Maternity Photo Shoot

So, being the planner that I am, I had booked a photographer to take my maternity pictures over 4 months ago. She sent me an email 3 days prior to our appointment to cancel saying she was in a car accident and is still in recovery. Although I feel bad for her (don't worry, I do have a heart!), she still could have contacted me sooner (the wreck happened almost a month ago!) to let me know. So with 2 days to find a new photographer, we decided to tackle the photo shoot on our own. Brian, my wonderful husband whom I love and adore, took all the pictures of just me/belly. My mom and my sister, Deborah, came over to take the pictures of Brian and I together. Brian got a fancy new camera for Christmas so he had a lot of fun working with the different lenses and editing the pictures. I thought they turned out FANTASTIC!!! Here are a few of my favorite ones...

Baby Shower

My college BFFs threw me a baby shower on Feb 12. It was perfect! The food was amazing and delicious, Chelsea's house was perfect for a party, the game was adorable and sweet, and all my favorite people were there! Here are some pics:

my beautiful hostesses - Chelsea and Emily
the beautiful invitation & "Wishes for Baby Hake" game

my ZTA Little came in town for the shower and made this amazing diaper cake

it was filled with diapers GALORE and many other baby necessities

Allie & me-->3.5 weeks apart

sweet little Al - she is 24 weeks, I am 31 weeks

Chelly & Emmy made mini macaroni and cheese cups, fresh fruit (always a must!), pigs in a blanket, meatballs, and cupcakes

old small group girls - Kara, Susan and Nicole

my sweet Elbows made Baby Hake some beautiful onesies :)

Allison, me, Amanda --> I did my student teaching in Allison's classroom and she was the most PHENOMENAL teacher. I stole a lot of ideas from her for my first year of teaching :) Amanda and I have known each other since 3rd grade and she is one of my dearest friends!

mom & sis (such troopers for attending all my showers!)

prenatal yoga friends - Allie (35 weeks), me (31 weeks), Nicole (37 weeks)

Baby Hake is already SO loved by his Aunt Chelly and Aunt Emmy :)

my wonderful friends and family :)

Baby Hake's latest ultrasound

I went to Stork Vision in Atlanta on January 27 with my mom and sister. Baby Hake was 29 weeks and so adorable! The ultrasound technician spent 30-45 minutes with us and we walked out of our appointment with 2 CDs of all 86 images, 1 DVD that lasts the entire session, and print outs of some of the best images.

Disney characters are a no-no

I had my first Atlanta baby shower this past weekend. On February 5, I had a lovely shower hosted by my best friend since age 2, her mom, and 2 of my mom's friends from her prayer group. These ladies have been a part of my life for a LONG time!
The invitation was adorable and they had cupcakes made to match :) I LOVE the little details like this!
Family (gma from dad's side, dad's 2 sisters and their daughters (aka my cousins)) and friends came to celebrate Baby Hake. I received a lot of wonderful gifts and had a fabulous time!!!!

CiCi & me

Debbie, Judy, Cindy (my 5th grade teacher & inspiration for becoming a teacher), mom, Maryann

I LOVE little Polo outfits! You can't go wrong with these! (To explain the title of this post - I am NOT a fan of baby clothes with Disney characters and the hostesses were making jokes all afternoon telling me they got me ALL Disney character ensembles!)

Lydie and her sweet mom came to my shower. They gave me a newborn session with their photographer (who is phenomenal) and my emotional pregnant self started bawling! I was SO touched!beautiful frame... I can't WAIT to put a pic of Baby Hake in here!

CiCi smocked this outfit for Baby Hake & it is BEAUTIFUL! I am so proud of her :)

Okay, okay... my 2nd graders aren't so bad

On January 31 (my 27th bday), my 2nd grade students and moms threw me a surprise baby shower. It was SO very sweet and thoughtful. I walked into my classroom, all the lights were out, and they yelled "Surprise!" as they all took pictures of me. Embarrassing for sure.

They had decorated my classroom with baby decor and served yummy snacks. They had all gone in on purchasing Baby Hake's high chair and diapers. Then, some of my students gave me individual gifts too!
The students made me a scrapbook where they wrote "My parenting advice for Mrs. Hake is..." For example, Cody wrote, "My parenting advice for Mrs. Hake is to not buy the cheap diapers." Haha. These kids are priceless.

Although I do complain every now and then about how tired these kids make me and how stressed I am, I truly am blessed by my students and moms! :)

Great Weekend

What a fun weekend! Saturday morning was Greyson's Baby Shower at Kelly Kakes. It was wonderful and she looked super cute with her tiny baby bump. She got SO many gifts and it was fun to hang with our high school girl friends!

Saturday night we celebrated my birthday with my family and went to Houston's for dinner. You better believe I ordered the baby back ribs and dominated them. YUM. Then we went back to my parents' house for gifts and cake (also from Kelly Kakes!). I got a lot of fun baby items and also a new digital camera from Brian. It was a fabulous birthday and I am so happy about this upcoming year of changes :)

On Sunday, Brian and I went to Northside Hospital for a tour. The tour guide was very informative and answered ALL of my questions and put my mind at ease. It was so helpful to see it all step-by-step, like which door Brian drops me off at, the size of the delivery room, the visitation rules, etc. While we were on our tour a nurse wheeled out a newborn (like 2 hours old) infant down the hall and it was magical. Brian and I squeezed each other's hands and we both knew that we were "ready." As ready as we can be, but gosh, we are SO excited and are counting down the weeks - just 10 more!!!!