A sweet baby boy is on the way - baby shower!

This past weekend was quite the whirlwind weekend packed full of lots of events with friends, family and fun times!  I am pretty sure my body is still recovering from the go-go-go this weekend because this 8 month pregnant mama has trouble keeping up!

First event of the weekend??  A wonderful baby shower to prepare for Baby Carter's arrival.  My friend Lauren was the brains behind the shower theme and decor and planning and WOW is all I have to say. I was literally blown away with what a great job she did.  My goodness - everything was so amazing and beautiful and just perfect to celebrate this sweet baby boy to be!!!!

First off - check out this cake.  It was almost identical to the cute invitation that was sent out and was SO delicious.  I took the rest home with me which was NOT a good idea because it's so yummy I have been eating in all the time!

Cake and drink spread - super delicious punch!

And there was NO shortage of food.  The shower was from 11-1, so they loaded up on everything you can imagine to feed the masses (well I think it was like 30 people, but the food could have fed way more!!).  From fruit trays to chips and dip to coleslaw salad (one of my favs) to sandwiches, I think everyone left with a full stomach.  But just look at how beautiful it all looked.  Lauren didn't leave one detail unattended to with the awesome table covers and decorations it tied the whole thing together.  I just loved it!!

 

We were quite the social bunch with lots of talking and catching up and "ooo-ing and aww-ing" over my big stomach and sweet baby Jackson and Brodie who both made an appearance!  Finally - Lauren had to make me go through the line to start the process of eating so we could get to the game and presents.  During lunch/eating we played a super fun game where Lauren had a bunch of different qualities/traits listed out that if I could pick, what I would want our son to have between Jimmy and I.  Some of them were very obvious - like organization (Brittany) and listening skills (Jimmy).  However, I would prefer this baby to have Jimmy's skinny legs versus mine and I would be thrilled if he had sweet red hair just like Jimmy had.  Athletic ability though?  Haha, this has ALWAYS been a discussion that Jimmy and I NEVER agree upon.  But for the record, I want him to have my athleticism and my musical talents (yes mom, remember I played the violin, cello, flute and trumpet for 4 years?!?).  

After that it was present time which oh my goodness.  This was just super fun and so over the top.  Everyone was so generous and there were so many great things that we got that we will use!!  I felt so much better opening everything about him arriving.  I kept having these feelings of anxiety that we have almost nothing if the baby decided to come tomorrow...well my friends and family were so generous, I feel SO much better that we have some of the key things we need to help this baby boy survive! Of course there were wiener dog presents - my mother in law made some awesome burp cloths with little wiener dogs on them that I LOVE and crocheted him a little poncho...so cute!  Vanessa got him a little wiener dog onesie - which is adorable.  I am sure Milly and Willy were thrilled they were even a thought in anyone's mind during this shower!

The funniest thing (well funny, dramatic, pregnancy hormones...whatever you want to call it), was when I opened the present from my grandmother (mom's mom).  She cross-stitched (which is something that she taught me to do and we used to do together when my sister and I would go stay with them for a week during the summer) a little door hanger that says "baby asleep" on one side and "baby awake" on the other that matches the nursery perfect.  So that was the first thing in the box.  Then I dug further in the box and found a white baby blanket.  I noticed a few stains/spots on it and was a little confused but then found a note folded up with my name on it pinned to the blanket.  I opened it and my grandmother wrote that she was sorry there were some stains she couldn't get out, but that this was my mom's baby blanket that she had as a baby and thought I would like to have it.

Yep.  I lost it.  Uncontrollable tears.

And guess what happened next (not surprising)...my mom starting crying too.  And once that happened, neither of us could stop.  Kind of reminded me of this moment just a little over 2 years ago walking down the aisle...see us?  Both crying.  Couldn't stop.  I tried and then I would look at her and couldn't stop.  And vice versa.  It's a vicious mother-daughter thing I think. 

So back to the shower.  Tears flowing some people laughing, some people confused.  We were fanning our faces to try to stop the tears and Vanessa had missed what happened and said she thought that someone had farted - which that would have been hilarious.  But no.  Just crazy, crying Bruns girls.  However, the gift was pretty amazing.  And the whole time my grandmother didn't shed a tear and just kept saying "I'm sorry for making you cry!!".  Haha.  Oh what a good memory to have!

After all the presents were opened and all the thank yous were said, it as time for everyone to start heading out and I realized...we need some pictures with people!!  So here are a few we were able to get in before everyone headed out.  At this point there were lots of people who had to take off, so they didn't get in (Vanessa, Lyssa and Mallorie are a few I can name off the top of my head!).

Pi Phi girls - minus a few

Erica made the trip in from Omaha to celebrate the little mister's arrival, which was so sweet of her!!

AND she got me this awesome etsy print to go in the nursery that I had pinned on Pinterest.  Who knew Pinterest was also like a registry - I LOVE the print so much and teared up reading it.  Dang it, what has happened to me!!??  Will look perfect above the crib I think!

Source

And Emily brought Jackson- which was so fun to see him again.  He just keeps getting bigger and bigger and I love it!  We even coordinated our outfits!  Minus me having a HUGE bump and Emily (who just gave birth 8 weeks ago) being a little skinny mama already. 

This little lady and also a cute mama-to-be was so sweet and came in town for the baby shower from Houston!!!  And I'm so glad she got a picture of us together.  I keep thinking that these are the pictures where our little boy and their little girl are in our stomachs that we'll show them when they are BFF's (or bf and gf...) later in life and say "See...there you are in your mom's stomachs.  You were friends even before you were born!!!".  So happy she could be there to help celebrate!!

Finally - the wonderful hostesses!!  Lauren and Katie!  They threw an amazing shower and I am so blessed to call these 2 friends after all this time.  To think we were hanging out in third grade and thought we were so cool then and look at us now! 

We had a busy day because after we cleaned up the shower, I dropped the presents off at our house and then it was off to gather the last minute details for Lauren's bachelorette party that started at 3:30PM that day!  And that in itself deserves it's own post because that was so much fun!!  Pretty much it was a crazy day and we knew we were crazy for putting everything on one day, but Lauren and I knew we were up to the challenge because it was great to have Katie in town from Houston for both events as well as Jen from DC!! 

It was such a wonderful shower and I cannot thank everyone enough for coming out with one thing in mind - this sweet little boy that continues to move all around inside me and grow and grow.  We are beyond blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and we cannot wait for him to arrive and get to meet all of you!!!  Thanks again to Lauren and her mom and Katie and her mom and my mom for all the set up, planning, etc for the shower!! 

One last table shot - I LOVED it!!