(33 Week + 18 Week Baby Bumps!)
I arrived back in Charlotte today around lunchtime, excited to see Ryan and Sadie after a weekend away. As I mentioned on the blog on Friday, Chase and I spent the past few days in Raleigh, North Carolina at my Aunt Laurie and Uncle Drew’s house with my sister, my mom and my mom’s extended family.
My Aunt Laurie planned and hosted the sweetest baby shower for my sister on Saturday and was so kind to include a little sprinkle for our baby in the mix as well.
Friday
Friday was a gorgeous day and the beautiful weather continued in Raleigh all weekend. We lucked out with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s which was perfect for some park playtime with Chase and plenty of patio chats outside with my family.
My sister flew into Raleigh on Friday morning and my mom, Chase, Aunt Laurie and I served as her welcoming committee! Since Chase is 100 percent airplane obsessed, we made the airport pickup a big adventure and scooped Leslie up before heading out to the observation park my aunt said her two boys loved when they were little and had fun watching the planes take off and land. It was a great way to allow Chase the chance to run around and get some energy out while we chatted away in the sunshine before lunch.
We made a pit stop for some strawberries at a local farm stand before heading back to my aunt’s house. We dug into pulled pork sliders for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out around the house and prepping a giant Summer Chopped Salad (the recipe we all adored from my baby shower!) for our big group dinner since my mom and aunt’s cousins were set to arrive a little before 7 p.m. Our lunchtime meal also included some seven-layer bars, thoughtful cards and presents from my parents, sister and aunt to me for my 33rd birthday which was so sweet!
Birthday celebrations continued once my aunt’s house was filled with family and included a delicious lemon Nothing Bundt Cake after dinner, followed by games and lots of laughs. It was such a special treat to be able to celebrate with so many people I love!
Saturday
Our Saturday morning began bright and early. We hung out around the house in our pajamas for hours with my family before everyone got dressed for Leslie’s baby shower! Since Leslie’s shower and my sprinkle were taking place at my aunt’s house where we were staying, we were asked to “disappear” for an hour or so while some final prep work was completed for Leslie’s shower. My sister and I used that as an excuse to take Chase with us for a doughnut date at Daylight Donuts!
We received a text from my aunt around noon telling us to head back and we arrived at her house to find her kitchen, living room and dining room transformed into a beautiful baby shower, complete with pastel colors, fluffy bunnies and lots of food that made the whole house smell amazing!
Leslie’s shower kicked off with brunch and we all dug into quiche, a yogurt bar, breakfast casserole and fruit salad. I’ve already put out a request for my aunt’s vegetable quiche recipe because it was fantastic!
Once we were all sufficiently stuffed, we moved from the dining room into the living room and watched Leslie open some of the most adorable baby clothes and plenty of practical and much-needed baby items as well.
I think we all had a little too much fun showering my sister with gifts for her little one and I loved seeing her light up with excitement as she unwrapped everything from a new diaper bag and a nursing pillow to swaddle blankets and more.
Once Leslie was done opening her gifts, we played a few games my aunt organized which were a blast! I am such a sucker for shower games and loved trying to guess my brother-in-law’s fill-in-the-blank answers to some of the baby-related prompts my aunt sent his way.
After games and some sweet treats, we transitioned into a small celebration for our baby on the way which was so kind of my family to acknowledge and celebrate. I was very adamant to my aunt about not wanting anything too big for our baby and really, really wanted the emphasis of Saturday to be on my sister’s first child, but my family was incredibly sweet and sprinkled our little one with some very thoughtful gifts as well which I appreciated so, so much.
I put Chase down for his nap right before Leslie’s baby shower brunch and he slept like a champ through brunch and all of Leslie’s gift opening which worked out quite well! Chase woke up right before I opened the gifts for our baby and had so much fun serving as my little helper. He also fell in love with a couple of the baby’s new things, including a stuffed dog he quickly named Woofy.
We spent the rest of Saturday at my aunt’s house, soaking up every second of family time and completing a few silly gender predictor tests on me and my sister!
(This needle on a string test predicted Leslie and I will both be having boys!)
