Long overdue baby shower post

So I've been putting off this post because I don't have very many pictures from it--Gina took most of the pictures from that day and I was hoping to get them from her but we keep forgetting. So I'll post anyway because I am SO grateful to everyone who participated!

I got the crib I'd been coveting!!! Gina was going to have it be the group gift but my grandma decided to get it for us! And my sister-in-law got the mattress. I LOVE THIS CRIB! It makes me happy every time I see it! Isn't it pretty!

Right now it's turned 90 degrees from where it is in the above picture (like this:) so that the mattress of the crib is the same height at ours and it's like an extension of our mattress. It's a perfect cosleeper! It's like Landon is sleeping right there with us in our bed, but he doesn't take up any room and I don't crowd Brice for fear of Landon falling off the edge. I hardly notice waking up in the night to nurse him (but don't tell Brice that! I need him to think that I have good reason to sleep in! ;) Heehee!) When Landon is older and not needing to nurse in the night, we'll put the other rail on and move the crib away from our bed.

So, with the crib taken care of, Gina was wondering what to do for the group gift! She had a few ideas and she ran them by me and Brice and I talked. It worked out really well to not decide until after Landon was born because my post-baby body is just not cutting it and it's motivating me to want to get fit again. With the older kids in school and old enough to ride bikes a long way, a double jogging stroller was the perfect thing! I probably wouldn't have thought about it before the baby was born. And I also realized after having two little ones for a couple of weeks, how much a double stroller would be an asset. I've been out with it almost every day since I got it and I LOVE IT! I haven't noticed much improvement, but that's okay. It'll come. Maybe if I ate less sugar?

Alaina loves it too and she'll get all excited and say "buck-oh" (buckle) when she wants to go for a walk or a run. I've learned something about myself in recent years: I don't do well with goals. I tend to set unreasonable goals and then when I can't meet them, I bail on them entirely instead of modifying them or just doing my best. So my only goal for exercise has been that I'm not allowed to set any goals! I don't even allow myself to evaluate how many times per week I go out because then I'll start thinking about whether it's enough or not and whether it's more or less times than the week before. (Dang that competitive spirit of mine!) It's actually been working out quite well! I go out a lot and I really enjoy it. When I have a goal to meet, it sometimes (usually) becomes a chore, but so far, I don't feel like it's a chore one bit! I love it and I look forward to it and I end up wanting to just keep going and going. So a BIG thank you and a BIG hug to all of you who participated in the baby shower! The gifts were awesome and the party was lots of fun! I wish I had pictures of all the cute decorations Gina and my mom came up with, but I'll post them if I get them. Oh, one of the decorations is the string of baby onesies on the wall over the crib. Such a cute shower idea!