Shower Part One...

There are soooo many photos from my shower that I figured it would be a bit overwhelming all in one post so this is going to get split into a few posts and you will just have to check back to see them all. There are a few things that need their own post and I dont want to have the importance of them get lost in the shuffle.

First things first: About the shower....

It was such an awesome day filled with love and support from so many friends and family members! One of my best friends, Jamie was the host of the shower but there was several people who contributed and helped make the day perfect. So first...A HUGE thank you to Jamie for all her hard work and for making it all come together smoothly! I know I am not an easy person to plan for OR easy for me to let go and let someone else take the reins! Only you could put up with me and still make it the best ever! For that I LOVE YOU! :) And appreciate everything you did and will not be able to say thank you enough!

Next we have my wonderful mom who also helped Jamie with the planning. Mom was in charge of the fun games but also helped with some of the decor, decorating and much more. She also flew in from Reno for the event and helped make it that more special! YOU ARE AWESOME MOM! Thanks for all the help! I will make sure Lily knows just how wonderful her grandma was! I hope you can be to her what my grandma was to me! (tear).

Then we have my sister-in-law Jenn who also flew in from Reno to help with the party. Jenn was in charge of the BEAUTIFUL cake and cupcakes which as a baker myself I know what a chore it can be (a fun one...but still time consuming). Jenn was also the creative person who made the Lillyville sign among many other fun crafting projects! Jenn...You were such a big help and I know Jamie really appreciated it as well. Thanks for flying in and being here for me! Lily is lucky to have you as an "Auntie"

Just a few more...Sorry...I know this is a lot of writing before the photos but its important that I start here as this shower would not have been what it was without all these people. I am usually the party planner so to see so many people come together to plan something for me just makes me all warm and fuzzy :) And I want to make sure each person gets a little love on the blog....

The final little helpers are going to be my sister Destiny who worked VERY hard on the bingo tags...right Dest? As well as spent her time pampering ME! And when I say pampering I mean it...She not only did my hair and makeup for the special day she also SHAVED MY LEGS! Yes you read that right! I cant reach! LOL. Now that is sisterly love! LOVE YOU DEST! Thank You! My sister Courtney took photos for me and drove up from Eugene last minute (she was not going to be able to make it) THANKS for coming Court! Love you! One of my other best buds Connie...drove up from Cottage Grove to the shower and also was in charge of the guest book/advice cards! What a fun craft project....I will post those pics in the next post! Thanks Connie! I LOVED IT! Dawn was in charge of blue balls....but read below for more on this...as well as helped with the glass tags! Thanks Dawn! It as a blast making all the goodies with you. :) And awesome Ali helped with the craft details...Ali is my crafting BUDDY! We had fun working on some of the last minute details together! Thanks Ali.....

So lets get started. I will explain and fill in a little more as we look at photos but that at least gets a few Thank You's in this post first!

The shower had about 30 people attend! WOW! Really that is all I can say. I was so thankful and happy to see everyone. This was a coed shower so it was entertaining to have the boys attend. They were all troopers though and I am happy we made it coed. The very first thing everyone saw was this sign made by Sis-in-law, Jenn upon entering our house...




Here are shots of the cake/cupcakes that Jenn made from scratch. She even cut out/ designed the stand up purple butterflies! She is so creative!







Here is the old fashioned candy and jars used for cute decoration. The tags were all handmade as well!








A few more decorations that were on the fireplace mantel...








Non-Alcoholic DELICIOUS drink...plus the cute glasses with tags that were hand made...





Part of the food table...




NUTTY BLUE BALLS! Yes...thats right! There had been an ongoing joke about Dawn's famous peanut butter balls. Dawn makes them for lots of parties and they are SO GOOD! But for this party Jamie asked her to decorate them with blue sprinkles...aka blue balls so they went with the theme. This joke continued for quite awhile and no one would let it go. So named them NUTTY BLUE BALLS and decided to embrace the funny! Thanks to Dawn for making them! You cant just eat one....they are addicting!





A couple more fun food shots...







