Three pregnant ladies in this picture...oops...sorry Megan... 
The beautiful decorations thanks to Mrs. Bowser's business!
YUM! RJ Goodies Cake!
Betsy's first rocking chair! I think she may be joining the business!
I guess we can read something other than "All Hippos Go Berserk", but it's still my favorite!
My daughter, although I have not met her yet, is going to be a Diva (Kristen's words). She already has so many clothes, so many toys, custom baby bedding, bed crowns, fabric galore, custom rocking chairs, cutom blankets, cutom quilts, little girl fans! More than I could have ever imagined! She is spoiled beyond belief and has yet to take her first breath. I can only imagine what Christmas will be like! I haven't even had a chance to spoil her. I know, my days are coming. I am sure there are grandparents and great-granparents and great aunts and uncles and regular aunts and uncles that are just waiting to help me out.
The "incomplete" bed crown. A work in progress.
Puffy letters courtesy of Tutu Wahini and Aunt RARra
Kristen and I are down to approximately six weeks, 45 days if you want to be exact, and I do...trust me...Emerson will be here and our lives will change forever. Kristen and I have both been so busy that this weekend was a help in realizing that this is about to happen! Sometimes I can't believe it! The other day Kristen asked me if I thought we would be diappointed that we did not take more time to just be together and enjoy the small things about the pregnancy. I said yes as I put my head down to finish my finance paper on the current financial crisis, and my estimate for a new project at work and my presentation on Singapore Airlines for my marketing class and...
But its been great, with the best yet to come. Thanks again to everyone for making everything so special.
From Kristen: THANK YOU to everyone for my FABULOUS shower this weekend. I am SO blessed to have you all in my lives and my daughter is one lucky girl! I loved every minute of it. Thanks for making me feel SO special!
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Talking with them tonight, it sounds as if its a once in a lifetime project. They asked me earlier this evening to come and witness what they had completed and give them a supporting congratulations. I did what I could, but as most of you know, I am not the best at making a scene. So, those of you that see the pictures on this blog, please give Kristen or her mother a pat on the back for a job well done next time you see them. I bet they would even like phone calls. I guess thats how I will make a big deal about it...I will get others involved...
But seriously, my daughter has priceless bedding to go along with the uber-expensive furniture. By the way, if anyone wants a handmade set for their newborn, Kristen and Kathy have said they will complete another for the bargain basement price of $5K. In fact, if any of you would like a set like it and are willing to pay $5K, I will sell you the original! Don't be mad at me Kristen, I'm just kidding...or am I...
Its my contribution to the preparation. I also added a zebra to the African safari that Emmy now has. SO THERE!
By the way, in our weekend of hyper-productiveness (Kristen coined that term), we made time to fill out a registry at Babies R Us. So...if any of you are feeling giving...
Kristen was a trooper, 5 months pregnant and lifting and lifting and lifting a 30+ pound toddler all night long, that for some reason, did not want anything to do with Uncle Blake. Saddened, I was able to buy some love during the night by being the "ice giver". Apparently, this was my purpose for the evening.
We took the little one on a walk down the street and played in the backyard. Rather she walked us down the street and ran us around the backyard.
I have never seen a kid more captivated with the birds buzzing around the neighborhood. Its great to see how "amazing" she still thinks everything is. You wonder what it would be like if we took her to a place like St. Mark's Square (see pics from blogs May 2005)...She would go absolutely bonkers with the pigeons scattering in hundreds of different directions!
After a long but great night (Megan...anytime...call us...) we were able to take it easy the rest of the weekend. We still have some re-arranging and sewing and cleaning to do before our little one takes the world by storm. 
After a few hours of prepping and sewing and prepping and ironing...
Funny side note, Kristen was talking to the delivery driver about their efficiency in putting together the baby furniture. She stated that our other furniture had come from Star (because they always have what we want), to which he replied..."So, you overpaid." Yep. That pretty much sums up all of our furniture buying. We are hoping that it lasts us for quite a while...one, two...maybe three kids...Stop right there. Don't ask any questions... 
I am sure that the room will look different in the coming weeks as the little one's mom decorates every square inch starting with the completion of the baby bedding. Two generations of ladies are working together to make sure it is as perfect as our daughter will be. We certainly are blessed.
Also interesting was that Isabel received good old Chris here after he came back from discovering America. She built a whole wing to manage affairs in the new world. We´re starting to realize that Isabel wore the pants in that royal relationship. By the way, I thought this was interesting, her name is Isabel La Catholica, not Isabella. I think Americans just ran it all together, forgot the Catholica and she became Isabella.
