Sunday, August 19, 2012

An Overdue Update

I just realized it's been a little over a month since my last post! Unacceptable, I know. I don't even know where to begin with the whirlwind that has been the past month. I guess I'll do my best to keep things in chronological order.

7/21/2012:
I had my first Baby Shower and it was absolutely fabulous! It was hosted by 2 of my great friends, Brady & Cassie...along with 2 surprise co-hostesses, the lovely Michelle and Cassie's momma! I'm so happy with the turnout. I was able to see a few friends I haven't seen in years, along with a good sized group of my amazing family! Here are a few pics :)

My pretty corsage that Brady made.

Cassie made this cute onesie/washcloth/etc. castle.

Brady made this arrangement - it matches Harper's room perfectly!

My mom's contribution - this cute little princess cake!

My friend, Patricia, made these adorable little shoes. Her mom also made a crochet blanket for Harper, but I don't have that picture handy :(

Cassie, her mom, and Michelle all pitched in on this amazing Pack'N Play!

We got a ton of other gifts too!

So many things to open!

"Pin The Baby On The Belly" got really awkward, really fast!

My beautiful cousin, Caitlin. I just realized our dresses coordinated!

(Don't look at my face.) Harper's Grandma Cheryl & Aunt Katelyn!

Two of my good friends, Sara & Aubrey.

I'm still trying to round up more pictures from this shower! If you have some, send them to me!

8/4/2012:

I had my second Baby Shower, which Brad was actually able to attend with me. This one was hosted by his mom, Cheryl, and sisters, Lauren & Katelyn. It was great! Most of Brad's family was able to make it, along with my family and some friends I hadn't seen in ages! It was a paaaaacked house! The most exciting part was that we got to meet Brad's oldest sister and two of her daughters for the first time ever! It was so special that all 5 of his sisters were able to be there. 

This shower was cupcake themed, because Brad's mom has decided that Harper's nickname is going to be "Cupcake". Speaking of, I think this little Cupcake needs to come out of the oven already! I'm ready to ice her in adorable outfits and bows!!! Brad's mom and sisters did an amazing job with all of the decorations! It was definitely something straight off of Pinterest!

I loved the cupcake cups around the lights! (There's my belly in the mirror!)

Game supplies and prizes!

One of many cupcake towers!

Even the sandwiches were shaped like cupcakes!

Grandma Cheryl made this ADORABLE diaper cake!

So cute! Lauren made the banner!

Beverage Station!

The beautiful hostesses!

This is Brad's oldest sister and 2 of her daughters. This was our first time meeting her and our nieces in person! We can't wait til we get to see them again!

Harper's Great-Grandma, Marilyn!

This one is definitely getting framed! My Honey Bunny with all FIVE of his sisters! 2 Hogans and 3 Hajeks!

Brad and his excited Momma!

The rest of the story:

Shower #3 actually happened yesterday, but there will be more on that in the next post! I still have to gather up pics and upload them. Let's just say, one person's gift definitely stole the show and resulted in me crying like a baby...which led to other people crying, because I was crying...there will not be pictures of my ugly crying face, lol

I am so thankful to everyone who has contributed to, and attended, the showers. This pregnancy has been such an amazing experience for Brad and I. All of these parties have definitely made me much more excited for her to be here! I can't wait for her to meet all of the loving people who can't wait to be a part of her life! I guess it's just one of those things that's bittersweet though, as much as I want her to be here, I know I'm going to miss being pregnant. I was just talking to my good friend, Alexia, about how I'm pretty sure I'm going to have an emotional breakdown over not being pregnant anymore. There's just something about it. Even with all of the aches, pains, nausea, fatigue and feeling like a cow, it's all so worth it every time I feel her wiggle in my belly.

It's been such an amazing journey and, at the end of every day, I know this has all been God's plan all along. Everything has just fallen into place so perfectly. Although I'm still very sad over our first pregnancy not carrying through, I feel like that experience has made me cherish this one so much more. It's not something that just happens. This time around it's just so apparent that this is the time for us to be parents. Brad and I have grown a lot over the past couple of years. Both of us had kind of been avoiding the subject of getting pregnant again. Then, in December, shortly before Christmas, we finally talked about it again and found that I had been avoiding it, because I just thought he still wasn't ready and that, when he was, he would come to me about it, and he had been avoiding it for the same reason...on top of his fear of not knowing how we would handle the emotional hardship if we lost another one. So, after talking for awhile, we realized that we were both ready to take that risk again. The funny thing is, in God's apparent sense of humor, about a week after that conversation....voila! We found out I was pregnant on January 24th and had our first Prenatal Appointment on February 16th, at which point the doctor determined that I was 8 weeks pregnant...which means we conceived a little over a week after that conversation. 

This is how I "told" Brad we were expecting. It was a Tuesday evening, I was at home and he was at work and I sent him this picture with no explanation. About 2 seconds later he called, I could HEAR his ear to ear smile, and said "Is that what I think it is?!?!?". I said yes and he immediately asked if he could start telling people...I told him no, not yet. lol
 Of course, there was that initial "fear" when we first found out, even though we were definitely very excited. Those thoughts did start running through our heads as far as finances and everything go, because everyone always talks about how expensive babies are. I called our insurance and, as it turned out, we actually have amazing coverage when it comes to pregnancy. Then, when my January paycheck came at the end of the month, there was a very nice surprise...I got a significant raise. That was one of the first things that really put my mind at ease that everything was meant to be and would be okay. We waited til March to actually tell people we were pregnant, just in case. Around that time, Brad got a small raise at work also. He actually just got an additional, much more significant, raise this month and was accepted into a manager training program with HEB. So, hopefully he'll be getting a nice promotion in the near future :) It's just like every time something happens that causes a little bit of stress, something else happens to counter that and completely put our minds at ease.

On another note, over the past couple of weeks I've also slipped into Fall mode! Fall is my favorite season and, although I know August is still Summer, I start going Fall crazy as soon as August comes around! I got some new, gold curtains for our downstairs windows and spruced up our Fall wreath. It used to be all cream-toned flowers, but I added some rust tones in there! Once I finish up the mantel decor, I'll take a picture of the decorated mantel with the gold curtains on the side. I even put in my big Fall Scentsy order last week...I'm officially stocked up on my favorite Fall scent!

I've always made sure to decorate at least a little bit, but now that Harper's almost here I think the decorating is going to get a bit more extreme. I want to make sure she remembers always having a beautifully decorated home!

Yeah, the Fall doormat is out too :)

Tonight, I'll say goodbye with an up-to-date belly pic! Enjoy!
It's very round!


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