And that is it for Round One! Stay tuned for more posts!

~Whitney

34 Weeks...

Our baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Fun facts from....
www.babycenter.com

A 4 pound baby in this tummy! WOWSERS! And nothing like comparing her to a cantaloupe...I prefer bowling ball :) LOL. Crazy to think its already 34 weeks. I want to hold this girl in for 2 more weeks then I am going to start encouraging her to GET OUT! She needs to start listening to her mom now right? Yup. We will see...The count down begins!

~Whitney

Stork Parking...

I know many of you are waiting for shower pics...Dont worry I PROMISE I will post soon. I will probably turn it into posts all week as there is TONS to share. This weekend was not only my shower but I had many family members fly in and spend the weekend with me. So that meant lots of running around shopping and errands. Today is my first day in a quiet house and I am not sure if I love it or hate it. I guess in not too long I am going to be praying for a quite house? LOL.

Anyway...One of our outings was a quick trip to Babies R Us to get a few items I was missing. I know of course that they have special parking for prego people but at our store any parking space is close so it does not matter too much. But because I thought it was funny and hard a car load of people we went ahead and took advantage (first time ever!). Couldnt pass the moment without a quick shot so here you go...



Now the real kicker here....Is I have only seen this type of sign and Babies R Us. So when the group of us took a trip to Brideport Village it was raining, cold and of course I was tired of driving around looking for a spot. So its there I was saying they should have prego parking too. I mean come on! Could be fun to take advantage right? Wishful thinking? Well surprise...suprise...we pull in the parking lot and the very first space was open. I was excited until I realized there was a reserved sign on it....



IT WAS RESERVED FOR ME!!! ha ha! So yes...I admit I took the spot. Thank you Bridgeport Village that was very kind of you to have closer spot for me to park in! There are days when that can come in handy and other days when it does not matter. Yesterday it was MUCH appreciated!

More posts soon...

~Whitney

Gifts in the mail...

ARE SO MUCH FUN! What a wonderful thing to check your mail and see a colorful package right? Makes getting all the bills out a little more tolerable. Well today I pulled a beautiful red package out of the box with the name Miss Lily Harlacher! I dont know which was more fun? Getting the package OR seeing Lily's name on it? Here is a pic...(sorry blacked out the address for the sender...)



So I happily opened up her gift (I mean she wont be able to right? LOL) and inside was this...



I am a sucker for adorable packaging what can I say? The photographer/artist in me comes out so I of course had to snap a pic before I opened them up! Next we have the contents of these goodies...







ADORABLE!!! I love both outfits! A HUGE thanks to my cousin Stacy who sent these fantastic gift for Lily! That was very kind of you to do and I look forward to dressing her in them down the road! And I hope you dont mind the blog post about it :) Sorry cant help myself...wanted to share!

~Whitney

Shower...

Is coming up in just a bit and I am so excited! So many friends and family coming to celebrate this crazy idea Dan and I had to become parents :) I am excited for my mom, sis and sis-in-law to be flying in just to help out and celebrate! So awesome of them! I will be taking lots of photos of all the fun details. You better believe the shower is going to be just as fun and creative as Baby Lily's room! My wonderful friend Jamie has been hard at work planning with some help from my mom and a few others who have added their love to the shower! I wont be able to thank everyone enough! See many of you soon....and stay tuned for photos from the special day!

~Whitney

No baby yet...

Dan went out of town for a few days and his only request was for me to NOT give birth while he was gone! It was his last official trip before Lily is born. Luckily we had success. I am still prego! Thank Goodness...And my hubby is back safe and sound with me! I can honestly say I am pretty "done" with being pregnant. It was fun while it lasted but now its overstayed its welcome! LOL. But I am not really ready to have a newborn baby here. Scary when I think about it. We still have a some time hopefully. And a note to Miss Lily...Lets hang in there till we are closer to the due date so there are no complications! But you can quit beating me up anytime now! ha ha :)

~Whitney

33 Weeks- Fun Facts

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Thank you www.babycenter.com

~Whitney

PEE!?!?!?!?!

