Resolution Recaps

These were our new years resolutions from last year.

Abby's list:
1. Learn to walk and finally catch Maize
2. Learn to use a spoon so she can feed herself ice cream and cheese cake and not have to share it with her mom.
3. Learn enough words to boss everyone around

Jen's list:
1. Read through the entire Bible at least once this year
2. Lose the last 10 baby/law school pounds
3. Learn to make knitted (as opposed to crocheted) baby blankets

Steve's list:
1. Lose more weight than Jen does
2. ???
3. ???

Apparently only Abby was successful, since she daily terrorizes Maize, feeds herself anything she can get on a spoon that tastes good, and knows enough words to hold a conversation. She has certainly changed in so many wonderful ways in the last year.

I, on the other hand, have only made it through 1/2 of my Bible this year (which I still say is pretty successful considering I have very little time when a small person is not supervising me and she does not tolerate me reading anything - she barely lets me use the computer). I'm pretty sure I've gained way, way more than 10 pounds, so I don't think I can say I've lost that last 10. And the knitted blanket happened, but looked like a giant dish rag, so we put it into the doll box. Oh well... there is always 2010!

I'm not sure if Steve lost any weight, but since all I've done for the last few months is gain I'd say he is safe in claiming he lost more weight than I did.

I'm sure this year will have many, many new and interesting challenges and we haven't yet sat down to decide what, if any, New Year's resolutions we plan on making. We're just too busy playing with Abby and all her new things.

Our Girl - 25 Weeks

Your Baby

By the time you reach pregnancy week 25 your baby probably weighs in at more than 1.5 pounds and may be almost 13.6 inches or longer! Most babies' length and weight tend to vary from this point on in your pregnancy week by week. Keep in mind that while some babies are born a mere 6 pounds, others weigh in closer to 10 pounds! Most babies average about 7-8 pounds at birth.

Changes In Your Growing Baby

Your baby is working diligently on putting on weight during pregnancy week 25 and as you continue your pregnancy week to week. About the time you approach 25 weeks pregnant your baby's spine starts to mature and blood vessels form in the lungs. If you were to peak inside at your baby you would also find her nostrils developing by pregnancy week 25. By the end of 25 weeks pregnant they will even open!

from (http://www.pregnancy-weekbyweek.com/pregnancy-week-25.htm)

Tired Tuesday

We hope you don't get a case of the post-Christmas grumps, but if you do this may help you get out of the slump. Abby has been enjoying her Christmas gifts almost non-stop since we returned home. And after purchasing some new rubbermaid storage totes, Steve and I have been appreciating them too. Last night we had some good times with Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. Abby is certainly creative when it comes to making them up.

Abby got quite a bit of kitchen supplies and fake food for her play kitchen over Christmas and she has been cooking us some wonderful pretend creations (and boy are we glad they are pretend, because in real life some would be majorly disgusting). Last night we had some tomato coffee (she is really into cooking up tomatoes) and some cookies. She has also been feeding a lot of her creations to her dolls and Maize. It is fun to watch her imagination at work.

I have reached the stage in pregnancy that we shall fondly call sausage foot time. The car ride to and from Hastings left me with toes that felt much larger than they should and with distinct imprints from my socks, leaving a nice sausage like bulge where they ended. So I am back into the compression tights, not something I would have minded skipping this time around - oh well...

Last night Abby entertained herself (and apparently her sister too) by shining a flashlight directly onto my belly. She enjoyed the red glow that your skin makes when the light is directly on your skin. Abby's sister enjoyed punching out the light that Abby created. I'm pretty sure baby O. is going to come out swinging, so Abby had better beware!

Abby's New Bed

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=57087&CatID=57899&GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=144915c&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=57087|57091|57852&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=3&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=57087|57091|57852|57899

That is the link for the bed Abby just ordered for her big girl Princess room. We would have just posted the picture, but it wouldn't let us save it.

Merry Christmas to You!

