Baby Shower*

This past Saturday, my amazing friends Raychael & Belinda threw my baby shower for me here in town. Since I have no family in the area, I consider myself extremely lucky that I had not one, but two friends who wanted to step up and take on the responsibility & who, in my opinion ;) threw an amazing shower.

It was perfect.

I really could not have asked for anything better. The decorations were gorgeous. They listened to what little requests I had. The cake was both amazingly beautiful AND tasty. And there was some seriously yummy food (I regret not taking multiple plates of it home with me!). All of my best and closest friends here in town were there to celebrate with me. I really could not have asked for anything more.

My mom flew in from Seattle for the too short weekend & we had a great time together in those couple of days. She was so happy to see that I have such an amazing support system of friends here in town, since family is non-existent around here. And I will say that I do believe that I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends. I can't say that enough! I easily could have invited 50 people to the shower, but the women that were there are the closest, nearest & dearest to my heart. We had a blast, despite being extremely exhausted that night [and the next day!] but it was an amazing experience. One that I will never forget. It was so full of love and support. My heart has never been bigger.

We got so many great things, as well. I am happy to say that after this weekend, we pretty much have everything that we need for this baby. There are still a few smaller items that we are needing to get us through, but we have started to make those purchases in small doses & will continue to do so in the coming weeks. But as far as the large stuff goes, this kid is already spoiled rotten. There were beautiful hand made items both from my friends & friends of my moms, as well as some genuinely creative items that I never would have thought to ask for. We got a lot of great items from our registry, but also some practical items that will come in handy. And diapers galore! Good grief!

All in all, it was such a wonderful experience! I really do feel blessed and loved [I'm serious ... I can't say it enough] and will never be able to thank my friends enough for all that they did for us. both that were able to attend and those that weren't. We still have eight weeks to go before this baby makes it's debut, but the family it will be a part of is extensive. They may not be blood, but they are still family.

It was also very hard to say goodbye to my mom. We hadn't seen each other since August [being 3,000 miles apart makes that difficult] and even at 31, I realized how much I needed my mom around. I'm going to partially blame hormones mixed with utter exhaustion, but Sunday, when she left, was a hard day. I pretty much spent the entire day crying my eyes out. I am glad that she will be back in March after her first grandbaby is born, but I do wish she lived closer to experience this whole process with me.

It was a perfect day. One that I never thought would have ever happened! And it couldn't have been any better :) Thank you, ladies! Love you!