Surprise baby shower

One of our SCA/archery friends is about to pop out a baby (due early June) and, with her family in Texas and friends all over the place due to her husband being in the military, she was totally convinced she would not be having a baby shower. Of course Heather and I just couldn't let that happen--or not happen rather. So we started working on the theme a couple months ago then started working on getting her husband's help then had to wait to for Heather to figure out a good time since her 5 year old is probably the most popular person in Southern Maryland and has parties and other events schedule damn near every weekend and we finally were able to settle on a date about 2 weeks before said date. Of course then came Heather leaving town for 4 or 5 days, which then overlapped with my last minute decision to go see my mom. Heather had asked me to make up and send out the invites while she was gone and I just didn't have time to do so before leaving for Missouri. So the night of my mom's surgery I went home and started making the e-vites and sent them out the next day while waiting for my mom and stepdad to come home from the hospital. Heather worked on getting decorations together while I was still out of town and I started looking for Hawaiian themed recipes for the party. That last week of co-planning all the final bits was done completely through email and phone calls. Yay us! :) I got asked to go to lunch with the guest of honor the day before the shower, which was then canceled due to the weather (severe thunder storms, tornado warnings, the works) so we ended up pushing it to the next day and I had to cram it into all the last minute things I had to do before the party without letting on that we were, in fact, throwing her a party. A couple of the dishes we had planned on were not made but there was plenty of food nonetheless. The guests of honor arrived and, as expected based on her comment that she was "not going to have a baby shower", the soon-to-be mommy was thoroughly surprised and even cried a bit. Again, yay us! :)


Heather had found a bag of 50 pink mini-pacifiers (they're having a girl) and hid them around the kitchen and living room (You can see 2 "hidden" in the cake. I promise not all were that easy to spot.). Everyone walked around looking for as many as they could find. There was a 3-way tie for 47 found. I'm still bitter I didn't see those last 3. I would have too if I hadn't needed to feed my son. Damn Charlie for not looking more thoroughly for me!! :) My mother-in-law put together an advice book with cards for everyone to write bits of parenting advice on for the future parents. The book works as a photo album too so I need to get the shower pics off to them so they can fill in the blank spaces with pictures and have it be a memory book of their shower. The baby's name will be Leilani, and being the book lovers we are, we did a Hawaiian/baby book theme. Heather borrowed books from her 5 year old to supply some of the decor and we did pink, purple and orange streamers and balloons. The cake was make up to look like a leather-bound book entitled "Leilani's Story Begins" with tropical flowers around the base. Everyone seemed to have fun so all in all, I think it was a fairly successful baby shower!

You might think I'm crazy

Sunday before last (the 17th), my dad offered to fly my brother and I out to see our mom while she had a big surgery. After much debate since I would have to take Ethan with me, I decided it was more important to me to be with her during that time and have her see Ethan again than it was for me to stay where he could be super fussy if he was going to and where I would have more people available to help me as needed. So I sucked up it and fly out there. At first, it all seemed like it was going to be a huge mess. I couldn't print my boarding pass then was told to check in at the gate when I got through security and I got to the gate just as they started boarding and was told the flight was overbooked and I would have to wait for the next flight, which left at 3:20. Keep in mind it was around 9am at this time and I had 2 bottles to hold me over. I was also supposed to meet my brother in Kansas City at 1:30 and the rental car was in my name. Oh yeah, and my mom's surgery was the next day so I was kind of hoping I would have time to spend with her not to mention, who wants to sit in an airport 6 hours? Luckily, a lady voluntarily gave up her seat so I could get on at the last minute. I'm fairly certain I was the last person on the plane.

