A Baby Name and A Baby Shower

Hello! 

My less than stellar week last week was really turned around over the weekend! I got to spend some time with some of my favorite people showering Itty Bitty Smitty! 

...now, that reminds me... I've mentioned before on the ole blog that Ryan and I have decided on a name for itty bitty, but I was going to wait until the timing was right before announcing it on social media. Well, I think we have waited long enough! Our closest friends and family know and call her by her name, so why not let the world know?! Plus... It's plastered on a lot of the beautiful decorations from our shower, which I would like to display on here! 

So, without further ado, I present to you the name of our first born child!

Peyton Eve Smith

The naming process was not an easy one for me and Ryan. We had a hard time agreeing on names, especially boy names. When we found out we were having a girl, we had a little list of maybe four names on it that we would consider. We tossed ideas around for a long time, but somehow just kept coming back to Peyton. It's not too common to go with Smith, but it's also not too out there. I had never met any other Peyton's through my years in the school system, so the name had never been tainted for me. It just seemed to work! The middle name was tricky for us also. Going into the process, I was convinced I wanted a "PJ" so at first, I spent a lot of time brainstorming J middle names: Jane, Joy, etc... Eventually, we kind of shifted gears, deciding that some sort of family name might be more meaningful. That led us to Eve. My grandmother on my dad's side, whom I never really got to meet, was named Evelyn. We wanted to modernize the name just a little bit and also pay small homage to my dad, who was born on Christmas Eve. 

Well, there you have it! I'll still probably be referring to her as itty bitty Smitty on the blog until she arrives, but I wanted to get the name out there before spoiling it with pictures from my beautiful baby shower this past Saturday! 

Now onto the baby shower. Saturday afternoon, friends and family from all over the state (and even from out of state) made their way to Marietta to shower baby Peyton with gifts and love. 

My mom, Aunt Carol, and I arrived thirty minutes before the party started in order to check everything out and get some pictures! I was seriously blown away by the decorations, set up, and the overall cuteness of EVERYTHING! Rachel, Susan, Jane, Beth, and Becca...ya'll did an unbelievable job and I seriously can't thank you enough for everything! 

See.... SO SO cute!!!

Ryan and Brad stopped by also before heading over to the house to do guy stuff (rotating tires, wahoo!)

Once everyone arrived, the hostesses opened up the food for everyone to eat and we played two games. Before the shower, Rachel asked Ryan a series of baby-related questions (such as "What do new parents miss most about their pre-parent lives?" and "Name an object, other than diapers, that is always in a diaper bag.") Ryan gave three answers to each question. At the shower, I was asked the same questions. If I answered with Ryan's answers, I received points. His top answer was worth 3 points and went down a point each answer for a total of 78 points. Everyone at the shower got a chance to guess how many possible points I would earn and the closest person without going over won a prize!

We also played a guessing game where the guests tried to cut a piece of string that would be closest to the size of my belly right now! Cute and fun games!!

After the games, I opened gifts...lots of gifts. My friends and family seriously spoiled Ryan, Peyton, and myself!! Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. And we got some ADORABLE clothes for the baby!!

At the end of the shower, we took some more pictures as people started to head home for the day.

Thank you again to the wonderful hostesses and all of the amazing people that took the time out of their day to shower Peyton and myself last Saturday! The day was perfect! Now, I'm just so excited to bring this baby girl into the world with all of this love that surrounds her!