blessings poured out as showers continue

As recent as a few months ago, I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that a new baby requires. College and weddings may cost a good chunk of change, but at least you have 18+ years to plan and save. Baby's cost a lot of money out of the gate and you only really have 9-10 months of planning time. I wasn't stressed out (1. that's not in my nature and 2. my trust is in the Lord) but I was definitely overwhelmed by the thought of all the things we would need to buy. I mean, we had absolutely no furniture, clothes, diapers, strollers, etc. And all of those things add up financially.

Fast forward with me to today and we are all set with the furniture, we have plenty of clothes, we have a good starting supply of diapers, we have a travel system stroller AND a jogger stroller and so many other things our daughter will benefit from having. So, how did our situation change so drastically over the last few months? The most important words we can ever depend on (after God, of course): loving friends and family.

The main way our friends and family have been a blessing to us is through baby showers. With our most recent surprise shower (and probably most unique), we have had 5 such baby showers. Here's the quick breakdown:

1. Polly's mom threw her a baby shower in New Jersey in the beginning of November
2. Our church threw Polly a baby shower the first weekend of December
3. Polly's school surprised her (though I was in on it) with a baby shower a couple of days later
4. My mom threw us a baby shower in Malden the second weekend of December
5. My friends from my old work location (Waltham) threw together a baby shower of sorts just yesterday. They took a donation for a gift card, all signed a card and even had a cake (a gathering of people with gifts and a cake has to constitute a shower). The only thing missing at the party was Polly and me. They knew I wouldn't be able to make it but had a cake anyway. Then sent a good-size piece of the cake along with the card. Classic. For a change, I can honestly say I was surprised.

And all of this doesn't even count the other group from Waltham that pooled together to give me a baby gift before I left for Northborough, the numerous friends and family who have sent us gifts in the mail or when they've seen us, left over diapers friends with a young baby have passed along, the Christmas presents (including "coupons" for any one item from BJ's for each month of the year), or the lightly used items people have passed on to us. And that doesn't include the inevitable gifts she'll receive when she's born or when people come to visit (not that I think people need to do this, but I'm not dumb enough to not realize that many will).

Our baby still has a good bit of gift cards and cash leftover which will come in handy as she needs additional things moving forward.

And we take none of these things for granted! We recognize how blessed we are! We have prayed that God would take care of our needs with regards to our baby. It is no surprise to me that God has chosen to provide through the love of amazing friends and family. We don't take these gifts lightly as we know they have tremendously lightened our load. In fact, we are truly humbled by the love and warmth we've felt. And we've acknowledged something in the process: Our precious little one is going to be well-loved and well-cared for by so many people. She will have the opportunity to share the appreciation that I've felt for these people for quite some time!