crossrhodes

I swear, this is the last of the shower series! Just wanted to post a pic of the party favors as promised. I wrapped little lotion bottles in clear gift bags, backed it up with coordinating scrapbook paper, and sealed it with contrasting ribbon and a picture of a baby’s bottom. The label reads: For Hands As Soft As A Baby’s Bottom.

A few guests teasingly asked, if the belly in the invitation was mine, does the bum in the party favor belong to Don? *LOL* Sadly, not even all the Photoshop gurus in the world combined can turn a middle aged man’s bum into a Gerber baby’s!

My sister’s been having contractions for days now, but darnit, she wasn’t about to miss the party yesterday! She still made it to my baby shower and every now and then she’d sit in the corner and do her relaxation breathing when the contractions came. They were teasing her if it was time to call 9-1-1 yet. We had half a dozen registered nurses at the party. Who needs 9-1-1??? =)

Everyone says we look alike. Well, we ARE sisters of the same parents. But mannn, we look even more alike when pregnant! I love this capture! It must’ve been my brother who took it.

My mom made us pose for this picture. My parents must have so much fun with us. How often do you have both daughters pregnant at the same time?

And just so Don doesn’t feel left out, here’s a back-to-back belly pic with him.

I have to give my husband credit for continuing with the surprise conspiracy up to the very last minute, even though it was sooo very obvious where we were going. The only part of our baby shower that remained unknown to me was the location. That became obvious when he dropped me off in front of a night club in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. It’s where my BIL sometimes works as a DJ and it was obviously during off-hours so we had the place to ourselves.

I knew my brother and others would have their cameras ready when I entered the room, so I strapped mine on, too! See, there’s my brother in the above picture on camera standby. If my FIL was there, he’d be standing right next to my brother. Do I know my family or what?!?!

I yelled, “Surprise!” when they yelled, “Surprise!” and snapped pictures of them snapping pictures of me. *LOL* I gave them my very best fake surprised look anyway and went on with the party.

I have to give props to the YaYas, which includes my Sis and SIL. They sure know how to plan a party! My brother and SIL (especially my SIL) seem to fall in the “prom committee” role by default. They did the same thing at our wedding without being asked.

Speaking of which, Don and I haven’t cut a cake together since our wedding. If you didn’t already know we were married, the picture above looks like we’re cutting the cake at our shotgun wedding by order of the knocked-up girl’s father. *LOL*

And thank you, Nette, for having warm trays of real food coz I don’t have a fake happy face for cold cuts and crudites.

The YaYas come up with the most fun shower games! The chocolate in the diaper game was a first for me. I may need therapy before I ever eat chocolate again! They stuffed diapers with different varieties of chocolate “turds” (skid marks and all!) for us to taste and guess the candy’s name. We tasted and guessed baby food, too. I sucked at this game! The smashed peas looked like guacamole (pass the tortilla chips!), the pureed yams smelled like a bloody mary starter (remember, I haven’t had a cocktail or wine in 9 months), and the rest resembled the dipping sauce line up at McD’s (who’s got the chicken nuggets?).

And how cool is this: My oldest niece made and raffled gift baskets to raise money for the baby’s college fund. That was her gift to the baby. She walked to the store everyday to find stuff on sale for these baskets and insisted the money be used for college. How many 13 y/o kids come up with this idea?

Last but not least, I’m glad they thought of this… it’s definitely going in the baby scrapbook! They hung blank cards on a wire tree for guests to write their advice for us parents-to-be. They were all great advice, but there are 3 that really stood out to me:

1. Children are on loan from God. (I haven’t heard that in a long time. Everything we do as parents fall under that mission statement.)
2. Know the difference between authority and discipline. (I think they meant between authority and power in terms of the fundamentals of leadership. Authority comes with great responsibility, not just the possession of control.)
3. My new name is MOMMY! (I’ve been Auntie, Honey, even Hey, you! And now I’ll be Mommy.)

Thank you everyone for your gifts, time, and wisdom! We really are blessed with such generous family and friends!  Even those who couldn’t be at the party sent gifts ahead. After the party, I felt this great sense of belonging. I’ve finally attended a baby shower meant for MY very own baby!

One of Don’s co-workers is also expecting their first baby in May. We bumped into him and his wife at the hospital on our tour of the maternity ward. When Don told me he (the co-worker) is deploying to the Middle East with the Army Reserve a few weeks after their baby is born, my heart just sank. I hope his wife has a solid support structure of family and friends because I can’t imagine my husband leaving me with a newborn for months or maybe years! I’m already upset that Don has to travel weeks before and weeks after my due date, but they’re short, 2-day business trips to domestic cities. My parents will be living with me if Don had to go overseas for a long stretch of time.

There was another expectant military mom on the tour whose husband is still overseas. She inquired about having a web cam in the room so her husband can “be there” at the birth of their new baby. That just makes me so sad.

I’m too selfish (and territorial) to be a good military wife. (My husband belongs at home with his family. Uncle Sam can’t have him!) And I greatly, greatly admire the military spouses who make the ultimate sacrifices with their husbands/wives in service to this country. God bless them dearly!

There is nothing sexier than a man on his knees!!! Not on one knee proposing marriage (I don’t care how big the diamond is), but on both knees scrubbing the floor. Now THAT is SEXY!!!

I have longed for this day in the life of our hallway for 6 long months!

…The old floor was stripped last fall.

…The tile was laid in the middle of winter.

…The grout was filled shortly after the first day of spring.

…There is hope we’ll have a completely finished hallway by summer!

Of course, summer is usually the beginning of all new home improvement projects. Hopefully, Don will be too busy with work and the new baby to start anything too big for a one-man show. His handy helper James will be leaving home for college after all.

As for me, I’m having the darnest time rolling out of bed, getting up off the couch, or getting out of the car. Don’t ask me to do much else after that =) I have what I think is sciatica on my right (driving) leg. I’ll have to ask my doctor on my next visit. The pain radiates from my butt down my leg with prickly sensations on my foot. Try being in a department store when it hits and then driving home! The only relief is to squat in the squattiest (yup, it’s a real word!) of positions. (That reminds me… I have to buy a pilates ball for my hospital stay.)

I get these weekly growth diagrams in pregnancy newsletters. Do you see what I see? Before the baby, there were a whole lot of other body parts in there. Where the heck did they all go??? The answer is, up my throat! It feels like my stomach, diaphragm, and everything else is pushing up my throat. I don’t have to eat anything to get acid reflux. I get winded easily when I’m lecturing James… and I don’t lecture that long.  Seriously, ask him.

I’m not really complaining.  Feeling my little kickboxer all day makes the aches and pains worthwhile.  It’s the best part of being with child!!!  I don’t mind him/her staying in me a little longer before I have to share him/her with others… or change diapers =)