Kari's Blog

Well…today is my official due date given by my doctor. In my mind, she was supposed to be here by now….obviously, things have not gone according to my plan. They really never do though.

Our sweet Abby has decided that she really likes living in my belly and wants to stay there for a while. Fortunately for us, there is a beautiful thing called an induction, which will be taking place tomorrow morning! I couldn’t be more excited for tomorrow to come…and for Abby to come. I have been dreaming these last 9 months what life will be like once she is here, what she will look like, what kind of baby she will be…and on and on it goes! Tomorrow I guess we will find out!

I have loved being pregnant and having her inside of me…but I am ready for her to be here. It really is amazing how fast time has gone. It feels like yesterday we were at our first doctors appointment, and here we are, waiting for her arrival. The Lord has really blessed us, and we thank him daily for the gift of our daughter.

Here is one last belly shot before tomorrow!

40 weeks...Abby's official due date!

We're going to be parents tomorrow!!

Hopefully my next post will include some great pictures of our sweet Abigail Lily!

We are finally here and FINALLY  settled into our apartment. We’ve worked really hard these last several weeks trying to get our townhouse packed and moved to Waco (and I had the swollen feet and ankles to prove it!).  We were so thankful to have the help of our family and friends. We definitely couldn’t have done it without them.

Now that we are here and settled, we are just getting used to a new city and anxiously awaiting Abby’s arrival.

I have had such a wonderful time “nesting” and getting things ready for Abby. I have been waiting so long to do that and it’s been so much fun! We put her crib together, hung pictures, boiled pacifiers, washed clothes, blankets, boppy covers….you name it, I’ve done it! We put together her pack n’ play, swing, and bouncer….all of which make me want her here even more!

Here are a few pictures of her room…

look at those pillow letters! too cute!

We also set up the guest bed in her room so that friends and family will have a place to sleep when they come to visit!

I love the tutu around the lamp

I’ve got a couple more projects I’d like to complete before her arrival. I’m going to start working on making a hospital door sign. I’ve seen some really cute ones on Etsy, but they are way expensive, so I thought I could just make my own!

Here is, which will probably be, one of my last belly shots. It’s hard to believe that I am already 38 weeks. It seems like we just found out that we were pregnant…now she is almost here!

37 weeks

Another blog you say? What is going on? Time people….I’ve actually got some extra of it. This can also be used as proof to Andrew that I am sitting and resting instead of working on moving stuff. Have I ever mentioned that I am HORRIBLE at sitting and resting? I am. I am terrible at it. Especially when I know there are things that need to be done.

I’ve recently bought a couple of new little outfits for Abby. One will be her going home outfit from the hospital…because really, every special occasion deserves a special outfit. Another one came from the sale rack at Target and I just couldn’t pass it up. I mean…it was on sale! What was I supposed to do? I also visited this cute little baby boutique and some bows and headbands JUMPED into my hands and I had to buy them. I was forced and had no choice.  This is what a summer vacation will do to you people. Leave you with no work and lots of free time to buy things for your first baby girl. Now all I need is for Abby to make her grand entrance into this world so she can wear all the cute outfits I’ve been planning for her!

Going home outfit

Look closely at the bloomers….they are crocheted! Oh Janie and Jack, you are a dangerous store!

outfit from Target

The flowered leggings just get me. So cute!

I also forgot to mention that I bought a cute little hat off of Etsy for Abby to wear in the hospital. Etsy is also a very dangerous thing.

hat from Etsy

At my shower in Houston I received a rocking chair made by one of my best friends and her mom. I am currently obsessed with this chair. It’s so cute and little and girly and just perfect for Abby. Every time I look at it I can’t help imagining Abby sitting in it reading a book or how adorable it will look in her nursery.

I mean, really. How cute is this?

back of the chair

My mom gave me a really special present too. She had the dress that I wore home from the hospital framed to go up in Abby’s room. After all these years the dress is in perfect condition and it looks so great in the frame. I can’t wait to hang it up.

my dress

I am so incredibly behind in my blogging….maybe I can blame that on being 9 months pregnant, or maybe on the fact that we are about to move to Waco…yes….those seem like great reasons to me!

Andrew and I have been so blessed to have been given 3 baby showers. We have literally been showered with so many gifts for Abby it’s incredible. We are so thankful to everyone for that.

My mom, sister and some aunt’s threw me a shower in Port Neches. It was a lovely shower, filled with great food, friends, family and gifts! I enjoyed every minute of it! Here are some pics of the day:

Cute cake by my cousin Rachel

Waiting for the shower to start

Food!

