The Varelas

Baby shower #2
Sunday, March 6 was my second baby shower, hosted by my good friend Casey. It was so lovely and so special! I arrived with Kim a few minutes before 12:30, just as Lucy and her friend Michelle were getting there (they had gone to Mission Hills church for the morning). The other guests were my college roommate Katrina (she helped Casey host), Liz, Colleen (mother-in-law), Jennifer (sister-in-law), Shiloh, Lissa, Amy, and Kristan. Casey took a picture of me with each guest, and she had each guest fill out a scrapbook page she had pre-made--she's going to put each picture with its corresponding page, and then I'll have a nice baby shower scrapbook! We had a delicious homemade lunch of pasta salad, vegetables with dip, delectable herb/parmesan-filled tomato halves (made especially with me in mind), potato salad, ham, warm crusty bread rolls, salad with mandarin oranges, and pound cake with strawberries and blueberries for dessert. We played several fun games organized by Katrina, including the one where guests break off the length of streamer they think will fit around my stomach (I think Lucy's was the longest! Kristan's length was exactly right, so she won).

Then I opened all of the wonderful gifts: this baby bathtub with a little robe, rubber ducky, and bath toys; a monitor (excellent for us since our two bedrooms are on opposite ends of the house; a health and grooming kit I'd picked out; this Snugli carrier like the one Ricci has; a bunch of cute little learning books from Colleen and Jennifer; several very cute outfits, onesies, socks, and shirts; things for help feeding the baby (milk storage kit, etc.); blankets; a sweet card and check from my aunt; and more! Then came the "surprise gifts"--things I definitely hadn't been expecting:

--a gift from Nannie! Lucy brought it with her, but I didn't know. Nannie had made several cute, fluffy blankets--I think there are six or seven of them. All of them but one are white with different stitching along the outside (one blue, one pink, two different greens, etc.). Then one blanket is of a multi-colored fabric with corresponding multi-colored stitching. Now I know what Nannie has been sewing for the past several months when she mentioned sewing over e-mail. :)
--a gift from Nell! This wasn't as much of a surprise, because I did know she sent the gift, but it was still special. She sent an adorable soft-cover book and--how perfect--a froggy dish set (baby's first cup, bowl, spoon, etc.). A little background: in high school and into college, I ended up with a sort of frog collection, and it all started with several very cute little frog figurines Nell gave me one year. Thank you Nell!!!
--a gift from my parents. I thought my mom would probably send something, but I didn't know it would be in such a huge box--that thing must have been over 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. When I first started opening it, I thought it was a joke, because I reached in to start taking out the newspaper stuffed in the box and couldn't feel anything but newspaper. But then I saw it: it was the rocking horse that was mine as a child! That my dad made for me! That our family friend painted for me! I had no idea my mom had even saved it all these years. I'm very glad to have it--it looks so cute in the baby's room.
--a gift from Casey. Now that isn't a surprise, but the gift itself was: the most adorable crocheted hat I think I've ever seen. It has a removable flower (remove if the baby is a boy). I didn't even remember that Casey could crochet, so I wasn't expecting such a sweet gift. Everyone in the room "oohed and ahhed." :)

After the gifts, this special shower was finished. Thank you Casey!