My Purple & Teal Baby Shower

This past week my best moment was the baby shower my friends threw for me.  It was such a beautiful shower and I had such a lovely time.  Everyone who came was so wonderfully generous in showering our baby girl with gifts. Three of my girlfriends have been planning this baby shower for quite some time.  Dana, Mandi and Ashley coordinated the shower together.

The shower was hosted at Dana’s house.  The July afternoon weather was HOT but it was sunny and beautiful.  You could not have asked for a more pretty day.  The party was held  in the backyard.

The guests who came were mostly friends, not family.  Since I’m not originally from Colorado, I do not have any family members who live in the state.  Eric, my husband, has an uncle and aunt and their son who live in the state, so I was glad Aunt Sue could make it to the shower as the one family representative.  My family threw me a surprise baby shower when I was back in the Midwest for a visit in June.

The theme of the baby shower was more of colors: purple and teal.  We had a sundae bar (which was amazing!!).  The sundae bar was perfect with the hot summer afternoon.  We had a fun ice cube game that we played. Inside of frozen ice cubes were little plastic babies.  Each guest put an ice cube in her drink and once someone’s ice had totally melted and the baby was fully exposed, she could announce, “My water broke!” and win the game.  That was fun!

The other game we played was baby gift bingo.  Each lady had a bingo card with different baby items on it.  As I opened gifts, they crossed off the items….5 in a row/diagonal won!  I thought that was a creative way for guests to be more interested in what the gifts were.  My shower planners were so smart!

Overall, it was a lovely day.  I felt so happy and special.  It’s a day I’ll remember for a long time!

We had an ice cream sundae bar!  It was delicious and perfect on such a hot July afternoon.

My friend Ashley made this adorable fruit salad.  How artistic!

This is the sign in table.  The adorable turquoise chevron thing is a hair bow holder filled with lots of precious hair bows my friend Dana made. 

The girls did such a beautiful job with the decorations for the baby shower.  The theme colors were purple and teal/turquoise.  It was a sundae bar baby shower.  Everyone enjoyed the delicious sundaes since it was so hot in late July. 

3 of my amazing girlfriends coordinated the baby shower together.  They 3 of them put together such a beautiful day.  This picture is me with the hostesses (from left:) Ashley, Dana, me and Mandi.

So many wonderful gifts.  The guests played “baby bingo” while I opened gifts.

Some of the many ADORABLE little girl outfits we received!  Can’t wait to dress her up in her stylin’ clothes.

Here are some of the gifts we received from our amazing friends.

 

Eric and I are so extremely grateful for such wonderful friends.  It is hardly enough to say that we appreciate all of the gifts we received…but we are truly so blessed!!

BUMP REPORT – 29 Weeks

PREGNANCY WEEK 29

My age: 27

How far along: 29 weeks

How big is baby: the size of butternut squash.  She is 16 inches long and weighs 3 pounds.

Exercise/Activity Level: I worked out all 7 days this week.  Normally I do like to take one complete rest day, but I skipped a rest day in case I end up with an extra rest day this week due to our road trip across the country.  We have 3 full days of driving and my goal is to do some sort of exercise each day, but we will see how it pans out.  This past week my 7 days of workouts consisted of 3 outdoor runs (still loving my support belt!) and 4 gym workouts (although I slacked on weight training a tad this week–only 2 days of weight training, the other days I did only cardio for 40-60 minutes and no weights).  My runs are still going well!!  Still slow and steady with walking breaks, but still going strong with a smile on my face:)

Maternity clothes:  Nearly all maternity at this point.  I wear a lot of tank tops, shorts, maxi skirts and dresses.  The dress I’m wearing in this week’s picture is not a maternity dress, and I doubt I’ll be able to squeeze into it much longer.

Stretch marks: None.

Belly button: A little piece of my belly button is now slightly sticking out.  So I’d be lying if I said my belly button was an innie.

