thank you!!

Baby showers.

I had so much fun last night... Can I just tell you how much I'm going to miss this place?

I love the great people that I have gotten to know over the past 5 years.

It was so fun for me to be surrounded by all my friends-- church and school.

Of course, when I got home I saw that MOST of my pictures were blurry so you won't get a true representation of the great friends I have... but I am going to show you all the cute baby stuff I got.

NOT because I'm bragging, but because baby things are SO darling.

It may seem silly to say, because I have done this 6 times before, but I am as excited for this baby as I was for my first.

Giddy excited.

Perhaps, more excited than I have ever been-- because I know how great it is to have a new baby.

(Writing that made me cry.)

Today I feel SO blessed.

And VERY grateful.

Thank you to all of you who came to the shower last night, who smile when I say dumb things, who are excited and supportive of me-- for celebrating a 7th baby!

Really, I have the BEST friends.

EIGHT girls hosted this shower-- isn't that cute! I love them.

Valerie Post, Julie Merrill, Deborah Jimenez, Liza Mathes, Breanna Partington, Bambi Temple, Jessica Medrano, and Jennifer Carroll.

Julie let us have it at her house.
AND, they invited 70 people. :) Isn't that funny?!
The food was delicious, we had a lot of fun, breanna made this funny matching game where you earned a "themed" candy bar for each correct answer-- it was so cute.

I made the party favors-- a way to say THANK YOU!

And, my sweet friend, Becky Williams, made the cute thank you tags that I put on them.

They passed around a basket with note cards for people to write me notes... so sweet.

And, I got the most adorable gifts.

(One friend got coordinating outfits for all 7 of my kids... so fun! One friend crocheted the softest, prettiest purple blanket. One friend knit this darling dress and bunny. I got a homemade towel, a new CAR SEAT, darling dresses, and blankets, chocolate, and even a certificate for a ONE HOUR MASSAGE-- i'm SO excited!! People are kind and generous... and I'm so grateful.)

So, THANK YOU!!!

Thanks to those of you who came last night, and thanks to those of you who are my friends from a distance.

Thank you to those of you who cheer me up when I'm cranky and love my kids when I am overwhelmed.

People talk often about the rude comments they get at the grocery store-- or the people who judge them when they choose to have a big family or have a natural birth or send our kids to school wearing child-picked attire and 7 year old ponytails (not cute)...

But, from my experience, those who LOVE and SUPPORT are much more than those who condemn.

I know how crazy we are... and I also know how loved our family is.

SO, thanks!!

really... thank you.

and now (after my massage)... let's meet this baby so i can dress her in all these cute things!!