The first shower was hosted on June 3rd, 2012, by two of Jen's student's parents from school, Kristen and Lisa. This party was specifically for the parents who had kids in Jen's class during the 2011/12 School Year. There was a great turnout and it was fun to see the kids outside of school. The kids look at a teacher like an alien when she's away from the classroom. Dave did not attend this party (because guys don't go to showers), but it was apparently a lot of fun.
The third (I'm skipping for a moment - I've been know to do that from time to time.) shower was on August 25th, 2012, hosted by some of the people that Jen works with, Sue, Mia, and Kim. Teachers from her current school, Rosedell, and teachers that she worked with at Bouquet Canyon came, and it was great to see them all.
These pictures are from the "Teacher" Party. Having that many women in one room can't be a good thing (that's what the host's husband said, anyway).
Also from the "Teacher" Party... that's a heck of a food spread, huh? Perhaps Dave should re-think his "Guy's don't go to showers" thing.
One of the cute activities from the third party was a series of note cards called "Advice for the Mom-to-Be". Everyone at the party was asked to fill out one of the cards.
Here are some of our favorites.
"By Costco wipes. Don't get name brand clothes (they grow too fast). Bathe your baby 2X a week instead of every day :)" - Carin
"When you think you have enough diapers and change of clothes, put more in both cars. Little girls ALWAYS wipe front to back only. Always take a moment to step back and enjoy this crazy ride called Parenthood!" - Keni
"Trust that God knew all your strengths and (a few) weaknesses you and Dave have when he picked you to be parents so keep laughing through tough days and loving always." - Gretchen
"To remember that your precious baby girl is a gift from God and to enjoy every moment - good or bad! And breathe!" - Anita
"Have a glass of wine the moment after your daughter is born. You deserve it!" - Alyssa
There were a lot of other great comments (you saw how many women were in that room), but Internet space and binary code is a total commodity so, let's move on.
For the second party (skipping backwards now), Jen and Dave wanted to do something really special. During this past year, when Jen was in RCIA (it's a class for becoming Catholic), one of the classmates, Jen Paz, who was also pregnant, told us that she was going to do a Gender Reveal Party. Of course we were intrigued because we're always looking for something new and different.
Basically, the gist of the idea is that everyone at the party learns about the baby's gender at the same time as the parents (in this case, Dave and Jen) do. Jen Paz's idea for revealing the gender of her baby was to use a cake where, if the baby is a boy the cake part (under the icing) is blue, and if the baby is a girl the cake part is pink. The parents cut the cake and then everyone finds out together. Pretty cool, huh?
We had a few logistical issues to work out before we could commit to this type of a party, though.
First, our Anatomic Ultrasound was scheduled for May 21st, and the proposed Gender Reveal Party was to be on June 30th. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the method in which the gender is actually discovered and distilled through the proper channels.
We went to our Anatomic Ultrasound on May 21st and the technician wrote (it was actually a picture of the anatomy), in a sealed envelope, the sex of our baby. Instead of holding on to this type of information for a whole month (because honestly, would you be able to trust yourself (a.k.a. Jen) with this kind of information for a whole month?), we gave the envelope to one of our family friends from church, Gary and Shelly, for safe keeping.
Here are a couple of pictures from the Anatomic Ultrasound on May 21, 2012. The first one, just in case you're not that good at reading Ultrasounds, is a picture of the profile, and the second one is a picture of two feet (all 10 toes!).
This is a picture of the actual contents from the sealed envelope. In the upper left of the picture, you'll see "GIRL" and then, in the middle of the picture, you'll see an arrow. We'll leave it at that :)
Neither Jen nor Dave knew what was in the envelope. We thought that the Ultrasound technician had just written "Girl" (or Boy) on a piece of paper.
Jen and Dave were then scheduled to drive across the country beginning on June 19th (with a Dog and a pregnant wife) - 2,000 miles in two days!
We did end up making the trip in two days, staying the first night in Amarillo, TX. Jen is a total champ, by the way!
This is a picture of Jen enjoying her time in the passenger seat of the car on the way to Indiana. If you can make it out, in the foot-space, we've built it up with a cooler, several pillows, and a blanket, so that she can keep her feet on the dash. Apparently this was comfortable for Jen. Since I was her "servant" during this time, and she was, well, a little big, we (Jen laughed at this, by the way) called her "Jabba the Wife".
Before we left, we got the sealed gender envelope back from Gary and Shelly, and we had to trust ourselves (more Jen than Dave) with this information in the car until the party on June 30th.
On June 25th, we brought the sealed envelope into Gramz Bakery in Columbus, Indiana and we told them what we wanted to do. They took the envelope into the back of the store, opened it up, made sure that there was no confusion in any way shape or form, and we ordered a cake which was to be picked up on Saturday.
