Mom's the Word

Happy Monday afternoon, everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Mine was pretty calm (with the exception of a runaway dog for a short time).  My mom spends Mother's Day with her mother every year and since my nana lives a couple of hours away, I'm not usually able to join them (dog issues again.) So, I'm used to just hanging out by myself on Mother's Day. That will change next year though! Audrey will take me out to a fabulous brunch, I'm sure of it. ;)

Speaking of Mother's Day, I didn't really do an MD post last week, so I thought I would do one today!

Several years ago my mom gave me a diary that she had kept during her pregnancy with me. At the time, I glanced through it and found it sweet, but other than there wasn't too much of an emotional connection to it. But once I became pregnant with Audrey, I found myself suddenly drawn back to it. She starts writing even before she knows that she's pregnant and it continues a year or two past my birth. I've had such fun going back and seeing where she was in comparison to my pregnancy; reading about her experiencing some of the same things that I am and also some things that I have not experienced (she had horrible heartburn, I have been blessed to have none.)  Last night I decided to see if she had written anything when she was exactly as far along as I am (with precisely 5 weeks to go.) She had.

Saturday, November 9, 1985

"Didn't sleep well last night. Felt like "little bit" was crossways across my stomach. I could only lay on my back. (P.S.) Picked up curtains for my nursery."

FYI, I was known as "little bit" or "little one" up until I was born because they didn't want to find out what they were having until then. I am so happy my mom saved this for me. It's been great fun looking back and imagining her in my shoes. 

Next, I know you're all probably sick of baby shower pictures by now, but bear with me through one more post and I will try my best to stop. :) 

I think I've mentioned it before, but in case I haven't, I am a Pinterest fanatic. And even since before I became pregnant with Audrey, I've had a baby board. Well, awhile back I saw a pin that I fell in love with. It was a saying/sign that read "The only thing better than having you for a mother, is my children having you for a grandmother."  Loved. Pinned. Done.  Well, upon learning I was pregnant, I started going back through the board to look at things that I had pinned and to see what I might actually use. I used some of the poses I had pinned for my maternity pics, some tips on shopping etc. During my search, I came across that saying and decided that it would be the perfect gift to give my mom. I then strategically set out to find out what she wanted to be called. That took a lot longer than expected (you can read about her journey to her "grand name" here) and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be able to get the sign printed!! I had in my mind that I wanted to present it to her at my shower and in order to have it custom made, I needed some time. Finally she settled on "nonni" and I went to work hunting down the right print type, backing material, etc. via Etsy. Several of the places that made the sign wouldn't customize the wording, but after a hunt I was able to find exactly what I was looking for. Luckily it came in time for my shower and I was able to give it to her. I think she likes it.  ;)

Well,. there you have it! A post-Mother's Day post about my mother (aka nonni.) I sure do love her bunches and can't wait to share my sweet baby girl with her!!

P.S. No news on the baby front. Still pregnant, no signs of labor, 5 weeks to go until my due date, 2 weeks until the we enter the "safe" zone. And yes, I will be trying home remedies for inducing labor. Ready to meet my little miss!   

Picture Perfect

As previously stated, my shower was amazing.  Here are some snapshots from the day. Hope you enjoy!

Audrey's Baby Shower

All photos courtesy of Megan Ella Photography

Audrey's Mom.....Baby Shower Saga: Part 2

If you read my last post, you know that I was incredibly distraught Friday evening. After discussing it with my mom and bestie, we decided to opt for the outdoor option. My apartment really is tiny in a sense of hosting a party and it just made sense to have more room, especially since we didn't have a final head count. We had a plan to combat the cold. Several people washed up sweaters and blankets to hand out to my guests and my mom got at 42 cup coffee pot to have set up. Then we crossed our fingers and said our prayers and let it go.

Well, the weather turned out to be PERFECT! There were a few gusts of strong wind that sent a couple of things flying, but nothing that couldn't be handled. Everything was just beautiful. My bestie did an AMAZING job at decorating and really bringing who I am and my personality to the entire thing.  The crowd size was perfect. It ended up that out of the 19 that had yet to RSVP, I think maybe 2 finally did (I will NEVER understand that. Horrible etiquette, but sadly, how it is these days.) BUT the guests that were there are so very near and dear to my heart and it was great to see faces that I hadn't seen in awhile. I have pictures from my photographer (Megan Ella Photography) and once I have them, I will show you all the loveliness. Insert shameless plug here: Megan is an incredible photographer should you be in need of one. Several of my guests were highly impressed with her and she even impressed my momma (which can be hard to do as a photographer.)

