Time Flies When You're Having Fun!!!!

My oh my... it has been way too long since I have updated the blog. I will do my best to hit the highlights and fill you in on the happenings in the Hodges family.

In mid-October we had our first Family pictures made. Here are a few of them:






Emma's First Halloween- Here she is in her pumpkin pajama's. She was a bumble bee for Halloween, but I can't seem to find a picture of that.



November was a big month for us.
The first few days of November were spent encouraging Emma to sit up all by herself, which she did. We spent so much time on this because I wanted it to happen before my big trip. I traveled to Spokane, WA for a Music Teacher Conference and left Bradley and Emma at home for 5 days!! It was difficult, but I did not cry one time. (Well maybe once) I was very proud of myself. When I returned home Bradley had already left for a Worship Conference he was attending in Mobile. So where was Emma? She was at her Grandma and Pawpaw's!! She spent the night away from home and from what I have been told - she did very well.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we moved into a new house. Yes- you read that right- we moved!!! This was the third move for us in 2010! We hope to be in this house for quite a while. We were very blessed to find a house that will fit our family much better. It's also closer to family, church, work, and friends. No, it was not a lot of fun to move, but with the help of the guys from our Sunday School Class we made the move and are loving our new home.

Emma's First Thanksgiving:


At the beginning of December Emma had another ear infection and fluid still on her ears. Dr. Farmer (our wonderful pediatrician) recommended we visit the ENT to discuss Tubes. Well, on December 15 Emma had Tubes put in and did great!! She has had fluid free ears ever since. We are still praying for her hearing...she doesn't seem to be "passing" the hearing test. They say this can be caused by the fluid that was on her ears for three months. We are scheduled to visit Children's Hospital in Birmingham on Feb. 2 where they can do a better hearing test on a 9 month old. :) We are claiming that all is well and Emma will pass these tests. We KNOW that she can hear. She babbles, laughs, turns when she hears her name, and responds to other sounds. The doctors are really surprised she is not passing the test. So after Feb. 2 we should know something more.

Speaking of December- What a wonderful and BUSY month!!!!
Like many family's in America- Bradley and I had Christmas party to attend every weekend in December. It was lots of fun to share the joy and happiness of Christmas with our friends and family.

Emma met Santa Claus for the first time and did GREAT!! She is really still too young to know what's going on. Next year will be the interesting year.



We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service at FWC again this year. It is such a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning was fun- Emma was more interested in the wrapping paper and tissue paper than the actual presents. We were all blessed with WAY more than we deserve. Bradley and I continued our tradition of giving a little gift to our parents and adopting an additional Salvation Army Child in their honor to show and share Christ's love to others. It was a great morning to wake up and share with family and also think about the many Salvation Army children that were also waking up to presents because someone loved them.
Here is Emma in her new PJ's from MawMaw and Papa (her great-grandparents)


The New Year was pretty uneventful for us. When your child goes to bed at 6:30 the thrill of staying up until midnight - just doesn't seem as much fun. Maybe next year. Ha Ha!

Emma can now pull up and stand while holding on to something. She loves to be tickled and laugh. She can do the army crawl, but her favorite mode of transportation is rolling. I have never seen a child roll so much. She said ba-ba, ma-ma, and da-da (in that order), but says ba-ba more than anything. She loves to bounce, play peek-a-boo, and patty cake. She is also learning to give kisses. SO so sweet!!! She is such a precious baby!!!

I guess that brings you up to date on everyone. I hope to post more often, but I won't make any promises. I will just do my best. :)

Much Love,
Karla

Happy Baby!!!

I realized the other day that I had not posted on here in a month. So much has happened since I last posted. Emma is growing and changing every single day. I will try to give your the highlights of this past two months.

Just a few days shy of her 4 month "birthday" Emma decided to show out and roll over from her tummy to her back.