Since the weather was so nice, we managed to spend several hours outside on my aunt’s deck and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine as we snacked and chatted.
Sunday
Since everyone planned to hit the road and head home fairly early this morning, Chase and I followed suit and made our way back to Charlotte after breakfast. I arrived home to find some Happy Birthday signs and a few sweet gifts from Ryan for my birthday since we missed celebrating together on Friday. It feels good to be home and my heart is quite full after such a wonderful weekend! I’m hoping to spend the rest of the day unpacking and relaxing a bit and plan to stick close to home with my crew.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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It’s so sweet that you and your sister got to celebrate together! I’ll be having a shower for my first baby in just a few weeks!
I hope your shower is wonderful! So thrilled for you and your little one! Congratulations, Meagan!
Sounds like you had a great weekend with so much extended family. And being able to celebrate with you sister must have been fun too.
I’m just picturing Chase’s thoughts in that picture with his mouth open: You mean all these presents aren’t for me ?
So sweet that you and your sister get to be pregnant at the same time!
I live right by that airport park and it’s one of our favorites! My dad always wants to take my son anytime they visit. So fun celebrating 2 babies!! Glad you had such an amazing weekend!
What a beautiful weekend! Both your dress and Leslie’s dress are SO cute.
How fun that you and your sis will have little ones right around the same age!
Does your sister plan to find out the sex beforehand?
Nope! We are both going to be surprised!
Looks like you had a wonderful weekend with your family. You and your sister look beautiful and her shower and your sprinkle looked like great fun filled with lots of love.
Forgot to ask – did you make any homemade gift for your sister? You are so creative with gifts and I was just curious.
Yes!! Planning to share more about this soon actually! 🙂
Yay! Can’t wait ?
SO LOVELY. You guys look great.
I love that watermelon stuffed with fruit! What a fun idea for a shower.
Happy birthday Julie. God bless you!!!
How fun! Glad you got to enjoy lots of family celebrations.
My sister tried one of those gender tests on me using either my ring or my mom’s ring and it didn’t do anything and just hung there instead of moving. lol
Ha! We actually did it over Chase’s belly too and it said he is having a girl! 🙂 Not sure about the accuracy of those tests! 😉
How fun to celebrate you and your sister together – Congrats again to the two of you and glad you had such a great day!
What a wonderful weekend you had with your sweet family! So happy and excited for you and your sister. Glad y’all were celebrated in such a lovely way. Both of you look so healthy and beautiful! Hope you have a great week, Julie!
What a lovely weekend! I”m such a sucker for those old wives tale tests and I swear they don’t lie!!!!
It will be so fun to have cousins so close in age for you and your sister!!!
It is so so sweet that you and your sister got to celebrate together! You both look absolutely beautiful! I am so happy for you both, that will be amazing to each have a child so close in age! I looooove that watermelon stuffed with fruit, I had one of those at my bridal shower! Have a great week, Julie! Xoxo
Such a fun memory for you two!! I can’t wait to hear what you both have! No matter what, they will be the best of friends!
What a fun filled family weekend! It’s so cool that you and your sister got to celebrate together! You both are absolutely glowing!
It must be SO NICE for your sister to have her big sister guide her and commiserate with her through her pregnancy! Curious because you’re siblings – do you guys have the same type of pregnancy symptoms/nausea etc. ? Either way, as I said on Friday, I’m so happy for you both! Congrats!
Looks like a lovely shower (and wow, I love the look of that park! The weather looks soooo gorgeous!) Congrats again to your sister, and happy birthday again to you! Glad it turned into such a great weekend. Family is the best! Happy Monday.
Congrats to you and your sister! Can you share where you both got your dresses?
What a lovely baby shower and weekend overall! Nothing beats high quality time with family and friends on a beautiful spring day. Absolutely love the photos because they’re so vibrant and just express so much love and happiness!
Happy Birthday!
I hope you had an amazing day and birthday weekend! It sounded liked you did 🙂 I didn’t know you’re fellow Taurus!
Have a great rest of the week 🙂
Thanks so much, Nat!!