Showered with Love...

What a wonderful day yesterday turned out to be!

For months, my Mom, sister, and Kathy have been planning a baby shower for me - that was NOT a surprise - and it all came together perfectly yesterday afternoon!

It wasn't without a little bit of stress and lots of time spent at the church to make everything look perfect, but I honestly couldn't be happier with the events of the day!

My sister took care of most of the 'behind the scenes stuff' from the decorations, and party favors to the games and order of events. My mom handled the menu and Kathy helped to make sure the meal would be just right for our guests.

My mom and I spent hours this week at the church, rearranging tables and decorating with the most perfect pink, white, and brown specialties! Everything was pink - and I do mean EVERYTHING! Plates, silverware, table decorations, balloons, cupcakes, napkins - right down the M&M's on the tables! I loved everything about it!

Amanda helped tremendously by taking care of all of the balloons for us! She arrived with a few cars FULL of the most beautiful balloons that really made the decorations come to life! I don't know if the pictures from the day will do the decorations any justice, but it was truly the most beautiful baby shower I had ever seen!

Although I was worried that no one would show up, the church started filling up very quickly around noon for the party! My loving family and my dearest friends came to celebrate with us and they seemed to "Oooh and Awww!" about the decorations as they walked in - which made my heart smile!

Shortly after noon, Megan got everyone gathered together for a quick welcome and my Mom made us all cry with a heartfelt blessing of our day together. Without a single dry eye in the place, the party began with a wonderful meal of BarBQue sandwiches, macaroni and potato salad, chips, veggies with dip, and (my personal favorite) pink and brown cupcakes with ice cream sundaes!

I spent mealtime mingling with my guests, helping Meg feed Joshua, and catching up with the 'teacher table!' Spending time with these ladies made me realize how much I'm going to miss them at the beginning of this school year, but they assured me that they will be anxious for my return and that we will finish the year with a bang together!

After people were finished eating, Megan started the "All Things Libby" quiz - that challenged people to recall details of my life! Everything from how Zig and I got together, to my childhood experiences, to facts of my married life and adulthood! It's quite obvious who I spend the most time with - as Manda and Stacie had the highest scores on the quiz! Megan also had great gifts for the Mommy with the youngest baby and the Mommy who had the most children! It was a great way to recognize other Mommies in attendance!

With the meal and games out of the way, I was encouraged to begin opening presents! YAY!

The joke of already having had 5 baby showers at school this year made my guests laugh... And the thought of opening more gifts stressed me out just a little bit! However, the thought and the love that my guests put into gifts for me and Baby Brooke overwhelmed me!

It took me over an hour to plow through the gift table! Some gifts were already opened and put together - the travel system, the high chair (from Stacie), the Bouncy seat with attached Nike Sneakers (from Grammy Kathy and Pap John), and the beautiful quilt that Nana made! I love them all!

Even more than me, I think Joshua enjoyed digging into the gifts and helping Aunt Libby discover what she had gotten! In most of the gift opening pictures, you can see that Joshua is right beside me, helping me get rid of tissue paper and anxious to see what we had received! I was so glad that he was there - after all, he is my "favorite man!"

Pink outfits, blankets, binkies, bottles, the diaper bag, a Bumbo seat, her tubbie, bathtowels, lotion and other products, "hooter hiders," toys, diapers, wipes, shoes, socks, books, dolls, bears, picture frames, piggy banks, and SO MANY other amazing gifts are now put away in Brooke's nursery and throughout our house! I think Zig was overwhelmed when he saw all of the stuff and he wondered just where we were going to go with everything! Leave it to me to pack everything away in its perfect place - just waiting for Brookie to arrive!

I was so tired last night! We got to spend the rest of the evening with John and Kathy, Meg, Jason, and Joshua until I was simply out of energy! As Joshua was getting ready for tub and bed time, Zig and I decided to head home. My feet and my back were sore from being up and down all day and I needed a shower and some down time at home... Even though I spent the evening packing things away from the shower, it was the perfect way to end a perfect day!

I can't begin to thank everyone for everything they've done for us!
My mom and Megan for planning and bringing to life my dream baby shower -

Kathy for her extra help and always being willing to go the extra mile for us -

Manda for her help with the balloons and the wonderful gifts for Brooke -

And EVERYONE else for coming, bringing wonderful gifts, and helping us to celebrate the new life that is about to bless our family!