In which we're showered with love.

Several weeks ago, my sweet besties from college (also my bridesmaids) threw Baby H and me a lovely baby shower. It was such a fun weekend! Friday night, after getting my hair done (and that alone can make for a fun weekend!), I met Pam and Becky, who drove in from Dallas, and Pam's parents for dinner. We hung out at Pam's parents' amazing house in Magnolia until Sarah arrived...and she'd picked up Adrienne at the airport! I last saw Adrienne in June when she was in Austin for 1 night, but I hadn't gotten quality Adi time in a while because she lives in NYC. And it had been almost 2 years since all 5 of us had been together. What fun! I didn't spend the night Friday night because we got to do something fun early Saturday morning...

Earlier in the week I hadn't measured big enough at an appointment, so I was scheduled for a growth scan. I was 30 weeks and measured at 25. I wasn't worried at all because I know there is a baby rapidly growing in my belly, but I was thrilled to get an ultrasound out of it! He measured perfectly on target, and was a little over 3 lbs. It was such an early appointment he was dead asleep and wouldn't even roll over except for one quick second and the tech got 3 cute pictures of his little face. He's such a little squirt - he was moving and grooving all night, so I know that's why he couldn't wake up in the morning (like parents, like son!).

After a quick nap, I headed out to Magnolia for my shower. Pam's parents graciously let them host it out there and it is a lovely home for any kind of entertaining!

The girls did such an awesome job hosting their first baby shower! The invitations were adorable, Pam made the cutest diaper cake ever, the food was delicious, the games were too funny - it was just perfect! I had so much fun celebrating with everyone! And of course our nursery is now chock full of baby things, so that doesn't hurt either.

My favorite - blue punch with rubber duckies floating!

RJ Goodie's cake, of course!

This was the (losing) result of a game where everyone paired up and cut out parts of baby pictures of Jeremy and me to create what they thought Baby H would look like. Thanks, Pam & Adi, for the weird Picasso kid. Hopefully he doesn't get my squinty eyes!

They made us taste test 9 baby foods! My face tells you how good they were. Of course Tracy won...I think 11 month old Emma helped! :)

Grandma Judy (Jeremy's mom), Meemaw, Aunt Pat and Grandma Sally (my mom)

Auntie Sarah, Auntie Becky, me, Auntie Pam and Auntie Adrienne!

I spent the night and next morning enjoying time with the girls before we all had to end the weekend and return to the real world. I just love these girls so much and I can't wait for them to be a part of our son's life. Thank you so much for everything!

Progress.

We got through the holidays and we're finally starting to make some progress on baby decisions. Hooray!

First, we've decided on a name! I would say we're definitely 100% sure on the first name and 98% sure on the middle name. Sorry though...we're keeping the name under wraps until he's born or we'll announce it Easter weekend (the weekend he's due), whichever comes first. :) It's a big relief to both of us to have this done - I was getting very antsy that we would never find a name we loved. But we did!

Today we took advantage of sales at USA Baby and bought our nursery furniture! We got this crib and a matching dresser (to be used as a changing table on top - but not the dresser pictured, it's wider and shorter):

Nursery furniture was really stressing me out more than it should have been...I was checking out every single detail and hemming and hawing over every single crib. Do you know how many espresso cribs in similar styles they sell? Tons! But I did some research online and made sure to go shopping today on a full stomach and I was ready to make the decision! Jeremy was a little iffy...thankfully I had his parents there to help push him when he needed it. I think the g-parents-to-be had a lot of fun looking at all the baby stuff too! :)

So our nursery is going to come together quite quickly - we've gotten the room cleaned out this evening, besides 2 larger pieces of furniture I can't help Jeremy with. Tomorrow we'll go get the crib and start setting it up. The dresser has been ordered and should be delivered in 8-12 weeks - hopefully closer to 8 than 12 since I'm due in 11 weeks. Luckily it already comes assembled. We might even be getting our crib bedding this weekend - I wanted the Organic Dot bedding from Pottery Barn Kids but right when I decided to purchase it, they decided to discontinue it. We were so lucky that our dear friends, the Ryans, had the bumper and quilt we wanted, only used for 1 week before they decided it didn't fit their crib, and they were ready to sell it on Craigslist anyway. So I got what I wanted and for 50% off!

