34 Weeks!

Let’s go back to fruit references, shall we? ;)

How far along? 34 Weeks! AHHH!
Weight Gain/Loss: Just another pound since my last appointment – I’m now at 134lbs
Maternity clothes? I love that I’m still finding new tops to wear in my stash. I found a SUPER cute one the other day!
Sleep: Blah. The real bummer is that I’m pretty congested again and I’ve started snoring! I felt so bad the other night when I woke up around midnight and John was out in a sleeping bag on the couch (snoring is one of his pet peeves when he’s trying to sleep, so that made me feel worse!). I pulled out the humidifier the next night and that has actually helped quite a bit. And can I just say that I find it super annoying when after I’ve told someone I’m tired (because I am. All the time. I’m not complaining about it either…it’s when people ask me how I’m doing/feeling and I’ll say something like “Good! Tired, but good.”) they say something like “Oh just wait, it’s only going to get worse!” Yes. Thank you. I appreciate that. NOT. I know it’s going to get worse – I’m having a baby! I have no idea when I’m going to ever get a good night’s sleep again (not that I ever got a good night’s sleep before I got pregnant thankyouverymuch)! I really don’t need anyone to remind me. So thanks, but not helpful.
Best moment this week: I would have to say getting our new crib all put together. John and I did it together a couple of nights ago and that second bedroom actually looks like a little nursery now! Eeee!
Miss Anything? I’m missing wearing contacts again. I don’t really mind my glasses, but I don’t necessarily feel like I look like myself with them on. I wonder when all those hormones will finally settle down and I can try wearing them again. Hm… Anyone else have this experience?
Food cravings: Still nothing, though I have been enjoying my peanut butter and chocolate chips on a spoon thing I’ve got going on ;)
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! And it’s awesome.
Have you started to show yet: Yep, and for the first time I actually feel big. (Although I am apparently measuring a little on the small side, but the midwives aren’t worried because at my last ultrasound – when we found out Nathan’s kidney’s were fine – we learned that he's perfectly average in size. About the 53rd percentile or something. And whenever the midwives tell me that he’s average I always want to be a bit of a brat – because I haven’t been overly impressed with my midwives - and say something like “my baby is not average! He’s exceptional!” But I don’t. I guess I’m not hormonal enough.) Not the most comfortable feeling for me, but only a few weeks left (EEEK!). I need to get some more black socks so I can wear my black slip-ons more often. Tying my shoes is getting to be kind of ridiculous. I’m going to need John’s help here soon! Because we SO did not get that flip flop weather I was asking for 2 weeks ago. We got snow instead.  
Gender: Crazy boy that likes to kick me all the time. It’s so fun though, I love feeling him move. Even at 4 in the morning. I’d much rather feel him move and know he’s doing well. 
Belly Button in or out? It’s an outie, and about the same as it’s been the last couple of weeks. It’s really funny to see it sticking out.  
Wedding Ring on or off? I’ve been a week without wearing my wedding ring. My fingers haven’t swelled all that much to be honest, but just enough to make it uncomfortable to wear my ring, which is a bummer, because I love wearing my ring :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! We are much more put together in our new place. We still have a couple of areas that need organizing, but for the most part, we really just have pictures and other personal décor items to put up and we are pretty much settled in! We are loving it and it’s so nice to love where you live.
Looking forward to: Now that the crib is put together, I’m excited to start decorating the nursery area. (I call it an ‘area’ because half the room is the nursery and the other half is the crafting space/office) I just finished a couple of pieces for the wall – can’t wait to show you!

March Madness

No, it’s not that March Madness, with the silly bracket and stuff (I still resent being forced to fill one out when I was working at Independent Study at BYU – I’m always wrong). It’s my own special brand of madness (I mean, you all already know I’m crazy, right?). And it just happens to be March.

So there you go.

Where shall I begin? Oh yeah, we moved. Just to another apartment about 8 miles from where we were. We made the announcement in church a few weeks prior to moving day that we needed a little bit of help (I was banned from lifting boxes, remember?) and on the Saturday that we moved, we received so much help getting moved out of the old place and into the new. So much help, that it only took about 2 hours! To move out AND in! We felt so overwhelmingly grateful for all the assistance we were given. I still can’t believe it only took 2 hours, and that included driving over to the new place and hauling everything up to the 4th floor! Our family and friends ROCK.

