Showered with Love

Before I begin on the shower pictured below (it is the only shower I have pictures of) – I wanted to express gratitude for the two showers previous to this one. 

Shower #1: 

 Natalie threw me a darling shower with a few of our ward friends (awesome food, cute decorations, and really fun games!) 

Having just had a baby boy herself, Nat was so sweet to offer and to plan this delightful evening! 

I received excellent pregnancy and post-baby advice. 

It was so fun swapping stories, receiving cute gifts, and munching on some seriously good food.

 (Still craving the petit fours Jody made and Adriana's homemade brownies :))

Shower #2:  

Near the end of July, my Lambert aunts and cousins threw me a beautiful “Mother to Bee” shower at our family reunion in Idaho. This shower was very special to me. Even though Camden is number 65 (or something) of great-grandchildren, it meant a lot that my extended family cared enough to host a shower. 

Being ONE of 49 grandchildren you think you would get lost in the mix – 

I am grateful for a tight knit family who make efforts no matter how many little ones join the clan.

 Jenny is the queen of party decorations – she hauled everything from Twin Falls and made Miller Hall look fab! 

Very classy and tasteful with black and yellow decorations (I wish I had pictures!).

 Karen did a great job of planning the shower. 

We played some fun games and had a blast spending time with just the girls. (Which doesn’t happen often… if ever?)

Shower #3 (the one featured in this post): 

  

My dear sister threw me an amazing baby shower at the beginning of August.

 Jami, my sister, is incredibly generous and sweet.

She asked me early on if she could throw a shower for me and boy did she deliver.

I'm amazed how well she orchestrated it all when she was just over a month postpartum (with her second child!). 

She came up with the cutest "abc" theme and everything turned out darling (just look at the pictures).

Thanks a million, Jami!

Many thanks to my sweet friends for all they did.

The food, decorations, and location wouldn't have been possible without them!

(Special shout-outs to Katelyn, Melissa, Kristen, Ashley, Linnea, and Crystal -- hope I didn't miss anyone!)

With much help from my fabulous sister-in-laws, mother-in-law, and mother, the shower turned out perfectly.

Thank you to all of my family and friends who came to support (to any/all of the showers). Having a baby is a huge reminder of how giving and selfless people are. I loved the advice I received and laughs shared. I was amazed by the generous gifts given, but above all, I was impressed by the love I felt.

Photo credit goes to the talented and beautiful Linnea Farnsworth

 

If you made it through ALL of those pictures, congratulations :).

 So blessed to have many wonderful people in my life!

Gender Reveal Party

Last minute, we decided it would be entertaining to throw a gender reveal party for Baby Philipp.

It was a pretty informal event, but a fun one. We sent out a Facebook invite to family and close friends and went about 2 days prior to buy some simple decorations. We requested guests to wear either pink or blue depending on their guess for the gender.

The actual event was on Wednesday, May 9 (2 days before my 20 week mark). That morning, Curtis and I found out we were having a baby boy (I couldn't wait any longer not knowing what the gender was... I just wanted to see the surprise on other people's faces when they found out ;)). I went home and made a little cake with blue frosting in the middle. 

That night, at the party, we gave away two small prizes. One for whomever showed up first wearing the correct color for the gender of our baby. Jason won this prize for wearing blue. The second prize was for a name game we played. We had two glass vases (one with a pink ribbon and one with a blue ribbon, as shown below). Guests wrote down one girl name and one boy name that they thought we should name our babe. Curtis and I decided on our top name in the gender of our baby. Jake won the prize for writing the name "Boston". So there you have it Cam, at one point your parents considered naming you Boston.

Here are a few pictures my lovely friend, Linnea, snapped of the occasion. 

(See more of her amazing images here)

He... definitely a he. And we couldn't be happier :)

The Pregnancy (the first 35 weeks)

(I originally wrote this post when I was 35 weeks pregnant for my own records, might be a slightly TMI for some)

Pregnancy Updates:

First Trimester (weeks 1-17)

Pretty awful in terms of throwing up every day and multiple times a day. Constantly nauseous and couldn’t keep a lot down. Lost weight. Took my first pregnancy test ever on the morning of January 31 -- I was pregnant! I could hardly believe it and didn't tell anyone because I wanted to be positive I was really pregnant (pregnancy test was from the dollar store so I needed more confirmation -- the constant nausea, fatigue, and throwing up wasn't enough, ha). Waited 2 weeks to tell Curtis on his birthday/Valentine's Day (had taken 2 more pregnancy tests before I told him ;)). Milestones were feeling the baby first move at 15.5 weeks. Curtis feeling the baby move at 17 weeks. This kid is so active it’s crazy! Telling our family on Easter -- my family the night before at a dinner celebration for Nathan and Jami and telling Curt’s family actually on Easter with and Easter Egg hunt for the kids and Lexi reading a poem.

