March 16, 2013 seemed so far away when my sweet friend, Ashley Sims called me to schedule a date for a baby shower. I can't believe it's finally here! I am always excited to see my girlfriends, and just hang out with them.
And I'm always super proud to have this very special friend, my mother, join me =) I talked about my mom in my last blog, but I just can't say enough how much she means to me, and how much I love her leadership, her faith, her positive outlook in everything, and her bubbly personality (wonder where mine comes from??? it's from her). I love that she's both my mother, and my best friend. She makes me very proud to be her daughter.
We picked up Todd's mom, and made our way to one of the most beautiful homes. My friend Suzanne, has hosted several showers and parties that Todd and I have been able to attend at her in-laws house. It is gorgeous, and always decorated to the nines. I mean DECORATED TO THE NINES!! She always has her beautiful crystal dishes set out for serving, table linens, and seasonally-appropriate decorations everywhere you turn.
We had a fantastic brunch time meal, with muffuns, quiche, fresh fruit, oreo balls, spinach casserole, bagels, etc.
All complimented by your choice of orange juice, water, or fruit tea, served in mason jars with the most fun, gray and white swirled straws!! Classy elegance, and I LOVED it! Let me just add that I drank at least 3 jars of the fruit tea. Ashley Sims...I need that recipe ASAP! I actually had to take an intermission during gift opening because I was so full of fruit tea!
This bouquet of flowers was perfectly made by none other than Ashley Sims!! Love her taste, her talent, and her spiritual gift for serving others. She went above and beyond the call today =)
More yumminess!! The strawberry banana jello salad is actually my mom's recipe and they made it for the shower! It was so delicious, just the way it always is when my mom makes it. Thank you girls!!
Tucker's name plate, made by Ashley Thornton!! I love it, and it is now sitting on one of his book shelves (new post coming soon!), among some of the cute books and stuffed animals we've collected. I'm not positive, but I believe the decorative plate was also written and displayed by Ashley Sims. "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" Psalm 139:14
This was the cutest idea, and a HUGE help after the shower was all said and done. They used one of our cloth diapers to hold blank envelopes. Each guest self-addressed an envelope. They were given to me along with a box filled with blank cards and card seals. I was able to write ALL of the thank you cards later that afternoon before going in to work. This is something I have done before for a friend's shower, but I had NO idea how much help it really is!! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness in this regard! It blessed my socks off =)
More cute decorations! Suzanne's mother in law has it all! I'm telling you, she had the most adorable little baby carriages, and the girls filled them with all of our cloth diapers! Such a great display and decorative idea!
Ashley Sims may have tricked me a little for this. She had me send her some of our maternity photos to "maybe use for the invitations." Well, they ended up on these adorable chevron blocks, which are also now displayed in our new bookcase in Tucker's room. Such a sweet gesture. I must also make comment of the sunshiny, beautiful flowers!! Those were hand cut early this morning by Corey Hickman, husband to one of my dearest friends, Amanda, who also helped throw us such a wonderful shower =) We love the Hickmans!
Emily made these favors for everyone to take home. They are the cutest little "it's a boy" bags filled with hershey's kisses! She even bought the Easter holiday kisses, picked out all of the pink wrapped ones, ate them with her mom, then saved the blue, green, and silver ones for our little guys shower. I so would have done the same, Em =) I was given the left over baggies to take to the "next shower" where we will have LOTS of kiddos. Well, they made it about 3 days in our house, then we ate them ourselves!! Excellent favors...they hit the spot for daddy, mommy, and tucker!! HaHa!
Wow!!! So blessed and loved by my girls! We actually ended up moving all of the gifts to the outdoor covered patio. We were blessed with the most gorgeous, 72degree morning, with lots of sunshine and warmth! Perfect for a semi-outdoor shower.
More pictures from the mingling. I could have visited with my girls all day long. Some of them I hadn't seen in more than a year. It was so special to have them there!
I think Tiff is feeling baby Barton move here?? Or maybe she's just hungry (please refer to her most recent post http://tiffanybarton.wordpress.com) and see if you agree with me or not =) Love you, Tiffany!! Can't wait to do this for YOU and that sweet baby!!
More friends!! This shower was a mix of girls from our current bible fellowship class, previous bible fellowship class, my small group which I co-lead with Tiffany, SHBC choir, and our girl's bunco group. Lots of girls!!! Lots of conversation.
Left to Right around the table: Erin, Katie, Holly, Heather, Emily, and me.
Mommy-To-Be! That's probably my 2nd jar of fruit tea, half empty! Big smile on this girl's face though, and it's still there =)
Left to Right: Sarah, Jamie, and Danielle.
Traci and Tiffany...cutest sisters!!
Beth, Kristen, Jayne, and Anne Galloway, and Lynda Ellison were all there too! They aren't all pictured here, but I just love that family. They remind me so much of my own.....always having get togethers, family vacas, playing games, etc. I'm SO glad you all were able to come!!
In the far distance, you can see Ashley Sims, and she is holding a frame with "A Daddy's Prayer" which they TOTALLY surprised me with!! Ashley had asked Todd, at some previous time without me knowing, to write down his prayer for our family, his hopes and dreams of how the Lord will take care of us, and provide for us as a soon-to-be family of three. This will be my next blog post, if I can make it through it. Bring your kleenex people!!
This blessed my heart more than anything else that morning. I couldn't keep from crying, while being so filled with joy and love in my heart.
Sweet little Anna Kate was also at my shower. I love this little girl so much, and her mommy and daddy. They mean the world to us =)
She was too adorable. She wore the monogrammed scarf I gave Ashley (and all of the girls who hosted my shower), and stuffed her little baby doll up her dress so she would also be "a mommy to be." Love!
I have lots of pictures from the gift opening session, but I won't bore you with a bunch of them. This is one of my favorites though. Beth Galloway, who monogrammed all of the scarfs for me to give my hosts, also made this very special bin for Tucker. It was filled with several goodies, including two very special martial arts onesies she made. One of them read "Future Black Belt" and the other one "Just like Daddy". So special, and by far, Todd's favorite gift =) Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Beth, especially to include my wonderful husband. We received so many great gifts!! I had already categorized, organized, and put them away before I realized I hadn't made pictures of them. So, for now, I'll just plan to share them with you as they are worn, used, etc.
Sara, me, Tiffany, and Brooke (who took all of my pictures for me). You Rock!! Thank you so much!! I know that isn't always an easy or fun task, but you did a great job!
Me and Holly, my small group buddy. Love her, and love her heart =)
Emily and me! Emily bought me the "Due in April" necklace that I'm wearing in this picture, and have worn every day since she gave it to me. Today, she gave me a new necklace with Tucker's initials on it. I want to wear it so bad, but I will wait til he's actually here. So thoughtful of my best friend. Love her sweet and kind heart too!!
Suzanne, Amanda, Ashley Sims, me (and a growing baby Tuck), and Ashley Thornton. These girls did a phenomenal job flooding us with love, thoughtfulness, yummy food and drinks, gifts, and more than anything, their huge hearts. I love you all so so so much, and am truly blessed to have you in my life. I can't wait to introduce baby Tucker to each of you and your sweet families.
Philippians 1:3 "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."
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