Babies are cute

Giant ankles are not, but that's what I've had for about a week.  Mike helped me when we got home from work the other night by setting me up with about seven pillows to elevate my feet!  Also I did get to try out the nice new bathtub on Thursday before we went to South Bend.  It felt great.  If we can get the pool water back in balance, I'll try that too.

The game was great on Saturday - best seats I've ever sat in, although somehow I forgot about how that fall sun can be a killer when you're out directly in it for four hours in the stands.  So, I didn't wear my pink shirt the next day to the baby shower since my neck and arms were about the same shade :)

[caption id="attachment_210" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grandma G, Mom, T and me at the tailgate "][/caption]

The next day was the baby shower at Mike's Aunt Sue's house.  They have a gorgeous house in South Bend on the river.  I had never been there before and don't think I even knew houses like that existed in town!  They have that early 20th-century manor architecture and detailing - a bit European (like I could come down for tea and a murder mystery :) and a bit like Northwest D.C. estates (although way more space than even some of the nicer D.C. houses I've been in).  Anyway, it was very gracious for Aunt Sue and Uncle Paul to host.  I got to meet several of the Lawler cousins (including my name twin, the original Kim Lawler :) and see a few I hadn't met since the wedding.  Mom's friends Chrissy Klauer and her sister Tricia were there, Dr. Schuda from Columbus came for a little while, and there were even a couple of babies there between my 10-month-old niece and Mike's cousin Laura's new baby.

Theresa, Mom and Mrs. Lawler did a great job hosting the shower and I did really enjoy it!  T set up a baby present bingo game which I think people had fun with.  I got a ton of adorable baby clothes, bibs, blankets, and towels, so Michael the Baby should be largely set on those.  (Except that everyone keeps saying you can go through four onesies a day!)  I also got a boppy pillow, which is supposed to be a great support pillow for breastfeeding.

[caption id="attachment_211" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Boppy pillow!"][/caption]

I need to get to writing all my thank you notes now.  Thanks first to Kelly (Dan's girlfriend) for keeping track of who gave everything - it is really helpful!  Thanks also to Mrs. Lawler for providing transportation to and from the airport :)  We had a fun visit on the way to and from South Bend and thanks to Google Maps on my Blackberry, we even managed not to get lost.

I was so happy also on Sunday to get to see Whitney, who was able to drive down from St. Joe for the shower.  Whitney and I only get to see each other maybe once a year or so since we used to spend hours at Panera and Arby's in law school.  We also only have about four pictures taken together since we originally met (since Panera and Arby's aren't big picture-taking locales!) so my mom snapped one here.

[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Picture #4 of me and Whitney since 2002 :)"][/caption]

(Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it really hasn't been that much!)  I'm glad to hear she and Brian are doing well - they just bought their first house too.  It was great to visit so hopefully we can do it again soon.