Baby Shower Fun

Nicholas and I got to participate in a fun event today. Stuart's boss, Karen, secretly invited us to a surprise baby shower for Stuart. I didn't tell Nicholas until this morning after Stuart had left for work to be sure that the secret didn't leak out. Nicholas was so excited about surprising Daddy that he talked about it all morning.

We headed out to Plano later in the day. Karen had people watching Stuart so she knew when it would be safe for us to sneak in. We got to the room where the shower would be and Nicholas instantly discovered the pink and white balloons on the floor. Boy, did he have a blast! I had told him to be still and quiet and not too disruptive since this was where Daddy works and we had never met most of these people that were going to be at the shower. He promised to behave but when you throw balloons into the mix, well, it's all over. He ran around throwing balloons up in the air, kicking them, and rolling around on them for a good 15 minutes before we had to get him to settle down because the party was about to start.



I was so impresed by all of the work that Stuart's boss and his team had gone to in order to make this shower special. There were tons of presents, two cakes, lots of decorations, and about 30 people in attendance.





Karen finally brought Stuart into the room and we all said, "Surprise!" Stuart looked shocked and didn't want to walk into the room at first. He was so overwhelmed that he didn't even notice that Nicholas and I were there at first but Nicholas couldn't help but run over to see his Daddy. It was so much fun.



Everyone had filled out advice cards for raising a little girl and Stuart read them aloud. There were some really sweet ones and some really funny ones.

Next Stuart opened presents and again we were both overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of everyone who put this together. Not only did the baby get lots of gifts but Nicholas got three gifts as well - a dump truck toy, a t-shirt that says, "I'm a big brother", and a book about being a big brother. Needless to say, Nicholas was thrilled. He ran over to one of the ladies to tell her thank you and kissed her on the cheek.





Nicholas also had lots of fun playing with the baby toys.



He was also very excited when Karen told him that he could take the balloons home and she got giant bags to put them in. Nicholas was so proud!



As excited as he was all morning and considering all of the exercise he got playing with the balloons, it was no surprise that Nicholas fell asleep shortly after we left the party to head home. He was one tired little guy!



Later tonight we met with our Bible study group. We knew that they were doing "something for the baby" but we were just execting a cake or something. Instead they had the room decorated with pink balloons and a cute banner welcoming the baby. And there were more presents - we are blessed to have such thoughtful friends! Check out the diaper cake. Isn't that cool?! It is made of little diapers wrapped around a tub of baby wipes. I know it will come in handy but I hate to ever have to disassemble it!





We had a great time at the shower and we did actually do a little of our Bible study. While the adults were busy with the shower and the Bible study, the kids were upstairs making a scene from Daniel in the Lion's Den. Each child made their own lion for the den.



Nicholas and his buddy also had fun playing with costumes.



Of course, Nicholas loved getting more balloons, especially the giant baby balloon. Here's a pic of him kissing the baby...

Do They Have A Button On Them?

After school today, I took Nicholas to get a haircut. He loves getting haircuts because he knows that they will give him a lollipop when he's done.

On the way home, I told Nicholas that I had a surprise for him. I told him that I had two new Halloween decorations in the front yard. He got excited and asked, "Do they have a button on them?" I knew what he meant by that question - does it have lights and sound? He just loves going to the Halloween store and seeing all of the ghoulish decorations that have red eyes that light up and make scary sounds. Well, he was a little disappointed that I didn't have anything ghoulish but he did run over to them and hold their hands.

Guess What Nicholas Is Going to Be For Halloween?

Darth Vader, of course!

Of course, depending on what day it is, he sometimes decides that he would rather be a Transformer or Batman or a Skeleton. Fortunately I was able to pick up a couple of different used costumes at Once Upon A Child consignment shop so he actually has several costumes to choose from for Halloween and to play dress up with later throughout the year.

The Nursery is Done!

Woo hoo! The nursery is done! It's a good thing too because the little baby girl will be here in less than three weeks! Now if we only had a name for her.....

The only thing I still want to do is to paint a quote above her crib that reads, "Love like you'll never be hurt, Sing like no one is listening, Dance like no one is watching, Live like it's heaven on Earth." This may not get done before she arrives but I'm working on it on figuring out how I'm going to do it. That's a lot of words to try to freehand in a straight line with a paint brush!

Here are some pictures of the nursery. I've tried to explain the perspective of the shot for those of you who haven't seen this room before.

From standing in the doorway, a view of the right side of the room where the crib is. The two floral shadowboxes above the crib were given to me by Mom many years ago. They had a dark cherry wood frame but that was too dark for the nursery so I painted the frames ivory with a burgundy trim. There is a small bookshelf next to the crib with all of Nicholas' baby board books and baby toys on it. He is enchanted by all of the baby toys that he doesn't remember ever having. If he gets the chance, he will always go in there and play with the baby stuff!



A picture of the left side of the room with the window, glider rocker, baby quilt and a piece of the open door.



This picture was taken from where the window/glider is located looking at the back right corner of the room at the dresser/changing table and closet door.



This room used to be our guest bedroom and as you can see we don't really have a place for guests in here anymore. For Granddad Owen and Grandmother Chance who both plan to visit at different times during October, we will move the glider into the office and set up a twin bed in it's place. The baby will be in a bassinet in our bedroom so you won't have to share the room with a baby crying at 3 am but it will be a little crowded in there for you :)

Preschool Pals

Here is a cute shot from our Monday playgroup. These are just some of the friends in Nicholas' preschool class.

Playing and Sharing with Friends

This morning we went to meet up with our PTA friends at the park. Nicholas had fun climbing on the playground, watching ants, and playing in the pine needles and dirt. He is all boy, isn't he?





When it was time to take a break, he headed over to a blanket where Mrs. Deb had laid out lots of books and games for the kiddos. Nicholas learned how to play the game Perfection and he really seemed to enjoy it (Keep that in mind, Santa Claus).



Then we found a table and got out our picnic lunch. Nicholas said he was so hungry but when his friend came over and said she was hungry, he didn't hesitate to offer her half of his sandwich and then he shared his strawberries with her. When there were only two strawberries left, Nicholas said that they could each have one and he let his friend choose which strawberry she wanted. When she picked the smaller of the two, Nicholas said, "Oh, I was going to let you have the bigger one." I'm so proud of him for being so generous with his friends and for understanding the importance of sharing.

More Jumping on the Bed?

I don't like Nicholas jumping on the beds. I don't care about the beds so much but I worry that the little daredevil will hurt himself with his lack of fear. However, as I was going through pictures on the camera I found several that Stuart apparently took of Nicholas jumping on our bed! Hmmmm. Yes, the jumping makes for cool pictures but now I'm going to be the "mean mommy" for telling him no jumping on the bed!