New due date and ultrasound pictures

I had an ultrasound appointment on Thursday and I am happy to say I have a new due date, not that it matters all that much because with twins and having Madi and Avery early I am sure I will go much earlier than my due date, but it's nice to know I have less time than I actually thought. My due date is August 9th, but the ultrasound tech said they would probably be born July 9th or earlier. Four kids in four years...Crazy. And I thought life was crazy now, I have no idea what it's going to be like in just 5-6 months! Anyway here are more pics...

Baby A...Baby B...

Both A and B...(haha, it's funny calling our babies by letters in the alpahbet but for now that's what they are called. I should come up with something a little more...creative.) Anyway, this is a top view of both of their heads just chillin' side by side. My mom and Ryan were both there with me during the ultrasound because they, along with me, still couldn't believe there were two! They are each only about two inches long, but they were wiggling around so much, that it was weird to not be able to feel a thing! It was definitely fun to watch and ask the Ultrasound technologist lady questions about everything.

Some Goodness

How to eat a bowl of Macaroni and Cheese

By Avery

First you have to get rid of the spoon. Yep. Just toss it aside. Why? Because the spoon just slows you down. Take it from me, you can get more macaroni in your mouth without it, in less time too!

Then don't be affraid to go head first into your bowl. At first it seems... well, unnatural. But really it's the only way to go.

Once you get the hang of it you can really get a lot by tipping the bowl up and getting right into the middle of the Goodness! "The cream of the crop", that's what I like to call it!

However, make sure you don't forget to take a moment and reflect upon the goodness thereof, by savoring the delicious flavors of both cheese and noodles mixed together so gracefully. Mmmmmm, so good! (eyes rolling into the back of my head)

And lastly, if you have any left over (which is a hard thing for me), it is always nice to offer to share with others...

So there you have it, boys and girls! The RIGHT way to eat a bowl of Macroni and Cheese. Now, hurry and go get you a bowl!!!

Thank you...

Dear Friends,

I was going to leave a comment and comment on all your comments but I want to make sure everyone knows how appreciative I am for your kindness, your concerns and your love. (Watch out, this post might get mushy!) I am deeply humbled that so many of you want to help in any way you can. I am grateful to all of you, for your kind words of encouragement, offers to bring dinner, take my kids, and even clean my house! I have gotten many emails, comments on here and on facebook, phone calls, and even visits from you, and I feel truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family that care so much about me and my family. So many of you expressed heartfelt sympathies and concerns for what I am going through, but I have to say I am also a bit embarrassed, as that was not my intention in writing that last post- to get sympathy. (What did I expect after complaining? ...I guess I wasn't expecting the outpouring of love that you all have shown me in more ways than just your comments. That just shows you what wonderful friends you are!) So I hope you don't think I am ungrateful for your kind words and your willingness to want to help. I am TRULY grateful! Just you-letting me know that you are there to help, if I need it (unless of course you have a cure for pregnancy sickness :) is all I could ever ask for.

It's a hard thing to do, to ask someone for their help. Everyone has their own families to look after and we all have busy lives, so it's extremely hard to ask for help. But it's humbling to know you all want to help in any way you can. I know when I find, make or am given an opportunity to serve others, that is the part of me that I like best. Finding, making or given a chance to serve, is finding and bringing out the person who I want to be and who, I hope the Lord wants me to be and is molding me into the person I need to be. This is true for all of us. I love the feeling when I am serving others and I always walk away feeling like it was more of a blessing for me than it was to the person I had the chance to serve.

I have never been good at asking for help, (I sure I can say, most of us feel that way). My mom has told me from time to time, "you need to let someone help you". In the last few weeks since finding out we are having twins, I have felt a little overwhelmed. Can you blame me? This is a lesson I am going to need to learn; To ask. And it's not going to be easy. I know when they are born, I will need all the help I can get; and asking for it is going to be one of my biggest challenges. I am not really sure why either. It's not that I feel I know everything (cuz wow...I really have no clue about anything!) or that I feel I am too proud to ask for help, it's more because I feel there are so many others MORE in need and that my little struggles aren't anything compared to some. You know what I mean?? I also feel that I have so many neighbors/friends that already do so much for me without me asking, that to ask for more help would just be...well, I don't know...??

Anyway, I didn't mean to turn this into a essay paper. (Now I need a conclusion paragraph. haha. just kidding.) What I want to say is, Thank you. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for your love that you have shown me. Thank you for your dear friendships. I am so blessed to know each of you. I love you!

Random thoughts from a pregnant woman...

I am due for a post (probably a few), and today's been a good health day for me, which is rare. So I have been thinking I should take advantage of this day while I am feeling, for the most part fairly well and write about what else but being pregnant. Hey, now there's a HOT topic! Especially for all us women that are either pregnant right now, have been pregnant and have 1 or more critters (That's what a nurse called my kids when I went in for my first checkup. She said, "So how many critters do you have?" uh, critters??) or those that just had a baby, and jokingly say, "I never want to that again!" and we all know what happens... before you know it, you’re pregnant again! :)

Some of you know my issues with pregnancy. Let's just say I am not a BIG fan. Sure the outcome is wonderful, and even the process of a baby developing is a miracle in itself! I found this picture and thought it was perfect. Children really are a gift from God.

So, I don't want to complain but I do want to talk about it and maybe someone else does too. Everyone goes through different things during their pregnancy (ies) and delivery, some worse than others, but we all have a story. So I thought I would share mine.

First of all, I do feel extremely blessed that the Lord would allow me to have two sweet girls to raise and that I can be sealed to them even after this life. They are such a joy in my life. My life would not be complete without them. They do the cutest things.... and also the grossest, but I try not to recall THOSE to memory if I can help it. haha. Though it's not always easy to raise kids, it's MOST definitely worth it. Just a moment ago, Avery walked into the room and pronounced that she was hungry by yelling, “giggle, giggle, giggle!!!" Which always makes me laugh! (Read down to previous post if that doesn't make sense to you.) And today Madi had a conversation with Ryan as he was heading to school that just made my heart melt.

