Michigan, Part 2

KC was being a really good sport, coming all the way to MI just so I could have 2 extra suitcases to bring stuff back to AZ in! (Just kidding... but they did come in handy! ;)  It just so happened that his favorite baseball team, the Texas Rangers, were playing the Detroit Tigers 2 days in a row during our trip.  Well, the first game rained out, but that ended up being in KC's favor since he was stuck on a flight at that time and would've missed it anyway.  Lucky for him, it was rescheduled for the day of the shower, and he got to watch it w/ the guys (Tim, Jaime, Joe & Charlie) while the ladies celebrated Amelie's impending arrival.  As if that wasn't enough, the guys took him to Comerica Park to see the 2nd game of the day - woohoo!!

 

I'm so happy KC got to go to a ballgame, and I'm pretty sure it made his weekend.  Many thanks to Tim, Joe, & Charlie for hanging out w/ my baby daddy and showing him such a good time :)

While KC was enjoying his nosebleed section, I was noshing on some tasty Pizza House awesomeness with Kristen, Tristan, Patrick & Erica.  MMmmm, calzone!  I craved you for months!

Seriously, Pizza House makes the best calzones, and though I'm sure Patrick would've rather I branched out and tried something new in Ann Arbor, this pregnant mama had to fulfill the craving - and it turns out almost everyone else at the table did too!  Tristan & Kristen each got a calzone, and Patrick, the rebel, got a pizza pocket (basically the same thing, but with sauce on the inside).  Erica, ever the individual, got a sandwich - but that's ok too ;)

This trip marks the 6th I've made to Michigan (!) since moving to Arizona, and I'm pretty sure it's the first time I haven't spent a night out on the town during an action-packed weekend.  Babs & Fleetwood, you are missed, but pregnancy wears a lady out!  Thankfully, our hosts Erica & Patrick were cool to just hang out and watch a little Veronica Mars (good time) before calling it a night.  We did, however, get up relatively early on a Sunday morning to meet a friend/family member for breakfast.  I'd never been to Nick's House of Pancakes (though I did study a lot at its previous incarnation, Big Boy, during undergrad!) and boy had I been missing out!  Check out these tasty eats!

KC ordered the Fat Elvis French Toast stuffed w/ peanut butter and banana, and was a sweetheart for omitting the bacon so my vegetarian self could share.  It was so good, he had to pull the plate away from me after I had my couple bites!  I got the Lemon Poppyseed Blueberry Pancakes, and they were amazing!!  I'd never thought of that combination in a flapjack, but boy does the person credited for that idea deserve a medal!  YUM!

I didn't take a picture, but I also enjoyed Noodles & Company (twice!) on Sunday as well - thanks, Barb!  That was another place I'd been jonesing for over the past few months, and really wish they had locations in Tucson.  For a vegetarian, it doesn't get much better than a vast pasta selection that all comes sans meat, with grilled tofu as an add-on option!  Not to mention, I'm a huge fan of their oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies.  Does it seem like food dominated my weekend?  Yeah, pretty much ;)  I definitely planned my meals around the restaurants I had been craving!

We spent the rest of Sunday sifting through heaps of storage in my aunt's basement.  She has been generous enough to let me keep stuff down there since moving to AZ 2 1/2 years ago, and I promised I would do my best to cut it down to size.  Boy, was that a more daunting task than I had expected!  We managed to sort through a lot... separated some out to donate to charity, sold some stuff to Barb who will be moving soon (thanks, Barb!), gave a bit to my aunt to put to use, and packed some up in our empty suitcases to bring back to AZ.  But we still ended up w/ a significant pile that'll remain in the basement for now.  Many thanks to my aunt for lending us a small share of her basement!  Some notable items that made it back to AZ:  Most of my scrapbook supplies (YAY!), some cute butterfly drawers I thought would be cute in Amelie's nursery, and a waffle iron (YUM!).  We also brought some other kitchen utensils and some memorabilia items I'm glad to have with me here in Tucson.  Along with the baby shower haul, we came back w/ almost 200 lbs of stuff that we didn't have on the way out to MI!  It took some expert packing (*bow*), and a little bit of last-minute maneuvering in the airport to ensure all 4 suitcases were under 50 lbs, but we did it!

Monday morning we flew back to AZ at the crack of dawn, with a layover in Chicago.  It was a bit of a rough trip, complete with one overtired pregnant lady meltdown, but we managed to score front-row seats on both planes (hooray, leg room!!), and made it back to Tucson with all our luggage intact. *whew*!

What a great weekend!!!  I'll be back with Amelie in September for Patrick & Erica's wedding - hope to see you all again then, and catch those of you who I missed this time!

Showered with Love in Michigan :)

After months of anticipation, this very excited mama-to-be flew to Michigan with a very sleepy daddy-to-be on Friday, 4/20.  It was a rather exhausting day of travel, and KC ended up being awake over 24 hrs before finally getting to sleep that night, but it was well worth the trip!  We were looking forward to seeing lots of friends and loved ones, and Shannon was kind enough to have us overnight Friday and host a shower for me on Saturday! KC would hang out with Tim and the guys while the ladies did their thing.

Friday night Toni and little Liam picked us up from the airport and brought us to Mexican Fiesta in Canton to fulfill a very long running pregnancy craving.  We were met by Shannon, her beautiful little Colette (almost 1 month old) and Carrie, who had just defended her dissertation and was now a PhD-holding bonafide doctor!  I was very excited to finally meet Colette after reading all about her on Shannon's blog.  Such an adorable sweetie!!

