I've never been showered like this before - part 1

Before we knew the gender of our baby, we were tentatively leaning towards a nursery theme of Dr. Seuss.  We have every intention of keeping it very low key in light of the fact that in a couple years our rugrat will indicate his own preference for a bedroom theme- trains, sea creatures, baseball, etc.  Let's not kid ourselves, nursery themes are for the parents, not for the kid.

I'll post later on with pics from the nursery, but in this post I want to brag on my baby shower hostesses who created a Dr. Seuss extravaganza on behalf of our little citrus baby.  A little while back, two sisters from church told me they'd like to throw us a shower and invite the ladies from church.  I most assuredly said yes- these sisters are a creative force to be reckoned with << and if we're brutally honest, that's an understatement >>.

When asked about the nursery theme, I answered Dr. Seuss, and they both lit up. I could see the creative wheels turning behind both sets of those pretty blue eyes.

Soon after, this arrived to my email inbox.

A Dr. Seuss Themed Party Invitation!

My level of excitement just about caused my head to pop when I saw this!  My hostesses assured me they didn't need my help with any part of the party planning or preparation, and I was instructed to simply show up.  So I did.

And I was blown away!

I felt like I had walked into the land of Dr. Seuss!  Here's how they did it:

Books and stuffed animals were strategically
placed all over the house.

The Cat in the Hat! (make note of Thing 1
and Thing 2- they'll show up later in the post)

Horton!

Yertle!

There were mini-cupcakes with
 "It's a Boy" tags.

They had a Dr. Seuss Hat and a One Fish, Two Fish,
Red Fish, Blue Fish Diaper Cake!

Look at the fruit!

Green Eggs, as in Green Eggs and Ham

And assorted  greens and other things, i.e. veggies!

These are my hostesses! They strategically hung
a big blue ball of fluff from the dining room light fixture.

The jars upon jars of candy were the party
favors for guests to take home with them!

A One Fish Diaper Cake! The creativity abounds!!!

When it came time to open the many, many gifts from our loved ones who are sharing and celebrating with us, there were a few surprises that either made my jaw drop, caused fits of laughter, or provoked tears to spring into my eyes:

Jaw drop occurred here. This sweater was bought by a church
member to bring home to his young son on our first trip to Bolivia,
the same trip where I met my husband.
This particular family decided to pass it on to our son!

Fits of laughter on this one.
Thing 1 is for Rolo, the pup,
and Thing 2 is for Citrus Baby.

Tears sprang up here: a very creative friend hand-painted

 a "Half and Half" bib, as in half-American and half-Bolivian.

The rest of the weekend was spent resting and accommodating all of the bounty we'd been given to help us prepare for the arrival of Thing 2.  We couldn't resist the opportunity to model on Thing 1 his new outfit.  We proceeded to laugh until we cried on this one!

Thing 1 is showing great excitement for Thing 2's pending arrival!

Pregnancy Survival Kit

Most people would give you all sorts of suggestions for what should be included in a Pregnancy Survival Kit. For my personal kit, it would seem like slim pickins' compared to most.

I'm one of those girls who didn't have 5 minutes of morning sickness << keep your saltines >>.

I'm one of those girls who didn't have irresistible cravings that required my doting husband to get dressed at 2 am in seek of a grocery store that 1) was open, and 2) carried the exact brand of the exact food item  I could not survive without for 5 more minutes << keep your demands to a minimum>>.

I'm one of those girls that didn't have any trouble hiding our news until we hit trimester #2 << keep your secrets >>.

I'm one of those girls that, for the most part, didn't break down into uncontrollable sobs at the drop of a hat << keep your kleenex>>.

I'm also one of those girls that has managed to consistently get a good night's sleep, even with the normal mental and physical stress of a growing melon << keep your Benadryl >>.

If there are no saltines, solutions to random cravings, kleenex, cats being let out of bags, or Benadryl in my Pregnancy Survival Kit, then what the heck would be in it?  To come up with a solution, I'd like to pose one very important question, and I want you to answer honestly.

Who doesn't love TUMS?

Seriously, they're chalky, fruity, and they offer a boost of Calcium in each yummy bite.  The flavor variety is immense: assorted berries; tropical fruit; assorted fruit; there's even a sugar free orange cream flavor! Yum  << did you know that all Tums are gluten free AND kosher?  >>  Let me just say, I've learned so much about these little coin sized gems, because WITHOUT THEM I'D NEVER SURVIVE PREGNANCY.



There's an old wives tale that the amount of heartburn a pregnant woman experiences is directly correlated to the amount of hair her child will emerge with. At this point, if my son doesn't come out with dreadlocks, I'm going to cry foul and send him back.

The Cute Side of Pregnancy

The Cute Side of Pregnancy

People make comments like, "You look like you swallowed a melon!"  And when they ask you how you're feeling, they actually stop to listen. They legitimately CARE!

Each week, pregnancy literature compares the size of my baby to FRUIT! At week 8, he was the size of a blueberry. At week 23, he's the size of a papaya.  With as much as I'm craving fruit, it's only appropriate that we refer to my baby as fruit.  Speaking of fruit, this is what happened after a trip to the grocery store a few weeks ago:

Some people might argue that my obsession with fruit is going a little overboard.
I'd suggest you not argue with a pregnant woman.

I might be the *luckiest* girl in the world.  First of all, I'm pregnant, which does not come easy with every couple desiring to procreate.  Second of all, I have felt so good throughout the entire pregnancy (25 weeks), that I will literally forget <<for brief moments only >> that I'm pregnant.  Our little citrus baby likes to remind me when I get too focused on a task that he's there, so he'll usually throw a 'bow or tiptoe on my kidney as a gentle reminder.

I know I whined in the "Not-So-Cute" post about putting away all of my pre-pregnancy clothes <<may they temporarily rest in peace >>, but now I can celebrate Maternity Clothes.  Here's the thing.  The bump precludes anything non-stretchy to even approach my waistline, with the only exception being a seatbelt.  That means I get to sport pretty much all-things-cotton: dresses, skirts, tops, and leggings. In my highly evolved fashion opinion  << NOT >>, maternity shirts have become quite cute. I'm still highly, strongly, deeply opposed to maternity pants (the kind with the wide panel), so my preference is to let all "lower pieces" low-ride.  Below the bump is AOK with me.  In a nutshell, this means that during pregnancy, it may be the most comfortable time in my life for wearing clothes. *High Five*


There's not a part of my body that isn't... well... ROUND.  Redonda, en espanyol.  For real.  I look down, and all I see are curves.  I've *always* found the pregnant figure to be the most beautiful... on other women. I'm working on my own sort of self-love when it comes to my figure at this point.  I'm definitely trusting that this truly is the most beautiful and magical experience a woman can experience.  Let's be honest.  Babies are miracles.  New life is a miracle.  And this time, I get to be an active participant in a miracle.  Now whether or not that fits so accurately with "The Cute Side of Pregnancy" may be up for debate, but my argument for inclusion rests on one simple fact: Babies are Oh.So.Cute.