Is this for real?!

15 weeks (before we told anyone)

We took a few pictures for Amber's portfolio

She's a great photographer! Check her out: amber lynn

Second Trimester (weeks 18-28)

Definitely the honeymoon phase… only threw up a total of 5 or 6 times during the whole second trimester. Had my first doctor’s appointment at 18 weeks. Hiked the Y at 18 weeks as well. Ultrasound to find out the gender at 20 weeks. We both went in thinking it was a girl (but right before we walked through the doors I guessed boy). On a morning talk show (LIVE with Kelly and Michael) they mentioned something about "Camden” (probably Camden, New Jersey...) and I turned to Curtis and said something about that being a sign (since that was one of the only boy names we had discussed). Had a gender reveal party that evening with close family and friends (stay tuned for a separate post on this). 

Before the Gender Reveal party @ 20 weeks

Linnea, Me, and Crys

Chef's Table the day after we found out we were having a boy!

Took off to California a few days later to spend two weeks with my family. One week in EDH, a little time in San Francisco, and the next week in San Diego before Nate left for his mission.

Mother's Day in El Dorado Hills

Most memorable part of our San Fran trip? Getting kicked off of a Cable Car. Nicely put, our driver was not the most friendly man I have ever met.

San Francisco

Dinner at Mikuni (with my fam)

Birthday breakfast with Curt in La Jolla

Moments before Nate entered the MTC

At about 22 weeks that was the most fun to see my belly move as I just sat there and watched it. I would put a TV remote or my phone on my belly and see him kick.

We were blessed to spend a week in Arizona with Curt's family. Surprisingly, I wasn't crazily overheated (being pregnant and all... I guess it goes to show how much I like the heat ;).

Diamond Backs game in Arizona

Had another ultrasound at 26 weeks to see if my placenta had moved further away from my cervix (they were worried about placenta previa). 

Fortunately it had moved from 1 cm (at my 20 week) to 2.8 cm at my 26 week. They wanted it to be at at least a 3 cm so another follow-up ultrasound was scheduled.

27 weeks

27 weeks

 A few Nathan sitings while pregnant:

Provo 4th of July Parade

Swiss Days a few weeks before my due date :)

At 30 weeks I remember writing this little letter to the baby while we were in St. George:


Letter to Baby – July 21, 2012

Hi Baby Boy,

It’s me, Mom. I am 30 weeks and one day with you today. I’m kind of mad at myself because I wish I would have been writing you these little letters all along and taking pictures of your (and my) weekly progress/growth. It has been so much fun being pregnant with you. Really, the time has just flown by! I think part of that has to be attributed to the fact that I feel that I am not at all ready for you to be here and only have 10 weeks left. Of course I mean that in the kindest way possibleJ. It’s just that you still don’t have a name yet (maybe it will be Camden… maybe?). We’re also trying to figure out health insurance for our little boy and Dad is working hard to find a job. We also don’t know what types of things you will need. I think you’ll be pretty low maintenance though (fingers crossed) and we’ll probably just buy as we need. We have stockpiled some darling onesies for you. My favorite part of this pregnancy has been feeling you move! I absolutely love it. It is so exciting for me and makes everything feel much more real. I’m guessing it will still be quite shocking to actually see you though… I mean, I know you are in there, but don’t have a clue what you look like. I bet you are pretty dang cute J. I’ve said this all along (well, ever since we found out you were a boy), but I hope you look like your Daddy.

Much Love,

Mom

30 weeks - Tuacahn to see Hairspray with Curt's parents & Ty

Cubby's (with my fam, and Mark & Colleen)

Rooftop Concert (with Kristen & Spencer)

At my 32 week appointment my placenta was 8 cm away from my cervix! Talk about quick growth!

At our annual Lambert family reunion my aunts and cousins (namely Karen and Jenny) threw the cutest baby shower for me (which I sadly do not have picture of :(...) A few weeks later, my sister (with the help of great friends and my sister-in-laws, mom, and mother-in-law) threw me an amazing baby shower! (more pictures to come on this extra special event)

Things started getting uncomfortable and I started feeling bigger and bigger between the 33rd and 34th weeks. At 34 weeks we went to go on our Babymoon/2nd Anniversary trip. So much fun! (definitely an entire post of pictures dedicated to this one)

How I’m feeling at 35 weeks:

Belly button is definitely poking out

Minor swelling in ankles and sometimes fingers

A lot of back pain and aches and pains

Trouble sleeping a little

Baby moving around like CRAZY (especially every time I go to sit in the car… he just knows)

Fun to feel a little foot poking out and really excited to meet this little man