loved.

this past saturday, i felt SO loved.

i feel loved on a daily basis; peter and piper do a good job of showing me love, and when school is in session, my kiddos show me lots of love. confession: i teach kindergarten because i need 5 and 6 year-olds to build up my self-esteem and give me lots of hugs. just kidding. not really. ;)

but anyway, i digress. on saturday, i felt super duper loved because my dear friends and family threw me the lovliest, most awesome shower. ever.

i think what touched me the most was that this shower was just like any other shower...it wasn't treated any differently because of the adoption and if anything, it was even cooler because we already know who choi boy is, and his adorable pictures were part of the decor!

when going through infertility, baby showers are so painful to go to because they are reminders of what you do not and cannot have. i was hesitant about even having a shower because of this, but my dear, dear friends insisted upon it and i am so thankful they did.

i can't even begin to describe the loveliness in words, so this will be a picture heavy post. besides, pictures are more fun than words, right? oh, gosh, the reading recovery teacher in me just cringed.

anyway.

pictures.

the yummy spread.adorable favors! it was a jungle animal theme, so these mason jars are filled with animal crackers and the tags match the super cute monkey invites.some of the decorat the start of the shower, all the ladies wrote notes to choi boy on these adorable hanging notecards that had different animals on them. can't wait to read them to choi boy!we played a game matching momma animals and their young. sophia and i won, but i let sophia take the prize. i'm so gracious. HAHA!then it was time for presents! lydia insisted on helping me open everything. she was too cute!everyone knows how much i love children's books, so we got lots of new ones to add to choi boy's library. one of them was "God Found Us You," a beautiful story about adoption. i bought it for stacey for her grad school graduation and have been looking for another copy ever since. sophia, not knowing this, ended up getting one for us, and when i told everyone at the shower about it, they insisted i read it aloud. i refused because i would have been a hot mess had i tried, but stacey so nicely volunteered to read it.we were all hot messes afterwards.

we got some amazing gifts for choi boy, but the best part of the shower was being surrounded by people whom we love and who love us:

my amazing shower hostess, tiff, rina and tina, who totally poured their hearts and souls into this shower and have been a constant support throughout this journey...notice tiff's skinny arm pose and the cool necklaces they are wearing! :).grace, who came down just for the shower and who has been a constant and faithful friend for the last 20 years...vic, who keeps me sane at london towne...amy and stacey who have been such a source of joy and accountability through small group...my fellow pw's who covered us daily in prayer...ethan, who has already promised to be a good surrogate big brother to choi boy...my momma...my aunt and baby cousin elissa, who will be choi boy's go-to baby sitter, which is so rad, because i was hers!and all our other amazing friends who have showered us with love and support and prayers and already love choi boy...
thank you all for making this shower so special for us...i am so grateful; not only for the love you showed me on this day, but also for the love you've shown us everyday throughout this journey.