Happily Ever After: The Fuchs Edition

Saturday morning, Ryan and I "slept in."  Now, back in my prime, sleeping in was defined as McDonald's had looooong ago stopped serving breakfast.  Nicer restaurants may have already even wrapped up their lunch specials.  These days I've been trained to accept far less than that level of luxury.  I think we probably had ourselves ready to get our tourist on by about 10:45.  WE ARE CRAZY.  (Sidenote:  sleeping in a bed is amazing.  Never take it for granted.)

After a stop at the hotel's Starbucks we were off to Lincoln Road.  What is that?  It's basically a really long plaza with a bunch of shops and restaurants.  Of important note- if you are worried about passing the Guess store and/or a Starbucks- do not fret.  You will run into about 20 more.  How these places manage to pay such astronomic rent for multiple shops in such a small radius is beyond my little accountant brain's comprehension. 

Ryan getting artsy.

Why yes, it DOES look like a whale tail is coming out of the top of my head.  The point was the palm trees though.

I took this picture for my Mom because it was a shop window filled with old sewing machines.  It looked super cool in real life.  Not quite as cool in this photo with Ryan and I's reflections taking center stage.  It's the thought, right?

Anywho- we strolled along and finally gave in to one of the people standing outside the sidewalk cafe's beckoning us to eat.  We are martyrs, I know.  We picked a Cuban place because Ryan felt it was one of those "when in Rome" situations and you know I'm not going to argue when there's a mojito on the line.  It was a great choice and we both had delicious meals.

Mojito at noon?  Don't mind if I do.

Hey babydaddy.

Arroz con pollo.  Absolutely wonderful.

The bar was really cool and vintage looking but from our angle it was difficult to get a shot without blatantly taking a picture of the bartender.   Take what you can get folks.

Next we wandered over to Ocean Drive and meandered around for a little bit.  We picked up some souvenirs for the caretakers of our little rascal.  We peeked at the ocean.  We marveled at the number of Starbucks (yes, again).  Then we realized it was really hot, so we headed back to the hotel where we spent the remainder of our afternoon by the pool.  The life of a tourist is so rough!

Amy, is this a really cool famous hotel?  No.  Well, maybe?  It's the hotel that I saw first when I realized- crap, you haven't taken any pictures of Ocean Drive yet.  :c)

Luckily going through Ryan's pictures I realized he took some.

Mid-afternoon my other amazing 5th year roomate/BFF, Melissa, and her hubs, Blake, made it into town.  They deserve a massive shout out because they flew straight in from Europe hours before the wedding, took no nap, and partied like it was 1999.  That's how you know they are fun.  If anyone had been a fly on the wall listening to the 4 of us get ready, you'd have another form of confirmation.  It truly is tragic that they insist on living in Dallas.

The wedding was held in the ballroom of our fabulous hotel, Eden Roc.  The ceremony was every bit as beautiful as I'd have expected from Courtney.  It was the first Jewish wedding I had ever been to and it was really cool to get to compare and contrast the ceremony to the Christian ones I'm accustomed to.  Plus Ryan got to wear a yarmulke which I'm pretty sure made his life. 

Ryan's new favorite accessory.

Blurry, no-flash picture of Courtney's parents walking her down the aisle.  She was just stunning!

The ceremony was followed by a wonderful cocktail hour with delicious appetizers, and THEN the party really got started when we went into the reception.  Not 15 minutes in all the guests were on their feet dancing and laughing and clapping.  It was awesome.  The entire evening continued at that pace and we all had an absolute ball.  The food was stellar, the band was amazing, the bride and groom were gorgeous, the guests were incredibly fun - just all excellent.  Ryan and Blake yelled "mazel tov," to their heart's content.  We had so much fun in fact that we were sad when we finally had to head to bed at 12:45 so we could wake up to catch our flight 4 hours later.  Ryan told me no less than 20 times that next time he "wants to get Jewish married."

Gorgeous centerpieces with some strapping young lads walking across the dance floor.

The cake was also gorgeous.  Are you sensing the theme?

Their personalized M&M favors were every bit as awesome as they were difficult to photograph.

Melissa & Blake, the globetrotters.  Ask Melissa about her accent.

Oh how I miss the Mopes.

We were sitting too far away for flash to be effective, but you can still feel the love.  :c)

Precious shot of Gillian, Mackenzie and Jenny watching the first dance.

