Celebrating Baby P.

Last Saturday I was the lucky honoree at a phenomenal baby shower thrown by my mother and mother-in-law.

And I know this is frowned upon by some, but I definitely had some input into the theme and details.

I wanted something unique and fun.  Not your traditional "let's get together for a luncheon" shower.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not my style.

Since we're Team Green and I'm obsessed with lime green for this child, we decided to go with a lime green and white color scheme and an English Tea Party theme.  

And luckily for me, my restaurateur husband and mother-in-law are incredible at planning this sort of thing.  MIL took care of the decorations and the food (scones, finger sandwiches, salad, tea) and Nick had what might've been the best idea of all: the mimosa bar.  I wanted my non-knocked-up guests to enjoy themselves so I knew I wanted some sort of alcohol available.  Instead of your ordinary champagne and orange juice, Nick had a variety of different fruit juices, purees and fresh fruit to add.  It was a self-serve bar and a HUGE hit.  I may or may not have indulged in a couple of small glasses myself ;)

As for the centerpieces, my mom was in charge.  And she had the fantastic idea to use tea cups and tea pots from my grandmother and Nick's grandmother.  Such a great idea to incorporate our relatives into the shower.  And naturally, my favorite florist took the idea to the next level and created absolutely gorgeous arrangements.

Column 1 (top to bottom): Harrod's bear direct from London, tea cup centerpiece, turtle from top of diaper cake.  Column 2: diaper cake made by my mom, the invitation.  Column 3: favor box (tea bags, homemade shortbread cookies and mini jam jar), tea kettle, tea kettle arrangement.

 Can I tell you?  I have THE most generous family and friends.  The gift pile was practically never-ending.  Thankfully I had my little helper, Ryleigh (Nick's goddaughter), to bring presents to me to keep things moving along.

Since Sis is busy world-travelling and couldn't attend the shower, we had to Skype her in.  Notice her behind me in the pic below, happily sipping a glass of wine.  In France.  Typical Sis ;)

To keep guests occupied during the gift opening, we played the standard baby shower bingo, with bingo cards thoughtfully made by my wonderful friend, Paula.

We had about 50 people show up, all of whom are special to me, and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a blast.  I got compliments from more than one person after the shower saying how lovely it was.  Love that.

Column 1 (top to bottom): me w/ BFF Krystyn, my "labor buddies" Niki (due 8 days before me) and Dani (due 4 weeks before me).  Column 2: husband and me, mom and MIL.  Column 3: me with the SLPs ;), sis-in-law Michelle, Paula & Amy.

I'm so thankful to all who came to my shower to celebrate baby's fast-approaching arrival, especially my mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew, who flew in from St. Louis.  I had a truly wonderful time and am so happy to know that this baby is going to come into the world loved by so many.

Now to find someplace to put all of this stuff... :)