This is a picture I had a co-worker photoshop for me from the PBK website. It's sort of what our nursery will look like. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Audubon Russet (burnt orange) and we're getting dark furniture and that cream bedding. The nursery used to be our study/media room and we have tons of UT decor that we'll use to decorate the walls. Jeremy should be so proud of this bargain nursery we're planning!

We still need to order a rocker/glider and get a few extra things, like a rug, lamp, etc. But it feels good to actually have the ball rolling now! 11 weeks is going to go by so quickly...

Happy Birthday, Hannah Joy!

I wanted to welcome Miss Hannah Joy into the world - she arrived yesterday, January 15 at 10:37am, courtesy of our cousin Amy. We're so excited she's here and that the new family of 4 is all doing well!

Hannah Joy, 6 lbs 4 oz, 18 7/8" long

Lala Land!

What a trip we had!

We got to LA on Wednesday evening - and within 30 minutes of landing already had our first "memory" made. My suitcase never came down from baggage claim, and as I was trying very hard to remain calm, Jeremy was being resourceful and contacted the owner of a bag left at baggage claim that looked very similar to mine. Thankfully, the owner, a woman in Houston, answered and said her husband was in LA for the game and she'd contact him to check his bag. Sure enough, he just grabbed any old tan suitcase, so he came back and we switched. It only delayed us an extra 15 minutes, and that was a much better outcome than a truly lost bag!

Thursday was a long, fun day, regardless of how it ended. We got to Pasadena around 9am and got a great parking spot, about 10 cars away from the stadium. We took pictures in front of the Rose Bowl sign and then went to the ESPN Tailgate Party. It wasn't too crowded or hot then, so we had a good time eating and walking around to the different booths - the boys got to take a picture with a sports radio guy they like, they kicked a field goal into inflatable uprights, we took pictures (for free!) with the UT and Alabama helmets and with the National Championship Trophy. We took a breather in the shade and then walked back to the Texas Exes Tailgate Party.

Yuck. We paid $90 each for a wristband into this event and it was terrible. Unimaginable lines to get drinks (they were all unlimited, including beer, so people were collecting handfuls and boxes of beer at a time) and the food was disgusting. They had fajitas, which Jeremy said was more like a meat casserole, but not fajita fixins. They did have fruit and potato salad, which saved the day for me, because those always hit the spot! We relaxed in a shady spot on the grass, saw the band come through, and then made our way to the stadium. {We promptly received an email from Texas Exes on Monday morning apologizing for the poor quality and planning. They explained it was all planned by the Rose Bowl and the golf course, they simply lent their name to the event and will not do so in the future.}

Our seats were awesome! We were up in the corner of the end zone, but luckily had gotten tickets in the UT section, thank goodness. And our seats were on the very last row, so we had a wall to lean/stand against, plus great views of the field. We couldn't believe we were there!!

...and then we all know what happened during the game. We were just sick for Colt - if anyone deserved to be playing their heart out in that game, it was him. But it was the card he was dealt and our team did with it what they could. We did enjoy seeing Gilbert play and got a little preview for next season, which made us excited for it. In hearing about and then watching many post-game interviews, I think we can all agree we were incredibly proud to be Longhorns even if Alabama won the title. This is a great article Jeremy found on the faith of our team - I highly recommend reading it. It was disappointing to feel like all your planning and money spent on the trip ended in a loss, but it truly was what it was and we moved on to enjoy the next couple days in LA!

How I will remember the game - within 3 points at one point!

Friday we drove out to Paradise Cove in Malibu for lunch. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful drive down the Pacific Coast Highway. How fun to eat lunch with our toes in the sand while Houston was freezing! It also turns out the beach we were on is where the Beach Boys' first album cover was shot, which Jeremy just loved because he's such a big fan.