Getting this party STARTED.

Ohhhhh, how far we've come.  Who'd have thought when we were having our christy dance party in the living room that 7 short years later we'd all be hitched and one of us would have a kiddo?!

NYC roomies on the left and ATX ones on the right.  Clearly Courtney has great taste.  (Editors note:  I know I just had a kid and what not, but I swear there is something behind me that is making my butt look larger than life.  I nearly nixed this picture for that reason, but because I like the sentiment it stays.)

The luckiest men in the world, obvi.

I just found this jewel on the camera.  I feel I would be doing myself, and Ryan's creepy photography skills, a disservice by not posting it.  That's a wrap, kids.

So, huge thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Fuchs for including us in your day and in your lives.  I love you both so much and can't wait to see where life takes you!  And, of course, a huge thank you from the very bottom of my heart to everyone who took care of Emery - you are all angels!

Huh?  You can't stand an Emery-less post?  You're simply dying to see what she did with Aunt Tiff and her Martin grandparents?  Okay, okay...you've twisted my arm.

I practiced waving hi to Mom & Dad.  (Okay, maybe practiced trying to grab the phone, but whatever.)

I practiced my tummy time skills on the couch.

I practiced wearing fabulous accessories for days spent by the pool.

I practiced soul-searching while looking at corn.  (And really, who doesn't?)

I practiced kicking it by the pool.  Mom says one day I'll love this.

I practiced sleeping.  Being a lady of leisure is so taxing.

Welcome to Miami

On May 31st Ryan and I bit the bullet and embarked on our first overnight stay away from Emery.  For those of you mothers clutching your heart and gasping for breath at the thought that we did this three months in- I was too.  Trust me, it was for a great cause!  That cause was, in fact, my dear friend Courtney's nuptials in Miami.  The facts:  we flew out to Miami mid-morning on Friday May 31st, returned as soon as humanly possible Sunday June 2nd, and left our precious angel in the best care imaginable.  Melanie and (Emery's future betrothed) Jake were kind enough to keep the boogie Friday during the day while Ryan's parents were at work.  Then Grandma & Pawpaw Martin kept her the rest of the weekend with lots of love and assistance from Aunt Tiff & cousin Kylie.  We are so, so thankful to everyone who took such amazing care of her and allowed her Mama & Daddy to celebrate Aunt Courtney in person.

Let's take a minute to focus on Courtney before we hop into the pictures and details, shall we?  Courtney was one of my two roommates my 5th year of school and continues to be one of my closest friends.  We met through fatefully random circumstances during rush when we were both juniors.  After some discussion we realized we were both about to start the PPA program and the rest, as they say, is history.  Our 5th year we spent far too many late nights laughing, lots of Sundays indulging in sushi and bad TV, lots of hours discussing the weather (okay maybe that was just one of us) and just generally keeping one another's focus on anything but classes and studying for the CPA.  I was heartbroken when she left Texas to move to New York after school, but thankfully it doesn't seem to have hampered our friendship.  She is truly one of the kindest, most selfless, thoughtful people you'll ever meet.  It's very easy to see why her new hubs, Yoni, fell in love with her.  Love you to death, Boat!

Okay - so back to the deets of the trip.  Ryan and I dropped Emery off with Aunt Melanie early on Friday morning.  After choking back many tears, we headed off to the airport and flew into Miami without incident.  We took the world's longest, most miserable cab ride.  Let me just say that we had the good fortune of happening to get the only cab driver in Miami unfamiliar with the location of South Beach.  After 5 u-turns, 45 minutes, and more re-routing of Google Maps than I care to remember- we arrived in one piece at the beautiful Eden Roc.  After untangling the rat's nest that my hair had become courtesy of our cabdriver's disinterest in rolling up winds, we headed straight to the cabana bar for some adult beverages.  I'm not going to lie- we probably spent that entire time discussing our child and requesting pictures from Melanie.  I guess that means we are official parents?  Or officially crazy?  Maybe a little of both.

Noooot too shabby.

