OOTD: Pool Party Baby Shower

My sister and aunt threw a baby shower for me last weekend and when they asked me what I wanted to do, I said eat, swim, and relax. It was the perfect day and the water was amazing! We had good food- crescent sandwiches, pasta salad, green salad, shrimp cocktail, fruit, and a mimosa bar (with sparkling cider for the preggos/kids), good company, and good weather!

I wanted to get a new suit for the party and since it's the end of summer I thought I'd have a hard time finding a cute one, but Pink Blush always saves the day! I have seriously basically only worn Pink Blush this whole pregnancy- they just have everything I need. I saw this maternity swim top, added to cart immediately and it was on my doorstep two days later. I just love them!

OOTD + Little Critter Baby Shower

This past weekend, we had party after party for our little boy. It was such a busy and fun weekend! I felt so loved and I can't wait for him to join us and meet everyone! I'll post about both showers, but wanted to share this one with you first!

It was a little critter theme and it was so cute!! I wanted to get a new dress that went with the color scheme, and this Pink Blush one was perfect! I love their dresses and they're all so comfortable, it was so hot that day, but I was just as comfortable in this dress as I would be in anything else. The colors were gorgeous too- a pretty pinky peach and orange.

Our Weekend...

This past weekend was so much fun and we got home late Sunday night, I didn’t get to write about it before hitting the sack. I love weekends that are spent with the people who are most important to you. After spending the little free time we get outside of work relaxing and laughing with friends and family, I feel so rejuvenated and ready to take on a new week come Monday morning. This sounds so mushy, but it really makes my heart full to spend time with those I care about and who are a large part of my life and who I am as a person, wife, mother, and friend.

I had to work a few hours Saturday morning and afterwards we ran a few errands and then headed down to Matt’s parents house for the night. We took them out to sushi, they’ve been a few times before, but are still wary of it. We ordered a few different rolls for them to try and they really enjoyed it. The restaurant had a “stream” under the floor that was filled with huge Koi fish and Ellie was obsessed with them.

After a while, she was over it so I took her outside to play and walk around. All of us were to stuffed after eating so much fish and rice, but we still had plenty of room for some DQ Blizzards! Ellie was in heaven eating all of ours and seeing what she liked best. She couldn’t down it fast enough and we were all happy to share. Kids and ice cream- it’s the cutest thing in the world! While there, I ran into a good friend from my previous work position and it was so great to see him. It’s such a small world and I really miss my old team, they were so great to work with. When we got home and put Ellie down from her sugar high, we watched American Sniper, but I of course fell asleep for the last hour of it. I swear, if there’s a movie on, I can’t keep my eyes open to save my life no matter how badly I want to see the film.

Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to the same park we had our wedding pictures taken for some family/maternity pics. My sweet sorority sister Alexa, who took Ellie’s newborn/3month/6month/9month pics met us as our photographer. It was great to see her and catch up about her upcoming wedding. The weather wasn’t ideal in the morning, but with scheduling, it was really hard to find a day that would work with the timing of the sunset (ideal for pictures) so 830 am it was! It was still a great morning, a little overcast and my hair got a bit fuzzy from the moisture in the air, but I think our pictures turned out great. I’ll be sharing more of them in a future post.

After pictures we headed back to Matt’s parents house. We celebrated Father’s Day early because his parents will be on a trip and we won’t get to celebrate with his dad on the actual holiday. So we just relaxed and started on the food. We blew up a kiddie pool for the kids since it would be a hot day and Ellie barely got out of it all day long. She is such a little fish and had so much fun with her cousins.

 

My girlfriends threw me a sprinkle for the new baby. It was a small group and we had so much fun together. It was set up beautifully, we had delicious food, and it was a wonderful time. It was relaxing and fun being able to spend time with each guest over our lunch and play a few games (I Never and Cards Against Humanity- perfect games for the crowd!). I’m so grateful for my circle of friends, we really have been such a rock for each other over the past 10+ years.

After the sprinkle, with a full heart and belly, I headed back to Matt’s parents house to spend some time with everyone before going back home. It was such a great weekend and I’m so thankful for my friends and family and that we are able to get together with them so often.

