Party time with the girls!

This past weekend my best friends in the entire world had a baby shower for me. It was so special and I loved every bit of it. From the invitations to the small little details on the day of, everything was so planned and put together. I love these girls and their creativity! I don't know where they come up with all these things but I'm glad I have them in my life.

So who are these amazing party planners I'm telling you about? Here's a photo of all of us with some decorations in the background. Aren't they all so cute? No wonder they throw such pretty parties.

Here are some pictures of the food and drinks. All the food had a 'mini' theme and was so perfect. Everything was bite sized which meant I ate more than I should have but I couldn't resist!

For dessert there was an array of yummy treats. Did I mention all the food was made from scratch and so delicious. Thanks to my little bakers who always make tasty food, I'm so happy we are friends. They even made their own version of Peeps (for those of you that don't know, Peeps are my absolute favorite treat, not just at Easter but year round) which were even better than the regular ones because they were dipped in white chocolate :) I'm craving some right now just thinking about how good they were. I hope these get made at future parties. Perhaps Friendsgiving?

Altogether the shower was a complete success. I got to sample a bunch of baby food and guess what it was. Who knew spaghetti and meat balls was a baby food combination?

Here I am with my preggers bff Alexa who is due a few weeks after me. She's having a boy and since we're having a girl somehow Alexa and I will make them pretend like they are boyfriend/girlfriend their entire lives. We haven't quite figured that part out yet though.

Special thanks to all my friends who were a part of this shower(even if you weren't actually here). I loved all of the gifts and can't wait to welcome our little girl home to her room of goods. And thanks to all the new moms that were at my shower who have been so encouraging and helpful during my journey. All your advice and baby suggestions have made this process much smoother.

To my girls who organized this special event, I love you and am so glad we are in each others lives. You are all blessings to me and our little girl. Even though she's not here yet, your support, love, prayer and happiness are constantly surrounding us and we feel it all the time. XOXOXO

overwhelmed with love

Today I went to my very first baby shower that my aunts threw for me. I was so excited and couldn't wait for all the fun and gifts. The party turned out to be a total hit and everything was great. From decorations, to food and games, my aunts covered it all. I felt so loved from the minute I walked in the door to the minute we finished packing up the car. It was so nice to catch up with my family and friends that I had not seen for a while and get some great words of advice too. I even got to hear some stories about myself as a baby which were funny and gave me some insight to what's in store for me.

I put some pictures below from the shower but have so many many more to share. I'm definitely going to need to put together a scrapbook of all the memories. We got gifts off our baby registry and beautiful hand made made items including blankets, a stuffed animal, and a scarf. I can't even begin to wrap my head around the endless hours it takes to thread, knit, or stitch.

My aunt Kerry made this amazing diaper tower (check out all the little goodies tucked into it)

My sister Jenny put together a bunch of photos of me growing up with sweet little messages. Can you guess how many candies are in that baby bottle?

Here I am with my aunts who put together this amazing shower. Huge Thanks!

Here I am with my sisters and mom:

When I got home we lugged everything up to our place and I was still on such a high from the party. It might have been because of the two huge cupcakes I ate that my aunt Karen made(they were so delicious I couldn't stop myself), or the amazing chocolate covered strawberries that Lorraine made, or quite possibly the snicker doodle cookie Diane brought as party favors. Needless to say, I was on a sugar high and bouncing off the walls.

We brought everything up to our place and I couldn't wait to show Joel everything. I think he was surprised with how many gifts I received. I reminded him how much this baby is loved and she's not even here yet! So we sat down and started digging through some of the gifts. After about ten outfits Joel said, "she has so many clothes!" Which I know in Joel language means: where are we going to put all this stuff?!?

I just want to say thank you again to everyone for all the thoughtful gifts and support. It means so much to me! And even if you couldn't be here today at the shower, I appreciate you all who sent gifts from afar. I really, truly, was overwhelmed with love.

birthday love

We celebrated Joel's 28th birthday yesterday. It's weird to look back and think about how long I have known him and how quickly time flies. In less than 3 months we are going to be parents. I'm so excited and especially excited for Joel. He thinks he's getting old but I love where we're at in our lives. I'm more than content growing old with him and raising a family.

For now I get to plan and prep for our little girl and Joel gets really cute shirts. Well he got other awesome gifts for his birthday too but this one stands out the most to me because when our little girls wears it a year from now I'll think back to how much we loved her before she was even in our arms.

hang in there

Our baby is growing fast and furious now. With only 10 weeks left to go until our due date the time is flying by.

Here are some fun facts:

- she weighs about 3lbs and is fitting in my belly nice and snug

- the baby books refer to her size as a large head of cabbage

- she's 15.7 inches long

- she continues to be very active and rolls more than she kicks

- in just the last 5 weeks she has gained 1.5lbs and I've put on another 4

A few weeks ago Joel and I started going to labor preparation class at the hospital. The class covers everything we will face once I go into labor until delivery. Each week we learn more about delivery and what to expect in addition to different techniques to use during delivery to help ease some of the discomfort. The class is great for us because we have so many questions and this class covers all the details. The doula that teaches the class has lots of experience and stories to share with us.

Just the other week we worked on focus points, distractions, and helpful breathing techniques. I want to preface this story I'm about to share by adding how supportive Joel is in all of these classes. Occasionally he cracks a joke when the room is quiet but it always lightens the mood for us. Anyways, I have no clue when Joel had time to do this because I was sitting right next to him, but somehow when our teacher was going over the next technique for us to try Joel was on his phone up to no good. As I lay on the floor with my eyes closed, focusing on my breathing, Joel came and sat right next to me and started rubbing my back. I kept my eyes closed as Joel repeatedly told me to, "hang in there...hang in there you're doing great." (These are the supportive things you want your husband to say, especially while he's rubbing your back and you're trying to imagine what contractions might be like). I really felt like Joel was connecting with the exercise.