These pictures are of the business where we got the cake. I can't remember the name of the girl who helped us out. Hopefully she doesn't mind having her face plastered onto the internet.
In order to make sure that there was no possibility of a spoiler, we had a friend, Bob Drake, pick the cake up. Who knows? The bakery could have put "It's a Girl" on the top of the cake or they could have made the outside icing pink, or some other crazy thing. So many things could have gone wrong. We didn't want to take any chances. It's a good thing we had someone else pick up the cake because "GIRL" was written on the receipt. Close call!
Here is a picture of the cake.
This Gender Reveal Party (not a shower, because guys don't go to showers - ha!) was put on by Jen's Sister (Michelle) and Mom (Lynda) and they did a really great job.
Before the actual party, Jen and Dave decided (a month before) that they wanted to renew their wedding vows in celebration of their 10th Anniversary. We felt like this would be an interesting time do to a vow renewal because we were celebrating our 10th Anniversary, but also because we were nearing welcoming our baby into the world - the start of a new life, so to speak. The ceremony was officiated by one of Jen's family ministers, Brian White.
Dave, as usual, was a total balling mess (Jen was too, though). After the ceremony, Jen's dad said "You know what? I guess I never really would have thought that a vow renewal would be so emotional, but it makes sense because now you've really been through some stuff and you know how hard life and marriage is."
This was a pretty interesting comment because, seriously, when you get married and you hear "sickness and health, richer or poorer, blah-bity blah blah" you make that promise looking at all of the optimistic outcomes, and you don't really understand "sickness, poorer, etc..." After 10 years of marriage, those words definitely have much more of an impact. We are so lucky to have each other!
Here are a couple of pictures from the Vow renewal. Apparently there is to be no more kissing when you are married for 10 years. We're an old married couple now!
A ton of our family and friends showed up at the party, which made the whole celebration all the more special. We were able to see some people that we hadn't seen in 10 years (since we moved to California).
The whole party went off without a hitch, and the cake reveal worked perfectly.
The first picture is right after the cake was cut (see the pink?). Apparently, no one took an actual photo (everyone switched their cameras to "video") of the actual cake cutting. The reveal was DEFINITELY a lot more exciting than this picture leads on. The second picture is of our great party-planners/hosts, Michelle (Jen's Sis) and Lynda (Jen's Mom).
This is a picture of the excited Mommy and Daddy To Be.
I don't know if this will work or not, but I uploaded a video of the actual cake cutting. Here's the link.
You can see a video of us cutting the cake HERE. The video should open up in a new tab, but if it doesn't you may need to use your "Back" button. FYI.
We can assure you that we were just as surprised as everyone else in the room. We had our assumptions and thoughts, but we had NO IDEA about the gender at all.
Afterwards, Jen's dad, Merle, and Step-Mom, Suzy, hosted a huge BBQ at their house.
On the way to Merle and Suzy's house, Jen and Dave drove past the Columbus Movie Theater, The Crump, and this is what was on the billboard. We're pretty sure that this was just a coincidence (perhaps a wedding), especially because no one has claimed ownership of this little stunt. Pretty cool nonetheless - thought we'd get a snapshot of it anyway.
This is a picture of all of the cars at Merle and Suzy's house.
For the first picture, apparently the fan at Merle and Suzy's was not working, so Dave felt the need to get a little bit of his Cap'n on. Jay, Jen's Bro-In-Law, is the one doing the actual "work".
The second picture is of our dog, Peyton. There was a thunderstorm that evening and she wasn't really taking part in any of that. She's hidden behind the couch. Weenie!
We were able to visit lots of people during the rest of the week we were home.
Dave's sister, Jen, and Bro-In-Law, Evan, host an annual Luau in conjunction with their neighbors. The party is quite the ordeal, but Dave and Jen had never been able to go. Jen and Evan were nice enough to organize the party for the time period when we were expected to be in the Midwest. We got to spend some good time with niece, Grace, and nephew, Holtz, along with many other family members and friends. Jen and Evan really put on a show!
Dave's Dad, Bob, and Step-Mom, Billie, hosted a nice BBQ at their house during the week, and everyone on Dave's side of the family was in attendance - including his Gram and Grandad Sell (who is 96 years old!) from Arizona.
But alas, after an awesome, and exhausting 10 days, it was time to head back to California. So, we packed up all of the gifts (and there were a lot!) into the car and headed back home.
The big difference was that, on the return trip, we knew we were going to have a little girl.
In the next post, we'll tell about the first month at home, including a visit to the ER, and about our (already) scheduled surgeries for little Clairelynne.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Dave, Jen, Claire, and Peyton (the dog)
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