spring showers

Big sis, L, hard at work on her art square for the baby's room

I have no words for how amazing this cake from bonbonerie tasted!

The flower arrangements I made-red, white with a touch of pink in birch covered pots. 

The mimosa bar included three different juices and fresh fruit.

At the last minute I found this Peter Pilotto dress at Target. It was comfortable which is all you can hope for when you're eight months pregnant!

Tiny baby clothes!

And books to start his personal library.

Me and my mom.

 
Last Sunday my three best friends threw an amazing shower for our little bean! Remarkably, this is the first shower I've ever had! Because I'd never done the shower thing I don't think I was prepared for how emotional I'd be. This baby has turned me into such sentimental sap;)

Because we have been friends for so long(almost 30 years!) and they know me so well I was asked for my opinion on what I wanted and how it should look. I picked the location, Book Bums, a coffeehouse/cafe near our home, the colors(red,kraft paper and a touch of pink) and requested no games. I made the flower arrangements but the rest was all them. My favorite touch was requesting that each guest bring their favorite children's book in lieu of a card. We had book plates made so guests were able to sign their names and add a small message to the inside of the book. They did such an amazing job! My only regret is that I was having such a good time that I forgot to more pictures of all the little details.(blogger fail!)

The food was yummy(even if I didn't get to partake in the mimosa bar!) and the cake got rave reviews! I had a great time chatting with friends and family. Doug showed up just before dessert to help me open gifts. So. Much. Cute! The shower, the gifts, everything was so overwhelming! We are so lucky that our baby boy will be born into such a loving and warm community.

Britt, Nic and Cheryl(#teamoldschool) a million thank yous for all of your hard work! I love you girls so much!!!  

pretty paper

Last week my friends threw me a fabulous baby shower! One of my favorite details...the invitations! I worked with Jen at addie ink to come up with the perfect design. I love the color red in fact, I had a red and pink color palette in mind for the nursery in case we were having a girl! Since we decided to keep the baby's room fairly neutral, I opted to use red, kraft paper and white for the shower. We carried over the woodland whimsy idea from the nursery to the paper products. Because we asked guests to bring a favorite children's book in lieu of cards, Jen designed cute book plates so guests could write their names and a small message to the baby. I love the way they turned out!! Jen is such a sweetheart and so great to work with! I'm already planning the invitations for his first birthday party;) 

uniform

worn:maternity jeans-old navy//t shirt- liz lange for target // cardigan-anthropologie(old)

Everyone keeps telling me that I'm lucky to be pregnant in the winter. Nope! This winter's polar vortex means I've had to bundle up and I pretty much hate pants at this point. I seriously weigh outings based on how long I will be required to wear clothes. I long for the summer where I could be lounging by the pool in a swimsuit for 90% of my pregnancy. Oh well, it is what is.

Since this is my last pregnancy I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes. I've been lucky enough that some of pre pregnancy wardrobe has worked. So this is pretty much my uniform-maternity jeans, t shirt, cardigan and booties. It's not exciting but it works.

musings{motherhood monday}

With 9 weeks to go motherhood is on mind a lot! I became a mom for the first time at 18! Eight-freaking-teen! When I look back at that the girl I'm kind of awestruck by the fact that she thought she could do this-take on this responsibility. Of course I was in way over my head. But even knowing what I know now I wouldn't change my decision. I would be more deliberate in my choices but I cannot imagine my life without the four amazing people who call me mom!

And now, seventeen years after my youngest, I'm doing it again. This baby is such a blessing in so many ways. We struggled for years trying to conceive. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is possible for a woman who has given birth four times to be diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Clearly, the universe has a twisted sense of humor. We had long and emotional discussions trying to figure how much "intervention" we could handle and how much was too much. Was there a point where we would just have to let go and accept that a biological baby wasn't in the cards for us? If so, was adoption a viable option? Over the course of a year and half I charted, took all sorts of vitamins, cleaned up my diet, underwent a few (mildly invasive) procedures and we tried. When that didn't work I was prescribed Clomid. It felt good to be more proactive about our situation. We decided on several rounds of Clomid before moving on to IUI. It was on that final cycle of Clomid that I finally saw that (+) sign show up. I was so shocked that it took two more tests to convince me I wasnt hallucinating! This all happened the night before my husband's 41st birthday. I don't think either of us will ever forget the Saturday morning I told him we were going to have a baby. Best birthday Ever!

I'm a completely different person than I was 22 years ago when I became a mother. I look back at that fearless girl and admire her nerve. Because I know how hard it can be and the challenges that come with motherhood I'm slightly terrified! Do I have the physical and emotional energy to keep up with a baby? How will it affect my marriage? How will I balance building my business and baby? Will I lose the baby weight(shallow but true)?

This pregnancy has been an emotional roller coaster. I'm nervous, anxious and excited-and that's just over the course of an hour! But, the closer we get to D(elivery) Day the more excited I get! I can't wait to see this little nugget, hold him in my arms and cover his sweet tiny face in millions of kisses!

*motherhood posts will run on Mondays