Baby Showers

In the last few weeks, we've been blessed with three wonderful baby showers.  We had our "big" baby shower on Saturday, July 28 at Villa Antonio here in Charlotte.  My sister and great friends Anna and Lora were the hostesses, and all of the details were so perfect.  It was so great to be able to spend some time with some of my most special friends and family to celebrate Ellison.  We were showered with some amazing gifts and lots of love.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from that day.

Gigi loving on Ellison

Noni, Bea, and Gammy

Happy table with some gifts, Ellison's wish tree, and favors - Shutterfly gift cards and decorative bars of soap.

The room all set up

Me and my amazing hostesses - Anna, Rachel, and Lora

Some of my beautiful friends.

Noni and me

gift time

The world's largest tiramisu...seriously.  I think they must have thought we said 90 rather than 19 servings!

Ellison's wish tree

Poem with wish tree

me and my beautiful sister Rachel

pretty corsage

Barrett checking out our goodies...getting organized!

After the shower, we had a cookout at our house for some of our out of town friends, family, and some of Barrett's friends who weren't at the all girls shower.  :-)  I got very few pictures (other than pictures of food!) but we had such a nice time.  Very laid back...just spending some time chit chatting and chowing down.  I was exhausted by the end of the day!  My entire body was sore...but it was absolutely worth it!

We've been updating the chalkboard in our kitchen since there were 98 days to go!  Now, it says 23!

Drinks and desserts

My favorite section of the table.  :-)

Appetizers

My cousin Michelle, me and Rachel

Some of the boys hanging in the garage.

Last weekend, we went to a cookout with Barrett's team from work.  When we arrived, we realized that they had put together a surprise shower for us.  It was so, so sweet!  Barrett and I were completely surprised, even though when we walked in the house there was an "it's a girl" banner hanging, balloons, and gifts in the living room.  We didn't even notice!  It was so nice of them to think of us. Sadly, I don't have any pictures to share!  If anyone from Barrett's team is reading this...send some over!  :-)

This past Thursday, I had a baby shower with all of the staff from Peds/PICU at work.  We had lots of yummy food and dessert, and we received so many wonderful gifts - including a few handmade items!  I am so, so blessed to be able to work with such an amzing group of people.  I love my job, and the people that I work with are one of the biggest reasons why.  I am so thankful for them, their support, and their friendship.  Here are the thoughtful gifts I came home with for Ellison:

I think it's safe to say that we now have just about everything we need and want for Ellison!  We count our lucky stars daily for all of the wonderful people we have around us.  We are excited for them all to be a part of Ellison's life.