We love our new place. Looooooooove it. It’s so pretty and new and quiet. Oh yes, no more obnoxious neighbors and it makes me soo sooooo happy. Pictures to come (I can’t wait to show you my mad organizing skillz), but we are all out of boxes (that only took me a couple of days, it’s nice to be home all day to work on it) and most of the place is pretty much put together by now, all that’s really left is getting the personal effects put up, like pictures and whatnot.

The weekend after we moved we were down in VA for more craziness. Jason was going to be giving his mission homecoming talk that weekend and both my parents were going to be speaking in sacrament meeting as well – AND I was singing a musical number. Just call us the Von Trapp family show. I went down on that Friday because we had lots of fun planned for the Saturday preceding our show.

Twice a year an elementary school in my parent’s county has this huge baby/kids consignment sale. Mom and I decided to check it out because after taking an inventory of all the clothes I have for Baby Nathan, I realized I needed quite a bit in the older-than-3-months area. And wow did we score big time! Apparently the one they have in the fall is even better, but Mom and I had the time of our lives picking out clothes for roughly $0.75 a piece. That’s right – 75 cents. Awesome. You KNOW how I love me a good deal. After picking our way through all the tables of clothes, we ended up with about 44 pieces – to include nice brand name stuff, like Gymboree and Baby Gap. Wanna know what we spent on it all?

$65! I know, that might seem like a lot looking at this picture, but baby clothes are small, remember? And when you think that Gymboree jeans retail for about $15/pair…and we got ours for $2/pair…I’m thinking we got a steal of a deal here! My child is now outfitted through 18 months ;)

Wanna see my most favorite thing we found?

!!!! Is this not just PERFECT?! I about died when I found it! I’m just bummed I have to wait until my baby fits 18 month sizes before he can wear it! ;) It was really funny when I showed it to John after we came back – he reads the shirt and goes “Hey! I thought I was your official cookie tester!” Sorry babe, you’ll just have to share with Nathan now ;)

We also scored a brand new still-in-the-box crib for $65! This wasn’t at the consignment sale though. A lady in my mom’s ward randomly (I say randomly because she has no babies in her family at this point – her youngest is 9) buys baby gear at super clearanced prices (I really need to figure out where she finds these deals) and then sells them off to people she knows who might need them. Crazy? A little, but I totally support it if it gets me a brand new crib for less than $100. My mom also bought a jogging stroller off of her (again, brand new in the box) for $50. You just keep doing what you’re doing sista, I’m digging the deals.

After we brought all of our baby goodies home, we headed back out to my mom’s stake Relief Society activity, where we had a luncheon and a few presentations. We got to see lots of people we know from the stake, and that’s always fun.

THEN as if we hadn’t had enough fun yet, we went to dinner and girls’ bunco night with my mom’s neighbors. Dinner was very fun (and a little crazy) and then we headed over to a neighborhood clubhouse for bunco. I’m really bad at bunco. I usually lost, BUT I did manage to roll a bunco!! Woo hoo! Since it was St Patrick’s Day weekend, whenever you rolled a bunco, you had to wear this funny headband and lei until the next person rolled one. Like this: (Sorry it’s blurry, this was taken on my mom’s phone)

Too silly. But we had a good time – even though we didn’t win anything ;)

Jason’s homecoming talk was very nice that Sunday. My parents both gave great talks and I sang “I Feel My Savior’s Love”. It would have been really nice had I not been all choked up from my parent’s talks about family and stuff. I cried my way through verses 1 and 2, and finally pulled it together on verse 3. I felt pretty ridiculous, actually. I NEVER cry when singing. Dang pregnant hormones ;) Oh well, I think it still ended up turning out nicely I guess…

After we went home I had a few days break before the next adventure: Time Out for Women – in Indianapolis. Which meant going BACK down to VA on Wednesday, to start driving to Indiana on Thursday. We stopped in PA for the night, and finished the drive on Friday and since there were 9 of us going (4 adults and 5 girls), bathroom and meal breaks (to include ANOTHER quest for a magic burrito – why must Chipotle be so elusive?!) take 3 times as long so we were walking in as the Evening session started. Whew! Soooo very long in the car.

Time out for Women was very fun, we got to see Aunt Michelley there!