Sleep: Sleeping is fairly decent as of late.  My “pillow cave” is really helping.  We will see how having a new bed for 6 weeks in Florida goes:)  This week we will be in a couple of hotels during our road trip.  I am taking my body pillow.

Newest baby milestones this week: Babies start reacting to sound and light at this point in fetal development.  Her head continues to grow to make room for her ever-expanding brain.  Fat deposits continue to form under her skin, plumping her up.  🙂

Best Moment of the Week:  The best moment of the week was definitely my baby shower.  Three of my girlfriends have been planning this shower for quite some time, and it turned out beautifully.  We had a nice turnout of guests and it was such a blast!!  The theme colors of the baby shower were purple and teal/turquoise with a sundae bar.  The sundae bar was perfect on a hot summer July afternoon.  Here are just a few snapshots from the shower.  I will do a full blog entry about the baby shower later this week…so stay tuned!

Pictured above are me with my 3 amazing shower planners (Ashley, Dana and Mandi)!  They did such a wonderful job and I am so grateful for their friendships.

 Here are a few pictures to show the shower.  The sundae bar was amazing:)

Opening gifts.  My little baby girl is going to be STYLIN’ in her adorable outfits she received!

Worst Moment of the Week: I failed my 1-hour glucose screening test.  Believe me, I felt devastated.  I shed many tears and felt pretty low.  So I took the 3-hour glucose tolerance test (checking for gestational diabetes) on Friday morning as a more in depth test.  The test was AWFUL…I was so sick.  I felt like I was going to pass out, felt like I would throw up, had violent shakes, was dizzy, was so hot I was sweating buckets and felt just terrible.  Thankfully after about an hour and a half I started feeling a bit better.  My sweet mom and sister both spent time talking to me on the phone and the distraction was much appreciated.  I now have a bruise on my arm from getting my blood drawn 4 times.  I am supposed to find out the results of the GTT test by Monday/Tuesday.  Keeping my fingers crossed for good results.

Food cravings: Fruit, ice cream, mashed potatoes, milk and string cheese.

Food aversions: I ate chicken again this past week.  Baby steps:)

Symptoms: Heart burn, frequent peeing, ever-growing belly, etc.

Movement: Very active little girl in there.  Cute story: one morning I woke up nestled up to Eric’s side, and he was delighted that he could feel all of her kicks against his own belly (since my belly was pushing into him).  Normally the body pillow is between us in bed (sad, I know), but it wasn’t that morning so he got to feel her kicks when I was still sleeping.  He loved that.

Gender: Girl

What I’m looking forward to: Arriving in Florida.  We should arrive on Wednesday night (after driving full days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday).

What I’m nervous about/praying for: Praying for our drive across the country these next few days.  I am writing this blog on Sunday night, but by the time it’s posted on Monday morning we will be several hours into our endless drive.

What I miss: Having more energy.  Oh, and also being able to shave my legs without grunting and straining.

Next appointment: Not sure.  I need to set up an OB doctor visit in Florida for next week.

Work Baby Shower

I work at the best place in town.  I work at a chiropractic office in Colorado, and we have the best staff and patients around!  A few weeks ago, Bridget, my boss’s wife approached me about dates to possibly get together for a baby shower.  This totally blew me away!  I am so honored to know such fine people.

The baby shower was such a blast.  We had it on Friday night.  Ladies were drinking margaritas and lemonades.  I wanted a margarita….so guess what?  I got a virgin margarita!!  It was so great.  Salt on the rim and all.  I should remember this for later when I’m craving for a sweet drink.  My friend made cucumber sandwiches as part of the food selection.  I absolutely LOVE cucumber sandwiches.  That was probably my favorite part of the night!

Since it was a small shower with only ladies from work, it felt very intimate and relaxed.  We sat around chatting and laughing for hours about all sorts of things.  Mainly childbirth and the like….  I learned so many things about birth and mommy-stuff that night!  Our laughter and stories kept us going until nearly 11pm.  I feel so blessed and grateful for the generosity of my friends from work.  Thank you, ladies!

Surprise Baby Shower!

