Christmas Festivities

Hope this post finds everyone healthy and happy! Since I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, I will take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. We had a good Christmas, despite me having the worst cold ever! I felt bad starting Tuesday and got progressively worse through Christmas. Such a bad time to feel bad - but I made it through. I still am very congested, but definitely on the mend.

We had dinner and exchanged gifts with Adrian's parents on Christmas Eve. It was the first time I had seen their new house in Magnolia. It is magnificent on 3 acres (I think) that sits on a private lake. I can't wait to see Emily running amuck out there with her cousins - it is the perfect place for grandkids to play. We reminisced about how we had to fly 11 hours last Christmas (to Argentina) to see them and now they were just a 30-minute drive away. We are happy to have them close again.

Christmas Day we spent at my brother’s house. We had a wonderful lunch prepared by Heidi and got to break in their china dishes (first time they have been used in the 2 years they have been married). My Grandma Van Bergen came to Houston for a few weeks from Florida to celebrate Christmas with us. It was nice to see her. She is excited to almost be a Great Grandma, but also finds it hard to believe that she will soon be the “mother of a grandpa”.

I have to point out the shirt I am wearing in the picture – It says “what’s kickin?” and has two little pink foot prints. My best friend sent it to me for Christmas. It is so cute – I had to give props to Melody – THANKS MEL!!!

Today I am 31 weeks pregnant – just 9 more weeks (or so to go). I go to the doctor every other week now. And the week before Christmas, Adrian and I completed our Childbirth Education class. We registered for baby items a few weeks ago. If you are interested, we are registered at Babies “R” Us and Walmart.

That is all for now. We wish you all a safe and Happy New Year!

Snow in Houston????

Yep, that's right folks! We it was snowing yesterday in Houston, Texas! I am don't mean a few flurries here and there - it was SNOWING like crazy! I took the day off to burn some vacation time that I was about to lose and Adrian had the day off work. So we knocked out our Christmas shopping and while we were out, it started to snow. What better way to get in the Christmas spirit in Texas than to see now? It continued to snow through early afternoon at our house, but I never could get a good enough picture to really see the snow. It never stuck to the ground at our house. But there are tons of pictures from people to the southeast of us that had a couple of inches of snow. Here is a link to see good "Snow in Houston" pictures: http://www.click2houston.com/slideshow/slideshows/18247800/detail.html

It's been a while

I know I have been bad about blogging lately. I will try to do better for those of you that read it regularly. I am currently 27 weeks pregnant... only 13 weeks to go. Which seems both far off and right around the corner! We picked out a purple palette for Emily's room with large colorful flowers on the bedding. We bought her bedding a few weeks ago. Here is a link to what it looks like (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2919878). I didn't want to go with a pink nursery, since pink isn't my favorite color, and I am sure she will have no shortage of pink gifts! Adrian got busy painting the nursery, I am posting some "nursery in progress" pictures. He painted the room all by himself, with lots of love and pride. He will eventually put up the matching wallpaper border, but he's off to a good start. We have a crib and changing table that a friend is lending us (minus a few bolts). So we have ordered the missing pieces and we will be in business! I can't wait to have it all done and promise I'll post pictures as soon as it's complete.

We had a great Thanksgiving here at the McNemar home. Adrian's parents are officially living in Houston again, after 3 years in Argentina. We hosted Thanksgiving while they get settled into their new home. His sister (Bonnie) and her two daughters came in from Baton Rouge as well. We also had my parents and Jimmy and Heidi over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was my first ever attempt at cooking a turkey. I was quite nervous about hosting my first Thanksgiving and how the turkey would turn out. But I have to brag a bit and tell you the turkey was perfect and the day went off without a hitch. I couldn't have done it without the help of EVERYONE. Whether it was bringing food, helping in the kitchen or taking over the clean up, everyone was such a huge help and it made for a pleasant day of family and food! Here is picture of my table. It also gave us an opportunity to use our new china and crystal (we haven't had an opportunity since we received them as wedding gifts).



Lastly, I will leave you with a belly shot. Melody is always asking to see how big I've gotten. I didn't think I'd grown that much, until I saw the picture. WHOA! And I still have 3 months to go!

23 weeks and counting

I know a lot of you don't see us often and I have been asked several times if I am "showing" or if I have a baby bump. Well, I don't think I ever had the "baby bump." It was more like all of the sudden I looked really pregnant. Tomorrow I am exactly 23 weeks (only 17 more to go) so we are almost 6 months pregnant. I don't think there is any doubt any more (by looking at me) that I am with child. I sometimes wonder if she is going to be an amazon baby! I can't even imagine how big I will be in 3 more months! So I had Adrian take a picture of me to post for all you curious minds... Not my best picture ever, but it will have to do for now. She is quite active now, I feel her moving around all the time. I think she likes the choir at church and Mexican food, because she is particularly active after a big plate of fajitas or a great song at church. We like to think that she recognizes my mom's voice as well. She often starts moving when my mom starts talking or if I have her on speaker phone. Probably all are coincidences, but we like to think there is more to her movement than that! Hope all that are reading this are healthy and happy!