A highlight here was the tomb of Chris himself! His body was actually buried in about 12 places before he finally landed here in his adopted home. The people of Sevilla actually had the crusty old body DNA tested to prove it was him. The four kings acting as his pallbearers are supposed to be the kings of the different regions of France. However, Columbus actually died a poor, stressed out man! 
With any cathedral visit there is always (say it with me) climbing! There´s no dome here, only a giant belltower. Problem is, climbing it is free and it was built with stairs made to ride horses up. Yes, that big.
This means that everyone, including people with heart problems and over 18 inches wide can climb up. This made Blake very mad. He believes that church climbing means you must pay to climb up 835 winding steps. He about lost it when he saw a person strolling their baby up the passageway. The coolest thing about the top was all the bells that actually chimed on the hour. They were LOUD!
To top off our evening in Sevilla we had to finish with the heart and soul of the city, Flamenco! Simply amazing! The girls in these beautiful brightly colored dresses stomped and clapped and even snapped in perfect rhythm with the Spanish guitars and singers. For once we were so glad that we couldn´t understand the words. The music is strong, dramatic and forceful, but we have a feeling the words are a lot like a bad country song... ¨My dog ran away and my wife left me, and it rains all the time.¨ It might lose some of it´s magic that way.
There was one male flamenco dancer who looked a lot like Antonio Banderas (ooohlala!). I swear his feet were moving so fast they were a blur. From the waist up, he was perfectly still except for these fantastic arm and hand movements. The weirdest part was, it made him look SUPER masculine. He TOTALLY gets all the chicks. The strangest part was that all seven people on stage were clapping and snapping and stomping at different times to make the song. I have no idea how they knew when to clap, but I loved it. It was an AWESOME way to end our trip with something so unique to this country.
Our tour guide in Madrid said that Spain was about 20 years behind the rest of Europe and the world, and that evidently applies to the music. Here we are driving through this beautiful place singing Material Girl, Wake me up before you go-go, and Blake´s favorite theme song from Rad, Send Me An Angel. Apparently this is a BMX movie he watched as a kid and they all go to the high school dance and do a bike dance, you know kind of like Sister Act, but for boys. I still don´t understand... Also, we've determined that the Spanish have an unhealthy obsession with Jon Secada... Everywhere we go... "It´s just another day with-o-out you!¨
The coolest things about Ronda is that it´s built across an enormous gorge. The bridge here is amazing!
And underneath it, the cavern is full of lush greenery, waterfalls, and caves. We did some CLIMBING here, all the way down to the bottom and then back up to the top... whew! 
To rest a little, we took a tour of Ronda´s bullring. Ronda is where bullfighting was born, and this is the oldest bullring in Spain. We actually got to go down on the floor to see what it really feels like to be a Toro... OLE!
Well, being Toros and climbing up gigantic gorges wore us out, so we hopped back in the car to head to our next destination, the Pileta Cave. This cave is WAY WAY up in the mountains, and in the middle of nowhere. It was found by a farmer's daughter in the late 1800´s and the farmer's family has led spelunking tours through it ever since (when we get back to town I am going to rat on Kristen´s spelunking adventures to Dr. Mata... I am sure she will be pleased...). The most amazing part is that the cave houses paintings over 35,000 years old. No, that´s not a typo, that´s BEFORE the pyramids and before pretty much anything else. Our guide led our group of 20 people up and down slippery slopes, past bats, lakes, and stalagmites... all with a GAS LANTERN! Spooky! It was so amazing to stand in areas that cavemen had once slept and prepared their food. There are even remains of cavemen in one chamber of the cave, which is now impassible and unavailable for tourists. OH WELL... Kristen really wanted to see skeletons... 
Our tour of the caves lasted approximately an hour which took us 500 meters in and 500 meters out. According to our guide, this is approximately 25% of the area in this one series of caves alone. The weird thing is, in the last room, which was enormous, the guide pointed out that the floor below our feet was hollow. He banged his foot against the floor which resonated a thunderous boom throughout the cave. The room below our feet was an astounding 72 meters from floor to ceiling. 72 METERS!!! That's a fourteen story building!
After dealing with some traffic, we made it into Sevilla, dropped off the rent car at the airport and were able to rest for a few moments before heading off to dinner. Just one more day and night in Spain before we return to the states. I am sure it will be as good if not better than the first five. 
