Baby Shower and Nesting

First of all, here's a picture of the blossoms on the tree in our yard, per Melanie's request:

Baby Shower, for the Spring Pig

My sweet visiting teachers threw me a baby shower on Saturday and since you were not there to share in the cuteness thereof, I thought I'd post some pictures of the presents.  Drew's classmate Lyndsey also took a couple of pictures at the actual shower and posted them on facebook on my timeline if you want to see Emily's beautiful house and "the walking illustration of Drew's adoration" opening below-pictured presents.  

It was a lovely shower.  They served a breakfast casserole, a sort of cinnamon streusel pound cake thing from Costco, orange rolls, fresh fruit, and little kabobs that had a mozerella ball, a rolled up basil leaf, and a cherry tomato.  They also had mini water bottles with stickers on them that said "It's a Bitsy Baby Boy!"  Ok, on to the presents.  

Here are the littlest clothes.  The hats and booties were made by Drew's classmate Molly.  The orange dinosaur shirt and jeans are from my orchestra stand partner.  

And here are the rest of the clothes.  The Star Trek onesies on the far right are from Drew's classmate Lea.

Drew's classmate Lyndsey gave us the dragon and monkey books--she's Canadian and they were her favorites growing up.  They're fun to read because the characters eat maple cake and mention the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  My visiting teacher Emily (whose husband is in the bishopric with Drew) gave us the fruit and tractor books and the can of coconut milk because she knows I like her coconut rice and that's her favorite brand to make it with.  Bonnie Anderson made the monkey blanket, Betsy Croft gave me the hairspray, and Megan Jones got me the jungle crib sheets.  All of them sang in Merry Musettes.  I think the woman who gave me the diaper case might be Wonder Woman reincarnated--she's the primary president, just had her 5th baby naturally, runs marathons, owns her own vinyl business (that's how she made the case), and is an amazing cake decorator.  The Hawaiian diapers are from my favorite nursery leader, Barnyard Dance is from the administrator of the babysitting co-op I belong to, and the frog receiving blanket is from the former RS president.  

Drew's classmate Abigail crocheted the duck toy.  They want me to call him What so that he'll be "What the Duck."  It was funny to have them at the shower--they definitely said a couple things that wouldn't be said at your everyday RS activity!  Betsy made the felt fox.  All of the toys were promptly claimed by Vivien.  You can see her in the corner already stealing the bunny from its place . . .

  

Nesting Projects

We moved the glider we inherited from a family in our ward out of Vivi's room and into Rafe's, so I made a papasan chair cover to match the quilt that's hanging on the wall in Vivi's room.  My friend Betsy let me commandeer her sewing machine for a day and it turned out pretty well.  Thank you, internet, for knowing how to do everything.    

Freezer meals!  There's an awesome food blog called Our Best Bites and I basically just made their entire freezer meal cookbook.  Ham and cheese "hot-pockets," Baked Cheesy Breakfast Taquitos,  Chicken Bacon Alfredo, Nachitoches Meat Pies, Cheesy Chicken Penne, French Dip Sandwiches, Chicken Cacciatore, BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Cheesesteak Sandwiches, Minestrone Soup, and Chicken Noodle Soup.  We are READY!

A wool blanket for the family room.  Each of the squares is knitted with a crocheted border, then I crocheted them all together.  I got to learn how to do duplicate stitch to make the letters--it's an embroidery technique that lets you put designs into knitting that's already finished.  The words are the principles that "successful marriages and families are established and maintained on" from the Proclamation on the family.  I couldn't quite get them all to fit like a real crossword puzzle, so we have "FORGIVENESSE" and "SREPENTANCE" and "KLOVE" (which I believe is a radio station in UT...) and I had to make wholesome recreational activities into W. R. A., but "our house is a home now!" and no one under that blanket will ever be cold.  

 And here are the places Vivien has managed to wedge herself while I've been cooking and sewing.