Week 176

Jul 11-17

This week we threw my sister-in-law Amanda a baby shower.  She and her husband (my husband's brother for those of you who don't know) Ryan are having their first baby in August.  I am SO EXCITED for my kids to have a cousin and also to become an Aunt myself.  They opted for it to be a surprise like Ed and I did, which makes it twice as fun because we have no idea if we will have a niece or nephew.  Hurry up baby!  Amanda's Dad and Step-mom Connie were gracious enough to offer up their new home so we had a nice location for the shower.  Who wants to drive to Sumter?  LOL.  I wasn't moved in ready for party status anyways.  The home is on the lake and absolutely gorgeous.  It goes on and on with amazing details and views of gardens, a pool, and the lake in the background.  The perfect place for an elegant event.

Since the shower was thrown by myself and all of the grandma's, we all had different jobs to do.  Amanda's mom got some amazing catering by one of her friends.  Delicious!  Connie offered her home, and ordered a gorgeous cake along with multiple extra special touches like the pink and blue cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries, specialty cookies, and much more.  Cindy and I worked on decorating pink and blue baby-themed cookies that we bagged using pink and blue ribbon and a cute little decorative diaper pin.  I got some new cookie cutters (yay!) and we made onesies, rocking horses, carriages, and feet.  They turned out pretty good.  They got a tad bit squished but were still cute.  I know now not to package them any earlier.  I used to let them sit out overnight to harden, which I thought was overkill.  Apparently that is how long they take to fully harden.  Lesson learned.  Sorry Amanda.

The other part of the shower I was responsible for was games.  I can't take full credit though, because my mother-in-law had some amazing ideas that we used.  The first game I wanted to do was the poop game.  Yes, poop.  You basically take different candy bars and melt them in diapers and the guests have to use their senses to figure out what kind of candy bar each "poop" is.  It sounds simple, but can get pretty tricky.  People love this game because it looks so funny to see people smelling "poop" diapers.  :)

The other game was pass around play doh to each guest and have them mold a baby out of it.  There were some great entries.  These ladies did not play around and were pretty competitive.  Amanda got to pick which baby she liked the most.  Another game was the diaper bag challenge.  We filled a big Vera Bradley Diaper bag (Amanda's gift) with essential baby items.  The guests had to see who was the best at being prepared and guess what items the bag contained.  There were some easy/obvious picks like diapers, wipes, baby powder, pacifier, etc.  We also put some challenging items such as "pacifier wipes."

At the end of the shower Amanda opened all of her gifts.  She has some generous friends, I'm pretty sure she got most everything on her registry.   I would say it was a success!  I can't wait for that baby to get here!!!!  Amanda was glowing and so happy!  I wish her a fast and easy labor in August.  Hang in there girl, it's almost over!  XOXO

Week 175

Jul 4-10

This week was spent moving in and getting settled.  We also had to go back to the old house to clear it out and clean it up.  I'm going to send you on a photo tour of the new house before we put all of our stuff into it.  As soon as I get everything "photo ready" I will go through and take pictures again with the furniture in it.  :)  The first two shots are random of Abel since he now stands up in his crib when you go get him.  So cute!

Okay on to the tour...

Front.

Backyard.

Right side of backyard.

Back of house.

Living room walking in from the front door.

Living room, kitchen and breakfast nook to your right.

Looking from the other side back at the front door, dining room, and kitchen.

Straight shot into the kitchen.  Love those cabinets!

Standing in the kitchen looking back into the living room and breakfast room.

Back door.

Breakfast nook.  Bigger than a nook though.  What would you call this?

Master bedroom double door closet with built ins...dreamy!

Shower and Ed's sink.

Toilet room and Elizabeth's sink.

Master bedroom looking into attached nursery.

Master bedroom looking into bathroom.

Dining room, entry, study (used as playroom).

I love these doors.

Playroom.

Playroom.

Laundry room and door to garage.  Teeny (one thing I don't like).

Hallway to guest room and Jack's room.

Guest room.  Sorry about random boxes...

Guest room looking back out at hallway.

Hallway bath.

Currently Jack's room.

Jack's room looking at closet.

Well that was the tour!  :)  We are loving every minute so far.  Will definitely take pictures with all of our "stuff" in it.  We have lots to do though so be patient!