We heard from John Bytheway, Jenny Oaks Baker, Sandra Turley and Laurel Christensen to name a few. So cool. After the Friday night session we crashed at the hotel – the traveling ended up being pretty difficult for me, what with the long hours in the car, very late nights (combined with not really sleeping at night) and early mornings, but I survived. Saturday TOFW went all day, and we had a very fun lunch break with everyone – there were food trucks lined up all along the street outside the convention center! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many at once!
This one even had a Star Wars themed menu. I couldn’t resist ;)

So random, but so fun. We finished TOFW with more talks, concerts and presentations and then around 4pm we were back in the car making our way back east. More driving. Blech ;) We had another meal mishap when we were trying to find dinner. The day before when we had been trying to find a Chipotle had been crazy because my mom’s GPS has a function that allows you to look up points of interest along the route you are already driving. Well, the GPS LIED because that Chipotle was 20 minutes off our route, and so then it took us another 20 minutes to get back on route – for a total of 40 minutes out of our way. Boo. This time however, we found an Olive Garden on the GPS that was only 6 miles or so off the freeway we were driving. We figured we were golden.

False.

Turns out that Olive Garden doesn’t exist anymore. We think it got turned into a Japanese restaurant. Figures. It also ended up being in a rather sketchy looking neighborhood. But we found a Steak N Shake close by and that turned out to be a great place to eat (none of us had ever been there). We all got super yummy milkshakes and fries and whatnot and thankfully it ended up being a really good meal. I’d even go again. ;)

But the story doesn’t exactly end there. Once we had finished dinner and we were back on the road…we found that there was an Olive Garden one more exit down along the freeway. (Seriously?!) And we laughed and laughed.

Sunday we finally all made it home. Whew! It’s now Wednesday and I still feel like I’m trying to recover from the trip, but even though the traveling was difficult, I did have a good time at Time Out for Women. Thanks Mom for all the fun!

Now we are continuing to settle in, we finally got rid of the last of the boxes today – Yay! They had been sitting, empty, in the second bedroom, waiting to be taken away to someone who is moving and needed boxes and packing paper. I have survived a couple of weeks now taking the groceries up 4 flights of stairs, but man my legs are getting a workout these days! I am also getting closer and closer to having Nathan’s nursery set up and that’s been really fun :) Pictures to come – as soon as I get the rest of our stuff hung up and put together!

An Over The Big Top Thank You

So you remember that super cute circus baby shower that those super cute girls threw for me? Well, I needed another reason to make some cute cookies (because really - after the baby comes, who knows when I’ll be making more?!) and this seemed like the perfect way to thank them for taking the time to throw such a sweet party for me. I think the little tickets are my favorite. I felt like such a nerd putting the random ticket numbers on a few of them…but hey, that’s kind of how I roll ;)I’m still working on my 20-second icing technique – I used it on the tents – but I can’t quite get that 20-second consistency just right… I’m also super clumsy these days, I can’t even tell you how many times I dropped cookies (on the table, NOT the floor. And of course, they ALWAYS fall facedown. Gah!) But at any rate, with the finishing detail done I don’t think it looks too bad!
So thanks again Katrina, Carolyn and Maggie! I hope you enjoy the cookies! :)

32 Weeks!

(Hmm…maybe I should have worn a green shirt for this one…oh well…)

