December 2010 Christmas - Abigail at 11 months

Greetings and hopefully your holidays have gone well. We had a good month in the Hirneisen home. Andrew started basketball practice. I am helping coach his team and it has been alot of fun. Andrew was excited to get his practice jersey. Here he is in his jersey.


Madi tried out for the spring musical at her middle school and has been given the chance to play Annie in their production of Annie Jr. She is excited about that opportunity.


Abigail continues to be busy and into everything. She has discovered the cabinets which has caused us to put the locks back on.


Her curiosity and the fact that she is still teething let her to find a lollipop that we let her try for a very short time under close supervision.


She responded pretty well to the Christmas tree...


For Christmas, she got a baby doll that she gives kisses to...


She also got a kitchen to play with...


She has also started the funny habit of pointing to everything and having you take her to see pictures on all the walls. It is funny to see.


We hope you have enjoyed your holidays. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I got back and that Abigail will be a year old next month. We are looking forward to a good January and a good 2011....and are wishing you and yours the same.

Until next time....

End of November 2010 - Abigail at 10 months

November was another busy month. Madi and Andrew continue to do well in school. Madi got a part in the middle school play. She played a clerk in a play called Twain's Tails. She did a great job with her part that included speaking in a southern accent. Here is a picture of her with her castmates after the play (she is in the red flannel shirt).



Andrew is looking forward to playing basketball over the next few months. We have been watching alot of football and basketball together.

Abigail continues to grow up quickly. She is now able to take 14+ steps on her own. She has her two front teeth poking through. She is babbling alot and getting into everything. She does have the annoying habit of putting every little thing she finds in her mouth....this keeps us all on our toes.

Here is a picture of Abigail teething on my hat.


We are fortunate to have 2 great grandmothers still around. They made a visit recently and here a picture of the eldest and youngest among us.


We had a good Thanksgiving with family. Here is a picture of Madi and Andrew as we went to play basketball and football with Grandpa at the church - this has become a tradition over the past few years.


Abigail had a good first Thanksgiving. She ate a good lunch of diced carrots and apples and some baby food. Here she is during her meal and after her meal illustrating how she responds to "Abigail is soooooo big."



We celebrated Christmas with my Brother and Sister In-Law....we got a preview of how Abigail will be this Christmas.



Madi, my niece Stephanie and I did venture out for Black Friday at Midnight to the Gettysburg outlets. We came up empty, but it was a fun adventure.


Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Best wishes on the lead up to Christmas. If your holiday travels take you near Gettysburg, please let us know. Please keep in touch.

End of October 2010 - Abigail at 9 months

Hello all. Well, the weather has finally turned here in PA and I, for one, am glad. We have also made it through the AYSO soccer season with Madi and Andrew. They both had a good time. School continues to go pretty well for both Madi and Andrew. We did go out for trick or treat...Madi was a Walking Doodle and Andrew dressed like Philip Rivers - as an aside, last year, my brother-in-law used a connection he had to let Philip Rivers know that there was a little boy whose father was in Afghanistan who asked for his jersey for Christmas and Philip Rivers signed a small helmet for him. We have been fans ever since.


This was a big month of firsts for Abigail. She got her first tooth, she took her first steps and she learned how to climb the stairs. This has made it much more challenging to keep up with her and get things done :)

Here are some pictures. The first is of her standing in the dining room after playing with one of her toys.


The next is one of her playing with pans in the kitchen so I can sneak some time to make dinner and know where she is.


Andrew and I still play slow motion football in the living room while football is one sometimes, this one is of Abigail getting in on the action.


All of this new activity has forced the placement of gates. Here is a picture of Abigail doing an inspection.


Things are very busy but continue to go pretty well. November will bring new activities for the kids and the start of the Holidays. We are looking forward to them.

I hope this post finds you well. Please provide any updates and keep in touch. Take care. Until next time....

End of Sep 2010 - Abigail at 8 months

Well, September has brought the start of school and activities. Things are certainly busier. Madi has had a good start to middle school. She has started to be involved in student council, the mask and wig club and soccer. Andrew is doing well and is also playing soccer this fall.


Abigail continues to develop. She has moved through crawling to pulling herself up and walking along the couch. This has certainly kept us more on our toes because she is pretty mobile. She has also developed an adorable wave and a sound that sounds like "Hi". Below of some pics of Abigail. The first one is of her dedication at our church.




