La Familia Coles: Baby Shower

Well I have crossed the threshold into crazy nesting mother mode... And a baby shower has only enhanced that insanity.

I had a beautfiul baby shower in Orange County this past weekend. And it was glorious.

We left Provo about noon on Thursday and headed down to the warm depths of SoCal.

And by the way, I am so proud of Tucker and myself for being able to make it to the designated stopping points for restroom breaks. We partied the way down with Magnus (the hound that belongs to a brother in law) and it was a nice trip to just sit and spend a lot of one on one time with Ryan before he leaves for Egypt.

California did not disappoint. It was 85 degrees and sunny and just perfect. Friday we woke up and had a lovely breakfast, Ryan and his mom went to go get some tables for the shower and I took one of the pups for a nice long walk around the neighborhood for my exercise. And then we lolled around the rest of the day in the backyard by the pool soaking up some much needed sun for our pasty white skin. Of course though, thanks to pregnancy, my skin decided that no matter how much sunscreen I was going to wear, I would still burn. No matter, it was not too bad and I would rather be a little pink than white. Plus, my bathing suit was super cute and comfortable and there wasn't a stitch of ugly maternity pattern in it at all. Definitely a bonus.

Well then it was time for the family to eat some dinner so we decided to all go to a delicious southern bbq joint called Lucille's nearby. Now granted I still prefer to make my own ribs and jambalaya and such at home but what can you do... Well I definitely looked like the fat kid at the table when I ordered a full rack of ribs but let me just say that I only did that because Ryan said he wanted some ribs but also his tri-tip that he ordered so in the end, I may have only had 4 ribs in total once he and David got done eating away. But honestly that's fine. I should have just ordered the corn and watermelon that I got as sides since that's all I wanted anyway when it came down to it.

Then it was off to the house to finish getting everything ready for the shower the next day. We made really cute dipped rice krispie treats and cupcakes. There were also delicious cake pops and sugar cookies from a lady in the ward who makes the best ones. And finished up some decorations.

Then it was time for bed and we woke up early the next morning to do the finishing touches. As you can see in the pictures below, it was an adorable blue theme with cute elephants and monkeys. We had delicious pasta salad, fruit galore (my favorite), blue punch with duckies, and lots of little goodies that were all delicious. We had some lunch once the ladies began to arrive and then we opened all the amazing presents! I feel so blessed and grateful. We got so many of our big presents and it was awesome to be able to relax as I opened each gift and realized I didn't need to stress about that anymore. I know I am weird but I am a freak planner so it's just how it is... I will post more pictures of everything once I get it all in order this week at our house.

We had a blast spending time with family and friends and it was so fun to just enjoy the afternoon with them.

Well sadly the trip had to end at some point and Sunday morning we woke up, packed everything in the car until it was bursting at the seams and headed back to Utah. With only a day and a half until Ryan leaves for the Middle East, there was plenty to do! I will post more on the baby's room and everything in the next little bit. I just need to get adjusted to being a lone woman again.

But until then, thanks to everyone who made the shower so fun and beautiful! It was perfect :)