Ryan and Alicia's Week of Happiness - Part One

"All the time we wondered and wondered, who is this person coming/growing/turning/floating/swimming deep, deep inside." -Crescent Dragonwagon

We dubbed the second week in October "Ryan & Alicia's Week of Happiness". And since their happiness is our happiness, it was a pretty happy week for everyone. The celebrating began with a baby shower. Angie and Alicia are the party planners of the family. They throw splendid little affairs with just the right decorative touches and the tastiest spreads you'll ever see or eat. But since this little shindig was in Alicia's honor, she couldn't exactly plan her own shower. So poor Angie was left with my help, which is little help at all. I did offer a clean house. I had a feeling that many of the guests would want a tour of my new home. This put a large hole in my normal hosting/cleaning strategy, which is to clean the main entertainment area by throwing all crap into the bedrooms and office, then scrubbing one bathroom, while shutting the doors of every other room in the house and sealing them off with police tape. Preparing for this evening was a little more labor intensive. But now that everyone has seen the house, I can go back to my old slouchy ways. 

We were approaching zero hour, and nothing was ready. But the sister and mother cavalry came to the rescue. Thanks to GPS still thinking my house is a corn field, thus sending all of the guests to Hill Airforce Base, everyone arrived just late enough that all of the food was beautifully placed, and a pleasant evening could now unfold unhindered. And a pleasant evening it was.

 

If I could go back into time this very moment and redevour all that food, I would do it in a heartbeat!

The guest of honor. There's nothing quite like a glowing Mom-To-Be.

The guests began to arrive, and the place was abuzz with laughter and humming with "catching up" conversations. What a delight to have the place filled with aunts and cousins and sisters and sisters-in-law and coworkers. We don't see many of these people often enough.

It occurred to me this evening that the coming of a new life into a family, brings together those old lives. The gathering of family to welcome a new little spirit is truly one of the most beautiful things. If there is any question, this baby will be loved!

After our bellies were beyond full, we waddled over to our seats to watch the unwrapping of all things baby. Booties, and sleepers, and quilts, and soft blankets, and ruffly dresses, and monitors, and onesies. 

This baby will have to be a dancer like her momma.

Grandma Rosemary always sends the most beautiful quilts, hand-stitched with love.

  This darling hand-knitted kitty might be my favorite item of the evening.

Now little Margot can come. We are all anxiously waiting for her arrival. There's plenty of love to go around. We just can't wait to see her in one of these darling sleepers. We just can't wait to start fighting over snuggling this sweet baby!