My Bestie's Baby Girl Shower

In October my girlfriends and I threw a shower to honor our best friend, Victoria.
After a few Pinterest-comparing sessions we came up with the pink and brown theme to match her nursery.  She had also picked out her baby's name and wanted to reveal it at the shower, so we had the awesome task of figuring out fun ways to reveal the name.

Shower must-have #1: Tissue poms in light and bright pink colors. Here's a link to a super-easy tutorial.  You can tell from my pic that I opted for the rounded petal-y ends on these poms. Um, and how presh is that blog? Read it, then come back to me. Because I love you.

One of my co-hosts, Jessica, has an uber-talented mom who made this beautiful diaper bouquet.  She stuffed the vase with rolled baby wash cloths and the pink tulle amongst the little diaper tulips makes it so soft and pretty.  At the bottom is the handmade photo album with adorable, melt your heart quotes and detailing. All the mom-to-be has to do is stick in her baby's pics and add birth details. So beautiful!  One day she'll open an Etsy shop and I'll spread the word. Until then, I don't know how she does it. It's a true talent and such beautiful gift to share!

Okay, so I've left you hanging on how we did the name reveal. We got pink deco mesh and used ribbon to shape it into a bubbly garland. That hung over the name banner that a friend made for us using her Cricut machine.  On the pink deco mesh we had each guest write a quote, advice, or memory and clip it or tie it to the mesh.  It made for a really sweet backdrop behind the chairs as Victoria opened her shower gifts.

For dessert we ordered mini cupcakes and cake balls in a variety of flavors.
We couldn't pick just one flavor, and figured for a baby girl shower the more sugary treats the better! They turned out beautifully!

 

 

And for the final detail, the name banner made from the Cricut.....
The name for the sweet baby girl, Tori Elizabeth! 

 

Finding out the Gender (& 10 months pics!)

Our sweet little girl has just had another birthday!
She is 10 months old!  I can't believe how fast this year has flown by.

 

It's getting harder and harder to get a monthly pic of her sitting still and smiling at the camera.
And I'm hoping that her little diaper cake that we do the monthly pics with will last another 2 months until her first birthday!  Every month I have to rebuild it. She pulls out the little tulle toppers every time now!

 

Her Aunt Val made these sweet little bloomers for her. Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen! They are definitely one of my favorite things from her baby shower.  I was one of those mamas who just HAD to find out the gender as soon as possible. One of the perks of announcing your gender and the baby's name is all the sweet little custom gifts you can stare at in anticipation of baby's arrival. Having the custom stuff in the hospital for the newborn pics was another thing I just absolutely loved. I adored going into my postpartum hospital room and my mom and mother in law hung a banner with her name above my bed. It was so girly and lovely and welcoming. All the nurses thought it was so sweet!

Different strokes for different folks, though. If you are a mama who just can't see any other way but to wait until the birth to find out the baby's gender, then go for it. This Lambie Blog is just my story, and why I chose to find out to gender of my babies before they were born.

The Waiters will say, "How could you ruin the suprise?!"  Um... I didn't. I was still suprised when I found out the sex of my babies. I just could not wait another minute.  I wanted to know and plan and be prepared. I didn't want to believe in my head that the baby was one sex and then on their birth day be let down that I was wrong.  I didn't want any hint of disappointment or mixed feelings to be on their birth day. Because I know that I'm human. I know that I have desires and sometimes disappointment creeps in when you least expect that. I wanted to know just how their birth days would go. And save the best suprise for last. What they will look like.  Will she have my grandmother's hands? My husband's eyes? My hair?  Will she be quiet and calm or will she be perky and boisterous? There a SO MANY suprises when the baby comes.

The suprise of my gender day sonograms was so special. It was just hubs and I in the room with the doctor. When we found out we brought in the grandmothers. It was really special. If only Pinterest had been around at that time, I would known all about gender reveal parties and I would have thrown one of those for my friends and family.  Instead we did it the old fasioned way and announced it on Facebook with a sonogram picture. Old School, right?

My mom was pregnant three summers before she had me. A miscarriage and an infant lost due to heart defect.  Maybe it's my family history that made me want to know their gender in a way to feel closer to my unborn children. I could name them and talk to them in a way that felt more personal to me. It probably sounds so weird to The Waiters because any mama is bonded to her baby from the second she pees on the stick. And there are lots of ways to bond with your baby. This was just something that was really special and important to me. I felt like I knew them and it made me feel more confident as a new mom.

Birth class was terrifying and if I didn't have that mental image of baby girl Devyn or baby boy Cade going into my delivery I don't think I would have been able to do it. The doctors would have really had to sedate me completely to get those babies out. The gender made it so real to me. I knew it was Cade that needed to come out when I was tired of pushing and didn't think I could push any longer.  I knew it was my sweet little boy who needed to meet me. Thinking his name and knowing my little boy blue would be here soon if I kept going helped me get through. Again, you think I'm lame and that's no argument but when it came down to the wire, I was ready to give up and go home and let him be born another day. That's how hard it was to me and even though I was so ready to not be pregnant any more I would have waited another day had it not been Cade. 

