My Baby Shower for Jilian Cate Rogers

My baby shower was this past Saturday. My Mom & sister co-hosted this event at my Mom's house in Bedford. It was really cool to hang out with different friends and family. Let's start at the beginning...

The baby shower was supposed to start at 4:00. Yes, "supposed to" are the key words here. Knowing fully well that it wouldn't start at 4:00, I didn't even get there until 4:20. (TYPICAL Hispanic thing to run late!) I thought we would run about an hour late, but we ran a little over an hour late. Excuses for the delay were as follows - Such & such got lost, such & such cancelled, it's too early to eat, the food isn't quite ready, my mom isn't dressed with make-up on, "just let people talk & get to know each other" <---my mother...the excuses were endless, but nothing that I am not used to. There were some margaritas that people drank, which I think helped.

This baby shower was also a co-ed affair, so men & children were welcome. At 5:20, we finally started eating. I personally feel like the wait was worth it because the food was really good. My mom & sister bought 40lbs. of beef, (I called it BEEF - are you happy, Andi?) 10lbs. of chicken, and she had someone make tons of rice & beans and some empanadas. Then we had some homemade (spicy a$$!) guacamole. I didn't hear any complaints on any of the food. Usually when people don't like stuff, they will pick at it and not say much, but everybody's plates were empty, and I caught a few people going back for seconds.

After eating, we finally got to playing games. Mind you this is like at 6:30. Most "American" baby showers don't last more than 2 hours, right? I think we played games for a good hour. There were games that were new to me, and a little strange. Some of them were funny though. Then we opened gifts...that felt like it was endless! I guess when there are 25+ people there - some of whom you've never met, it's hard to get through gifts and know what is from who. I got a lot of clothes and a lot of diapers which is what I needed. If my math is right, I will not have to buy ANY diapers until Jilian is 4+ months old! To those faithful blog readers, I thank you for your gifts. I couldn't show favoritism towards gifts, but if you are reading this, then YOUR gifts were my favorites...really! I think you know who the 5 of you are! :)

After/during the gift opening, we ate some Tres Leches (Three Milk) cake. I was surprised that my gringo friends liked it - so they were either being nice, or they really liked it. Tres Leches is one of my personal favorites.

My mom decorated everything very nicely. She really tried her hardest to make it look good, and I think she succeeded. She's like me when it comes to hosting with the mindset of "you can never have too much".

So the ending time of the shower...9:00! Yep - 4 hours! I think Jeremy & I left around 9:30. We made a run to McDonald's for Jaydon and 2 other little girls who hadn't eaten, and brought that back to them. Jaydon had not eaten since 12:00, so I knew that he was hungry. He ended up eating a 10-piece chicken nugget meal. Poor kiddo! We tried to get him to come inside to eat more than once, but he wouldn't. At least he was having fun playing with the other kids, right?

Oh - and the BEST part of my night was what my husband did. I have to brag about Jeremy because he always amazes me with his sweet gestures. After all of the gifts had been opened, my mom said that Jeremy was going to read something to me IN SPANISH that he had written. Jeremy doesn't speak Spanish, so I was in awe. Below is what he wrote, translated to English. He had over half of the room in tears, including me. I cannot believe he got up in front of a room of 20 women (and a few men) who speak Spanish fluently, and read this to me with Jacoby in his arms, and Jaydon standing next to him. He got emotional, and it completely melted my heart. That is one thing I love about my husband...that he isn't scared to show his love for me no matter where we are...
Jessica, I want to thank you for the handsome & healthy sons that you have given me. I want you to know that the new little girl that is about to arrive is going to be as beautiful & intelligent as you. You are a wonderful & special mother and wife. I love you with all of my heart, and I thank God for putting you in my path.

Tear jerker, right? It was for me anyway, as you'll see in the first picture below! (If you click on it, you can see the tears!) You really had to be there. It was such a special moment, and I will treasure it in my heart forever. Thank you honey! (Jeremy and my dad were conspiring all week without my knowledge, and my dad translated that to Spanish for Jeremy. Thanks to you too, Dad!)

Thank you Mom & Jessenia for making my final baby shower so special! I appreciate everything that you did to make sure that everyone was fed & enjoying themselves. :)

*A HUGE thank-you to Ameet Sandhu & Andrea Linder for taking the pictures. I know that I will be able to make an AWESOME book with all of the great pictures. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! *

Emotions taking over while Jeremy was reading to me in Spanish...

Grandma Feliz (Jeremy's Mom), Me, and Aba (My Mom)

Ameet, Me, & Amanda
Me, Grandma Rogers (Jeremy's Grandmother) & Aunt Pam

Ally & Me

Andi & Me
Sis & Me

Mom & Me

Jeremy the smart a$$ - getting in the way of the games! It was really funny though!

Sarah & Me - Sarah is my sister's friend, and I've known her for about 15 years.

Jilian is spelled with a "J", not a G - the spelling got lost in translation...literally!