Christmas week

This week was A LOT better than last week! Caroline was feeling good and I had my 16 week OB appointment on Tuesday. Wasn’t much to it, just listened to the heart beat (in the 150s again) and the doctor felt around on my stomach to make sure I was growing in the “right places” – ha! I feel like my appetite has gone back down and I only gained one pound in the last four weeks. With Caroline, I think I gained four pounds every four weeks at first! Next time I go it will be for my ultrasound and I can’t wait! I’ve scheduled it for January 13th, the day before my birthday. I really wanted to do it on my actual birthday (Friday) or the next Monday, but my doctor was going to be out of the office both of those days so I settled for the day before. I am really excited that my sister will be able to come for this one since she didn’t get to come for Caroline’s. My parents will also be coming to town, and Chris’ mom is planning come up just for the ultrasound. I really have NO idea what I’m having – I keep going back and forth! First I really thought it was a boy since I was so sick, but now that I feel better I’m thinking maybe another girl! I guessed wrong with Caroline, so I’m not really setting my mind one way or the other and will be happy with either one! Do you readers have any guesses?

Thursday night we loaded up the car and headed down to Birmingham to be with Chris’ family. We had a good time catching up and hanging out that night, then Friday we did a little shopping that morning while Chris’ mom watched Caroline for us :). Then she and I took a nap while his family did some more shopping, then we all went to the Christmas Eve service at church that night.

Saturday was Christmas and we woke up to SNOW! It was coming down in big flakes at times, but didn’t really stick to the ground. We spent the morning opening presents and Caroline really racked up! She got a red wagon, huge stuffed animal horse, Little People Noah’s ark set, musical bus, clothes, shoes, and books, among other things! Even her baby doll got some new clothes – yay! One of the best things for me was I started feeling the baby move this week – what a good Christmas present!

Caroline LOVED playing in her wagon:

Here she is digging into her stocking and reading a new book with Daddy:

When we finished opening gifts, we got dressed and headed up to Chris’ mom’s cousin’s house for Christmas dinner. When we started up the hill to their house, it was still snowing like crazy but it started to stick! It was SO beautiful having a white Christmas! And it snowed the whole time we were there – we just loved watching the snow fall!

Caroline woke up from her nap and wanted to see the snow:

 

Her favorite thing was eating grapes and blueberries and playing with this big bear:

Here’s a shot of the whole group:

We headed back to Chris’ parents after dinner and hung out before going to bed. Caroline was up crying in the night for a while, so we didn’t get much sleep! Not sure why, but she might have been cold or her gums were hurting. We decided to get up for early church anyway (in the snow), and were only there 15 minutes or so before Chris’ dad passed out during the service. Fortunately, there were several doctors around and we called for an ambulance to take him to the E.R. Never a dull moment in the Hodges’ house! He turned out to be okay, but just dehydrated – we’re so thankful it wasn’t another heart attack! We stuck around a little while then headed back to load up the car and go home early to avoid the icy roads that night. We came home to a really white Huntsville and had a couple of inches still on the ground. Here's our house and street in the snow:

Thanks to everyone for your beautiful Christmas cards and pictures! We are so thankful for all of you and hope you had a Merry Christmas! Pictures coming soon to our picasa site!