audrey's first party

last saturday was our very first baby shower for sweet audrey (holy cow - we're having a baby!!!!). we are truly, truly blessed by the outpouring of encouragement and support and excitement over our sweet girl! our friends tim & bailey mohr, greg & jill stokke, and joe and carol farell gave us a lovely shower complete with fabulous burgers, tasty sides brought by the guests, yummy cupcakes and banana pudding (grandma's recipe - she is becoming a st louis sensation!), and lots and lots of beer (not something i was able to enjoy, obviously, but ed was a happy camper). everything was so great and so yummy!! it was such a nice, laid back evening - a great way to celebrate our journey and the upcoming arrival of audrey. after everyone had eaten supper they had a precious time of prayer for all of us. ed and i have never been loved in this way by friends before - it's humbling, it's exciting, it's a true gift. they are so excited for us and they are all so anxious to meet our daughter - and they tell us this all the time!! can't say it enough but we are truly blessed!

some snapshots from the evening. i don't know how we managed it but we didn't get a picture with all of the hosts, which i hate. they are scattered throughout the blog, though.

thank you, thank you, thank you - to the mohr's and farell's and stokke's for giving us this fun shower, and to all of our friends that were there to celebrate with us. you are all a gift and we treasure your friendships! thank you for walking with us through the last 3 years and everything the journey has brought along the way. thank you for being Jesus with skin on to us.

carol farell, the prego one, jill stokke

tyson sturgeon, the prego ones hubby (dutifully wearing pink for the occasion), brian patneau
arie alex & tim mohr, ed, greg stokke

john peel, ed, sam coalier, fred lang

mary ann griffith, ed, "jon jon" hart (they were all in the counseling internship group together)

rachel finan & ed (she thinks ed hung the moon, like most kids do - and me!!)

jennifer patneau, maddie schmidt, greta coalier, me, laura sturgeon

greta and me (she made audrey the CUTEST hat - i'm going to get a pic and post later!!)

me & maddie schmidt (she made these cute little onesies and the sweetest pin and hair clips - again, pics coming soon. she and greta are sisters - my friend gail's daughters - and i swear martha stewart has nothing on this family - nothing at all!!!)

me and penny & rachel finan

jill stokke & mary schawackermarsha lang

and this is what we came home with - WOW!!!! the diaper cake and flowers were on the gift table at the farell's house - so cute! and the cute little martini glass, of course!!
again - WOW!!!! so, how are we going to fit this new tiny little being in her room when she has SO MUCH STUFF already!!!! she is one loved little girl and we are so grateful!

a couple of belly shots from the wknd - me at 31 weeks. 9 weeks to go to her due date - we'll see if she takes after her mom (who was 2 weeks late) or after her dad who was on time (with a little help, but on time nonetheless). whenever she chooses we absolutely cannot wait to meet this sweet girl!!!!! (disclaimer - the duck was ed's idea - i think he gets a kick out of being able to balance things on my belly nowadays. maybe another month or so and i'll be able to rest my cup or plate on there - how convenient would that be. no more tv trays for this woman!!!)