Baby Shower #2 and Some Special Visitors

This weekend, I had my second baby shower celebration. The girls in my small group at church hosted a sweet luncheon to celebrate the coming arrival of the little ladies. They made a vegetarian Ethiopian stew for a lunch called Aleecha (along with some incredible lavender scones). The stew was so good. Thanks to Jenny and Sheryl for taking on this culinary adventure! Also, they gave me a beautiful scrapbook with messages welcoming the girls and lots of great books for their library. They had even included name plates for the books with the girls' names on them and sweet messages - many from their kids - saying how excited they were to meet them. One of the most creative gifts came from Tami (our crafty friend) who is making the girls little aprons for cooking with Mommy in the kitchen. So fun! I was so honored that these sweet girls - most of whom have many Mommy duties of their own - would take the time out their busy weekend to honor me with such a special girls' day.

We also had some of our dearest friends from out of town visit this weekend. They also have two little girls - one of whom is just a bit older than Little Miss J. It was fun to see some of the things we have collected so far being used by an actual kid! It was very fun serving morning oatmeal to a little person at our new little table! Little Miss F (our friends' daughter) and her baby sister were kind enough to endure a day of returns and purchases at Babies-R-Us, Target and Costco. Little Miss F asked all about my girls and provided some 3 year old guidance on what toys she thought they would enjoy. Thanks also to Mama Laura who provided lots of great Mom Wisdom about all kinds of things. While at Costco, we found a doll that both Laura and I agreed we could not pass up. She is so beautiful and looks a bit like my Ethiopian beauties! Davis also enjoyed practicing his Daddy skills with our little visitors. He's going to be a great dad.

I'll close with a quick invitation. If you haven't seen this video yet, please check it out. It's from my hero, Tom Davis, and the ministry of Children's HopeChest. They are currently launching a new outreach in Ethiopia and they are looking for people to sponsor Ethiopian orphans for just a little over $30 a month. Talk about a great investment!