A Little Less Drama

Yesterday my wonderful friend Rachel (with the help of my mom) hosted a beautiful baby shower for me. It was truly a gorgeous outdoor tea party, much more than I could have imagined. Rachel did a perfect job of transforming her backyard into a soft and simple party oasis. There were garlands of white balloons and beautiful white net curtains, along with lots of lovely treats and goodies prepared by my lovely mother. I am so thankful for all the lovely friends that I have and all of the lovely gifts that I was given. This little baby girl is certainly spoiled already!

The lovely food table.

Looking into the backyard, doesn't it just look lovely!

Everyone sitting around and socializing.

The other side of the yard.

Love all the white balloons.

The pregnant lady herself.

Ashley, Angela and Alex, isn't Alex's tea party outfit amazing!

Arianne, Cassia and Barbara. Love those hats ladies.

Kathy was able to fly in for the weekend! Her and my mom!

Vicky and her cute sleeping babe Cole.

Rael with baby Kendra.

Baby Kendra just being chubby and cute.

Pretty presents.

More gifts.

I'm so glad we got a group shot together. I've known many of these ladies since I moved to Calgary nearly 5 years ago and we rarely take pictures together!
Back Row (L-R): Aeron, Rael, Barbara, Pam, Cora, Ashley, Angela, Mom
Front Row (L-R): Vicky, Alex, Kathy, Me, Cassia, Arianne, Rachel

All of our best sassy faces! I think Cassia wins!

We had to move indoors because it started to rain a bit. These are my lovely sisters.

A card from all of the ladies who went in oif a beautiful bed set for my little baby N.

Isn't it gorgeous!

Pardon my ridiculous looking face! The bed sheet is just so adorable!

And the white ruffle bed skirt is to die for!

They also got me a pack of the best ever, Aden + Anais swaddling blankets which I wasn't expecting at all.
So generous of everyone and a gift that I am totally stoked about!

The mystery gift box...

Contained this incredible quilt made by my amazing friend Cassia.
I totally wasn't expecting this and was absolutely in awe of her amazing skills.

This quilt is truly incredible and amazingly matches the dresser in my baby's nursery perfectly.
Every shade of pink is an exact match to the colours we painted the dresser! Incredible!

A very cute card from the lovely Auntie Kathy.

Little baby N got spoiled by Kathy.

Lots of cute clothes.

Kathy also got us this amazing story time book of The Wizard of Oz, with incredible pop ups!

Definitely the coolest pop up book I have ever seen.

Adorable ruffle skirt, and note the pink one on my lap!

My high school bestie of 15 years was able to fly out for the weekend and celebrate our new little lady with us! It was so nice to see her again and have a short but sweet visit. Thanks for coming Kathy!

Kathy and I.

Me 35 weeks 4 days.

Well there you have it a gorgeous baby shower and all the spoils from wonderful friends and family. I am so thankful to everyone who contributed to this special day for me and little miss baby to be. We are certainly excited about welcoming this little girl into the world and now I feel more prepared than ever!

Jordan

Well it's been awhile.

I had to recover from blogging every day in May. That was a serious challenge but I really enjoyed it and am very glad that I did it. However now I have a bit of catching up to do, starting with our May long weekend.

This year we decided to get out of town and go and visit Dan's sister Sarah, her husband Jesse and their two kids who live in Creston, BC. I was desperate to get out of Calgary and have a bit of a trip before baby 3 arrives so this seemed like the perfect family getaway.

We loaded up our van (thank goodness we have it!) and left town around noon on Friday (May 17.) We should have arrived in Creston around 6pm but Dan decided to take an unintentional detour that set us back about an hour and a half! How joyful spending that much extra time in the car! We were pretty excited to arrive, as were the kids who did great on the drive (thank you dvd player) but needed some serious run around time before bed.

After having a bit of fun with their cousins the kids crashed, and we did too!

On Saturday the guys (Dan and Jesse) headed out for a mountain biking/hiking adventure, while Sarah and I planned to take the kids to the Blossom Festival Parade and some other activities going on around town that day.

The kids enjoying a snack of bread while we got ready to go out for the day.

Cohen just being his regular cute self.

Sarah and I packed up snacks and the necessities to make it through the morning then walked to downtown Creston. We first checked out the local farmer's market before heading to the main strip where the parade would take place. The kids got balloons from Shoppers (who was handing them out) and then we found ourselves a patch of sidewalk.

