So 3 Months Later...

WARNING! This is ridiculously long. I've been doing this post for 4 days. It's tough to stay motivated when the browser crashes every time you try to upload multiple pics. Oh well, it's done now. Hope you enjoy it, if you make it all the way to the end! Also, I'm fully aware of the shameless self-indulgence exemplified by the absurd number of pictures... and I'm ok with it. Have fun scrolling. Here goes...

"For this child I prayed..." -1 Samuel 1:27

It's hard to believe that it has been 3 months since my last post, which means it is also hard to believe that Abbott is 3 months old! Where to begin, where to begin? How about this:

And now with a little more pizazz!

Before I proceed, let's get one thing straight... I'd be lying if I said I didn't go through my Limp Bizkit phase in college. Come on, you know you did too. However, I currently think they are one of the most terrible bands of all time, so that is in no way an endorsement of Durst and Co. That said, the song seemed appropriate.

So a lot has happened in the past 3 months, and Abbott is changing every day. Perhaps I'll summarize each month separately.

August:

We spent most of the first month home just getting used to having an additional family member. Fortunately adjustments were minimal because Abbott was a pretty easy baby right out of the gate. Our main focus was trying to get a pattern established and letting Em get as much rest as possible. We had many visitors and Abbott got to meet lots of friends and family. Kyle and Julie stopped by, and Gwendolyn came to visit for a few days. So did Mason, Amber, Anna Kate, and Grace. We got to see Nana and Papoo, Moninny, and Poppy and Dovey as well. Charlie, Oriana and Clare and Kyle were also here for a few days. It was the first time that I've seen my brother since May of 2007 and we finally got to meet Oriana! We had a blast with them just hanging around the house and playing some serious Wii Disc Golf. Here are a few pics from August... just a few.

September:

A very eventful month. We didn't get to go on the annual Gulf Shores trip this year, seens how the baby was only 2 weeks old. However, Hudson, Melissa, and the kids met us back down there over Labor Day weekend and we had a blast. And Abbott did great on the 8 hour car trip, which actually ended up being about 11 hours! Both ways! Around 1 month, she really started being responsive, cooing a lot and smiling at us and to our voices. She also started tolerating a little tummy time, but only a little. She experienced her first football Sunday with Dad too. Oh, and lets not forget that first round of shots. That was not fun. Em and Abbott took a little road trip to Crossett one week and then I met them with Nana and Papoo in Hot Springs for the weekend. Abbott got to go out on the barge, but she pretty much hated her life vest. The picture should explain why. Here are some more pics from the month... just a few.

October:
This has been the least eventful month since Abbott arrived, yet it has still managed to be a blast. Of course, how can every single second not be an absolute blast when you have such an amazing, beautiful, perfect child? We haven't done much. We haven't gone anywhere. I spent a Sunday with Mom a few weeks ago for Family Day with her church and had a great time. She's been over a few times for dinner, which we've really enjoyed. Abbott loves to see her Moninny. We've spent a few Sundays with Chip and Kirsten for football. It's become tradition on the weekend when we're all in town. Dad and Deb came over one Saturday for a few hours as well. It's been really great for Abbott to get to spend so much time with all of her grandparents, on both sides. It's truly a blessing. Here are some pics from October so far. Marc and Dana are coming in on Friday for a long weekend. We are super excited! This will be their first time to meet Abbott. We'll post more pics afterwards... but just a few! Enjoy!

If you've managed to make it this far, then thanks for taking the interest. Now that I've proofread it, it actually isn't that long, there's just a lot of scrolling with all the pictures. Maybe it felt long because it took FOR-E-VER to get all the pictures uploaded and arranged. Ironic, since I decided against doing slideshows because they are so time consuming! We'll keep the updates coming, and it won't be 3 more months. I made a home page to serve as kind of a central hub for this blog, both of our Facebooks, and our MobileMe gallery. Feel free to bookmark it for quick access: www.emmyadam.com

PS-I just want to make it perfectly clear to all who read this how truly thankful I am for my beautiful wife and daughter. I don't know yet what God's will for my life is but He has, at the very least, given me a taste of what fulfillment is.

Super Baby Shower Extravaganza Weekend!