Post happy hour we cleaned ourselves up for the evening and headed over to the Hotel Astor for the Welcome Dinner.  Yoni's parents put together a beautiful soiree.  It was so nice to get to see the glowing bride and to catch up with her New York friends.  Fairly early on in our dating lives, Ryan and I had the good fortune of getting to make it up to New York multiple times for either work or leisure and so we actually know them which made it a lot of fun.  The evening was full of lots of laughs, amazing food and a slideshow produced by the Knees (do you get it?!  CourtNEY & YoNI) that is sure to win an Academy Award this year.  Suffice it to say it was an amazing night celebrating amazing people.

Does it count as date night if it's a Welcome Dinner?  No?

A fraction of Courtney's NYC crew.  Jenny, Mackenzie, Rachel & Rachel's boyfriend Michael.

Ryan giving Gill his flower.  Sounds about right.

Gillian rocking the mic thanks to some incredible last minute editing (read: changing 8 to eight).

Judging by that sassy stance, I would venture to guess she's talking about the NYC dating scene.

The bride & groom doing their best Calvin Klein ad pose.  Work it!

The most beautiful bride you'll ever see.

Yours truly, Rachel, Courtney, Jenny & Mackenzie.  Ryan and I really have to find a way to go back to visit these hotties sometime soon.

I just realized this post could get pretty wordy if I try to get both days in.  This in combination with the fact that I'm typically blogging against the buzzer (buzzer is synonymous with child) means that I'm going to wrap this bad boy up.  So... stay tuned for the wedding post.  :c)

Were you wondering what Emery was up to back in H-town?  So were we.  Which is why we asked like every 15 minutes.  Thankfully, Melanie was kind enough to oblige us.

Oh heeeeey, boyfran!

Mom & Dad, you can just leave me here with Aunt Melanie and my boyfriend if you want.

Wearing my baby like a champ.

Nothing like taking a snooze in the sun.

Go Shout it on a Mountain

As I mentioned previously, one of the most exciting things about this whole baby-having journey thus far has been getting to share the news with others.  Because I want to embarrass people forever immortalize these moments - I am devoting an entire post to this topic.  As an added bonus one day down the road our child can use this post for bragging rights  and/or a bargaining chip with the important people in his/her life.  Without further ado, let's do this.

RYAN (Baby Daddy)
As you may remember from the FAQ post, I found out I was pregnant on July 4th.  I woke up early and given that I was expected to be a Beer Pong champion later that day, I decided that taking a test might be in my best interest.  I 100% did not expect the test to be positive because it was still a little bit early.  I was so convinced it would not be positive that I managed to rack up about 5 wins in Flood-It while waiting and almost forgot to go back and check.  When I did and saw a very clear positive I was so excited I didn't know what to do with myself.  Screaming with joy seemed like the most preferable option but given the sleeping beast and husband 10 feet away I refrained.  Instead I just took another test.  Which was also positive.

Because July 4th is so close to July 9th, I thought it would be fun to keep it a secret a few days and surprise Ryan on our anniversary.  I've waited 5 days to do plenty of things in the past (read: cleaning, studying, the list goes on and on) and am a pretty superb secret-keeper.  Naturally I thought this would be no sweat.  I was sooooo wrong.  Hardest. Secret. Ever.  I will not go into lengthy detail here but there was lying about symptoms and a near miss that involved band-aids.  Just trust me that there should be some type of award for that type of valor.

Ryan had to work the weekend before our anniversary so we planned to celebrate on the actual date- a Monday.  I'd wrapped 2 presents for Ryan for our anniversary - 1 real one (Dre Beats - my husband is so hip) and a paint brush.  The paint brush is a joke because the one room in our house we've not painted since moving in is the one that will be the nursery.  Anyone who recalls the painting snafus encountered in this house - read here, and here- knows that painting is a divisive issue between the Candice Olsen in me and the Ebeneezer Scrooge in my husband.  I told Ryan he had to open one present before dinner.  I obviously made sure it was the paintbrush.  He, of course, got it right away and was the most excited I've ever seen him (even when A&M beat UT in Fran's last year).  We spent the remainder of the evening discussing why dragons aren't suitable nursery decor, why we couldn't tell everyone we know RIGHT THEN and dining on some fab grub at Perry's.  I think its safe to say that our first anniversary is one neither of us will ever forget.

 This makes me hungry.

Eating for 2 = 2 desserts in one evening.

