Showered With Love: Part 1

A "Jaxx" for Jack! 

Wow, what a weekend! I was lucky enough to have a few days off, and boy did I need it! I'm pretty sure the whole "nesting" instinct is setting in because at 12:45 Thursday morning, I painted the baby's room! I blared some music (the husband was out of town for work otherwise that would've never happened, haha), grabbed the roller, and went to town! Slowly but surely, I'm making progress on that room!

I got to show off my hard work to my sister, who showed up Thursday morning as I was finishing up the second coat of paint. She came to visit for a few days and let's just say, we can shop 'til we drop. For example, the two of us managed to spend a whopping 2.5 hours at an antique mall in South Beloit! Are we nerds? Yes. Did we drop a few bucks on behalf of the bean? You know it.

The productivity just kept going! Aaron and I met with the man who will be baby Jack's pediatrician! After hounding my coworkers, friends and even a city official for recommendations, we opted to go with Dr. Baptist in Rockford. I already couldn't be more pleased. He immediately put our new-parent nerves at ease and gave us a few bits of advice. One piece that stuck out was for us to forgo reading the child-rearing books. Instead, he gave us a pamphlet about the size of a church bulletin of do's and don'ts... and strangely enough, I feel satisfied with that (also because he said to never hesitate to call with a question, haha!). I think it's easy to get caught up in all the different opinions offered in online articles and books, and to feel very overwhelmed. As a journalist, I tend to seek out as much information as possible, but even I know that too much can be more of a headache than a help. Plus, as long as there have been babies, there have been moms... and I know that I'm going to be calling mine A LOT at first, haha!

Definitely the best part of my weekend came on Saturday. A couple co-workers organized a baby shower/get-together for Aaron and I, and wow what a celebration that was! I've always felt close to my coworkers, but never have I felt more loved by them. From my partner in crime, Nick Toma, to Ms. Mimi Murphy and her gorgeous family, to my boss, and everyone in between, we had an apartment filled with folks celebrating my kiddo! They showered Aaron and I with diapers, wipes, toys and much more!

Plus, there was delicious food, and as a preggo, that's always top priority!

Mimi concocted these delicious "hamburger" cookies!

One thing I did learn from this baby shower: we all need to keep our day jobs. A group of us went out to play a game of sand volleyball, and let's be honest, it was an embarrassing sight. None of our moves were legitimate. As long as someone hit it, we didn't care how the ball made it over the net. One ball that didn't make it over though came courtesy of my husband. He thought it'd be a good idea to try to overhand serve (when he's never done it) and he beaned Mimi right in the face! Good thing she doesn't need her face to look good for her job... oh wait... haha! Nah, she was okay, and we about laughed 'til we were in tears. As for my husband? I'm pretty sure he was mortified! It seriously looked like a scene out of "Meet the Parents", haha!

God has truly blessed me with great friends. I can't wait for all of them to be a part of my son's life once he gets here. Jack is going to have so many excellent aunts and uncles at WTVO/WQRF!

You might notice that this post is labeled "Part 1." That's because next weekend the festivities in honor of Bean kick into full gear, again! Aaron and I will head home to good ole Missouri for a shindig with his family and shower with mine! This week is going to crawl by because I'm so darn excited!

Alright, for now, I'm going to take a Tums (something I keep near me at all times these days), and hit the hay. See y'all on the tube!