Sunday, September 13, 2009

Baby Shower!

Today was the baby shower that almost wasn’t (does anyone but my mom and me remember the old TV special, The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t? I loved that movie…). Holding the shower today was not an easy decision to make, but now that it is all over I am glad we went through with it. We had such a nice morning!

About 50 of our friends and family gathered at a local restaurant for brunch. Baby balloons floated around the room and the tables were decorated with boxes of pink and blue M&Ms with Charlie and Lily’s name and birthdate on them. In lieu of favors, cards at each place announced that a donation had been made to the St. Peter’s NICU in Annaleigh’s memory. An enormous (and delicious) cake sat in the front of the room proclaiming “Celebrating Charlie and Lily.” And the presents – oh, the presents! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many gifts in one place. It was overwhelming!

The shower began with the food – heaping plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pastries, French toast and pancakes were delivered to the tables and everyone dug in. After we ate, my sister ran a few fun games where guests had to unscramble the baby word, finish the nursery rhyme and guess the number of candies in the baby bottle. After the games, it was time for presents! Gift after gift was passed my way and everyone oohed and aahed over each adorable item. Aside from the wonderful practical gifts we received (pack n’ plays, diaper champs, monitors, high chairs, etc.) we also received a ton of cute clothes, baby toys, books, and even some Halloween outfits. My favorite gift of the day though was not even a shower gift – it was a belated birthday present from my friend Lauren. She gave me a silver key chain with the word “Mommy” and the babies’ names, “Charlie, Annaleigh, Lily,” engraved on it. So sweet!

So the shower was a great success. Thank you Mom, Jill and Anne for all your hard work in making the day so special. And thank you to everyone who came and spoiled me, Joe, Charlie and Lily so much – we are so grateful for your support and love. And thank you for all the loot – it took four SUVs to bring everything back to our house, and our office is now crammed with goodies. I need to get organizing!

But our day didn’t end with the shower! After we finished dropping our gifts off at home Joe and I headed up to the NICU to see Charlie and Lily. Miss Lily was our first stop and she was one sleepy bug. The doctors thought that Lily was worn out from all her recent bottle feedings, so they decided to give her the day off from the bottle so she could rest, with the exception of one feeding done by Joe and I. So for our late afternoon visit the Bug snoozed, but when we came back after dinner she was wide awake and ready for her bath, which was extra luxurious for our princess thanks to the Burt’s Bees shampoo given to her and Charlie by nurse Alicia. I bathed Lily, and then she hit the scale (up 45 grams to 4 lbs 11 oz) and got dressed in a clean outfit. The whole time we were dressing her Lily was smacking her lips and sticking out her tongue, clearly looking for her bottle. We fed her at 9:00 and she drank the whole thing down happily – then went back to sleep, of course!

Charlie wasn’t too tired for his food! He chowed his 6:00 bottle for me, and then did the same thing with his 9:00. In fact, right now Charlie doesn’t even have a feeding tube in! He’s been taking the bottle exclusively for all his feedings since yesterday! We’re hoping he can keep this up and the feeding tube will be a thing of the past. Once he’s entirely on bottle feeds he can come out of the isolette and into a big boy crib - another step on the road home.

Tomorrow Charlie and Lily will have another follow up eye exam, and on Tuesday they will get their first round of vaccines. We’re hoping for a busy week full of progress for Charlie and Lily (and lots of smiles and snuggles for Mommy and Daddy!).

The cake - gigantically delicious!

Just look at all those presents!
Everyone enjoying their breakfast.

Opening up presents with my "helper," Joe.


Some cute outfits for Miss Lily.

Anyone want to come help me organize?! Oh, and Uncle John -get ready to assemble, assemble, assemble!

Charlie, free of tubes!

Lily waiting to be pampered.


20 comments:

Kim said...

Way to go Charlie eating only from the bottle. They are both getting so big!

Kiane said...

They are both getting so big!! I love it - they are just too darn cute! And yay for Charlie eating from just the bottle!

I'm also glad to hear that you had a nice time at your shower :)

Kiane (kianew from SAIF)

Anonymous said...
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Lindsay said...

Charlie is huge! Keep up the good work C.

Becca said...