Madi with much enthusiasm said, "Dad, I have a great idea!"

Ryan: "What's that Madi?"

Madi: "Well, how ab'ut if you stay home from school today and stay here with me. Isn't that a great idea, Dad?!"

I really do have so much to be grateful for that during my days of endless throwing up I try and think about those blessings. But believe me, it doesn't always work.

Monday was a really rough day for me. I threw up well over ten/fifteen times, lost count after awhile, and after one session of throwing up, I was laying there on the bed trying to catch my breath, blow my nose, wipe my eyes and grab a piece of gum to get the flavor of....well I shouldn't tell you that, you might want to barf yourself, let's just say it was gross. Nasty beyond all description. But as I was lying there I thought, I just want to die! (Of course not really! Don't worry, I wont.) But at that moment, death sounded a heck of a lot easier! I even recall telling Ryan, "I just want to die!" when I was pregnant with Avery and had thrown up 25 times in 3 hours, and I remember him saying, "No, don't say that, you'll be fine." But under his breath I am sure he was saying, "but I know I would, if I were you..."

Thankfully, I didn't die that day. :) And was just hospitalized with three IV's and medication that seemed to be a gift right from heaven. Nor did I die this last Monday (obviously;). I have been able to take Zofram. It's a pretty expensive drug, usually costing somewhere between $50-$80 a pill. They now have a generic kind that's only $22 a pill so that's been a blessing, as we have had to pay out of pocket for them. Zofram is a drug they use for people that have cancer and get really sick with Chemotherapy treatments. They also give it to pregnant women who, like me or worse cases, can't help but loose 5- 15 pounds during the first three months of pregnancy because of throwing up and the lack of wanting to eat. I have always had 5- 10 pounds to lose since having Avery, and could never get it off, until recently. So I am grateful that I am finally down to what I was. Of course it won't last long as later in my pregnancy I seem to gain double in the 2nd and 3rd trimester and eventually will look something like this poor woman:

Ouch.

So for the moment let me just rejoice in my weight loss, even if it's just for a moment AND even if it’s not the way I would actually want to lose the weight. But it's the little things that matter right?

It's funny as I am sharing my thoughts, feelings and stories or maybe more like complaining about them, (I hope not too much) I can picture my dad with his littlest violin playing the saddest song for me. haha! Sorry dad! Actually my dad is one of the most compassionate people I know, but he also has an attitude that says, "Forget yourself and get to work!"

-Intermission-

4 hours later:

I started writing this post and then realized I better go and make dinner as Ryan will be home soon. However, as I was making dinner I got nauseated so I decided to take a Zofram before I started throwing up, only I should have waited, as I threw up but ten minutes after taking the pill, there goes $22 down the toliet, literally.

Anyway, I also wanted to take a moment and embarrass, brag, thank- whatever you want to call it- and tell you how wonderful my husband has been to me and the kids the last few weeks. He has been home from school the last four weeks from a break. And the whole time he did everything around the house; changed Avery's nasty diapers, did dishes, swept floors, kept up my overly obsessive vacuuming behavior for me, did laundry and much more! He played with the girls all day everyday which was wonderful as they love being with their dad but sad for me, as they are both daddy's girls now!

Sorry for this long and boring post, the pregnancy made me do it! hehe. I did forwarn you in the title, "Random thoughts from a pregnant women" so what did you expect? haha.

CHrIsTMaS!

For all those(2 people) that were wondering, "How did the Hodges spend their Christmas?" Let me tell you the tale...

We had Santa come a day early to our home, (yes, you can have the BIG guy come to your home early if you put in a special request) that way we could have an extra day to spend with my brother, Adam and his wife, Genn and their little boy Colton. They were flying out the day after Christmas to be with Genn's family. So to make sure we had a day with them, Santa came early to our home. So here's just a few pictures of the girls on Christmas Eve morning opening their presents. Madi was very excited to see all the presents Santa brought. Avery's favorite gift was a baby that giggles and shakes. She loves it and giggles right along with it.


After cleaning up Christmas, we took off to Rexburg to spend the rest of the week with my family. And this was a typical day during our week in a nutshell...

We (Ryan, Josh, April, Adam, Randy, my Dad, and Celeste) built this awesome sled ramp off the roof of my paren'ts house to sled down. I didn't add any contribution to the construction of this amazing sled hill/ramp with being sick but it was fun to watch everyone else on it!
Here's Madi with Uncle Randy sledding down. They went easy with her and didn't go clear to the top of the roof!

Aunt Celeste and Madi going down

Madi enjoying the snow with her aunts, uncles and grandpa! (I don't know how many pairs of gloves I have bought her and they have all gotten lost...to many to count!! So socks were the next best thing.


We played ROOK, Settlers of Zarahelma, and Scum most of the week. We love board games and card games in my family and we are all very competivite. Too much sometimes, it can get pretty scary-! :)
We also chowed down on delicious food all week! My mom is a awesome cook, and if it wasn't for all the throwing up I did because of the pregnancy, I would have easliy gained ten pounds!
My family got Guitar Hero for Christmas so there was lots of noise going on...here's Madi jammin' out.
There was also plenty of lounging around and watching movies. Here's Avery getting a full body massage on my dad's massage chair. She really enjoyed that!

And what's a better way to end the FUN day, then a nice hot relaxing bubble bath? (well, minus the relaxing hot-bubble-part. Instead add LOTS of splashing done by Avery while Madi gets mad.)

We hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Christmas this year!!!