Emma has just started to eat "real" food. Well as real as rice cereal and liguid squash can be. After a few days of trying, she finally got the hang of it and now can open her mouth really big. :) (Please forgive my commentary)




Emma has also discovered that she has a voice that can be very loud at times. We just say that she is getting ready to sing. :)
I love this video. Bradley had laid her down for a nap, but as you will see- a nap is not what Emma had in mind. My favorite part is when she discovers that her daddy is taping her.


This is a picture that Bradley took at Emma's first visit to the Quad. She loves to eat her toes.


Emma celebrated her 5 month birthday yesterday! We can't believe how the time has passed so quickly. We are just soaking up every moment with her. She is a doll!!!

Count Your Blessings!!

As a school teacher, my calendar year typically runs from August-July. My year begins in August when school starts and ends when summer vacation ends in July. Because of this I have recently been reflecting over the past year. This time last year we were pregnant (and didn't know it yet), living in Bradley's Great-grandmother's house (because our Hoover house had not sold yet), and I was beginning a brad new job- teaching Middle School Chorus in Tuscaloosa. My oh my how much has changed in just a year. As we have looked back Bradley and I have recently been discussing how blessed we are. As we look back over the past four years of our married life together we are amazed at how far God has brought us and we both will tell you that we would have NEVER thought we would end up in Tuscaloosa. As hard as it was to drop everything and follow God's calling, we now see the blessings that are flowing because of it.

I just thought I would share some of the blessings that HE has given us over that past year.
Bradley is privileged to work at FWC as Media Director and Worship leader. He is following the calling that he felt many years ago while attending a Student Life Camp. After leaving my "perfect" job in Gardendale Elem. and teaching last year in Tuscaloosa at two middle schools - I have now been given the perfect job- Wife to Bradley, Mother to Emma, and also sharing my love of music three days a week to Elementary students at a school just down the road from our house. Emma will attend daycare at FWC -which means her daddy is just down the hallway. (this is very comforting to me as the mom.) If we had not followed God and made the move to Tuscaloosa, we would not be in a position where I could have the opportunity to work part-time and stay at home some with my sweet baby girl. We found wonderful renters for our Hoover house which allowed us to move out of Mama Wren's and have a place of our own. We are blessed to worship every Sunday at FWC and also have a great Sunday school class where we have met wonderful people and developed some great friendships. The past year has not been easy- there have definitely been moments that I have questioned God, wondered why He asked me to leave what I loved behind, and enter a new chapter of life that was extremely difficult at times. But through it all we trusted in HIM and knew that He was in control and that His plan was much better than ours. It has definitely been a path full of twists and turns, but it is a path that God is leading and we would not have it any other way.

The biggest blessing of all was the birth of Emma. She has blessed us more than she will ever know and we are blessed to be her parents.

I will close with a verse that has carried me through this year. It is a verse that I have always loved, but its words have meant more to me this past year than ever before. It is a verse that most people know, but it became my daily prayer this past year. Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
As we look back over the past year and see how far God has brought us, we anxiously await to see what He has in store for us during this next year.

Prayers for Emma

It has been an adventurous two days in the Hodges house. I will try to make a long story short...but I am not good at that. :)

