32 weeks, 6 days - Surprise Shower!

Before I tell the sweet story of our fabulous shower surprise, I just want to let it be known that there are 50 days left until our due date! Holy moses!!!

So, surprise shower. And what a surprise it was! Originally, we were told that we needed to check out of the cabin by 10:00 am on Saturday because they had another group coming in later that day, but while we were there, the folks we were renting from told us that the other group cancelled so we could take our time. That sounded delightful to us, but Matt started acting a little weird about it on Friday night, implying heavily that we needed to be to have the boat to the dock around 10:00 am. He's always a little weird, so I didn't question it too much, but I wasn't really sure what his problem was. Why not spend another day on the lake and just go home after? But again, without saying that it NEEDED to be back by 10, he gave me the impression that we should have it back by then so that's what we did. We packed up as much as we could on Friday night, then got up at 7:00 am on Saturday to finish packing and straightening and cleaning so we could get the car packed and get Matt onto the boat at 9:30. I drove the car over and met him at the marina where the boat is permanently docked and we were on the road for Atlanta shortly after 10, right on schedule.

I should have sniffed that something was up because his mom called then Amy called then Amy called again then Matt called Amy then Amy called again. I mean, I know they love each other but that's a lot for even them. We pulled into Matt's parents' house around 12:30 to drop off stuff that we'd borrowed (Alabama is an hour behind Georgia... and about a light year behind the rest of the country) and Amy and Brooklyn came out to say hello to us. They walked us in and, as we were coming in the foyer, I saw gifts and a baby shower sign. "Aww, what little tricksters," I thought to myself, "they're throwing us a shower." Then, as I continued into the room, I saw a teenager that I didn't recognize, Matt's Aunt Kathy, Grandma Rehbein, my Aunt Gretchen, and Matt's Grandma. Wait. What? Run that by me again. A teenager that I DID recognize -- namely Bridget Toolan -- Aunt Kathy, Grandma Rehbein, Gretchen Toolan, and Matt's Grandma! What the what?! Two worlds colliding in a very unexpected location. I was so surprised!!! And a little confused, to be honest. It took me an embarrassingly long time to understand what my family was doing in Matt's parents' house. I think my face says it all in this pic:

So yeah. A little surprised. And confused. Hahaha, oh jeez. What an embarrassing moment to be captured. Anyway, after that there was much hugging and visiting and belly discussion and snacks, followed by present opening, lunch, and more visiting. There may have been laughing involved, too. The second pic was taken when I'm over my stunned confusion and on to being pleased and touched that my family loved me enough to come all the way from New Jersey for my shower, so I'm showing off my belly for Bridge.

All in all, our families were so incredibly thoughtful and generous. We opened gifts for what seemed like forever and people just gave us so many nice things. We were a little bit overwhelmed with the generosity and the love we felt through the notes and cards we received. And especially for Aunt Amy and Grandma Rehbein for organizing the shower and Great Aunt Gretchen and Cousin Bridget for coming all the way down just for the day. How lucky, lucky, lucky we are to have so many people love us so much.

There are lots of cute photos from the shower, so I'll just post some of my favorites below:

Whaa? An ORANGE outfit from Great
Aunt Gretchen? Has the world gone mad?!!