Overwhelmed

I attended two baby showers in the last three weeks, blurs of pastel and pastries, booties and bibs.  Ever since then, I have been penning out thank you's sprinkled with a slew of adjectives: "adorable", "loving", "gorgeous", "wonderful", "generous".   I have written over seventy thank you cards, and I'm always struck with the same sentiment as I seal each one:   It's not enough.

One little card doesn't even begin to cover the overwhelming gratitude.  It doesn't express how I tear up as I read every baby book inscription or hold a homemade blanket to my cheek, imaging our son dragging it around Lionel-style while sucking his thumb.  "Thank you" isn't enough for the hours my sister spent crafting adorable "bun in the oven" favors and planning every loving detail for one Sunday brunch.   It doesn't cover the astonishment that one of my best friends flew over five hundred miles for my shower... with an infant.

Words are so woefully inadequate, but I don't care.  I'm writing a bloated, huge post to freeze this overwhelming gratitude I've had for these past nine months, from details of my shower to one incredible "breakfast at Tiffany's moment":

I must remember:

* All of the e-mails and cheers and kind blog comments and hugs and Facebook messages

* The card from our friends Jessie and Jacob that began with, "This is the best news ever!"

* How college friend Laura sent me the perfect baby care package across the country, including hand knitting the softest blanket and matching baby hat for our guy... in chevron print.   If you know me at all, you know that I love anything chevron.

* How TWENTY-THREE of my cousins and aunts pooled together to send us a pack n' play

* How Mali, one of my best friends, actually burst into tears when I told her about the positive pee stick over dinner.  And then cried happy tears at my shower too.   And bought me the BEST books for each month that I was pregnant and inscribed each of them with messages that made me a sappy, weepy mess.  Lots of happy crying with Miss Mali, I tell ya!

Can you blame me?   Inside Little Rabbit Waits for the Moon choked me up completely:  "Baby T, your mama and daddy have been waiting for you!    They already love you so much!  We can't wait to meet you!"

 * The gorgeous shower thrown by work friends and the homemade quilt from a colleague that she made from flannel we selected during a trip to JoAnn's Fabric... perfect for our owl-themed nursery!

 * My mom.  My mom.  My mom.  Beyond the insanely generous car seat and dresser and bathing kit and twelve gifts to celebrate the first trimester being over and adorable clothes (see below), she also drove two hours on a Tuesday down to spend the night to hug me when we thought our little boy had cysts on his kidneys.  How do I thank her for loving him like we love him already??

* My dad spending two entire Saturdays working on getting our house in tip top shape when I was in manic nesting mode.  He also remembered to spoil the other half of this parenting equation: Dan.

One of my favorite moments of my shower was at the end when the men had returned from a sports bar, and my dad yelped out, "I have one more gift.  Except this one is for Dan!"  He explained that while I am in hospital mode (i.e. ravenous and screaming out, "I'm crowning!") that Dan will have all that he needs to be comfortable and pulled out a manly man "Hospital Survival Kit".


In the Redskin bag:  Redskin clothes, Redskin magazine (for him to read while I'm practicing Lamaze breathing presumably), junk food, and the kindest card ever that brought both Dan and me to tears.





* Oh, and let's talk about my intimate, beautiful shower:

Kate, one of my oldest and closest friends, flew from Boston to be there.  Boston, people!!  She flew down for a two hour shower with her five month old, no less.  There are no words.  Seriously, a stupid thank you does not cover how much that meant to me.


 My gorgeous sister Bethany worked with family to plan every lovely detail:

* Hilarious signed diapers:

The cutest cinnamon bun lotion favor:

* My sister-in-law Julia Meade made homemade bath salts as another relaxing take-away:

Having sat through many a baby shower, my three main requests were: booze and good food and no cheesy baby games.    

 

     



I got my wish.  I had crab eggs benedict over fried green tomatoes and the conversation was actually fun (Breaking Bad finale, gossip over terrible colleagues, etc), not just baby themed.

My incredible mother-in-law was huge on planning the shower too... and even ordered a ton of cupcakes in fun flavors (french toast! pumpkin!  chocolate raspberry!) from my favorite chi chi shop:





* This is my friend Katelyn with the custom painting you've already seen in my nursery. She saw my nursery theme and hand painted it over a series of weeks for our son.

The pictures say the rest.  It went by in a rush of good conversation and the most thoughtful, beautiful gifts a mom could ask for.

The "T" family:

* I was so touched that my godmother even came, despite health issues

Is it weird that I get nervous when opening gifts in front of several people?  It's kind of like the thank you card problem... there are just not enough "oohs" and "ahhs" and adjectives in the world to describe how much each gift meant to me, to us.

It's a day I'll remember for a long time.  My sister (and family) did such a fabulous job!

* I must remember how one of my closest friends, Missy, took me to the fanciest hotel in Richmond for brunch to celebrate!  The Jefferson is known for three things:  being a five star hotel... having to die for food...and the live alligators that used to soak in its fountains.

Now, they just have cute statues of them everywhere:

We put on our best LBD's and sipped champagne/ sparking cider and dined like complete ballers:

I mean... can we talk??

It was the biggest spread of food I've ever seen: eggs benedict and grits and French toast and chefs making to order omelets and raw bars with ice sculptures and carving stations.  We rolled out of there.

Did I mention the desserts?

Like all of my friends and family, Missy gave me so many wonderful gifts, including this Etsy print:

Love this:

Dan and I might not know what we are doing or how much our lives will change in a few weeks, but we do know this:  

we are so overwhelmed by the love in our lives ..,

the love for a little boy who hasn't even made his debut yet.