On Thursday, July 29 I called the Dr. to ask about Emma's cough and rattling in her chest. I was hesitant about calling because we had just seen him last week for her heart check and Emma has not acted sick at all and has never run a fever. She was still smiling and talking and being her normal wonderful self, but after Bradley and I discussed it we decided that a phone call would not hurt. So after calling in, the nurse suggested that we come in for a check-up since the runny nose had been going on for over 2 weeks. So we went in at 4:30 and things just got crazy from there. The doctor asked us to describe her cough and we did the best that we could... of course she did not cough at all while we at the doctors office. He listened to her breathing, checked her oxygen levels, stuck her foot for a blood test and then suggested that he was trying to rule out Whooping Cough! (In the back of my mind - my thoughts were racing and the TV commercial about Whooping cough was playing through my mind. Immediate guilt sank in.) By this time is was 5:20 and he was sending us down the road to the Radiology Clinic for a Chest X-ray. We rushed to get there because we were told they closed at 5:30. We made it- had an eventful check-in because the Dr. sent us without any orders, but finally we got the X-ray. We then had to go back to the doctors office to meet with Dr. Farmer. (I would like to add that at this point it was after 6:00 and Dr. Farmer was now on his own time. He could have turned us over to the on-call doctor, but he chose to stay there for us.) We met with Dr. Farmer and he explained the next step. This involved us going to Big DCH, checking in through the ER, going upstairs to 3rd floor pediatrics, and torture for Emma. The whole time I am thinking- We only came in for a simple cough. What have I done to my child? But then again it is better to be safe than sorry and with the type of cough she has had and the fact that she is only 3 months old it was better to do this now than later. So we arrived on 3rd floor Ped. (after a visit with Aunt Tara in the ER) and were put in a room. We had 2 very wonderful nurses that did 3 nose "swabs" and took 1 blood draw in the arm. Thank goodness Bradley was there to help hold Emma, because I was quite teary eyed at this point. Before we left the hospital Dr. Farmer came to our room to let us know that the chest X-ray showed no signs of pneumonia and did not hint towards whooping cough. There was some inflammation, but nothing too terribly bad. So he said we could go home and he put Emma on an antibiotic for Whooping cough just to be on the safe side and said that he would see us Friday morning to discuss the test results.

So we came home Thursday night around 8:30 from our 4:30 "supposed to be simple" Doctors appointment. We were given instructions to begin her antibiotic that evening and to have Emma sleep in our room (something she has not done since 3 weeks old). We were to monitor her coughing spells and make sure that she did not stop breathing. We were do to all of this and get some sleep. HA! I tried to sleep, but how much sleep can one get when all you can do is think about the "what if's" and just pray that everything is okay. Overall, she had a pretty good night. Only a few coughing spells and she did not stop breathing.

We returned to the doctor Friday morning to receive okay news. The test results that he had gotten back so far indicated a rise in her platelets and something else )I don't remember what it was). This could indicate Whooping Cough, but it also could indicate a viral infection. We are hoping for the viral infection. He wanted to keep Emma on the antibiotic for Whooping cough since she is so young and see her in one week. Later this week we should receive the test results that will give us a better idea about what is causing this cough. If it is indeed whooping cough then Bradley and I will be treated. The doctor said that for now we must consider her contagious and keep her at home. Bradley and I are okay for now, but we will know more when the test results come back. If she does have whooping cough then we will be treated as well.

Please keep Emma in your prayers. I know that God is in control and has the power to heal her and take away this cough and whatever is causing it. Please also pray that God will keep Bradley and myself well and that He will guide our paths and give us clear direction. I will update in a few days after we know more.

Love,
Karla

3 Months Old

A Sweet Little Girl!


This past month has been an exciting month for Emma. We finally began to venture out of the house and do things. ( I decided to follow the doctors orders and not take Emma places until she was 8 weeks old.) It was so nice to see the outside world and travel and visit family and friends. Here are some pictures to show what we have been doing this past month!

Our first big adventure was to Church!!! This was such a special day for us because not only was it Emma's first day to go to church, but it was also Father's Day. She did so well and was very quiet during the service.


This picture was taken after church- We were no longer in our church clothes, but at least it is a First Father's Day picture.





Emma also went swimming for the first time! She LOVED it! The water was very warm (like bath water) and she just relaxed and floated in my arms. She also liked hanging out poolside with her cousin Parker.




We went to Destin, FL to visit Pop and Chickee (Bradley's Dad and Step-mom). Emma was an excellent traveler and did very well on the beach. We could only stay on the beach for about 2 hours and then we would have to come in because it was so hot. But the beach was beautiful!!!




Emma's First Trip to Grandma and Pawpaw's (Visiting Karla's parents in Cullman) She received her first Shampoo at the Beauty Shop on this trip. (For those of you that don't know- my mother is a hairdresser and we just happened to be at the beauty shop for haircuts and we just could not leave Emma out of the fun- so a hair wash it was.)




