Baby showerama!

What a great couple of weeks we’ve had! We were in Missouri for Doug’s second cousin’s wedding (many congrats to Brock and Maddy!) and were able to spend some time with family too. I was also surprised with a baby shower at the farm and was completely overwhelmed! I was also completely shocked that Doug had been able to keep it a secret right up until the actual shower. I think he was rather pleased with himself. My mother in law Jane and my sisters in law Sharon and Kelly did an awesome job and many thanks to our niece Andie for breakfast in bed that morning (great stalling tactic to keep me upstairs until it was baby shower time!). Happy we flew Southwest (two bags each fly free) as I had taken my Snoogle and we ended up checking two extra bags coming home.

We had a couple of days to catch our breath back in Orlando before helping to pull off the surprise of the century and also welcoming my mother in law Kathy and Aunt Linda to Orlando. Mel and Kelly had made the pilgrimage from Massachusetts to Orlando (a 1300 mile drive!) with Bing to visit family, enjoy Kelly’s niece’s first birthday and to be here for the baby shower my Mum was throwing for us. Mum and Dad had no idea they were coming and it was great to be able to be a part of that surprise. We had a nice houseful for a couple of nights and it was a lot of fun. I think Mel and Kelly should stay at least until Baby Allen gets here as they cooked dinner for us, cleaned the floors for us and are model house guests. Plus, it is fun to have them around and I’m already sad about them going home and they’ve not even left yet! We were so grateful to have Kathy and Linda here as well, time spent with family always goes by way too quickly.

At both baby showers, I was so touched by how much love there was in the room for Baby Allen and am so thankful to everyone who organized, showed up, sent messages of love and support and for all the goodies that Baby Allen will be here in just a few weeks to enjoy. I am glad we started early with decorating the nursery as I don’t feel as overwhelmed as I think I would if we left it too much longer. Thanks to Doug’s cousin Todd who advised us to get the nursery done in the six month of pregnancy. How right you are! I love, love, love our nursery and can’t wait to spend some serious time in there. It is such a cheery room! Doug has done an excellent job with the paint and the border and I think he surprised himself by finding his hidden talent of painting and decorating. As his Dad Bob said today, he wished he had known about this talent years ago as he would have made use of it for sure!

I’ve spent most of the day making a start on thank you notes and resting. It has been a hectic but fun couple of weeks and even though I have been resting all day, my ankles are starting to swell a little. Baby Allen has kept me company today and has been very, very active in my belly. It makes me laugh out loud when I feel and see the kicks. Next Monday it’s time for the glucose screening and then we go into appointments every two weeks. I still find the need to pinch myself and check that this is all real and really happening to us. Baby Jack or Baby Grace has just given me a good thump from the inside reminding me that this is indeed happening and it’s all good!