 All in all many fabulous memories were made and I couldn't have been more pleased. I will share one particular moment of the day that left most everyone in giggles and left me, well....with a large and wonderful dose of reality.

In opening gifts, most of the cards were addressed to: Leslie and Audrey, or Audrey etc. Well one particular gift was addressed to "Audrey's Mom."  Call it instinct, but to me the word "mom" only applies to one person: my mom. So, I grabbed the present and without giving it any thought, handed it to my mother. "Here mom, this is for you."  It took a few seconds but it finally sunk in. "Oh! That's ME! I'm Audrey's mom!" Everyone laughed, including myself, but it actually went much deeper than just a silly mistake. I've never been "mom" to anyone before. Well, Charlie's mom, but she can't actually call me mom. So no one has ever called me "mom" before. When I think about it I'm overwhelmed with emotions; yes, some caused by the pregnancy I'm sure. But for the most part, I know they are just my true feelings. I've wanted so long for someone to call me mom and now it's finally about to happen. I'm humbled and ecstatic at the same time. While I am a woman who wants to hold on to her own sense of self after having a child, I am beyond thrilled and ready to be known as Audrey's mom.

Baby Shower Saga....Part 1

Pardon the rant, but I am LIVID!

Here's the deal:

Back in DECEMBER I contacted my apartment complex regarding holding my baby shower in their clubhouse.  I was originally told when I moved in that you could not rent out the clubhouse, however, upon looking at the website I noticed that it stated among the amenities "Beautiful and spacious area for entertaining in clubhouse."  So, I decided to call and verify and also suggest that they change their website if in fact you could not utilize the clubhouse as the wording was deceiving. After getting someone on the phone I was told that they were "pretty sure" I actually could use the space but they needed to verify.  I was put on hold and ended up speaking with a second tier manager (the one actually who originally said I couldn't rent it out).  I said, "I remember you telling me that I couldn't use the clubhouse, but the website says, etc. etc." She responded, "Oh no, you can't use after business hours." To which I replied, "I don't want it after business hours, I would like to use it during business hours for my baby shower."  She tells me, "Oh yeah, that's fine. When were you wanting to use it?"  I told her the date and time and she made it sound like she was writing it down. 

Fast forward to three/four weeks ago. My best friend is giving me the shower and called the apartment complex to verify where we were having it, get parking info and see how much liberty she would have to decorate. The woman on the phone confirmed the party, gave her info to give to my guests for parking and told her that she really couldn't do much decorating since it was already a decorated space.  We had figured that would be the case and were totally okay with that. 

Rewind to last night.  As I'm leaving my job, I get an email from my apartment complex "reminding" me of the COMMUNITY WIDE BRUNCH ON SATURDAY FROM 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM.  The EXACT time and date of my shower. I panic, call my bestie and ask her when she last spoke to them. She tells me three weeks ago and gets on the phone with them immediately.  Long story short: the woman that I spoke to in December now blatantly denies that she spoke with me at all and told me that I could use the space. She claims she never would have done that and that parties are never allowed in that area. I took it to her manager who apologizes but says there is really nothing they can do. However, they've offered me an outdoor space that I can use (mind you it will be 39 degrees outside the night before and only 65 at the time the shower is scheduled for.) Other than that, the option is to have the shower in my tiny one bedroom apartment. As of now I have close to 20 people confirmed and another 20 that I've not heard from. People were asked to only RSVP if they could not make it so there could easily be another 20 people on top of those already coming. There is no way in the world I could fit that many people in my apartment. I am going to be doing good to fit the 20 that I have already coming!!!!!!!!

Sadly, it's too late in the game to change venues, as this is happening in 2 days. I am beyond beside myself with all kinds of emotions and actually had about an hour of contractions last night after finding all this out. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I'm done. I guess check back on Monday to find out what happens in the Baby Shower Saga.....geeze.