SHOWERED with Love!!

Facing parenthood for the first time is daunting... there's no two ways about it. Jeromy and I have wanted this for as long as we've been together, and both knew we wanted kids before that too. But somehow when you are face to face with the "finish line" (although, in some ways it's just getting started, huh?) it's overwhelming.

One thing that helps this GREATLY (more than I can express, quite honestly) is the love and support of family and friends (you all!). Jeromy and I are blessed beyond blessed with a rockstar group of supporters. One thing we've been so thankful for these last few months are all the showers that folks were so generous to throw in Sweet Pea's honor. Having that emotional support has been so valuable for Jeromy and I.

Aside from the support that we so greatly need, there is also a lot of stuff you "need" for a baby (need in parenthesis because some things are legitimate needs...and some things are not needs, but certainly make life easier!) Equipping for a baby is certainly a challenge too! With the showers came LOTS of amazing gifts as well...cute clothes, helpful gear, books, stuffed animals, blankets, and lots more!

We've been lucky to have more showers than we could ever expect, so here's a post to summarize them all! Special thanks to those of you who attended or hosted any of these...your support is AWESOME!

June 12th - Church Shower: The first shower was back on June 12th, and hosted by Lynette and Pat, two special ladies from church. It was an open house style, held in Lynette's BEAUTIFUL backyard. It was a delightful afternoon... nice desserts, and tasty lemonade...poolside conversations...and wonderful support from our church family! As the pastor's daughter, it is particularly overwhelming to be so well supported by people you feel like you barely know. Because they love my mom, they love me, and they love Sweet Pea! It's so wonderful to know how many people have us supported in love and prayer.

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: conversations with multiple generations of church women, a fun box full of books and story telling props from Joyce (who I've known since I was a little girl...), cupcake set from Harriet (knit cupcake hat, and soft blanket), and lots of cute dresses! (Picture: me and my mom from the shower)

June 18th - Family Shower: On June 18th, my "cousin-in-law" Sarah and aunt Barb threw a family shower for both sides of my family, as well as Jeromy's mom, my sisters-in-law, and nieces. It was GREAT to have both sides of the family together...including my grandma (soon to be great-grandma to Sweet Pea!).

The shower was so fun. Sarah used a book theme, encouraging people to each bring a personalized book instead of a card. It was so fun to see what books people brought...lots of good ones! Sarah also put her sewing talents to work, with lots of fun personalized touches. She made gifts for game winners, and everyone got a handmade bookmark as a gift as well! In addition, she made some gifts for Sweet Pea...blocks, a teether toy, and a cute book bag (I can't WAIT to use that for trips to the library!).

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: the sweet, personalized book from my grandma (she is a soft-spoken Swede, so it was wonderful to see her grandma handwriting delivering such a heartfelt message to her future great-granddaughter), my goddaughter Claudia poking my belly and asking, "Is that your baby in there??!", lots of fun, personalized books, and a game where we had to draw Sweet Pea on paper plates. The tough part? We had the plates were on our heads and we had to draw without looking! I'm so thankful for all the amazing women in my family! (Picture: the whole group, ranging in age from 10 months-89 years!)

June 18th - Faith Group Shower: You're seeing the dates correctly, we had two showers in one day! This one was a surprise to us! We had a Faith Group gathering scheduled, but when we showed up, it was shower in Sweet Pea's honor! Our Faith Group has been such a special group for us for the last four years. We have grown together, and been through a lot. Sweet Pea will be the fourth Faith Group baby!
We enjoyed a delicious dinner with our group (it was fancier than usual because it was an "adults only" dinner, meaning the other little ones of the group were with babysitters). They decorated with fun baby decor, balloons, and fun stuffed flowers. They even got a cake made (see picture). They generously gave us a bouncy seat and a book of prayers. As I said, Jeromy and I are so grateful for this group. They have really been a special part of our life. It's been fun to grow closer as a group, and be with each other in through these big changes in our lives!

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: time for great conversation with wonderful church friends, the fun, personalized cake, the book of prayers, that will be so special to read to Sweet Pea. What a blessing our Faith Group is to us! (Picture: me and Jeromy with our awesome cake!)

