Showered with Gifts

This past weekend a shower was given in honor of our sweet little Landry!  I can't say it was just a shower, because it was more like a flood!  We were flooded with gifts and this child now has more clothes than anyone else living in this house. It was a joint shower with friends and family.  The shower was given a masquerade theme, which was really unique and just fun!  We didn't get many pictures in our masks, because I opened gifts most of the time.  One sweet friend did manage to get a few pictures so we can remember this day.  Thank you Lissy for all the pictures!

Welcome to the Masquerade

 Emmy is so sweet!

Definitely the most original masks!  Shanny and KK are super funny!

Jen, Amber, and one of Landry's future best friend, Emmaline!

DD and Shanny

Princess Savannah and her Nana

I can't stop laughing at Shannon's Ninja Turtle mask

Shan and Van!

The Gifts:

I love this quilt, which completes Landry's bedding!

I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to take a picture of Landry in this hat!

Lauren and Eric made shelves that are Pinterest 

worthyt!  I was super excited!  Can you tell? 

A picture of most of the gifts!

I think Mommy needs some of these in her size!

Decorations:

These were made by my sweet cousin, Jenny!

This diaper cake was a gift from another family member. 

It was made by her mother. 

Delicious punch made by my Grandmother

Pacifier tree made by my Grandmother

These were also made by my Grandmother.  As you can tell 

she is very crafty.  I did not get the crafty gene

I could have eaten these all day!  Thanks Roni, they were great!

The spread of beautiful food!

By the end of it Amber could not keep her eyes opened.

I had to throw this picture in there, because I just love it and love this girl.  

It wasn't taken at the shower.  I was about 27 weeks pregnant in this picture. 

I am thankful for all our family and friends who threw a great shower.  God has blessed us with so many great people to share our lives with.  It is a blessing to know that our child will be showered with love as soon as she arrives! Actually, she is already showered with love!  These people pray for her and that is the best gift we could ever receive. 

Baby's room completed!

This weekend we took a few maternity pictures, which I will post as soon as I get them and we also worked on our baby girl's room! It feels great to have our nursery completed!  I enjoyed all the company we had while decorating.  There is no way we could have done any of this on our own.  We just don't have that decorating gene, but thankfully we have family who is willing to help.

He hates taking pictures.  I am so happy he actually took this snapshot with me!  

Someday he will thank me :0)

 

This is my belly at 34 1/2 weeks! 

Alan and Tori trying to place pictures!  This is an amazing teenager! 

 She loves the Lord and strives to put Him first in all things.  She is also very talented! 

Alan really was such a good sport!  He had to move the letters at least 20 times.

  

We still have one more shower!  She was given an abundance of clothes at the last shower! 

I can't wait to have more pictures so I can blog about the shower last weekend!

The final product minus the cute little rug we just purchased! 

Here are just some fun pictures we took after completing the nursery:

Aunt Hannah holding my big belly 

 She looks so cute in Landry's little owl hat! Thank you for coming to help us!

Our future babysitter :0)   

I love my baby sister! 

Alan's mom! 

My mom! They helped us so much!

  

I really can't believe I will be 35 weeks on Tuesday.  In some ways it feels like the time has gone slowly, but in other ways, it seems like just yesterday Alan and I went to the store to buy a pregnancy test.  He actually went by himself and bought one that was a dollar.  When the results were positive we went back to the store and bought two more test.  They were all faintly positive. It is amazing how much she has grown in these past 35 weeks!  I hope to always remember the way it feels when she moves and how amazing it is that God is able to knit a baby together in the womb!  I also hope I never forget that God performed the impossible by opening up my womb.  I pray this child will worship and love her Creator! 

Unwelcomed Guests

Dear Insomnia and Nausea,

I do not know why you feel as if you have the right to visit me once again.  My sleep is important to me and you Insomnia rip it out from under me.  I lie in bed all night and am lucky to get two hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.  You will not get the best of me.  This is my home and you should leave.  Nausea, you are just plain annoying.  You haven't come back in full force, but you are still a nuisance.  In six weeks our baby will be here and you my dear friend enemy are not to hinder my precious time with my precious child.  I know your friend Insomnia will visit, but it better be due to a baby keeping me up and not these annoying thoughts that will not leave my mind.  Yes, it is true, each of you almost convinced me that it was time to be depressed once again.  The two of you make a great viscous team!  I was ready to lose my mind, cry, and crawl in a hole.  I am here to tell you, it's not going to happen and you two will not win this battle!  I will add,  you probably would win if I were fighting alone, but I'm not.  My God is bigger than you two and He is bigger than your relatives fear and anxiety.  I also have friends and family who love and care for me.  If you decide to stay I really can't do much about it, but you are staying as a guest who are not welcomed!

