baby, baby, baby, oh!

(Was that the cliche title of the year or what??)

Next on our list of things to do: Bevin's baby shower!!

A little background story. Bevin and I basically grew up together. We became best friends in second grade, and have much dirt on each other because of it. Then Lindsey became another best friend of ours, and we've all been in each other's weddings and have a jolly time together.

So, when we found our Bevin was going to have a baby, of course we had to give her a shower!

The tricky thing is, none of us live in the same city. So we made our plans over the phone and by emailing each other ideas. We got a date that would work in April ("April showers"?? what what!!) and Lindsey and I would both pick up little things here and there when we found something cute or fun.

All three of us agreed that we didn't want an everything-pink event. Lindsey and I found these super cute orange butterfly invitations. We ordered those and Lindsey mailed them out in record time. At this point, I was thinking about preparing for the Brandon Heath concert, planning for mom and dad to come, AND trying to find things for Bevin's shower. We just had a lot going on in the spring!
Bevin wanted to have a nice tea-time-type of party. So, for the food, we decided to do a lot of mini muffins... because they are like baby muffins! And it looks like you have a lot, even if you don't. So when Tommy and I were loading up the car (we do that a lot...), I packed several mini muffin trays, little tin buckets we were going to make into party favors, our cloth napkins that we got for our wedding and had never used, and some typical shower things- like a "it's a shower!" banner, Hershey kisses with "it's a girl" on the tag, and little bibs for the attenders to decorate.... I feel like they should write "it's a bib!" to keep with the trend.... We also loaded up several of the antique tea cups I collect so she could have a tea-time-type of party.

All of us had to drive to Savannah after work, so we were all pretty tired already, and kept getting hit with delays. Who knew that on a Friday afternoon, traffic on the highway would come to a stand still three times, going INTO Savannah?? Maybe tourist season was picking up? So after we had all eaten dinner, we finally met at Lindsey's mother's house and got our game plan together. Lindsey, Kricket (her husband), me, and Tommy- and yes, we were going to put the guys to work. It was already pretty late, around eight. And I know that doesn't sound late, but we had a lot of shopping and baking to do, and we were going to have to be up early, too!

After being in the grocery store for about an hour, we realized that we had way too many muffin things and no protein. We were going to get deli meat and have everyone make their own little finger sandwiches, then Kricket remembered that pregnant women aren't supposed to eat packaged deli meat. Lindsey and I felt pretty dumb, being women and all, and so we were scratching our heads for more things to serve. We eventually grabbed cubed cheeses and some "fancy" jellies to put on croissants. When we got back to the house, Lindsey and Kricket started preparing for baking, and Tommy and I put together the gifty buckets.

A daughter/sister of some of our friends in Gainesville makes these flowers that can be pins or hairclips, they're so pretty! Here's a link- http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/BellaDesignsFL
So I got an assortment of orange ones to give to all the ladies! Sweetness. We also got a bunch of candy, since Bevin loves sweet things! And tied the top with a nice orange ribbon.

Finally, we all decided to go to bed. We stayed at Lindsey's grandparents, who live right down the street. Getting up early the next morning, Lindsey called to say that with the crumpets she was making, the many mini muffins, the croissants with jam, and the fruit, we still needed some protein or something at little salty. Tommy and I had to go get some fresh flowers anyway (for decoration and prizes!) so we again did some grocery shopping. We found some already-made quiches, got two kinds, and decided that was enough.
We made a little buffet, and decorated the outdoor tables with my tea cups and rose buds. We tied in the theme with some stick-on butterflies from Michael's and filled very tall pink buckets with flowers.

Then everyone started to arrive! It was so good to see Bevin and her family. They hadn't been able to come to our wedding, because her youngest sister was graduating, so I hadn't seen her family since.... well, I can't remember when! AND I hadn't seen Bevin's baby bump either! It is completely different to see your childhood friend pregnant. Anyone else, and it's perfectly normal. But someone that you've known since second grade suddenly sportin' that baby belly the next time you see her- that makes your brain kinda go -poof- for a second.

Lindsey and I hugged the family and we all chatted for a second before everyone else started arriving. We had everyone gather in the living room, said a quick word of prayer, and led everyone to our spectacular spread. And. They did not. Eat. Enough. of the FOOD. Instead of several mini muffins, everyone had literally one or two. That's what you do with normal sized muffins, people!! The quiche was a big hit, so that was good, since it was probably the most expensive. We even had gorgeous oranges that I guess people thought were only for decoration. Dumb women trying to be dainty.....

So, when most people were done eating, we passed out little tiny cloth bibs. I bought fabric pens and stencils, because free-handed things never end up looking how you want them to. It went well...... except when we realized that the fabric pens, which are made to not wash out, had leaked through the bibs onto Lindsey's mom's white tablecloths!! She didn't seem too mad, but we felt TERRIBLE.

We also did a little trivia game. We asked everyone to write down the top ten girl names in 1985, the year Bevin was born. And then, we asked everyone to do the same for 2011, when her baby, Piper Rose, would be born. We were very official- we got the lists from the US census. We also had two tie breakers: we asked how many diapers were used each year in the United States, and..... um... I forgot the other tie breaker. The two winners got the huge pink buckets with the lovely flowers! I think they were happy with that... I hope so, anyway!