Sorry Ambiguous Baby, I just couldn't have you. I needed to know who you were. Your 15 weeks and 20 weeks of being Ambiguous Baby were long enough for me. I needed my Suprise Gender Reveal earlier than 39 weeks and 41 weeks.  So, do I have any regrets? Do I feel like I missed out on one of Life's Greatest Suprises? Absolutely not. 0% regret here. I adored every minute of picking out pink and blue nurseries. Shopping for little details that I would NOT have been able to do with such anticipation and excited with a newborn baby. I would not trade those months of excitedly telling strangers and friends, "It's a girl!" for anything in the world. Hearing their advice about little girls, or little boys or having one of each was really cool. Sometimes strangers suprise you and you learn the coolest things.

Gotta go play with the littles now. Any more reminiscing and I will want to be pregnant again....Not gonna happen! (Yet at least!)

it's a boy!

We found out the sex of the baby today!! All day I was so anxious and excited, just like the feeling I had when I woke up on my wedding day. You know something great is about to happen, but you don't know how it's going to go down. You just know it's going to be one of the most special days of your life.

I left school and drove straight to Presby to meet Nick and our moms. Of course, Nick had on a blue shirt and I had on my pink shoes. I had made up a game in my head as I got in my car. The last child I see before I go into the exam room will be the gender of our child. At the bottom of the elevator bank we ran into a couple who had 5 little boys. The boy who got into the elevator with us was a wild man. When we got off the elevator I was like, well that's it. It's a boy. We turn the corner and as we walk down the hall to the dr office we see a little girl standing by herself. hmm, a girl! Of course, we get to go right into the exam room and have to wait five minutes or so for the sonographer to come in. We decided to have our moms wait in the waiting room so we could find out the sex first and then call them in.

The doctor had told us that she would do the whole sonogram first and then show us the gender at the end. So we would pay attention to the vital organs and development first, and not be too excited to focus. As soon as she put the machine on my belly we saw this image of the baby, and I saw it's a boy. Wow, that's it, it's my child, my baby boy!!! I was amazed and I felt smart. Yes, it was pretty clear it was a penis as the sonogram was projected on a 72" plasma tv! But still, I felt smart. So the doctor says "Oh, I could tell you the gender right now", and I just said "It's a boy!" She said yes, Virginia, there is a penis.

Nick was so excited, we just grabbed each other hands and squeezed and couldn't let go. We both were just smiling like idiots and tilting our heads at the tv screen as she moved the ultrasound around my belly. It was amazing. Our moms came in and we were a mix of emotions. Tears, smiles, laughs. Then she let us hear the heartbeat as we watched our son on the tv. It was such a phenomenal feeling to see him and know it's our boy and hear her calling out measurements with confidence and reassurance that everything was developing normally.

She did think maybe we could bump up the due date because he's a big boy. 83rd percentile in weight, baby! Mom then let the room know that I was a whopping 9 lb 3 oz, and the doctor said "Nevermind, April 1st should be right on then". As soon as I found out it's a boy I knew the April 1st date had to stick. After all those old wives tales told us it was a girl, so the fact that we're having a boy, I know this is our kid. Of course he'd be pranking us in utero. Karma!!

As soon as I can scan in the pics, I'll post them. I'm in love already. Waking up in the middle of night hasn't been so bad now that I can go look at the baby pictures. I already see some of Nick's features in those black and white pictures. Mom says my head was just that big round shape when she had the ultrasound of me. He's beautiful already, I can't wait to meet him!

So world, get ready to welcome Cade Andrew Lamb coming April 2009!

the suspense....

For whatever reason, I managed to find the only doctor in the Metroplex that waits until 20 weeks for the first sonogram. At first I was totally cool with missing out on the uh, "internal" sonogram tool, but now, damnit, I want my peanut picture!!!

I always just did the standard "Ooh Ahh" when I saw a sonogram pic. Really I could unplug my tv cable and see the same thing, it's just black and white fuzz to me. Things change when you've got this life inside you, and your emotions are all over the place. Sometimes I feel so connected to this little life, and other times I'm certain I'm just a part of a big science experiment, growing this little alien child. I've totally reached the point where I'm just so excited to meet this little baby person (and I refuse to call the baby "it", so I'm stuck with words like "little baby person"). I have nine days until we find out if we're having a boy or a girl... the suspense is killing me!

I have reserves of love just waiting to ooze out all over as soon as I can imagine my child more specifically. Also, I'm a planner.

I need to know the gender to determine some very important things:
a. nursery decor (duh)
b. pick a name!!
c. should I imagine her first shiny black tap shoes or his muddy black cleats?

These are the things I'm honestly thinking about, I've gotta know NOW! I've been on so many pregnancy websites taking online tests to determine if we've got a boy or a girl... Lots of the tests say girl, but now people look at my belly and say "Boy". Who to believe? I'm just so excited, it's like seeing all your presents under the tree and waiting for a year before you get to open them. I can't wait!!!

Oh, and to those of you who ask "Do you just have a feeling you know what it is? What do you think you're having?" I don't know, my gut feeling changes from day to day! I hate being wrong... I wish I could keep up the front that I am THAT connected on a deeper level to my child that I know what it is before the dr tells me. I'm not that cool.

We ate dinner at Cheddar's last night, and as I was in the bathroom I asked fate to give me a clue to the gender. I said to myself, Okay- if this song says the word "love" then it's a girl. All of the sudden, I notice the blue paint on the walls and the song mentions being blue, IT'S A BOY! Then the song proceeds to say "I love, love you"... IT's A GIRL?? I get these mixed messages all the time. Nothing to go on, right? Here I am, in the place where I met my husband, the father of my child, and no dice.

So, the wait continues. 9 days...