And so it begins...: Baby Showers

So my dear friends at OSU decided to throw me a baby shower on St. Patrick's Day.
It was very sweet and unexpected.
They were trying to surprise me and to lure me to the place they had some story about meeting for lunch...unfortunately August had been sick the night before and I was thinking of NOT sending him to school. So my friend Kaitlynn broke down and told me. Brent was in on it too, but he was at work while I was communicating with her.

I can't believe they were going to surprise me...I really don't like surprises. Especially when it means the difference between gross pregnancy sweats and my hair in a lazy bun versus actually showering and getting ready.

So needless to say, because I knew about it I actually showered and put some effort into looking halfway decent.

Some of my OSU peeps (and Brent)

Me and my hostess before baby bump

My family had not really mentioned a baby shower at all and for some reason this made me a little emotional. I mean I understand this is my FOURTH child and all, but it is still an incredibly wonderful and exciting thing for us (and me) so I guess I just wanted a little more hype surrounding it. So one day I mentioned to Jen that I was a little hurt that none of them were throwing me a shower or even talking about doing so...she then of course made it her mission to throw me a shower.

Of course she did not really want to make any decisions on her own...like do I want a party or a pamper day? Did I want to invite everyone or have it just be "us" girls?

So I told her I would love a girls day...it has been forever since I got to hang with just my sisters.
Pinning down a date was a little difficult and we ended up planning it for the weekend I was 38 weeks...cutting it close.

Jen planned a really fun day though. We went to brunch at Mother's Cafe downtown Portland.
Then we went and walked around Saturday Market and the waterfront. Even though Carleen and I split a meal we still had way too much food...it was good.

Elysia bought an outfit for the baby

We then headed to my hair appointment. This was a big deal because I have NEVER paid to get my hair done...not really. I usually do it myself (which has been interesting) or have someone in my family do it (which at times has been equally interesting). Still, the decision to touch my hair was not made lightly.

As usual I was getting SUPER bored of my hair. One thing I could always depend on was the ability to change up my hair and feel like I had a complete makeover. It was just so refreshing to do something totally different. Like each hairstyle I would find out something new about myself. I have been short haired Lisa, long haired Lisa, blue/purple/red/orange haired Lisa...you name it I have tried it. However, Brent and I talked about how much I love my Mother's gray/white hair, and how quickly my hair is starting to take on gray. I decided to grow it out. I told Brent to NOT let me do anything with my hair.
So to combat this I decided to try the ombre style where I color from the bottom and leave the roots of my hair alone.

Brent was not too excited, as he loves my gray hair...but he said to go for it. So with his blessing I told Jen to go ahead and make the appointment.

this is the picture I showed her...explaining I want it to be all blonde and fading into my roots...

All foiled up and no where to go...

So here I was...
I was somewhat happy with the hair, but I was also a little disappointed later on when I realized how chunky the blonde was...as it did not fade into the roots in a nice blend, but instead ended in abrupt lines across my head...NOT to worry. I have a kit and will be fixing it shortly. I had to wait several weeks to let my hair strengthen back up. All in all it was a great experience. I don't think spending over a hundred dollars on my hair is for me though...

From the hair salon we then headed to dunch...
We ended up going to the Olive Garden, mainly for their soup.

After dunch it was time to head to our grand finale...which was the Van Gough painting night. Where everyone paints the same thing with minimal instruction...and they have wine, other spirits and small appetizers.

I feel I would have enjoyed this more if I wasn't swelling up like Violet the blueberry girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...

Regardless of my swollen hands and feet it was a blast and we were thinking of trying to do this monthly...or at least semi often.