Baby shower!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who took their time to comment on my last post. I received such positive feedback from everyone here, as well as on Twitter so I know people agree with me. Like I said, regardless of how women feel is the 'better' way to birth, it's not up to us. It's only up to the person birthing, so leave her and her decisions alone unless she specifically asks for your opinion! I will probably do a follow up post in the near future. Some interesting conversations came up afterward, including someone on Twitter making the comment that people who are so in your face about something (ie breastfeeding) come off as judgmental and actually turn women away from what you're trying to convince them of. I couldn't agree more, and I think it's something a lot of activists don't realize. Keep an open mind and an open heart and people will be more willing to listen.

With all that being said, I am so happy that my long awaited BABY SHOWER finally arrived this weekend! We had been planning and preparing for months and it was one of the things I was looking forward to the most! It was a gorgeous sunny (HOT!) day in California and the perfect weather for an outdoor event.

There had been some drama before with my mom and sister who were planning it, so I was apprehensive about how the day would go. Basically, I had gone over to my mom's house on Thursday after working all day and driving an hour in traffic with no AC to help my sister make the favors, only to find out that she was asleep when I got there and hadn't gotten any of the stuff that we needed even after I sent her a reminder email earlier in the day. I was so irritated and tired and hot I snapped at her, and she spent the rest of the night in her room refusing to help me make them. So here I am at almost 9 months pregnant with feet that look like water balloons trying to make favors by myself. After several hours, they didn't even come out right so I gave up and left. I was SO ANGRY! My mom was totally taking my sister's side saying how mean I was and she was refusing to give me any credit for being tired, hot, and filled with hormones. The next day my sister tells me that she won't even be coming to the shower, so there goes my host! I flipped out and started crying at work, called my best friend who immediately offered to host and stalked off to Michael's to get supplies to make new favors. She came over that night and spent all night with me to get them done. I love her so much!

The next morning (day of the shower) I woke up and got ready and went to my mom's house to meet my best friend. We finished getting everything together and then headed off to the restaurant to start decorating. My sister did end up coming, but acted distant the whole time. She did act as host and did a great job, and I am so thankful for the hard work she put into the shower. I wish there wouldn't have been all that bad energy leading up to it, but nothing is perfect, right?

After about an hour of decorating, people started trickling in around 12pm and pretty much everyone had arrived by 1pm. The restaurant served lunch (yummy food!) and then the games started. First we played the 'guess how big mama's belly is' game which is actually more humiliating then you might think... Everyone guessed WAYYYYYY too big (off by like, a foot!) which only confirmed my fears that I looked huge. My aunt ended up winning which only confirmed that she is still my favorite aunt :). After that, we played 'the price is right' game' in which my sister held up various baby items and everyone had to guess how much they thought everything costs. The $13.99 California Baby sunblock threw everyone off by several dollars, but my friend Ashley ended up winning! Then I started getting ready to open the presents and the 3rd game was 'baby bingo' where everyone puts down what they think I'll receive and whoever gets a row of correct answers first yelled out 'Ahoy!' (to go with the sailor theme of course). We had 3 winners of this one! After that we all chatted for a little while, and the cake was cut and passed out. Around 3pm we wrapped up and said goodbye to everyone. I was so exhausted! My sister and mom helped clean up and pack up my car with everything and I literally went straight home to the couch where I didn't move for the rest of the day (or the next day for that matter).

I ended up getting so much stuff and I'm so thankful! Highlights were the bedding set that I wanted that my sister got me, the bouncer we wanted, a diaper pail, a handmade baby blanket my other sister got made for me, a moby wrap, and a TONNNNN of clothes! I think I own every sailor/nautical themed outfit on the market right now and I LOVE it!

My beautiful cake! I loved it!

'The price is right' game and items. I made the anchor bucket :)

My mom helping decorate

This was at every table... a little bucket filled with salt water taffy and cute wooden cutouts

The table that held the cake, one of the games, and the favors

The adorable bunting that my sister made. It says 'Ahoy It's a boy!'

My nephew hot and bored. He was so good during the shower though, and fell asleep soon after

The favors that my BFF made with me. They were star shaped rice crispy treats on a stick! Mmmm!

The gorgeous handmade blanket that my big sister had made for me! I love it!

I really want to get everything set up in his 'nursery' (AKA, the corner of our bedroom), but I actually still have 2 showers left. My boss/co-workers are throwing me a small work shower on July 1st and then my MIL is throwing a separate shower for her side of the family. I am actually irritated by this and didn't want to do 2 different showers, but she insisted. My feelings were really hurt that no one from his family came to this baby shower... my MIL and FIL went to Vegas and took my BIL and SIL with them, along with the only family friend that I invited. My other SIL was supposed to come, but she texted me about an hour before the shower saying she couldn't make it. I've been continually disappointed in his family throughout this pregnancy and this just topped it all off. I've barely even seen them and they never bother to ask how I'm doing or show up to anything I try to invite them to. I'm just over it. I will remember their actions once Cayden gets here and they want to see him. She keeps saying they are throwing their own shower, but they still haven't given me a date and I don't want to wait until the last minute to get everything I still need. I'm just really trying to be patient at this point, but it's hard!

On a more positive note, seeing all the tiny baby clothes and all the little items that he's going to be using soon has made me so anxious to have him! I just want to put him in all his snuggly little sleepers and cuddle with him. I am so ready to meet him and see him for the first time. I am DONE being pregnant. I truly enjoyed it for awhile, but the last few weeks have just been miserable. I'm swelling up and gaining weight like crazy. I can't even believe how big I am whenever I see pictures of me. I just hope this baby is huge and I lose a lot of the weight with birth. I'm done peeing every 30 minutes and finding new stretch marks every day. I just want to be able to put my old jeans back on and have a drink on a Friday night! I'm running out of energy fast, and I just hope I still have the time and motivation to decorate his space and get the house ready before he gets here!