It's a girl!!!!

We went Monday morning for our ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. But it just wouldn't cooperate and kept the legs closed the whole time! We were disappointed, but gave into the idea that it would just have to be a surprise. But after talking to Stacey (in Houston) she got me all riled up, saying they didn't try hard enough (Thanks Stacey). So I shopped around and we went to one of those 3D places but just for a gender check. And after lots of sugar and a Dr. Pepper, I laid down on the table. The tech poked and prodded and that little baby really didn’t want to show us the goods. But finally, we saw her girly parts! We are thrilled to be welcoming Emily Lynn in just 19 weeks (or so)!!!!! The posted pictures are from her 21 week ultrasound.

McNemar updates

Well, I think it is safe to say that we are fully recovered from Hurricane Ike. We are back to normal, as is most of Houston, I think. I was out of work for 2 weeks, our building had no power. And Adrian worked at different Red Robins throughout Houston for about 2 weeks. But his store is back in working order and I am still playing "catch up" from my time out. We are very thankful and blessed that we had no damage (that we can tell) from the storm.

I spent last weekend in Dallas visiting my best friends, Melody and Stacy (Mel was my matron of honor and Stacy was one of my bridesmaids). I had to be there Friday for a client meeting and stayed the weekend to hang out with them. It most likely will be the last time I see them until after the baby is born. My doctor has asked that I not travel outside of Houston after Thanksgiving, even by car. Just in case the little girl or guy decides to come early. We enjoyed the nice weather with Conner (Melody's son) at the park and went out for ice cream. I stayed Saturday with Stacy and we went out for pizza and watched movies. A change from our usual bar escapades - since I am with child!

This week I am 19 weeks pregnant, one more week and we are half way there! I have started to feel the baby move almost on a daily basis. It is more of a fluttering feeling, no jabs just yet. I think he/she is on a little bit of a schedule because I usually feel a flurry of movement around 3pm. It is such a cool feeling and it makes me smile no matter what I am doing at the time. I have had to pretty much switch to maternity pants now. None of my old pants even zip anymore. But I still don’t have what I would call a “baby bump”. It just looks like I have gained a lot of weight. Last check up I had lost a pound! We go on October 20th for our next ultrasound and to find out if it is a boy or a girl. We can't wait! It is so hard having to wait! But it will be worth it. We can’t wait to tell everyone! We are too impatient to have it be a surprise.

We found out yesterday that Adrian’s parents are about the move back from Argentina to the US. They have started the transition and should be back in Houston for good by November 1st. We are very excited. They moved to Argentina not long after we started dating so we haven’t had a lot of time with them. So we are looking forward to having them here – especially to see their 3rd grandbaby into the world!

Lastly, I would like to ask for your prayers for my Aunt Melinda and her family. My Uncle’s father (Bill Wolfram) passed away Sunday. I have known him my whole life and we shared many family gatherings with Bill and Mary Wolfram. I have always called him Grandpa Wolfram, as he has always been a grandfather figure to me and my brother. God Bless him!

Well, I didn’t mean to end on a sad note! I will post again soon, hopefully with the happy news - BOY or GIRL???

Pictures after Hurricane Ike

These photos were taken at my parent's house. The damage was much more extensive
in their neighborhood than in ours. Click on the photo to see the Photobucket Album.
We still do not have power at our house, but my parents do (as well as my brother).
In addition, many friends have low water pressure or none at all. And the city has
suggested not drinking tap water at this point. Also, we have a curfew in effect
until Friday. I talked to my boss today and our office has no power, so no work on Monday.
Adrian was also off today because his Red Robin doesn't have power or water.
Depending on how long it lasts, I may fly or drive to our Dallas office to work. Cell phone
use is still very spotty, but that is the best way to get in touch with us.

We survived Ike!

First and foremost - we are all healthy and safe. We do not have power and are staying at my brother's house, along with my parents. We went to our house this morning and everything is ok. The neighborhood is a mess with lots of shrubs and large limbs down, but no damage to the house and no water in the house. We feel truly blessed and consider ourselves very, very lucky. The rest of Houston is in pretty bad shape. After checking on our house, we headed to my parent's house because they were stuck with trees and limbs down. Their neighborhood was hit very hard. But with an axe and chain saw, they cleared a path so they could leave and come to my brother's house. We will be here until we get power again at our house. The electric companies are saying it could be up to 3 weeks before everyone has electricity. Last night was a terrifying night that I never want to go through again. But we made it! And we are all OK, which truly makes me feel blessed. The first picture is of our front yard and the subsequent pictures are from my parent's house.