We did have Nick Lynch and his wife visit us over Labor Day Weekend. It was great to visit with him and his family far removed from Afghanistan.

This post is shorter than most...I guess the start of school has made our family less interesting :)

Hope you are doing well...if you are coming to Gettysburg or passing through, please let us know. Keep in touch. Until next time...

End of August 2010 - Abigail at 7 months

Wow, this was a busy month. We began by venturing to Sesame Place outside of Philly. It was an interesting thought that 2 years ago that we wouldn't really consider this trip, but Abigail resets the clock a little. Luckily, there was still enough to entertain a 11 an 9 year old as well...we had a good day.




I took the Madi and Andrew to see the Ravens training camp in Westminster MD - we are not really fans, but it is only half an hour away. It was pretty hot, but the kids got to get close to some players and get some autographs.

The kids are just to right of this picture and didn't get Flacco's autograph, but saw him up close.


Andrew did end up with a Ravens jersey that was on sale a week later. Here he is with his jersey and his autographs.


We also travelled to Virginia to see Rebekah's friend Melissa and the Dunn's. It was a good time. Madi and Andrew got to swim in the pond, ride horses, and ride some 4 wheelers. Here is a pic of Andrew with his helmet on.



Abigail continues to grow. She is now able to scoot her way around the room, go to her belly and roll over. She is on the verge of crawling and is grabbing on to the couch to try to stand up. She is pretty active. She has also developed to ability to reach out and wave, kind of. She also squeals as a way to talk with her brother and sister, it is really comical. She also is able to now enjoy her swing. Here is a picture of Madi and Abigail at the swing as well as some other random shots.




The other main event this month was the start of school. Madi and Andrew had a good first week, as did I. It has been a bit of an adjustment from the freedom of summer, but it has gone as good as could be expected.

I hope this post finds you all well as you end your summer. Please keep in touch. Until next time...

End of July - Abigail at 6 months

July was a busy month here in the Hirneisen home and Abibail continues to grow and change. She is now eating much better, sitting up well and scooting around on her bottom, getting into things and making attempts to get to her belly to crawl...


Madi and Andrew had a busy month. Rebekah and my inlaws took the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium and to DC while I was at a math conference.


While Rebekah took her annual trip to Dallas for her Mary Kay Seminar, the kids also attended Good News Camp for a week (like every year) where my Mom and Rebekah's Dad are teachers. They had a good time like every year....



Andrew also turned 9 on the 26th. He is getting big and got alot of cool gifts.Due to schedules, he had numerous small celebrations and here are some pictures.




My niece Stephanie came to visit from Georgia for the week. It was great to have her here and we made an attempt at an Overcash grandchildren picture...


I did have the opportunity to lend some support to Joint Staff Engineer Division at the Pentagon and had the chance to have lunch with Maj Nick Lynch who I was deployed with. He is about to transition to school and I wish him the best of luck.

School starts around here on the 25th of August...that will be another transition as we all head to school...Madi to the middle school as a 6th grader and Andrew to 3rd grade. I hope you all continue to have a good summer...Until next time.

End of June - Abigail at 5 months

This has been a busy month. School has ended, summer activities and vacations have begun, and Abigail has continued to change.

School ended for the kids on June 9th. Here is a picture of the kids the morning of the last day of school.


Both kids ended school on a good note. Andrew will be going into 3rd grade at the same school and Madi will be going to Middle School for 6th grade next year. Madi has had a good experience at her intermediate school and received kind words and an award from her teachers at the year end events. Hard to believe that she is going to be in middle school.

Andrew grew into quite the Celtics fan over the past few years. If you followed the NBA finals, there was some tears and disappointment here. He wanted a headband to be like some of his favorite Celtics and I took the opportunity to take this shot.


Abigail has really changed this month. She has begun to eat cereal and some sweet potatoes, she is now sitting up very well, she picks up and throws the balls in her exersaucer, she has increased her repitoir of sounds, and has been to the pool at home and on a family vacation to Williamsburg. Here are some pics.






Hope your summer is off to a great start. I welcome any updates. Please let us know if your summer vacation plans take you to or through Gettysburg...

Until next time.