Wow! Your little sweeties are getting so big! So glad they're both gaining and going well. When my preemie started in his "big boy bed" in the NICU, it was just a matter of days before we were able to bring him home. So glad you have such a wonderful shower--it looks like so much fun! :)

Becca said...
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Michele from FTHS said...

Brooke, I am glad you and your helper Joe had your baby shower. You bothe deserve it!!! And what a way to celebrate those beautiful babies!!!!!!
PS...I saw a butterfly today and my thoughts went right to precious Annaleigh. :)

Anonymous said...

It was a beautiful shower - Kudos to all in involved - you did a great job.

OMG - Charlie looks like Freddie...
Way to go my sweet angels. Annaleigh is definitely watching over you.

All My Love, Auntie :) xoxoxoox

Anonymous said...

So happy you decided to go thru with your shower for Charlie & Lily! I noticed the butterfly pin on your dress.... so beautiful! She will be with you guys always! Have fun going thru all those gifts. Alot of work but so worth it & alot of fun too! It won't be long until they will be used :) Babies are beautiful!!!!

Jen said...

what a great day and so glad you got to enjoy the shower! It is so fun! I still have an exersacuer for you when you are ready! Love the shot of Charlie-so handsome!

Colleen said...

That picture of Charlie is awesome! I love seeing him with no tubes - hopefully Lily is right behind!
I am glad you had a good time at your shower yesterday - you guys deserve it!

Lauren said...

YAY for a tubeless Charlie!! LOVE that pic of him and Lily... and the one of Joe in his hat, of course.

So glad you enjoyed your day - I thought it was wonderful and was so happy to share it with you guys. Glad you liked your gift. :)

Kimberly said...

Congratulations! You'll be putting all of your baby loot to good use in no time! I always give one piece of advice regarding baby toys...if it doesn't have volume control or an ON/OFF switch (or both) exchange it or donate it! Seriously.

And the diaper champ? It's nice...but we use sandwich-sized ziploc bags bought in bulk. Much easier. Good luck and I can't wait to see photos of them in their car seats...ready for the ride home!

Gretchen said...

Aww! You guys looked like you had so much fun at the shower! Congrats on all the gifts!!! That is awesome that you guys got so much stuff that I am sure you will be using very soon!!! Also the pic of Charlie free of tubes brought tears to my eyes! They both are looking WONDERFUL and with each bottle and each day it seems they get a little bigger and better looking! What a handsome little man and a beautiful Princess! They are each developing their own looks and sounds like you're getting to know their personalities really well!!!
Also I started knitting 2 little afghans, one for Charlie and one for Lily, ones blue and ones pink (big surprise) when I'm finished with them I will let you know, I started knitting the blue one for a little boy that was on chemo but he recovered (he had cancer so I have no complaints with him not being in the hospital and unable to get a hold of! A very happy beginning for him and his family) and now I have no way to get a hold of his family to send it when I'm finished so I decided to make two, one for your little price and and one for the pampered princess! Every baby needs a soft baby blanket! So if you'll have them I'd love to send them once I finish them of course~
I still can't get over how wonderful both babies are looking! I love seeing the pics of them with their arms reaching out towards you guys! It's so sweet!

Anonymous said...

So so happy for all of you! These little babies are so lucky to have such a wonderful mommy & daddy and rest of family! I believe Annaleigh already knows how much joy she brought you and how much she was truly loved by so many & still does with those beautiful butterflies...so sweet!

BuckeyeBundle said...

Glad you had a nice time at the shower! And super happy that Charlie and Lily are doing so well and getting so big! **prayers and hugs**

Marie
*WinterBuckeye from MM's* :)

Lori (o: said...

Great Post Brooke. So sorry I couldn't make it to the shower. I was actually watching my friends twins! They're 6 months old and almost as gorgeous as Lily and Charlie (; It looks like you had a great time... I'm so glad.

ps I love the pics of a tubeless Charlie!

Cara said...

congrats! What very loving friends and family you have. And just think, you and Charlie and Lily get to use all your new stuff so soon!

Macchiatto said...

Way to go, babies!! Glad they are doing so well, and your shower sounds absolutely delightful.
~ Macchiatto from the Multiples board

Rebecca, from CT said...

WOW!! All those presents!! So glad to hear Charlie is free from all his tubes!!! Miss Lily will catch up soon!!