a shower for our baby girl...

Weekend before last a dear friend of mine threw a baby shower in honor of little sister's approaching arrival. I've been looking forward to Liz coordinating a shower for me since she offered back when Desmond was still a baby! She is incredibly talented in myriad ways, and throwing a party is surely one of them!

She also happens to be an artist {you may remember her from the Big Dandy Designs feature} and designed these gorgeous invites- the photo does not do them justice!

{I'm obsessed with this watercolored peony she did!}

Another wonderful friend, Amy (who has also been featured here!), offered to take care of the food for the day. Amy is also one talented lady, and she happens to be a chef so I knew I would be in good hands. She was so sweet to ask what I would want and asked again closer to the shower to cater to my current cravings. She even drove me to the shower, since she happens to be my neighbor. When we pulled up to Bramblefield and saw all the girly coral decorations in the garden she said "you're having a girl, I'm going to cry!" and I found myself feeling the same way. 

Everything was gorgeous and perfect. The weather was a bit hot but the wind helped with that and we made sure there was shade for those who really needed it. There was a ton of great food (thanks again Amy!), a gorgeous and delicious cake thanks to my mom, yummy drinks and pretty decor by Liz. Liz also put together games and a craft. Thanks also to Elly, Liz's daughter, for helping with preparations!

{Liz made the the wooden arrow art for our nursery!}

I can't get over how perfect this ruffled cake is, my mom is amazing! To the right are some family pictures. My sister Amanda + mom Tami at the top, my mother in law and my mom in the middle, and my sister in law Kristi, mother in law Debbie , and soon to be sister in law Vanessa at the bottom. Thanks to my mom and my sister in law, Kristi for taking photos!

I helped a bit with food before guests arrived and then went out to greet once they started to trickle in. After visiting some we started in on the wonderful food and I was able to catch up with friends and family who came from near and far. I was just so blessed to have so many women I love in the same place to celebrate baby girl with me!

The guests crafted hair accessories for little sister that I later voted on for a prize, they played bingo while I opened their numerous, adorable, and generous gifts, and a few other games after that. Liz had put together fantastic potted plants as decor + prizes. I even got to take one home!

Here I am with my amazing hostess friends, Liz + Amy...

{also, opening a darling dress my mom made and other gifts, and my great aunt Gladys measuring my belly as part of a game...you know, every pregnant gal's favorite part!}

{Ben's mom made this beautiful bear quilt to match the nursery colors}

I'm glad that I had two people taking pictures and they helped me remember to take the time out to get photos with as many guests as possible. I wish I got a picture with everyone! There were 5 pregnant ladies in attendance including myself, so I had to get a picture with all the mama's and their baby bumps...as well as with other gals of course.

{Left: friends from church, Asha and Monica; my sister in law, Kristi; my high school bestie, Lindsey + I. Right: My college roommate, Carina; my cousin Angela + her girls, and Lindsey + I again}

{Ben's grandma Helen + his mom Debbie, his aunt Lori, cousin Heather + her baby boy Otis}

{my mom + I with the cake, my aunt Deedee, and with my Grandma Rhea + mom}

I wished I could have visited more with everyone, things like this always go by in a blur like that. I'm extremely thankful to everyone who came and the wonderful gifts for our new addition. As things were wrapping up Ben + the boys came to say hello and pick me up of course. Once everything was cleared Liz + her husband Mark (who I also should thank for his hard work because their property is ALWAYS gorgeous!) turned on the sprinklers for the boys to run through. They had a blast and Liz + my mom even joined them. It was a delightful end to a fantastic day! 

Baby P #3: 29-ish weeks

{just before my shower on Sunday, more on that to come!}

How far along:  29 weeks, 4 days

How big is baby: this week's food is an acorn squash, 15.2 -16.7 inches, 2.5-3.8lbs

What have you been up to: sorting through and finding places for all our amazing gifts from the shower that was thrown for us this past weekend. 

Maternity clothes: yes, I've already grown out of some!

Sleep: decent.

Milestones: nothing too notable related to baby's growth. 

Best Moment:  I have to say the baby shower, it was wonderful! I will post all the details as soon as I can. 

Worst Moment: back pains were not so great last week, but they've been better this week. I'll soon be rocking a very fashionable support belt due to my PT's recommendation. 

Food cravings:  quiche. I've been wanting it for so long and finally got some this weekend!

Food aversions: same as usual, nothing spicy or greasy. 

Symptoms: near constant heartburn again, back aches, and some leg cramps. 

Movement: little feet in my ribs every time I sit. She also has started wedging herself into my hip area on occasion and it's VERY uncomfortable. Today Malakai saw my belly ripple with movements from across the room, he was surprised and thrilled.

Gender: girl!

What I’m looking forward to: setting up the nursery.

What I’m nervous about/praying for: for my back pain to resolve or at least be more manageable over the next 4 weeks that I have left of PT. 