Okay this post might be a "little" TMI...so if you dont want to hear about prego peeing...sign off and wait for another post! LOL. Dont say I didnt at least warn you!

So I am NOT trying to complain...Really. Just pointing at an annoying fact of being prego. PEEING! EVERY 5 MINUTES! Okay...maybe not quite that bad...but I tell you what... this is one of the most annoying parts I have had to deal with. I am one of those people who can pretty much hold it all day...Or at least all night no matter what. I NEVER get up in the middle of the night to pee. So getting up 3-4 times every night to pee is just plain annoying. I know the argument is "Its preparing you for baby"...Fine. But really? Dont I deserve all the non-interupted sleep I can possibly get NOW. Why should I have to be tired all the time before Miss Lily arrives? Makes no sense...thats all I am saying. Obviously I am surviving and obviously its not that bad of a "side effect" as I like to call these prego things that happen. But I still think the peeing should be kept to a min and should LET ME SLEEP!

Okay Im done...ha ha ha. Hope you guys agree :)

~Whitney

Mobile...

Dan and I worked on the baby Mobile this weekend and I am so happy with how it turned out. I couldnt just have a "traditional" mobile...that would be to easy :) So together we made one! Now all we have left is the frames/images for above the crib! Frames were ordered yesterday and should be here in a couple weeks! Stay tuned...

~Whitney

32 Weeks...

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Information thanks to www.babycenter.com

~Whitney

Finally...Nursery Pics!

I know many of you (well maybe only 3 of you? LOL) have been waiting to see Nursery Pics. I am going to bombard you! So I hope you guys are ready for this....there is about 20 photos. I wanted you all to see the whole nursery plus a few detail close up shots. There is so much in this room that was custom made that it all needed to have a little moment on the blog. Let's get started...

The whole room first:



Blanket on Chair...Handmade by ME :)






Still need a changing pad to go on dresser but waiting till after the shower to purchase just in case!




Side Table with handmade frame and decorated lamp shade...




Crib with CUSTOM bedding made by Connie! Love you Connie! Couldnt have asked for anything better! Thank you!!!! Also the little rocking Elephant belonged to my little sister Courtney. She spent many hours playing on it and loved it! I can not wait for Lily to be big enough to test it out! Thanks Court for sharing!




Wall Decor:





Close up of goodies. Blocks were hand made by Me :) And lots of painting happened for the decor...






More Wall Decor...




Size separators I made for the closet...



And a quick peek into her closet. I know...looks like a TON of clothes. Its really not much as its all different sizes up to a year. Lots of CUTE stuff though!



That does it! Are you overwhelmed? Ha ha. I love the room and am so happy with all the finishing touches. All I have left is a butterfly mobile I am making to go over the crib and of course photos that are going to go above the crib! Im just working on the frame order for that now. Other than that....The room is finished! Thanks for peeking....Hope you love it! Its a little different from most nurserys! Also a HUGE thanks to my mom...who came to Oregon for a decorating weekend and helped me pull it all together! It was a BLAST!

~Whitney

Bassinet...

The search is over! We now have a beautiful bassinet for Lily compliments of her Grandma (aka my mom). She wanted to get something special and was helping me in the search to find the perfect one. My brother, Jordan actually helped in the search (thanks Jordan...You are AWESOME). He found this one at Costco (where he works) and we LOVED it. I dont know how we keep getting Eddie Bauer goodies but that is the way it seems to be happening. The first image is what the Bassinet looked like BEFORE we painted. Yes its still cute in original form...however I really wanted a white one to match our room where it will be going. White ones kept looking super cheap and not good....So Dan said he would just paint it! Yeah Dan! So that is exactly what he did and now its PERFECT! Its good quality and looks awesome in our room with the green/white. Thanks to my mom for the wonderful gift! We are so happy with it!

Excuse the not so good iphone pics :)

~Whitney

Fun Facts-31 Weeks

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Thank you www.babycenter.com

~Whitney