The Excitement of Showers

Oh the excitement of showers. I just love them, don't you? Last weekend, Mamma and I drove up to Dallas for my cousin Megan's bridal shower. The looong car trip up was, well, interesting? Fun? Long. How about just long. With bits of fun thrown in. We left right after I got off of work and Mamma and I headed up to Dallas with a trunk full of stuff. You'd think that two women driving up for one day wouldn't have that much stuff, but I am going to beg to differ with you. We each had our presents for Meg. I had to bring my pregnancy pillow (best invention ever!) and Mom brought her pillow. And she brought a blanket. I think it's that New England thing in her - you never know if the weather will get bad and the car stops running - you don't want to get cold! Nevermind that it's Houston and it tends to be on the HOT side of the thermometer, my mom has always carried a blanket in her trunk. I digress. So then we each have our suitcases and, in my defense, I didn't want to hear it from my husband about how I didn't need to carry a heavy suitcase, so I elected for my pink (surprise) suitcase because it rolls. We also had a small cooler in the back seat full of water and some snack type foods in case we got hungry. We did. Mom drove, I navigated and somehow we made it to Dallas amid bathroom stops too numerous to count, running something mysterious over, and encountering a McDonalds that was closed at 10:04. On a Friday night. Now the drive thru was open, but the lobby was closed. Seriously? Mickey D's closed at 10pm on a Friday? How is that possible? And then, after discovering that it was closed and no bathroom use would be allowed, we spotted a Shell across the street and tried to make a bee line over there. I say tried because as I was trying to get back into the car, my cell phone was ringing and I reached down into the seat to get the phone but managed to forget that the car was right there. Smacked my temple on the car, missed the phone call (it was Jeff checking in), and tried not to cry as I watched silver stars swim around in my vision. We were a mess. But we made it across to Shell safely. We had some good tunes jamming so that was fun but by the time we made it into Dallas, Mom was about done. It was almost 11, we still had to get to Bedford where Megs lives, and she had just about hit a brick wall. Now when my mom hits said brick wall, it's not pretty. She's pretty, but the resulting actions aren't. I guided her through Dallas proper and onto the streets of Bedford on a quest to find the address where we could lay our heads. Now after missing the turn onto a street that would take us closer to our beds and rest, we managed to find the final street. Except as we turned onto the street, it was nothing but fences lining the street. No one actually lived on the street, it looked like the houses were all off of side streets. Mom's about bonkers when we finally see a mailbox. Of a house on the actual street. Hers was the second house. Thank goodness! So we made it safely, Meg's fiancee Nick came over and we had about 35 minutes to visit with them before Mom and I needed to crash and burn. The house where we stayed was beautiful, the people my cousin lives with are precious, and their neighbors behind them have a myriad of animals grazing in the backyard. Like ponies and deer. Yes I said deer. So we get all dressed up and Megan, my mom, Rebecca (who Meg lives with) and I trooped over to the shower where we got to ooh and aah over the pretty gifts she received. The home was beautiful and the people hosting the shower were very gracious. I met my cousin's future mother in law and sister in law along with other members of her fiancee's family. She will be loved in his family. After a lovely afternoon (did you know that bridesmaids dress alike to confuse evil spirits and that a bride should not see a cemetary on her way to the ceremony?) we headed back to the house to change and hit the road. Megan did get to meet Emma and experience her kicks and swirls. After exchanging hugs and kisses and well wishes, we took off. The trip home was much better than the one up and we laughed, talked, sang songs, and had fun being together.

Megan Meeting Emma

Me, Megs, and Mamma

The Evolution of The Nursery

Ah, the joys of expecting a baby. There are things to be done, purchases to be made, and of course, a room to ready. As SOON as we knew it was a girl, I ran out and bought 2 gallons of beautiful pink paint. We got one wall painted and I panicked. It looked a little pepto bismol compared to the other three off white walls. Jeff and I persevered, though, and got the rest of the walls a matching shade of pink. It was pink. I liked it. But it was pink. I then started painting brown flowers on one of the walls to break up the pink which looked nice. We painted some shelves in the same brown to hang on the walls and we also painted a little 2 drawer chest that Jeff's grandfather made. I painted the majority of the little chest brown, did the faces of the drawers pink, and then added some brown flowers on the pinnk just to coordinate with the rest of the room. We got the crib set up and the little chest in place. I started placing stuffed animals around the room and it started to look like a little someone will live there!

Here's where we are now. Well, actually there is a rocker glider that my mom and dad got for us that sits in the corner where the swing is in the picture. It's so comfortable! I like to go up there and just sit in the chair and look around. I have also caught Jeff doing the same thing so I can tell we will both be using that glider when little Emma makes her presence known. Oh only 2 more months and so much to do!!
Unfortunately, my little Kylie Mo thinks that this has all been done for her. I think she likes pink too. A girl after my own heart! But we frequently find her upstairs resting her chin on the window sill and gazing out the window at the world below. In a few short months, that room may no longer be her haven as a small bundle of pink screaming fury may take up residence there! Poor Mo!