How far along? 32 Weeks!
Weight Gain/Loss: I’ve gained 11 pounds since my last appointment (which was 5 weeks ago – I don’t think my doctor realized that I hadn’t started coming every two weeks yet…) I am now at 133lbs. Give it another 10lbs or so and I’ll weigh almost as much as John. I’m more than a little weirded out by that… ;)
Maternity clothes? I’ve stored away all of my winter pre-pregnancy clothes because I’m not going to need them till next year now!
Sleep: It’s a hit-or-miss kind of thing these days. My left hip still does its weird tingling thing, but some nights I don’t actually sleep that badly, but then other nights we’re back to the potty break every 2 hours and then wake up at 6 for a snack…
Best moment this week: It was a stiff competition but the winner for this week is we found out that Nathan’s kidneys are back in the normal size range! HURRAY! I mentioned back in December that the doctors had found that his left kidney was dilated more than is normal, so I’ve been going in every 4-5 weeks for an ultrasound so that they could monitor it. At my appointment last month they told me that if it’s still too big by my next ultrasound, we’d have to meet with a pediatric urologist to come up with a contingency plan should it affect Nathan after birth (at best he’d just get antibiotics to prevent a UTI, at worst, he’d need surgery – talk about freaking me out!). But my ultrasound on Monday showed completely normal kidneys!!! We are so grateful that everything is good now, lots of prayers have been answered! Runner-up for best moment would be getting moved in to our new apartment, for sure.
Miss Anything? I don’t really miss anything this week – too many good things happening to be missing anything! ;)
Food cravings: I had something close to a craving yesterday. I guess you could call it a craving. I was eating lunch yesterday when I suddenly thought “I need peanut butter and chocolate. Right now.” Unfortunately, there were no more Reese’s peanut butter cups! And I didn’t have the car! So I improvised. A spoonful of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips. Make that 3 spoonfuls of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips. Not to worry, I did NOT double triple dip my spoon. I just dirtied three spoons. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! I love not being sick all the time. It’s probably the best thing ever.
Have you started to show yet: Still can’t see my toes. And tying my tennis shoes is getting increasingly difficult and uncomfortable. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but bring on the flip flop weather! I need to be able to wear more slip-ons! ;)  
Gender: My wiggly boy is now 4lbs 3oz (as of Monday) and it is so fun to feel him kicking. I love it.
Belly Button in or out? It is officially an outie, but it’s still not so bad that you can see it through my shirt. Whew!  
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! We are all moved into our new apartment (and officially out of boxes today! Organized? No. But out of boxes? Heck yes!). We had so much help on moving day and we were out of the old place and into the new one in about 2 hours. Talk about record breaking time! It was so wonderful and I hope no one got hurt because they had to bring stuff up 4 floors…
Looking forward to: Getting all settled into our new place! I’ve made quite a bit of headway – the kitchen is now fully functional (that’s the most important you know – well, besides a place to sleep…) and once we get all the empty boxes out of the spare bedroom I can start working on Nathan’s nursery area! :)

On Being Quiet

I recently finished a book recommended to me by my Dad called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. Really good read! I found it especially fascinating because, well…

I’m an introvert.

This probably doesn’t surprise most of you. Or maybe it does. If you know me better in person, it most likely doesn’t surprise you. But if you know me primarily through this blog, then it just might (because really, can an introvert be so stinkin’ hilarious? We’ll see).

Before I go any further though, I just want to clarify that I, like the author, don’t really believe that everyone can be sorted into two categories (in this case, introverts and extroverts). The human personality is so very complex and influenced by so many different factors, that it kind of amazes me that behavioral and personality psychologists have been able to discover what they have. But I do believe that we each tend to lean more toward one type or the other, like on a spectrum, but at the same time we can have moments or experiences in which we react in a way that can be contrary to our “typical” nature.

When I was younger, I used to equate being introverted with being awkward, antisocial and weird. (Turns out being introverted has nothing to do with being weird, I’m just weird anyway!) I’ve always been a little quieter in social situations, I don’t really enjoy being in large groups (especially of people I don’t know), and I routinely experience mild anxiety in the face of the unknown and new experiences. Like meeting new people. I’m still not sure how I survived being a military brat.

But because of this misconception, I felt like there was something inherently wrong with me because I’m introverted. “You are never going to make friends if you can’t be outgoing!” “Why on earth should you prefer to be alone?!” “You are so awkward” “You really need to learn how to put yourself out there” “You should be bolder, more assertive!” were the thoughts that plagued my self-esteem. Those feelings have faded since becoming an adult – because I think everyone deals with self-esteem issues at some point or another, whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, but every once in a while, those feelings resurface and I wonder if there is something wrong with me. But what I really liked about the book was that it reinforced what I’ve learned over the years about being introverted and passionately argues that it is perfectly okay to be an introvert.

Unfortunately (for people like me), we live in a society that embraces what Cain calls the “Extrovert Ideal”. Today’s society values the outgoing, the talkative, the bold, the assertive, the go-getters, the ‘works-well-with-others’, the magnetic personalities, the charismatic. Or in other words, the qualities found naturally in extroverts. From the workplace to the dating scene to the classroom and even to church, this Extrovert Ideal is present. But is that really a good thing? Cain argues that we lose something by overlooking the introverts. I actually started listening to this book on CD with my Mom (an extrovert), who was listening to it at the request of my Dad (an introvert) before my name finally made it to the top of the waiting list for the book at my local library. My brother listened to a little bit as well – mostly because he was in the car with us and didn’t really have a choice, though he did fall asleep a little while later – and seemed a little miffed by Cain’s description of the Extrovert Ideal. He seemed to think the she was all about ‘power to the introverts’ or that introverts were the better people. I think this was because, though he might not realize it (because he’s in that I-just-got-home-from-my-mission-and-I’m-readjusting phase), but he is exponentially more extroverted than I am. But I don’t think that was Cain’s intent at all. I think she is pleading for balance. We need to value both types. Cain asserts that you’d be surprised by how many people you might know that would identify themselves as introverts, because they have learned to fake it in a world that wants them to be sociable and gregarious. So what is an introvert to do?

