Emma's Baby Shower

This past week, I was spoiled by my new-found friends in MOMS Club.  They threw me a beautiful shower and sprinkled us with so much love.  Becoming a mom has been so wonderful, but on top of that, I am blessed to have such an amazing community of women to walk through this season of life with me.  We are able to share, commiserate, vent and rejoice together through the ups and downs of motherhood.  For that, I am so very grateful!  God has definitely provided this "village" at just the right time.

As Mike and I prepare our hearts and home for a second child, we have nothing but gratitude for this opportunity we've been given.  The joy and responsibility of caring for and loving another beautiful little girl. What a blessing!

I wanted to document these photos for Emma, so she'll have them to look back on and see how young and vibrant her mom once looked :)

The mamas and keiki.

Such a beautiful banner by Jenna!

Gorgeous diaper cake by Deana!

Delightful wreath by Jenna.

Another sweet little Christmas diaper cake and cute snowman (girl) favors by Jenna.

Yummy and cute baby fruit carriage by Colleen.

Pretty flowers.

The gifts.

Lily apparently loves power tools (and watermelon,
which is why she was wearing a bib!)

Trying to capture some sisterly love.  Lily wasn't that into it...

Little does she know that she won't get all my
attention in a few short weeks :)

Me and Jenna: preggo bellies :)

Merry Baby!

Cute!

Notice the cookie.

The smirk.

Baby Shower #4

Teaching can be a very frustrating job.  There are some days you just want to BE DONE, especially this close to the end of the school year... especially when you teach middle school... especially when you're nine months pregnant!  I have to admit that I was reaching the end of my rope with my students.  Catching my breath and raising my volume has been getting harder and harder with the baby human growing inside of me.  Well, I'm happy to say, this week ended on a very good note!

Yesterday morning, my 6th grade homeroom students surprised me with THE cutest baby shower in the world!  I came in around 7:30, and they were all hiding in the dark classroom waiting to surprise me... I was suspicious, but still very much overwhelmed by the sweet gesture.

They had music, games, food and gifts!  Apparently the two girls who planned it sent out an email to students and parents saying, "gifts are mandatory!"  Haha, so funny... only 6th graders can get away with that!  It was also spirit week and "dress as your favorite fictional character" day.  That just added to the craziness :)  Enjoy the photos.  I will miss teaching...

The crazies.

Cute banner.

Cupcakes, mmmm.

Baby Bottle Pops with a sticker that says:
"Mrs. April's Baby Shower - May 23, 2014"

Yummy food!

Adorable gifts.

Happy class :)

Monkey onesies.

Mika's elephant toy.

Trajhen's cute clothes.

Chelsea's adorable sunflower jumper!

Mina's diaper cake!

Ashton's comfy head rest.

Noah's cute outfits.

Nanakuli Baby BBQ (late post)

It's been a while since my friend, Robbie, threw me a shower at the beach, but I never got around to posting any pictures of the day's events.  Here are some photos I wanted to post to keep it fresh in the memory.  Lily, is such a blessed and loved little girl.  We were so humbled by the generosity of our friends!

This was something I wanted to try.  I wanted the name thicker, but it's still cute!

Gifts!

Robbie's beautiful diaper cake...

Time to open the gifts!

Millie made the cutest Hawaiian print skirt with a headband.

Cheese :)

Mommy & Daddy

All smiles

Beautiful paintings for the nursery from Auntie Kim.

Arley holding baby!  She passed down a ton of clothes and toys!

Uncle Ben and Mochi

A guys game of horseshoes.

Guys can attend a Baby BBQ too, we just didn't call it a "shower" :)

A Lovely Weekend!

This Easter weekend was wonderful in so many ways!  I was able to relax, reflect and enjoy friends and family.  I spent a lot of time thinking about Good Friday and the significance of Christ's death and resurrection.  All sin has a price, and I am so thankful that my debt has been paid!!

To kick things off, Two of my wonderful co-workers, Sabine and Laura, threw me a shower after work on Thursday that took me totally by surprise!  All the ladies showed up and showered me with laughter, gifts, advice and a very generous card filled with cash from my colleagues.  I was so humbled and overwhelmed by their generosity.  It will be sad not working next year, but I look forward to this new chapter as well!  Here are a few awesome shots, thanks to Aiddy!

All the ladies... love them!

Zoolander... haha.

All smiles.

Aiddy found the cutest little slippers...

awkward shot ;)

Adorable.

From Brandi and Mila, so cute!

Easter Lilies from Wendy.

Friday was spent cleaning and organizing all the things Lily has received so far!  She is so spoiled already!  Last weekend was the shower in Nanakuli that Robbie threw for us.  Pics for that one to come later...  I went to Ross and found some curtains I think I like--they're deep teal like the ocean.  I still need to hang things on the walls and buy a dresser to store her adorable clothes, but at least I got things sorted.

Saturday morning, Kim, Brooke, and Esther took me out for a day of pampering!  They treated me to a Paraffin wax treatment and hot stone pedicure and then to a lovely lunch at the 'Ama'Ama Cafe at Disney's Aulani Resort.  Lily and I were truly spoiled.  It was nice catching up with them and spending some girl time!

We all chose very "springy" colors :)

Fun times :)

Lunch with the ladies.  Lily, your aunties can't wait to meet you!

After lunch, Mike and I proceeded to celebrate by spending the night at the Marriott's Beach Club in Ko Olina and taking full advantage of the Resort!  It was our "Baby Moon".  Some people have heard of it, others haven't, but it was basically our last night out together before Lily arrives.  It was wonderful.  Mike's dad hooked us up with an employee discount since he works for Marriott on the mainland.  We had a great time.  Pools, Jacuzzis, dinner at Longboards, chocolate souffle at Roy's, and a comfy A/C hotel room overlooking the marina.  Talk about spoiled.  The great part about it was that we only live like 10 minutes away!  Mike parked at my school and rode my bike in so we didn't even have to pay the $35 parking fee, haha.  

View of Lagoon #4 from the tower.

View of the Marina from our room.

Doing some reading at the "Reflection Pool"

Dinner at Sunset :)

To end our fun-filled weekend, we headed down to Makaha for Easter Dinner with the Garrett Family.  I made my first batch of homemade strawberry ice cream, the kids went on an egg hunt, and everyone ate too much food.  Overall, it was a wonderful weekend with my husband.  We are so very blessed to live in such a beautiful place with such amazing people...  Aloha.