favorite baby items

Just so I don't forget for the next time around, these are some products that have been life-savers around our house lately...(thanks to lots of you who recommended them!)

1.Oxi Clean-without fail, Blake has blow-outs every Monday. But with this amazing spray, getting those poop stains out doesn't require that much effort. Plus, I can't complain that he is already on-board with my laundry schedule (and a reminder that I probably shouldn't eat so many treats over the weekend :)
2.Adan + Anais swaddle blankets- these are the perfect weight and size to swaddle the little guy without him getting to hot.
3.Munchkin bottle brush-since he takes Zantac for acid reflux twice a day, we go through lots of bottles filled with breast milk and his medicine. I feel like such a sneeky mom. It's like hiding spinach in lasagne.
4.Wubba Nub- when we first received this as a gift, I thought it was the strangest thing and nearly cut the binki off. However, it has become the BEST thing. First, it makes it so when the binki drops, it doesn't bounce to some hard-to-reach place. Second, we never lose the binki. Third, and probably the cutest thing is that Blake will move around his hands a little to push the binki back into his mouth by pushing on the dog. It's got to be good for his motor skill development. And it rests perfectly on his chest helping it to stay in his mouth. Okay, you get the point. Like I said, such a great invention. I'm a fan. (And maybe I should get a royalty for hyping it up so much!)
5.Boppy-I haven't used this too much for nursing, but Blake loves chilling in it; also great to keep him up after he eats.
6.Bibs-can never have too many. We go through several a day.
7.Gentle Naturals Tummy Soother- even though he doesn't have colic, sometimes I can tell his tummy is just a little upset. This helps get rid of the hiccups and uncomfortableness. Love that its au-naturale.

january showers bring...

We haven't had much of a winter around here (not that I'm complaining), but baby S has had some showers of it's own lately. What a lucky baby to have so many people love him/her already!

The YW leaders I serve with threw us a ward shower. The theme was sock monkeys. I wish I would have been able to get more pictures, but I was too busy chatting. There was delicious mini desserts and it meant a lot to have so many of the young women and other ward friends come. Baby got lots of books, diapers, wipes, onesies,  sleepers, some cute leg warmers, a very fun crib sheet set, and lots of other goodies. My heart melted when I opened some very thoughtful homemade gifts--a quilt from Kim, a blanket and binkie clip from one of my mia-maids and some burp cloths from another girl in my class. This group of girls are so amazing and talented.

My friends from forever threw me a shower on Friday. The theme was "Melissa is ready to pop" I could not get over how cute and festive everything was. And I loved that Andrea got to join us all the way from Pennsylvania because she was one of the masterminds behind it all! Yep, that is her on skype.

Jaci. Kellie. Cassie. Amanda. Alli. Jenny. Me

 Hope you guys don't hate me for this one. But what can I say? We have lots of fun together!

Check out all of these details!

 the invitation

the decor

all of the food was themed as well.

there was "pop"corn chicken, "pop"eye's spinach salad, "pop"corn, soda "pop" and cupcakes.

we even got favor bags to take home. 

inside there were pop rocks, a tootsie pop, popcorn, and a ring pop

I am lucky to have such a good group of friends. A lot of us have been friends since elementary. That is pretty rare these days. I hope my kids have as good of friends as I did growing up. It made all the difference.

Thanks to all the great gifts, we are feeling much more ready for this baby to come!

Oh Baby Oh Baby...

Since Emily was in town over the holidays, my little sister Kristin threw us a double baby shower with relatives and some mutual friends. Kristin made it so festive with all the decorations and food. I sure felt spoiled and I'm glad this baby finally has some of the necessities because his/her mama has been slacking!

Who needs to have twins? We got a lot of the same things in matching bags. So fun!

Becky. Karen. Me. Cindy. Em

Sisters! Kristin. Me. Em. Katie

Cousin Juli and Kynli. Em. Me.

My Aunt Marilyn and Ruth

Lisa and Heidi- Cross-country friends from high school

Jeni and her cute girls Millie and Lizzie

Melissa and her girls

Amy and Ashley- the girls I used to babysit!

Cousin Cheri

My sister-in-law Jessica and mother-in-law

St. Nicholas Day

Happy to report that St. Nicholas visited us and left a little present in our shoes. 

We weren't able to eat our traditional reibekuchen + applesauce dinner, but that

is okay because we were at the best work party ever! 

(Can I say that even though I helped plan it?) 

Bowling. Laser Tag. Arcade Games. Dinner. Glow sticks galore.

And we walked away with awesome gifts plus $140 cash 

that our awesome bowling skills won us. Sa-weet!

(wow. this angle makes me look big! but that's okay because T-2 months until 
baby s makes his or her debut!)

We're Thankful for: Our Ward

We have loved our ward from the moment we moved in. They throw parties like nobody's business and everyone is so friendly and nice. A few weeks ago at the Halloween carnival (which was Amazing!), some of the ladies came up and asked, "How are you doing?" I later find out that that they were referring to me being pregnant because they weren't quite sure if I was or not. I found it kind of funny because I definitely cannot hide it these days. But perhaps the best story is how the first lady in our ward found out. She saw a pregnancy book I had on hold next to hers at the library. I'll have to remember to be careful what I reserve at the library in the future!

Here are a few pics of the carnival. They don't do justice, but this is the best I could get.

Me and Lulu...one of our primary kids. We love the youth but miss our primary class!

Sunday Update

...and we can't wait!!