Being introverted explains why I clam up in group settings, especially with new people. It explains why I feel like the world’s worst conversationalist because I don’t like (because I ultimately don’t really know how) to make small talk. Only once I have had the chance to meet every member of a given group on a one-on-one basis (or on a more personal level) do I start to feel comfortable opening up when we’re all together. It explains why going to social functions, such as Relief Society activities, alone (as in, without John) stresses me out, because I don’t know if I’m going to have someone I already know and feel comfortable with to talk to. When John is with me, I feel much less anxiety, because he is my social anchor. I know I’ll always have someone to talk to when he is with me. There have been Relief Society activities at which I have wandered around the church building, perpetually pretending that I’m on my way to the bathroom, until I find someone I can sit with and not feel completely lost in the din of small talk conversation. And those times I don’t ever find anyone? I usually end up sitting down at a table where I don’t know anyone there and I clam up because I just don’t know what to say. Part of that is because introverts are generally easily overstimulated. For me, I often feel overstimulated in such situations because 1) I’m dealing with new people, 2) I’m trying to read social cues, 3) I’m trying (and usually failing) to come up with something interesting to say or ask and 4) the sheer amount of people can create quite a bit of noise, depending on the type of social setting I’m in. That’s a lot going on for an introvert! I usually come home from such events exhausted not only by the stimuli, but from the effort to ‘survive’ in a setting where people are expected to be more extroverted. So we’ll see how I do in the new ward… But this doesn’t mean that my company/personality is lacking, it just means I need a different kind of social setting to thrive.

Being introverted can also explain my fear of public speaking, and more particularly, of improvisational public speaking. Being a member of the church has been great to get better practice at public speaking with all those talks and lessons we are asked to give, but it remains one of my greatest fears that I’ll get called up impromptu to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. (I don’t care if it’s inspired; I still consider it a horrible fate) I get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of making a comment in Sunday School! I still remember a summer in high school when my brother and I were called up on the spot to tell of our adventures on a pioneer trek we had just completed and to bear our testimonies. My dad was in the branch presidency at the time and had warned me in advance that we would probably be asked to speak on it, but did not know we’d be called up spontaneously that particular Sunday – we’d just gotten back! I went first and, palms sweating, stumbled through a brief summary of a few experiences from Trek and a weak-sounding testimony. I made my way back to my seat, my face burning. I knew my delivery had been awful, and I could see sympathy in my Mom’s face as I sat down. I felt worse after hearing my (extroverted) brother’s remarkably well put together and yes, improvised presentation of his experiences. I remember hoping that people would forget that I had gotten up to say anything at all. I have always envied my brother’s stage presence and his ability to think quickly like that. But my fear of public speaking doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything worthwhile to say – it just means I need more time to prepare so that I’m more comfortable being in front of people. This way, both I and my audience benefit. My audience gets much more out of what I have to say, and I don’t feel like an idiot.

But introversion also explains my focus and persistence in certain areas of my life. I love to read and have a really hard time putting down a good book. As a result, I can read extremely quickly and retain a large percentage of the information, considering the pace at which I absorb it in my quick reading (I read Quiet in just a couple of hours, if that). I have also always liked to make things with my hands. I think that’s why I enjoy cake and cookie decorating, as well as making crafts. I have always been like this. Even as a child I remember pulling fabric scraps out of my Mom’s craft room and making little stuffed animals or dolls. But other children my age thought that was, well, kind of weird (I know because they told me so on occasion). But as an adult, people are astonished and impressed with that focus and persistence when I show them cookies or crafts that I have done with designs or details that require a lot of time, persistence and effort. This focus also translates into my personal life. I think it safe to say that I am very devoted to my husband and our relationship as well as my religious beliefs - but like anyone else, I can always be better in these areas.

