My Baby Shower

We've taken to calling her baby A instead of just A. Do other parents do this when they're expecting, or is baby A just that catchy? Whatever the case, others have picked up on it, and I received a lot of presents addressed to baby A. Even the cake!

It was the perfect, warm day for an outdoor shower. Stephanie, Andrea, Ann-Marie and Delia lead busy lives but found time to throw me the perfect shower. It was held at the Secret Garden, reserved by Tamara who lives at Villa Sienna in Irvine.

I debated on whether or not I should bring Trevi, and am so glad I did. I have a feeling Baby A will be an animal and dog lover, and when she looks back at photos of this event she will realize Trevi has always been a special part of our lives. If Trevi lives to be 14, Baby A will have her until she's in 6th grade, so she is going to be a big part of her life as well.

I had my hair done before the shower at The Dry Bar in Fashion Island. Trevi was a doll and either sat on my lap or watched the whole time. 

I made it to the shower just before 2, when people started arriving. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up. People came from all different directions and distances. Stephanie drove from Rancho Mirage, Liz and Linda came from LA and my Mom's friends from Yucaipa. I had about a hour to visit with everyone before we started the games.

Ann-Marie, me, Delia, Stephanie, Andrea

The first was a name game and the second was using ribbon to guess the circumference of my tummy, but my favorite was the last one. Andrea had everyone write a letter to Baby A, to be opened on her 16th birthday. I don't know if I can wait that long! I'm going to have to see if I can talk Drea into a sneak preview on her 1st birthday.

Some people enjoy watching presents being opened, but others find it boring and I wanted to have the time to visit. I decided to open the presents at home so I would have more time to spend with everyone.

I was surprised that some people who weren't able to make the shower sent gifts (Kay and Sayeed, Stacy, Billie) and even more surprised that gifts have continued to arrive by mail (Debbie and Charles, Tina, Rhonda) or be brought to work (Gloria, Deirdre, a student). 

One of the most special gifts that we received was my baby blanket that Mom made, repaired by Krista's Mom. The stitching was old and the front and back were separating. She added new batting, and sewed it back up. It's pink, blue and yellow because Mom wanted to wait and find out what she was having. I have a picture of me on it that I need to find so that I can take one of Baby A.

I feel really prepared for Baby A's arrival now! Well, I will once everything is organized and put away. It must be this nesting thing that they talk about, because I am usually not a super organized person, yet I woke up early the next morning and couldn't go back to bed. I was excitedly thinking of everything I received and what I needed to do to get it organized. It's still all on the kitchen table.

This weekend, our plan is to finish installing the closet organizer which is much more work than anticipated, wash and organize her clothes by sizes (I bought special baby detergent) and put away the infant and 0-3 month ones in her dresser for easy access, and hang up the other sizes. I'm 35 weeks tomorrow!