... get SPOILED

There has been so much love and support from friends and family that there were FOUR separate baby showers for this little guy! All held at different locations to accommodate a very spread out fan club. 

STAR VALLEY: FEBRUARY 18th

The theme for this event was "Sent from Heaven" and everything was indeed heavenly. We had a yummy spread of light snacks, which included a special request from me:  My Mom's DIVINITY candy. mmmmm

We played some creative games, but kept the craziness to a minimum --- as we were in the church lobby and we wanted the setting to be a relaxing one. First was a baby word matching/memory game with corresponding candy-bar prizes. The nieces were especially fond of that one.

 Here I am with a try full of baby items. I walked around the room and told everyone to take a good look and try to remember as much as they could. But when I left the room, they had to write down what I was wearing, and NOT what was on the tray - HA!

And here are a few of the ladies with paper plates on their heads, trying to draw a baby without looking. It was good for developing a new talent... and some laughs of course.

We gave out water bottles at the end as party favors, but made our own special labels. This picture is just one of the designs we used, complete with very clever Nutrition Facts and Bar Code variation.

The evening turned out perfectly. I always love going back to my roots and mingling with all the ladies that helped raise me. They are all so sweet to me, and I am so grateful for their continued influence in my life - and now my baby's life!

MINK CREEK: MARCH 3rd

I had a lot of fun making invitations for this shower. I got to pick out some paper and some new stickers, and then utilized a variety of extra buttons I had laying around.(Back view shown below)

Originally, the location for this event was the home of a family friend, Camille - but due to a possibly muddy driveway,  was actually held at the church building.

 My wonderful mother-in-law, Vickie,  helped me put the quilt on frames and make sure everything was set up. She also made a yummy 7 layer dip to add to the snack table, which was a hit!

 My Mom bought this ADORABLE "Pokey-Little-Puppy" fabric for quilting, and I am so excited to wrap our little man in it - lots of love in each stitch!

I made the cake, and successfully transported 2 hrs in the car. I found it amusing to sculpt a pregnant version of myself out of  fondant, and had fun doing all the buttons as well.

I was very humbled by the number of ladies who came to help --- All acquaintances from Jake's childhood, yet they welcomed me with open arms and cared enough to be there. I was grateful for the chance to spend a few hours chatting with this group, and got a lot of great advice for the transition to parenthood. 

 REXBURG: MARCH 10th

Generously hosted by my good friends Karrianne, and Karri - this shower was all things "Sweet."  A fabulous fruit buffet, trimmed with chocolate illustrated this point very well, and was delectable!

They put a lot of time into the details and decor - Look at this cute paper banner (above) and also this little tag I got to wear tied around my middle with ribbon:

They prepared a bunch of cute stuff for people to do at the beginning while waiting for more people to come. My favorite one, was this little "Wishes for Baby" worksheet:
 Each person filled them out uniquely and I really enjoyed reading them. I will be keeping them all for his baby book!

For other activities, I suggested we play some "Minute to Win It" games! Since I planned on a rather youthful rowdy bunch to be attending, I thought it would make for a fun-filled afternoon. Some of the games were:
1) Match a whole pile of baby socks (Prize: Awarded for doing "Mounds" of laundry)
2) Dig safety pins out of a bowl of rice with mouth (Prize: pulling through at "Crunch" time.)
3) Dress a stuffed animal in a minute. (Prize: For putting together all the "Pieces." Reeses Pieces)
4) Drink a baby bottle of milk in a minute. (Prize: For experiencing the "Milky Way")
5) Pull all tissues out of box one at a time: (Prize: For proving you're no "Butterfingers")
6) Balance 3 baby blocks on top of your head and take three steps. (Prize: 3 Musketeers)
7) Tilt your head back and place a binky on your forehead. By using your face muscles ONLY (not your hands) you must get the binky to your mouth without it falling in one minute. (Prize: Sour Patch Kids)
8) Walks across room with water balloon between legs. (Prize: For making it through without any "Gushers")
9) Throws 10 diapers in garbage can. (Prize: Whoppers)
10) Unroll, and reroll a roll of toilet paper. (Prize: Awarded for "Rollin" with the punches. Rolos)11) Fill a tissue box with ping pong balls and tie it around your waist. Person must shake all the ping-pong balls out in under a minute. (Prize: For giving birth to a bunch of "Runts")
12) Create 10 baby names with scrabble letters (Prize: Helping us decide what to call him "Whatchamacalit")
13) Keeping a balloon off the ground by blowing on it (Prize: For not getting pregnancy brain "Airhead")
And so on and so forth....

There were brown and white balloons scattered about the room, and each one had the name of one of the games attached to the bottom of it. So we went around the circle and everyone got to choose a balloon and play the corresponding game.

Shame on me for not getting any pictures, because it was QUITE entertaining to watch my bishop's wife shake ping pong balls out of a tissue box belt. :) 

UTAH: MARCH 17th

 From the time I figured out my due date, I knew I wanted to do my baby shower on St.Pattrick's Day! My family is big into holidays and no one really has anywhere to be on St.Patty's, right?  My little sister and I started planning this one from the very beginning of my pregnancy days --- She pretty much rocks at doing my bidding :)

Here I am attempting to do an Irish Jig in honor of the Holiday.

 Here is the snack table: Chocolate fountain (with cookie wafers, pretzels, marshmallows and such for dipping), Rainbow fruit skewers, cucumber sandwiches, shamrock mints and homemade oreos with green frosting! mmmmm

Here are a few of my fantastically wonderful friends/guests who came to be a part of the festivities. We let them chow down first thing and then played a couple quick games. Mostly a repeat of the games from the Star Valley shower, and then some leisurely chatting. 

My wonderfully awesome sister also prepared some way cool favors*** for this shower - Root Beer Bottles that were very "Irish Pub" looking. But silly me, I forgot to hand them out. Luckily she was able to give them out later at her yearly St.Patty's party, but I felt super dumb and sad that I had not remembered to grab them.

[***SIDE NOTE: ShaNae (my little sister) is a PRO at party planning, and helped with pretty much ALL of the showers. So if you ever have an event you need some help with, ask her! Seriously, she has a small business that consists of all the odds and ends of these types of things, and she does a FANTASTIC job at wedding flowers too.]

We feel very blessed to know so many great people, and to have so much support at this time in our lives. It was great to be able to celebrate this life-changing experience with so many of you! Thank you to everyone who came, and those who have brought gifts or offered congratulations in any way. Baby Free appreciates it too!