Celebrations...Part 3

Now for the baby celebrations!

My first baby shower for Colson was hosted by the Satterfields, which is a family of one of my senior dancers on the team.  They are such a sweet and kind family, and it was so thoughtful of them to open up their home for 22 high schoolers and 2 coaches to open baby presents!

Sooo many of the gifts were absolutely wonderful.  Here is one of the ones that I am betting Colson will be wearing to Friday night football games this year:

As you can see, I was pretty excited when I glimpsed what was behind the wrapping paper here.  The team all pitched in to get me our travel system.  Sadly, I sold the one I used with Cooper.  We did not really realize we would be needing one again.  They are so very expensive and we were not sure how we were going to afford one the second time around.  But the dance team totally saved the day!

I believe at this point I was thanking God in heaven...truly I was.  

There were so many thoughtful, personal gifts given that night.  

My mom is always the practical giver.  The Dreft had already even been used some to wash loads of clothes she has already given me!

Katie gave Colson a frog outfit to keep in tradition with all of the frog items she gave Cooper.

This is (most of) my team of wonderful young ladies I am so blessed to coach.  They truly enrich my life in so many ways. 

Here they are blessing Colson...lol.

And somehow we managed to capture a picture with everyone touching my belly!  

I came home that night with a car FULL of gifts for the baby, but also with a heart full of thanks for all of their generosity.  It was such a wonderful night with my gals.

The second baby shower we had was at the Parker's house and was hosted by my bff's Jessica, Katie, and Jayme.

They went ALL OUT with attention to detail.  I knew as soon as I arrived at the front door that I was in for a special treat.  Jessica made this wreath and attached pictures of me while I have been pregnant, of the nursery, and of big brother Coopman.

The theme of the shower was "little man" and everything had mustaches and bow ties.  Even the delicious key lime cupcakes that Jessica made were topped with mustaches.

Since this is my second baby, we called this a sprinkle instead of a shower.  But it kind of felt more like a downpour as I received so much!!!

Everything on the table tasted as good as it looked.  Chicken salad, texas caviar, veggies, fruits....it was all delicious.

Hanging in the window were personalized shirts and onesies for Cooper and Colson.  They were made by a friend of ours named Amanda.  You can access her Etsy store here.  I highly recommend anything she makes!

This is the onesie that matches the t shirt Jessica gave Cooper for his birthday. I cannot wait to see a picture of the two of them together, with Dave, in these!

I love love love love the lil bro and big bro shirts.  Again...can't wait to see them in these either!

Mom and Ann got to sit and chat for a little bit.  They are great friends but don't see each other often.  Life is just too busy nowadays for everyone.

Speaking of great friends, the McCormacks came.  We have kept them pretty busy this month with all of the parties and showers!  

Anna Grace was a wonderful hostess.  She handed me gifts and helped me open them.

Katie was the one responsible for the Little Man theme.  She did the invitations and decorations.  She has become quite the creative little party planner!  Too bad we were not such good friends back when I planned my wedding!!

Here I am opening up the card for the house cleaning after Colson is born!  That is a PERFECT gift to give a new mommy.  I have this fear of going into labor and my house being a mess and having to come to the disaster with a newborn and no time to clean it up.  Well...now I can sleep at night! 

Check out these sweet mustache booties from Katie.  LOVE them.

And also LOVE the monogrammed blanket.  She did one of these for Cooper too and he still uses it everyday.

Kelley came and blessed me with this huge basket of monkey stuff.  So many cute gowns, onesies, hats, and a wonderful blanket with his name on it.  I want to pack all of it for the hospital!

The favors that Katie made were chocolate mustaches.  Cooper had quite a good time with his when I brought it home to him.

Here we are again...the two preggos together.  I don't think Grace and I have ever had many pictures taken together at all, but we have taken several since we have been pregnant.   I like to think of it as taking pictures of the little cousins.  

Mom stepped in to show her "early support" for her grandchildren.  I laughed at the idea of early support, as she has been supporting me for almost 35 years now!

Brandy also was able to make it to the shower.  Brandy and I have been friends since high school and although we hardly see each other, we always pick right back up where we left off.  I wish I could see more of her.  She is good for my soul!

Here I am with the sweet gals who put the shower together.  These girls are such an important part of my life.  They are the ones that I grab the phone and call anytime I need anything.  I am so thankful for them and all that they did to make the shower so very special.  They are just as busy, if not busier, than I am, and it meant so much to me that they went to all the trouble to make everything so nice.  It was pretty much a perfect afternoon for me!

My third, and last, shower was hosted by Betty and Danelle, at my cousin Susan's house. This was a shower for both Grace and myself.   

At my first shower I felt overwhelmed by all of the gifts.  At my second shower, I was overwhelmed by all of the thoughtfulness that went into every single little detail.  At this shower, I was completely overwhelmed by the blessings and words of wisdom that were passed my way.   The food was delicious and the decorations were perfect, as you can see:

I enjoy seeing my little baby boy's name on things.  It makes him seem a little bit closer to being here with me.  The cupcake toppers and the banners (they had one for Elinor too) were a great touch.  But the part I enjoyed most was what Betty and Danelle planned for us.  First, they had everyone write a prayer on an index card for our babies, and then placed them in a book for us to keep.  Then, they asked my cousin Becky to speak a little bit about raising boys and my cousin Chris's wife Joy to speak about raising girls.  

What those two women had to say in terms of advice, humor, and scriptural encouragement meant waaaay more than any gifts anyone could have ever given us.  And as if that was not enough of a blessing, then each person at the shower took turns praying out loud for Grace and I, and for both of our babies.  To hear both of us lifted up in prayer by so many godly women in one room was humbling to say the least.  When they finished, I honestly felt like I had received more than I had at any other shower.  I had been blessed in a way that is really hard to describe.  I was overwhelmed with blessing.  And it felt wonderful.

Here we are with the gals responsible for putting together our shower.

We have had quite our share of celebrations in the past month for sure.  Now, it is time to return back to school, and get back into the busy schedule for a few weeks, but before I know it Colson will be here.

We are getting close to being ready I think.  We have a finished nursery (which I have yet to post pictures of) with the exception of some wall decorations.  We have the crib and the glider and the travel system and diapers and wipes and clothes and a pack and play is on its way.  All we need is baby!  But thanks to all of the generosity of my friends and family we are more ready than ever for him to arrive!