The family attending 80's Skate Night at Super Skate- First Wesleyan Church Function



Emma in her party dress at her cousin Spencer's 3 birthday party!!


Emma meeting her Great- Aunt Mattlyn for the very first time.

It was also during this month that God once again continued to bless our family. He has provided an opportunity for me to teach Elementary Music again and still stay at home some too. I am so excited to once again teach and share my love of music with Elementary students. I will be teaching part-time at a local Elementary School here in Tuscaloosa and teaching music 3 days a week. What a blessing- He always provides.

He also asked us to trust in Him in a big way. At Emma's 2 month check-up the Dr. thought he heard a heart murmur. He said it did not sound like the normal heart murmur - caused by a valve just not being completely closed. He thought it sounded like a blood flow problem. If you know me- then you probably know that in the past I have been a worry wart- but when I heard the doctor say she might have a heart defect- We immediately began to pray for healing and CLAIMED that HE would heal her! (This is something that He has taught us (me especially) to do over the past year. Thank you to our SS teacher Carol for being a great leader in this way of thinking and praying.)
Because I had turned it over to Him and claimed that His will was going to be done- I never worried about it again. And praise be to God- Dr. Farmer did NOT hear a heart murmur at the 3 month re-check. We serve an amazing God. Emma reminds me of that everyday. To know that this sweet little girl was formed by HIM and we were chosen to be her parents, just humbles me. I am so thankful for Him many blessings.

We are looking forward to what things will occur during this upcoming month. The big event so far seems to be Emma starting daycare when I go back to work in August. But, once again He is watching over us- and we are so lucky that Emma will go to work with her Daddy everyday and be in the church Daycare just down the hallway. It is so comforting to me that Bradley will be right there if Emma needs anything. It is such a blessing!! God is Good!

2 months old!!! I cannot believe our baby girl is already 2 months old. These past eight weeks have been wonderful and I am so glad that I have quite a bit more time at home with my sweet girl. Yesterday, we went for Emma's 2 month check-up. She now weighs 10lbs. 3 oz. and is doing great. Monday of this week Emma decided that she would begin "talking". I absolutely LOVE listening to her cooing as she tries so hard to tell us what she is thinking about. It seems like she has grown so much within the past week. She is smiling more and more and loves for you to talk to her so she can "talk" back to you.

This past Sunday, Emma went to church for the very first time. It was a very special day because this happened on Father's Day. I was so proud watching Bradley carry his little girl around and introduce her to our church family. Emma was a sweet little girl and stayed quiet during the service.

This week we are getting out and about a little more, but doing our best to stay out of the HOT summer sun. I am just so thankful that Emma is easy going and likes to sit in her car seat.

The picture at the top of the page is Emma's announcement picture. (Her talented Daddy took this.) I just think it is beautiful, but then again I am little biased. She was one month old in this picture.

Out and About

Emma is now 6 weeks old... where has the time gone?
This past weekend we made our first trip to Cullman to visit my family for the first time since Emma's birth. Emma did a great job as we made the 2 hour trip. I am so glad the she enjoys riding in the car. On Friday night my family came to my parents house to grill out, swim, and hold Emma. I was so proud of her... she was so sweet as she was passed around and never once cried. I must say again that we are so blessed to have such a sweet and easy going baby. It was a great visit and nice to see my mom and dad.

Today Emma and I ventured out of the house for a trip to Publix. I was given the okay on Friday at my Dr.s appointment to finally lift more than 10 pounds. This makes it much easier for me to take Emma out since I can now lift her and carry her in her car seat. It was a great first grocery store visit. She slept through most of the visit which made it easier on me.

Emma is growing, growing, growing! She loves to lay in the floor now and look up at her jungle gym. Last week she found herself in the mirror and talk to herself a little. She now smiles when you talk to her. She still LOVES to kick her legs (especially her left leg.) Bradley and I are in debate as to whether she will be a drummer or a soccer player. She is much more alert now and will hold her head up to look around the room. We love just watching her and observing all of the new things that she is doing and discovering. I am so thankful for this wonderful blessing in my life.