Right: the entire Scott J. Hodges family. By next Christmas the family will have officially doubled its original size. I'm thinking eating out with 16 people (5 toddlers and infants) is not in the cards. Sorry Melissa... you had eyes closed or funny faces in all my pictures :-(

Here's the first few Christmas pictures. We'll share more over the next few days, since there are so many to go through. We had lots of fun visiting family and friends over the holiday, but it was pretty tiring!

Here is the pregnant bunch. From left to right: Courtnie (sister-in-law) due July 4th, Melissa (sister) due July 4th, me due April 14th, Sarah (cousin) due February 19th, and Laura (cousin) due January 25th. We also did the belly measuring and Laura and I were tied. Sarah has a couple inches to go to catch up with us. I'm hoping to stop expanding or I am going to win the biggest belly of the year contest in this family.

Abby was wonderful the entire trip. We didn't really have any major behavior issues to deal with, she used her manners, and she slept like a champ. She had so much fun opening presents once she figured out what the process was. And she really enjoyed all the new things she received. We have her pretty worn out though, so she's working on 12+ hours of sleep right now. She even rode down and back with only minimal crying and only one dumping of the snacks onto the floor. That's got to be about a record for us.

Our Girl - 24 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-24-weeks_1113.bc)

Abby, Steve and I are all packed up and ready to hit the road when Steve leaves work. We decided to leave tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow. We really don't want to deal with any winter weather and we are hoping that Abby falls asleep and rides better tonight than she would during the day tomorrow. Unfortunately Abby woke us up at 4:45 a.m. and stayed up, so it is going to mess with the schedule I had planned for her (which included a nap right about the time we were going to leave). So we just have a few things left to gather and we will be on our way.

P.S. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott - we are joining the slumber party at your house tonight since we are going to be pretty late and Grandpa Roy and Grandma Yvonne have to work tomorrow. Just so you know :-)

Present Practice

Abby practiced her first round of present opening when we let her do our family Christmas tonight. She now has two cool play-doh sets, two new Veggie Tales dvds, two Olivia books, and some new shirts, socks, and hair clips (not that she will wear them). Her stocking stuffer little people animals are currently eating her dad. I think she's pretty happy with the new things she got.

We'll try to get some of the pictures, or maybe the big video posted for tomorrow.

Cookie Exchange

Today Abby and I hosted what we hope was the first annual Christmas cookie exchange at our house. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Yesterday Steve, Abby, and I made about 16 dozen cookies (we also had some help from our friends Trevor, Tara, & Maddie Dodge). So for the exchange we provided butter cookies, peanut butter cookies with reese's cups inside, and 2 varieties of sugar cookies (one roll out and one drop style). I think we are all cookied out for a while.

Abby enjoyed her weekend with Daddy. We did lots of playing and watching Veggie Tales together. We are going to have a girls only night tonight while Steve goes with friends to see the Manly Man Movie of the month (Avatar). I think Abby and I will finish up a few Christmas shopping type things and probably enjoy another Veggie Tales movie. Then we may very well be having our family Christmas tomorrow night, just in case we need to leave Wednesday to avoid any snowy weather. So far it seems that we will be clear until Christmas Day, but you just never know with the lake effect snow bands we have to drive through (mostly from St. Ignace to Grayling). And we need to do Christmas before we ride down because Steve and I want some new Veggie Tales to listen to while we drive.

Week In Review

We have had a busy week and are looking forward to the holidays next week and some much needed downtime. We've had lots of playing, partying, and cooking this week.

On Monday Abby had a play date with her friend A.J., including some yummy lunch. Abby and A.J. are starting to really get into playing with each other, which as a mom is so much fun to watch. They have the funniest conversations with each other while they are playing - most of it isn't understandable to me, but they sure seem to know what they are saying to each other.

On Wednesday we hosted Steve's office Christmas party. Abby had fun with the assistants and other dentists and even got to help open a present. She was mostly shy, like normal in big groups, but she did let some of the assistants pick her up and did give a few tours to her new friends. And she got to eat some goodies, like cheese and crackers and cheesecake. And we ended up with two animated goodies and lots of packing peanuts (she only tried to eat two of them).

