Showerin' the Babe.

Saturday was the day for all things beautiful.

Saturday was my baby shower and it was beyond awesome.

My sister Cat had the hard task of organizing the shower and juggling it with moving half way across the globe, from Ireland to Perth, at the same time. She is a gem I tell you.

The Husband, Mum, Cat & Joseph really pulled through to make sure that we had our house presentable for the 30 odd women who came to celebrate with us.
Joseph may be a dirty, rough removalist but he is damn well effective, practically free and made sure that we had our nursery furniture, fridge, dining table and mattress in time and Mum and Cat worked to the bone to get things clean and organized for me, forcing me to sit around with my swollen feet up - family are everything.

It's amazing how everyone pulls together and really helps out, lots of my friends baked things for the shower and came early to help out. I love them all I tell ya.

Thanks to Cotton Socks for taking the majority of these photos for me!

Cat contacted the etsy seller behind Pretty Little Papers who I purchased my invite from and had her custom make labels and signage to match which turned out beautifully.

It was freaking hot in Melbourne though. About 35 which felt like 45 if you ask me. 

Our little home has two air cons in the living area and we intended for the party to be an inside/outside shindig but believe me, every man and his dog wanted to be inside near the air con so we ended up being inside majority of the time.  

Nobody was going to go home hungry, believe me.  

We are still eating the food now and it still tastes just as good.

Everyone was so incredibly generous with presents, I was shocked and overwhelmed. 

I will have to take photos of some of the items to show you but will save that for another blog post.

I just cannot believe that people baked, helped set up/clean up and bought the baby presents - people are amazing.  

These were made by Blithely Unawares rather talented better half - trust me, they tasted as good as they looked.

I wonder if she took her board home. I cant see it so am guessing she did. 

Okay people, see Laura (on the very right) - she lives in Sydney and flew down to surprise me!! She had obviously RSVP'd a No as she lives in Syd and will be coming down in a months time to meet the baby, so I just had no idea that she would be here. 

I was standing in the kitchen when she tapped me on the back and said "Hi Mez!" I said hi and gave her a kiss, and then my slow and overheated brain started to kick in and it dawned on me that she was not meant to be here, but here she is standing in front of me.

I think I was in shock for a good 20 minutes and just kept saying "What are you doing here?!?!". 

Law also follows the What to Expect when You are Expecting app on her phone and messages me as soon as the fruit changes size (now a watermelon, thank you very much) and is going to be an amazing aunty. 

Thanks so much Law, you are such a good friend. 

I went to school with Sara, Sam and Laura and as we get older you start to really see who stays in your life as time goes by and I am grateful for the friends that have stayed!

So much goodness, not enough stomach space. 

These are Kiflice, which are a Serbian pastry and my mother in law fills them with nutella when she is making them for my family and I as we go crazy for them whereas The Husband prefers the jam filling but perhaps we were deprived of nutella as children and that is why we love it so much. 

I need to learn how to make these bad boys. 

I am happy to eat nutella with a spoon though if push comes to shove.

Raina is working the camera like nobodies business. 

Ashleigh-Rose is just growing up too quickly for my liking.

What baby shower is a baby shower without some games? 

As you can probably tell, we played the peg game where you started with 4 pegs and whenever you heard someone say Baby you got to take a peg. I lost pretty quickly, but not as quick as the two grandmas haha.

Who doesn't love some baby food smeared in a nappy? Mmm delicious.

Dying over these bathers that Cat got from Penneys before she left, I wish we had one here!  

Don't mind Cotton Socks demonstrating what my baby will look like. 

I hope she isn't this big though, that could be painful but it would guarantee an entry into the Guinness Book of Records and I just don't see myself getting in there any other way.

Mum slaved away in the kitchen all day and was quick to strip off as soon as the majority of the guests left and I was not far behind her, believe me. 

I am hoping my bra was not on show all day but if it was I hope people enjoyed the free show. 

I am sure you have all noticed the amazing flowers that completed the entire look. We had them scattered all through out the house and out doors. 

I had them done by fellow blogger Soph who really outdid herself - if you are in need of flowers in Melbourne you should definitely email her at jemappellesophia@gmail.com  if you know what is good for you.

