Baby Shower

My sisters Kiley, Jamie, Annie, Kelsey, and my Mom threw me the cutest baby shower. Seriously, it was adorable, and I felt so spoiled and loved. I really appreciate all the work they put into making it so special. The shower was on the Saturday of General Conference weekend. It was a cold and rainy day, and just felt perfectly fall-ish.

Kiley made the invitations, which were just the cutest. The theme, as you can see from the invite was from the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, one of my favorites. They asked each guest to bring a children's book with their gift in lieu of a card and the refreshments were milk and cookies. It was seriously the greatest. Brian and I are both bookworms, so we were delighted with the theme.

The shower was held at Kelsey's house, and the decorations were really fun. They had kid's books scattered throughout the room. Each guest was given a blank card to write down some mommy advice for me. I really appreciate all the tips and wisdom written in those cards. I'm sure I'll use it all.

The refreshments were so good. Lots of different kinds of cookies including ginger snaps, chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, and baby-foot shaped sugar cookies. They also had a lot of fresh fruit, which all was delicious. Sorry about the dim pictures, but the lighting was weird because of the overcast day and I still need to learn how to better use my camera.

The drinks--regular and chocolate milk, and ice water--were served in mason jars with colorful straws.

It was really great to see everyone who came. Lots of family and friends, some of whom I don't get to see very often, or haven't seen in a long time. I think we all had a lot of fun, and there was lots of laughing.

We played a couple of games. The first one was guess the size of my baby bump. Everyone cut a length of yarn that they thought would stretch around my waist and over my stomach. It made me a little self-conscious, but not too much. It was fun to see the different lengths, some were way too long and others short, but a couple of them got it right on. The second game consisted of a list of riddles or words describing a children's book title. We had to figure out what book each one was talking about. It was fun and there were a few that I didn't get.

After games, I got to open gifts. Everyone was so generous, and we're so appreciative of everything we received. Preparing for your first child is a bit overwhelming, and this really helped lighten that responsibility. We loved everything we received, and each gift was really thoughtful.

I had a little helper while opening gifts. My niece Sadie was very excited to open the presents and see what was inside. 

As I mentioned before, each guest included a book with their gift. We got some awesome books, and can't wait to read to our little guy. My mother-in-law Kris gave us this collection of Winnie the Pooh stories, which we are super excited about.

We were given quite a few blankets, some of which were handmade. My cousin Sandra made this gorgeous quilted blanket.

My Mom crocheted this beautiful white blanket. We'll probably use this during the baby's blessing.

Aunt Pam gave us this fleece blanket that is so soft and adorable. I can't wait to wrap our little guy up in it.

Kelsey made us this car seat cover. I love it so much, and it's going to be great to keep our little guy sheltered from the cold temperatures this winter.

We also received a lot of really cute clothes. Amanda gave us this little outfit that says "Daddy is my Super Hero." She knows us too well. Brian was really excited about this one. 

I loved all the clothes we got. My Aunt Audra gave us cute little zipper jammies and a newborn nightgown, my cousin Kim gave us a pair of overalls which I'm super excited about. We received a lot of onesies with various characters such as dinosaurs, robots, and aliens on them. One gift included the cutest grey, fleece jacket with a moose on it.

All the clothes, along with the tiny socks and hats we were given just increase my excitement for this little guy to get here. I know he needs to keep growing for seven more weeks, but I just can't wait to dress him in all these cute items.

My sisters Jamie and Annie gave me a baby bathtub with items for bath time, another thing that I'm excited for. 

My sister Kiley gave me a bouncer along with a cute outfit and some diapers.

Other items we received include bags of diapers, wipes, baby shampoo and lotion, diaper creme, wash cloths, hooded towels, swaddle blankets, and a few toys. I'm know I'm forgetting some things, but I have a list of gifts, and who gave us what somewhere that I plan to put in our little guy's baby book...once I get one.

It was a really fun party and I'm so grateful for all of my family and friends. Their excitement and love for us was very evident, and that only makes this special time feel even more so.