Baby Shower and Life

Ok, so as a rule of thumb, you should always charge your camera batteries BEFORE big events that you want to remember :) That way you can actually get lots of pictures of the gorgeous party and special people who are celebrating your unborn child...note to self.
Brandon was actually able to snap a few pictures before the camera died, but I'm kinda sad we didn't get any of us together or of me with the awesome gals who organized the party. Oh well, that's just how life goes sometimes. Here are a few pics of the super cute party to celebrate lil Miss Clara.

this kind of shows an overview of people enjoying themselves at the party :) Jessica did a great job of setting everything up!

ok, not the most flattering pic of me, but I wanted to note that I DID wear a dress and my belly is GROWING!!! :) in this pic I'm talking to my boss and Ella the little girl I nanny for

aw, isn't this cake super cute?! Jessica did a spring/bird theme for the shower. I loved the little nest on the cake. very feminine and cute!

Thank you Jessica for all the hard work you put into the shower! It was beautiful!
We were just sooooo blessed by all the people that came to say hi and bring gifts for Clara. We got to see a bunch of people from all different parts of our life here in Oregon--from families that I have nannied for, to Brandon's cooperating teacher, church friends from 2 different life groups, and school friends. It was awesome. I just felt super loved and cared for. It was great to talk and catch up. People kept asking me how much longer I had. I would say 6 weeks...and the more I said that, the closer it sounded :) It still blows my mind to think that we could be looking at our baby girl in less than two months. Wow. I can't wait. I can't even put into words how excited we are, even if that feeling is mixed in with a tiny bit of nervousness :)

I also made a big change this last week in my prenatal care. I switched from seeing a midwife in the hospital to deciding that I wanted to give birth in a birthing center with a different team of midwives. It was a big decision and I couldn't be more excited about it! I won't bore y'all with all the details, but I'll just say that I feel such a peace about this decision to give birth naturally and can't wait to start my prenatal appointments with my new midwife!

Oh, and I only have 4 more days of work left! Holy Cow! That is also something I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around--going from working 50 hours to working 0 hours will be a crazy change, but it will be good. It will be good to rest, get my house under control, feel organized, and enjoy waiting for Clara.

AND probably the biggest news around here this week is BRANDON IS GRADUATING FROM WESTERN SEMINARY on Saturday!!!!!! I am seriously in awe of my husband. He is a rock star and has worked so hard to finish his first grad degree. I can't wait for his parents to get here on Thursday and to celebrate him this weekend. He deserves every bit of it. I love you, honey!
(I'll make sure the camera is charged so we'll have LOTS of pictures of the graduation weekend :))