Showers Galore!

Since Ella is going to be here in a matter of weeks I thought I'd post some about the showers that were thrown for us!

The first shower was a family and family friends shower thrown by my Mom, Mother-in-law Jo-Jo and Sister-in-law Ashlie. They did an amazing job! We had it at our new house since it was kind of a central location for everyone. We had lots of travelers coming from Brett's home town. My Aunt helped by making the punch and bringing her beautiful crystal, and Kirby helped by making the cutest cake for a baby shower EVER! HA!

We had a great turn out, almost 30 people! The boys went down to our community dock and fished the day away while we enjoyed food, games, presents, and good times! It was the first "girly" shower I have ever had since we only did couples showers when we got married. So I really enjoyed having all the important women in my life together at one time! Thanks guys for an amazing shower, it was beautiful and I will always cherish it! I love yall! Here are some pics from that shower.






The second shower was our friends/couples shower thrown by my besties Andrea and Lauren. They also did an amazing job! We decided that since I had a girly shower already we would have a fun one where the boys could come too. So we had it at Andrea's house since she has an awesome pool and turned it into an all day party where we swam and had a cookout. While the girls were inside playing games and opening presents the boys were out by the pool drinking beer and having fun. When the girls were done, we joined them outside for swimming and volleyball. Everyone got a kick out of me in my bikini. Fun times, fun times! I refused to wear a maternity suits cause they are just not too cute and I looked like I was wearing a tent! So I opted for a regular ole' 2 piece.

The night ended around 10 pm and I was exhausted! It was such a fun shower, and I think the most fun I have ever had at a baby shower! Thanks guys, I love you! Here are some pics of that shower.







The last shower was a small shower at my office. I work at a proprietary school so we didn't want to disrupt the students so we held it in between day and evening classes. Ashlie ( sis-in-law who works for me) put this shower together. We had some food and yummy cake and opened presents. Since we were at work we tried not to spend too much time on the shower since we were on the clock and all! HA! After opening presents all my co-workers gave me awesome advise and told funny stories about forgetting their kids in weird places or walking out of the house and leaving their infant in the car seat all strapped up and ready to go! Lol! Thanks guys... it made me feel a lot better knowing all of you made mistakes and had bumps along the way in raising your kiddos! Thank you Ashlie and my co-working family for an awesome shower! Here are some pics from this shower.








Well there you have it... 3 showers down and all we need now is a baby to use all the fun stuff on! I am so grateful to have so many people in my life that love me, and more importantly already love Ella so much! We are truly blessed!! Thanks to everyone that had a hand in making all our showers so awesome, you are much appreciated!

Next post, belly pictures from beginning to end! You get to see how much I have really grown over the last 9 months!

Girl or Boy?!

March 8th, 2010 was the day we were going to find out if our little peanut was a boy or a girl. Both Brett and I had said we didn't care what it was, just ask long as the baby was healthy. But I was so positive that it was a boy for almost 4 months. About 3 weeks before the sonogram Brett had a dream that it was a girl. He dreamed that we were at the beach with her and Aunt Ashlie was carrying a 1 year old baby girl to the ocean as we watched. Then a few days later I had a dream it was a girl. My dream was a little more strange. I dreamed I couldn't get her strapped into her car seat fast enough and whoever was driving the car started driving off and I had to run beside the car strapping her in. Weird, I know! But if you have ever been pregnant then you know the insanely odd dreams that accompany pregnancy!

Anyhow, so now we have both had dreams it was a girl. I don't know what to think anymore! Maybe I am wrong and my gut feeling of a boy wasn't right.

Well of course everyone in our family wanted to be present for the sonogram. So on March 8th, me, Brett, my Mom, my Dad, my Mother-in-Law,and my Sister-in-Law all met at the doctors office. I was calling it our big ole' family sonogram! Ashlie (sis in law) was going to video tape the whole thing so that family and friends that couldn't be there could see it.

We are all in the waiting room and they call my name. We get up and start walking and I told the sonographer, "I brought a crowd, hope you don't mind!". Side note: I have seen several women with 5+ people with them in the waiting room to have the gender sonogram done. So I know its something they are used to seeing and dealing with. Well apparently this sonographer was not to happy about it. She gave this look like "oh, great! What a pain in my butt!" Whatever lady get over it! This is the first grandkid on either side of our family!! lol

So we all pile into the tiny room and Ashlie pulls out the video camera and the lady says "Oh, you cannot video in here!!" Crap! That sucks! Well the sonographer continues to be rude by talking extremely quiet and only to me and Brett. Its like she was purposefully trying to leave everyone else out. I was starting to get really annoyed but I was so excited I didn't say anything. So she went through all the organs and bones and measured everything and pointed everything out to us (well to me and Brett anyway). She said everything looked perfect and the baby weighed about 12 ounces which is normal for 21 weeks. Now getting to the good part.

She leans into me and says "How do you want to do this? Do you want me to just tell you or announce it to the whole room?" Well what do you think lady?? I brought my whole family, but I only want you to tell me. Dear Lord, quit being so rude! But nice me just said "Announce it to the room." So back to the belly she went with the wand and rolled around on my belly and then said "Its a GIRL!!!"!! We of course all started squealing and hugging! We were so excited to finally know that we were having a baby girl!

So we pack up and start to head out to a celebration breakfast, but my dad wasn't following behind us. He was walking around the lobby of the hospital on his phone. What the heck is he doing?! Then he starts texting and walking the wrong way. So I walk back inside and I said "What are you doing? Lets go Dad." And he is all smiles and says OK. We all start walking to our cars and this crazy lady is walking towards the hospital dressed like a Fair Godmother, wings and all, carrying tons of balloons. My first thought was, oh someone just had a baby... how cute is that, she is going to go visit them!

My Dad leans into me and says "What the heck is that?!" (cause the lady looked really funny in her outfit) I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. She made eye contact with me and smiled and I thought she was just being nice since she noticed I was pregnant. Nope!! She stopped and said, "HI, LEILA! I hear we are celebrating your new baby girl!!" OH. MY. GOD. My dad hired a singing telegram in the form of a Fair Godmother!!! (with a northern accent to boot! lol) She then tells me that she is my Fairy Godmother and has been watching me for a long time and she wanted to congratulate me on my baby girl. Then she starts singing a song to me. (I don't have the lyrics with me but I'll try to remember to post them later, cause its funny!)Since we had the video camera with us already, we were able to captured the whole thing on video. Classic!! It was one of the best days ever, and a day that none of us will ever forget! Here are some pics of us with my Fair Godmother.

Thanks Dad for making that day so special! And to our baby girl, Mom and Dad are so thrilled that you are a girl and we cannot wait to meet you!

I had picked a name years and years ago (before Brett and I started dating) for a girl. Ella Lynn. I love the name Ella, Elle for short, and Lynn was my brothers middle name. Aubrey Lynn passed away when I was 10 so I thought it would be awesome to name my first child after him. So Ella Lynn it is! But you know whats really crazy? Brett's grandmother passed away when he was about 10 as well. He was very close to he, and her name was Louella. So what are the chances that I choose the name Ella?! Its like our child is named after the 2 people that we loved so much that we have lost. So here's to you, Bubby (my nickname for my bro) and Maw-Maw (what Brett called his grandma)!! Ella Lynn will live on through you. We love you both and miss you dearly!