Jessica's Baby Shower weekend

This past weekend Abby and I headed up to Iowa City to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Papke a little bit and also to attend a baby shower for my cousin Jessica who is due November 8th with her first child.

Abby and I headed up Friday afternoon so we arrived prior to dinner which was nice so she could unwind and run around a lot after being in the car for so long. She has gotten very good at calling my parents Grandma and Grandpa. I think I heard their names almost as much as Mommy over the weekend as she wanted to show them things and know where they were at all times.

Grandpa Papke is in "catch and release" mode of small rodents in the back yard. He had caught a chipmunk when we arrived so Abby and I went down to watch the release part of it at Kiwanis Park which is south of our house. We were hoping to see him jump in to the creek below but he took a hard left to the bridge instead.


Saturday we headed to Clinton, IA for my cousin's baby shower. Jessica's sister-in-law, Stacy Powers, hosted the shower for both the Powers and Ivy sides of the family along with some neighborhood friends. As you can see Jess had a good group of presents.
Abby of course had to help write everything down with Stacy. She was a little too much help so we had to get her own pad of paper to write on.


Here is Jessica with more presents and Abby is checking out some of Baby D's loot.

This present is the first of the Power's family gift. A lovely dual baby monitor set.
This is the second part of the gift, it is a stroller that fits the Graco carseat in it. Abby helped a little with the wrapping paper.
Last but not least, the cake. As soon as Jess put the cake down Abby wanted to see it but couldn't see over the cardboard so she reached in and came out with a handful of frosting. Kids!

A little interesting family fact for you that some of the ladies pointed out at the shower. Jessica and I are only 1 day apart in our birthdays. She was born October 25th and I was born October 26th. Abby was born on November 14th (due date the 10th) and her first baby is due November 8th. So both of our first children will have similar birthdays if not closer if she is overdue. Just like their mothers.

Other than the Hawkeyes losing by 1 during the shower it was a very nice gathering. Baby D is now a little more supplied for his/her arrival in about 6 weeks. I'd say there are quite a few anxious relatives and friends ready to meet him/her when they arrive.