June 7, 2009

post-partum pamper party

I protested,
and protested.

"No more baby showers for me!", I insisted, time and time again.
**************
Meanwhile, two little busy bees were secretly scheming.

They had found a loophole.

Instead of a baby shower, they were plotting to throw the very first ever "Post-Partum Pamper Party"!(invites made by Becca, the scrapping queen).
Have you ever heard of such a thing?

I was summoned to meet Lorie and Becca for coffee and cake at Becca's house last wednesday.

Or so I thought...

When I walked through the front door, Lorie and Becca greeted me with a hug and escorted me though the hall....
and around the corner...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they all shouted!!

And the doof that I am, I shirked back and retreated behind the corner.

How lame am I?(no need to answer)

They dragged me back so that I could see some very special guests. My mom and sister Jessica were there! They drove 2 hours to surprise me! I think I shrieked when I saw them. There was never such a happy moment.



my sister Jessica, sitting by Sara.

And my dear friend Ally drove all the way down to be there as well.


And my mother-in-law Betty was there.


As I scanned the room I saw a home full of girls that I knew and loved. I thought I was going to burst. Even dearest Talia was there as well! This was all too much.

Everyone explained that this NOT a baby shower. No, this was a pamper party to celebrate my maternity retirement.

I know that I resisted everyone making a fuss over me. But it was pretty much the most awesome party ever. It was like having an extra birthday.

Heck, it may as well have been my birthday, because Lorie made her very special ginormous cupcake.


And she sewed me this very adorable banner as well.

There were even framed pictures of Twain, and my entire family on Becca's mantel. I so wish I had a picture of that!

And there were plenty of other goodies as well.


I made out like a bandit.

Clothes.

Gift cards galore(I am in heaven!)

And plenty of other fun girly stuff.

I never felt so spoiled in my life. And I have to say, I enjoyed every.single.minute of it.

It was so extravagant. So over-the-top. I felt like I was in a dream. Surrounded by such a wonderful group of girls.

My small group girls from church(Jenn, Christina and Nikki)


My former small group girls(Jenn and Natty)


Katie and baby Maren. And to the right, Heather and my sister-in-law Paula.


I wish I had a picture of Barbie,Julie,Carrie, Lauren and Olive Oyl:(

And there was plenty of loot for Twinkie-doodle as well! Here are some of the handmade presents.

Natasha made the diapees&wipees. Lorie made the 4-square blanket.


Sara got all artsy with the following blanket and onesie.


Paula crocheted a special beanie.


Coco made these adorable bibs from retro fabric. How cute are the spoons and forks?

Coco also made a crinkly-noise taggy toy...and Talia surprised me with the orange blanket!

Who knew that Talia could embroider so beautifully? Check out that leaf! Impressive.

And our resident artist Heather painted the most amazing drum canvas.


And if all this was not enough, Becca made some party favors for me to hand out in lieu of writing thank you notes to everyone. How awesome is she?




The night was amazing. Wonderful. Beautiful. Special.

Thank you everyone, so much, for coming.

And a special THANK YOU to dearest Lorie and Becca for this unexpected blessing.
A blessing I did not deserve. But one I was so overjoyed to receive. I love you both so much.

Later that night, I could hardly fall asleep, from all the excitement. And I still get teary-eyed when I think about it.

19 comments:

  1. How fun! It looks like it was a super party. I'm so glad you got some Mama time and some fun gifts.

    We did the same thing for a friend of mine here after she had her 4th. Except, she may not be retiring from maternity yet...but we figured she definitely needed some pampering, with 3 boys and a brand new baby girl at home! I think this is definitely something that needs to continue...mamas everywhere deserve it! =)

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  2. Those are some amazing friends you have. What a special party!

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  3. HOW FUN!!!!! Everything about your day looked perfect......

    Yeah for friends :)

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  4. oh my..how great are they!!

    OH.THE ORANGE.

    Girl..you and I would be fighting over all that orange stuff..LOL.

    I am absoulety in love with that blaket Talia made you :)

    Glad you had such a blessed day..I'm sure you DID deserve it!

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  5. That is just awesome!

    I have to say that I have heard of such things though. My friend Erin's family does not like to attend or throw baby showers until the little one has officially arrived.

    I don't think they call it a post-partum pamper party, but it is similar. They throw a "shower" for the mom after the birth and she gets stuff for the baby and herself. And everyone gets to snuggle the sweet babe in one location instead of a million and one visitors to the house/hospital immediately after recovery.

    I've always liked this idea. :) Besides who couldn't use some nice clothes to get back into after baby? I know I sure could have!

    What sweet friends you have!

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  6. um friend, you are so deserving. for all you do as a wife and mama and for ALL you do for all of us who are blessed to call you friend.

    it was so so so fun to do this for someone as special as you. =) love love love you.

    and now that our lives have both calmed down a bit I'm anxious to come spend a day with you being lazy again...we haven't got to be lazy together in a long while=)

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  7. wow. this is amazing. your friends are amazing and somehow I bet you deserved every second of it.

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  8. Seriously! You do deserve it! I'm so glad you had so much fun. What great friends you have!

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  9. What a simply creative and wonderful idea!! It looks like it was super fun! You really do have fabulous friends! (BTW-those invitations were amazingly cute! :)

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  10. Hey if you need a sitter so you can go spend some of those gift cards let me know!

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  11. what a beautiful thing!! you definitely made me cry! (what's up with all your posts making me cry lately, hmmm?) you have beautiful friends, too! you are more than deserving! xo.

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  12. You are sooo welcome friend! I had a blast planning it with Lorie for you! You are SO SPECIAL! Love you!

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  13. OMG! How incredible sweet! I had to come out of my mommy-coma to comment on this post. What great friends you have. This is the most awesome thing ever. :-)

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  14. you absolutely deserve that! it made me so happy reading this post. friends like lorie are priceless and im so glad youre surrounded by such beautiful, supportive women. i only wish i could have been there.
    and wow you got some super fun and creative gifts!! :o)
    xoxo
    --------GRETCHEN

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  15. **friends like lorie and becca are priceless
    --gretch

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  16. seriously, it is quite possible that Lorie and Becca may have thrown you the cutest shower in the history of showers :) they are amazing!

    but so are you... and it was a joy to see you pampered, spoiled, and loved upon in this way, because you are simply a dear darling and you totally deserve it!! :) It was so wonderful to be there and be a part of it all. And I feel like I know you even better now!

    I love that picture you took of my blanket, because it actually looks well-done. HA!! you are so gracious and sweet, because I know how imperfect it is, especially compared to all the other amazing things you received... but I love you for loving it anyway. And it was certainly made with LOTS of love, if not skill :)

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  17. ohmygoodness, what AMAZING friends you have, this looks like SO much fun! I'm so glad to hear you got some time away for yourself and got to be so spoiled by the ones who love you!!
    You got so many adorable goodies, i am loving the blanket Talia made you, Go Talia!

    I think every mama deserves a party like this one but especially a mama of FOUR boys!! What a blessed girlie you are :D

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  18. I had a great time. :) I love it when all the girls get together!

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  19. What fabulous friends you have! What Mama wouldn't love such a party? How fun and exciting for you! I heard about the party through Angela and it is just one of the sweetest things I've ever heard of. What a way to celebrate your "retirement" from maternity clothes!

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