I ended up sitting next to 2 really nice ladies, one of whom is a grandmother. She very sweetly took him from me as I was getting settled and helped out when I had to change his diaper mid-flight. He was awake most of the flight and just wanted to stand in my lap and look around. His eyes got huge when we took off and landed but he didn't fuss then. The only time he fussed was when he needed his diaper changed and immediately after when he was hungry. He fell asleep towards the end of the flight and stayed that way 'til we landed in Kansas City (including the entire second leg of the trip). I now know sit next to grandmothers and other mothers because both legs of the trip were next to grandmothers who were more than happy to hold him and help as needed and the mother in the row to my right offered to watch him if I had to use the bathroom. Sweet. :)

About 20 minutes before landing, a lady in the row in front of us had a medical emergency. Luckily there were 2 RNs in the row behind us who jumped up and helped out. The flight attendants had to call down to make sure an ambulance was waiting at the gate and she was to be let off the plane early. Her daughter was flying with her and she looked so scared during all this. Kansas City was their layover too so I can imagine just how awful it must have been. It sounded like she was going to be alright and I really do hope she is.

The trip went fine. Ethan did have his fussy moments and of course they were usually between 11:30pm and 2:30am, which has me believe even more that he has colic. Mom came down to help calm him down a couple times after her surgery against all my protestations, though I really appreciated it. One night it was so bad I just started crying as soon as she was there to help. You just don't know how helpless you feel until you've been there with your own kids. But, like I said, luckily it was just a little and Mom said she was surprised he wasn't even fussier. I guess I had talked it up more than necessary. Actually, I think he was behaving for her. :)

The flight back was more of an ordeal, or rather the part at the airport. I arrived a bit later than planned, which meant paying extra for turning in the rental late (not a big deal). But then the skycap guy told me my flight was delayed 5 hours due to the weather and wouldn't be departing until 10:20pm. I was horrified. I had exactly 1 bottle and was suddenly faced with the situation I was desperately trying to avoid on the way out: being stuck in the airport with a 3 month old for hours on end. I had turned in the rental car already, which had the baby seat, so I couldn't go back to my Mom's house. I asked a man at the Southwest desk if there was somewhere private in the airport where I could pump that didn't involve sitting on a toilet. He replied, "I don't pump so I really don't know." I swear to God, that's what he said. I wanted to say back, "Really? You're a man and you don't pump milk out of your breasts? What's wrong with you..." but I didn't. I just asked again and he said there was a family restroom, which I had already been in and knew only had a toilet, sink and changing table. I told him that it only had a toilet and he had to ask someone else if there was anywhere private. I was told I needed to go down the hall a bit to the closed gates where there was less foot traffic. Livid, I did. I was so angry by this point that I really did just want to cry but I held it in. I walked down a ways, sat down and went to get the stuff to pump. That's when I realized half of the things were in my checked bag. At this point, I almost did cry. The tears came but I just couldn't let myself break down. I called Charlie (a lot actually but again in this case) and complained because my two options were either buy formula from the baby supply vending machine (awesome concept by the way) or nurse, and you all know how that's been going. I did end up getting a couple tubes of formula and some water and settled down by the gate. Ethan was content for a couple more hours then got hungry. I decided to see if he would nurse alright, and thankfully he did and it put him to sleep. He proceeded to sleep for the remainder of the wait and the flight. I tried turning on the light on the plane to read and he started stirring so it was back off with the light and I ended up staring into space for over 2 hours til we landed. It was not the best night. We landed around 1:30am and that first sight of Charlie almost had me in tears. Again, I just wouldn't let myself. He looked equally happy to see us and had brought me flowers. The fact that he still came to pick us up when we live about an hour and a half away from the airport and he had to work at 8:30 in the morning was one of the sweetest things he's done for me. He said he wanted to pick us up because he knew he had class the next 2 nights and wouldn't be able to spend quality time with us until Thursday (this was Monday night). His boss ended up letting him go into work an hour late the next morning and he skipped class that night so he could get more sleep but it was so sweet of him to show up.

All in all, the trip went well, my mom is doing great, my husband loves me :), and it's nice to know Ethan flies well, especially since I have to do it all over again - on my own again - in June out to San Diego for a wedding. If this doesn't make you think I'm crazy, I was planning a surprise baby shower for the Friday after I got back at the same time. More on that next time!