Hello all! It’s been too long since a post has been... posted(?) about the goings on in the Koelling household. My last post was on January 31st and Em’s was on February 7th. Sad, sad, sad. It’s been the most eventful year in our 7 years together and I haven’t written anything about it. Hopefully everyone knows by now that Emily is pregnant. And although you can’t tell by looking at her, she’s due in basically a month. July 16th is the official due date and so far, everything has gone pretty smooth. I know I can’t speak from “I have a baby growing inside me” experience, but I don’t think that Em would disagree that her pregnancy has been pretty perfect so far. Not until about 3 weeks ago did she really start showing any true signs of discomfort. My first taste of it was a few weeks ago when I called her at work and she answered the phone breathing very heavily. I said, “Em, you sure are breathing hard.” And she replied, “Yep, I’ve been walking.” That, for me, was the tide turner, if you will. But MAN... she’s just about the cutest little pregnant thing I ever did see! So needless to say we’ve had a lot going on, from remodeling our house, making baby preparations (nesting, I’m told it’s called... see, I’m learning!), and being gone or having people here every weekend, the last 8 months have flown by and here we are just 36 days away! There are several “events” that have occurred that I want to write about and share with everyone, and I’ll do it in a retrospect kind of way; however, this post is to kick things off again and share the great weekend we had last week. It was Emily’s baby shower and there was a great turnout. We had so many friends and family come in for the whole weekend and it was a blast. We definitely scored on supplies and the house is all “babied” up. Em has done a great job on the nursery and the closet is packed full of clothes. We aren't going to have to buy clothes for a while, that's for sure! I know, I know, famous last words. I've already bought shirts since the shower. One has the Star Wars lettering on the front and it says "Barf Vader". Yeah, it's not exactly girly, but it was $6 at Walgreen's and I couldn't pass it up. But I digress. The shower was incredible. Em and I feel very blessed to have so many friends and family that care so much. I think we're about as ready as we can be. I'm very excited about being a dad and can't wait to see Em as a mom. We just got back from week 2 of our childbirth class at the hospital. Tonight it was all about labor itself and it did not pull any punches. I turned to Em during the video and said "yeah, good luck with that." She starts her weekly appointments on Monday. Up to this point, everything has looked great. Friday marks 35 weeks... we are definitely on the home stretch! I'll do my best to keep everyone posted and I have full intentions of posting more often now. I'm certainly gonna have plenty to write about, the question is, will I have the time?! We had a great time with everyone last weekend. Thanks so much to everyone that was there and thank you all for the wonderful gifts. I've posted a few pics here, but if you want to see them all, click on the link below. I've started a website for us to post pictures and info, etc. I'll keep blogging here, but pictures, videos, and random stuff will be on the site. Enjoy!

www.emmyadam.com

Happy New Year!

So once again, Christmas came and went in the blink of an eye. I can't believe it's already been over a week! Em and I went to Crossett to spend the holiday with her family. We had a blast hanging out with all the kids and the 3 new babies. Here are some highlights from the week.

I think I should point out that there is a certain "opening presents" aspect of Christmas that still makes me giddy. But I was pretty surprised on Christmas morning when I was pretty sure I was more excited than Olivia and Maxwell. Those kids came out, with the rest of the family watching, and stood there and stared. The first thing Maxwell did was walk right past, and over, all of the Santa presents, which included a Wii, and check to see if Santa ate his cookies and took his signs. Of course, Santa did not disappoint. After some encouragement from the grown-ups, they finally dug in and started opening their presents. We had a great Christmas lunch with all the traditional goodies and enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation with our family. 5 days of sleeping in (if you call waking up to children giggling at 7:00 in the morning sleeping in!), eating good food, and too much of it, playing Wii with the kids, and sitting by the outdoor fireplace. We also celebrated Memaw's 80th birthday with more food, family, and fun at the Pope house. Happy Birthday Memaw!

A big highlight of the week was on Friday after Christmas. Emily got another sonogram and we got to see the baby. It's amazing how much it has changed in the 2 weeks since her first one. Although it looked a little alien-ish at the time, there were eyes, arms, and legs as clear as day and that kid was moving like crazy! It was very surreal to see the baby moving around, surreal and amazing. See?!

Most people that know me know how much of a Star Wars nerd I am. So you can imagine what a proud uncle it made me to learn that Maxwell has begun learning the ways of the Force! I was envious of most of his Christmas presents, and might have played with some of them more than he did. Fortunately, I was able to get some great footage of Maxwell in his Star Wars garb. I prize the following video as one of the funniest I've seen. I call it "Jedi-In-Training" and I must say... the Force is strong with this one.


We came back to Longview last week and finished out the holiday season with a very low-key New Year's celebration. Our friends, Chip and Kirsten had us over to their house for fajitas and some Trivial Pursuit. Chip's fajitas were awesome and Trivial Pursuit is ridiculously hard! At 11:30, all of us were falling asleep on the couch, struggling to ring in the new year. Em and I left and got home just in time to watch the Ball drop. On New Year's Day, we slept in and then laid around watching movies all day.

Emily and I are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year in 2009!