See? Same rock!

That afternoon we tried to drive all the way down Santa Monica Blvd. into Hollywood to see what Hollywood Blvd. was like - but after 2 hours stuck in traffic we turned around and went back to the hotel, nearly in tears from frustration (okay, I was in tears). I was a little disgruntled the rest of the evening!

We had a nice family dinner at Il Cielo, an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. The patio where we sat was gorgeous! The food was so-so...lots of seafood on the menu for an Italian place, so nothing sounded very appetizing to me, but it was still a nice experience. And the mini bruschettas and tomato and mozzarella salad I started with were delicious!

After dinner we went to the Griffith Observatory to see a nighttime view of LA. The building itself is gorgeous (and free) as were the views of LA. We could see the Hollywood sign but unfortunately it wasn't lit up, so it didn't show up in any pictures.

Saturday morning we said goodbye to Josh and Jamie, who had a looooong day of traveling ahead, and then we drove out to Rodeo Drive with Jeremy's parents. Jeremy was so sweet and said he wanted to buy me something off of Rodeo Drive so I would have a receipt from there...but I think he was hoping for a Starbuck's! :) We found a Coach store and ended up finding a perfect patent orange wristlet, perfect since we'd traveled there for a UT game and perfect for taking to future games!

After Rodeo Drive we drove down Hollywood Blvd. just to see what it was like. It was kind of crazy! Lots and lots of tourists and then lots of crazies dressed up - we saw a Marilyn Monroe, a Captain Jack Sparrow, a Superman, a Hulk, a Shrek, and about 5 Spidermen. I got to snap a quick picture of Grauman's Chinese Theater and we got a better view of the Hollywood sign in the daylight.

We had seen all we wanted to, so we started making our way towards the airport and toward an In-n-Out burger for lunch. The lines inside and in the drive-through were crazy, so we vetoed that idea and I found a cute little spot nearby (thanks, Google Maps & iPhone) in Culver City. It was all outdoor cafes and shops, such a pleasant little area! We had lunch at a gastro-pub (i.e. fancy pub food) called Ford's Filling Station. It was pretty good considering we just went in blindly. It was really nice to enjoy eating outside one last time before returning to the frigid tundra of Houston.

There were ups and downs on our trip, but it really was a once in a lifetime experience (though I'm sure we'd like to follow Texas to all the bowl games now!) that we're so grateful to have had.

Hook 'em, Horns!

*some pictures courtesy of Jamie - thanks!!

Happy 2010!

I think we're both really excited to be moving forward into a new year, sure to be filled with many new and exciting experiences. For history's sake, for if it is not studied it will be doomed to repeat itself, here's our 2009 Year in Review:

Jeremy passed his first CMA exam!

UT beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl!

We spent a few days snowboarding/not snowboarding in Telluride. I might have cried on the mountain and Jeremy might have severely bruised his tooshie.

Jeremy was Bob Vance and I was Phyllis Lapin-Vance for Valentine's Day. It's not as creepy as it sounds...

Miss Emma was welcomed into the world.

We finally got a new fence! Only 7 months after Ike took it down.

I only went on 1 of these 3 vacations, thanks to a certain company's "downsizing" due to the "economy." Boo.

I learned a hard lesson in who is really in charge in my life and in dealing with change gracefully. Well, still learning.

Baby Porter finally made it here!

I turned 25. Still unsure on how I feel about that.

We visited Josh & Jamie in northwest Arkansas. Almost died on a lake, but lived to tell about it.

I'm a top notch researcher, mainly through facebook and the interwebs.

Jeremy passed his 2nd CMA exam! Halfway done!

I moved...to a new blog address.

I spent the night on a barge in Morgan City, Louisiana.

We spent a lovely and relaxing weekend in Austin with the Harbisons...

And 2 days later found out I was pregnant!

Jeremy turned 29 and I finally got him a birthday dessert he actually liked.

We had a 707b reunion in Magnolia, minus but greatly missed Adrienne!

