Shower Preview

I can't wait for tomorrow.  And I'm sure that Little T is just bustling with excitement as well.  That's right folks, tomorrow afternoon we will have our first shower! My mom has planned the event for our family and friends and she has been literally working overtime planning and making all of the arrangements.  She has attempted to keep most of it a secret from me, but I have been privy to a few details and I am too excited.  

Alas, with all good parties and showers alike, the mood is most definitely set by the invitation.  My mom definitely did not slack on this aspect in the slightest. Knowing that our nursery theme is Dr. Seuss she went all out on the invites.

You only have one chance to make a first impression.  Imagine pulling out your mail and finding a giant bright lime envelope.  This was step one of her invite design. A giant, and I do mean GIANT envelope.  She customized it with a Cat in the Hat holding a sign which read, "The Time is at Hand, So an Invitation for YOU! We'll Celebrate and Party Before Baby is Due!" Talk about making a first impression.  I have never received an invitation larger than life like this before!

Inside the envelope was an equally large Hat from the Cat in the Hat. My mom had to cut each one of these out individually!

All of the information for the shower was on the back of the hat.  She even used a very Seussian poem:

"What is that you say?

Lauren & Matthew have a BABY on the way!

From there to here, From here to there,

We will shower the new parents to help them prepare!

May is the month.

Saturday the first is the day

From 1 to 4 at the Lake House

We will par-tay!"

I know it is just personal opinion, and maybe some pregnancy hormones, but this is the cutest shower invite that I have ever seen. Seriously. And it is mine, which makes it all the more special to me. 

 

Just one last look... just so you can appreciate how large and in charge this puppy is. You'll notice the ruler--- yup that envelope is 13" wide.

I can't wait to see what else Mimsy has up her sleeve for Saturday. I also have a little surprise of my own for her--- shh!  It's a secret!

The Bump

Have you noticed the lack of bump pictures lately?  Well, we Tals have been more than a little bit busy.  Between a wedding, finishing up the nursery and other top secret projects, free time does not come cheap at our house.  And when there is free time it generally involves me complaining about the fact that I suddenly feel truly pregnant.

Voila!  The bump!  Ok, so I really think it looks way larger in person.  Larger and lopsided.  There is either a butt, head or knee that has taken permanent residence in my upper right quadrant of the bump.  Even my doc is stumped at exactly what body part it is.  

And just for fun... here is another clothed shot of me and Little T.  And now that I am looking at it, white is definitely not slimming for the two of us and may be banned from this point on.

Little T gets an Auntie!

Up until this Friday, Little T was missing something big in his or her life.  Little T was officially Aunt-less. Oh there were Uncles a plenty, but not an official Aunt in the bunch.  But on April 16, 2010,  Little T's Uncle Andy made us all very happy!  We couldn't be prouder to add Amanda to the Talicska tribe.

The wedding took place in Toledo, Ohio and was truly spectacular.  Amanda made me proud with all of her DIY.  There was not a single element of the whole day that didn't have her crafty touch.  Not only do I finally have a sister--- but I have one that is more than worthy of her share of the DIY crown.  Maybe in Ohio the last name "Talicska" is the equivalent of "Martha Stewart Protege"?  I wish I had taken pictures to share with you--- but given my poor photography skills I think that was a task best left for the wedding photographers.

When we found out that we were pregnant, both Matt and I were already part of the wedding party.  I was a little nervous about how I would be feeling since I knew that lots of people are miserable by 32 weeks.  On the big day we were just shy of 33 weeks and I think that I felt just about as good as a house sized woman could feel.  

I was able to squish the bump into a non-maternity dress without alterations.  Yes, it was two whole sizes bigger than anything I would normally wear, but it was a small victory nonetheless.  In fact, I can't understand who on earth would want to wear this dress that wasn't pregnant.  I am convinced it would take a skinny person and make them into a gigantic movie screen sized monstrosity.  Speaking of movie screen sized monstrosities... I felt like I looked good for most of the night until one of Matt's cousins told me that I had cankles.  Yeah, my recommendation is to never tell a pregnant woman that already is super self conscious about her size that she has lost her ankles.  Especially if it isn't true.  I may have packed on my share of baby weight (oops), but I will happily announce to all that as of 33 weeks I have the exact same ankles that I have always have.  

One thing that made me very happy was that my parents were invited to the wedding as well.  In addition to always being a good time, I was glad that they were close by.  Now knowing how I would feel, and being over two hours from home made me a nervous nelly.  What would happen if doing the Cha-Cha Slide might accidently put me into labor?  Luckily it didn't... although I sure paid for all that dancing the next day!  I felt like Little T had karate kicked me in the ribs.

I was definitely not the only soon-to-be-mommy in the crowd.  I think that the only one that danced more than me was our cousin Marissa.  She is just a few weeks behind us and is looking fantastic.  The sex of her baby is a surprise as well, so we have been having fun trying to make guesses.  If it were up to Matt's grandma we would both be having girls and both on June 15th.  I think it will be fun for Little T to have a relative so close in age!

It was such a fun weekend, but an exhausting one as well.  Little T and me have had some much deserved rest and relaxation.  Next in our schedule... get the nursery finished!

The Bump

31 Weeks down, 9(ish) to go.  I write in the "ish" because who really knows when this baby is going to come.  While some experts have said that they think I may go early, I know that their input is about as reliable as reading the leaves in my raspberry tea.  Regardless of how much time we have left, we have enjoyed 31 weeks of Little T growing in my previously little belly.

The last few weeks have literally flown by, so I thought we might want to take a look back before we look at the present.  Remember this?  Remember when I had abs, a waistline and an hour glass figure?

Grow, baby, grow!  Gone are the days of nipped waistlines and clingy low cut shirts.  I have replaced my hourglass figure with what I lovingly call "the duck".  Here we have the latest and greatest of the bump shots.  It looks like Little T has expanded the living quarters upwards.  I am finally starting to carry a bit higher, though I know it will be short lived.