What I miss: being able to bend down or sit on the floor without struggling, being able to talk without losing my breath. 

Next appointment: beginning of next month.

Weekly Wisdom: Let yourself be pampered at your shower. I'm such a "doer" that the gals hosting had to keep telling me no when I tried to help set up or clean up. I couldn't help but want to be useful!

Baby P #3: 24 weeks + some days

 {with Kristi at her shower this past weekend, 24 weeks + 2 days and 31 weeks}

How far along:  23 weeks + 4 days

How big is baby: comparable to a canteloup 

What have you been up to: baby showers + birthday parties and making gifts for all of the above. 

Maternity clothes: Yes. I'm borrowing from 5 different friends right now which is such a blessings. It's nice to have options and to actually feel like I have clothing that fits (shout out to having so many friends my same size!)

Sleep: I want more of it. A lot more. 

Milestones: people commenting on my size. oh joy. 

Best Moment: My sister-in-law's baby shower on Saturday. 

Worst Moment: aches + pains. My back is really acting up, but I did just get approved by my insurance for 8 sessions of physical therapy! 

Food cravings:  desserts + fruit. 

Food aversions: none recently. 

Symptoms: itchy stretching skin (coconut oil to the rescue), some heartburn creeping back in despite meds, and the aforementioned aches + pains. 

Movement: pretty regular, she's been getting the hiccups daily. 

Gender: girl!

What I’m looking forward to: a low key week after a pretty busy one. Planning + prepping to do some painting over the upcoming long weekend. 

What I’m nervous about/praying for: I'm a little bit nervous about physical therapy. I've done it before but not while pregnant and I just REALLY want it to work and FAST!

What I miss:  being able to go, go go without ending the day in pain. 

Next appointment: this week I go in for PT and my next OB visit is a few weeks away. 

Weekly Wisdom: embrace the changes your body goes through during pregnancy. They are necessary and temporary. 

Vanessa (soon to be sister-in-law), Debbie (my mother in law), + Kristi (sister-in-law)

little brother's baby shower

My mom, mother-in-law, and good friend Jamie put together a fantastic baby shower for little brother. (as a sidenote: "little brother" is just a nickname until his name reveal on his birth-day. It's not something we plan on calling him on a regular basis once he's born). I know some people are reluctant to have a baby shower once they've had their first baby but we all believe in celebrating every child. This doesn't mean that gifts were expected, but they did come. We were so blessed by the generosity of family + friends!

We were also blessed to be able to use the cafe at our church for the event. It was such a nice atmosphere and the large kitchen came in handy. The "theme" was a rainy day "shower" theme based on some inspiration I found through a minor obsession, pinterest. I actually designed the invites, signs, and stickers for the cups. I also made clouds with raindrops. I just love throwing parties so much I couldn't resist helping with my own when it came to the creative + crafty stuff. Plus I was planning on making the clouds anyway for our playroom.

My lovely hostesses made the cake, fruit trays, drinks, and brought banners and put everything together. It was such a nice little event.

{the food + drink set up}

 




















Guests snacked and mingled for a bit as others arrived. My favorite part about parties like this is that it brings close friends + family together into one place at the same time. Sadly, because of summer schedules not everyone was able to make it this time. Due to 5 immediate family birthdays, school, and other conflicts we couldn't have the shower in September so we had to hurry up and find a date that worked for us in August before time ran out!



This is my mom with Justice, my friend Jamie's son and Delia, my cousin Angela's daughter. These two cuties are just a week apart. You may remember how we were eagerly anticipating quite a few babies all in the month of February earlier this year, here's two of them!

After a bit everyone gathered round and I opened gifts. I was so surprised by the great gifts that everyone brought. I anticipated smaller, more conservative gifts with a second child but I have some generous friends + family! It was such a blessing as we still have a need for quite a few things. We borrowed a lot with Kai and there were some things we just did without that we'd like to have.

We got some great clothing for little brother, a toy storage shelf for the boys' playroom, plenty of baby toiletries, a quilt from Ben's mom(which is still in the process, I'll post a photo when it's done) a co-sleeper from my parents and too many other great things to list them all.

{with my besties!}

{my sister + sister-in-law}

{my mom + mother-in-law}

Thank you Mom, Debbie, Jamie, Amanda, + Kristi for putting together a great baby shower as we prepare to welcome another sweet boy into our lives.

Thanks to all of you who came and showered us with love + gifts! Thanks to those who couldn't make it and sent us gifts or have gifts for us anyway! We feel so loved.

open house baby shower

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for my dear friends Jamie + Jacob. We did a co-ed open  house at their home. It was so sweet to see them showing off the finished nursery to all of their guests through out the day.

The three of us (mama + the hostesses) each made a soup for the guests, there were also breads + cheeses, punch, and cupcakes!

I made signs for the food and the one above for the entrance. I had painted the frames black for our previous kitchen, but there's no room here. So I just painted chalkboard paint on the cardboard inserts they came with and wrote what I needed on each sign. I left the two large ones as part of my gift.

