celebration station…

Well, I am one spoiled little lady…this past weekend was one of celebration!  On Friday, my office hosted a very sweet shower and lunch in little Bonkers’ honor and we had a great time laughing and imagining the little guy in his new outfits as he discovers what this world is all about day by day. 

We then went over to Mom and Skip’s for an early birthday fiesta which was delicious!  Mom decorated with bright colors and spoiled us with homemade soup, enchiladas and black beans and rice.  Oh!  And a really good salad…Drew is waiting for a bottle of Mom’s homemade 1000 Island dressing right now ;-).  We were given a high chair earlier in the day, so of course that was set up at the head of the table in honor of the little fella that is still catching a ride with me (Elmo’s just keeping it real down there):

And I cheated the diabetes a little for a piece of my favorite flourless chocolate cake from a delicious local bakery…we figured that if I was going to eat cake we might as well go for the gusto!

On Saturday my ladies here hosted a great shower at our friends Trip and Lindley’s house.  They made a gorgeous spread of food, complete with four kinds of tea sandwiches, white sangria, fizzy lemonade and cupcakes.  For those of you that check the blog with some regularity, you know how I feel about cupcakes…but I digress.  We were once again spoiled by everyone’s generosity and thoughtfulness and I was overwhelmed with the kindness of all of the ladies.

My friend Autum brought her 9 week old son, Xavier, so all the ladies took a turn snuggling on him and he was beyond obliging to all of the attention.  You can see him here with Lindsay and Kelly:

Jo Ellen sent what is sure to be one of Drew’s favorite outfits for the baby:

And the shower closed with lots of hugs and thank yous and again, more laughing.  That night, we carried right on with a party so that the fellas could get in on some of the fun without having to exercise their ohhhs and awwws too much.  In fact, they spent the day shooting skeet at our friend Kyle’s house.  The guys felt that it was best to get Drew out with some guns and beer before he was subjected to a land of diapers and pastels, and he said that it was a great day.  There was a little blood shed, but everyone survived (fear not, no one was shot, just a little hit to our friend Kyle’s head) and they came home with big grins.

On Sunday Drew and I took a little overnight trip to nearby Staunton, an extremely charming historical town.  We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast there called the Belle Grae Inn, and the innkeepers very sweetly upgraded us to a suite with a huge tub, so I was a happy mama.  Drew treated me to a birthday dinner at a restaurant that we’ve been wanting to go to since we moved here, the Staunton Grocery, which specializes in local seasonal fare.  It was the kind of meal that is so delicious that it really compromises any good conversation because we were both so enjoying each bite.

On Monday we spent the morning poking around Staunton and then headed back to Charlottesville for some errands and an appointment with our midwife, Donna.  She confirmed that the baby is facing in the right direction, we heard that fantastic heartbeat and she said that everything appears to be right on track!  We have started our weekly appointments now, so we’ll see Donna every Monday until the big day. With only 4 (well, ok, possibly 6 if he decides to take his time) weeks left, we’re pretty much just waiting at this point, and I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t possibly be able to get much bigger…but all he’s doing in there at this point is putting on weight, so I think that’s a feeble hope at best.

And finally…our tomatoes are in!  Here are some pictures of the bounty that we came home to last night: (Lemon Boy and a decidedly un-whopperish Whopper)

Tomatoes are so perfect.  Summer at its best.

So, that’s the re-cap.  I feel so lucky to have a supportive and wonderful community here…the glow of this weekend will be sticking with me at 3am feedings for sure, thank you to everyone for your kindness and enthusiasm!