Best friend visit

Ok, so I am not great about blogging in a timely fashion. But I do eventually get around to it. My best friend (Melody) drove in from Dallas last weekend with her 18 month old son (Conner). We had a blast playing with him and going to the pool (even though he made a run for the deep end twice). Conner couldn’t really get out “Erin” but affectionately called me “E” – which I thought was even better. Melody brought tons of baby items and clothes for us to borrow. It was great to see her and Conner both. We took a few cute pictures that I wanted to share. My favorite is the one with the clothes basket on his head. I think he was looking for Beau in our room, who often hid from him. And Melody went to find him and yelled “Come look at this.” When I walked in he had the basket on his head! I made a bee line for my camera. I can’t wait for our baby to arrive so we can capture silly moments like these!

12 weeks and counting

We went to our 12-week screening ultrasound Monday. They take all sorts of measurements and blood to assess your risk of chromosomal abnormalities. So far, everything is just peachy! This ultrasound is much harder to make out. But the white fleck on the left towards the top is a foot. And the head is to the right side. The baby had its hand in a fist and was touching its face. It was moving all over the place. And Monday was the first time we heard the heartbeat. This will be our last photo until October when we find out the sex.

Funny Cartoon

Well I haven't blogged in a while. I really haven't had much to blog about. I am about to finish up my first trimester and hope that all the morning sickness, gas and heartburn start to subside. My best friend (Melody) and her one and a half year old son (Conner) are staying with us for the weekend. I am so excited to see them! I will definately have pictures and stories to post on Monday! I ran across this cartoon today and it made me laugh out loud. So I had to share:

Mini Vacation

Last weekend Adrian and I headed to Galveston for a mini-vacation. We headed up Sunday morning and spent the day at Schlitterbahn Waterpark. We had a blast, it made us feel like kids again! Later that night we walked around the strand and had dinner. The next morning after breakfast and check out, we headed to the beach to relax before it was time to leave. Although we were only there for one night, it felt like a lot longer. It was the perfect little get-a-way for us two. It was sort of to celebrate our two birthdays and I told Adrian it could be our “Babymoon.” That is the new thing among pregnant couples: one last hurrah before the baby arrives. I think that is the closest we will get to a vacation for a couple of years!

Also, since the scorching summers have started in Houston, Adrian has been a trouper, driving around his ’93 Chevy Cavalier with no air conditioning. The car, with only 68,000 miles on it, was my grandfather’s car at one time. Well, the 100 degree afternoons (and the fact that the windows quit rolling down) drove Adrian to his breaking point. He couldn’t stand it anymore. In addition, we needed a “baby friendly” car in the next 7 months anyway. So we broke down and bought him a 2009 Nissan Versa. He loves it, and it is wonderful on gas mileage. I told him a car seat will look so cute in it!

9 weeks

We went to the doctor last Monday to get complete measurements done. Everything is great and the baby is measuring exactly on track. Meaning - we thought I was nine weeks and the baby is measuring exactly that. So the due date of March 2nd is the one we will stick with. By the way, who knows what March 2nd is? Texas Independence Day! Just found that out... A little tidbit of knowledge for you all. I am thrilled to say I have not had morning sickness in over a week (knocking on wood).

I am posting our latest picture – it really is starting to look like a baby now! We could see the “feet” moving on the ultrasound. It is just amazing how much has changed in only 2 weeks! The baby is about one inch long, or the size of a grape. Our next picture won’t be until October (at 20 weeks) when we find out the sex. We can’t wait!!! Will it be Emily Lynn or Joel Allan????

July 4th Weekend

This blog is a little overdue, but I wanted to post some cute pictures. Adrian's sister (Bonnie) and her family came to stay with us for the 4th of July weekend. We had a great time spending time with family and playing with her two little girls (Alexis, 3 and Hayley, 1). We went out to eat, went swimming and watched fireworks at my brother's house. As you can see - the sidewalk chalk was a big hit! Uncle Adrian always has lots of presents for the girls when we see them. We told them that we were expecting and they were all excited. Alexis came up to me one day and said she had been thinking... and that we need a nickname for our baby. So I asked her if she had any suggestions. She thought "toenail" would be a good one. I just died laughing! How random and thoughtful all at the same time!

First Doctor Visit - 7 Weeks

Yesterday Adrian and I went to our first OBGYN visit to get a glimpse of our tiny baby. We thought I was about 8 weeks along, but it turns out I am 7 weeks. Our due date is March 2, 2009. In the ultrasound, you can see a head (left hand side) and that is about it. The baby is about the size of a blueberry right now and measures about half an inch. We could see the heart beat on the ultrasound, it looked like a flashing light on the screen. We couldn't believe that something so small already had a strong heartbeat. It sounds cliche, but it truly is the miracle of life. The ultrasound also confirmed that there is only one baby. We are both thrilled and very excited. I have had occasional morning sickness and crazy heartburn. But nothing too terrible. It will all be worth it!!

Home Sweet Home!

We moved into our first home together in April 2008. After much help from Erin's family and our friends, we repainted almost every room inside the house, had new carpet installed and custom fit blinds installed. These are the after photos. Thank you to everyone for your help making our house feel like a home! If you want to see all of the before and after pictures, click here.