Merry Christmas!

We had a really nice Christmas yesterday! We went to Christmas Eve service at 7:30, which ended up being a lot longer than I remember and was definitely too late for our little Meredith, but she was still a trooper. (I especially like the later service over the earlier kids service...I guess because there are just so many kids at the early service- haha!) Next year we'll have to reconsider which service we attend. Chris' Grandmother spent the night with us, which was nice and Meredith was really excited to have her Grandma here. After we got home from church, Meredith woke up long enough to put out some cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer, then without any fuss went straight to bed. We stayed up a bit longer to get her haul downstairs by the tree, but it really wasn't too bad. I slept terribly though, guess I kept thinking Meredith would wake up early, then I'd wonder if grandma was warm enough, then the baby would kick, then I'd start listing things in my head to be sure I did in the morning, etc etc. I was still the first one up to do important things like retrieve the carrots from the patio and start the coffee! Meredith slept until about 8am and then it was present time! She was so sweet while opening her gifts- her favorite was her Barbie house that Chris found for a steal on craigslist (it's a little dated, but it was super cheap and she is still thrilled with it!). Chris and I had fully agreed that we would not exchange gifts, mostly because we don't need to add any additonal stress to a pretty stressful season and we didn't need to spend any more money. Well, Meredith was super sweet and asked where our presents were because we could take turns opening them :) Aw, at least it wasn't ALL about her! I think we did go a little overboard this year, but we also know it's her last Christmas as an only child and she's at the age where we can buy a lot of not too expensive stuff. Not sure how long that will last, but it was still fun!

Then we packed up and headed over to Chris' step-sister's house for the Elliott Christmas. It is fun, but pretty chaotic since there are lots of kids. I also got a nice Christmas present while we were over there- a phone call from Hillary & Joey! It was so great to talk with them and sounds like they were able to celebrate Christmas with some of the other Azerbaijan Peace Corps volunteers. I was totally fine until Meredith got on the phone with them and then the emotions took over!! Miss them a lot!

Then we headed over to my Mom & Dad's house in the evening. My Aunt Marcia & Uncle Les were actually in town on their way back to Michigan from a trip to New Orleans, so that was a nice treat too! Allison & Matt were there too and we had a nice dinner and just enjoyed eachothers company. We'll do our big Christmas when Elizabeth, Chris, Abby & Jessie get here on Tuesday. We actually left when it started to snow last night and it basically snowed all night until today around noon or so. I think we ended up with a good 6" of snow, so of course we are basically snowed in! It's the first time Raleigh has had snow on Christmas in over 60 years! We've enjoyed a lazy snow day!

27 weeks and all good

Had a big doctor's appointment today. Glucose test, hemoglobin, thyroid check and an extra ultrasound to be sure baby girl is growing like she should (I'm on blood pressure meds, so sometimes growth can be an issue). I passed the glucose test and based on the ultrasound our little girl is a little over 2 lbs right now which puts her in the 72nd percentile, which isn't too shabby! We still can't get a good look at her little face because of the placenta placement, so she's really going to keep her little face a secret! It was another 'boring' appointment and I hope they continue that way!

Funny

So, Meredith is my church buddy since her daddy doesn't much care for going to church (that makes me sad, but is a different topic). Honestly, Meredith is my inspiration for getting to church a lot of the time when lounging around on a Sunday morning seems more appealing! Now that she is old enough, I know it is important to take her even when it seems that nothing is sinking in. Well, the other day she was saying something I had to ask her to repeat..."The body of Christ given for you" (while motioning that she is handing something to you), as in what they pastor says when he gives you the bread during communion! She is too young to actually take communion, but she always goes up with me and gets a blessing. I never really thought about her listening to that, but it made me so happy to hear!
Tonight after our little Christmas program at church, she put on a show at home. She sang two of her original songs about the baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph (and the donkey!) she even got all the way to Jesus dying on the cross for us. Wow, the kid is getting it!

I've learned...

I've learned that talking to Meredith while she is watching the Frosty special is just like talking to Chris while he's watching a Carolina sporting event... a brick wall!
Like father like daughter!
I shall try to refrain from talking until commercials :)

Super cool!

Tonight the baby was moving quite a bit after I ate dinner, so I had Meredith put her hand on my belly and sure enough the baby gave her a nice kick! She says she felt it and I know I sure did, so that was a pretty awesome big sister moment :)

Ding Dong!

Chris and Meredith had a fun first last weekend. We got a call from a friend with last minute tickets to the UNC vs. College of Charleston basketball game. Obviously not a big game, but they were still super excited to go and it was a probably a little easier to navigate the smaller crowd. UNC has not had a stellar season so far, but Chris is still a huge fan and has passed that along to Miss Meredith who loves the 'Go Heels' :) They got all dressed up in their Carolina gear and had a special daddy-daughter day. (Also, very ironically they sat in the same section as our neighbor who was bringing her son to his first game too!)

Chris wanted to mark the special event with a little souvenier and he admitted he probably would have bought her the most expensive thing in the store if she had asked for it. She decided on a cute little bear with a UNC sweater. They were on their way home and I talked to Meredith on Chris' cell phone and she was going on and on about the game and she told me she got a bear, so I asked what she decided to name it. She replied that she had named the bear 'Ding Dong', to which I said, 'Why did you name your bear Ding Dong?', she said, 'You know, after the building, the Ding Dong'. I about fell out of the chair when I realized she meant the Dean Dome!! I think Chris had suggested it as a name for her bear and she understood it as Ding Dong! Then again, why would a 4 yr old understand the name Dean Dome?
This one was just to priceless not to document!

25 weeks!

What have we been up to? We spent the weekend of Nov 12th in Tennessee. We both ended up taking the day off on Friday, so we'd have a little more time. We had a nice trip and Chris and I ended up getting a lot of shopping done in Knoxville & Pigeon Forge. Meredith got lots of time with her grandparents on the farm.
We had a nice low key Thanksgiving. Allison hosted this year since she has her own house this year and Mom's kitchen was still torn apart from their renovation (it is now basically done and looks awesome!). We didn't eat until late in the day, so the three of us just had a lazy day at home before heading to Allison's. We definitely had a smaller crowd this year since Hillary & Joey are gone, but it was still really nice and festive :)
I had another good doctor's appointment right before Thanksgiving and everything looks great! She even said my weight is 'perfect'! Never have I heard those words in my life! Next month I'll have the glucose test and they'll do another ultrasound, so maybe we'll get a better peak at our little pumpkin :) I'm 25 weeks already tomorrow!
Meredith has been sick this week. She has had a nasty croupy cough that came on faster than anything like it before. She's been in pretty good spirits, just sounds terrible. We kept her home for 2 days this week and sent her to school today. Night time is the hardest time because she is lying down, but I think she's improving and should be back to herself in no time. We have a busy weekend ahead of us, so I hope she's feeling better!