A friends and family baby shower...

Yesterday, my sister, Ami, and Abby threw me a fantastic baby shower! It was so much fun and I got to catch up with family and friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in quite some time.

They used our sailor theme and played that throughout the shower. They were very clever and even had some of my old teddy bears dressed in little sailor outfits--which both belonged to my brother! Ami's daughters, Rachel and Laura, were in attendance (it was there house after all) and they even dressed the part, both in blue outfits, Rachel even had sail boats on her dress--too cute!







My sister made the great centerpiece of the party, an adorable diaper cake! I was so impressed--she is so talented at that stuff! I haven't had the heart to disassemble it yet, and I'm not sure when I will--I suppose some night when we realize we've used our last diaper...hmmm..




The food was great and I think everyone left with some new recipes to try at their next event. The company was even better--including our dear family friend Rosemary who drove all the way from Myrtle Beach, my aunt Anne who drove from Charlottesville, and my cousin Meghan who came from Baltimore to be there!




We played two games, a baby themed word scramble (Romey blew the competition away with that) and shower gift Bingo (Erica and Jenn tied). Then it was on to opening gifts, which was no small task!

Baby boy got a TON of great gifts! Everything from a stroller to a high chair to a boppy swing and tub and several cute outfits. He also got tons of bath gear, including toys, towels, wash cloths and soap. He also got some treasurers, including a very nice night light from Auntie Bebe which has a Noah's Arc theme, it is so precious, and we also got from cousin Jackie a Swarovski Sweet Dream catcher in sapphire (perhaps baby boy's birth stone!) so thoughtful and original!





Grandma's gift came last and took quite some time to open! She has been a busy bee for sure! She made us a TON of burp cloths--with different fabrics on them to jazz up the boring white (a big thanks to Jenn who also made us some custom burp cloths, including one with a golf theme, so cute!). In true mom fashion, she also knitted not one, not two, but THREE baby blankets for us. All in different colors and different patterns-definitely worth treasuring for a long long time. She was also busy digging up (and cleaning) an assortment of baby clothes that belonged to my brother (yes, they are 34 years old, but they look great!) She also dug up some old baby blankets, one of which my dad's mom, Grammy, crocheted for Mark. She also gave us the Baptismal blanket that all three of us used and we'll be happy to pass the tradition on to baby boy. Phew!! It was tiring even writing about it all :)







After all the gift opening, everyone was treated to a yummy cupcake as a reward for watching all of that! :)




As if the shower wasn't enough, I got to relive it all when I got home and got to show Andy all the great things we got. It was a mini-shower for him and he was also so thankful for all the great support we are getting from everyone.



Now if only baby boy was around to help with all the thank you notes...