PSA: you'll probably want to pin all of this.

You know how you see things on Pinterest and it sends you into a myriad of emotions? Inspiration (maybe I could do this, but who has the time?), disgust (seriously, who has the time?!), and finally rage (WHO HAS THE TIME FOR THIS? I HATE THESE PEOPLE.).

Just me? Fine, so maybe I go through the seven stages of grief each day on Pinterest. Shock and awe, depression, bargaining, more depression. You must feel it from time to time. I'd say, conservatively, 90% of the time, Pinterest enrages me. Ballpark guess.

Well, people, prepare to be amazed. Prepare to work yourself through the seven stages of grief once you see the bomb.com (yup)  baby shower that we (Dania, Emy and I) threw for our beloved Jessica. Get your pinning buttons ready - and get that judgy look off your face. I'm only humble when I'm being the humblest. And that sentence made no sense. Moving on.

Dania took the shower lead. Emy and I played happy helpers with assignments and jobs from our task master. Dania is a stern but fair boss. She picked a subtle popcorn theme for the shower, since popcorn has always been one of Jessica's four major food groups (the others being cheese, Taco Time, and french fries).

Between the food, decorations, and a fabulous "Wishes for Baby" book that Emy put together (via Pinterest - of course), my totally unbiased opinion is that we nailed it. And we did it reasonably - not the $1,000 showers on Pinterest where they tie blue ribbons around mason jars for glassware and everyone leaves with an OPI nail color and pedicure kit. That's great. Good for you. We live in the real world. Emy made a great observation that those tablescape pictures  and showers should come with a price tag because otherwise they are false advertising and mean.

Here we go on our shower.

The Tablescape Rundown: "A Poppin' Good Time" banner - so simple to make. Twine, newspaper, paint and Vampire Diaries on DVR is about all you need. I blogged about how to make them 2 years ago when we threw Dania a shower for Paisley (link here). Emy found Chinese take out boxes that say "She's ready to POP" for guests to fill with popcorn. The tissue paper pom-poms have basically turned into a must do for showers and birthdays. We used them on the table rather than hanging over it. People, these are so cheap to make, and it literally drives me crazy that they sell them premade now. A premade pack of three is $8. I can make 8 of them from a pack of tissue paper for $3. Again, I recommend Vampire Diaries as a backdrop and you should be just fine (link here for how to make if you haven't ever done them).

For food, we didn't so much think "what goes well together" as much as "what does Jessica love?" That's how we ended up with chicken salad on melba toast, cucumber with boursin cheese, brie and other cheese, and her major pregnancy craving: chicken pot pies. We got the mini ones from Trader Joe's.

 

We also made these s'mores. $100 if you can guess where Dania got the idea for them. Not to give it away, but it rhymes with sminterest. We'll consider them a win/fail. Win: they tasted amazing and look adorable. Fail: the creating of these resulted in one minor Dania meltdown based on incorrect Pinterest directions and a Susie takeover to get Dania off the ledge. During said takeover, I dedicated three songs to how much I hated making them. I was so happy they were delicious, because otherwise heads would have rolled.



Ok so maybe Mini Muffins don't fit into the normal menu for an afternoon shower, but when Mom-to-Be refers to her baby as Mini Muff - it's a must.

The Creme de la Creme: Dania's popcorn cake. What irritates me about this cake is that aside from the actual baking of the cake itself, this took her maybe an hour. I hate her. Give me two days, a step by step manual, coaching by the Cake Boss, and I could make you one that in no way resembles this. Her other cake works of art are here so you know this wasn't a fluke.

I bought this wreath at Michael's for $5 because I wanted something that I could have control over changing each month or season as I see fit (I am so type A, I feel the need to control a wreath). For the shower, I took my simple wreath, added some ribbon and a mini Lucas banner, and fell in love. Probably my favorite thing ever.

So technically this isn't part of the shower set up or decoration, but I made a diaper cake for Jess as part of my gift and I was so proud of it. I've made one before - actually with Jessica  - and it was beautiful and huge. I wanted one just a little smaller so I used this nice lady's tutorial that I found on....say it with me...Pinterest.

