Over the weekend, I headed to Olney to celebrate Mandy’s baby shower. Baby Ginder is giving her a run for her money with bedrest at the end of the school year but overall, Mandy was glowing. Or maybe that was the 92 degree heat that was slowly melting us… Either way. 
It should be noted, my hand is hovering and not actually touching her belly above. I’m not a belly toucher! 
I barely slept on Friday night and set my alarm for 4 am. I was on the road by 5:30, after downloading the second Fifty Shades of Grey book onto my iPhone in an attempt to distract myself from the drive. The book did help some, but I didn’t even make it halfway through the 19 1/2 hours of audio. Actual reading is so much more enjoyable (and faster!) for me. I made it to town a little after 9 am. I drove by both of my old houses and drove through town. Seriously, Olney is like the Twilight Zone. It doesn’t matter how long I’m away, everything is still the same. It’s kind of creepy… I ran a couple of errands and then went to Spieth’s to visit for a few minutes. Mandy met me there and we headed out to gather a few supplies before heading out to her mom’s where the shower was held, poolside.
While I was technically the host for the shower, that pretty much meant I mailed the invites and wrote down the gifts she received. Mandy’s mom was nice enough to take care of the rest – thank the Lord. Coordinating a shower from 3 1/2 hours away doesn’t even sound like fun and Mandy’s mom is much better at entertaining than I am anyway!
Mandy is decorating the nursery with an owl theme so we carried that through to the shower as well. The invites had cute little owls, there were owl plates, and adorable owl cupcakes. There were even owl sandwiches. The punch was Pinterest inspired and besides looking adorable actually tasted really good too!
The idea behind the shower was an open house so guests could come and go at their leisure. There weren’t any games (again, thank the Lord!) but everyone was asked to make an iron-on onesie or burp cloth for the new baby. I picked the “Little Tiger” iron on for mine. It seemed fitting considering our history!
Since I assumed that Mandy would receive all of the items she really needed (or at least gift cards to buy them) I decided to buy her something silly that will serve no real purpose other than to look cute until Baby Ginder is a bit bigger. I splurged on this hamburger chair and I think it is absolutely adorable. Hopefully Mandy feels the same way! The best part of the day was just being able to chat with Mandy a bit. We email almost daily, but it isn’t the same as actual face-to-face conversations. Considering we used to talk to each other for hours a day, it felt a bit like a race to say everything before it was time to go. I left for home around 6:30 and stopped in Tuscola to walk around (and purchase some items for the kiddos). After not sleeping much the night before, the drive seemed even longer than usual. When I finally arrived home at 11:30, I was exhausted.
While I was gone, Mike took the kiddos to St. Charles to visit his family. They participated in a walk for a charity, had their faces painted (Clara didn’t want hers painted), and celebrated Mike’s Grandpa’s 87th birthday with a picnic at the park. We were all glad to see each other on Sunday.
It was a wonderful day. Thank you so much for everything!! Especially the advice and support
Mack is lucky to have such a lovely Auntie 
That chair is so neat!