Shower in a Box...Day 14

Today Baby Culver received a gift from his/her "Aunt" Andrea. In today's numbered box Andrea included these sweet metal word "stones" - what a wonderful way to remind us of what is truly important in life. I know I will need a lot of patience in a few weeks, but will also be overwhelmed with love and joy. Andrea also included a message in today's box: "A little joy, love and patience to go along with the birth of your beautiful baby!"

Today's present was really more for Ben than it was for Baby Culver or me. To be sure that Ben could take care of Baby Culver once in a while I wanted to make sure we had a "man" diaper bag! Mom bought me a Winnie-the-Pooh diaper bag back in October, but I knew the chances of Ben toting that around were slim to none, so I picked out this much more manly Eddie Bauer diaper bag for his Daddy bag. Do you think this will get him to take care of the baby more often?

Shower in a Box...Day 13

Today's Shower in a Box gift came from Baby Culver's Great-Grandma Sterr. Grandma included a very nice note in today's numbered box as well: "My wished for you are that God will grant you a very health and happy baby, and the faith, love, and patience to be the wonderful parents I know you will be."

Grandma sent an adorable Winnie-the-Pooh crib mobile as well as a Winnie-the-Pooh lamp for the nursery. She also included one of my absolute favorite books Goodnight Moon, which I can remember reading many times as a kid!

Shower in a Box...Day 12

Today's gift for Shower in a box came in a very pretty box - so I had to take a picture of that as well! That box has been in the room with all the other gifts for 11 days now and I was very excited to see what was inside!

Today's gift for Baby Culver was from his/her Uncle Jim as well as Bethanie, Peyton, Baylee, and Bryson.
The note in today's numbered box was: "A Mother's Love Warms the Heart of Her Children Forever. We love you guys! Be sure to tell the baby about us! We can't wait to meet the little one!!"
Today Baby Culver received a super soft bear blanket, a whole collection of Winnie-the-Pooh books, and a Beatles Rockabye Baby cd.
The Beatles Rockabye Baby cd is especially fitting today because my friend Heather Wadehra recommended it to me and it just so happens that she was scheduled to have her own bundle of joy today! All of these gifts are so wonderful and I can't wait to share them all with BBC!

Shower in a Box...Day 11

Today in the Shower in a Box extravaganza we received a very sweet gift from our friend Claire. This message was included in today's numbered box: "Every good and perfect gift is from above. - James 1:17"

Claire sent Baby Culver some very cute onesies and caps as well as a bath set. This kid is going to be decked out!

Shower in a Box...Day 10

Today in our Shower in a Box gift we received a little something from "Pa Lar". The note in our numbered box said "My message is inscribed in the gift" so of course we had a pretty good idea we were going to open a book. We took guesses on what book it would be - my guess was something along the lines of How to Raise a Good Republican in 2010. Of course we were both very pleasantly surprised when we opened The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh instead. The photo shows this new book as well as my inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh theme - Mom's book from when she was a kid. Dad inscribed this message in the book: "Every baby needs a 'first book' that their Mom and Dad can read to them from. I hope everyone enjoys this choice." We can't yet fill out the "This book belongs to" portion of the book - but I am sure that when Baby Culver is done with this book it will be as "gently-loved" as the one I have of Mom's.

Shower in a Box...Day 9

My good friend Heather and her husband Ram sent us this "Floppy Seat" that we opened on Day 9. This is the one I registered for at BabiesRUs and the pattern just cracks me up! The good news is now I can keep one in each of our cars so that we always have one ready for shopping trips and restaurant nights!

Shower in a Box...Day 8

Day 7 of Shower in a Box was a gift from Baby Culver's Great Aunt Diane as well as Great Uncle Earl.

Aunt Diane sent us some adorable Classic Pooh clothes and some receiving blankets that match perfectly with the Classic Pooh bed set that Ma Pat bought for us when she visited in October. I love these blankets - I almost bought them myself the last time I was in Target - but I am glad I didn't!

Baby Culver also received a very special gift from his/her Great Uncle Earl. Unfortunately we lost Uncle Earl earlier in '09 after a long sickness - this was an especially great loss to Ben and I because Uncle Earl was a retired Naval Officer and always one of the most supportive people of Ben's service and his deployments. We miss Uncle Earl very much. Pinned to the blankets are two pins of Uncle Earl's - an American flag and an Eagle. This note was also included: "Dear Baby Culver - Your Great-Uncle Earl is watching over you and he is smiling."