May 3, 2017

My Surprise Baby Shower

Our Life

raleigh mom and me session photo

They got me. They got me good.

Let me back up for a sec and give you the whole story.

Last Friday on April 28th my sister turned 30. Growing up in our family, April was Carter’s birthday month. She could do no wrong, everything revolved around her for the ENTIRE MONTH. She grew out of that a few years ago, but turning 30 is kind of a big deal, so we expected to see a little bit of it return. We planned to celebrate her at a local street party with all her friends, that just so happened to fall on her birthday, and added in a last minute birthday lunch for family. A few weeks back my mom called me saying she wanted to do a birthday cook out on Sunday the 30th after Carter’s birthday to have a smaller family only celebration for her.

I may or may not have pitched a small hissy fit. You see, my energy is non-existent these days, and our family time with just the three of us is running out before we become a family of four. I knew I had a wedding on the 29th that was going until midnight and would be exhausted the next day. I told to my mom that I couldn’t commit, I’d need to see how I felt, that I might need that time at home, and the biggest reason: do we really need to do two birthday parties for Carter!! I even went so far as to tell Carter that while I love her an all…wasn’t she a little old for TWO parties?!

Then came the morning of the 30th. As expected I could barely get out of bed. I found myself too tired and sore to move, but strangely awake after only 4.5 hours of sleep. I decided to get up and as a family we went strawberry picking. Coming home from our outing, Ada choked on snack and threw up all over her car seat as she coughed it up. So now, not only was I exhausted and needing a nap, I had a car seat and toddler to clean. We got it all cleaned up, put Ada down for a nap around 2PM, and I sat on the back porch for a second still complaining about the party at 4PM. I decided to take a quick shower then lay down for a nap of my own, because regardless of how I felt about it I had to go to this party for Carter.

At 3:50 Kyle woke me up. I rolled out of bed. Makeup-less, I put on my comfy clothes, and begrudgingly headed over to my mom’s.

As we pulled in, I noticed some cars parked in front of her house. It’s not all that unusual on her street. So it didn’t phase me other than thinking maybe my step-sister and her family had driven in for Carter’s extra party. I got out of the car and started to walk into mom’s backyard. That’s when I saw my friends.

Totally confused about what was happening I asked “why are all my friends here?” And that’s when they screamed SURPRISE! I think my sister could tell that I was still confused, because I was standing there with my mouth open wondering why they yelled surprise to me at her birthday party. Tears started flowing as she told me this was my surprise baby shower. That’s when I yelled, “I didn’t get dressed!” Apparently, that’s all my brain could process right then, haha. I ran around the yard hugging everyone and crying my eyes out with the most happy of tears.

Carter and Mom knew I didn’t want a traditional shower. I didn’t want people bringing me presents and making a big hoopla this go round, but I was ok with having a celebration. They put a strict no gift policy on the invite and 30+ of my friends and family showed up to celebrate this second baby of ours! We ate good food and spent quality time together all afternoon. It was one of the best days ever!! I’m still in shock they pulled it off! I honestly had no clue until the second after they yelled surprise. I’ve always wanted a surprise party and this was the perfect way to have one!!!

Thank you to everyone who came and kept this secret from me. Thank you Mom, Carter & Kyle for making this happen. I will never, ever forget it!!!!

And in case you’re wondering, I’m no longer upset about Carter needing an extra party.

I only have a few phone pics from Sunday, because I obviously wasn’t prepared to photograph an event. So instead I’m sharing some maternity pictures Carter took of me a few months ago. Because every blog post needs some pics, and I’m running out of time to share these! I think I was around 22 weeks with these. They’re still some of my faves with Ada. We took our official maternity pictures last week, and I’ll be sharing those soon! For now here are these from earlier this year!

mom and daughter maternity lifestyle session photomom and daughter lifestyle session photowake forest mom and daughter laughing photoraleigh mom and daughter laughing photomom and daughter laughing photomom and daughter snuggling photobig sister kissing mom's belly photoraleigh indoor lifestyle photographer photo

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