June 24th - WOWZA Shower: For those of you who don't know, the WOWZAs are another group of very special people. The WOWZAs (Women of Wild, Zany Adventures) are my dear group of college friends (plus Sarah, because she's awesome like that). There's 7 of us total, and have been with us through thick and thin. As we began to get married, we added the "MANZAs" to the mix, and now we are even expanding to "Lil' MANZAs" and "Lil' WOWZAs." Gavin (friends' Jackie and Tom's little guy) was the first Lil' MANZA, and Sweet Pea will be the first Lil' WOWZA. These friends are my best of best friends. They are each so special to me.

It's become a tradition to have a cabin weekend with the WOWZAs/MANZAs up at Sarah's family cabin each summer. The weekend is filled with conversation, pontooning, and lots of fun! This summer we planned the traditional cabin weekend - but with a special event in the mix - a intimate little shower with the WOWZAs! I requested something low-key - just some time to spend together, no games, but maybe a fun craft project. And man, did these ladies deliver!

Friday night of cabin weekend we had a shower. The ladies planned an awesome craft of handmade bibs and burp cloths! So cute! We also had delicious desserts - chocolate fondue with cupcakes and strawberries (do they know me, or what?).

The WOWZA "aunties" also generously showered Sweet Pea with amazing gifts! We had such a good time celebrating together. (We missed you, Rachel!!) What fun it will be to add another little one to the mix.

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: SO many beautiful handmade gifts: the burp cloths and bibs we made, a wonderful quilt from "Auntie" Kirstyn, a "hooter hider" from "Auntie" Bethany, and a painting that says "Sweet Pea" from "Auntie" Jackie; we had fun time doing crafts together (I get rather proud when I can be "crafty," and I definitely have good role models in this group!) So blessed to have these women in my life! Sweet Pea is blessed with lots of "aunties" to love her. (Pictures: the WOWZA ladies, and our Lil' MANZA enjoying a pontoon ride; Bethany and I hard at work on the bibs and burp cloths)

July 9th - "Last Supper/New Years Group" Shower: July 9th brought another shower for both Jeromy and I. The "Last Supper/New Years Group" is a group of life-long family friends who have known me since I was a baby. They are some of my parents best friends, and together we have really long, fun traditions with one another.

Mark and Linda hosted the shower, and pretty much the whole group was there! It's extra fun, because Darcy and Jared are expecting their second baby just a few weeks after Sweet Pea is due! Yay babies! :-)

We enjoyed a delicious feast of brats and sausage, and all the typical BBQ sides. We even enjoyed finger Jell-O, a staple for our gatherings when me and the other "kids" were younger. Yum! The evening was wonderful...low-key, catching up with old friends, celebrating all that we've been through together.

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: catching up with old friends, enjoying our enduring traditions, sharing the excitement of pregnancy with Darcy and Jared, the group got us a high chair and a Boppy pillow. A very special gift also came from Linda...the completed quilt for Sweet Pea's nursery! I got to choose the pattern and fabric, so it was EXTRA fun to see it in its completion. This will be a treasured possession for MANY years to come, and really made the nursery feel complete!

July 23rd - "Brooklyn Park" Shower: Last, but certainly not least is the shower from this past weekend. This was another shower filled with friends I've known my whole life! How blessed I am (and Sweet Pea will be) to have these dear friends in my life!

Our super neighbor when we lived in Brooklyn Park, Holly, and my "Mom #2," Marva co-hosted this lovely lunch time shower. I was delighted to be surrounded by friends I hadn't seen in a long time, but knew me and my family so well. We did a great job picking up where we had left off!

We played a few games, enjoyed a delicious lunch, but most of all, just relished in each other's company and conversation.

Some favorite memories and gifts from this shower include: seeing and reconnecting with old friends; long conversations with Brooklyn Park neighbor, Kelly (it's funny because growing up, Kelly was my sister's friend - she was closer to Beth's age than mine...so we hadn't really been close or had a lot in common now, I suppose, until now! She's got two little boys, and we had tons of fun talking about all things parenthood!); favorite gifts include: an adorable windbreaker and overall dress from Marva and some Sweet Pea things from Lynell. What a fun time! (Picture: the whole group, minus my mom, who was taking the picture)

Duluth Getaway

I started this post a while ago...and now I'm REALLY catching up. I can't believe how quickly time has been moving. I am doing my best to catch up/stay up to date, because Sweet Pea's arrival is quickly approaching! Here's a delayed post about me and Jeromy's getaway to Duluth...

