We flew from Stockholm to Chicago and then Chicago to Kansas City on April 1st. We bought economy plus seats to give us a little extra room plus that flight option only had two legs instead of three for less than $100 per ticket which seemed worth it to us. Once we checked in at the airport we realized we were upgraded to business class. I think all pregnant ladies should get upgraded to business class if it is available. It was so nice having lots of space and a roomier bathroom that I used a lot on the flight. I went to the bathroom more on that plane ride than I have on all other plane rides combined.
Wichita Shower with my Roommates!
On Saturday, April 4th my college roommates and my sister-in-law Missy threw a baby shower for me at Jami's house in Wichita. They picked a super cute theme and they almost didn't send me an invite ahead of time to keep it a secret but then they changed their minds.
How cute is that invite? My roommate Kelli designed it so I shouldn't be surprised but I LOVED it!
The decorations were so cute. They printed pictures from our trips over the last 2 years and had those around the house as decorations. Since the shower was at 10 am we had brunch food. Kelli gave us the "You Are Our Greatest Adventure" print and as you know from my maternity pictures I love it!
Jake's Aunt Kathy, Cousin Amy and Katie came up for the shower. I love his Dad's side of the family. They are so fun. The last several summers we have gone down to Oklahoma for a long weekend to spend time with them and it is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. I can't wait for the next Knox get together!
So many people I love all in one room!
LaDonna was my second Mom growing up and I was so thankful she was able to make it to the shower!
Cousin Amy is SO much fun! I just love her. She drove up from Oklahoma just for the shower. She speaks my love language. #qualitytime
The roommates and the moms!
I love these girls!
Chris Mason braved all the ladies and came to the shower! He was the counselor at the first school I worked at and we've kept in touch even though I haven't taught with him in over 7 years. I was so thankful to have him there! He definitely added some spunk to the baby shower.
Getting some great advice. I can't wait to call these girls to pick their brains once the baby is born.
We were trying to get the baby to wake up and move a little.
Jake showed up at the end of the shower to see everyone and to help with gifts.
The grandmas!
Family Baby Shower at Aunt Sharon's House
They played a game called "Where In the World is Little Baby Janzen?" Emily had me send her pictures of places we traveled while I was pregnant and then people at the party had to guess. We also played a game where we had to guess if the fact was Jake or me as a baby.
Family Baby Shower at Aunt Sharon's House
My mom did a great job on the shower invite!
We had Easter lunch at my Aunt Sharon's house on Sunday and after lunch we had a family baby shower. It was so much fun. My Aunt and Mom did an awesome job planning the shower and all the fun games we played. My cousin Danielle took pictures during the shower and there are some pretty good ones :).
The decorations were so cute! We had monkey, onesie and stroller cookies. My Aunt also made a diaper cake. The decorations above the fireplace were for a game we played during the shower. After the shower started my Uncle Tom took down all 6 items and we had to write down what we thought was hanging on the string. I got 5 out of 6 correct without looking at the picture on my camera :).
Danielle and Alex, the photographers.
My Mom and Aunt Susan playing a game where we had to pass a pacifier to each other using straws. It was pretty funny. My team won.
The next game you had to guess how much string would fit around my belly. Jake won and only guessed about a half an inch too big.
Lauren was also pretty close but a few of my relatives were WAY off.
It was so much fun celebrating Baby Janzen with the Jones side of the family!
A photographer selfie!
My Aunt Sharon did such a great job with the shower and the awesome games. It was so much fun!
KC Shower
One of my best friends, Jan, who I have known since 6th grade, threw a shower at her house with another great friend of mine, Nikki. I taught across the hall from Nikki for 5 years and she is awesome!
Jan and Nikki rocked the food and decorations for the shower. We had chocolate chip cookies, animal crackers, twizzlers, fruit, chocolate dipped oreos and pretzels and Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake! When Jake walked in he commented on how it looked like all of my favorite foods were just hanging out. Plus they had big gerbera daisies!
It was so much fun hanging out with these girls at my shower. Being away from home is hard but I love coming back and picking up right where we left off. Friends that can keep in touch with an ocean in between are friends that will last forever!
Nikki has the best facial expressions!
Liz works with Jake at Garmin. She is awesome. She is SO excited for this baby and that just makes me smile. She needed to see my bump as soon as we got in town. I can't wait to introduce "Baker" to Liz when we get home.
My sister-in-law Lindsay and my niece Jocelyn. I can't wait to be back to spend more time with them!
Best friends since 6th Grade.
A Few Other Pictures
We had lunch and dinner plans for almost every single meal while we were home. Our schedule is packed when we are back and we are exhausted by the end of the day but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just hope when we move back for good people still want to see us :).
The Boys. These four guys did everything together in high school, especially junior and senior year. Since Jake and I dated in high school I also did a lot with them. It was fun hanging out with them and their wives one afternoon in Wichita.
We had dinner with Erin and Sarah in Kansas City. We had a great time catching up!
Just a little Gardner Elementary reunion at The Other Place.
We had lunch with Kelli and Eli when they were in town. Kelli told me some exciting news . . . Eli is going to be a big brother! I told her I wanted a belly pic and Eli decided to join in! This might be my favorite picture from our time back home. I am SO excited to see this girl become a mama again!
We had dinner with Liz and Jon while we were back and played an awesome game with them. They also invited us to see Jon sail his RC Sailboat.
The day before we flew back to Stockholm we had lunch with my parents and nieces. Too bad these two don't like each other much.
Mi Ranchito with my parents!
We hung out with my brother and his family the night before we left. It will be so much fun when we move back and can see them more often.
Our last night at home before bringing a baby back didn't really go as we had planned . . .
First of all, we have an awesome tenant so when we come back to visit we actually get to stay at our house. We moved our furniture from the master bedroom upstairs to a guest room (which now has two twin beds and a queen bed - slightly crowded) so we stay there when we are home. It is so awesome sleeping in our own bed. We don't have Josh pay rent when we are home since it is more of a hassle to have two extra people around but we are so thankful to have had such a great tenant the last two years.
The night before we flew back to Stockholm I thought about how it would be the last night in our house and in our bed before we come back with a baby. I was ready to enjoy a full night's sleep before our long airplane ride as well. Around 1:30 am I woke up to water dripping on me. Thankfully it was dripping or else I might have thought it was my water breaking. I tried to wake Jake up but he was really confused. He grabbed a towel and handed it to me and then acted as if he was just going to go back to sleep and I was going to just cover myself with a towel and do the same. Once I said I thought we might need a bucket and to turn on the light he realized he should wake up a little more to figure out what was going on. It was raining and apparently we had a leaky roof that turned into a leaky ceiling. We tried moving the bed out from under the leak but we didn't have enough room. So we moved to the other guest bedroom for the rest of the night. The joys of owning a home.
It was so great getting to hang out with people at the baby showers and then again at dinner or lunch. I should have had some kind of "shower" every time we were home just to see all of my friends twice!
It was so great getting to hang out with people at the baby showers and then again at dinner or lunch. I should have had some kind of "shower" every time we were home just to see all of my friends twice!
Love the pic of jake pushing Avery on her bike. Adorable. I can't believe the next time I will see you, you will be introducing me to your baby boy or girl. Crazy. Love you.
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