Surro Files - 35 Weeks At My Sister's Baby Shower

The Bun
Baby is about the size of a coconut (18 inches) and 5.25 pounds.  At this point all of the baby's major organs should be nearly complete.  Baby's kidneys are completely developed and the liver is functional and capable of processing waste products.

The Oven

Growing....  Growing.... Growing....  Haha!  Doing well with the baby oven till this weekend.  This weekend by pelvic pain kicked it up a notch.  I'm not sure what happened.  I could barely sleep with the pain and to say I had difficulty getting out of bed and walking to the restroom in the morning would be an understatement.  Let's just hope this change is temporary.  Maybe I slept wrong?  Not sure, but it's totally not cool.  At least we're in the home stretch, so if the feeling is here to stay then we only have a month to go anyways.  I can tough it out that long.  I might just need to stretch it out a bit more.  We'll see if that works.

The Happenings In the Kitchen

This week was my daughters' last week of school.  Lots of busy busy fun as they got ready for summer.  Movie days, Olympic Day, Party Days, and the Talent Show.  The Talent Show was the best part of all.  My girls performed the song "Let It Go" from Frozen, with their friend.  They did great!!!  I was so proud of them for getting up in front of the whole school to sing and they were proud of themselves.  I also got them all set up for summer school.  Looks like they'll be taking Ballet, Book Writing, & Edible Art.  Sounds like lots of fun to me.  Hope they like it!

As for me... I had another OB appointment on Thursday.  I gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks which was not awesome, but not horribly bad.  At least the nurse didn't say it was bad.  Most importantly, baby is doing great.  Heartbeat was in the 130's - 140's as usual and belly was measuring about 2-3 weeks ahead.  Because I'm still measuring ahead, it looks like we're going to do another growth ultrasound to make sure baby isn't too big.  The nurse did feel the head and thought it felt pretty small so she's not worried we have a big baby on our hands, but we're going to check just to make sure.  Yay for another peek at baby, and Belle will be here for that visit!!!!  Perfect timing!!!

This weekend I made my last trip out of town.  I drove 6 hours down to Southern California for my sister's baby shower.  I still can't believe she's due only a week after Belle's baby and I can't wait to see my new baby nephew!  She had a Lil' Mister Baby Shower, complete with lots of mustaches to go around.  I didn't throw the actual party because it would have been just too hard being as far along as I am, but I did help out with a few things.  I created a photo booth with lots of little props for guests to take pictures with, I made a baby shower sign, and I took pictures for the event.  It was lots of fun and everyone had a great time!!!  I still can't believe that the next time I see my sister she will either be in labor, or have a baby (depending on if I make it there in time for the birth or not).

The Chefs (an update from Belle)

"This week was full of more fun baby stuff! We got the: car seat, crib, stroller, bottles, diaper bag, and many more little items all shipped out! We also got another gift sent out to Chana- hopefully it arrives and comes in handy. This week, I was also able to change my flight, and will now be arriving a day earlier. The time cant come soon enough, I'm getting very anxious waiting around here!!!" - Belle

Coming Soon !!!

June 19th - 36 week OB Appt. - Just a routine visit.
June 24th - Belle Gets Here - Belle gets here to wait it out for the big day.  Lots of stuff to do!
June 26th - 37 week OB Appt. - Growth Ultrasound & OB Visit.
July 2nd - 38 week OB Appt. - Just a routine visit.
July 2nd - Adam Gets Here - Adam gets here to wait it out for the big day.  We're all ready to go!
July 12th - 40 week OB Appt. - Just a routine visit.  We will NOT make it to this appointment!  Haha!
July 13th - DUE DATE!!!!

Don't forget to check out my "Surrogacy" tab at the top of this page to catch up on any posts you might have missed

*Some of the names in this post have been changed and faces blocked out to protect the identities of those involved in this journey*

Mickey & Minnie Mouse Book Baby Shower

Ok, it's been almost a month since the baby shower and I'm finally getting around to doing a formal post about it.  I'm sure most of you know that I'm a surrogate, carrying a baby for a wonderful couple that has been wanting a baby for so long.  Well the big day is almost here and to celebrate I decided to throw the mommy to be a baby shower.  Since she knows the sex of the baby, but the daddy does not, I decided to make the party gender neutral with both Mickey and Minnie instead of just one or the other.  It actually worked out great that way and I love the way it all came together.  I also decided to make it a book shower, where guests brought books instead of cards to help get the baby's library started early on.  Check out below to see how it all came out.