I'm doing a little bit of catch-up on the blog. Things have been crazy the last few weeks as the weeks tick down to Sweet Pea's arrival. The to-do list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter, and much to my dismay, days have not gained hours. One can still hope...

Anyways...Jeromy and I enjoyed a little getaway to Duluth recently. We had a great time. The trip came about a few months previously. We had talked about taking a nice vacation before we started having kids (Puerto Rico was the hope), but then along came Sweet Pea, and the timing and money just didn't happen. Arg.

While I was busy lamenting on the fact that Puerto Rico wasn't in the cards (and further, that we likely will not have a "nice" vacation for quite some time), Jeromy suggested that we plan some sort of other trip. We threw a couple of possibilities around...Door County, Decorah, Galena, IL, etc. and ultimately settled on Duluth.

We go Up North often, usually ending up somewhere in the Grand Marais area, but haven't spend much significant time in Duluth (the last time was for Grandma's Marathon in 2005), but the weekend was mostly focused on running. Imagine that. :-)

So we booked a moderately-priced hotel room (we decided not to shell out the extra money for a lake side place) for Memorial Day weekend (which was also my birthday weekend). The plan worked out well..I only took Friday afternoon off (which I had planned anyways because of a doctor's appointment), and Jeromy didn't need to take any time off. Given that we both had Memorial Day off, we got a nice 3-night getaway. A far cry from a week in Puerto Rico, but we'll take what we can get. :-)

We left Friday afternoon, after dropping Luther off at "Grandma and Grandpa's" (thanks, Mom and Dad), and got there around dinner time. We settled into our room, before seeking out dinner at a local Irish pub.

On Saturday morning, we had a boat tour scheduled. We were disappointed, because the weather was not the greatest - cloudy and chilly. However, soon after the tour got started, the weather took a turn for the better! The clouds rolled out of the air, and the sun came out. It was still a bit chilly - but perfect for the North Shore! We were excited to bask out in the sun at the front of the boat, and enjoy the tour (despite the awful narration by the tour guide).

When the tour was over, we enjoyed lunch - I had a delicious sandwich from Amazing Grace cafe, and Jeromy had a smoked fish sandwich from another place...yum! After that, we poked around Canal Park, hit up the Maritime museum, and the shops, and spent some time relaxing by the lake...perfection! We enjoyed dinner at Pizza Luce, and then relaxed for the evening back at the hotel.

Sunday was my birthday! We started with brunch - at Pizza Luce (yup, that's right...two meals at Pizza Luce within 12 hours!). The weather was so-so...overcast, but nice enough to take a drive up the shore. I had to laugh, because I used to dread "Sunday drives" growing up...but a lazy drive up the shore with my best friend/husband was perfect! We made a few stops - Split Rock lighthouse, Gooseberry Falls, and a few shops in Two Harbors. I had a great birthday with Jeromy - it was just so nice to spend some time together in one of our favorite places! It was fun to have some time just the two of us - but we definitely spent a lot of time talking about how much fun we will have bringing Sweet Pea Up North! It was crazy to think that the next time we are back up there will be as a family of three!

Once we got back into Duluth, we went to Fitger's - one of our favorites - for my birthday dinner. The funny story of the night came when Jeromy mentioned to the waitress that it was my birthday. He asked if they do anything special. She said they'd be happy to give me a free pint of beer. Arg! The torture. Although I'm not much of a drinker, I have been finding myself missing beer as the weather has been getting warmer. Jeromy explained to the waitress that I was pregnant, and she graciously offered a free root beer instead. Delicious!

On Monday, we enjoyed a lazy morning in the hotel (actually, all of our mornings up there were lazy...it was great!). The weather was crummy, which helped make it easier to head home. We made a quick stop at the Great Lakes aquarium before heading back to the Cities. Unfortunately, we were REALLY not impressed with it. The cost was high for what we got out of it... it was kind of cool seeing all the fish from the Great Lakes, but the otters were not out (which we were most excited about), and there just wasn't enough to make it worth what we paid.

All in all, we had a great time away. It was fun to spend more time in Duluth, great to have time just the two of us, and reflect on all that is to come, and fun to be able to celebrate my birthday with a little trip! Can't wait to bring Sweet Pea up there before too long... :-)