My Baby Shower

... happened 2 weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.

This was from the baby shower- I am now at 31 weeks and even larger. 

I feel like our lives have been pretty busy lately. Most nights we have something going after work- be it our bowling league, birth class, appointments with the midwives, getting together with friends, or just having to stay at work late for meetings... Weekends seem to be similarly busy. Our weekends are pretty much booked up until almost baby time. This weekend we had been planning a getaway to Ocean Shores, WA with friends, but we had to postpone it because there was the chance Bill was going to have to work Saturday. He didn't end up having to work, but I'm definitely glad it got pushed back because my kiddos at work gave me a nasty cold. After I finish writing this post, it is back to bed for a nap. Even though I have sooo many things I need to do. Oh well, getting healthy comes first.

We ended up having out last birth class on Saturday morning. They have normally been on Wednesday evenings, but we had to cancel a week or two because our instructor is also a doula and she needed to go deliver some babies. So... we help our last class yesterday since it worked with everyones schedule. The class was nice. We definitely learned a lot and the classes we always very engaging. Our last class focused on the newborn. It is funny we have spent so much time preparing for the birth, but really haven't done anything about learning what to do once Judah is actually here. Of course, the material things are being taken care of- but the how to stuff is still kind of mystifying. I'm really happy that Bill will be able to have some paternity leave and be home with me. I'm also glad my mom will be able to be up here to help for at least part of the time.

Anyway- the shower:
My guess is there were somewhere between 30-40 women there (plus some kids). It was nice getting to visit with everyone. It was a definite mix of people- some girls that I had grown up with, some from college, some from post college, my mom's friends, my mother-in-laws friends, and... my dad. That's right. He was there too. He wasn't planning on it, he was just going to drop my off, but then he decided to stay to chat with some people. And... then he just never left.

We had really super yummy cupcakes from Sweet Cakes to Go. We had the mini cupcakes in four flavors:  Oreo Black Bottom, Red Velvet, Boston Cream Pie, and Vanilla Bean. I (ahem) sampled them all and can attest for their tastiness. I definitely recommend them. There are about ten thousand flavors to choose from- it was very difficult to narrow them down to just four. Sadly, I don't have any photos to show you of them, but trust me, they were cute.

The other food to nosh on was a mix of fruits, veggies, crackers, and cheeses. Simple, but tasty. My sisters-in-law prepared Blue Hawaiian; there was also wine and some non-alcoholic drinks for me, my other pregnant friends (2 in attendance), and the kiddos.

The atmosphere was very casual and relaxed. People had fun crafting onesies. Which I swear I will eventually write a post all about. There was lots of good conversation and more than enough good things to eat.

A big thanks to my mother-in-law and mom for putting it all together!

I had lots of little helpers to bring me presents and haul away wrapping paper. Sometimes they got a bit overzealous and just opened the presents themselves. :)

My crafty friend Joy made me the button J. I had posted a link to it on her FB not two days before the shower.  Girl is on it (she also took over gift recording and organizing duty- Thanks Joy!).

This gives you an idea of the amount of people... except there was actually way more than this because there is another level behind this with a bunch of people...

Our sons are going to be BFFs, whether they like it or not.

Me with my Mother-in-law and sisters-in-law.

Me and my mom

And now with my dad as well. Isn't it funny how at this angle you can't really tell that there is this huge protrusion in the belly area? It just kinda looks like I am doing ballerina hands.

Bill and I went through the piles and piles of gifts yesterday in an attempt to become organized (and get our kitchen back- which is where we had been storing everything). It is just amazing how much stuff this little guy has and he isn't even born yet! I know I've said it before, but I will say it again: I cannot wait for the floors in the nursery to be finished (side eye to Bill) so I can put all of his stuff in his room! And get the gd crib out of the dining room.

Now I need to get Thank-You cards out. But... first I have to make them. Which requires me to not have a cold. Hopefully, I can get the cards made by doing a bit of work on them each evening this week. So, if you came to the shower- know that you will get a thank-you card. You will. I'm just not sure when.

A Not Lame Shower Idea- Decorating Onesies

Two weekends ago I went down to Oregon for my good friend's baby shower. She is also having a boy. She's due just a mere 6 weeks before I am. We are both very excited for the serendipitous timing. Our boys are gonna grow up as forced bffs. At the very least they will have a cousin like friendship. They really don't get a choice in the matter. They will love each other, because we say so, dammit! I think know Katy was more emotional than I was when I found out that I was having a boy. I was excited and all, don't get me wrong, but good ole Kates was in tears. hehe

Anyway, at her shower we decorated onesies. And it was super cute. Not cheesy. Seriously, cute. I promise. Her sister-in-law (who is super crafty) executed the whole operation. There was a large supply of onesies in different colors and sizes (some long sleeve, some short, some patterned, some plain, you get the gist). There was also a lot of cute fabric squares and decal templates (as in pictures printed out of the interwebs with a strong outline- think peace signs, animals, stars, et certera). After you picked out your fabric and your design template you pin them together along with fabric interfacing. Then, cut them all out, and boom, you have your decal. Next,  iron it on to the onesies. And, there you have it. Cute, individualized, onesies.

I didn't bring my camera (because, I am a loser like that... well, actually it is because I dropped my point and shoot into a lake this summer and hate to lug around my big slr camera. I really need to get a little point and shoot... would it be wrong to add that to my baby registry? Me thinks, not.). Anywho, here are some photos other people took and I have stolen.

Here I am, crafting away.

Ames, free-styling her cutouts.

Some other guests, working hard on creating cuteness.

See how cute?

A handful of onesies on display. 

I'm totally stealing the idea for my upcoming shower. I would like to add t-shirts to the mix as well. We plan on doing cloth diapers from bum genius, which are pretty darn cute all on their own. It would be a pretty sweet baby outfit to have the colorful cloth diaper topped with a homemade t-shirt. I've registered for a bunch of baby legs, which would really just take the outfit to a whole other level. Bonus? Easiest outfit to change a diaper in (at least, I think it should be, but what do I know?).

Here are some links to similar onesies decorating... They didn't do exactly the same thing as we did, but pretty close. Check it out: here, here, and here.