All good things must come to an end

The Sunday after the baby shower we had to start our journey back South. Even though I had a blast at the baby shower, in the back of my mind I knew that the next day I would have to say goodbye to my family....again. I was absolutely dreading it. And yes, of course, saying goodbye was horrendous. I.hate.it.

After lots of tears and hugs, we were on our way back to GA in our very pink car (YES! All the gifts fit in Jeff's car! Jeff is an expert packer!)

It was such a good week in VT. Lexi had a blast running around free with Sophie, Koda, and Lilly. Jeff had a great time just relaxing and doing nothing. And I had such a good time being surrounded by those I love most.

Crazy to think the next time I go home will be with Emma!

One of my new obsessions...

One of the highlights of our trip North was FINALLY meeting baby Cameron. He is probably the cutest, sweetest, little boy I have ever seen. Robyn & Ted are SO lucky to have SUCH a good baby! Jeff & I are praying Emma is a good baby like him!!!

Too cute!

My favorites!

Lexi LOVED him!

26 Weeks!

Feeling great! Energy is great, no back pain, & loving life!

Baby is the size of a head of lettuce!

Happy Birthday Dad!

After the baby shower we then had a 'surprise' early birthday party for my Dad! Since we were all together my Mom knew it was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the big 5-0!

Happy Birthday Daddy! You are the youngest, coolest Grandpa-to-be ever! We love you!

The BEST family EVER!

More Pics from the shower!

The Grandparents-to-be!

Beautiful diaper cake from Auntie Tina!

Grandpa & Debby!

My siblings :)

The Durfee girls!

Lexi had enough of opening gifts

Emma & her aunties!

Bruce teaching Jeff bad things....'the possum'

Pretty like mommy :)

Daddy helping make his baby girl's shower pretty!

Emma's cake!

My Alpha Phi loves....SOOO nice to see them!!!! LOVE THEM!

Lots of pink gifts!

My one and only <3

Emma's Vt Baby Shower

On July 7th, my Mom threw me the most incredible baby shower! It was such an amazing day, surrounded by family and friends, some that we haven't seen since the wedding! It was hard to believe that 2.5 years ago we were all together for my bridal shower....now the same group of ladies were all together again for my baby shower!

Most adorable invitation!

Words can not describe how perfect everything was. So many people contributed to make it such an amazing day for me and I am so grateful. Just to name a few names....Morgan created the most adorable fruit creation (thanks to Pinterest!). Tina was in charge of all the games. Mary-Jeanne and Maureen made the spinach balls (yum!) and my Aunt Mich supplied most of the alcohol and was a HUGE help setting up. Debby insisted on making her famous brownies. My Dad & Matthew made sure the house and yard looked incredible. And of course my Mom and Emily were the masterminds behind it all.

Morgan's incredible fruit baby!

The games!

Emma received so many precious gifts. I didn't think I would get emotional opening gifts like I did during my bridal shower but boyyy was I wrong! The first gift I opened that made me choke up a bit was a gift from Robyn & Cameron. Amongst all their adorable gifts was a recordable book for Jeff to record for Emma while hes gone...being in the military he is gone all.the.time and he can leave at any time for a 'longer amount of time'. I thought it was the most thoughtful and heart-touching gift ever. I don't really like to think or talk about raising our children in the military because it is a hard subject to grasp. I just like to take it day by day and deal with things as they arise, its the only thing you can really do. So obviously not talking about it, I feel like my friends and family don't grasp how different it is and how hard it can be. But Robyn, being the amazing person she is just knows, hence the book.

What really made me bawl was my Memere crocheted a beautiful pink blanket (which matches her nursery perfectly!) and put together a photo album of my baby pictures, pictures of my parents, and had a beautiful inscription in the front, "Started with love, continued with love everlasting, moments in time. -Love Memere & Pepere"  I still get emotional thinking about it.

They also had this beautiful sign made

 Meredith made me cry too. She gave Emma a beautiful Tiffany's piggy bank but what she wrote in the card really made me emotional. She wrote "I hope Emma has a best friend just like I do." Meredith and I say we were best friends since before birth. I was born in June and she was born in September, and we were friends ever since. Its really rare to be able to say that, and I truly cherish our friendship and our 'sisterhood' and wish that for Emma.

My fifi...LYLAS

Emma is a lucky little girl!

And just when I thought I was done being emotional, I opened my Mom's gift. My Mom cross-stitched Emma's birth sampler which was the same pattern as mine and of course brought me to tears because it was so beautiful, thoughtful, and so sentimental.

Emma's baby sampler stitched with love by Memere

I couldn't have asked for a better day. What made it even more special was having Jeff there. He was across the country for my bridal shower so it was sooo nice having him there to share the excitement with.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped make my baby shower SO special. Emma is so lucky to be coming into a world filled with such love and support. We can't wait to share her with everyone!

Baby Girl Has a Name!

Yes!...baby girl has a name!

* Drum roll pleaseeee! *

Emma Lynn Bender

A couple years ago, like even before we were married, Jeff had a dream that we had a baby girl named Emma. So since then the name has kind of stuck. Its just so crazy that we are pregnant with a girl! We like to say, all our dreams are literally coming true!

Her middle name, Lynn, comes from my middle name, Lynn! Plus it just sounds so pretty and Southern!

We're biased, but we think its the perfect name for our little peanut!