Probably the most exciting news for this update is that we’ve chosen a name for Baby Girl O’Hara: Ellen Ann! First name is after her grandma Ellen and middle name is for her other grandma’s middle name, Robin Ann. It’s fun to be able to talk about little Ellen, although the term “the baby” is still pretty standard.
Little Ellen’s room is filling up quickly! Sean has already lamented the fact that the women in his family have way more clothes than he does, and Ellen is still many years away from shopping at the mall…I think he’s secretly afraid her first words will be, “Coach purse.” Like mother like daughter, right?
We’ve been so fortunate with so many generous friends and family members, that we’ve hardly had to purchase anything ourselves. A couple of friends had hand-me-down baby girl clothes to give me, which resulted in a gigantic collection of onesies, pajamas and other staples; some still in the packaging! Add in the generous amount of gifts we received at our recent shower in Kansas City, and little Ellen will not only be much more fashionable than her parents, but won’t need or want for anything for quite a while!
Last weekend Sean and I made the trip to Kansas City to see family and friends, as well as for the baby shower hosted by Lisa, Robin and Katie. Christian and Anna flew up from Florida, my parents drove down from Minnesota, and the two Bottger families made the trips from Omaha and Lake of the Ozarks. Plus, my dear college friend Jess flew in from Cleveland on Sunday morning after being a bridesmaid in a wedding the night before! It was so great to see so many people and catch up with everyone. The weekend totally flew by! We arrived Friday night, spent most of Saturday at Katie and Adam’s house (they hosted all of us for a delicious cookout lunch), had dinner with the Coxes on Saturday, had the shower on Sunday, then had a wonderful dinner with all the family members at Jim and Robin’s on Sunday night. Next thing we knew, we were flying back to Phoenix on Monday afternoon. A big thanks to everyone who made the trip to KC to see us, as well as for all the wonderful well wishes and generous baby gifts. We are always reminded of just how fortunate and blessed we are to have the family and friends we do.
Although we might be slowly slipping into the black hole of all things baby, we have managed to continue to lead fairly normal lives. As season ticket holders for ASU baseball, we’ve enjoyed attending games and watching the Sun Devils during this great winning season. We’ve even wrangled Brinkley into fandom, torturing him to pose for a photo with a mini ASU baseball helmet on. What’s cuter than a cute dog wearing a cute hat, right? We also had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see President Obama speak at ASU commencement. While my little point and shoot didn’t quite do it justice, I did take a few photos of the President on the big screen. After dreading what could have been a two hour security line, we were pleasantly surprised to find it only took a few minutes to get into Sun Devil Stadium. What wasn’t quite as pleasant was waiting for three hours for the speech (or the 90 minute wait at the concession stand to get some dinner). But it was all worth it. His comments were inspiring, funny, and touching. Also, although I'm more a mom-to-be than mother right now, Sean sent me a beautiful flower arrangement for Mother's Day. What a guy!
The next few months bring a lot of preparation, but we’re excited! In the meantime, we’ll be cheering on the Sun Devils as they try to make their way to Omaha; the first regional game is tomorrow here in Tempe!
Enjoy the photos below (including a shot of my favorite outfit from the shower)...lots of stuff in the baby room and we haven't even put the crib in yet!
