And Even More Welcome for Baby Gabriel!

I went to Nancy's house on Saturday afternoon and walked in on another baby shower attended by New Hampshire family and friends! The amount of baby stuff in our house has just exploded over the last two days! Gabriel is definitely going to be spoiled rotten. One of Gabriel's ultrasound photos ended up being on the shower invitation. Allison is so graphically creative!

Gabriel now has a handmade flannel quilt from Grammy Abberton, which I noticed has sheep on it, my favorite. And Baby G has a handmade green and yellow traditional quilt from Meme Cynthia now too. And Shaelyn has decided to hand down her Cookie Monster and Elmo dolls to Gabriel so that he can have a chance to love them as much as she did. Ahhh! Not to mention Shaelyn is a great gift helper. And Karen's Mom, Nancy, crocheted a green and white blanket that is feather light. And Dale is very good at packing gifts up in the back of vehicles, and the front of vehicles for that matter.

We also have the stroller and infant car seat travel system now from Grandma and Grandpa Abberton. That is the item that most makes it real for me that a human being is going to pop out some day soon and then live with us for the next 18 years or so. This stroller has 3 cup holders and Aunt Nancy pointed out the large bin underneath perfect for shopping trips. It's a pretty slate grey-blue with a blue swirl pattern on it. But it's not an overwhelming boy blue. I'm going to get the base installed in my car and start driving around with the car seat in the back of the CR-V and let Elleigh and Lucas get use to riding one on each side, but not touching the car seat or the dangling toys. We will get a second base for Michael's Pilot. Does this stroller make me look motherly?

If you haven't noticed yet, I always include comment on the dessert. The shower cake came from Bread and Chocolate and was/is delicious. It is chocolate mostly with a bit of maybe mocha flavoring and both white and dark chocolate shavings all over the top. And I found out when I got the leftovers home that the part that "Welcome Baby Gabriel" was written on in chocolate was on a slab of almond marzipan. Mmmm! There is way too much leftover cake in the house right now.

Around the start of December, Michael and I will make a final trip to Babies R Us to pick up the last of the things we may need in the first few weeks we have Gabriel home. The shopping list won't be too long though considering how generous everyone has been in giving us stuff to care for our little boy when he comes into the world. And we still have some gift cards to spend on the remaining items too.

Zen Baby

This is the crib set that we have decided on for the baby. Well, Nana and I finalized the decision this morning, and Mike is indifferent. It is Zen Baby by Kimberly Grant, available through both Target and Babies R Us, as well as other on-line sources. The Kimberly Grant line gets a good review in the Baby Bargains book. And I saw some good reviews on-line by people who had already purchased the set. I like that this has boy colors, but it is not so predominently blue that I can't pull in the sage green and browns. At this point, we are still thinking about painting the walls in the baby's room sage green and getting a lot of green accessories. There are also a number of blues in there, so I can do slate blue, light blue, medium blue, teal, maybe even an aqua color. I don't think there will be any trouble finding baby things to coordinate. And I like the shapes on it. Nana is on a mission now and hopes to maybe find the set in Burlington or New York this weekend.

The Fisher Cats Game Was A Wet One

We had tickets to the Fisher Cats game on Friday night, but the sky looked ominous and scattered thunder storms were predicted. So, we decided not to take our chances at the game and instead went out to dinner with Denise and Shawn instead. It was a wise choice since the game didn't get canceled, but it did have over an hour rain delay right in the middle. It didn't sound like a pleasant time. And then the Fisher Cats got slaughtered.

I haven't been to the India Palace Restaurant on South Willow Street in Manchester in a long time. In fact, I think it was well before they had the small fire there and had to repair that. And of course, this baby loves anything spicy just so I will have heartburn, so India Palace hit the spot. I had the Non-Vegetarian Thali combination meal. It's a traditional Indian meal served in a silver platter with Lamb Curry, Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, Dal, Rice, Raita, Naan bread, and Kheer for dessert. I brought home left overs and had a little for breakfast on Saturday morning and I finished it for dinner the same day. I love the smell of the spices of Indian food. The India Palace always has something a little spicy and tasty that seems unique to me since I rarely get it. I did order my meal with only medium spice this time and I didn't end up with any heartburn.

After dinner, Michael and I took a quick stop at Babies R Us in Manchester. That's when the hard rain kicked in. We heard one really loud thunder clap that sounded like an explosion and set alarms off on the Babies R Us building and cars in the parking lot. We didn't buy anything at Babies R Us, just did some more looking around. Saw lots of cute clothes, but we are still waiting until to see if we will find out if we are having a boy or girl for sure.