your head, right?

Jacob started his Thanksgiving holiday with a bowl of cereal and the Macy's parade. (He actually ate cereal for lunch too. I guess he wasn't into turkey this year.) I think he enjoyed the parade. He even clapped after some of the performances. The giant balloons fascinated him and his favorite was the Energizer Bunny...go figure.

We spent the afternoon with Heath's family where, as usual, Jacob kept everyone entertained. Who needs TV when you have a 2 year old?

This flashlight served as a conducting baton.

Annabelle got lots of attention too. She was passed around from person to person all day long and I don't think she woke up once! That girl loves to sleep! She did finally wake up for a while later that evening.

Jacob still loves to give his baby sister kisses. That is probably how she came down with a cold. Jacob has had a cold for over a week now and Annabelle is sick too. This has not been fun. A newborn with a cold is pitiful, and Jacob is miserable too. He walks around the house crying because his nose is constantly running. "Nose munnin...nose munnin," he says. I'm praying both of them get over these colds soon....very soon.

I have a few more pictures of Annabelle to post and I'd like to add a couple videos of Jacob at the Wiggles concert. He and Daddy had a great time! Unfortunately, my blogging time is up. I've come to realize that when you have a 2 year old and a newborn, there is no such thing as spare time. I promise I'll add more eventually!

Sleeping is What I Do Best

Annabelle is getting bigger everyday! I'm still amazed at how quickly she's gaining weight. She went from being 6 pounds, 11 ounces to 7 pounds, 5.5 ounces in a week! Can you believe it?? That was last Friday, so at that rate, there's no telling what she weighs today. That is such a huge difference from Jacob when he was her age. It took him forever to gain weight and he was always a little below the curve, so I'm not used to this!

As you can see, Annabelle is a great sleeper. I'm quite certain this is her favorite activity. Can you blame her? She has been waking up a little more in the evenings and later at night, which is fun. She seems so alert and loves to look at lights.

We bought a double stroller last week and I am so excited about it! I can't wait to try it out somewhere other than inside the house. It seems every time I want to take the kids out for a walk, it is almost time to eat or take a nap. We'll get out eventually, I guess. Jacob loves the stroller and I find him sitting in it periodically throughout the day. I think he's excited about Annabelle getting to sit next to him. I took this video the other day. I apologize...you'll have to watch it sideways. I always forget that I am not supposed to take vertical videos with the camera because we can't figure out how to change their on-screen direction. Oops!

BABY GEORGE

While we have baby Annabelle to take care of, it seems Jacob has a new baby of his very own -- Curious George. Nana gave this little monkey to Jacob when Annabelle was born, but none of us had any idea how important it would become. In the past several days, we have had to change George's diaper, take him for a ride in the stroller, let him go to sleep in the baby swing (with a blanket just like Annabelle), and put him to bed in a sleep positioner (just like Annabelle). I found George in Annabelle's car seat this morning, all swaddled in Jacob's blanket. In fact, right at this very moment, I hear Jacob saying, "Oh, my...diaper....oh, my...diaper...change." He has just gone to get a new diaper for George. This is really cracking me up!

Jacob loves Curious George, but we know he loves Annabelle too. At one of Annabelle's weight check doctor visits, Nana and Jacob stayed in the waiting room while I took Annabelle to see the nurse. Jacob was perfectly content playing with the office toys...until he heard a baby crying behind the door. Apparently, Jacob was about to beat down the door trying to get to "Ha-buh" (Annabelle) because he heard her crying and it really upset him. So, the receptionist let him and my mom walk through to find his baby sister. Annabelle was fine. Jacob must have heard another baby crying, but he needed to be sure his sister was ok.

Life with Two Children....so far

I can't believe Annabelle is almost a week old already! She is a really good baby and a fabulous sleeper. Although, sleeping can be a bad thing sometimes. I have to wake her up to feed her every 2 hours and, usually, she is not so willing to comply. It's difficult to get her to eat like she should when she would much rather be sleeping. I'm certainly not complaining. Things could be much worse!

I can't say that I have truly experienced what my "everyday" life will be like with two children. Fortunately, I've had help this week, which has been a blessing. I am still not feeling that great and it would be such a challenge to chase Jacob around and take care of the baby (not to mention myself) when I can hardly move. I'm praying I'll start to feel better at least by the weekend.....maybe??? I'm not sure how things will go next week when I'm on my own. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

Jacob is a little jealous of his little sister, but he's also starting to take an interest in her as well. The night before last, Heath was holding Annabelle and Jacob walked up to him and said, "Yap...yap...move it.....move it." (Lap...lap...move it.) He didn't like that Annabelle was in HIS daddy's lap and he thought Heath should put her down. BUT...then today, Jacob heard Annabelle crying. He looked at her a couple seconds, then patted her head and said, "sokay...sokay..." (it's okay...it's okay). How sweet. He's also been giving her lots of kisses (out of the blue) and he likes to watch her sleep. He also likes her to hold his finger. I think it's also cute how he says her name -- Ha-buh. I guess Annabelle is a little hard to say.

I was able to get a few of the sweet moments on camera yesterday. Enjoy!

Introducing Annabelle Ruth Duncan

Yes, she is actually a GIRL!!!!! We are so happy to be home from the hospital with our new little bundle of joy -- Annabelle Ruth -- 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 19" long. She was born October 30 at 8:41 PM. (Yay!! We didn't have a Halloween baby!!!)

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful baby. I'll post and write more later when I'm not so sleep deprived. Hmmmmm...wonder when that will be????? :)

Sorry...don't know why this one is sideways.