Baby Shower!

The baby shower was this weekend! I'm going to be honest with you guys, when the idea of a shower was suggested I kinda groaned. I am not a fan of baby showers and I'm not a fan of being the center of any attention. I have a weeee bit of social anxiety and honestly at first I was just like, "Can we not??". BUT, I'm so glad we did. Because it was lovely and so worth it. Big kudos to our family for putting this together. We had a very low key baby shower, which was more just like a party/get together/watch us open presents shindig. It was perfect. We had it out at my dad's place (which did so much good for my stress factor), and everyone just sorta hung out! We got to hug and chat and relax with people we rarely get to see. And thanks to my momma, we also stuffed our faces. And thanks to Brendon's momma, everyone (minus the knocked up lady) got to party with the aid of lots of alcohol. :)

Be patient with the photo quality. The weather was hazy and grey and thus the lighting wasn't perfect. PLUS I super slacked on taking photos until like the very end. Sorry for everyone I missed!

My handsome husband, boy am I obsessed with you. Deb, my mom-in-law got us the prettiest flowers from Comal Flower Shop. I loved it, because that is where Brendon and I got our flowers for each other when we went to prom in high school. HA! We're coming full circle, y'all. (But seriously, Comal Flower Shop creates the prettiest things! Thank you, Deb!)

Opening presents photo cred goes to my sister. Sorry there are so many, I just find so many of them hilarious. And you don't have a baby shower often so suck it up!

Seahorse painted by my sister! There were LOTS of Seahorse themed presents. We have Seahorse everything! I love it! Also, this is basically my face all the time. Forgive my puffy goofy existence, I'M PREGNANT OKAY?

Okay okay okay, so this photo is obv amazing, but this rocking horse. Not only is it super duper cool, but my dad made it. Like cut out and put together every piece of wood, the dang whole thing. And apparently it was a huge pain in the butt, haha. But I loooove it. It's beautiful, it's going to last forever, and I can't wait for Baby Hogan to play on that thing. I don't cry, like ever (unless baby animals or sad movies are involved), but I might have teared up when I opened this rocking horse. Maybe. You'll never know.

Kendra, you win for best packaging ever, also for traveling the longest distance!! DONUT BAG! I can't wait to see this guy pop up at family celebrations for years to come. Y'all reuse gift bags until they fall apart too right?

This is me, excitedly telling Brendon that I registered for a boy-friendly backpack style diaper bag so we can both use it! And this is him laughing, like, "Haha, NOPE."

GOLDEN BOOKS! My sister-in-law got us the sweetest collection of golden books (and a kitty cat dress to match one of them!). SO neat! Brendon and I are both avid readers, I can't wait to share our love of books with our little lady.

My dad also made this awesome mobile, Seahorses of course! It is perfect because I was just on the hunt for one! Also, taxidermied fish caught by my champion fisherwoman step-mom. Not a shower present, but worth mentioning.

SEAHORSE CUPCAKES! I looooove it. Seahorse everything!

Here come the, "oh man I took NO group photos and the party is basically over" photos. We missed taking pictures with my mom-in-law, because most everyone had left at this point!

This macho man photo was by request of my step-bro. I think he wanted to show of those muscles.

Don't mind my face. This photo taking party was devolving into a fit of giggles due to the amount of alcohol consumed by most.

My dad was really into comparing bellies. He really wanted to go no-shirts but I was like, uhhh I'm not wearing pants.

It was a seriously, very fun day. I am so glad it happened. I have to give a huuuuge thanks to my mom, my step-mom Lynne, my dad, my mom-in-law Deb and quasi-step-dad-in-law Allen for all their help. I have a weird crazy big family, but I wouldn't have it any other way. What is it Tom Hanks says in You've Got Mail? "We are... an American family!" Seriously though, those guys went above and beyond to make sure we had a wonderful day. I can't say thank you enough. PLUS, to everyone who came! Gosh, we have lived in four cities in the past decade, so our family and friends are naturally scattered across the state/country. I am always so blown away by how far people travel to celebrate these big milestones with us. You guys are such winners. And there were also so many people there with us in spirit! I wish I could teleport you all to me to give you a hug. Texas (and this country!) is too big. And dang, we were spoiled rotten with gifts. You should see all the ADORABLE outfits baby girl got. She's got more clothes than I do already. I have some serious laundry to do.

At the end of the day although I was drunk on love and good vibes, I felt a little overwhelmed and undeserving of all this generosity. People are far too kind. We are lucky to have such great family and friends who are really family. Sorry, we claim you! :) So thank you to everyone who came, who wanted to come but couldn't, and who spoiled the Hogans with love. You guys are the bright and shiny places in this crazy universe. We love you all. That Seahorse is a lucky lady and will be coming into this world with a fantastic crew of people who have her back. I am more grateful for that than anything. Hugs and more hugs to all of you.