Our Anniversary Weekend & Its a _________!!!!

This weekend was so much fun. Nick is one amazing husband. As busy people, our ideal get away would be relaxing, which it was very much! We went downtown Houston and stayed at the Magnolia Hotel. The Magnolia is the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night so it was special to go back there. We didn't really get to enjoy the hotel last year as our flight left very early the next morning, so it was nice to explore and enjoy the Magnolia. Nick had a weekend of memories planned out for us. We did things that we had done while we were dating. On Friday night we went and ate at the Aquarium for dinner, Saturday we ate at Chuy's for lunch, went to the movie, and then ate at Birraporeti's on Saturday evening. We did a lot of eating, can you tell? All of these places are special to us in different ways so we were reminising all weekend. It was so much fun. The best part was that it was super relaxing and it was just us. It kind of felt like we were in a different town and it just felt good to "get away" from life's craziness and enjoy spending time together. Thank you Nick - it was amazing and I LOVE you!!!



Now for the part I know you all are waiting for me to share. :) Yesterday, we went to the doctor and got to see our baby moving, punching, and kicking around on the ultrasound machine. It was so amazing to see how big the baby has gotten since our last ultrasound which was nearly 2 1/2 months ago. We also found out that we need to start thinking PINK, because we are having a baby GIRL!!! We could not be happier for this exciting news. Our precious little girl is healthy and growing beautifully, praise the Lord! He is so good and we are so blessed for this little miracle. Here are some sweet pictures of our little Mini Vann!

Our Very First Anniversary!!

I am so excited today! I woke up with a smile on my face because today is the day Nick and I start our anniversary fun weekend!! I can't believe it has been a whole year...well almost, Sunday is the official day, but WOW! This past year has flown by so fast. It has been amazing! I absolutely love marriage and especially because I am married to Nick! He is so wonderful and everyday I love him more and more. So this weekend Nick has planned a surprise weekend away just for us. If you know Nick well, you know that he's not very good at keeping secrets. He knows this and will admit this to you. But, he has been so good at not telling me anything. I'm very proud of him. I LOVE surprises!! So I was told to pack every type of shoe I own...I assume that means, tennis shoes, dress shoes, flip flops, casual shoes...I will need a bag just for shoes. Who knows where we are going - and honestly as long as I am with Nick it doesn't matter to me. At 2 I am going to pick up our wedding cake replica. When we moved to Sugar Land our cake topper got ruined because I think we moved on the hottest day of this entire year! But, that's ok - I think fresh cake will be much better anyway.
Also, stay tuned...............MONDAY is a special extension of our anniversary weekend as it is one of our big exciting baby days! We find out if we are having a boy or girl!!! We will keep you updated as we can't wait to find out and tell you all! This has been an exciting baby week too as I ordered our baby furniture yesterday. Here is a picture of it.



Well, I will definately let you all know how the weekend went when we get back! I'm off to packing :)

~Carissa

Here Ya Go Belly Stalkers!!

OK so, Here is the picture that all you belly stalkers have been waiting for!! There is an ever-so-slight baby bump!

However, we have learned not to underestimate our little one because he/she has been very active in his/her mommies belly. He/she plays most of the day and Nick is even able to feel he/she sometimes. Very Exciting! Hope everyone is doing Wonderful and enjoying the Holiday Season!