Monday, July 18, 2011

Little Birdie Baby Shower

So I may be a month or so late with this post, but I wanted to share some of the details of Mary An's Little Birdie Baby Shower.  :) When I began discussing shower ideas with Mary An, I knew instantly what the theme would be.  She chose the cutest bedding for the baby's nursery that had somewhat of a garden feel to it with trees, flowers and birdies.  So I ran with the birdie theme, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.  

I searched and searched for different invitations, but I couldn't find anything that quite fit the look that I wanted.  So I ran to my crafty friend Bethany, and we made a quick trip (which turned into a long trip) to Jo-Ann Fabric and bought the supplies to make the invites ourselves.  And thanks to Bethany's handy Cricut, I think they turned out perfect!



As guests arrived they wrote words of wisdom to the momma and daddy-to-be, and they placed them in the birdcage to be read later. 






The banners were all cut out from random scrap book paper.  I think all the different patterns really worked well together.  And Bowden sure had a ball with them when we were trying to hang them up. I was so happy he didn't destroy them before the shower.   




Besides the typical shower games that were played, I wanted to have some sort of craft station. Everyone decorated hair bows for the "little birdie."   We used buttons, flower petals and an assortment of ribbon. I was very impressed with the creativity of some of the guests, and the bows turned out adorable!







The finished products!


A special thanks to my hubby and Mom for helping me prepare all of the food!  It was all delicious!



Goose Juice!


I wanted to set up a treat bar or "tweet" bar for the party favors.  You may recognize some of the jars from my wedding... I knew they would come in handy again someday!  :)  






A while back I saw a baby mobile on Kelle Hampton's blog.  When I started to plan this shower, that mobile was one of the first things to pop in my head.  I thought it would make a great centerpiece, and it may even be used again for the nursery.  It came out very cute (if I do say so myself), and it was so easy to make!

And that brings us to... THE CAKE!  My Mother-in-law bakes unique and tasty cakes as a hobby, so I went straight to her with my ideas.  I sent her a picture of the baby's bedding and she created this fabulous cake.  It was absolutely perfect, and best of all it tasted so, so good!




 Presents!



 Mary An with the hostesses!  


 The shower was so much fun to plan.  A big thanks to Nic, Bethany and my Mom and Dad for helping me pull it off!  It was a success!  And best of all, we were able to spoil the Ludes family a little bit before the big day came.

... Speaking of, baby Ludes now has a name... Annabel!  She was finally born almost a month later, and boy is she precious!!!

Monday, July 11, 2011

4th of July

Fourth of July weekend was jam packed this year with fun festivities.  We started the weekend off right with friends over at the house for dinner, watermelon, and Kaley's famous homemade ice-cream.  Let me just tell you, Kaley has perfected her ice-cream making skills, and it is hands down the best homemade ice-cream I've ever had!



Yeah, we really do love each other!
Karter wore Bowden out!  They both had a blast.

Kaley tested it out first to make sure it was edible. :)

Nic approves!
Karter approves!
Delicious!

The next morning, July 4th, we headed down to Southwood to join the neighborhood's celebration.  Every year, the community throws a 4th of July Festival including a parade consisting of decorated golf carts, decorated dogs and occasionally a police motorcycle or pretty convertible. It really is cute to see how involved/creative these families can get.  After the parade, everyone in the neighborhood gathers in the Southwood park for music, food and good old fashion games.  My Church, LIFEBASICS wanted to get involved and contribute something to the community.  We all headed out to the festival and passed out free water bottles.  And believe me, with the heat this summer, the water was very much appreciated.

 Bowden did great on his first public outing.  And he took an incredibly long nap when he got home.  :)
 Sweet Julie Ann

 The Twins!! 
 Jimmy did awesome rock climbing.  He made it a lot higher than I would have.

Some of the gang!

I did have to rush over to work for a few hours, but the party didn't stop without me.  As soon as I clocked out, I joined family and friends for hamburgers and hotdogs and FIREWORKS!!!

Please forgive me for the terrible quality phone pictures...






If you know me, you know I ADORE holidays!  I love being festive and celebrating with the people that mean the most to me.  The 4th was certainly no exception.  

God Bless The USA!!!  (haha... I know it's cheesy, but I thought it was an appropriate ending to this post).