April showers bring June babies

We can't believe that we are only 5 to 8 weeks away from having a baby in the house.  We're not sure that we can possibly be ready, but our friends and family are working hard to get us that way!  Today they showered both of us (really all three of us) with love and baby gifts to do just that.  It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and warm weather and we all ate really well!  The women were treated to homemade chicken, broccoli, fruit and tossed salads along with honey baked ham and devilled eggs, followed by homemade brownies and cheesecake with strawberries (mmmm!).  At the same time the men were down at Pizza House gorging themselves on stuffed pizza.

After eating Cortney opened many baby essentials, including a bathtub, swing, front carrier,  monitor, shopping cart cover, nursing pillow, video camera (so we can share Rasberry's antics with all of you!), books, blankets, burp cloths, diaper bags (small and large), and, of course, toys.  Everyone was so thoughtful, and all the gifts were wonderful and exciting, and will be very useful!  Raspberry was also spoiled with some very unique things:  A fantastic Dutch outfit and Olympic Bear straight from his aunt Kate, Cortney's cousin in the Netherlands; a blanket crocheted by his maternal grandmother;  receiving blankets made by his grandgodmother (?), each with a piece sewn in the corner from the blankets she made for Cortney over 29 years ago;  and a jacket and hat to wear home from the hospital crocheted by grandma Hoffman, a close family friend.

Meanwhile, back at Pizza House, Jon opened many daddy...er...essentials (?) that came in a diaper bag of his own.  Including household safety items, a chewable book (for the baby, not the dad), a bath hippo (again, for the baby...really), a bragbook for the wallet, earplugs, gloves and masks (for diaper changes), and...kazoos.  Yes, kazoos.  Jon also did a little gifting of his own, passing out blue bubble gum "it's a boy" cigars (hey, the men don't wait in the waiting room anymore so he had to get his fun in somehow).

We had a wonderful time and, at the end of the day, felt very loved.  Thank you so much everyone!