Sugar and Spice shower

Today I helped host a baby shower for a friend Stephanie, who is expecting a baby girl in about 5 weeks, and it was lots of fun. I had a great time "decorating" for it....although it was a collaborative effort and I stole lots of people's ideas! I owe thanks to the other hostesses who helped pull it all together, my friend Shelly for the brainstorming help when my creative juices were just not flowing, and my mom, my aunt Joy, and Shelly again for lending me different dishes and serving pieces. Also, my mom and her friend Karen came over for some last-minute help making pretty bows for the diaper cake - what a lifesaver! With all the ladies in my family who can make beautiful bows, how that gene skipped over me, I don't know....but I'm bitter about it. Things didn't exactly go as planned today...the building we were using to host the shower was locked and no one was there to let us in, so it cut our set-up time in half. It should have been more stressful than it was, I guess. I realized something...I really enjoy throwing parties! Not even the set-backs were enough to get me in a bad mood today. There's just something so fun about putting together the decorative details and special touches to a celebration like this. It was done on a budget, that's for sure, and the decorations were nowhere close to professional-looking, but I think the more "homemade", personal touches show lots of love, and I'm really glad for how things went today. It was so fun doing this for our sweet friend Stephanie. I thought I'd post some pictures for anyone who might like ideas for hosting baby showers. I always get inspiration from what others do! No, I pretty much copy the ideas I like. That's the real truth. But anyway, these pictures are not very good, as I just took a few quick snaps and rushed on to other tasks. I'm sad I didn't get very good ones...or even one with the momma-to-be-of-honor! We went with a "sweets" theme, complete with little desserts as the menu and a color scheme of pink and brown.

Here are the adorable invitations my friend Jenny made (if you can see them ok):

Here's the center table that held the food:

Here it is from another side, not that you probably care:

I forgot to get one of the whole room, but we had 4 other tables surrounding the one with the food. Each outer table had a centerpiece that looked something like this:

Whew. With all the details I've been working on this week for the Bible study coordination and for this shower, I've pushed aside so many other important things. Namely, all tasks related to household management. Taking a week "off" is brutal to this house. Nothing is in order, and tons of laundry needs to be done. My family is ready for me to be back. And it's past time. But before I sign off to sign over my life for the evening to the dishes in my sink, I just want to praise the Lord for the healthy arrival of Jennifer's sweet baby Cole. When I heard about her water breaking last night and that she would be having this baby boy today, I couldn't get them off my mind today. She wasn't due until March 5th, I believe, or close to that. But God answered prayers and watched over his development, as he was born weighing 5 lbs. 8 oz., an excellent weight for a 5-week early baby! I had a little anxiousness for them today, and I'm so relieved to know that everything is ok and that baby is doing so well! Can't wait to meet him...hopefully on our next trip to Oklahoma. Congratulations, Chris and Jennifer!