Two Tiny Hands, Two Tiny Feet

Saturday, June 23rd we had a baby shower in Loomis!

(I'm posting these a little out of order - the Fair Oaks baby shower was June 9th, but don't worry, I'll post about that one next)

My bestie, Breanna put together the WHOLE shower and worked on this party for months. She said it is probably the most crafty thing she has ever done, and I would have to agree. She has come a long way since working at Bev's and I'm so proud of her!

Grey and Yellow has been my favorite color combination over the past year, so I was very excited when Breanna decided to theme the whole shower in those colors.

Look how cute this dessert table is! The banner says "baby alston" and the table runner is even in cute grey and yellow fabric:

Breanna made silver tissue pom poms to alternate with the yellow paper lanterns above the gift table:

 

The cupcake inserts all said "baby alston 2012" or "sweet love"

Some of my FAVORITE candies - sour patch kids and sour green apple straws. YUM!

All of the treats were delicious! Banana dark chocolate raspberry bites, strawberry pound-cake kabobs, pumpkin pie dip, apples with caramel sauce, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treat pops...

A big surprise at the shower was that Jon had made this guest book for people to write advice in. He even tea-dyed the pages. I absolutely love it! And everyone's advice was fantastic :)

Cute water bottles, napkins and plates:

 

 

Welcome Baby Alston 2012!

Me and my camera-baby :) I'm pretty sure I had a strawberry in my mouth...

I was so glad to have my mom and sister there!

Bailey girls:

 

And it was awesome to have Jon's mom, Chris there! (sister-in-law Beth was there in spirit of Dr. Seuss)

The shower was also full of fantastic friends. I'm so glad that Nicole was in town from San Diego!

Nicole again with my friend Liz's mom and sister, Kathy and Becky:

Sarah!! I love this gal :)

Sarah again with my friend Betsy's mom, Cindy:

 

Me and Victoria - dang she is so tall! 

Victoria is also a fantastic hair designer. Look her up at Minx Salon in Loomis!

Me and Brenda:

Me and Crystal (she took my maternity pictures at 32 weeks!)

 

Me, Lindsey and Christian 

(Lindsey's husband, Jared is my hairdresser. He is fantastic and everyone should go see him at Minx Salon in Loomis! That's right, I advertise for my friends.)

Baby Alston was definitely spoiled at this pre-birthday party. There is no way that I could cover every single thing received, but it was truly a HUGE blessing to help us get started.

One of the best parts of this shower was that we did a children's library theme! Since we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl, it was fun to build Baby Alston's first library in place of getting pink or blue clothes.

Some of the books from family included:

A set of Harry the Dirty Dog stories (one of Jon's favorites as a kid)

 

A beautifully illustrated collection of Aesop's Fables:

 

The Lorax! Classic Dr. Seuss:

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (a favorite of both mine and Jon's from childhood)

There were amazing homemade gifts, blankets, diapers, booties, toys, diapers, wipes, clothes, diapers... I mean, seriously LOOK at these newborn size diapers. They are SO incredibly cute and small! I know it sounds silly, but seeing the size of these things made me really excited about the baby being here. (Please, no comments on the fact that in about a day after the baby is born I will never want to see another diaper again. I get it - but right now I'm just excited! Babies have to lull their moms into a false sense of security. It's why God makes them so cute - otherwise why would you make the effort to change diapers 12+ times a day??)

The BEST part of the shower (ok, there were a LOT of "best" parts) was this:

Breanna worked INCREDIBLY hard to put together a group gift so that we could get our car seat! She "wrapped" the box in grey and yellow scrapbook paper to match the decorations of the shower, and I thought it was so fun that Caitlin caught a picture of my face as soon as I realized what it was:

I am SO grateful for those who have helped us in all aspects of preparing for Baby A, and we are SO happy to have the car seat! We wouldn't be able to bring baby home without it, so this was definitely a big must-have. It is so adorable and awesome! As soon as Jon puts it together I will post pictures :)

Here I am at the end of the night. Can you see the tired in my eyes? It was a long day considering we had our birthing class from 9am - 5pm before the shower...

Me and the amazing shower hostess!! (I love that she even dressed to match the party)

 

 We always have to take a few pictures in a row to make sure at least one turns out well. Of course you know we must be besties because at the same time we both made faces at the camera. This was completely un-planned.

Thank you sincerely AGAIN to everyone who participated, sent us well wishes, or was there in spirit to help us celebrate Baby Alston! Tomorrow begins the official 30 day countdown to our due date.

Happy Pre-Birthday, Baby A!