Last weekend I flew back to my home state of Indiana to help celebrate my brother and sister’s graduation from high school.  Little did I know that I had a surprise baby shower that my sisters and mom had been planning and scheming about for a while.  Our plan for Saturday afternoon was for all of us girls (Mom, and sisters Jill, Maggie, Melody and Christine) to meet up at Maggie’s house to then go shopping and eventually out to dinner.  My mom drove me and Christine to meet up with the other girls.  On the way there she said, “We need to stop at the church to pick up a pot roast container for the graduation open house tomorrow.”

So we pulled up to the church and my mom asked me and Christine to run in and grab this pot roast container.  (I thought—you are making the pregnant girl go in and get it?)  Christine led us to through the church and I peeked through a window and saw a baby shower going on.  I said, “Christine, we CAN’T go through there–there is a baby shower going on!!!”  It didn’t dawn on me that the baby shower was MY PARTY for a few more seconds.  “SURPRISE” yelled the guests….only then did I catch on!

What a great honor to be completely surprised by people that I care for and love.  There were about 20 people who came out and blessed us with generous gifts for our baby girl.  I feel so loved.

Here are some snapshots from the shower:

Me hesitantly walking through the door.  I really thought I was invading on someone else’s shower!

“Whoa, you guys got me good!”

Playing baby words scramble game.

The food table.  They even got a chocolate fountain!

My sister Melody (in purple) and friend Brittany (in blue).

Me with my sisters: Jill (black and white), Melody (purple), me, Christine (brown) and Maggie (36 weeks pregnant)!

Eric’s Grandma Helen, me, my mother-in-law Dian and Eric’s Aunt Denise.

My gorgeous momma and I.

More games…

Purple and teal….wonder where they got that idea?  How intune are they?!

Playing the “drink apple juice from a bottle” race….guess who won?  Yes, I won it!!  I smoked Mom and Brittany!

Opening gifts.  I got so many nice things.  What a blessing!  This specific gift was Purdue University onesies:)

My mom drinking juice from her bottle.

Pretty decorations.

My little sister Melody and I.

My big sis Maggie and I.  I’m 22 weeks and she is 36 weeks!

These baby cousins got to “meet” while still in the womb.

22 weeks at my baby shower.

22 weeks pregnant at my baby shower.

BUMP REPORT – 22 Weeks

PREGNANCY WEEK 22

I’m now 55% of the way there!  22 weeks means the countdown is a mere 18 weeks until our sweet little girl makes her official entrance into this world.  As a whole, this pregnancy (that results in an actual BABY GIRL) is becoming more and more real as these weeks pass.  And lately the weeks are starting to FLY by compared to the dragging weeks, days and minutes of the 1st trimester of secrecy and sickness.  I am not sure if time flying is a good or a bad thing.  I’ll take it for what it is….it’s getting me closer to holding our baby in our arms.

This past weekend was CRAZY!  Let me explain.  I did not mention before that I had a planned trip to Indiana to visit my family.  The reason I failed to mention even a WORD about it was because the trip was intended as a surprise for my brother and sister.  Mark and Christine were graduating from high school and I thought that it would be very sisterly of me to make a surprise visit in their honor.  Well, I must say, the surprise was successfully pulled off since both Mark and Christine were in utter shock when they saw me!!  I think that they felt really special that I made an effort to be there to help celebrate their accomplishments.  I am so glad I went.

Mark, my 18-year-old brother is the kindest guy you will ever meet.  He simply has a heart of gold.  He will also keep you entertained and laughing for hours.  He is a leader and has shown that as the president of his class at school.  Christine, my 17-year-old baby sister is the most intelligent little stinker ever.  She skipped a grade years ago, putting her in the same grade as Mark.  She was the homecoming queen this spring and she just graduated as salutatorian (2nd only to the valedictorian) of her high school class.  Both Mark and Christine are going to Purdue University in the fall to pursue bachelors degrees (I also went to Purdue!).  At their graduation there were three students who gave speeches…2 of the 3 speeches were from my siblings!  So proud of them.

