Kari's Blog

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

This has been another wonderfully relaxing weekend. Which, nowadays, is definitely needed for both of us.

Saturday we celebrated our three years of being together…three years ago, Andrew and I were going on our first date. It was the best first date I had ever had, and I have to say, it was even better yesterday than it was three years ago. So much has changed since then and it was really fun to compare now to then. We went to eat at Churrascos, which was yummy as ever, then headed over to Central Market to walk around and look at all the crazy foods they sell there. (Which is exactly what we did on our first date.) After we gawked at $199/pound  truffles we headed over to the galleria to pick up some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. We tried a new one, peanut butter something or another, and were highly disappointed. Of course it didn’t stop us from eating it all.

I cherish spending time with Andrew….it was a wonderful evening and I look forward to many more to come!

At Churrascos

the not-so-exciting cheesecake

relaxing on the couch

On to baby news…

I am now 16 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty great! I still feel pretty wiped out after I get home from work, but not anything like before. A baby bump is starting to show, so that is exciting! Evey once-in-a-while I feel the baby move around…it almost feels like I have little butterflies in my stomach. It is the most amazing feeling ever! One day at work it felt like Peanut was knocking on my stomach….like, “hello! anybody out there?”

Peanut is now, according to the book we are reading, 3-5 ounces and 4-5 inches long. His/Hers muscles are growing stronger, eyes and ears are in the right place and the eyes are actually working now! (although they are not going to open, they can perceive light). It is so incredible to know that there is a little baby growing inside of me…I can’t wait to meet our sweet baby.

16 weeks

Well, today was my first day back from a glorious Christmas break. It was actually a pretty good day. I think I was expecting the worst, but got a lot better. It was good to see all my sweet little students. They were all full of stories and wanted my undivided attention.

Yesterday we had our monthly Doctor’s visit. It went really well. We got to hear Peanut’s heartbeat…157! The doc. said everything else is looking good. I was not so secretly dreading my weigh in after the break, but happily I only gained one pound! Whoohooo! And that’s all I have to say about that.

Here are some of the pictures from Christmas:

Christmas Eve

White Christmas!

Joseph...what a cutie!

I have to be honest….I just spent about 5 minutes looking up how to spell the plural form of Christmas. It still looks really weird…if it is wrong, please forgive me. Also..I am very sad to report that I do not have any pictures for this post….they will be coming soon!

That’s right! Andrew and I had three Christmases, and all three were wonderful.

Our first Christmas celebration was just Andrew and me. We carried on our tradition from last year of pizza and presents. Meaning, we ordered pizza and then opened presents. It was wonderfully laid back and just what we wanted. Of course, we had to video opening presents, which always turns out to be a hoot. I would put a video up here, but I absolutely HATE hearing my voice on video.

Our second Christmas celebration happened in Dallas with Andrew’s family. We spent several days up there and had a fabulous time. Erin, Brett, Matthew and Joseph came and stayed with us and we had a great time together. Matthew and Joseph have grown so much….Matthew is a ham and cute as he can be, and Joseph is adorable…always wanting to be held (which of course I obliged.) We had snow on Christmas Eve so it was my first ever White Christmas. That was thrilling! Our Christmas in Dallas was perfect, we were sad to see it end.

Last but not least, our third Christmas was in Port Neches. Another wonderful time spent with family. Kelli and Toby came over and we opened presents all together one night, I cooked a couple of meals with mom, and both Andrew and I did ALOT of resting. It was just what we needed. We were also sad to see that time end with my family.

So, I guess I need to address the Baby part of the title. Well….Andrew and I are expecting our first baby this year! We have been waiting a while to share the news with the Facebook and blog world, but the word is out! We are absolutely thrilled and cannot wait for July 15th to come (my due date). This has already been such a growing and learning experience and I know it is not over yet! I am a little over 12 weeks right now and feeling great! We can’t wait to meet our little Peanut.

Little Peanut 8 weeks old!

I know, I know. I have been a very bad blogger. The only way I could remember what my last post was about was to go back and look. Pathetic.

So many fun things have happened, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I can just start with the thing that sticks out the most.

