Rain showers and baby showers

For a dreary, rainy Saturday, we spent it doing happy things. We headed to counties north to see lots of family and friends. First off was a baby shower for my college BFF Nikki. J had to drive me there because I'm not allowed to drive for another week. So while I was partying it up with my mom friends (Ha!), he was having his first experience being out with all three children by himself. He took them to late lunch and met his mom and stepdad (the shower was being held very near where they live, as luck would have it). I felt for him, but I knew he'd handle it without a hitch! The rain would've been a deal breaker for me, though!

When we arrived at the shower, he asked me to run M in to potty to help him out when he'd have them all by himself shortly thereafter. She had such a hard time understanding why she couldn't come with me! It was an all-girl party, after all! While we were in the guest bathroom of this gorgeous house (with a mud room to die for, I might add!), she asked me again why she couldn't stay with me at the "baby wash". I laughed so hard on the inside! What a funny yet logical mistake. :0)

Admittedly, I have a love-hate relationship with showers, especially when I'm the honoree. All the cuteness and "oohing and ahhing" is sometimes too much; I'm not at all a girlie person in an emotional sense. When I'm hosting one, that's a different story. I can host a shower to beat the band! But this one was so fun. I love all of Nik's friends, and her sister and nieces were there from out of town, and her mom was there too, whom I adore! No cheesy games, no touchy-feely stuff. Just eating (and I LOVE shower foods!), chatting, opening presents, then the best part...CUPCAKES!

Which explains this photo of me and Nik. We're kindred spirits in the baked goods department. She was my college roommate for about 3 out of 5 years, and boy could I tell you some cake stories about us! Maybe sometime I'll blog about it...

I know I've got a long way to go in the post-partum weight loss department, but I cannot tell you how good it felt to be in non-maternity clothes again!! But I still can't wear any of my wedding rings, which makes me sad.

After the shower, J came to pick me up and ran "Stu" in the house so he could meet all the ladies briefly. It was quite a scene...us in the doorway, J holding him, asleep in his car seat, with 15+ women crowded around him in a semi-circle ogling all his sweet babyness. :0) I wish I would have taken a picture! His first groupies... HAHA!

We went back to his mom's house for a bit so he could feed Stu, and the girls got to play some more. They'd gotten some new coloring books, so Rosie sat on my lap and "read" her H*llo K*tty book to me. M stayed in the living room getting her cable kids' channel fix! We don't have cable, satellite or anything here. Poor deprived child!

We headed home, stopping only at S*nic once the children had fallen asleep so I could get my Diet cherry Coke. I'm so happy to be able to drink it again!! I've missed it.

At home we had a quick dinner, then J cut Rosie's hair for maybe the third time in her life. I love that he's their personal groomer--he always does their hair and nails! He makes me so proud.


Their traditional post-haircut photo. Because I make them do it every single time! See the shiner under Rosie's right eye? She fell the other day near J's recliner and hit her face against the armrest on her way down. Luckily, it's healing fairly quickly!

So often I find M snuggling with her baby brother, which I love. She's been a whole different big sister from her experience with Rosie! She wasn't quite so loving and nurturing when Little Sister arrived. I think maybe it's her age--that she's more mature now than she was at age two when Rosie came along.

She spent a good bit of Saturday evening sharing his Boppy pillow with him. I snapped a photo, and his little face turned out so cute!



J remarked that this is one for a future slide show for sure! And check out that onesie. It's a newborn size, but it sure does swallow up Brother Man! (Incidentally, it says "Mommy Rules". Good to know he's learning quickly!)

We weren't sure in the beginning if he was going to inherit J's large-shaped eyes or not, but after a few days we realized there was no doubt he did indeed. Hallelujah! I was hoping my children wouldn't get my tiny eyes. Rosie was the same way...it took hers a few days to get bigger, too.

M has her own sturdy childrens' digital camera that she uses all the time, but her favorite camera is ours. I let her take a few pictures last night, and most of them turned out pretty good! Here's her photo of Stu. Throwing gang signs, I guess?!


It was so nice to get out again, but exhausting all the same. And we were never able to get out the door on time with just two children. Now that there are three, it's even worse! We have to work on that. I still get an overwhelmed feeling going out all five of us, and thinking about tackling three children by myself is very daunting to me. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to tackle this head on as soon as J goes back to work, and I'm going to have to force myself to get out with all of them on my own so I can get used to it and develop my own routine. I need to get comfortable in that area, and the only way to achieve that is to make myself do it.

Wish me luck!