Here I am with my sister Christine and brother Mark.  (Silly brother-in-law Andrew is purposely photo bombing us with his dog, haha!)

The surprise that keeps on giving.  Now….if you recall, I just happened to mention that I planned my trip as a surprise to Mark and Christine.  I pulled it off.  My mom knew about the trip ahead of time and helped keep it a secret.  BUT—my mom and OTHER sisters besides Christine (Jill, Maggie and Melody), pulled a quick one on ME!  On Saturday afternoon they threw me a surprise baby shower.  I was in pure shock when I walked in the room to a party full of purple and teal balloons and smiling faces.  Apparently my sisters thought that this trip home would be the perfect opportunity to throw a baby shower (since I’m unable to get back to Indiana anymore pre-birth due to an overly busy summer schedule).  They planned this baby shower for the past month (ever since I booked my flight).  I feel absolutely loved beyond words.  That baby shower made me feel really special.  THEY GOT ME GOOD!

A few snapshots from the surprise shower.  My sisters even did a purple and teal color scheme since they had checked out my blog and pinterest ideas!

My age: 27

How far along: 22 weeks

How big is baby: the size of a spaghetti squash.   She is 11 inches long and weighs 1 pound.

Exercise/Activity Level: Despite my travels this week, I managed to keep up with my workouts really well!  I am proud of myself for that.  I got in 6 days of exercise…4 of those days I did outdoor runs and 2 of those days I went to the gym to do cardio and weights.  When I was in Indiana, it was so much fun to go running (at low altitude!) on the flat country roads where my parents live.  One morning I convinced my 9-year-old nephew Elijah to go on the run with me and he could ride a bike.  Well, we figured out that the bike’s tires were in need of some air, so he ended up having to run with me and dropped the bike on the side of the road until we grabbed it on our way back.  Poor kid….

Maternity clothes:  I am wearing mostly maternity clothes.  Most of my non-maternity shirts are getting to be too short to wear now.  Motherhood Maternity sends me e-mails with online sales, and I scored on swim suits with the 50% off swimwear sale they had a few days ago.  I will be in Florida this summer and will need to have appropriate fitting swim suits, so I am glad I found such a great sale.

Stretch marks: None.

Belly button: Innie.

Sleep: Sleeping well.  The past two weekends I have traveled and slept in other beds, but none of that really phased me.  Thankfully.

Best moment of the week: I have two best moments:

1. Surprising Mark and Christine.

2. Getting surprised at my baby shower.

More on these later.  In fact, I will probably write an additional post later this week about the trip, surprise baby shower and my pregnant sister, Maggie.

Food cravings: Fruit and Gatorade.

Food aversions: Chicken.  Although I bravely ate orange chicken from Panda Express.  Then I realized the only reason I could eat it is because it doesn’t even taste like chicken with all the breading and sauce on it:)

Symptoms: Growing belly.  Mild heartburn comes and goes.  Feeling really great for the most part.

Movement: I know it’s a matter of days until Eric can feel her kicking.  She is kicking harder and harder now!

Gender: Girl

What I’m looking forward to: My older brother Luke, his wife Ellen, and their two kiddos David and Emily, are coming to Colorado for a visit in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!  This will be my first time meeting my niece Emily since she is only 4 months old.  Now that my Indiana tripped is done, my next big excitement is seeing Luke and Ellen.  Can’t wait!

What I’m nervous about/praying for: I never answer this one because I’m rarely nervous, so I added the “praying for” part.  I’m currently praying for our baby to keep growing and stay on track like she has been doing so far:)

What I miss: My family.  It’s always hard getting back to regular life after a fun-filled time back home with my parents, brother, sisters, brother-in-laws and nephews.  For the record, I am one of 8 kids, so family is a huge deal.  I love my parents and am so grateful that they raised us to be successful and healthy adults.  My siblings have each played a big role in my life and I wouldn’t trade my big family for a small one no matter what!  I miss them!

Next appointment: Tuesday, June 11, 2013.