Baby Shower Sign - First I printed out the letters using a free "Walter" font and cut them into triangles.  Then I cut out red construction paper triangles slightly larger than the letter triangles.  Then I cut out newspaper triangles slightly larger than the red triangles.  Then I pasted them all together with the letters on top, the red in the middle, and the newspaper in the back.  I then punched holes in the top two corners so I could string all the letters together on black yarn.  I also added a red construction paper Mickey face in the middle.
Tissue Paper Pinwheels - I used white, red, black, and polka dot tissue paper, as well as newspaper, to make my pinwheels.  You can make your own using this Pinwheel Tutorial from Whimsical Wonderland Weddings.
Mickey & Minnie Mouse Ears - All guests got their own Mickey or Minnie ears to wear during the party.  They were easy to make and I scored by finding a 4th of July pack of headbands at the Dollar Store!  Perfect colors and very inexpensive.  You can make your own using this Mickey & Minnie Headband Tutorial from Becoming Martha.
Book Table Decorations - I gathered up all the books in our house and made book covers for them using white, red, and polka dot wrapping paper.  Here is a Bookcover Tutorial from Paper Source if you would like to make your own.
Signage - I printed out various signage like the Mommy To Be sign above, using the Free Mickey & Minnie Printables from Catch My Party.  Some I added my own text to, so I just made the changes in Microsoft Paint before printing them.

Party Favors - I included a bottle of red nail polish, a nail file, a custom made bookmark, and a Mickey or Minnie Mouse Oreo cookie pop in each favor box.  I got the boxes from the Dollar Store and printed out the labels using the free printable I mentioned above.  I also added a square of red tissue.  Voila!
Mickey & Minnie Oreo Pops - Yum!  I made these using double stuffed Oreos and mini Oreos.  I dipped them in melted white chocolate then dipped them in red sprinkles.  I added the white buttons and red bows using cookie decorator icing, and stuck a cake pop stick up the center.  To make your own, you can also use this Mickey Mouse Pop Tutorial from Vegetarian Gastronomy.
Custom Bookmarks - Using one of the free printables (link above) I created bookmarks with each of the guests names and a Disney quote on them.  I just made the changes in Microsoft Paint.  I then had them laminated, cut them out, hole punched at the top, and added a pom pom tassel to the end.  You can use this Pom Pom Tutorial from Eskimimi Makes to make your own.
Fabric Wrapped Pillows - I wanted some pillow decorations easy and fast, so I just bought some fabric, wrapped it around my pillows like a present, and tied them in the corners with ribbon to stay.  I also added safety pins on the back to keep them in place.  Mickey and Minnie were made with felt and glued on.  Here's another Easy No Sew Pillow Cover tutorial from Organize and Decorate Everything.
How Many Gumballs? - One of the games we played was to guess how many gumballs are in the bowl.  I found red and white gumballs to match the party.

Food - For the party I wanted bright colors with lots of red to go with the Mickey/Minnie Mouse theme.  I served strawberry, pecan, avocado, and blue cheese salad, a mixed fruit salad, a mini sandwich bar, chips, and veggies.  For beverages I served strawberry lemonade in mason jars with red swirly straws (not pictured).
Who Has The Sticker? - Another easy fun game we did was to see who had the Mickey Mouse sticker under their plate.  Before the party I stuck a sticker under one of the dinner plates on the table.  Whoever had the sticker under their plate won the prize, only guests didn't know this until they were already eating.  

Desserts - For desserts I went for a red, black, and white theme.  I served cherry jello with whip cream and chocolate chips on top, berry cobbler, and Mickey Mouse cupcakes.  The cupcakes were super easy.  I just used chocolate cake with white icing, then added mini oreos on top for ears.  If you wanted, you could also add bows with icing or fruit by the foot so some of them are Minnie cupcakes, but I ran out of time.  I also found the cupcake shells at Michaels.  I love the cute polka dots!  Check out this post from The Hunted Interior to see an example of the Minnie Mouse cupcakes.  

ABC Book - Our main activity for the party was to make an ABC book for the mommy to be and her baby.  I bought a red scrapbook and decorated the front with felt and white puff paint.  Each guest was given a scrapbook page with all the pieces needed to assemble their page (pre-printed letter, square to draw picture, and rectangle to write word).  Guests would cut out their letter, draw their picture starting with the letter, and write what their picture was.  They also wrote their name so that mommy and baby would know who created that page.  It all came out really cute!!!!  My only regret was that I didn't pre-prepare the pages more.  We ran out of time with all the cutting and pasting.  If I were to do it again, I would have cut out and pasted everything on the page myself and just had them do the drawing and writing.

Mommy, Baby, and I

Minnie Mouse Shirt - I got my Minnie Mouse Shirt on Ebay and paired it with a pair of white maternity pants that I got from Target.