It's raining, it's pouring...

No, it's not raining here in Phoenix...but Shane and I have been showered with generosity and kindness over the last few weeks!

It started the day before Halloween at my work pumpkin party / surprise baby shower. Many gifts were given...all very helpful things.

Then my wonderful friend Natalie (go there, she needs your help!) offered to plan a Skype baby shower for my friends and family in Salt Lake since I wasn't going to be making a trip up there before the manchild arrives. The shower was last Friday, and it was awesome! I'm awaiting pictures from the shower (since I wasn't there in person to take them), but it was amazing! From what I heard/saw, they had great food, beautiful decorations, and wonderful people... They even sent us money so we could buy our own yummy food to eat while we chatted!! I'll have to post pictures once they get here, but for now, here's a picture from our test run the weekend before to show Julian's awesome setup:

Then, on Saturday morning, my sister-in-laws Ashley and Amy (and I'm pretty sure Connie, Hilary, and Ashlee helped too) threw me a shower for friends and family in the area. The theme was Where the Wild Things Are...complete with a green/zebra print color scheme. Sadly, I only got one picture from the day because I was so busy enjoying the company and the food, but at least this picture gives you an idea of the theme:

PS That cute zebra onesie was made by Amy...one of the many custom-made items she gave to the manchild. Go here to see more of her stuff! And yes, those are baby pictures of me, Shane, and the manchild (aren't ultrasounds amazing??).

Then, on Sunday, we were invited to join the Lee family for dinner. We ate delicious food, played games, and Jackie was kind enough to paint my toenails! She said it was the one thing she wanted to do before she had Olivia. Even though it was probably nothing to her, I really appreciated it! Aren't they cute?


Some of the presents for the Skype shower didn't arrive in time for me to open them on the webcam, so I promised my friends that I'd be sure to honor the present-opening with a blog post... I didn't mind because it kept the showers going all week long!

First came Natalie's present... some cute little BYU shoes the she MADE (that's right, she made them). Natalie got a phone call while I opened them, but here's a picture of the opened gift:



Then came Meg's present. Since she didn't get a phone call and she was so sad that I couldn't open her present over the webcam, I documented the present opening process... (Meg, you better appreciate these because I'm not enjoying my puffy face...but I left them up here just for you!):

{Note: There were more presents in the box than what's in my hands... There was no way I could hold up everything at once. Thanks Meg!!}

On top of these showers and gifts, plenty of people have expressed their support and willingness to help with anything we need, and I'm sure we'll need to call on these people once the manchild gets here... including my mother's willingness to spend almost the entire month of December down here helping us. If you know my mom, you know how much she loves Christmas-time and giving special presents to everyone she knows...and being with us will limit her Christmas giving capacity. I know it'll be a sacrifice for her, but we'll be glad to have her with us!

We truly are blessed to have such wonderful, caring people surrounding us. We are so happy to know that the manchild will be welcomed into such a large network of people that are so willing to love and care for him! {That includes all of our wonderful blog readers :)}

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving today! I'm glad to have the time to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for and hope you will all take the time today to do the same...