MY MOM & DAD

We had grand plans of doing a big reveal with the whole immediate fam in Conroe the weekend of August 4th.  However, 2 weeks before Ryan & I found ourselves with a weekend of free time on our hands on account of the fact that morning sickness and home projects don't mix.  We thus decided to pay my parents a visit.  As pointed out above, I'd kept enough secrets for the remainder of my life, so we knew there was no way we'd be able to make it through the weekend without spilling the beans.

When we were in Italy in April we ordered a bottle of wine and some olive oil for my parents as a thank you for watching our dear Lola Bean.  It took months and months to come.  So we decided that giving them these belated thank you tokens would be a good mask for telling them.  I wrote them a thank you  card and told them what great parents they were for agreeing to baby sit the Lolers... and said that some might even deem them "GRAND" parents.  I then went on to say that in March they could make that their official title.  They were, of course, overjoyed.  

A slight side story that I would be remiss (and in big trouble from my Dad) for not sharing relates to a toilet.  Toilets and pregnancy reveals don't go hand in hand for your family?  How boring.  The Thursday evening before we were slated to head to the lake, my Mom had a slumber party at our house with Ryan & I.  She was working at the Katy location the following day and decided that eliminating her hour commute sounded like a great idea.  Plus lets be honest- Ryan & I throw a mean slumber party.  That evening my Dad took advantage of his alone time at their house by deciding to replace a cracked toilet seat.  He sent my Mom a photo with the caption "planning for the future" of the replacement toilet seat on her phone.  Said new toilet seat was clearly made for potty training (see photo below).  My dear mother flew off the handle.  She stated multiple times how unnecessary and silly of a purchase it was.  Ryan & I, meanwhile, sat across our living room from her trying our very best not to laugh knowing what we were about to tell them the next day.  So, of course, once we broke the news to them my Dad dubbed himself a genius.

 The makings of a Genius.  P.S. Probably the first time a picture of a toilet has ever been included in a baby reveal post- history making!

RYAN'S MOM, DAD, TIFFANY & KYLIE

The weekend of August 4th Ryan & I made plans to swing by his parents' house for dinner on our way home from Conroe.  A few weeks earlier I ordered a little t-shirt for Kylie that said "Big cousin."  The plan was to wrap it up like a gift for her and have her open it in front of everyone.  As if she were in on it herself, when we brought the tissue paper-infused bag out she said "AWWWW" and walked straight to it.  Obviously no one else would be bringing gifts for anyone else!  :c)  Of course, she didn't quite understand the significance of the shirt but everyone else  put it together fairly quickly.  After the shock wore off, I think it's safe to say that everyone was excited.

 Having loved spending time with my cousins who were close in age- I'm so excited that our little one will be able to share that same experience.

JULIE
It's hard to say who we were most excited to share the news with, but I can say for certain that Julie had to be near the top of the list.  Julie is one of the few people who has been vocal about her preparedness to showcase her aunt skills.  Actually in early June she asked me if I'd tell her if I was anywhere near trying and I flat out told her no.  I think I may have hurt her feelings a little bit, so I knew that our way of telling her had to be special.  

I decided to send flowers to her office and included the following well-written poem:  "Roses are red, this vase is blue, I'm already an Aunt and in March you will be too."  (Who says rappers are the only ones that can rhyme these days?!)

Please note that the vase in this photo is most certainly blue.  The vase Julie actually received was pink.  So she thought I was just trying really hard to make a rhyme work.

See?  Not enough good surprises left in life.  :c)

JEN

On August 25th, Jen, Brendan, Julie, David, Ryan & I were headed to Austin for a wedding.  Beforehand Jen assigned Julie & I the task of creating an itinerary since we'd be on our own stomping grounds.  We were slacking on the job and Jen wrote a reminder on my Facebook wall to get it together.  It was Julie's idea to send the following:

Which one of these is not like the others?

Pardon the terrible picture I took on my phone of my computer.  The point is that she was excited.

MELANIE

When Melanie was in town with Jonathan in July, she and I went to get our nails did.  She had touted this place as somewhere you could get wine and champagne while getting pampered.  I'm a terrible liar and I knew it was my only chance to get to tell her in person so I blurted it out in the car pulling into the nail place's parking  lot.  She immediately teared up and kept telling me how pumped she was.  It was so neat to get to tell her in person and so humbling to know how much  this child is already loved.  Sorry you didn't get a more fun, well-planned way Mel!  I also, unfortunately, don't have any fun pictures from this reveal.  Just imagine Melanie and I stopped in a parking lot and me stumbling badly through words.  Fun visual, right?

