Moving On

Is it Wednesday already? Oops, I meant to post about my shower earlier, but it's been so busy already this week. Anyway, here it goes...

So I was very excited about last Saturday, not because I knew anything about a shower but because it was the first day in quite a while that D and I were going to be spending an extended amount of time together. We had plans for lunch at Rita's house (who is Ryan's wife Yana's mom) and I always look forward to going over there, but that wasn't until later. We decided to go to the Berlin Turnpike and see what deals Home Depot had to offer since we will buying a home very shortly. That was fun, although I had to sit a few times because I can't go, go, go like I used to. Then we went to [Taco Bell for a quick snack] Best Buy so D could get some gadget that he'll be reimbursed for by UCONN, which is the best kind of shopping spree. I guess D still had to kill some time because I didn't really want to go, but we ended up at Stew Leonard's which is an adventure unto itself. I wasn't totally in the mood because, by that point, I was getting tired of walking and Baby decided to lodge some body part in a part of my left rib cage which was very uncomfortable. But we managed a 20-minute tour and then we were off to Rita's!

When we got there, nothing seemed unusual. I saw all the familiar cars. I knew my whole family was invited, so I thought nothing of it. Rita came out to greet us, as she usually does, because she's just so sweet like that. When we turned around to go inside, she opened the door and there, crammed into her kitchen, were all these familiar faces, only they weren't the familiar faces I was expecting. Everyone yelled, "SURPRISE!" and Rita said I nearly fell off the step. I felt myself jump from the shock of it all, I still don't know how they managed to pull it all off. D was right behind me and he said he jumped, too...and he knew about it!! He's so cute. Once we got in and I hugged everyone, I asked D if he wanted to stay and surprisingly he said yes. He was the only guy there, but my David can fit in anywhere so he made himself comfy and settled in to watch the anatomy of a baby shower.

I knew my mom was good, but I didn't know she was this good. The shower she and Rita put on with the help of Yana and Kristina was amazing. The games were fun, the food was delicious, the company was delightful, and the amount of gifts was truly overwhelming. My mom always said she liked smaller showers, whether it be wedding or baby, because it's a more intimate group and you can visit with everyone instead of having the guest of honor lost in the crowd (I've actually seen this, where everyone is talking to everyone else and the guest of honor is sitting alone!) or feel like you're there just to give a present and leave. I have to say I agree with her completely. Mom said she counted 23 people there and just one person didn't come who said she would (she got lost for two hours, poor soul!) and you could not possibly fit another person in the room we were in (luckily, they thought of everything-including a fan which was pointed on me at all times!) and I don't know if you could fit another gift in the room either!

Anyway, this is how the shower went: After D and I got there, we were given a sheet of a paper for a game in which you had to match the baby picture to the person. Mom had collected a baby picture from everyone who was in attendance and displayed them ever so nicely on a board and numbered them. This is what everyone was doing before we got there, so we quickly made our choices and sat for the results. I got five wrong, including my mom, my aunt (the twins), and their older sister. I mixed the three of them up, but I put each of their number for one of them...if that makes any sense. It seemed like everyone had a lot of fun with that game. It was so creative, I loved it! After that was the all-important meal so we ate the food everyone had prepared (yum!) and played the wouldn't-be-a-baby-shower-without-it game of guess how big my belly is. Mom prefaced the game with, "Keep in mind, ladies, she's the size of a small whale!" so that might have had something to do with the longness of many of strings, but there was a very close winner: Rita!! I'm glad she won. She's almost as excited about this baby as my mother, which, if you've talked to my mother for two minutes, you know how excited this lady is over the birth of her first grandchild. I told Rita that the baby will call her Grandma Rita if she doesn't mind and she was so happy...Mom had a good idea, we have to find out how to say "grandma" in Russian or Armenian and have the baby call her that. Anyway, Rita wore her string proudly around her neck for the remainder of the day!

When everyone was done eating, Mom handed out papers for another game called Baby Price is Right. She laid some baby items I had gotten already out on the floor and everyone had to guess their price. I think there were 10 items and they ended up totaling around $90, which surprised a lot of people. Babies are expensive, which made me realize even more how blessed I was to get all that we did. Then came time for presents and I don't even know what to say except that between the 23 people that were there, I got everything we need to take this baby home from the hospital. The outpouring of love for this baby who no one has even seen yet was something I will always be grateful for and something I will never, ever forget. I felt so blessed, so overwhelmed, so loved, so excited to have our baby, and so many more emotions that I can't describe. We got most of the stuff from our registries, clothes, a laundry basket filled to the top with all the baby necessities, a baby sling (good idea, Mom!), our swing which I think is so cool (thanks Mom K!), our car/stroller combo, our highchair, our crib mattress, a wicker basket piled high with baby apparel. The list goes on. Funny story about the high chair and the car seat/stroller: We had registered for a matching set by Evenflo which included the car seat/stroller, the highchair, and the play yard. They were on the low-end cost wise, still a good chunk of money, but my opinion is that I don't like people spending their money if it's something I'm not willing to spend my own money on. Which is why I didn't want a $300 crib or $200 changing table or any "top of the line" items which I would debate their value versus name brand when companies set prices. So anyway, my grandma's sister, Auntie Wilma, my great aunt, decided that she didn't like what I registered for in the way of car seat/stroller and high chair, so she picked out what she thought was safe and bought them (I love the design!!). I didn't even know these patterns/items existed because we didn't go that far down the line when registering (low-priced items were at one end, high-priced at the other). See how completely generous people were?!?! And it was Auntie Wilma and Grandma that put together that wicker basket FULL of baby apparel. As you'll see in the pictures, they put all the items on a clothes line and folded the line into the basket. Grandma tried to explain what was going to happen before it did, but it didn't quite prepare me. She took one end of the line (it was on top of the basket, obviously) and started walking to the other end of the room. And when she did all these pieces of clothing/accessories/blankets started to jump out of the basket. Let's just say that by the time we reached the end, there were at least five people holding up the line so it could stretch from one end of the room to the other. Unbelievable. I got teary-eyed at that point. It was overwhelming and a bit too much!

The gifts resumed after everyone had a chance to see what was on the line. My mom bought two going home outfits: one for a boy and one for a girl because I didn't want him/her coming home in a gender neutral outfit. So she solved that problem rather quickly and I was touched by that. She also got me some comfy pjs, a robe, some slippers, and a gift certificate for a pedicure before the baby's born. As if she hadn't done enough already!! Those are just snippets of the generosity of my family and friends, all that on top of giving up part of their summer Saturday (my aunt and cousin cut their vacation a day short in order to be there), which I know are precious. I couldn't have dreamed up a better baby shower. And I'm glad D was there the entire time because I think I'd still be telling him about all that went on!

You know it's a good shower and people are having fun when 5:30pm rolls around (people were there by 1pm or earlier) and only three people had left. I was so wiped out by that point that D said he was taking me home to rest up. It took two carloads to get everything here, but now everything is safely stashed in the basement. I've sorted through some of it...I couldn't do it all in one shot because there's just too much. I really have to start washing some of those clothes and blankets...that's next on my To Do list. Thank you to everyone who was there and an especially big THANK YOU to Mom, Rita, Yana, and Kristina who pulled off the best day ever. I don't know how they managed (Mom is still telling me how she had to do things like stay up till 3am finishing things, getting out of the house without me being suspicious, and so on) but they managed quite well!

And, what you've really been waiting for...