family, friends from afar, and Fuegos cake!

I don't know how I didn't get a photo of the cake. (...Oh wait, yes I do... I ate it too fast).

So, a couple of weekends ago, my sister spearheaded an excellent little family shower for Still-Nameless-- replete with decorations, party favors, a lovely spread of munchies (which fell victim to the same scenario as the cake), and in case I didn't mention it, a FULL cake from Fuegos, which is a divine little family-owned eatery on Lamar. They serve a warm coconut cake that Sean and I have long been in love with. I had no idea one could order and pick up a full cake, so we were quite surprised and incredibly delighted when she showed up with one. Without a doubt, I'd have been healthier NOT knowing this was possible... Anyway, the party was technically in honor of the baby girl, not the Fuegos cake (for some reason) so I'll try to refocus. I did manage to get a photo of the balloon, only because it's not edible. (Side note: you might be noticing the wall behind the balloon and thinking maybe Fuegos puts something extra special in their cake... I'm not denying that possibility. But actually this happened one week post-cake; it's Sean's brainstorm on how to store wall hangings until we have walls decent enough on which to actually arrange and hang these things.)

Our little in-utero fundraising genius scored quite the loot. The living room was happily trashed with packaging by the time we finished-- yay for all her benefactors! I had to assemble the crib just to have a storage pen of sorts until we get her room set up. She received everything from the mattress and sheets to books and toys and lots of things necessary to diaper, dress, and breastfeed a baby. We can now Ergo-carry her, electronically swing her, and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida her to sleep. What more could a baby girl want??

Hands down, the best part (YES, even better than the Fuegos cake) was the keepsake Darla put together. It's full of personal notes from family and friends (all YOU wonderful people!). We loved the variety! Some people wrote to the baby, some to us; it included advice, encouragement, stories, a reality-based fairy tale, cards, photos (even some embarrassing ones from high school!), and a full appendix of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons meant to prepare and/or terrify us-- courtesy of my ever-helpful big brother. As if all that creativity weren't enough, one of the pages directed us to a virtual shower thrown for us by a few of our friends back in Atlanta, which we were totally tickled by. (Be forewarned: I'm rating it PG for mild transvestism and one graphic depiction of a Balukonis diaper explosion that I was unfortunate enough to witness on my last visit to Atlanta.) In short, we LOVE this little book; it's clear people put a lot of thought into their contributions and that's so endearing! Darla did save a few pages for us to add anything that arrives separately, so I'll be including other cards and notes that come in.

At the time of posting this, I've put away books, blankets, toys and started washing all the outfits and diapers. But naturally, a couple things needed to be highlighted (not that I'm playing favorites with gifts that happen to have adooooorable little hedgehogs on them...)

Again, many thanks to everyone!!!