My stepsister Caroline was diagnosed with leukemia, but after an uphill battle with infections and hospital stays, she is now doing very well with the treatment and is on track for complete recovery!

We determined I watch way, way too much TV.

We found out our baby is a BOY!

I saw Britney Spears in concert, UT beat Texas Tech, and a ton of friends all in one weekend!

My mom, sister and I competitively speed walked in the Race for the Cure 5K.

We celebrated Thanksgiving but also had to say a very sad goodbye to our wonderful friend, Beau the Yorkie. Soon after we were introduced to Beau's little brother and are happily loving on the new addition!

It snowed in Houston! And stuck overnight!

We celebrated Christmas for 2 weeks straight and our 3rd wedding anniversary!

It was a heck of a year. Now onward and upward!

1,095 Days of {Us}!

1,095 days = 3 years. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary on December 30 with a wonderful dinner at the Glass Wall in the Heights. Since we didn't take a picture, I'll paint you a mental one of our food...we started with a spinach salad with oranges and goat cheese. We also split an appetizer of a brisket and short rib meatball over spaghetti. It was the perfect size to split and so delicious. Jeremy got the short rib with broccolini and horseradish mashed potatoes for his entree, and I got chicken fried steak with black eyed peas (does that count since I didn't eat them on the 1st?) and jalapeno cornbread. Of course we got dessert, and no splitting either! I got banana chocolate chip bread pudding with root beer sauce and melted white chocolate on top. Jeremy got a chocolate cake with almonds, mint icing, marshmallow center and topped with Guiness ale ice cream. Jeremy's was fabulous, but I think mine took the cake (pun intended!). It was really special to celebrate 3 years together - it's felt like much longer and not that long all at the same time. We've been through a lot in the past 3 years - the hardware business, a career change, a new dog, a new house, a new house with loads of problems since it's 50 years old, a hurricane, 2 dumb dogs, an emotional job change, 2 failed rounds of ovulation drugs and a surprise pregnancy, pregnancy sickness, working 80+ hour weeks at times, never ending car problems in the span of 3 months...but I wouldn't trade those years for the world, nor who I'm spending them with.

Jeremy - what can I say? You're the best and I love you!

Four Christmases

We might not have technically had 4 Christmases, but it sure felt like a marathon of celebrating! We started with the annual Beck lunch at Champions (golf club where our wedding reception was) the Saturday before. It worked well to plan it for the Saturday before, and Amanda even made it in from finishing her finals in Austin. It was a lovely lunch!

As you can see, the trees are stunning! And consider the above shot a very unflattering belly pic at 25 weeks exactly.

Sunday Jeremy's brother Josh and his wife Jamie arrived from Arkansas! Since her family lives in Iowa, they switch off holidays so we didn't get to see them at Thanksgiving. It makes holidays we do get with them even more fun! We had a yummy homecooked meal at Tony and Judy's and played some games - but I had to call it a night early because I was the only one in the group who had to work the next day!

Monday night we had a family dinner at Taste of Texas. I'd never been and I think it had been year's since Jeremy had, and we didn't really know what to expect. The decorations were pretty and the food was really good! They have a salad and bread bar, and we started with baked brie. We all ordered some kind of beef, but I was particularly happy with my prime rib (Josh and Jamie were too)! YUM! Jamie was the designated photographer all week, but I did get a picture of us outside the restaurant.

After dinner we went to see the "Clark Griswold" house in West Houston. It is truly amazing! I think Josh and Jamie were pretty impressed!

On Tuesday I was able to meet my family for lunch at Cheeburger, Cheeburger to celebrate Tyler's 12th birthday. It is so hard to believe he's 12 and that 12 years ago I was in 8th grade! That night, Jeremy planned a night out with several friends, including Josh and Jamie. We had a family dinner at the Black Lab, then went over to the Harbisons' house for a little bit. It was especially fun because our friends from Austin, Zach and Carrie, were able to come also! We decided to go to a bar in Rice Village and ended the night with fried pickles and cheesecake shakes at Katz's with the few people left standing that late!