Introversion can also explain why I love blogging. Introverts often find that they express themselves better in writing and for me, this is certainly the case. This doesn’t mean I think I’m an amazing writer, it really just means I feel that I can be more myself when I write about things that matter to me. It allows me the time to really think about what I want to say, how I want to say it and I can go back and edit or erase what I’ve written before I let anyone else see it. Social situations don’t come with the delete button, which is why I think so many introverts can be afraid to speak up – there’s no time to really think about what to say, how to say it and in a moment of panic, you can’t take back a verbal/social blunder! When I’m blogging, I’m not worrying about studying the social cues of my readers, I don’t have to worry about whether they think what I’m saying is interesting – because hey, no one is making you read this – and as it turns out, I can be really funny! This continues to be a source of delight to me because I can’t even count how many times growing up that I was told that I was boring or ‘no fun’ by my peers. But as I’ve become more comfortable in my little bloggy bubble, I’ve found that I can actually make people laugh! And for me, that’s kind of empowering. Over the months and years that I have been blogging, that has translated into a kind of courage to try to be funny in ‘real life’ and to my surprise, I can be funny in real life too! (Um…most of the time…)

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone (and no one is paying me to say that). As Cain points out at the beginning of Quiet, at least one third to one half of Americans are introverts. So that means chances are you are one, you grew up with one, you are friends with one, you work with one or you are married to one. And I think that this Extrovert Ideal is a very real concept, and that when we as a society can learn to accept the quiet (and sometimes quirky) gifts of introverts, everyone stands to benefit. Not only do society, businesses and classrooms need both introverts and extroverts, but that introverts and extroverts need each other. Each has qualities that can complement the other. But obviously, Cain’s focus is on empowering the introvert, because while their strengths are quieter, they are no less important.

Under the Big Top Baby Shower!

So some super cute girls in my ward threw me a baby shower this weekend. I was so surprised and pleased when they offered because I wasn’t sure if I’d have one here with us moving and all, and then we’d be in a brand new ward, so I really appreciate that they thought of putting one on for me in the midst of all the craziness!

The theme was “Under the Big Top” with a vintage vibe. And these girls are party planners after my own heart – I mean look at this refreshment table!!

**All pictures courtesy of Maggie Cochran Photography**
Look! Look! Stripey straws! And MUSTACHES!
Don’t you just LOVE the soda labels!?
Sooo sooo cute, I loved it! While we waited for everyone to show up we chatted and ate the yummy food

Once everyone was there and had had a little snack ;) we played a few games. In the first one, we were all given baby bottles with 6oz of apple juice in them. The first to empty their bottle (yes, by drinking it like a baby) won a prize. Okay, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried this (and if you have, you’re not likely to admit it, are you? hee hee) but it was super hard! Someone made the comment “no wonder babies fall asleep when they eat, this is hard work!”. And it really was! It kind of made the roof of my mouth go numb…wonder if that happens to babies too…Hmm… Miriam won the day with that one, when we saw how well she was doing, most of us gave it up ;)

We had a “Guess How Many” game with a jar of peanuts – and Colleen won that one with a guess of 625. There were 678 in the jar! I didn’t even get close with my guess of 450. ;) I mostly felt bad for Katrina, who counted them all as she put them in the jar for this game!

There were also some cute cards for people to write some advice for me, the mommy-to-be. I really liked this idea, and everyone gave lots of good advice!

There was a raffle/door prize (Sarah won that one) and we had a little relay race. We divided into two teams and at one end of the room were two baby dolls, two diapers, two onesies and two pairs of socks. At the other end were two carseats. At the signal, the first person on the team would dress their baby doll in the diaper, socks and onesie and then take it to the other side of the room and strap it into the carseat. The next person had to take the doll out of the carseat, take it back to the other end of the room and undress the doll. Then the next person started the process all over again until all 4 of us had gone. And my team won! Yay! Go us! ;)

Then we had some presents! Everyone was so thoughtful and I loved the cute things they had picked out for baby Nathan :)
Before everyone left, we got a fun group shot in our ‘clown’ props! Too fun!
**All pictures courtesy of Maggie Cochran Photography**

Thank you to everyone who came!! It was so wonderful to have you there. And a BIG shout out to the party planners Katrina, Carolyn and Maggie! Thank you SO much for such a wonderful baby shower and for all the time and effort you put into it! You guys are seriously awesome!

…and I hope you’ll all forgive me if my thank you cards take an extra week or two to get out…I gotta find my stuff in all these boxes!! ;)