To round out our busy week we went to the Christmas party for the crisis pregnancy center (CareNet Pregnancy Center of the EUP). Abby had fun playing with her friend Sophia from church. Sophia is almost three and enjoyed greatly playing with "Little Abby". It cracked me up since we have another friend who has a baby named Abby and so we are used to calling our girl "big Abby" and their daughter "little Abby". The reversal of nicknames was fun for a while. And Abby was on her best behavior - she really impressed the other ladies at the party. And we were semi-successful on our first cheesecake (it was softer than I would have liked, but since it wasn't baked it had a different texture than many baked cheesecakes). It tasted wonderful though, so that makes us for a multitude of little shortcomings. The next time I try this recipe I am going to put it in a baking dish instead of trying it with a springform pan.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

So most of our Christmas cards have been sent out and we are now ready to reveal Abby's beautiful Christmas photo. It's a good thing we took this picture when we did because now the snow is too deep to even attempt to take an outside snow picture. And, when we did this one it was around 30 degrees - today it's a balmy 9 degrees (brr... it started at 1 degree this morning)!

Abby was wonderful last night at Steve's office Christmas party. She had a great time visiting with the assistants and other dentists. I think she almost stole the show, although some of the white elephant gifts were pretty hilarious! We somehow ended up with some animated goodies, including a dancing Santa (in his underwear of course). Abby likes copying Santa's dance, so we may have to capture that on video for everyone to enjoy.

Today's adventures include making my first cheesecake (it's a peppermint and chocolate recipe that thankfully doesn't require baking) and also making a dish for Steve's work brunch tomorrow. Abby is going to be getting a lot of practice cooking today. She will probably also get some practice eating.

Snow Ice Cream

One of my favorite mommy websites is quirkymomma.com and they had a great recipe for snow ice cream. I think Abby and I may have to try this tomorrow since we have so much snow!

Ingredients:

• 6 c. clean snow (Or use shaved ice from a snow cone maker)
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 2-4T Sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• Chocolate sauce, to taste (optional)
• Flavored extracts, such as raspberry extract or peppermint extract (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately.

Our Girl - 23 Weeks

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-23-weeks_1112.bc)

Here is our daily snow update for Grandpa Harley:

The snow on the deck this morning was above my knee (or in Abby terms up to her armpits). Roughly 20 to 21 inches. In the yard it is probably more like 17 to 18, since we've had to clear a trail for Maize on the deck, so there is a bit of extra snow accumulation where we've tossed the extra snow.

Sockless

We must have a baby sock stealing gnome in our house because we can't find socks for Baby Sister in all the boxes of Abby's old things. I've found the shoes, clothes, bibs, blankets, and basically everything you can think of, except the socks. Weird... I guess today will have a little more box hunting to see if we can get some socks found.

It is snowing again... lots of snow. Big, beautiful flakes, which apparently will mean another 3 to 5 inches by the end of the day. There was at least 2 or 3 inches out there when I shoveled off Maize's trail to the backyard again. It is just wonderful to sit on the couch, snuggling Abby (who discovered that our light switch above the couch controls the Christmas tree), and watch the snowflakes come down. It's a good thing we don't really have much to do today except clean and get ready for our Christmas party tomorrow night. And possibly buy a cheesecake pan so we can attempt our first ever cheesecake. Yummy!

Party Weekend

It is snowing again. And of course, we have a silly winter weather advisory (news flash... it is winter in the UP, it snows, a lot). So... apparently I should be out shoveling some of it before it gets too deep (2 to 5 inches says the national weather service), but instead I'm thinking about all the fun we had with Abby this weekend.Friday night we had friends over so Abby had lots of little playmates. She is just starting to get to the point where she wants to play with other kids, not just next to them. They had lots of fun playing with the toy kitchen things. On Saturday we went to Maddie's birthday party (one of Abby's two best friends). All her friends were there again, so we got to watch the girls have another great playtime. And, Abby ate all of her ice cream, all of my ice cream, and none of her cake. So I got double cake and she got double ice cream. Not a terrible trade-off.

