Recently I flew home for my baby shower, home being Columbus Ohio. I wanted to celebrate baby girl with my close family and friends and rub on my best friends belly ( we are pregnant together). I hate living so far away during moments like this, not seeing my best friends and mom regularly really changes the entire pregnancy experience. I'm just grateful that I was able to come home and spend some time with the people I love the most.

I decided to do a gift card baby shower because I didn't want to fly home with a bunch of baby stuff. It just makes it easier for me to buy everything when I get back to California. I am almost 8 months pregnant and I literally have nothing ready for the baby. When I was pregnant the first time I think I had the nursery done by the time I was 6 months. Our lives have been so crazy lately, including us moving into another apartment. I just haven't had time to really nest and focus on this next chapter. Coming home was a nice break, I told myself I was going to take a break from social media as much as possible and just really spend time with my daughter. She will be staying in Columbus for a month with my mother. I just wanted to really enjoy our last summer together with her being an only child.

My baby shower was beautiful and I'm extremely grateful for my cousin bestie Nalo for everything she continues to do for me when it's time to celebrate something amazing in my life. She gives her all and really makes sure I have beautiful moments to remember. It also means a lot because she is almost four months pregnant and going through the tired/nauseas stage, but she didn't let that get in the way of throwing me an amazing shower.

What I learned from my first and second baby shower is that you should do something minimal and really invest most of your money into the baby. You don't want to waste hundreds of dollars on this elaborate shower when that's money that could go towards things you need. With my first daughter we had a diaper shower and we had everyone bring a pack of diapers. We got so many diapers that we didn't buy any until my daughter was about 7 months old. Now 7 years later we are starting all over and I literally have to buy everything all over.

I'm excited to get a stroller and car seat and pretty much everything else you need for a baby. When I return to California in a few days I will get our new apartment ready and really buckle down on getting our home ready for a new born baby. One thing that I'm forever grateful for is my friendships. Everyone is grown and has their own children and own lives, and I never take for granted any money or gifts given to my family. Honestly people don't have to give you anything and anything they give could be used for their own family. So just make sure that you are always grateful and gracious when receiving things from your friends. Baby showers are a beautiful reminder that it takes a village and no matter how big or small, its always appreciated.

Blessings

AshleySirah