After Joel repeated the "hang in there" line a few more times, I knew something was up and opened my eyes. Here's the image he was holding in front of me on his phone:

A little kitten on a branch with the line "hang in there" hovering in the air. Of course I started laughing but all the other couples in the room were so calm and focused. I had to keep my laughter to a minimum and pretend like we were still practicing. I may never know why he thought of this image at the time but I love him for it.

Although little kittens are cute I know for a fact I don't want to see that image in the delivery room. I made Joel put the picture away for the rest of the class and reminded him a couple more times that I definitely didn't want to use it later.

Joel- I love you more than you know. Your encouragement and support have been more than I could ever ask for. You are the best husband and friend and I'm so happy we are in this together. Thank you for reminding me to take some time to laugh about the silly things.

easing our way into the 3rd trimester

Time really does fly by when you're having fun. Between appointments, hospital visits, preparing the baby room and trying to get in some reading, Joel and I are on quite the roller coaster. The good thing is we started planning early so things have yet to be stressful or chaotic. We just take things one day at a time and hope for the best. The baby room almost has all the necessary furniture in place and now we just are waiting for all the baby showers to come in order to fill up the room. I'm still in awe of how many things this little girl is going to need and I can honestly say Joel was shocked when he saw our registry but once he perused through it all I think he found that the majority of the items were absolute essentials.

Just a week ago I took my amazing friend Sunny (who happens to be a new mom) and my mom to get started with my baby registry. I would have just taken my mom but she honestly would have been as lost as I was. So many things have changed and are new, not to mention all the options. How do you know which one is the best? Luckily with Sunny by my side she made my baby registering experience a breeze. She practically held my hand as we walked up and down every aisle at Babies R Us and she gave me her advice and opinions on the walls of products. I honestly would have been lost with out her. Did I mention we were there for four hours?!? Trust me when I say it felt like we were there for only 2. It's insane how wrapped up you can get in all this stuff. Anyways, check out the registry and for any other moms out there, let me know if you have suggestions or items that should be added to the list. I think you will find that we practically covered everything.

Now let's get to the good stuff. I have 12 weeks until my due date! Which means I'm right at the start of my third and final trimester. With baby showers and the holidays right around the corner things are really going to start to speed up. My baby bump should start getting much larger which will be quite the sight to see. For those in my family that haven't seen me in a while here is a picture of me from a couple of weeks ago

My uterus is about the size of a basketball and she is taking advantage of the space while she has it. She really can be active from time to time which I love because it reassures me that she's in there and growing. Although I'm not huge yet, my belly is definitely taking shape. In fact right now it pretty much sticks straight out, kind of like a shelf. I'm curious to see what I'll look like in a few weeks as she and I both gain more weight.

In store for us this week we have a doctors appointment and a child birth prep class. More on those things later and more pictures of the nursery when I remember to take pictures.

random thoughts

This afternoon I was thinking about how big our little baby is starting to get. Obviously I always have baby on the brain so I thought I'd look up some fun facts to share about me and her.

-I'm currently 25 weeks pregnant which means I only have 15 weeks to go! woohoo!

-Our baby weighs about 1.5lbs

-Right now she gains about 6 ounces a week

-She is about the size of an eggplant

-Believe it or not, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball (although I don't think I look that round...yet)

-She likes to move around the most late at night

-My belly button looks like it's just about ready to pop

-I don't have any cravings but I think I eat hummus everyday

-Joel can hear the baby's heartbeat by putting his ear on my belly

busy bees

We have been running around constantly for the past few weeks. After Joel and I got back from our month of constant traveling we decided it was time to get down to baby business. Our first task was to remove just about everything from our office which will soon be our nursery. We had lots of papers to go through and had to come up with brilliant ways to store some belongings that just aren't ready to go into storage. I found myself reorganizing other parts of our home just to find space for important papers, office supplies, my crafty things, and a whole bunch of useless chords that Joel claims have significance. We have found ways to sprinkle all of these things throughout our home. I especially liked hiding Joel's things in a basket in the kitchen.

Once we got the room all cleared out it was finally time to get back into baby mode. I had already been searching for crib bedding, nursery furniture, and paint colors from time to time so I had some ideas in mind. My friends have all been lending a hand and giving me great advice which has been much appreciated. Our family has also been stopping by to take a look at our progress and even lend a hand in painting. Thanksto you all!

Here are some updates:

I really like the way the paint color turned out but it's hard to tell in these pictures. I was nervous at first but once we started bringing items into the room it just looked even better.

We're unsure how we are going to organize all the furniture still but I think we will be able to figure that out better once we have everything. It's weird to think about how much baby stuff will be in this room in a few months. It's so empty and quiet right now.

My parents brought over this rocking chair this morning to try out in the room. It's been in the family for quite some time so I thought it might be a good thing to add to our room. It needs a little cushion but it's in great shape and i really like it by the window.

We used to have black curtains in the room but I found these great textured cream ones and they are real cute with everything. Joel also hung a black out shade behind the curtains just to make sure it can stay extra dark in the room for while our little girl sleeps.

Trapper tested the crib for us...well, just to make sure it was safe for the baby.

As we bring in more items and get the bedding all sorted I'll be sure to post more pictures. This has been a neat experience so far and I'm trying to sit back and soak it all in.