Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Baby Shower

In September, Mom, Michelle, Betsy, and Rose (my MIL) put together a baby shower for Ross & I! I can finally blog about it  now that I have my camera (and the photos) back!

The shower was absolutely gorgeous and Ross & I had such a great time! The original idea of having a coed shower was due to the fact that we were living away long-distance and only got to visit home and all of friends and family every once in a while. Just days before I mailed the invites, it was official that Ross & I would be moving to Cleveland in a few short weeks! Talk about some last minute scrambling, haha.

The day of the shower was beautiful, good thing too since it was at the park! I really wanted something more casual and relaxed than the formal 'ladies-only' baby shower and it was just as I had pictured! It was sunny and perfect fall weather but *windy*... oh the wind!!.... poor mom & michelle didn't get to put out half of the decor they worked so hard on because the wind kept knocking things over.

I tried my best to get some good photos but didn't get as many as I would've liked! Here's us 3 girls... excuse the 'wind-blown' look :) Hence the reason Michelle and I both wore our hair up that day!



After about 15 takes, Luca is finally looking in the right direction :) I'm getting my bff, Ang, trained on how to use my camera... she was my pseudo-photographer! haha

Here are a few shots of the decor... the cookie table (yum!) and some of the prize gift baskets for the winners of the scavenger hunt (created by mom and turned out to be a real success!), a crossword puzzle (thanks to michelle) and some Ross & Kristin Trivia (also thanks to michelle, mom and rose) that even I didn't know all the answers to!! haha




Before the shower started, my girlfriends surprised me with their gift...



They actually engraved the back of the wagon with their initials and yes, though they may not technically be my sisters, through 15 years of friendship, they will most certainly be aunts to my baby girl :) I love them dearly and baby girl is going to be so spoiled by them!

Not sure what the intense conversation is here but this photo makes me laugh.... (dad is laughing in the background too!! haha)...

Rose, my MIL, brought along some way-too-many goodies for the kiddos of the shower. She bought this pinata where you pull one string at a time to finally crack it open. It was more like.... pull every string at once than all the candy jammed the opening. I poked my finger in to fix it and it all came pouring out!!! There was enough candy for 50 kids. literally. But alas, there were only 5 kids old enough for this. Sorry parents!! It was not my idea to load your kids up with sugar before you headed home!! haha but it was all in good fun. I hope.



Aunt Beth was the only one to remember to get a photo of just Ross & I!! Big failure on my part :/

And lastly, after the night was over and all was cleaned up, Michelle remembered to grab a photo of the 3 of us siblings! Yay!!

So after about 5 minutes of this...
 

We finally got one....

I'm not even sure what was so funny :) haha

The shower was more than I could have ever asked for and I know Mom, Michelle and Betsy spent so much time planning it!! So many people pitched in to help as well and I couldn't have asked for more. It was over the top and we received so many great gifts to help us get ready for Baby Girl!!!

I'm finally putting the nursery together this week and keep telling Ross I'm gonna go play with all my new toys! They are mine, right?! No? Oh well. I shall adore everything in the meantime until she arrives :)

Countdown: 6 weeks, 2 days!

*Kristin*

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Settling In to 'Normal'

Our lives are finally getting back to normal and settling down!!

I'm sitting here in our rental house... looking around at the last few things that need to be organized. The house is so cozy and our things and furniture fit well! (aside from items placed in the basement for storage :) We had to downsize from our AL house since rent was a bit outrageous here... but it feels good to downsize. Our AL house was half empty anyway, so we didn't have a ton of extra furniture. And it constantly makes us re-evaluate how much we own and what we can do without. I'm always on a 'minimalist mindset' and I love when Ross starts to jump on board! haha

Back to the 'charm' of the 1920's house... take a look at a few of the original doorknobs we have here, I love them...


Glass doorknobs make me swoon :) Wouldn't it be funny if they were actually only made to look old?! I tell myself that they are original. They are in rough enough shape for me to think so!

I also love the original wood floors throughout the house. They have a few scratches and wear-and-tear here and there, but that's all the more reason to love them and imagine who has lived here in the past 90 years. *blush*

The living room is my favorite room in the house! (I apologize for the cell phone camera quality!)...



For the first time EVER, I have a fireplace and a mantle to decorate!! I can't wait to decorate it for Christmas. And I don't even know where to start on all of those built-in shelves, I love them but for now, they will sit empty. Ross & I are already looking forward to some cozying up in front of the fireplace this winter and with baby girl here :) It's gonna be a good winter this year.

So even though I love the charm of the older home, it also has a few quirks that only older homes can have. So maybe it's not our ideal house for the long-term, but for now, I'm loving it and we're comfortable.

And now... I can finally focus on getting ready for Baby Girl. We're purchasing her crib next weekend and will start putting her room together. Only 8 weeks to go!  It's coming fast and we'll hopefully be ready just in the nick of time :)

*Kristin*