Pictures from the shower

Dear Zoe - Here are just a few pictures of the fun shower from the weekend! Your closet is full (already!). The last picture is of me and your Aunt Mary- thanks Mary for a wonderful shower!

You have another shower coming up in a couple of weeks at my friend Evie's house, I can't wait!

xoxo, the mama.

Baby Shower!

This weekend was your first baby shower! It was out at Grandma's house. So many people were there to shower you with gifts - aunts, cousins, friends. I am overwhelmed by the amount of things that you got.

These are the invitations that Grandma and your aunt Mary put together, aren't they cute? Mary did a great job organizing - there was a cupcake tower (yum) a diaper cake (for decoration of course!) and lots of delicious food. She even had a raffle and to enter, all the guests brought a pack of diapers! What a great idea!

We got SO many presents! You got your carseat, stroller, pack and play, tub, lots of toys and books, and oh so many clothes! You are going to be a very well dressed baby girl. I can't wait to dress you up in all of your outfits, you are going to be so cute!

Kareoke on NYE

Dear Zoe - The year after Dad and I moved to Chicago from San Francisco, my dad (your grandpa) and I decided to throw a New Years Eve party. We invited all of our friends and even had a kareoke machine to sing all of our favorite songs.

Little did I know that this would turn into a (now) tradition for every New Years Eve. I am in no way a good singer (smile), but I do enjoy singing a tune or two (or three or four). This year, you will only be about 3-4 months old, but grandpa still has big plans for us busting out the microphones and singing well into the night. We'll see how that goes. :)

Pics of the mama singing some of her favorite songs

Weekend in Asheville

Last weekend, Dad and I travelled to Asheville, NC for another wedding, one of his childhood friends, PJ and his new bride, Courtney. Asheville is so beautiful - I loved the downtown area, so many cute shops! We hung out with Annie and Paul a lot (your Nana and Da) and went to great dinners. On Friday, Nana, Dad and I went to the beautiful Biltmore house for a tour. The wedding was at a beautiful venue and we had another great weekend! I can't wait to take you back someday when you can better appreciate it. :)

Beautiful Biltmore house in Asheville, NC

Here is you and me, taking a little rest on our tour at Biltmore, on the balcony.

One of our delicious meals was at a little cafe downtown, where I got these enormous and delicious sweet potato and oatmeal pancakes. YUMMY!!

Jenny and Mikeys wedding

Jenny and Mikey are married!

On July 30, you and I were the maid (and baby) of honor in Jenny and Mikey's wedding. This was officially your first wedding. :) The whole day was so fun - we got ready at Jenny's house with all of our friends and then headed out for pictures. The ceremony was perfect- outside at a great venue downtown. Jenny looked so beautiful and I was so happy for her. We had a blast at the reception - danced all night and ate delicious food (yummy cupcakes).

Congratulations Jenny and Mikey!

Love, the mama

Eggplants

Dear Zoe - I am 28 weeks, that means that I am 2/3 done!! I am officially in my third trimester and feel so different than I did at the beginning of my pregnancy. I am much bigger. :) I have gained about 22lbs at this point, and am definitely showing! (see picture above!) I no longer have morning sickness, but I am tired a lot. I fall asleep on the couch every night pretty much around 9:30 and leave Dad to finish watching all of our shows himself! You are moving around a lot too, which is so fun! It is kind of hard to describe, there are little kicks and little flutters and the other day I am pretty sure that you had the hiccups. Your favorite time to move around is right after dinner and at bedtime (hopefully you will outgrow that!)



My weekly pregnancy tracker tells me that this week, you are as big as an eggplant! Kind of unbelievable!

The Nursery

I have been thinking about the nursery since the day I found out I was pregnant, and even before I knew that you were a girl, I had the cutest bedding picked out from land of nod. I didn't have anything picked out for a boy, and turns out, I didn't need to. Dad and I struggled with whether or not to paint your room, it is a mocha brown, which I love, but we were worried it would be too dark. But we decided we would brighten it up with some pictures on the wall, a light colored rocker and the bedding. I haven't purchased the decals yet...I am going between butterflies and birds, but I love how they look. I am really excited to see it all come together!