Week 33 - Tea Party Baby Shower!

Baby is the size of a Pineapple!

This week your baby may be anywhere between 16 and 17 or more inches in length and could grow up to another full inch this week — especially if she has been on the shorter side. She weighs more than four-and-a-quarter pounds and is still gaining weight (about half a pound a week — weight gain can range from a third more to a full doubling before the big debut). With that much baby inside your uterus, your amniotic fluid level has maxed out at 33 weeks pregnant, making it likely you have more baby than fluid now. That's one reason why some of her pokes and kicks feel pretty sharp these days.

Baby Differentiates Day From Night. If your uterus had eyes, here's what you'd see: your fetus acting more and more like a baby, with his eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping your baby differentiate between day and night (now if only baby can remember that difference on the outside!).

Fetal Immune System Is Developing. Good news! Your baby has reached an important milestone about now: She's got her own immune system. Antibodies are being passed from you to your little one as she continues to develop her fetal immune system, which will come in handy once she's outside the womb and fending off all sorts of germs.

This past Saturday was love bug's baby shower and it was wonderful! I was so overwhelmed with the love showered on us from friends who worked hard to help host the shower, to the people who took time out of a HOT Saturday afternoon to celebrate with us. One of the Grandma's to be, Thor's mom, flew into Spokane the Day before to attend the shower and it was very special to have her there!

The shower had a "English Tea Party" theme and I really wanted to keep it feeling a little more grown up. We held the shower in my back yard and with the tables, tea sets and decor all laid out it looked really wonderful! Guests were encouraged to wear a hat or fascinator for the event and most took to the idea enthusiastically! I also requested that in lieu of cards or gifts, guests bring a favorite childhood book for baby girl. I LOVE that I made this decision as her book collection is already quite impressive and I loved seeing who selected each book. Ill admit that since the shower I have been reading a lot of children books during quiet moments and I am getting really very excited to curl up in a chair with love bug and read. Many guests ignored the "in lieu of" part of the request and also brought gifts for baby girl- it seems most people LOVE shopping for baby girl clothes-and who can blame them!!! hehe. Grandma Anderson has joked that I never have to do laundry!

The menu for the baby shower was all vegan and included: Cheeze and Cucumber Sandwiches, Chick Pea Salad Sandwiches, Black Currant and Cream Cheeze Sandwiches, Kale Salad, Pasta Salad, Fruit Salad, Salt & Vinegar Crisps, and a teapot cake and cupcakes! Beverages included hot English Tea (which despite the heat was still very popular), Iced Tea, lemonade and strawberry lemonade and Blush wine (very popular item...). It was a beautiful spread lovingly prepared by team-work of the hosts and well received by guests.

The shower also featured a headband making station where guests could design and create headbands for Baby Girl to wear throughout her first year. It was fun to watch the creative juices flow and I love now having such a special collection of head bands ready to go! Some guests REALLY enjoyed this station and created 6+ headbands! Hostess Emma lovingly took the reigns on making the headband station and I am so grateful for the beautiful job she did with it!

One of the guest favorite activities was the photo booth. Hostess Melissa put so much love, attention to detail and thought into this project, I can only hope that she was proud of the outcome and knows that baby girl and I will enjoy looking at the photo booth pictures for years to come. Hostess Stacey had the camera and tripod set up covered and it turned from something that I had no idea how to make happen, into a great guest feature!

I wanted to include a sweet little party favor for guests and found the idea for these candles on Pinterest. I attached some tea to go along with the theme of the shower and I love how they turned out!

Before I get to just sharing all of the photos, I would like to thank my fellow hostesses - Adrienne, Emma, Melissa, Stacey and Ally. They made sure the shower was beautiful and attempted to keep this mama-to-be relaxed throughout the process. These ladies hold a very special place in my heart and I know they will in Baby A's also.