I do love pom poms and I have decided that they should stay in our garden for good. Well, at least until it rains anyway. 

Leah and I try not to match but in our delicate conditions of pregnancy we cannot help ourselves.   

Mum tried to talk me out of wearing black but I answered that it was 'slimming' to which she just kind of laughed at me. Thanks a lot Caro. 

Casey is due with her third baby boy on February 23 and I am due on March 11 - in real life we don't look that different if you ask me but this photo definitely shows that her little man is engaged and ready. 

You can believe that she was here with her hospital paperwork on the ready in case he decided to make an appearance but we got her out of the house, baby still in her belly. 

Iced water, punch and champagne were the refreshments of choice.

Bathroom selfie. 

You can breathe a sigh of relief, we have a full length mirror in the living room now which will definitely become my new selfie mirror we just need to attempt to mount it now.

This is the ASOS Grecian maternity dress that you have seen in a prior post a few weeks back, but it is still going strong and serving its purpose.

The necklace is from Lovisa, I have gone a little necklace crazy lately as I am wearing the same dresses day in day out and need to attempt to mix it up a tad and I think I am achieving this. 

I popped down to Miss Fox in the morning to get a pre-birthing wax, (which was terrifying as it has been too long but Brooke was a star and calmed my nerves and squashed my humiliation pretty quickly but still...) and to have Luna work her magic on my face and hair and bring me back to life.

She asked what I wanted and all I could tell her was "please make me look skinnier" which was met by a side eye but a bit of bounce and some lovely make up definitely helped, I felt more human that I had felt in weeks.

I wont lie to you though, I had sweated all the make up off my top lip before the guests even arrived as I was sweating like a dog.

Celeste and Vanessa had to get in to position to make sure the camera had their good sides but those days are over for me. I only have one side, wide. 

Who doesn't love pop corn?!

More beautiful flowers.

We are going to visit my nanna (mums mum) at the cemetery tomorrow and take her some flowers so that she has a piece of the baby shower.

36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. 

I finally bought the stuff to start packing my hospital bag after my mum gasped in horror that I don't have it packed already. I still need a baby bath though. 

All in good time.

You better believe it's a girl.

All in all, I freaking loved my baby shower. 

I got overwhelmed trying to talk to everyone (and not sweat in their presence of course) but appreciated everyone coming beyond words. This baby is so loved already!

I can only blog when The Husband brings his work laptop home as we have not had the internet connected yet (but you better believe that Foxtel is already installed) so don't worry if I vanish for a little bit - I still regularly update my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages if you need more random dribbling in your life. 

Wedding Bells on Australia Day!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Australia Day. I got really sick of people posting status updates on Facebook along the lines of "Happy Straya Day C*%$" - I hate that language in the first place and Australia Day seemed to really bring out the 'best' in  people on my Facebook.

I had to forfeit my Preggibellies class on Saturday morning as I have had two very swollen ankles for a few days now, with the left one leaving me unable to stand on it - forget doing lunges etc.
My OB is not concerned, and after not walking on it much for two days it has finally gone back to normal, and I no longer suffer from 'Shrek Feet'.

My cousin got married on Saturday and whilst The Husband and my In Laws painted our new house all day, I attended the wedding husbandless and my brothers friend who was sitting next to me quickly got mistaken as my husband all night long.

Mum is back from Perth for the wedding and it seems that she has developed a knack for stating the obvious, introducing me to people as "This is my youngest daughter, Maryanne, she is WITH CHILD" - Thanks captain obvious mum.

Look, I am warning you now, there are to be no more photos of me on this blog for the rest of my pregnancy unless they are heavily photoshopped to look like my previous self - now, to learn to photoshop.

I cannot deal with the forever reminder of this puffer fish face.

I swear, I look in the mirror and laugh at this new face. 

I'm wearing an ASOS maternity dress which was about $35 on sale. I didn't try it on before the day and it was too long but I had no staples handy to quickly hem it, ha. 

My clutch is from Sussan and is bulging as it is full of make up and skin care to take to Geelong with me after the wedding. Necklace from Lord & Taylor in NYC.