On a brighter  note, yesterday was my last birthday to have without caring for a child!  Next year I will have a little toddler walking around!  I can't wait to see what it is like to have the joy of a child brighten my 30th birthday!  Maybe it will be my 30th or maybe it will be my second time to be 29. Either way, God willing, I am sure it will be a brighter birthday having a baby to hug! I am so thankful for my husband who brought me some of my favorite food on my birthday.  I didn't feel like getting out, because I was so tired, but he still drove out of his way to do something special for me.  Then we sat on our big comfy chair all night and cuddled.  It really is my favorite thing to do!

Thank you Father for my husband.  Thank you for all the friends and family who wished me a happy birthday and thank you for always carrying me.

Overwhelmed

Yesterday, a shower was given in honor of our baby girl.  I cannot even write this blog post without tearing up.  We were literally showered with gifts. I am overwhelmed with the love we were shown.  I am brought to tears every time I think about how God chose to give Alan and I the gift of a baby.  One of my dear friends prayed at the shower and her words touched my heart.  She thanked God for doing the impossible.  She thanked Him for unblocking fallopian tubes and healing diseases.  I don't want to forget that God did the impossible in my body.  There will be times when I need doctors, but God said NO doctors for this situation in my life.  He would have been given the glory even if the doctors would have performed more procedures, but through the way He chose to heal my body, there is no denying that it was an act of God.

 It is so easy to forget, our Father sent His son to this world and His son died a terrible death on the cross to save sinners.  That is the ultimate gift and grace has already been given.  He thought enough of us to save our souls.  I know I don't deserve any of these gifts and I have been thinking lately how thankful I am to be given the gift of a child.  Sure, I am scared of what the future holds.  I don't know how to be a mommy and I am sure I will make many mistakes.  I will need my child to forgive me and I will have to forgive my child.  I am already beginning to think about how many times a day I break the heart of God.  He shows more mercy than I will ever deserve!

Father,
Thank you for Jesus, our hope and salvation! Thank you for the Holy Spirit who "intercedes for us!"  Thank you for miracles and specifically for the miracle of life you have given to my family.  I do want to pray for a special friend.  I pray she will experience the gift of a child one day.  She reminds me so much of Hannah from the Bible.  She praises you in storms and continually gives thanks.  Father I pray you would open her womb like you have mine and many of my friends.  Open her womb like you did Hannah's.  We don't deserve any gift, so I thank you in advance, because I do believe you will bless her and her husband with a child one day.  When that day comes all will know it was an act that only our Father in Heaven could perform.  Above all I pray for your will and not ours.  

The 3d ultrasound

Two Thursday ago our parents paid for us to have a 3d ultrasound of Landry.  She kept her hands in front of her face most of the time, but the ultrasound tech was able to take a few good shots. I'm not going to lie, 3d photos tend to weird me out a little bit, but when it is your own child being viewed, the weirdness is put on a back-burner.  Okay, I'm not sure I am making much sense, but hopefully you get the picture. Pregnancy brain!!!! We think she is beautiful, even if most babies look the same in the 3d photos.  I will admit the most exciting thing about the ultrasound was making sure she was a girl.  She is DEFINITELY a girl. I also LOVED watching her move that little baby mouth!   

This is one of my favorite pictures. 

She looks so peaceful in this picture!

This was her position for most of the ultrasound.  She loves having her hands in front of her face.  It looks like she is saying, "Go away and let me sleep!"

Father, 

Thank you for allowing us to see our baby. Without you none of this would be possible.  Life would not be possible.  You know all the worries I have been dealing with lately.  Fears and anxiety that have stolen my joy.  I ask that you would swiftly remove all anxiety and fear from me.  I pray that it would have no place in my life and would not be passed down to my children.  I pray that Landry continues to grow and develop.  Most of all I continue to ask that she will have a heart for you and she would love and honer you in all of her ways.