The Shower That Almost Wasn't

Hello again, all!  My sweet sister offered a while back to throw me a baby shower, since all of our baby stuff is pink and purple.  It was such a sweet thought, and I was really touched that she would try to throw a shower long-distance.  We were especially excited about the excuse to spend the weekend with her, and the kids went crazy with joy when I told them she was coming the week before.  Alicia had some adorable invitations made and sent, planned a menu and some personalized decorations with a Jungle Animal theme (to match the nursery) and we were ready to go!
Unfortunately, her husband's grandmother passed away a few days before the shower.  We all immediately agreed that she needed to travel to Saint Louis, instead, since the memorial service was scheduled for the same day as the shower.  We made plans to just cancel the shower and try to have a family celebration sometime after Thomas arrived.  But I've got some really, really awesome friends and a really, really great mom!  As I started letting people know of the change in plans, several wonderful ladies offered to step in and do what they could, and my good friends Melanie, Jessica, and my mom stepped right up and did everything that Alicia was planning to do once she arrived.  We had a tasty menu of chicken salad croissants, fruit salad, pasta salad, turtle brownies, and monogrammed petit fours.  Alicia was able to mail the package of decorations she had prepared, and we had an awesome celebration, even though we were all a little crushed that we wouldn't be seeing Alicia after all.

 Alicia made these adorable jungle animal onesies!

 And she sent the materials for these cute animal cracker party favors!

 Melanie got this great centerpiece!

 I love these ladies in my life, and they made a great team working together!

 Family picture ready for blue in the family.

 One of many, many great gifts I received.  This is a hospital gown, inspired by the dress that Kate Middleton wore home from the hospital after she gave birth to Prince George in July.  It was the closest thing to the actual dress I could find, and I hope it will make for some fun and cute hospital pictures :)

The monogrammed petit fours - so cute!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate!!  I also had a surprise baby shower at our first bible study last week!  I didn't know to bring my camera, so I didn't get a single picture, but the same Jessica who helped put on this shower helped with that one, too, along with Hannah, who helps me lead our bible study.  I am so blessed with so many wonderful people in my life.  I can't thank you guys enough!

Alright, Baby Thomas!  I have everything I need for you, the cameras are charged, and the blog is updated.  They keep telling me you're huge and quickly getting more huge, so I'm hoping to have another blog post of your arrival very soon!  In fact, I think the exact words from my doctor at my appointment last week were, "you're creating a lot of problems with your huge baby," indicating that your little lungs need to hurry up make it safe to move you along already.  Hopefully your Daddy will get around to actually taking your car seat out of the box before that happens, though :)