Like I said, we totally nailed it.
I can say this without hesitation or reservation because I know Jess had a great time and that's for sure all that matters. That and how cute everything was. Again, you don't come to this blog because my humble nature inspires you - this I know.

Happy Shower Day, Jess!

Lot of blonds at this party.

Also, a lot of pregnant people.

FYI. She is going to be someone's Mom.

sam.

 

 

This is Sam.

 

I realized I may have forgotten to tell you the name we picked. Not surprising. In the last few weeks, I've been corrected on the date, lesson being taught in math, and how to spell certain words. And those are just things my first graders have caught. Chuck's list is a tad longer. Things are getting real around here.

 

Anyways.

 

Sam.

 

We've decided to name him Sam.

 

We've also decided on multiple reasons why we are naming him Sam. People pretty consistenly ask if Sam is a family name and we could say "No, we just liked it." Or, we could say "No [insert one of the following reasons].

• We're big fans of Patrick Swayze's performance as Sam Wheat in Ghost.
• We can't get enough of Ted Danson's character Sam Malone on Cheers.
• The way Sam Elliot narrated The Big Lebowski was life changing.
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Samuel Adams
• Mark Twain

Obviously we, would never respond so sarcastically. That would be terrible and would make us terrible people/parents.

 

Ok. Fine. Fine. Fine.
We picked Sam because it just felt right to us. Something about the name is so peaceful to us, so happy, so nice. Maybe you know a mean Sam or two, but I haven't met a one. Neither has Chuck.

 

Officially, he will be Samuel. We kicked over Sam Yule as his first name, middle name (no we didn't), but ultimately decided to go with Samuel Kerry Allison.

 

Kerry is my Dad's name. I feel a little like this is showing you the wizard, since we only refer to him as PK on this blog thing. PK's one of those people who goes by their middle name. I won't tell you what the "P" stands for so we can keep some sort of mystery going on here, but now you know the "K". Dad is so important in my life and already is in Sam's. I couldn't imagine not having Kerry be his middle name.

 



So there you have it.

Samuel Kerry Allison is 24 weeks now. He's a big dancer apparently and enjoys doing beautiful routines in my belly every 2 hours. He's a winner and we are already beyond in love with our little Sam.  

 

 

my brother gives amazing gifts.

Let's talk about what my brother got us for Christmas. Yes, I know that Christmas was two weeks ago. Even my raging case of pregnancy brain comprehends that (side note: I am literally the dumbest person on Earth right now. We can talk more about this later, but I probably won't remember.).

The gift got a little delayed in the mail. These things happen. Good news is they arrived yesterday.

And they're glorious.

Those would be paintings of Fe's cats, Bruce and Newman (Newman is a girl cat), and Jack. Obviously he found the company that makes these via Sky Mall. I mean, where else would you find this?

They are stunning.
I love my brother.

whale status achieved

We'll start with a picture so you have a visual to go along with this post. It'll make things go a little smoother for this rant.

 

I get it people. I'm huge.

I'm apparently 22 weeks going on 47. In my defense, I'm carrying pretty similar to how Fe did - right out front, second star on the left, straight on 'til morning. Genetics are a you-know-what.

What I SUPER love right now is the non-stop comments about my belly size to weeks along ratio. Like I need to be reminded how big I am by every person I see. Thanks much for the "Oh Em GEEEE you are huge!" comments, like I suddenly forgot why I'm waddling around and needed to be reminded of it.

My question is, if people can now comment on my belly size, am I allowed to comment on theirs? The way I see it, if you can say something, I can say something. Because let's be honest, for some reason the nine months women are pregnant become the one time it's somehow "acceptable" to comment on their weight. If fair is fair, than that same nine months is the one time it's acceptable for us to comment on yours. What? Too far? Too much? Too harsh? My bad.

I couldn't care less how I'm carrying or how big I am for 22 weeks. He's healthy. I'm healthy. And I'm gaining better appreciation for Shamu each day.