I changed to my green Kate Spade necklace for the reception but have no good photos. 

The lovely bride and groom!! 

Mum, Joseph, Emma, Lucas and I. 

As you can see - Lucas is back home safe and sound from Afghanistan so that is one thing I can check off my daily worry list. 

Now, we need Cathy to arrive safely (moving back next week) and that's my mums side of my siblings home at last!

The reception was at The Willows on St Kilda Road which is a lovely venue even if Joey did think it was a bit of a cliche to have willow trees there hahaaha.

I love the idea of candles in tea cups. 

I don't know what the heck this is, but Joey (who rather likes the fact that I mention him on here) has the following to say:

It was weird, but I liked it.

Some form of salmon and pate roll.

Potato gnocchi with burnt butter sauce

This sauce was delicious but the gnocchi was way too gluggy and you needed water to choke it down. 

Joey: Tasted nice but was a cheap cut and was too fatty.

When my Barramundi came out I had to forfeit and hand it to Joey as the smell was killing me, there was nothing wrong with it at all it was just my pregnancy bionic nostrils not agreeing. 

Vanilla Bean Pannacotta 

Yep, that's right - I've had it twice in one week. Hell yes.

This was good. I had intentions of eating two servings as some people had left by the time it came out but I refrained - looking at photos of me taken during the night (which will never see the light of day thank you very much) quickly made me change my mind.  

Soap for bonbonniere. 

Such a cute cake! 

I didn't get to have any as I left just before it was served but it looked lovely.

Catriona Rowntree for Target

Self restraint.

Something that I do not have, may never acquire but will definitely need to teach my children.

Finding out that we are having a girl (even though the stories that everyone tells me about knowing someone who was expecting a girl, but then a girl with a willy popped out are staying in my mind) has been an expensive exercise. 

I cant walk past kids clothes without having a squizz and it is rare that I walk away empty handed but at least I am buying things for 12 months and up now, having to consult my note book about what season/temperature it is going to be for what age bracket to make sure I am buying weather appropriate clothes.

These are from the Catriona Rowntree for Target collection and I could not say No to their cherry prints and gorgeous classic cuts.  I am living vicariously through the baby. 

The Husband wants to know why they all have cherries on them. I don't know why, but who doesn't like cherries? 

I might blog some of the other baby clothes that I have as I am running out of things to blog about now that my life includes repeating stretchy outfits and sleeping and that is pretty much it. 

This isn't on the website for some reason so I can't tell you what it is called but it was $24 I think and then everything had 20% off and a roaming Santa and his Elf also gave me a $10 off flier.

I don't know why but I see Santa coming towards me and my impulse is to duck and hide. 

The baby will hopefully be wearing this stuff around the 2013 Christmas Time and I imagine it will not be crisp and white for long, but maybe long enough to snap a photo or two!

I think white and red look beautiful on a baby for Christmas, and she may even end up wearing one of these in her first photo with Santa. Or maybe an elf costume with elf ears because it would be hilarious and even more so if she was crying in the photo.

I just cannot wait for next Christmas!!! 

Catriona Rowntree Navy and White Romper $20.30

Cannot work out why this would be called "Navy and White Romper" online but whatever floats their boats I guess.

Cute little knicker bockers!! 

I even love the coat hangers that they came on.

Catriona Rowntree Cherry Romper with Frill $19.20

The cotton that these are made in is really soft and the trimmings around the edges are not scratchy but when I was younger these would have driven me nuts so we will see. 

Catriona Rowntree Cherry Printed Romper - sold out online

As you can see, I really like cherries.

It seems that spending money on the baby is a lot more fun than spending money on myself. Even The Husband is on board ha. 

I bought this dress a few years back from ASOS despite it being maternity but it appears to have worked out in the end anyway as I have gotten use out of whilst not up the duff and up the duff. 

Showing you my poking stick the day before our wedding. 

I need to go and get fitted for some new maternity bras quick smart because the ones I am in now are suffocating me and are giving me back fat. I am spreading growing too fast. These things are pricey and the amount that I have already worn are insane.

I think my belly looks different shape depending on what side you look at. 

Pumpkin belly.