On Wednesday we went out to Cypress to visit more with Carrie and Zach and to play with baby Porter. He's about 8 months old, and Baby H will be about the same next Christmas, so it was fun to see him and what he was getting into these days. He is just too precious, so easygoing and funny. It made me very excited for April and not stressed about baby registries or names or hospital classes. Later in the day I finally reached my breaking point. It's stressful, especially on a hormonal pregnant lady, to have to worry about planning around so many different families for 2 days of holidays. I started off well with shopping and wrapping and then all of a sudden it was the 23rd and I still felt like I had 1,000 things on my to do list. Jeremy was so sweet and let me cry it out, then made sure we made time for me to try on 653 maternity dresses at the Galleria so I could feel pretty on Christmas Eve. What a honey - those dressing rooms were painful for both of us, I think!

Thursday was really nice! We slept in, spent the day finishing up a few things, and then got ready at our own pace for church. We met Jeremy's family, including Aunt Pat and Uncle Dan, at Second Baptist for the 6pm candlelight service. It was so lovely and just what I needed. The holidays get so crazy and you know what, who cares if you didn't get to make the second, third or fourth batch of fudge? That's not really what mattered. In keeping with my highly emotional state all week, I had to choke back tears a few times as we were singing, but that was probably my favorite part of the whole holiday! Just standing in church, singing carols with my sweet husband and our baby boy. After church, we all went back to Tony and Judy's for dinner and an "As Seen on TV" White Elephant gift exchange. It was a hoot - Jeremy ended up with these "bottle tops" you can snap onto canned drinks and I got a very functional plastic cutter, which we put to use the next morning. We went home and had our own little Christmas while watching the end of White Christmas - I drank egg nog, Jeremy drank apple cider and we opened our gifts from each other. In addition to the National Championship trip to LA, Jeremy got me Season 3 of Friends and a Longhorn-shaped cake pan. I got Jeremy a couple silly t-shirts he asked for and a fun little FindIt game. It was completely delightful! Then we watched 3 episodes of True Blood (very Christmas-y, no?), a new TV series we're watching through Netflix. It was kind of a silly night, but it was our Christmas Eve and I loved it!

Christmas morning we woke up, got fully dressed, loaded the car with every single present, and headed over to Tony and Judy's for breakfast and presents with everyone. They live about 10 minutes from us, so it makes sense to start there on Christmas morning. We were all incredibly spoiled...for all promising it would be a small Christmas this year! Around noon we headed over to my mom's house to open presents with her, Jim, Granmomo, Amanda and Tyler. We had a relaxing afternoon, a late lunch and then we stopped by my dad's to pick up our presents from him (I'd dropped theirs off on the 23rd but had forgotten to get ours). Dad, Heather and her girls were having an especially lazy day - we were jealous! Again, we were completely spoiled in ways we don't deserve. We were gone from about 9am to 6pm, and running on little sleep anyway, so we took a well-deserved nap before we played Beatles Rock Band all night with the family. It is such a fun game! I think we were all pretty skilled by the end of the night!

Saturday we were totally lazy until we did a quick dinner with the family, and then went to Emily and Justin's Christmas party. I wish I had taken a picture of all her food (though hopefully she'll blog it soon) - it was amazing and all homemade! Jeremy liked the bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese but my favorite were the Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches dipped in white and milk chocolate. Oh my goodness, it was a pregnant girl's dream! I think I stood around the island the entire time stuffing my face.

Sunday we were even more lazy. The house was a wreck. We probably had a bunch of things we should have been doing. But we just enjoyed each other's company and with how much Jeremy has worked this year, that was priceless! Later in the evening we said our goodbyes to Josh and Jamie, who drove back the next morning, but we weren't too sad since we're seeing them again in LA in a couple days.

The holidays were as exhausting as they were fun. I can't wait until next year, though, with our little boy and will certainly not be doing 4 separate Christmases anymore (sorry!).