Showered with Love

Today was our first baby shower. Let me just say, that no amount of "thank you" "you're the best" or any other words can begin to sum up how I feel.

The GREAT Grandma's-to-be! 

It is absolutely un-comphrendable how much love was felt today. There are far too many people to list to say thank you, but just know that every person who played apart in today is forever sealed in my memory and I will be forever grateful for all you did for us. My mom, my "cousin-in-law" Carrie and my sisters, Katie & Michelle, went above and beyond my wildest dreams for an amazing baby shower! The setting was absolutely perfect for a shower at the Lawton Community Center, a quaint little museum/reception hall/banquet facility was so stunning. The food was amazing and the cake was to die for! The games were fun and everybody really enjoyed themselves from start to finish.

My beautiful bridal party almost 3 years later! 

So many people came from all parts of my life, with really means the most to me. All of my bridesmaids (& flower girl) were able to come, which brought back so many happy memories. Friends from work, family friends, lifelong besties, family, and grandmas all made the journey to come celebrate our new beginning as parents. Some others weren't able to make it for a variety of reasons and even though they weren't physically present, I know they were with us in thoughts and would have loved to join us had they been able to.

The Grandmas-to-be! 

The amount of gifts and love blew me away today. Seriously. And then I got home and it blew me away even more to see it all in our house. Jordan couldn't believe it when I opened up the back end of our car and he saw all the lovely things. But at the end of the day, and for many years down the road, we won't necessarily remember the gifts, but we will remember how much love we felt and how this day made us feel. In the end its not about the gifts, the party location, or the food, but its about family and friends coming together to celebrate a new little life! We are forever grateful for everything that everybody did for us today. I am still in shock that we are this fortunate to have so many people surrounding us with love at this time in our lives. So many things are going to change for us, but we know that our family and friends will always be there to love us and support us anyway they can. With this many happy feelings filling me up today, its crazy to think that we still have 2 more showers with more family and friends! My heart just might explode with gratefulness in the next month!

My Mommy

Today is Mother's Day! While I'm adjusting to picturing myself as a mom, I have to sit back and realize that I've had the best example to learn from in my mother.

Today just happens to be my mom's 50th birthday (Shhhh, don't tell her I told you how old she is!) Just another reason to celebrate my mom. Her name is Sherrie and she is pretty awesome. She is absolutely beautiful and knows how to make those around her feel beautiful too. I don't think she realizes how beautiful she really is sometimes. She has the best laugh in the whole world (it kinda sounds like Betty Rubble from the Flintstones!!) She's a great example of how to be a loving sister to her 3 sisters (I wish I would have paid more attention to that when I was younger!) Her straightforward opinion will never leave you guessing what sort of mood she's in, and you can never fault her for not being 100% honest, whether thats what you want to hear or not. She loves me and my sisters with her whole being and showed us all how to be strong women. She has always been a great partner to my dad and whether they want us to know or not, I know that they adore each other!

She has raised 3 strong-willed daughters (which would drive anybody nutty!) and has taught us to never settle, but also to understand the art of compromise, whether we practiced it or not. I  know we all 3 gave her hell growing up, especially in those teenage years, but if I could speak for my sisters, I know we would all say we are pretty lucky to have her. I used to think that she wasn't very cool. But my mom is really cool. She is the greatest shopping buddy (again with her honesty), and she has the best listening ear. I know I can call her anytime I need her and I know she'll be there for me. She is the first person I call when I've had a bad day, when I've had a good day and the one who I know is always there to support me. She knows me better than I know myself.

Its not always easy being a mom. You have to be honest and not be scared to hurt your kids feelings. I learned that you have to allow your children to learn things, yes even sometimes scary things, on their own. You can't hold your child's hand forever, you have to let them explore and take life as it comes. I will never forget all the times I asked for my mom's opinion on whatever I thought was important at the time. I was so frustrated when she would say, "Sounds like you have 2 great options, you can't go wrong." All I wanted was her insight, but she knew better. She knew that I wouldn't want to disappoint her and then I would make a biased decision based on her opinion. I still get annoyed when I ask her and I don't get a "good" response from her, but I am so thankful that she allows me to make my own, unbiased decisions. I'm sure thats not the easiest thing for her either, I know she has got strong opinions about things! Some people might say a good mom is one that protects her kids from failing, but I think an even better mom is one who can allow their kid to make mistakes and cry with them when they realize it and help them learn how to not make the same mistakes again.

My mom is the epitome of the best mom in the world and I can't imagine life without her. She has taught me so much about how to be a mom and I'm excited to show her how well she did teaching my sisters and I when its time for me to be a mom. Almost every day I do something that reminds me that I am my mothers daughter. I do so many of the same things she always does. They do always say, you become your mother. I was scared of that thought a long time ago, but now I accept it with open arms. She taught me so many things its hard to sum up into a little ditty about her, but I think you might get the picture. My mom is fabulous.

The Ribs

Today was the first time I felt the baby in my ribs. What a wonderful feeling! Right? Right. Its a little shocking to me that I can feel that this early!

At first I wasn't really sure if thats what I was feeling. Our baby is very active and I feel lots of kicks throughout the day. But this was a different feeling. It was a dull pressure that didn't really kick or move away fast. It was just there. I thought it was just a random feeling. But sure enough, our little baby found a nice spot to lay right up underneath my ribs. At one point I tried to push in the area I felt the pressure to see if it really was the baby, well I certainly found out that it was. Our sassy babe kicked me right back at that moment as if he/she were saying, "excuse me! I'm trying to get comfortable!"

I just find it absolutely remarkable that the things other women talk about when they are pregnant are happening to me! I totally understand what a lot of them talk about with how cool it is to feel your baby move. There are really no words to explain it. Whether the moves are quick kicks, rolls, or hangin' out in the ribs, its just really cool. Its reassuring that everything is going as it should be, and it just constantly reminds you that you are carrying another human. That human depends on you for absolutely everything. And it will continue to depend on you to some degree for the rest of their life.

But I really would like to know how the baby finds the ribs this early. I am almost 28 weeks, and I can definitely feel the baby low. I feel pressure and I can feel little fluttery movements way 'down there.' So why is it already that I get this in the ribs? Is the baby really all that big/tall already? It just kinda blows my mind! It is kinda silly that I'm asking how big the baby, because I have taken care of many, many babies that are the size of my baby currently. I can literally walk onto my unit right now and find a couple babies that are the size of mine and just imagine how that would fit inside of me at this point. But even knowing that, and knowing that the baby really is getting bigger everyday, it is still amazing to me! I just can't wait to see what else the baby finds to mess with in the next 12 weeks!