Good thing I had eaten light all day in preparation, because I had seriously been jonesing for this cheesy feast for months, and I ate all of it- it was SO yummy!!!

KC and I crashed on the most comfortable guest bed in the world at Tim & Shannon's, but that didn't stop me from waking up at 7:30am on Saturday, feeling like a little girl on Christmas morning.  Keep in mind, this would be 4:30am Tucson time!  Luckily, Shannon's 17 year-old cat Ali was there to give me some snuggles.  Apparently, this sweet kitty especially likes to cuddle with pregnant ladies!

After I finally got ready, Miranda and Gen were the first to arrive for the shower.  They had driven 2 hours just for the occasion, and I was very happy to see them for the first time since September!  I was immediately blown away by the beautiful cake that Gen made, and Miranda's amazing hand-made decorations that perfectly matched the nursery theme!  I was very impressed, and Connor (Shannon's oldest) was as well.  He was a very big helper, and kept saying "Pretty!" as he just stared in awe :)

Since Shannon was such a good sport for hosting a shower after having a baby a mere month before, the shower was a potluck - and Shan ordered tasty Jimmy Johns sandwiches to start it all off (YUM!)  This mama tasted pretty much at least one of everything, and let me tell you - it sure was delicious!  Apparently a full belly impedes my photography skills, so I'm sorry that this one's a little blurry.  This doesn't even begin to cover all the delicious food that was there. Thanks to everyone who brought goodies!!

I think everyone would agree, in addition to the awesome decorations, delicious food and beautiful cake, Lisa J's amazing cake pops were the talk of the shower.

Not only are they adorable, they were super scrumptious as well!  And so many people told Lisa that she should start a business selling these gems, that she did just that.  You can check her stuff out and order your own Sweet Pop Culture cake pops here!

I didn't do the best job taking pictures once the shower began, but I did, however, get some adorable shots of the babies in attendance! 

Little Lettie was whisked off with her papa during shower, but Vincent (camo cutie), Liam (blue-eyed explorer), and Gunner (in his handsome sweater vest) were fun additions to the guest list.  The best was when Liam had otherwise serious Gunner laughing up a storm!!  I wish we'd caught it on video - it would've surely become a YouTube sensation. ;)

A few photos of the mommy-to-be with some key shower helpers, courtesy of Shannon's blog:

 

As if having such a wonderful get-together with friends (and a few family members) wasn't awesome enough, there were also gifts!  Check out the loot!

Shannon snapped a few photos of me opening gifts.  I'm still waiting to see if Miranda has some more of guests, as I did see her walking around with her very fancy camera! :)

Many thanks to Shannon, Miranda, Carrie, Toni, Lisa & Gen for creating such a beautiful shower, and to everyone else who came and brought yummy food and gifts to celebrate our little girl!  She received a lot of adorable clothes, toys, and nursery necessities, and is a very lucky lady already!!  We are very happy parents-to-be!!

Weekend in MI, to-be-continued...

The Story of Us

It all began in July, 1999 when 18 yr old Andi visited Athens, TX with her good friend Amber to visit Bo Barker.  It was there that Andi met KC, along with a handful of Bo's other friends including Stephen Tarpley, Patrick Tinsley, & Jon Davis.  

 
Unbeknownst to them, (but probably pretty obvious to everyone else), Andi & KC each had a big crush on one another.  Sadly, this photo demonstrates the closest that Andi & KC ever got during that visit.  Both were too shy to speak up about their feelings, and it's quite possible that KC had a girlfriend! ;)  After heading back to Michigan, Andi kept in touch with Steve and Bo over the years, but never heard from KC.  She never forgot about him, however, and even kept this picture with her through all her many moves between 1999 & 2007.  KC also kept this, and other pictures from that trip, in a photo album that went with him wherever he moved as well.  They each thought of one another from time to time, wondering, "what if?" but never made contact.

Flash forward to 2009, when Andi & KC reconnected through Tarpley on Facebook of all places!  Both Andi & KC were in relationships at the time, so their rekindled friendship was very innocent, and mostly consisted of online scrabble games.  Still, they couldn't deny their feelings for one another, secret as they may have been. 

In June, 2010, Andi finally confessed her feelings to KC and was surprised to learn that he felt the same!  A month later, Andi persuaded KC to move to Tucson (not a very difficult task), and the two finally began their happy life together.  

On October 8, 2011, KC proposed to Andi before treating her to a live Kevin Devine show in Phoenix.  Any of you who know Andi know she loves this artist, and she was in a scramble to get on the road in time, but couldn't find her flip flops (cheers to warm AZ fall weather!).  KC dutifully retrieved them from under the kitchen table, and then caught Andi off guard as they were about to head out the door.  He told her that he always wanted to help her find her flip flops... and her phone, and her glasses... and that he wanted to always make her smile.  Then he said, "You wanna marry me??" to which Andi excitedly replied with a wholehearted "YES!"

The two wed on 11/11/11 atop Mount Lemmon at Andi's favorite spot in Tucson, Windy Point, in the company of a small group of their family and friends.  

Little did the guests know, the newlyweds had just discovered days before the wedding that Andi was expecting!  They had been trying for a baby, and conceived less than 2 weeks after their engagement :)

Baby Hammonds is due to arrive around July 11, 2012, and Andi & KC couldn't be happier!! The above picture was taken February 17, 1012 - the day the couple found out they were expecting a daughter!