Cohen so happy with his red balloon.

Also very happy with his yummy cookie.

The kids all thoroughly enjoyed the parade. It was a first time experience for Cohen and a second for Marshal, but since he was so young at his first parade I'm sure he didn't have any memories of it. The kids all enjoyed looking at the cars and floats passing by and also collecting candy that was thrown into the streets. Marshal did get scared a few times when some of the really loud trucks came by. He would just walk away from the street and hide in a shop entrance way that was right behind where we were sitting. Ironically for the kid who loves trucks he did this when the fire trucks sounded their sirens, when a huge monster truck drove by and revved its engine and also when a big rig tooted it's horn. It kind of made me chuckle to myself especially as Cohen didn't even flinch with the noise!

Marshal and Violet looking so cute, waiting for the parade to start.

Me and Mr. Coco

The kids not really watching.

So enthralled.

After the parade we walked over to an area where they had a free bouncy castle and "train" rides for the kids. They again had a blast and getting them off the bouncy castle was a difficult process. The train ride was pretty "lame" as it was just a little train on wheels that drove in circles around the parking lot, but the kids didn't seem to mind! By this point in the day the kids were ready for naps so we walked back to Sarah's house for lunch and a quiet afternoon.

Desmond and Violet having fun jumping

Violet and Marshal having fun.

Cohen enjoyed the bouncy castle too!

The guys came home from their mountain biking/hiking adventure a bit early as there was rain where they were hiking, so we spent the afternoon around the house, the kids played outside and we enjoyed just chilling.

After all of the children made it safely into bed Dan and I went out to grab something to eat (I was having my regular post dinner hunger) as well as some delicious Freeze drinks from DQ. If you've never had one of these before you are seriously missing out. We had never had them but Sarah and Jesse enlightened us. It's this secret drink that is not on the menu, but if you ask for it they know what it is! It was simply delicious. We spent the rest of the evening eating poutine, drinking Freeze's and having a sing along of popular music which Jesse played in the piano, he has some sweet piano skills! I will admit I did not participate in the singing, but it was still a fun night.

Sunday was church and the boys did surprisingly well. Marshal was happy to go to nursery with his cousin Desmond and gave no trouble whatsoever. Cohen wasn't so keen so he stayed with us but behaved pretty well.

After church we decided to go check out the old car show which was on the main street in Creston. We figured the boys would appreciate looking at all the vehicles. We drove over to the house of some of Sarah and Jesse's friends and then walked down the main street. We didn't stay long as it was super hot and the kids were a bit whiny and in need of naps. But it was fun.

Violet and Marshal checking out a cute little mini garden, downtown Creston.

The kids had fun jumping on this metal box.

Cohen walking with Dad.

Marshal being helpful and pushing the stroller down the street during the car show.

Cohen was a little whiny so he got a ride on Daddy's shoulders.

Sunday evening was low key, Dan made a yummy chicken dinner and the kids enjoyed playing outside at the park before going off to bed.

Cohen loved this big red slide!

Marshal had some fun with it too.

On Monday we got up early and packed up to head out for a day at the lake. We drove over to Peter's house (Sarah and Jesse's friends) as he had agreed to take us all out on his boat for the day. The kids were really excited! It was a perfect day, absolutely clear and gorgeous. We loaded up on the boat and headed out on the lake to find us a spot of private beach!

Dan and Marshal on the boat.

View from the boat.

The boat.

The kids having fun with Auntie Sarah.

Our own private beach for the day.

Cohen wore his sneakers in the sand and water.

The boys hiked up a bit of rock that was on our beach.

The kids decide to take a wee break.

Cohen had a particularly great time playing in the sand.

Cute little cousins.

Marshal and Violet having fun.

What a cute little stinker.

A perfect day for the kids.

Poor little Cohen was so tuckered out.

We only planned to spend about half the day at the beach and then head back to land so we could make the long drive back to Calgary, but it was such an amazing day that we spent the day there and then went back to Sarah and Jesse's for dinner. We decided that we'd spend the night and leave first thing in the morning. That was definitely a smart choice as the kids were pooped and so sleepy from their day in the sun.

Tuesday morning we were up and out the door by 8:30. We made a stop on the way home in Sparwood, BC so that the boys could see the worlds biggest truck! They absolutely loved it! After taking a bunch of photos we packed up to head back to Calgary and get some much needed rest from our lovely May long weekend Vacay!