Mommy's little helper

Rachel has always been very helpful with Abigail. One day, she shared her applesauce with Abigail. She made the biggest mess, but Abigail really enjoyed it. Here is a video clip of that feeding.

And just this week, she decided to help me by changing Abigail's wet diaper. It was so funny because she couldn't seem to keep the baby from rolling around as she was trying to fasten the diaper. Rachel never gave up. It really was entertaining for me. Here are some pictures of that diaper change.

Abigail is sick...

Abigail has kept a runny/stopped up nose for an entire month. When I took her in for her six month checkup, her doctor told me that the drainage was most likely due to her teeth coming in on the top. He checked her ears and throat and they were clear. I wasn't concerned at all since she is still teething and she hasn't had any fever at all. On Friday, Abigail started pulling at her ears and I immediately called her pediatrician's office. They couldn't fit her in that day, but suggested that I take her to a minor medical center to have her ears checked. I took her in and she has a double ear infection. She started on her antibiotics on Saturday morning. We had a very bad night last night. She cried/screamed off and on most of the night. I know that she must be hurting a lot. She seems to feel fine most of the time during the day. I think that when she lies in bed that all of the fluid puts more pressure on her ears. I sure hope that the antibiotics work quickly.

Rachel's soccer season...

is over. Her last game was Saturday. Her team won all of its games except one which ended in a tie. She really had a great time playing soccer this year. It was her first experience playing a team sport. When the season started, she really got in there and scored several goals. We had to have a talk with her about "hogging the ball" and not helping her teammates to score. After that, she seemed a little scared and pretty "standoffish". I'm thinking that maybe we confused her and that she wasn't sure how aggressive that she should be...LOL.

Here is a picture of her holding her trophy (with a blue gatorade mustache.)

Fall Fun!

Here are some pictures from Rachel's fall festival at her school, Trunk-or-Treat at our church and Halloween trick-or-treating.

She's 7 months old!

Abigail has been very busy this month. She crawls around everywhere. She can even go from room to room. The baby proofing around the house has begun. She tries really hard to stand up without pulling up on furniture, etc. She sees all of us stand directly from sitting and doesn't understand why she isn't able to do it, too. Just in the last few days, she has started trying to pull up on furniture. She has five teeth now and has another one that is ready to come in. After my bout with bronchitis, she transitioned pretty easily to formula.

She had her first Halloween this month. She also made another trip to the zoo and another trip to the petting zoo where Rachel had her birthday party. We were visited by Gramsy and Gramps (my Mom and Stepdad) this month, too.

Oh, my goodness...

Abigail now has five teeth that are coming in. She has two on the bottom and three on the top. Today, she learned how to grind her teeth. It makes the worst sound that I have ever heard. It is much worse than fingernails on a chalk board. It actually makes me cringe and makes my head hurt. I can't imagine what it sounds like inside her little head when she does it. I am hoping that her new ability will lose its novelty soon. I don't know how much of the teeth grinding that I can take. How do you get an almost seven month old to stop grinding her teeth?!

The latest portraits of the girls

Here are some new portraits of the girls. There are Abigail's six months pictures and Halloween pictures of both girls in their costumes.

Being a good mommy...

Jeremy left for a short business trip today. I was reminding Rachel that her daddy wouldn't be home tonight. She acted really sad for a minute. And then she said, "Mommy, remember that you should try to be a good mommy while Daddy is gone. You know what that means?...That means that later when I ask for icecream that you should say, 'Sure, honey.'" I told her that I didn't remember her daddy asking me to be a good mommy while he was away, but that he did ask her to be a good girl for mommy. What a funny girl!

I went to the doctor today....

It turns out that my "crud" turned into a really bad case of bronchitis. After a chest x-ray and some bloodwork, pneumonia was ruled out. I ended up getting a "cocktail" shot at the doctor's office and I had to get three prescriptions: an inhaler, an antibiotic and a strong cough syrup. I hope that I will get over this soon.

As a result of all of the medications that I am taking, I will have to stop nursing Abigail. I hope that it is an easy transition for both of us. She doesn't have a problem taking a bottle so I am hoping for the best.

Our last week or so...

I've had this allergy/sinus "crud" for about two weeks now. It seems like I will never stop coughing. My voice is raspy, but my throat doesn't really hurt. Anyway, I am very tired of this "crud".

On Friday, Abigail got her first tooth on the top of her mouth so now she has three teeth total. It looks like two more teeth will be coming thru on the top really soon. She is also doing a real crawl some now, too. She still does the army crawl quite a bit, but she can get around pretty quickly now. She is also trying to push up onto her feet from a sitting position. She hasn't figured out that she can pull up on the furniture,etc. to a standing position yet.

Rachel has been out of school for Fall break. On Saturday, we didn't have a soccer game so I took her to Kid's Day at Lifeway. We picked up her copy of "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" that I had preordered. Then we went to her friend's birthday party at Kidz Kountry petting zoo. (This is the same place that she had her fourth birthday party.) Monday, the girls and I met some friends at the zoo. And yesterday, we went to the park. Rachel has really enjoyed her time off from school. She starts back to school tomorrow.