Baby Shower!

My sister Taylor, Mom, and Mother-in-law hosted a lovely baby shower for Cruz and I. We spent the warm afternoon with my closest friends and amazing family. We munched on Paradise Bakery sandwiches, fruit, salads (Yum!!) and oh-so-good cake!!!

My only shower request was to avoid the gross games that some find to be entertaining. I didn't want to make my guests eat baby food, nor guess the melted chocolate bar in the diaper - yuck! So...Taylor had each guest guess how BIG my belly is by cutting a ribbon to fit perfectly around, without measuring of course. Hmmm. Embarrassing? Yes. Only ONE person guessed the string to be smaller than my belly! Ha! The winner with the closest measurement was Kelly - she's 35 weeks pregnant!

I noticed a few guests were missing but didn't think anything of it. Then I received a call on my cell from my friend Dani:
Dani: (nervous, giggly voice) I think I might be at the wrong baby shower!!?
Me: What?? Where are you?
(Some of the girls over hearing my conversation begin to tell me about another house down the street had blue balloons out front, possibly hosting a baby shower too)
Dani: I hugged the Mom, and told her that I worked with (April) and she looked at me weird.
Me: (Laughing) Get out of there, yes, you ARE at the wrong shower!
Dani: Then I saw this blonde pregnant girl turn around, and it wasn't YOU!
Me: (Cracking up) Dani, you have to leave. Keep driving down the street and you'll see my parent's house.
...About 20 minutes later, Dani gets a call on her cell phone from my co-worker Cynthia:
Cynthia: Dani, where are you? I'm at the shower but I don't see anyone I know
Dani: (Laughing) You're probably at the wrong baby shower
Cynthia: There is a sign that says 'Welcome Baby Royal' I thought they were naming him Cruz??!
Poor Cynthia had walked in, set her gift down at the BACK of the gift table! Once she realized where she was, she had to go digging for the gift, and sneak out the front door. Ha! I LOVE that this happened! It made for some GREAT laughs! Thanks Dani and Cynthia :)

Best of all, Cruz and I were blessed with so many beautiful, thoughtful gifts from our family and friends. Wow - some people are so creative! To name a few of the gifts: a custom floral hospital gown, with matching headband (that's the quickest way to my heart), and side snaps so I can easily breast feed, handmade quilts, blankets, and dirt bike themed pacifier clips (the quickest way to Tyler's heart). My sister gave Cruz the most thoughtful gift ever - a Build-a-Bear teddy bear complete with black converse tennis shoes. She even recorded herself, so when you squeeze his paw you can hear her talking to the baby. I cried, of course!

I can't thank everyone enough for taking the time out of their busy schedules to join us for this shower. We are so blessed and grateful to have all of you in our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Tyler + April = Cruz

I hired my little sister, Taylor to be our photographer for the morning. I gave her a five minute tutorial on how to use my camera, and we collaborated on some creative poses. She rocked it!! I am obsessed with my friend Dani's family farm in Mesa :) You never see this much green in Arizona, so it was perfect for our location! Check out our fun maternity pictures!!

Thank you Auntie Taylor <3
Thank you Dani and B&B Farms <3

My little girl has a penis

The entire time I was pregnant I was thinking "It's a girl!" I was google imaging flower headbands on a daily basis. I had the entire nursery planned, complete with a very posh damask theme, crystal chandelier... the works! I talked to the baby, calling her by her name, Elle. While batting my eyelashes, "Babe, Elle wants some ice cream, do you mind?"

We invited my sister Taylor to the ultra sound appointment to determine err, "confirm" the sex of the baby, since I was so confident there was a little princess in my belly. Tyler, Taylor and I sat in the waiting room patiently waiting to get called back to the room. Trying to convince Tyler he wanted a girl, I joked about how awkward boys get during puberty. All tall, but skinny, and zitty, and greasy... not to mention their sqweeky voices. "I can make a little girl cute with some headbands and pink Converse tennis shoes, but I can't fix a 12 year old boy going through puberty."

Laying on the table, the ultra sound tech started to pull the images up on the screen. As soon as I saw the baby I just thought to myself "aww he's so cute! Wait...why did I just say HE??" Then she began checking out his limbs, and I thought I saw a third 'limb' but didn't say anything. She took her time, very cautiously inspecting all fingers, toes, brain, heart... then she asked "Do you want to be surprised, or do you want to know the sex of the baby?" "It's a boy", I said. She zoomed in on his third limb and added text to the very clear image: "<---- boy." Tyler gasped and I think I remember him yelling "Really?! It is?!?! Yessssssssssssssss!!!!!" He had the BIGGEST smile I've ever seen. He was blushing and giggling. I fell in love with our little boy right then.

Once I was alone, I immediatly apologized to Cruz for calling him "Elle" for 20 weeks. Now I sing to him "Cruz, Cruz, we're ready for you, Cruz-y Poo, we can't wait to meet you."