Hoping to be Expecting: Saying "Thank You" is Not Enough

Lori and Frankie's Pink and Brown Ladybug Baby Shower Sept. 19, 2010... it's all for you Giuliana...

First, I'd like to say THANK YOU to our moms and sisters for making yesterday THE most perfect day!
It was everything we hoped for and and a million times more beautiful than we expected.
It was obvious that so much thought and hard work went into making yesterday special for us. I honestly can't figure out how you all found the time to be so creative, but we truly appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts, we love you all so much! You all went above and beyond, and although saying "thank you" will never be enough I figure it's a start :)

Second, I would also like to thank all of our family and friends for all their love and extreme generosity.
Again, everyone went above and beyond and I feel so blessed to have you all in our lives.

OK so pictures, I know you all want to see some pictures, just a warning there will be an overload of pics so get ready.
We'll start with some details of the day ( I have to show off every one's hard work)

Candy Buffet: HUGE HIT!!!
My sister in law Cheryl created this and it was perfect!

Favors:

Place Cards:

all handmade

Centerpieces:

Created by my sister in law Virginia, they were just beautiful..all my favorite flowers. I loved it so much.

Advice for the Parents to Be cards:

These were so cute, everyone wrote on the back of them and they were placed in an album

The Cake:

From my sister Josephine. I felt bad eating it because it was so pretty, but it was sooo good:)

And then there were games and chocolate covered pretzels and lollipops all courtesy of my sister in law Debbie. It was so much fun!

And my sister in law Gea handmade earrings that we gave out as gifts to the game winners.

I unfortunately don't have pics of these:(

Family and Friends:

My Mom and Sister

Mom And Mother in Law

Sister in Laws

Grandmas ( Great Grandmas to Giuliana)

Sister in Law and Sisiter

All my nieces

BFF's

Childhood Best Friend

Me and Tatiana-the greatest friendship that came out of this journey!

The Gifts:

Handmade by my mom

Also handmade by my mom

The Handmade Blankets:

The Holiday Clothesline:

My sister in laws put this together, it's clothes for all her first holidays starting from Halloween, all the way through to her first birthday...

Month by month:

Onesies from 1 month old to 12 months old so I can take her monthly birthday pictures, nicely equipped with an adorable tutu

Gifts for the Daddy:

"Going fishing with Daddy"

Let the Tears Fall Where They May:

Before I share these pics I have to write a little something about it. I knew I would be emotional, I tried to hold it back the whole day, but a moment came where I just couldn't anymore. It all just hit me that this is real, all our hopes, dreams and prayers are finally being answered. At a certain point I don't think there was a dry eye in the room... my husbands speech had everyone crying, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

It all started with my father in laws gift. I hope you all don't mind me sharing what I am about to share, but it meant so much to me I want to remember those moments forever, and someday, when she's old enough, share it with my daughter. After all, this is all for her, because of her.

A Gift from Grandpa:

Giuliana's Guardian Angels:

This was extremely touching, I will always remember my 4 little angels in heaven, and now thanks to my sister in law I have a beautiful necklace to represent all five of my babies, even though we will only have one of them physically with us, they will all always be in our hearts.

Blast from the Past:

My mother and mother in law are very sentimental. I actually can not believe that my mom kept this stuff through all these years, but I am so happy she did.

First came the hats, a box of hats, all new, with a cute poem.. and all the way on the bottom was a hat that my aunt crocheted for me when I was a baby

Then came a box of clothes that I wore the day I was Christened... remember this was 33 years ago in Italy.

My Husband's Speech:

At this point I had already cried about a dozen times, but boy did he make it worse.

He started off by thanking everyone, our families for making the day great, all our guest for being there and their generosity. Then he turned to me and said that the person he needed to thank the most was me, and that's when I lost it. He went on to say that he knows there were plenty of times I wanted to give up in the past two years, that I have been poked almost a 1000 times in my belly trying to make our dreams come true, and that he believed I never gave up because all I wanted was to make him a Daddy. While that is all true, I want him to know that I never gave up because I had him by my side. I had his love and support, with that I was able to face anything, and it got me through some of the most difficult times I have ever faced in my life. I will always be thankful for the man I married, the man who is about to become the father of my child. I am thankful that in the big world, we were able to find each other.
Giuliana, you are so blessed to have him for a daddy.

Then to top it all off, as if that wasn't enough, he got us a gift...