Shower the baby: Part II

Olivia & I were lucky enough to have another wonderful shower this weekend thrown by some of my closest friends. Everything was decorated so cute and thoughtfully.

"Olivia" books for our Olivia:


Delicious food:


Cute onesies on a string made by my sweet friend Bethany


I had such a great time catching up with good friends and I'm so thankful to everyone who came! A few pics of the guests...

Wonderful college friends:


The grandmas!


My sweet sisters & mom:


Little munchkins celebrating "Olivia's birthday"


April and my Auntie Minda


Bethany and Palmer (who made his first flight to celebrate his friend Olivia!)


And we got showered with lots of goodies from everyone.

My oh so talented friend April painted this tu-tu for Olivia and another canvas with ballet slippers on it! (I've decided Olivia will be as girly as her mommy and I'm doing everything in my power to begin the brainwashing early! Matt is thrilled obviously.)







Finally, a huge thank you to my amazing friends that hosted the shower. I love you all so much & I'm over the moon that Olivia is coming into the world with such amazing aunts & uncles!

Nursery Decorating: The Tree

For months I have been planning and thinking about what Olivia's nursery will look like. Since our furniture arrived a few weeks ago, I was anxious to begin decorating. One of my best friends helped me find the cutest wall decal of a tree with her name in the middle. It was the perfect thing to go on the wall above her crib.

Now, I did not inherit my mother's "Martha Stewart" gene, so I was quite nervous about my ability to properly execute the tree. And...Matt is even less creative than I am and less patient so I did not have high hopes for him either.

But early this morning we set to work putting up the tree. We first cut out all the little pieces.














Then we taped the tree on the wall to make sure we liked the position


And then came the tedious task of peeling and securing the vinyl for all the little branches, each leaf, the birds, and each letter of her name!


Luckily we managed to get the entire tree up without ripping any of the pieces or getting in a fight. This is the final product which we both L-O-V-E. Hopefully Olivia will too! (If not, she's grounded!)

Olivia's First Shower

This weekend my amazing little sisters + 2 dear family friends (with a lot of help from my sweet mom!) threw me such a perfect baby shower. The food was delicious, the decorations were precious, we were surrounded by some of our closest family friends and they generously showered Olivia with the cutest clothes, blankets, books, toys and other baby gear. It was such a fun, special time and I feel so lucky that Olivia already has so many people who love her & can't wait to meet her!

The delicious cake + cute decorations + sweet presents:


































A few pics of the some of the guests:

The Andree family


The sweet little Cannon girls


Aunt Yasmin trying to feel Olivia's position



My sisters & I



My dear friend Lisa who was one of my best friends in elementary school!


Camie, Connie and Jan


My wonderful mom & I


Sweet Dad & I



Matt (who suspiciously arrived just as the cake was being served...) & I

Name that Baby + Father's Day special

Before we even got pregnant, we obviously began to think of baby names. Once we announced we were pregnant we got lots of inquiries from friends, family and complete strangers on baby names. So, the pressure was on! Being good, type-A personalities, we made several lists, constructed a pro/con chart and tried to think of any way we could to make fun of the potential names. But, after much deliberation & thought, we've come up with a name we both love.....

Olivia Jane Dean

We hope that baby Olivia loves her name as much as we do & we're excited to call her by her name instead of the random nicknames she's acquired over the past 6 months!

Also we're officially 2/3 of the way through this pregnancy - I started my third trimester today. When I told Matt this, he was able to clearly express our mutual happiness and anxiety about having a baby in three months with a quote from Seinfeld - "you just blew my mind!"

Finally, a special "guest blog" by Matt on his pre-Father's Day:

Hey everyone, dad here...

I was so happy to receive a card from my unborn baby for Father's Day. Olivia let me know in the card that she can't wait to meet me! While I was super excited to hear this news I couldn't help but flash forward 15 years or so when she is screaming at me for not letting her spend the night at a friends house because I haven't met their parents. I am already getting nostalgic about when my daughter was born and she literally hasn't been born yet. Still, I am going to keep this card in case I ever have use it to show her how much she loved her dad.

As for the actual Father's Day, I just sat back in my chair relaxing and watching the U.S. Open. I couldn't help but imagine how much different our lives are going to be just one short year from now! While I enjoyed relaxing and watching golf I somehow felt that I hadn't yet deserved the right to relax on Father's Day. I definitely believe I'll have a different feeling when Father's Day rolls around next year. In addition to my card I also got a pink shirt from Olivia and Persis so that we'll be matching when she get to be about three months old. Here is me awkwardly attempting to show off our matching outfits:

Pregnant Paradise

Over Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I headed to Palm Beach for one last "baby free" vacation.

This pre-baby trip has become known as a "babymoon" in popular culture. However, neither of us are crazy about the name. First, the name was most likely inspired by the term honeymoon - a vacation you take after the wedding. Wouldn't a babymoon be a vacation you take after you have the baby? Second, every time I hear the word I picture Matt pressing our baby's sweet little naked bottom up to the car window and laughing hysterically. Needless to say, "babymoon" had to go.

So, during our trip we tried to come up with another phrase that was suitable. Babe-cation? No because that sounds like a trip that Uncle Drew and his friends would take on spring break. Tot-iday? Nope, because again, that seems to imply a holiday WITH a tot - we are trying to convey the exact opposite. So, the best we could come up with was Pregnant Paradise. And...it was!

We stayed at the glorious Four Seasons hotel, relaxed by the pool/beach, ate some amazing meals and caught up with an old friend. Pregnant Paradise success!


The view from our room.



My good friend Corey drove up from Miami to spend some time with us. Such a fun day catching up and we hope to see him more often!


We stumbled upon this neat little garden when we were exploring the town. (Lots of flower pictures posted for my dad!)

Dr. Aunt Yasmin

So, this post isn't really about baby - it's more to brag about her smart, little aunt - my sister, Yasmin. She graduated from MEDICAL SCHOOL this weekend & will be back in Houston doing her residency in about a month! We are all so excited she is moving back to town & I couldn't be more thrilled for Baby Dean to grow up in a city surrounded by both our families. She is certainly one lucky little girl! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The doctor



Me with a purse well stocked with various snacks to get me through the 3 hour graduation ceremony (for some reason Nazreen was very entertained by the fact that I pulled a banana out of my purse)


Nazreen & I - excited sisters who will shamelessly seek free medical advice



The proud family:





And, last but not least, the DELICIOUS ice cream cake that I proudly ate two pieces of (but so did my mom!)