Welcome Abigail Reagan

My platelets kept dropping and my doctor decided that we should be proactive and have the baby before disaster struck again. So a repeat C-section was scheduled for Friday, October 28. Since she didn't decide to make her way out before that, we went in Friday at 11:00 and by 1:23 we had a little girl!

Daniel and Jason's parents came out to meet her that evening. Daniel was super excited to meet her and explore all the buttons and sink pedals in my room.



G.G. Meets Abby for the first time.

We had a snow storm the next day - 8 inches! It led to a mess on the roads, tons of acidents, power outages - all kinds of mess. Luckily I was in the hospital already and didn't have to go anywhere for a few days. You can see the snow falling outside the window here.

Great Grammy's Birthday

We took Daniel to the zoo for a bit in the morning to get in at least one more day at the zoo before it gets too cold - the animals are much more fun to watch in the colder weather but winter is too cold! We got to see some awesome activity from animals that sleep in their caves all summer long.

That afternoon we traveled to Jason's grandparent's house to celebrate he grandmother's birthday. Extended family was there too and we had a lovely evening. Happy Birthday Great Grammy Marquiss!!

Bounce in the House

Since I can't do much physical play with Daniel, we have developed a jumping fort to keep him busy. This is similar to the pillow jumping at our previous house but we've gone a bit higher and more daring!

First Visitors

My best friend wanted to see my new house so she brought her kids down for a play date. The weather was a bit cold but having the kids play outside was essential for our sanity. We bundled up and let them climb, dig, and rake. The boys loved it and Taliah did okay.


After snack the boys played cars - one on the fire truck and one in the Coupe. They were really good at taking turns and I thought it was super cute watching them play; stopping to fill up with gas, parking the cars in a "garage," etc.

It is nice that the kids are starting to do better playing on their own and we can have semi-normal conversations. (Until we add the baby to the mix in a week or two. then it is back to a halt on adult conversation.)

Outing at the Orchard

My MOPs group had the October outing at Paulus's Orchard. The weather was perfect and Daniel and all the other kids seemed to have a great time picking out their pumpkins and apples and enjoyed the tractor ride through the picturesque fields. I don't know what kind of apples they picked but they were amazing! After the tour the kids were let loose to play in a little house and on some big pipe slides. (I couldn't get an actual picture of Daniel doing any of these things, just the back of his head.) After an hour or so I had to drag him away to get home for lunch.

Children's Lake

I love the Children's Lake in Boiling Springs. The setting is beautiful and Daniel seems to really enjoy watching and feeding the ducks. It is a fun place to hang out and for an hour or so.



Plus my boys like to run around outside and be silly!

Oktoberfest in Carlisle

Jason and I discovered that the Army Heritage Center in Carlisle was doing a big, free, one day Fall festival. Since we wanted to take Daniel there anyway to see the tanks and helicopters, we decided this would be a good opportunity to get out and have some fun.

There is a walking trail around the grounds with displays of all kinds of cannons, tanks, planes, helicopters, bunkers, barracks, medical huts, etc. from all the wars of America's history. It is pretty cool. Daniel seemed to really enjoy seeing all the equipment but was disappointed that he couldn't get in them and test them all out.




The weather was a bit too cold to hang out at the fair for long but maybe next year we can get a bit more out of it. There were booths of all kinds of foods, beer, and companies marketing themselves. They also had a gigantic bounce house village set up for the kids but we somehow managed to bypass that this time. It was getting too late and we had someplace else we had to be. One cool thing we did try to do was get Daniel to ride a horse. He was fascinated by them while we waited for them to get saddled but as soon as he hopped on - he cried and wanted down. Oh well, we'll try it again.

Passing the Time Away

I am so large, uncomfortable, and overly stressed that I can't do much to keep Daniel occupied anymore. Thankfully there is a lot of construction projects going on to keep him busy. Pappy comes out at least once a week to help Jason with the nursery, bathroom, and window projects and Daniel is always there helping out.



Daniel's other favorite past time right now is playing chase with Roxy. We used to play this with her before we had kids so it is something she enjoys. You give her a raw hide "chewy" and then chase after her trying to take it away. She growls and barks but if you stop, she'll come back into the room, stare you down, wag her stump and wait to be chased again. This activity lasts for a good 15 - 30 minutes a night and gets them both some good exercise to wear them out for a good night's sleep!