The Classiest Baby Shower This Town Has Ever Seen!

Hooray! I am finally getting a chance to blog about my third, and final, baby shower. I have been so busy and tired that it has taken awhile, but I now have the energy and the pictures that I need, so here we go. My final shower took place in St. Louis several weeks ago. It was co-hosted by my Auntie Muriel and Jane Thomas, one of my mother's very best friends from before I was even born. It was held at my Aunt Muriel and Uncle John's fabulous apartment. (My Aunt Muriel and cousin Whitney are the beautiful dark haired women in the picture with me. It was a real treat that Whit happened to be in town. She rarely ever is!) Their apartment is only about two blocks away from ours, and it is one of the coolest apartments I've ever seen! It is in a beautiful old building with crown moldings, and my aunt is a professional watercolor artist, so everything she touches looks amazing! Each room in the apartment is painted a different bright color that I would never be brave enough to pick, and the walls are covered with her bright, colorful watercolor paintings. I can only dream of having such a lovely home someday! All of my friends were amazed by it, and several people have come up to me at church and said that they were sorry to have missed my shower and they heard that it was in the most amazing apartment..... :) My aunt also drew the adorable tablecloth in the pictures and had everyone sign it as a keepsake for Callum and me. So cute and thoughtful! The food was the other highly memorable thing about the shower. It was DELICIOUS!!! Aunt Muriel got me the gorgeous cake shown at the top from a fabulous little bakery nearby, and Jane put out an astonishing spread of food, mostly from Trader Joe's, for those of you who are familiar with it. We're talking chicken salad sandwiches with pomegranate seeds in them, goat cheese with mango spread and crackers, a huge variety of sparkling juices and lemonade, and so many sweets I could hardly believe it. I also thought it was hilarious that Jane had her husband, Matt Thomas, there working the whole time. He was refilling the food plates, feeding quarters to the parking meters for people, etc. It was adorable. (Jane is the lovely blonde woman in the picture with me.) And speaking of adorable, I love that they put all of the gifts in the Pack n Play. I got lots of great, basic gifts at this shower that will be highly useful. The gift highlights were the Pack n Play (a combined effort from the generous "real adults" at the party---a.k.a. Jane, Aunt Muriel, Annagreth Bailey, Jane's good friend whose daughter with Downs' Syndrome I tutor, and another of Jane's friends, Julie) and an adorable bug-themed patchwork quilt made for me by my friend Chelsea Fisher. Which leads to the MAIN highlight, which was that my dear friend Chelsea, who I know from my semester in China and and from my time at BYU, flew all the way out from Utah to come to my shower and spend the weekend with me. What a great friend! She is also pregnant (although you can't tell in the picture of us together because her pregnancy is still early on), so we had tons of fun ooh-ing and ahh-ing over Callum's things and going shopping for baby and maternity clothes. It was a great weekend! So, before closing, I just want to give an extra thanks to Chelsea for coming out and to Jane and Aunt Muriel for hosting the absolute classiest baby shower that I have ever attended! (And, trust me, I have been to a lot of baby showers!) THANK YOU!!!!

Only one month left!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: I got a permanent subbing job that will last until I have my baby! I was asked to fill in as a temporary teacher's assistant at an excellent elementary school in the suburbs for two weeks, and after a week they realized that I am a real teacher and not just some random sub without any skills, so they asked me to stay until I have my baby! Hooray for a steady income!

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: There are two things that make the list. Number One: Baby feet lodged hard into my ribs 24 HOURS A DAY!!! OUCH! Number Two: A death in the home. My candy heart stretchy pants. They are now worn so thin in the rear that they are covered with rapidly expanding holes. (And I already gave away the second pair because, although they looked the same, they did not have the wide waistband that I so love, and therefore were not the same!) A moment of silence please for the loss of a great treasure in my life. No, seriously. :)