The next shower was thrown by my best friends here in Houston. I was blown away by everything they did to make the shower so special. It was another day filled with yummy food, great friends and fun!

food table

yummiest drinks!

cupcakes by Becca

seriously..look at that tutu!

banner by licia

onesies

my wonderful hostesses

oh the food! It was all so good!

Mom and me

presents...check out the rocking chair for Abby!

My third shower was given by my life group at church. These ladies made the day very special. I had a great time sharing it with them!

yummy food

those cupcakes were delicious!

presents!

Today I got to celebrate Father’s Day with the best husband around! We went to Carrabba’s and enjoyed a delicious lunch and have spent the afternoon relaxing with each other. I can’t wait to see Andrew interact with Abby….I know he is going to be the best dad to her.

lunch at Carrabba's

This post might be a little late…but it’s better late than never! Last weekend we headed down to Port Neches for my cousin’s wedding. It was so nice to see my family and a great wedding!

Here are some pics from the night:

Andrew and me

Kelli and me

Kelli and Toby

Onto baby news….I am now at 29 weeks….it will be 30 on Saturday! I can’t believe that we only have 10 weeks left. She is growing more and more, which means her kicks have gotten harder and harder. I had my gestational diabetes test done and it came back negative. No diabetes! Yippee! I was also told by the nurse that I drank the “orange sludge” faster than anyone she has ever seen! Booyah!!!!

Here are some baby bump pics:

27 weeks

29 weeks

This past weekend Andrew and I went on our “babymoon.” Basically one last trip with just each other before Abby arrives. Our babymoon can be summed up as follows: eat, relax, eat, laugh, eat….repeat as needed! It was perfect!

Friday night we went and ate at a place called Shady Grove. I had gone there a couple of weekends ago with my girlfriends and knew that Andrew would love it! Andrew got a big ol’ hot dog and I got a hamburger covered in chili….which looks absolutely nasty in the picture, but it tasted so good!

Shady Grove

chili and cheese hamburger

hot dog...someone couldn't wait to take the picture!

After dinner we headed over to Mozart’s…a local coffee shop that we always end up going to when we are in Austin. It has a fun vibe and good coffee.

Saturday we slept in, then headed over to The Domain…an outside shopping area. It was so nice! I loved looking in all the nice shops and watching all the people. There were some interesting ones to say the least!

at The Domain

I decided I’m tired of just having face shots, so we asked a nice man to take our picture:

The Domain

After the domain we ate some lunch and got ice cream at Amy’s. Yummo. Then we started the world’s longest search for a putt-putt place. The one place that Andrew found before hand only had about 7 spots to park in, which were all full, so we decided to let the GPS do it’s thing and find another one for us. So….seven hours, one ghetto putt-putt place later we found a good one! I’d say it was worth all the effort! I won’t be including who won the game…but I think you can guess!

Saturday night we went to a place called Moonshine for dinner. My best friend Alicia recommended it and we both thank her! It was delicious! We got there around 8 and found out that the wait was about one and a half  to two hours. We weren’t sure at first if we wanted to wait that long, but decided it would be fun. Let me tell you….it was totally worth it! That was some of the best food I have ever eaten….and the dessert? Don’t even get me started on the dessert. I could eat that for the rest of my life.

waiting at Moonshine

We didn’t get any pictures of the food because we were too busy stuffing our faces.

Sunday we sadly checked out of the hotel and headed over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before we drove back to Houston.

Coffee for Andrew...

this just makes me laugh

As you can tell, we like a little coffee with our Splenda and cream.

I’d say it was a great babymoon. Too bad we can’t do it again next weekend!

Let’s just face it…this sweet girl is already consuming many of my thoughts…and a lot of my belly! Why not let her have her own post?

She already has some adorable outfits to wear…I can’t wait to see them all on her. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Janie and Jack dress from Mimi

Baby Gap dress from Mimi

adorable romper from Nana

play outfit from Carter's

I mean really, how could you not fall in love with these little outfits???

We have also registered for all our showers, which was fun and incredibly stressful all at the same time. We have picked out and purchased her bedding, her crib and dresser/changing table combo came in today. (Thanks David for helping pick those up!!!) I can’t wait to see her nursery all put together. I have big plans for that room!

Abby's bedding

another view

the quilt

Her crib and dresser are white and I can’t wait to see it all put together!

