Pardon me while I de-throne

Well, as the self-proclaimed "shower-queen", it is now time for me to turn my crown over to a few other people. My baby shower this past Saturday absolutely blew me away. Let's just say I cried TWICE in the first 10 minutes. Some may blame the pregnancy hormones, but I know me best and I was simply overwhelmed by all of the love and hard work that went into every single detail of that afternoon. Nothing! was overlooked and I will never, never forget how I felt. Here are a few pics of the big day:

The Hostesses and THE BELLY. How will I ever repay these ladies for all they have done? I really don't think I have ever felt more loved and blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.

The Fam: Pam (SIL), Jane (Big Sis), Me and Mom ("The Nana" as she prefers to be called):

Jess and the Anna-grams. So cute! Little note cards for people to write messages to Anna. I swear that shirt of mine looked way better at home:

I love this pic of Brooke and I:

Samantha made the fruit bouquet. Can you imagine? I know it takes her 3-4 hours.

The details. Nothing less than jaw-dropping.

The food table:

The Cake. Made by Brooke AND Derek. No Kidding. It was perfect:

Sparkling Pink Lemonade. Yummy!:

Crying section #1, Anna's Banana Split Bar:

Room decor/party favors. My sister and SIL know my taste all too well:

Just a few of the guests. I am so lucky.

Work friends: Denae, Missy and Jenny

Renee and Jenny. Game partners:

Laura, Courtney and Alberta:

High School Buddies:

The aftermath. And a note.

A certain someone is way confused as to why her world is surrounded by gift bags and crinkly tissue. It's like she's in heaven:

A note to Anna's Memere (french for Grandma and pronounced "meh-may") in Maine:

Sue,
I just wanted to let you know that although you are many miles away, you were still at Anna's shower in spirit on Saturday. I wish you could have been there, but know that I thought of you often as did many others there. Your granddaughter-to-be knows you love her and can't wait to meet you!

Love You and Miss You,
Liz

AACCCKKK!!

I freakin' hate blogger!!! I just want to posts four different entries in opposite order of how I wrote them. Why is this so difficult?!

I'd do it all over again...

I hate that it has taken a tag from Emily to get me writing about something that crosses my mind every single day; just how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. It will be nine years in January that I met Nathan for the first time at McDonald's of all places. Although I was actually there for someone else I was "totally in love with", it was Nathan that captured my heart for good.

Now, almost a decade after watching him pick his tomatoes off his hamburger and thinking to myself, "This guy is the slowest eater of all freakin' time," we're preparing for the arrival of our baby girl in just a couple of months. It's hard to believe that so many years have passed. But, I take comfort in the thought of all the wonderful years to come. Together.

I thought I would list some of the things I love about Nathan that he may not be aware of. Even though we get busy, I get cranky, and responsibilities tend to take over our days, I still take notice of the wonderful things that Nathan brings to my day. To my life. I love you Nate! And if I had the choice, I'd do it all over again.


Random things I love about my husband:

*His obsession with chap stick. And how it makes me laugh that he gets so annoyed when I ask to borrow it while he's driving.

*His commitment and effort to go back to school to get his CPA. I know that his main motivation/goal in doing so is to be able to provide everything he could for me and for our future children. And he's done it in all A's fashion. I'm so proud of his hard work.

*His patience. I know I am not the easiest person to live with.

*He thanks me every single time I make dinner. Even if it's just Hamburger Helper.

*He never gets annoyed when I have questions about football.

*If I'm already in bed, he'll bring me a drink of water, turn my light off, or fix the covers for me. I'm spoiled. I know.

*I love when he calls me every weekday morning when he gets to work and tells me some random fact about the economy, the weather, our football stats, or just checks in to work out what we are doing that night. I hate the days he has an early meeting or is at an audit and I don't hear from him.

*I secretly adore that he is so passionate about the weather. I wish I was as passionate about something.

*I love that if there was something that I really, really, really, really wanted, even if kind of expensive, he would find a way for us to afford it.

*He never makes me clean the bathrooms. Get in line ladies!

A Shower and a Shave?

My first baby shower is in about 24 hours from now. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm glad that this first one will be co-ed and thus Nathan will be there with me. It's so hard to have all of that attention on just you. Granted, I'm usually an attention hog, but for some reason opening gifts in front of a room of people can be a little intimidating.

I am SO wearing pants. There is no way I can concentrate on unwrapping a gift, smiling the whole time for pictures, making sure to use lots of different adjectives other than "cute" AND keep my legs crossed the entire time. It's just not gonna happen, folks. So pants it is.

This brings me to my second shower which is scheduled for next week. I'm really looking forward to it as it will be the shower with all of my girlfriends. The shower invitation (which I adore, btw) even says "Please join us for a day of girl time...". Is it bad that my very first thought was "Hmm... What are they planning? Do I need to shave my legs?"

I mean with the five ladies that are hosting the event, there is no telling what they have up their sleeves. And they sure like to keep me in the dark. So, needless to say, I will be shaving my legs for that one. Cause if "girl time" involves anything with nail polish or lotion or something like that, the woolly mammoth look I'm currently sporting just ain't gonna cut it. Oh God! Nail polish. Now, I have to shave that little patch on my big toe too. Shut up. You know you have one too.