'Tis the Season to have Babies!

I have soooo many dear friends who are pregnant or brand new mothers right now!  Tessa, my former roommate, is due with a baby girl in May. Jenni, my mission companion, is due with a baby girl in July.  Another sister from my mission, Jerah, is due in October.  Lisa, another former roommate, is having a little girl in August.  Lexi, another former roommate, had a little girl a couple months ago. Katie, a friend from my freshman year at BYU, is having her third soon. Amanda, a friend from Dixon, and Dana, a former roommate, both celebrated births of baby boys this month. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone! There are just so many that I'm losing track.

One of these things is not like the other...

 At school, the teachers I work the most closely with are the band teacher, Angela (on my right), and Phaidra, the drama teacher (on my left). Their baby girls are due within 3 weeks of each other. I've loved getting to follow their journeys and to listen to them swap stories of swelling feet and growing bellies.

Since this is Angela's first, Phaidra and I threw her a baby shower at my house. It was so much fun and really nice to spend time together as friends outside of our work setting.

Phaidra was in charge of the food and she did an incredible job. She made everything from scratch, including these tarts.

While Phaidra put together the food, she asked me to put together the favors she prepared. She bought pretzels, chocolate, and coconut and had me dip them and put them in little bags tied with ribbon and a tiny pacifier. I thought that was a fabulous idea I'd love to steal in the future!

Phaidra went all out with chicken salad and croissants, pear gorgonzola salad, fruit with dip, and the incredible desserts pictured above.

I was in charge of invitations and games. We played "Guess the price?" on a variety of baby things.  Shopping for all that baby stuff was extremely daunting. All of the different brands and types of diapers, wipes, rash cream, etc. stressed me out! I had no idea what I was doing.  

We also played, "Guess the flavor?" with 7 different kinds of baby food including mango, green beans, sweet potatoes, and apple blueberry.  One of the guests who is not yet a mother got 6 out of 7 dead on. It was amazing!

The best part were the faces as people tried each sample.

This was one of the prizes. It's a jar filled with bliss chocolates and almond Hershey kisses to represent both the moments of parental bliss and the moments where your kids drive you nuts.

Here is another one of the prizes to represent the "immeasurable kisses" bestowed on babies.

Watching the mom-to-be open presents is definitely the best part. Baby stuff is so much more fun than bridal shower pots and pans!

I feel so lucky to work with such talented women who are now dear friends.  I'm so glad I get to be part of their lives! Yay for Motherhood! There is no more important job on earth.

Watching the Mentalist and Making Invitations

I volunteered to make invites for a few events in April, knowing I'd be home over spring break and have all my mother's scrapbooking supplies at my disposal (thanks, Mom!!). I deleted personal info, but you get the idea.

A co-worker's baby shower:

(That's ribbon on the bottom with the brown polka dots).

Tina and Jer's graduation:


For Celeste's bridal shower of 50+ guests, I used an online program and am having them mailed to me. Cop out, I know, but still cute (and much more time efficient). Once I get them, I'll let you know if I recommend the program I used or not. It was the least expensive I could find.

Spring is such a busy time!

Time Flies...

Stephen is one lucky child to have a mom like Shelley.

(And I think his mother counts herself pretty dang lucky to have this precious baby boy!)

I sure wish we lived closer to one another.

Arlo and Josiah's Blessing Day

Dana and Jason blessed their boys in a small meeting after church. The boys were recently sick in the hospital and still must be extremely careful of germ exposure.

Lisa, Mellie, and Caleb (above) and the proud parents with their boys (below).

Josiah (above) and Arlo (below)

Dana prepared an incredible feast for after the blessing.

Jason and Arlo (above) and Deborah and Monica (below).

The new boys in our lives!

That's right.

Their names are Arlo and Josiah. They are twin brothers, but they look very different from one another.

Arlo is very curious. He is always looking at everything around him. Josiah really likes to sleep. They both have big appetites.

They both weigh about 7 pounds. They're getting so big!

Meet Arlo Nathan Thompson:





Meet Josiah Weldon Thompson:



We're pretty much in love with these boys.

Look at how much they've grown from when they were in the hospital!




And guess what? There's a new boy back in P-town! After being away all summer, Caleb Manderino is back and cuter than ever.

There are so many boys in our lives right now! We're so lucky!