Baby Shower

I meant to update this earlier in the week but as always, grading made every evening full. Last Saturday was my baby shower and it was such an incredible blessing. Just a recap:

Friday: I took the day off work, graded papers and tidied up my house for our guests (my three best friends from college were driving in from Pittsburgh.) In the evening, I graded papers and my sweet husband took over the cleaning. Since Megan, Diane and Jen got a late start, they were not expected to arrive until after midnight. I wanted to be awake for them, so Allen let me sleep from like 10-12 while he made the house beautiful. He is such a blessing! My friends arrived safe and sound around 12:30, and it was so amazing to see them! They had not seen me since second tri, so I looked quite different. They just kept touching my belly and talking to Lorelei and trying to feel her kick- we just spent and hour at least hanging out in the nursery and talking. Eventually we went to bed.

Saturday: My shower was at 10:30 a.m. so I got up sometime between 8 and 9 and got ready. I wore a cute blue dress from old navy and some black tights and a scarf; I felt nice and pregnant but still cute :-) My friends got ready and we piled into my car to drive to my church for the shower. My dear aunt Lisa and cousin Kayleigh thew it for me, and I had known it was coming for a long time. I had a lot of involvement in the guest list and requested that it was held at church to be more centrally located for everyone, but other than that, I knew nothing about what it would look like. I walked in the room and was greeted by hugs from my aunt and cousins, and saw my 40ish guests all seated. There were so many sweet touches all over the shower. Potted roses were on each table and the favors were little plants to grow (to remind people to pray for Lorelei's growth.) There was a HUGE pile of gifts covered in pink paper, and two gliders next to the pile. The cake was so pretty and personalized with Lorelei's name and there was a display of Allen's and my baby pictures beautifully arranged on a table.

After aunt Lisa welcomed everyone and prayed over the meal, I ate one of the BEST breakfasts of my life (it was a brunch shower.) There was quiche and strata and french toast and scones and granola- ALL homemade by my Aunt and cousins! It was so delicious. After that, I sat in the glider for about an hour opening gift after gift. I was so blessed to receive pretty much all of my "big" items (like the pack n play, infant carseat, breast pump, etc.) I got a TON of little girl clothes and a bunch of pink blankets. I also got some really special personalized items. Some of my favorites were a homemade diaper cake and bag of special toys from Kelly (the toys were either hand-me-downs or favorites from her sweet daughter Karlyn, who I adore,) a HUGE basket of goodies from my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law's girlfriend, including a blanket/pillow set handmade by my sister-in-law, a beautiful quilt from my mom's best friend Joan, and my BEDDING! Aunt Lisa, as if throwing my shower wasn't enough, also made my bedding for me! We started the bedding process before she asked to throw my shower, and we picked out fabric together and designed what I wanted. Even though I knew about it, I was still in shock over how beautiful it is. I will post pictures when the nursery is totally done, but just trust me when I say it is beautiful!

During the gift exchange, they had one quick game where every table had individual members spell Lorelei's name correctly :-) I thought it was pretty creative and useful, as the little one has a complicated name :-) I was very proud of the amount of people who knew the spelling! After the gifts, I tried very hard to greet and spend a little time with everyone. I was so blessed by the people who attended; both my grandmothers, mom, sister and some cousins were at my table. There were also a couple of friends of my mom, a whole table of family from Allen's side, my three college friends, one of my best friends from work, some church and home group ladies and a couple of dear friends who I have known since I was very young. I also loved having some kids there, including babies to hold and get sweet pictures of :-) I am so thrilled to have ladies who have impacted my life and will be in Lorelei's as well!

Allen came at the end to say hi to people and pick up gifts. We had SO much! We filled my SUV AND Heather's (Allen's sister's) SUV to capacity! After everyone left, we took off for home to go through everything.

Even though we were exhausted, Allen, Diane, Jen, Megan and I sorted through everything, sorted receipts, put away cards and set up the pack and play. Allen and Megan moved the PNP into our bedroom (!!!) and then we went to the nursery to sort all the new clothes and hand-me-downs. Lorelei is going to be one well-dressed kid! She has enough clothes to change three times a day for the first three months and then it tapers off a bit; I hope that she is born a bit on the petite side! Diane, who is a nanny and has a child development degree, knows TONS about babies and helped organize the changing table and clothes in the most logical way. With all that accomplished, we were able to rest!

Sunday: We went to church and spent time with my family at lunch. After we came home so the girls could pack, my dear friend Megan (former roommate and AMAZING singer) took some time to sing to Lorelei in my belly. I hope Lorelei grows up knowing her Aunt Megan's beautiful voice, so it was a big deal :-)

This is super long so I wont add much more from this week. No major milestones, just growing bigger and loving my girl more. She is very active, but in such a different way, stretching and moving and jamming. We are now snowed in all weekend with another massive storm, and just relaxing. Tomorrow I will write thank you notes and maybe clean some more nursery stuff. And on Sunday, I will hit the famous 35/35 mark! 35 weeks down, 35 days to go! For the first time ever, when someone asked me when I am due, I said "next month!" (and got the response "whoah you look good!") So soon!!!

I do not have shower pictures yet loaded onto my computer, but check this website for some awesome shower pics :-)
www.flickr.com/willowimagery