We took a little time out from telling people for a few weeks between Jen & everyone else.  I was really worried about making it to the pivotal 12 week mark and decided to go one step further and wait until 13 weeks before allowing myself to tell anyone else.  That happened to fall on Labor Day weekend.  So Ryan & I spent the weekend sending out texts and telling people.  It was so much fun reading everyone's responses.

MELISSA & COURTNEY
I made myself a promise that we wouldn't tell anyone until Monday of Labor Day weekend.  Much  like Christmas though, I convinced myself telling a COUPLE of people on Friday couldn't hurt, right?  I texted Melissa & Courtney that morning.  It was a hilarious group text, of course.

Note to the audience: having 2 sonogram photos on one sheet of paper can confuse others.  Consider cropping before general release.

Love my favorite weeper.

MY INDIANA FAMILY

Since my Grandpa happened to fly into town the Wednesday before Labor Day, we got to see him on Friday evening.  We told him over dinner in Conroe.  Great Grandbaby #5 received a very warm welcome from him, as expected.

Monday morning of Labor Day weekend, I sent a mass text to my whole Indiana family.  I'd been dying to do so for quite a few weeks because one of my cousins is due January 12th with a sweet baby girl.  Every time I texted to see how she was doing, I so badly wanted to tell her I was in the same boat.  I'm super pumped to know that our kiddos will be close in age!

It was too hard to get everyone's responses in one screenshot- don't worry, Miranda also responded.  :c)

Caddy, this is an important question!  Give it some thought!  Nanny?  ;c)

RYAN'S MISSOURI FAMILY

Ryan's Dad has 2 sisters, Lori (plus her hubby Stan, and their kiddos - Taylor and Connor) & Sandy (plus her hubby Kevin, and their kiddos - Bryce and Jace), who live in Missouri.  They haven't had much air time here on the blog, but that will change soon as we are going to visit them later this week.  Anywho- since it was Ryan's family, he was the one who was in charge of the texting.  I think you'll notice a distinct difference in his style and my own.

I am fairly certain she wasn't asking Ryan how he was feeling.

Yup, that's the man I married.

RYAN'S HOUSTON FAM

Ryan's Mom's side of the family lives here in town.  We broke the news to his Aunt, Uncle & cousin via text.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find any screenshots from that convo in my phone, but I promise they were excited.  :c)  

Ryan also broke the news to his Grandpa himself over the phone while I listened.  The convo went, and I quote, as follows:  " Grandpa, Amy & I have some news to share.  Amy's pregnant.  The problem is I'm not sure if it's mine."  Luckily after 29 years of Ryan's shenanigans, Grandpa ignored him and instead just congratulated us.  Once again - no pics.  Sorry Charlie!

 

DENA, SHAWNA & JENN

Jen was busy galavanting across Europe when the official 13 week mark hit and was bummed she might miss getting to see reactions.  To circumvent this, she was kind enough to arrange a brunch with Julie, Jenn (who's expecting twins the day after me!!!), Shawna, Dena & I the weekend after Labor Day.  The occasion doubled as a mini Brunch Season kick off.  So to break the news I toasted to, "1 more brunch season, 2 more months without significant others and 3 babies in bellies."  Jen videoed this but due to our lack of technological prowess, we have yet to figure out how to get that bad boy from her phone to my inbox.  If we ever get that working, I'll post it here.  In the meantime you'll have to settle for the picture below.

 Shawna, Jenn, Noah, Julie, Jen, Me & Dena - Brunch Season fo LIFE.

And - ta-da!  That, my friends, is how people found out about Baby Martin.  If I left how I told you out of here, it in no means diminishes the importance of us telling you or how excited we are to share the news with you.  It simply means my hands started hurting from taking screenshots from my phone.  Or it means that Ryan told you and he didn't sufficiently relay your reaction to me for documentation.  Feel free to submit your own responses via commentary below for posterity purposes.  From the very bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU, for your joyous reactions.  They say it takes a village to raise a child (lets be honest- maybe 2 for a Martin), and it's overwhelmingly evident that this child has one heck of a village behind him/her.  Your continued support and well wishes for a safe, healthy pregnancy mean the world to us.