I also threw together the pom-poms the night before. I grabbed tissue paper I had that matched their nursery decor. Erin, the other hostess, brought streamers in the exact same color. Perfect.

{I didn't get a good shot without my reflection}

Erin had the idea of writing notes to the couple and the baby for a keepsake. She brought some decorative branches to hang them on and I made the cards. It turned out really well!

{Carina writing her note. She, Jamie, + I had all been roommates throughout college}

People came in about three waves throughout the day and gifts were opened about 3 different times as well. The open house format had me confused in theory, but in practice it worked really well. With the size of the guest list, it really helped make the gathering feel small + intimate. A traditional shower with all guests arriving at once would have been overwhelming, especially for Jamie.

{Jamie + Jacob with their guests}

 Jamie and her best friend from high school are due 2 days apart, so we had to get a photo of them together. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of me with Jamie, they're on Erin's camera. I'll have to post them once I get them from her. 

I was so glad that they were able to relax and enjoy the day. Although, we all had to tell Jamie to stop working/setting up/cleaning and relax several times. She's full on NESTING. Baby is due February 7th, so we could meet their little guy any day now!

{my favorite shot from the entire day}

an event-ful week

Last week was packed with events, and surprisingly none of them were in relation to Christmas. On Thursday my Grandma turned 70 and we had a big celebration for her that evening.

{Great Grandpa + Gram}

Malakai had a lot of energy and was running all over the place. Ben + I took turns chasing him around. He also gave Uncle Cody, G'Pa, + Mima quite a workout.  

{our little blur}

Friday Ben was sick with some weird flu thing (AGAIN!) and Malakai's ear seemed to (STILL) be bothering him. Ben stayed home and I took Malakai for a follow up appointment. Thankfully his ears are perfectly fine. Unfortunately, he's still recovering from his cold. His glands are swollen + his throat is red, which could be why he's feeling pressure in his ears. Sadly he's been cranky more often than not and having a lot of difficulty napping + sleeping at night even with some pain relievers.

Saturday we were busy preparing for something awesome that I'll save for another post. Later that afternoon I went to my cousin's baby shower. Her little girl with be the 2nd great-grand on our side of the family + the first girl of her generation. 

I may have acquired a slight case of baby-fever watching her open all the adorable baby girl gifts. 

{me, my sister, cousin Angela, aunt Sarah, + cousin Valeena}

It was so much fun to spend time with family outside of the upcoming Christmas gatherings (we have 4 and our parents are all still married). 

Sunday was a whirlwind of a day that I'll also save for another more detailed post. It will include an interesting + exciting announcement, so check back for that!

How did you spend your weekend? I bet most of you were Christmas shopping!

P.S. don't forget to enter my current giveaway {ends 12.14.10}

Family Shower

This past weekend was super busy and really fun.
On Saturday my mom, sister, MIL & SIL threw me a baby shower that included all the women on both mine and Ben's sides of the family. It was 1pm-3pm at my in-laws house. The weather was perfect-sunny and warm!
I arrived a bit early to eat and hang out with my sisters and the moms before everyone arrived. I was shocked at the cake my mom had made- it was so beautiful and matched the CoCaLo Turtle Bay nursery theme that we chose! Check this out...

I mean, seriously impressive, right?

My mother in law went out of her way with decorations- the pretty greens as the main color with blue accents here and there. The favors were little rattles with mints in them.



I put together something modest for the hostess gifts. The lotion smells SO good!



The tradition on my side of the family is to have the bassinet at the shower to fill/surround with gifts. This bassinet will be on it's 4th generation with our little guy. My mom sanded it and repainted it. I think it's adorable! It's now in our bedroom with a pretty green sheet and some stuffed turtle friends, awaiting our son's arrival.


Here I am posing with Ben's mom and my mom

With my sister in law and my sister


Ben's mom made this quilt for her first grandson. It's a pattern she has made for all her nieces and nephews, but changed to match our green turtle theme.


My parents bought us our crib!



Ben showed up at the end to help load things. We're storing our guest bed at their house and he came with my dad to get the crib and gifts.
My aunt Sarah painted this awesome picture for the boy's nursery- how did the artistic gene miss me by so much?


Here are some photos of me with my girls.



It was a great day- I felt literally showered with gifts and love by all our family.

First Baby Shower

Last night was our first baby shower, hosted by my wonderful co-workers. It was a co-ed shower with a mix of students and staff from the University that we work at. It was fun to have some of Ben's work friends there too.
We had snacks and cake and they decorated in blues and greens which are the colors of our nursery. I'm not big on games, so they did the baby shower bingo where everyone fills it in and crosses things out as we opened gifts. I loved that because it took the attention off of our opening and on to what was inside each gift!
Here are a few pictures, they aren't my fave. I realized how unflattering my pregnant belly looks while sitting and I'm noticing the weight gain in my face for the first time...