Abby continues to grow…as shown in my growing belly size. She kicks and moves around all the time. She also lets me know when I am sleeping in a position that she does not like. Andrew has been able to feel her several times, which was thrilling for both of us. We only have about 13 more weeks to go…I can’t believe it has gone by so quickly. I can’t wait to meet our little girl.

24 weeks

25 weeks

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. I have been avoiding posting because I knew there would be so much to say and catch up on. Last night in all my genius I decided that I could just do a post of pictures to catch up. So….here goes!

Girls Weekend….a fabulous time spent in Austin with my very best friends!

On our way to Austin!

Pedi time

hanging out

Bec and Kathy

dinner at Shady Grove

Laura and Kathy

Easter Weekend is up next….Andrew and I went to church on Saturday night followed by a delicious dinner at Pappadeaux Restaurant.  Sunday we slept in and then worked on our Easter lunch. This included ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, salad and homemade bread. What a fun weekend!

at Pappadeaux

Easter lunch

The next big event has been Andrew’s birthday week. It has been a lot of fun to plan and surprise him with different gifts through the week. Most of the gifts have revolved around food….let’s just face it, the boy is easy to please! Here are some pictures from the week.

Andrew REALLY excited to eat at Rudy's

Going to Rudy's...his first birthday gift

on his birthday....presents!

at Taco Bueno...another gift!

He has also gotten a “fancy pants” meal on his actual birthday, Ben Fold’s concert tickets, a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and finally a birthday meal at Roadhouse.

Whew! Finally caught up! Coming up will be a post all about Abby and about our “babymoon!”

Abigail Lily Maddox!!! We absolutely love her name. Abigail means “my father’s joy.” In all of our searching the one stipulation was that the name needed to mean something good. I think we met that requirement!  We are thrilled to know that she is healthy and developing exactly on track!

To celebrate the news we decided to throw a “Gender Reveal” party with our friends. This weekend was spent getting things ready for the fun celebration!

After a lot of research, we decided to make cupcakes and put a pink jelly bean in the center. I’d love to say that it was my original idea, but I stole it from someone else. Oh well…it was still cute.

Here are some pics from the party:

Table of Goodies

Another shot of the table

Yummy cupcakes

Abby's glamour shot and her first piggy bank

We also made take home goodie bags with her name attached….a fun way to announce the name we have chosen for her!

goodie bag

I would say the party was a lot of fun! I know we definitely enjoyed ourselves!

Onto other baby news…according to our book, Abby is now 1 pound and about 8 inches long. It says her senses are developing and that she is possibly practicing her grip…I’m not really sure what she would be holding onto. Silly girl. She can also perceive light and that she can hear the sound of our voices! I think that is the most thrilling. It’s the sweetest thing to hear Andrew talk to her. I can say she already has him wrapped around her finger. She is definitely a mover…I can feel her wiggling around all the time now. Which is quite an amazing feeling. I know I will miss it once she is here.

Here are a couple of updated “baby bump” pics.

21 weeks

22 weeks

another 22 weeks shot

A couple of weeks ago Andrew and I took some “professional” shots of my belly. He has all the lighting equipment set up at the church so we took advantage of that and his good camera. Here are some of our favorites.  I must say, I have one talented husband. I can’t wait until he can take pictures of Abby.

20 weeks

my hands

I LOVE this one

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Andrew and I decided to carry on the tradition of cooking a, as I like to call it, “fancy pants meal” together. I took care of the dessert and Andrew made the main course.

I decided to make a chocolate silk cheesecake which was more of an ordeal than I would like to remember. Details will go unsaid, but at one point I was ready to throw the whole thing away. Thank goodness I have a patient husband who was determined to save the cheesecake. I”m glad he did because it was pretty darn tasty.

Dessert

For the main course Andrew made a dish called Shrimp and Scallop Mornay….which really should have been called Shrimp and Scallop Awesomeness. It was so good. Basically it was a delicious combination of shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, cream and lots of cheese. Yum. That is all I have to say about that. We also had homemade mashed potatoes, asparagus and homemade bread. I think I might be a little spoiled.

Shrimp and Scallop Awesomeness

The only bad thing about cooking a big, delicious meal at home is the mess that awaits you afterward…..

the mess

I got creative and decided to make some decorations for the table. I cut out the hearts at school and on some of them wrote things that I love about Andrew…..of course I did not have enough hearts to write everything!

the obligatory couple picture

All in all, I would say it was a spectacular Valentine’s Day spent with my hubby!

On to baby news…..We are now 18 weeks and will find out the sex of the baby in 15 days!!!! We absolutely can’t wait! It will be so exciting to know what we are having.

18 weeks