I spent last weekend my best friends in the whole wide world. It was so great. We giggled, caught up on life, giggled, busted out the high school yearbooks and did some more giggling. Needless to say, Andrew disappeared for a long while that night. These are the girls that know me best, that love me no matter what, and even though we do not see each other that much, when we do get together it’s like we never skipped a beat. I am so thankful for them and their friendship.

This weekend Andrew’s folks came in to spend the weekend with us. We had a great time hanging out, chatting and relaxing. It is always sad to me when family leaves…makes me realize how much I miss having family around. It was really great to see them! And we will get to see my family soon for Thanksgiving. Whoohoo! Bring on the turkey!

Next week seems like it will be just as busy as last week….and the weekend outta be pretty darn fun too! Our good friends David and Lindsey are getting married! Whoohoo! So excited for them!

My besties at the Cheesecake Factory

Becca and me

Licia and Becca

Laura and Licia

We waited a LONG time to be seated…..lots of opportunities for pictures!

Licia and me

I realize I’m a little late at posting the last day of my birthday week. Oops. Time just gets away from ya’ I guess.

On Monday Andrew and I celebrated my actual birthday. We ate a  delicious meal at the Cheesecake Factory. That is one of my favorite places to eat…it is just so good! We split a meal so that we could enjoy our own piece of cheesecake.

We had a wonderful time talking, laughing and thinking about all the things that have happened over the last year of our lives. Good times for sure!

I got my last gift…a circle diamond necklace. It is so wonderfully dainty, but yet so sparkly! I love it.

It was a wonderful week, I not so secretly wished it was not over! Guess I will have to wait another year.

On Saturday Andrew and I met up with Stacy and her sweet little girl Cadence. Andrew took pictures of them and I must say…they turned out so cute! I’ve got one talented husband! That was alot of fun for me….it gives me an excuse to be really silly, make faces and dance around to get Cadence to smile. There were also several times where Stacy couldn’t help but laugh at my antics.

Saturday night Andrew arranged a dinner with two of my besties, Becca and Laura. Michael, Becca’s husband, was able to come, but Sean was out of town. We had a great time eating at Rudy’s and catching up. After dinner we headed over to our place for birthday cake. Sadly, the cake did not turn out too well..but we all had a good laugh about it and ate it anyway.

I had such a good time talking and laughing with my old friends. I know I am so blessed to have friends that I can not see for a while, but then pick right back up with when we do get together. It’s like we never skip a beat.

Today I got my 5th gift…a Matt Wertz cd. Oh man, his voice is like butter! I love it.

Here are some pics from Sat. night:

At Rudy's

Becca, me and Laura after dinner

And here is one of my favorite pics of Cadence….she is just adorable, I can hardly stand it!

what a cutie!

Friday morning Andrew made me breakfast. Upon my request, he made cinnamon rolls. Oh man, do I love cinnamon rolls. That was definitely a great start to my morning.

I figured that was my present for the day, but was surprised again that afternoon. Andrew had left a note in my car while I was at school! He is so sneaky! The note talked about smelling good things, so I was thinking maybe he got me flowers. Well, I was right. I walked in the kitchen door and there was a note telling me to “Stop” with an arrow pointing to the kitchen table. And on the table was a vase full of beautiful red roses. What a sweet husband I have!

That night Andrew and I went on a date of my choice. I decided to eat at Texas Roadhouse and then go to the mall together. What fun I had! Andrew is not much of a shopper, but it was great fun to have him there with me. I really enjoyed it, and I think he did too. I got a cute sweater from the Gap and of course a cookie from the cookie company.

I told Andrew he is going to spoil me….I think that might be the point.

Today for my birthday week I found another note waiting for me in my car. It was a clever little note with several clues as to what my gift would be.

Of course all day I was wondering and guessing what it might be….it drove me crazy! Andrew says all these secrets build character…I”m not so sure about that.

Once Andrew got home I got my third birthday gift….the movie No Reservations! Yay! I love that movie and have been wanting it for a really long time. I can’t wait to watch it.

Today I had a sweet note in my car telling me that my surprise was soon to come. Of course, most of the way to work I was speculating what my gift could be.

Later on at lunch I grabbed my lunchbox and opened it up and found my sweet surprise! It was a delicious mango! Seriously, it was one of the best mangos I have ever eaten. Yum!

Andrew makes this so much fun and it makes me look forward to the rest of the week!