We then all got to watch Bevin open presents!! She was very patient with a little girl who was trying to open them for her- I would've said something mean. And she seemed to really appreciate everything people gave her! My favorite was the holiday gift- someone gave her little outfits to go with every holiday and they were just precious. We may have kids just so I can buy the clothes....

We ended by reminding everyone to pick up their party favors, and I made sure to mention that everyone pick up more than one flower pin/hair clip since I had brought too many.

Poor Tommy and Kricket. They had been trying to find something to watch on tv the whole time. And then for the trivia and gifts, we had come inside to the air conditioning, and had kicked them out. They had just been sitting in the next room, listening to the silly woman chatter. So they certainly were glad it was over. And then, we all cleaned up.... that seriously is the worst part. My mom always said that she didn't mind cooking, she just minded the cleaning up part. And I completely agree. There's no reward at the end, like a freshly-made-yummy-something. Just, a clean house... which is just ok. But since we were exhausted, we all went back to our respective places of staying, and took a NAP.

Since we didn't get to really hang out with just Bevin, she and her husband planned to meet up with the four of us at Carrabba's!! We all love Carrabba's. Well, we three girls. I think the guys just like food? But Bevin called to say they would be running a little late, so we hit up GIGI'S!! They make the cupcakes that we had as our wedding cake!

So of course, Tommy and I were craving our favorites. But when we arrived, they were about to close, and so were only selling what they had left. There was like an orange one, and a chocolatey chocolate one.... so Tommy and I didn't buy any. SO SAD. Our mouths wanted to slap us.

We all enjoyed our Carrabba's and had a good ol' time goofing off. Our poor waiter having to deal with us being their so long. We like to talk! We eventually went out to Bevin and Carey's house so we could see the baby room, and Bevin wanted us to smell the diapers. We decided that her woman hormones were throwing off her sense of smell, because the other five of us did not think the diapers smelled good.

And that ended our weekend! We told everyone bye the next morning, and headed back early so we wouldn't get home too late on a work night. It was very sad to leave my silly friends behind. But, it's good that we have texting and facebook. Because the day before yesterday, Piper Rose was born!! Happy day to Bevin and Carey and Piper!

orlando rain.

The next day, Saturday, my parents came to visit!

Of course, we were excited and also exhausted. We just let all of that junk sit in the back of the car when we got home the night before. Saturday morning I woke up a little later than I had wanted and Tommy had emptied almost the entire car -heart warming feelings- so I got to work putting decor and dishes back.

Mom and dad arrived and they were just so glad to be there. See, they have been in a teeny, weeny town in Arkansas. Dad found an awesome job there, but they are just about ready to be moving along. It is the smallest town they have lived in since they've been married, and we tell everyone, "well, there's a Sears and a Walmart..." They were happy to be in our thriving city.

Sunday morning we went to church, and then packed up the car again. Why, you ask? Because they came to take us to Orlando to go to Disney World! My second visit ever!! I was so excited. That evening, we strolled around Downtown Disney and I got to show them all the places I had actually been to before. For instance, we got to eat at the T-Rex restaurant. Yum!!!

Monday was going to be the BEST and I think all four of us were excited.

Monday morning = torrential downpour. I mean. I have never seen anything like it. It was like.... you know when the rain will get really heavy, it's hard to see through, it makes everything darker, you don't want to run through it because you know you'll get soaked? It literally rained like that for 90% of the day. So. No, we didn't go to Disney World. SO SAD. But we tried to make lemonade out of our lemon shower.

We looked up attractions on our cell phones and I grabbed pamphlets. We ended up going to WonderWorks. If you’re ever in Orlando, you can’t miss this place. It’s a really big white building, completely upside-down.

Basically, this place is like a hands-on science-y exploring place. But on the top floor (bottom floor?) they had an arcade. No big deal. BUT! Floating above the arcade was a ropes course! It was a lot higher than I thought once we were up there... Tommy was much braver than me. I’ve grown timid in my old age. But, since my shorts were made almost invisible by the harness, I have maybe only one unscandalous photo that was taken from the floor below to prove that I did it. Poor people who had to look up at us. I'm sure the workers there get used to seeing many underwears...

After that, we went to the big area that connects Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure - still raining. We managed to park and had enough jackets to get us to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. YUM. And so fun. Got a Shrimp is the fruit of the sea.... Shirt. And we warmed up from being in the rain- yes, cold rain.

The rest of the day... I think we took naps? We can't remember.

But the next day. The day we had to leave. Bright SUNSHINE happy day. WHAT?! Mocking sun. I'm sure I threw "Why, God, why??"'s up to my Abba. We walked around Downtoan Disney a little more, just to give us that Disney feel, and then left. Ah, well. It just means we'll have to go back another time.

When we got back, we took them to the butterfly exhibit at the museum. Mom and dad really liked it- mom for the nature, dad for the photo opportunities! We were taking them through the rest of the museum when Tommy got a job call! He stepped out to speak with John, a guy from Vero Beach, Florida, who was interested in getting to know Tommy a little better. More on that later! -wink wink-

I think we salvaged a pretty good visit for mom and dad.