A Sweet Shower

Hi everyone! :) Hope all is well! Over here in St Louis, we have had the most glorious rain for the past two days. Thunder storms are by far my favorite and these were especially sweet because the sunshine followed closely after. Julip and I sat in our entryway and just watched the rain, listened to the storm, and smelled the sweet smell of the earth getting a drink. And we ate pomegranates since that is my daughters new obsession. Now, rather than my fingers being stained blue from blueberries they are pink from pomegranates. Julip calls pomegranates "pomkeens" (sounds more like pumpkin to me, ha). Anyway, I digress.

A few weeks ago, my dear friend Megan (who is also Dustin's boss's wife) asked if she could throw me a shower. I had not even thought about a shower 1) because this is our second baby, 2) because this is our second baby GIRL, and 3) people at our church don't do that kind of thing... I was definitely flattered and filled with warmth! And of course I said, "Of course!!!" :)

isn't this beautiful? 

It turned out that the same weeked of the shower our dear friends, the Jussely family from our home church in Mississippi, would be visiting for their Spring Break. Basically, Ellen and Mary Claire are like my sisters, and Mrs.Carol is like a mom to both Dustin and me! It was perfect to have some family visit and attend the shower!

I love this woman! (but I don't love the absence of bangs on my forehead... they weren't invited to the shower, apparently...)

Julip loves Ellen! :) 

The spread and some of the ladies just as the party is starting... 

Beautiful girls! 

My sisters! People asked us if we were sisters all weekend... I loved it! although they look much more related to Dustin then me! 

Megan did a great job making handmade invitations, hand painted decorations, and organizing the entire thing. The most meaningful thing to me is that she really went above and beyond to make the shower "like me". She asked everyone to bring a packet of spring seeds and I stocked up on so many plants I didn't purchase myself... including WILDFLOWERS!!! It was at a momma's house who will eventually have SEVEN children go through the youth group! She was so so generous to have us there... and her food, especially the chocolate covered berries, was a BIG hit! :) I invited people who have become my close friends and have reached out to our family since our move (about a year ago). It was so nice having all the ladies there! :)

 With seven kids living in this house, I'm sure this has happened many times before... but how cute!

 One of our friends has ducks and often brings me her extra eggs... that was part of her gift and clearly I thought it was funny! Yay for duck eggs! 

 Look how this little girl popped a squat! (and look at my funny foot posture)

 Speaking of second moms, dear Kate is like a second mommy to little Julip! :) I love her! 

 And this is our dear neighbor, Mary Beth! She takes care of Julip while D and I go on dates, too. 

 One of the house-host's children was serenading us with piano tunes and Julip was enjoying it. 

I also got some great gifts! A few of my favorites were new cloth diapers (!!!), this precious lenin newborn shirt with embroidery, an AWESOME Ole Miss dress (from the Jussely family of course) and an ERGObaby carrier, which is top of the line! I've already carried little Julip in it multiple times. It is so comfortable and easy and she enjoys being "on momma's back" as she says! Needless to say, I was blown away with the generous gifts from all of the sweet ladies. You can guess which gift was Dustin's favorite!

People are so good to us! :)

We announced her name at the shower... even though we still could change it last minute. Just like we named Julip because of where we were living at the time, we're sticking with geographical naming with this baby. So since we live in St Louis, the girl version of Louis is.... eloise!!! King Louis was a great king, often remembered by various proverbs describing a righteous king. PLUS, it just so happens to be my Gran's cousin's name! :) We love old lady names for kiddos... so, for now, her name is officially:

eloise caroline jernigan

I think it looks super cute in lowercase letters! Caroline is my mom's middle name, my middle name, and now this baby's middle name (Dustin gave me no room to argue, ha... I wanted to name her "eloise plum jernigan"). But it makes sense because both my mom and I are the second born and so will this little girl be! 

Nicknames? We live and play with an Ella everyday, so probably not Ella. There are countless girls named Ellie. We can't call her Louise or Weezer. I like El... but we've got to be a little more original than that.  I think we'll call her Elo ("Hello, baby Elo" haha) when we don't call her by her full name! But I'm sure we'll think of some names... like where did we come up with Jubie? haha

She'll be coming soon!

love, 

Caro