Yesterday Abby really went to work and made dozens and dozens of cookies at the Drockton's house. She had lots of fun visiting "Doctor Dave", Jackie, and the girls. We did have some minor moments of confusion when Abby couldn't tell which big girl was Kitty, but we got over it pretty quickly. Abby enjoyed playing with all the doll house pieces and parts that the Drockton's had. She was in little girl heaven. And we brought home a lot of delicious cookies, candies, and fudge. It's a good thing there is snow to shovel or my waistline would be expanding faster than allowable.

Here's some funny stuff Abby's come up with lately. She now asks for a "family hug" - aka mom and dad hugging her at the same time. She also continues to tell her dad to kiss her mom (I still think some money is secretly changing hands). And apparently Abby isn't really a big fan of Christmas cookies - she loves oreos, but she won't even try most of the cookies we made yesterday.

Cleaning Crew

Abby joined the cleaning crew today, although I think her contribution caused more cleaning to be done. She was especially excited to help fold "Baby Sister"'s clothes, which we started washing today, since we had piles and piles of laundry to do anyway.

We only ended up with about 12 or 13 inches of snow, so all in all not a bad start to winter snow season. And since I kept up with shoveling it as it fell, my jobs (the dog trail off the deck and front walkway) weren't that bad. The only downside was locking myself out twice - luckily we have the back deck door that is rarely locked if we are home and can't be locked when you open it. Those other doors let you go out, but won't always let you back in.

Hope you all have wonderful Fridays and great weekends ahead. Tomorrow Abby is going to her friend Maddie's birthday party and we are going to a cookie making party Sunday - should be a busy, but fun, weekend!

Some Random Abby-ness

Here are a few random things Abby has done to make us laugh in the last few days...

1. Abby has made the switch from always saying "uh-huh" when she wants to say yes. Now instead she says "yeah." It is simply adorable. Except when she is being naughty or having a fit.

2. Last night I really wanted to soak in the bathtub, since Baby O. was not being a nice girl. I didn't say the words bath, bathroom, tub, water, or anything resembling those. I told Steve I was going to go soak for a while. Faster than lightning, Abby said "Abby take bubble bath, yeah!" and she was up the stairs within about 1 minute. So much for a nice soak...

3. Abby no longer wants to sleep in our bed, at all, ever. Hooray!!! Last night Steve was tired from work and shoveling out our driveway, so he accidentally fell asleep in Abby's bed while they were playing in Abby's room. So, Abby came into our room where I was putting away clothes. I put her in bed with me when we were done with our chore. She lasted about two minutes before she asked to go lay down in Abby's bed. I've been waiting and waiting for this moment :-)

4. Abby is over the mom holding another baby jealousy - at least for the most part. This morning Abby and I went over to her friend A.J.'s house to lend a helping hand, since they received a tiny little infant foster child yesterday. They already had 2 girls 2 and under, so we figured that some extra hands would be helpful, especially since A.J.'s dad was going to be at work all day. Abby was very good about touching the little boy gently and letting me hold and feed him so A.J.'s mom could do some laundry, shower, and get ready for the meetings she has to go to this afternoon.

Our Girl - 22 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-22-weeks_1111.bc)

I went in for my regularly scheduled check-up this afternoon. Everything is going well and baby is growing right on schedule. She was super active while we were there, so it made getting her heartbeat a little tricky, but Dr. Mackie managed and it was a healthy 144 bpm. We are going to be repeating the glucose challenge test next visit and also doing the rhogam shot (boo!). And then we will be scheduling a visit to the surgeon's office to set a c-section date. We are all looking forward to Abby's "baby sister"!

O Christmas Tree

In retrospect, I should have listened to Steve when he warned me that the tree I was picking was a little on the large side. I swear didn't look nearly as big outdoors as it did once we got it into the house. I think we have about 2 inches between the tree top and our 9 or 10 foot ceilings. But it does smell wonderful and Abby enjoyed watching the tree get lit up and decorated.

