The Hughes Family: Christmas, New Year's and Beyond!

Well I am finally back to a normal routine and able to update my blog...I know it has been WAY too long! The Hughes Family had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's although it was a very busy one! We started off Christmas by attending Christmas Eve service at our church...luckily our church has a "kid friendly" service where there are TONS of kids so Katherine's constant waving, squirming and saying "HI!" to the minsters was not noticed...or at least not annoying since all of the other kids were doing the same thing! At one point Chris and I just looked at each other and started laughing because all of the kids in the congregation seemed to groan and whine all at the same time near the end of the service...guess it ran too long for them! :) After church we went to dinner with my parents, grandparents and Miss Katherine. Then we went home to SLEEP so Santa would come. Luckily Katherine had no real concept of what was going on, so she slept peacefully until 9am on Christmas morning!! Whoo hoo! We relished in our late morning as we know next year will be a totally different story. We had breakfast (homemade cinnamon buns of course!) and then leisurely opened up presents. I say leisurely, because we basically had to force Katherine to open hers. The child who had been unwrapping presents for weeks before Christmas wasn't so interested on the day she was allowed to open them! Humph! Never fear though...because once my parents and grandparents arrived it was a totally different story. :)

Her biggest prized possessions this year were from both sets of grandparents, a pair of cowboy boots and tennis shoes that light up from my parents and a mini big wheel from Chris's parents. The child now has a shoe fetish and is a terror on wheels and she's not even two! The tennis shoes are still a bit big, so instead of wearing them, she just hits the bottoms with her hands to make them light up...I think she's too smart for her own good! The big wheel she has now decided is her best tool to terrorize poor Colby. The 98 pound dog has no chance against a 23 pound Katherine and her big wheel! :)

The day after Christmas we piled into the car and headed north...the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees every time we stopped...ugh! The drive wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't the most pleasant thing either. It took us about 12 1/2 hours with a 2 year old...not bad! :) Luckily we had my laptop and power adapter and LOTS of Andy Griffith videos in our arsenal. By the time we got to Richmond Chris and I were sick of Andy Griffith.

We spent the next week in and around Virginia visiting with the Hughes and Vail sides of the family. Katherine and I had a blast, but were totally worn out by the time to head home. Chris on the other hand was sick almost the entire trip. He caught salmonella poisoning and barely ate anything the entire time we were in VA. Not such a fun thing. We are happy to report, though, that he is back to normal now...thank goodness!

We went to Danville to visit Mr. Hughes's side of the family just before we came home and we met up with my Aunt Jill there. So on Saturday, Chris, Cory, Jill, Katherine and I all piled into our car which was packed to the gills and headed South. Chris and I took turns driving since he was still feeling the effects of the sickness, but we managed to make it home in just under 11 hours. Boy were we glad to see our own beds! :) Katherine was a bit fussy, but luckily we were armed with more Andy Griffith and Jill to entertain her, so we all survived.

The past week we have spent scurrying around like crazy people trying to "catch up" after being gone for an entire week. I think we need a vacation from our vacation just to get our heads above water! Luckily I think I have caught up, so this week should be a little better.

Katherine is either going through a growth spurt right now or is just still exhausted from our trip because she has been sleeping until 8 or 9 everyday and then taking a 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon! This is completely unheard of, but I am LOVING it! :)

I am still feeling pretty great and haven't really had any morning sickness to speak of. I occasionally have a bit of nausea, but most of the time it's because I'm hungry! I'm starting to pooch out a little now, but it looks more like a beer belly than a pregnant one...I don't mind though...I remember how huge I got with Katherine...this baby can take its time getting that big! Ha! Our next appointment isn't until February, so I guess sometime next month we will find out if the baby is a girl or boy. I'm still thinking girl, but we shall see!

Ok, well I think I have gotten y'all caught up on life for the past few weeks! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I have also uploaded new ones to the shutterfly site.

Until next time!