Nana's Birthday

Last weekend we had my parents come down from Amsterdam, NY to celebrate my Mom's birthday. It was such an enjoyable time and I think it made her feel wonderful to have two of her daughter's and son-in-laws along with her grandchildren with her. My brother and his wife and other two sister's and brother-in-law were missed greatly. We wished they could've been there, but with a family this size, it's very hard to get everyone together at the same time, especially when we're all located in different states.

Anyway, I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my Mom. I love you very much and am very thankful to have you as my mother. Thank you for all you have done for me.

Snow Days

We have had a lot of snow this winter. It's been fun to go out with Jaron and explore what it means to be a kid: eating snow, licking icicles, building a snowman, going for walks, sledding down snow hills, making snow-angles. He has really enjoyed it and so have I! I'm looking forward to when Abigail can join him next year!

J eating snow

Jaron and I building a snowman. He decided to name "her" (yes, he wanted it to be a her) after his great-grandmother, Charlsey.

Almost done

Project complete!

Our snowman being buried under more snow

And then.... a headless snowman. Charlsey is melting.

Sometimes icicles came inside the house.

J and I sledding down a hill of snow in our back yard.

Car Entertainment

15 Month Abbie

Our little Abigail is 15 months old. We've been so encouraged by her progress in her physical strength over the past month. She has started climbing stairs, walking with someone guiding and holding her, pulling herself up and sitting herself back down again, she crawls IF you tell her to (otherwise she still prefers to scoot on her bottom), and she's becoming a lot more interactive, especially when she's playing with Jaron. She is still getting Physical Therapy every other week, but she has had some set backs since Christmas, because of sickness. She came down with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and ear and sinus infections as stated in the post below, but we feel she is starting to gradually heal, slowly, but surely. You'd think with all the nursing I did for her (13 months), that she would overcome ANY sickness that came her way, but I suppose those little bugger germs can make their way in no matter how strong someone's immune system is.

She has five teeth with a sixth tooth coming in, enjoys playing the piano (like her Nanna), loves playing with her big brother and making him laugh till he's rolling on the floor (I don't know how she does it... I certainly can't do that!), really likes wearing hats for some reason, loves her Daddy, and still has amazing fine motor skills (such as building blocks, using her spoon, throwing the ball, placing toys in the right hole, etc.). Despite the health struggles that we've had with her, she has brought us SO much joy, love and definite spiritual growth. She is an absolute blessing!

This is big brother, Jaron's, doing. He was playing his "powder game" with Abbie. There was powder all over her, as well as the kitchen... everywhere.

My Mom has a very similar picture of me at this age covered in powder because my sister Geniene had dumped powder on my head.

She has started using her spoon with certain foods. Here she's eating mashed potatoes. Good thing it was bath night.

RSV ETC...

Find out what it means to me...

So, Abigail, poor thing, has a bad case of RSV (a respiratory virus), ear infection, sinus infection, a bad cough and everything that goes along with the above. Oh, and she had a pretty bad fever for a few days. It's been pretty tough on her and on the parents, all of whom are waking up a few times a night. Yep, we are all rather tired.

The docs saw her today and prescribed the proper medicines which includes a nebulizer machine (a breathing mask) which we have to force her to do several times a day. We are hopeful that we are on the tail end of this sickness, but your prayers are appreciated.

In other news, the Riggall Family is now on Skype! Find us (ID: RiggallFamily) and we'll have a chat!