A Surprise for Bean

Last week, my boss came into my office with a huge ear-to-ear grin on her face and asked me to come up to the 7th floor with her because the Dean wanted to get my opinion about a mural they wanted to create up there.

Confused, I agreed, but asked her what “mural” she was talking about.

Apparently, she hadn’t thought her lie through enough to come up with an answer in case I had questioned her about it, and after a long pause, just muttered/giggled something about how she wasn’t sure and that I should just come up as soon as possible to talk to him.

As we wandered through the Dean’s suite, I realized that NO ONE was in their office and suspected something may be up.

Sure enough, as we walked into the room, everyone jumped out and yelled “SURPRISE!!!!”

As sure as I calmed down and made sure my water hadn’t broken, I realized everyone was there for a surprise shower for the Bean and I. YAY!

They had a beautiful cake, cupcakes, cookies, flowers and gifts!

Actually, it was for Jeremy too, but he was in a never-ending faculty meeting. Finally, one of the Deans went in there to end it so he could come out and everyone could surprise him too. Then the party was underway.

We got some great gifts, including a huge bag of clothes, a fun crib toy -soother/projector thingy, some other small baby toys and a super-cute diaper cake that our friend Courtenay made for us.





But the best surprise of all was the extremely generous gift that everyone pitched in together to get for us.

The Bob Revolution Jogging Stroller!



Jeremy and I had bought most of the big items on our registry ourselves and only had a jogging stroller left to get, but were planning on waiting a few months after she was born to get it since we didn’t need it right away and needed to save up for it.

While they didn’t get us the actual stroller, they got us a gift card with more than enough money to get it. Way more than we EVER expected anyone to get us. We were completely floored and overwhelmed.

We had such a great time and the whole shower was a wonderful surprise. We are so lucky to work with such an amazing group of people who have embraced us, taken us in since we moved here and been a source of strength through this entire pregnancy, especially in the beginning when we were having such a rough time.

We are so excited at the thought of being able to go out and enjoy the trails in Fairmount park together in the summer and do our runs together as a family when marathon training season comes around again. We can't wait to share our love of running with Bean.

So here is my question to all you running moms out there. I originally thought I would get the Bob Ironman, but after testing out the Revolution and talking to a father at the running store (who had a Baby Jogger and a Bob Ironman) he suggested for us, we may want to go with the Revolution with 16" wheels since we will be doing a lot of walking/running on trails.

Does anyone have on opinion on the Ironman vs the Revolution? Really, it seemed like the only major difference where the wheels and the fact that the Ironman has a fixed front wheel. I am worried about the Ironman's wheels on the trails in the parks around our house, but I obviously want something fast and slick on a flat surface (any help I can get to become faster is always appreciated). Decisions, decisions...

Oh, and here is a pic of me at 37 weeks since I haven't posted one in awhile. Of course, I'll be at 39 weeks on Wednesday. Eek! So close!