Cotter Baby Shower

On Sunday, I had my third (and final!) baby shower, thrown by my mother-in-law, Mary Lou (or MiMi, as she will soon be known to Aiden). It was a great time!!! The food spread was perfect (I especially liked the no-bake cookies--I'm still eating them five days later :)), and the company was great. Thanks to Mary Lou for all her hard work and planning, especially since she woke up with a cold the day of the shower! I can't even begin to explain how generous everyone has been, and how flattered Mike & I are by that generosity! Aiden is going to enter a world filled with the love of family and friends :)

McGraw-Hill Baby Shower

Last week, some of my favorite people put together a baby shower for me at work. I had so much fun! My bestest bud (and fellow preggie) Angie, along with a lot of help from my cube-neighbor Barb, really put a lot of thought and hard work into the event, and as you can see from the pictures, it definitely showed. Angie even made the beautiful cake on her own! I was truly touched by the turnout as well as the generosity of those attending; supply-wise, we are well on our way to being prepared for Aiden to arrive. :)

Celebrating "The Devil Didn't Get Us"

Mike & I headed up north to Mansfield on Sunday for the annual "The Devil Didn't Get Us" dinner; it's a family "celebration" that my parents survived a terrible car accident four years ago. Abby wrote a pretty good synopsis of the events and even posted some photos of the mangled car here if you'd like to read more about it. Anyways, I pretty much take NOTHING for granted anymore when it comes to my folks, and it's always good to head to the Brown Derby Roadhouse! Yes, that's Mom with a beer--not to worry, though; she was only taking a sip (she doesn't drink), but I asked her to pose with it just 'cause it struck me as hysterical :) Dad, however, did drink the whole thing down. With six weeks left, though, it was hard to watch him do so because I am soooooo craving a beer!!!
In baby news, Mike & I washed all of Aiden's clothes and bedding over the weekend, and I also figured out how to install the car seat. Just a few more things to knock off my to-do list...

Mr. Bibbly & Other Musings...

With 7 weeks to go, Mike & I still have a lot of important things to do to prepare for Aiden (we go to meet our pediatrician later this evening, we have a baby care class at the end of the month, etc.). But I'm trying to fit some fun things in, too! For example, last week I made Aiden's crate; I have been making these for my friends who have had babies in the last year, and decided I need to make one myself. I even used some of the wallpaper border that matches his bedding set on the sides. I hope to keep his many blankets neatly inside, though right now it's housing bottles & hospital paperwork & such. On Friday night, Mike & I began filling out some of the pre-birth pages of Aiden's baby book (LOVE the book--from BCF, of course). Pretty fun stuff. And yesterday, we made a trip to Build-A-Bear to create Aiden's first teddy bear--stuffed with love by Mom & Dad. That's Mr. Bibbly in the photo (Mike inadvertently named him earlier in the morning when he told me he wanted to name a ferret Mr. Bibbly--we settled on the teddy bear instead). All of this helps pass the time until our little one arrives :)