Ready to Pop Baby Shower!

My husband's side of the family threw a shower for me at the beginning of the month, and boy are they sneaky! They are such good secret keepers and like to keep everything a surprise. It's so fun, but it also drives me nuts because nothing is ever a secret on my side of the family so I'm always in the know about everything. As much as it can drive me up the wall, I absolutely revel in it! You can't trick them into giving anything away, they don't drop any hints, nothing! Their lips are sealed! It makes holidays and parties very fun, something I haven't experienced since I was a kid waiting for Santa. About a week before my MIL finally gave me my invite and I got a little hint about the theme. With the shower just a month before my due date, I was definitely ready to pop!



The theme was so cute and all the details throughout the party were adorable! We had "Popping Lemonade and Tea", the cake had fun dots that matched the invitation, each table had popcorn and the cutest centerpieces of lollipop bouquets, they really went all out! The weather was so perfect, it was bright and warm, with just enough of a breeze to keep us cool. It was the perfect afternoon to spend outside celebrating.

 

I really wish I had a professional photographer for all of life's events, we were so busy having fun it's hard to remember to take pictures. The shower was beautiful and so nice to visit with all of our family and friends, we were so busy catching up and swapping baby/pregnancy stories we didn't get to take pictures until after everyone left! I'm so lucky to be so close to my in-laws, the Lord really blessed with wonderful family members all around. Thank you so much for such a special day!

Flowers, butterflies, and fairytales- that's what girls are made of!

It all started with the sweetest shower invite and I knew my family had a great party in mind. I had been looking forward to my shower forever and it made the joy and excitement of becoming a parent all the more real. It was fantastic sharing the day with so many friends and family. It meant so much to me to share something so special with so many loved ones. This shower was for my side of the family and I have my in-laws shower in May that I can't wait for. Our families and friends are just too large to have one big party so we decided to split it up.

Instead of a diaper raffle, my sister put a little note in each invite that read "To add a lil' extra glee and help the parents to be, please bring a little extra from the heart- a children's book to give baby E's library a good start!" By the time everyone arrived, this table was overflowing with so many fun books! I can't wait to read them all to her and already started this week.

We served peach tea, pineapple lemonade (using this Pinterest recipe), and water. For food we served some of my favorite lunch foods; crescent sandwiches, veggies, broccoli salad, fruit salad, shrimp salad, and a cheese plate. Then we had a beautiful and delicious dessert table.

The decorations were all so pretty, feminine, and whimsical. I wish I could show all of them, but we had her name a few places and I don't want to give it away yet! As you can tell, her name starts with an "E", but that's all you're getting!

 

We played 4 games, plus the book raffle:

- We played party bingo: On a bingo grid, you put details of the guests and they have to find someone who fits the description and each guest can sign a card twice, but you can't sign your own. Examples: Left-handed, born in June (our due date), is a Chi Omega (my sorority and my daughter will be a legacy). This game is so fun as an ice breaker because it makes your guests mingle!

- Baby Names A-Z: Each guest had to write down names for each letter of the alphabet, and there were some funny ones people had to make up!

- Candy Bar Games: We had a list of baby events and guests had to match them with the right candy bar. Example: 9 lb baby = Whopper, Epidural = Life Saver, Hospital Bill= 100 Grand.

-Name that Bunny!: The nursery has a bit of a bunny theme to it so on a giant science board we printed out 18 famous bunnies and the guest who guessed the most right won! We had Roger Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, the Velveteen Rabbit, and even the Killer Rabbit from The Search for the Holy Grail. It was hilarious!

We were busy playing so many games and opening gifts, we didn't have time to take a lot of group/individual pics til the very end.  Here's a few of my friends and family.

It was such an amazing, amazing day! I had a great time and loved seeing everyone. My sweet cousin Merry took so many pictures, she was the photographer of the day. Thank you so much for that! I wish there was time to take pictures of myself with each guest, but the day goes by so quickly! I relished every moment and still felt like it was gone in a flash. Thank you to everyone who helped and celebrated baby E!