Flipper's Shower

This past weekend, we were treated to an awesome baby shower by Steven's mom and sisters - as you can see from the picture, we enjoyed ourselves (note laughter abounding to the left). And to appease those who keep asking to see what I look like, take note of picture to the right which demonstrates not only my buffalo belly, but the approximate position and activity of its contents.
It was a beautiful and cold day, but despite the frigid temperatures, we were very happy to spend time with friends and family - in fact, we were overwhelmed by the love and generosity! It was a great day - thanks to all who were a part of it!
Alas, after a great party and some additional time with family sorting through gifts and assembling stuff that requires some assembly, we retired to our customary places in the living room, in our PJs, doing what we normally do on a Saturday night (hanging from chandeliers, making prank phone calls, egg tossing . . .) when tragedy struck - the frozen water pipe issue we were trying to solve turned ugly. Yep, the pipe cracked. Behind a wall. And flooded three areas. At the time, we didn't know it was behind the wall - we thought it was under the concrete. So, quick action stopped the water flow, Sham-WOW and a shop vac caught some of the worst flooding, and the patience and help of Steven's parents kept us in comfort while we sorted through repairs and clean-up.
In the meantime, amidst the chaos of our house, we were able to take a time out to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama all the while explaining to Flipper the significance of a day she'll never remember, even though, in a way, she was there. She was pretty active the whole time, moving around and pushing (she's been advocating for room expansion for the last few weeks - I told her "no").
All in all, it was an emotional roller-coaster of a weekend/week start but I can't say that it was bad at all - we got to see people we love, spent time together as a family in both fun and adversity, and saw history unfold. It's definitely a time we'll never forget . . .