Friends

On Saturday night, Duncan, Calleigh, Ron, Elaine, and I met up with Tangie (Allen was working) and Braelyn at an event called "Holiday on the Drive" located in College Park (about two miles from FH). They closed down part of the road and had all these vendors set up in the streets, carolers, a fire truck, Santa, pony rides, and a bunch of other stuff. Calleigh loved the music as expected. There was a quartet singing when we first got there and she stood right up front and clapped at the end of each song. Florida Hospital was a big sponsor of the event and they had a table with free cookies and hot apple cider. Calleigh got a cookie with green sprinkles on it and very quickly, her mouth had a green ring around it. I'm sure you will notice it if you take a look at some of the pictures! One of Calleigh's favorite things to do is to say "Hand" as she grabs your hand and drags you off somewhere she wants to go. So we got the bright idea to have her hold Braelyn's hand. And it worked out well. The two of them waddled down the road hand in hand with everyone oohing and aahing as these two tiny little girls strolled by. At one point, they stopped to watch a guy that was working out on some kind of exercise equipment and he was just tickled that they would stand there and watch him. All and all it was a really great time as the night involved all of Calleigh's favorites: singing, eating, a fire truck, babies, dogs, and Christmas lights. One other cute thing - - at one point Calleigh got away from us for just a moment as she headed over to a table. She bent down to look under the table and then Elaine heard her exclaim "Cupcakes!" Sure enough, she had discovered a mother load of cupcakes under there. Fortunately Elaine was able to get to her before she did any harm.









We had a nice Sabbath before that. We still didn't make it all the way through the sermon but we're inching closer. We were sitting next to another baby this week and that usually spells doom because she gets so excited over everything. Binky! Bottle! Socks! Sabbath School went well and once again, Calleigh participated in the singing. If only my camera wasn't getting repaired...Oh, I forget to mention that Sabbath was introduction of Calleigh wearing a barrette for the first time. Her hair has FINALLY grown long enough that it goes into her eyes a little bit so I bought some barrettes. I didn't think she would keep it in her hair but if you distract her long enough, she'll forget about it. Once I put it in, I asked her to pose with her barrette and she was too happy to do so.

Toni, Terry, David, and Yully came over for Sabbath dinner. Shannon and Megan both had to work and they were missed.

Sunday morning we had planned to go to Leu Gardens where they're having some kind of Christmas tree display. But we postponed until next Sunday. Instead we went over Ron and Elaine's so that Ron could take some pictures of Duncan, Calleigh, and I in an attempt to get a nice photo for a Christmas card. I believe we had success. Afterwards, we went and met David and Yully at First Watch. Shannon was working once again, Megan didn't get our message, and Toni and Terry headed down to Disney. Did I mention they got an annual pass? Those are the Disney freaks for you! Because they went to Disney, we started the Patriots game late and we never did catch up. Thankfully it had a good ending this time and I didn't have to outlaw Dave completely from the house for sporting events. But we were worried there for a while.

This morning I dropped Calleigh off at Ron and Elaine's while I went for my 16-week doctor's appointment. I could help feeling the tiniest bit nervous - - not that I really had a good reason to be but I did have that one day of that strange cramp in my side and of course, there was the last pregnancy to think about. But as soon as she put the monitor up to my belly, there was the heartbeat going loud and strong and it was soooo nice to hear. I gained 2 pounds since my appointment 4 weeks ago. I'm still not in my maternity clothes. This is the same thing that happened with Calleigh. I didn't gain much weight over the first 20 weeks or so and then I very much made up for it later on. As for my blood work, everything from 4 weeks ago came back negative (yay!) and they took the second bit of blood today for the Down Syndrome screening that is a re-do of the first test. I guess they like to just make sure. My next appointment is on January 5 when I'll have my ultrasound to find out the sex. Or, in my mind, to confirm that it's a boy. We'll see if I'm right!

That wraps up the excitement around here over the last three days. Have a good week!