Shower-palooza

It's been a whirlwind week, starting with a lovely, evening cocktail shower thrown by my former co-workers, a Sunday brunchy shower with family and friends, and a Monday shower with my current co-workers. It looks like a baby store exploded in the nursery. It was quite overwhelming in the most wonderful way. After years and years of attending baby showers, it didn't seem quite real that it was for me. Really? For me?! And I worried about feeling awkward opening all the gifts in front of everyone, but it seemed ok. It certainly wasn't hard to genuinely ooh and aah over everything. I cannot believe people's thoughtfulness and generosity, starting with my mother and sister. My sister has been shopping for our girl since day one. She is going to be the most amazing aunt. And I think we will have more things to bond over, since she and I aren't always very close. This will be my mother's first grandchild, and she is going completed nuts, in almost completely positive ways. She is not particularly crafty/domestic, but in the past few years, she has embroidered adorable tea towels for me and my sister, which is an amazing feat for her. She actually took photos to prove she made them! She definitely outdid herself for a shower gift. She hand embroidered an intricate and gorgeous Noah's Arc quilt -- had the quilting on the back handdone by a friend. I am not a crier, and I cried like a little baby. It is beyond description. My friend Kim will be my daughter's godmother, and she could not attend the shower (lives 7 hours away and has two small children herself), but she sent the stunning mother/daughter bracelet from Red Envelope (says mother and daughter in English on one side and Chinese on the other). Plus, the very fun Good Fortune Blocks, also from Red Envelope. We're going to employ them on our daughter's 100th day with our family, which is as close as we can get to the original tradition. I had to laugh at some of the "career callings" on the blocks -- should we hope for teacher, umpire or yoga instructor? A final treasure is a piece of Chinese peasant art that a dear friend bought recently in China and gave to us as a shower gift. It is a painting called "Mother and Child," and the style and colors are completely captivating. I couldn't bring myself to put it in the nursery, so it is front and center in the dining/living room where I can look at it all the time. What a unique and priceless gift. And I have to say that blogging buddies are the best. Not only did the dear Diana bring lovely items to the cocktail shower (adorable outfit, bear and fluffy bath towel), but she also brought me the most precious package with custom stickers, memo pad and travel journal, all with YuanDi's photo on them. Plus a onesie with a hand-beaded ladybug on the front. SO cute. And LimboForLibby brought us the Calin Yang doll, which I just adore. In fact, my mother rocked Calin in the nursery so much that it was making me nervous (she knows it's a doll, right?). It's YuanDi's first doll, and it's just perfect. I would post more photos but Blogger is being a pain today and will only let me upload the tornado of stuff photo above... So, I'm sighing and smiling at my beyond-wonderful family and friends. I'm completely out of adjectives. Drained. Oh, except for "holy crap," when I heard that some people in our referral batch just got their TAs and leave next week. Next week?! I am SO not ready yet! Holy crap!