Family Baby Shower

We have had so much going recently ... beach trip, baby showers, nursery prep, doctor's appointments, vehicle break downs, teeth falling out. All of those things have led to two weeks of silence on the blog. I promise to catch you all up the happenings. Especially the part about our teeth falling out. That is a great story!

But I want to start by sharing some pictures and stories from the baby shower, hosted by some very special ladies in my family, for me and Tilly this past weekend.

As many of you know, Ty and I are naming our daughter after my great uncle, Tillman Netherton. Tillman was his full name. Most people called him Tilly. Those closest to him called him Till.

Tilly and his wife, Ruth, lived two doors down from my grandparents, and Ruth still lives there today. Anytime Nana and I would go for afternoon walks or the troop of Netherton grandchildren would take over the street, you could count on finding Tilly in a lawn chair at the top of his driveway. We would always stop by and say hello. His vision had started to fail him years prior, but he knew us by our voices and was delighted by the visits.

You won't find Tilly's name in any baby name book or be able to look it up and discover its meaning. But this is what it means to me. When I knew him, my great uncle didn't have vision as we all know it. I'm sure many of those days he sat in his lawn chair, he couldn't really see the beautiful view of Cross Lake that stretched out before him. But he did have a different kind of vision for things eternal. He was loving and kind and generous and Godly, all the things I hope my daughter will be. I can only hope that when the things of this world fail her, that she can have the same eternal vision as my great uncle.

At the shower this weekend, Tilly's wife, Ruth, said she knew he was looking down on my Tilly from heaven and smiling.

What a wonderful thought! It has warmed my heart to think about that ever since.

Another favorite moment from this weekend's shower was getting to see sweet Landry and my cousin Casey again. I know traveling seven hours with a two-month old was probably less than desirable, but I'm so glad they made the trip. And even more thrilled was my Nana, who got to meet her great-granddaughter for the first time. Nana held her and sang to her for what seemed like hours. I asked her what song she was singing and she said, "I don't know. Just a song I made up and sing to Cookie each morning."

FYI ... Cookie is her pet shih tzu.

The picture above captures four generations of the Netherton women. We're still wondering where I came from since I missed out on the olive skin and dark hair.

I had such wonderful hostesses, including my aunt Robbie, Ashley, Casey and Becky. Thanks to these ladies, I've been living on the most delicious fruit dips, chicken salad and pecan muffins since the shower!

There weren't just Netherton women there. My mother-in-law Margaret and her sister were at the shower, too. People always tell me how blessed I am to have an awesome mother-in-law. She really is the best!

This was one of my favorite items from the shower. My sister-in-law Ashley went overboard! She found this Jenny Lind rocking chair and refinished it, adding her monogram to the chair's seat. Here's a close up.

Behind our heads is a bow holder she made, and she and my brother Chris even put together a slideshow of photos from mine and Ty's baby books.

Here are more of Ashley's cute creations!

Precious monogram door hanger.

Ashley knows how much I love whoopie pies. We gave them out as favors at our wedding, and I cannot get enough of them! Now, the Whoopie Pie Lady makes baby whoopies, which made adorable favors for the shower.

I loved all the precious treats, good food and time spent with close family and friends.