So we would have posted yesterday, but it took basically all night for us to get the tree in the house, wired to the wall so it wouldn't fall down and then decorated. It was a monumental task, but Steve is pretty good at figuring things out, so it went off pretty well. And then Steve helped Abby come up with some great poses to practice in front of the tree, including the "gun show," "touchdown," and the 80's glamor shot pose. They had a pretty good time :-)

Madrigal Magic

Abby attended her first fancy theater event last night - the Madrigal Dinner at the Kewadin Casino. It was a really fun medieval dinner show with singers, dancers, and some musical numbers. She went mostly to watch her baby sitter Kitty and Kitty's sister Susie dance in the program. She was incredibly well behaved for the 3 hour program - I was shocked.

The only problem we encountered was Abby's little fit over the cornish hen they served. She did not want a whole chicken on our plate (Abby and I shared). She only stop fussing over the chicken when she noticed that Kitty had a chicken too. Apparently whatever Kitty does is the standard for cool in our house right about now.

Abby is helping her dad celebrate his birthday today. So far they had donuts for breakfast, went to church, had pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch, and is now playing toys and watching football with dad. I think they are both having a good day.

Christmas Card Photo Hint

This isn't our Christmas card photo, but it is a hint at what that picture might look like.

Here are somethings Abby has been trying lately:
1. More fruits. She has especially enjoyed kiwi, peaches, and dried cranberries lately.
2. Dog treats. Abby found a dog treat when we re-arranged the furniture and decided it would be nice to try and eat it. Obviously some gagging occurred (both her and me).
3. Opening DVD cases. This is something we are trying to discourage, since we don't want the dvd's rubbed all over the floor. We have had multiple time outs over this proposed activity.
4. Yoga. Mostly the downward facing dog pose (imagine Abby making a triangle with her body). Next we will be teaching her to snap a football from this pose.

Some Random Photos from Thanksgiving Weekend

Doing Chores

Abby has been mastering her two chores around this house - feeding Maize and picking up toys. She is getting pretty good with the toys, but sometimes the dog food doesn't quite end up in the bowl...We've had a rather uneventful day today, which was a welcome change from the running around and busyness we've been experiencing lately. Abby and I even took the opportunity to re-arrange our family room so that we can enjoy our gas fireplace, which until yesterday was not working. We did a lot of sweeping, picking up, and rotating of furniture so that we can see both the t.v. and the fireplace from the couch. And Abby found lots of great things under the couch that we had "lost."

Abby is really mastering language at a great pace lately. She is talking almost exclusively in sentences now and it is becoming harder and harder to pretend like we can't understand what she is asking for. She gets pretty adamant about things too... Like yesterday, we bought a second toddler car seat for Steve's car. K-Mart had them on sale and we really wanted the ability to take which ever car was parked in back (since we have a one lane driveway and parking on the streets during snow season is not a great idea). So Abby and I went and picked out a new, pink car seat. Then she had a little fit because I wouldn't buckle it in right away and let her ride home in it. She didn't quite understand that we were on a schedule and changing out car seats in the freezing cold wasn't on mommy's agenda. She did enjoy playing with the car seat once we got home. She even wanted to be buckled into it and left alone.

Our Girl - 21 Weeks

How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-21-weeks_1110.bc)

Note from Jen: she has been practicing martial arts (hence the nickname Ninja baby) for weeks now. The poor ultrasound lady could hardly get the pictures she needed since the baby was constantly flipping. We can even see her moving across my belly already.Abby, her dad, and I have been working hard on figuring out a name for baby sister. Abby has also been working hard on designating which things are hers and which belong to baby sister. So far she's doing pretty good at understanding that she has to share things, but I'm sure that will change the minute the baby is actually here. One of the things she is excited to share is the new Disney princess table and chairs that we bought with her Christmas money from Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. She has been so excited about her chair and baby's chair and keeps asking us to take them from her room downstairs and back again, based on where she is (we are not obliging, since she already had a table downstairs).
Abby got her H1N1 booster yesterday, so she should be officially protected from getting the swine flu. Unfortunately I think they also squeezed in a little grouchy vaccine too, because she has been having random meltdowns since the shot. She was really cute after getting her "poker" - she looked at me after they put the band-aid on her leg and said "poker time all done uh-huh". She was totally over the crying before we left the exam room and besides reminding me that poker time was done, she didn't seem to be affected at all.