My Bestie's Baby Girl Shower

In October my girlfriends and I threw a shower to honor our best friend, Victoria.
After a few Pinterest-comparing sessions we came up with the pink and brown theme to match her nursery.  She had also picked out her baby's name and wanted to reveal it at the shower, so we had the awesome task of figuring out fun ways to reveal the name.

Shower must-have #1: Tissue poms in light and bright pink colors. Here's a link to a super-easy tutorial.  You can tell from my pic that I opted for the rounded petal-y ends on these poms. Um, and how presh is that blog? Read it, then come back to me. Because I love you.

One of my co-hosts, Jessica, has an uber-talented mom who made this beautiful diaper bouquet.  She stuffed the vase with rolled baby wash cloths and the pink tulle amongst the little diaper tulips makes it so soft and pretty.  At the bottom is the handmade photo album with adorable, melt your heart quotes and detailing. All the mom-to-be has to do is stick in her baby's pics and add birth details. So beautiful!  One day she'll open an Etsy shop and I'll spread the word. Until then, I don't know how she does it. It's a true talent and such beautiful gift to share!

Okay, so I've left you hanging on how we did the name reveal. We got pink deco mesh and used ribbon to shape it into a bubbly garland. That hung over the name banner that a friend made for us using her Cricut machine.  On the pink deco mesh we had each guest write a quote, advice, or memory and clip it or tie it to the mesh.  It made for a really sweet backdrop behind the chairs as Victoria opened her shower gifts.

For dessert we ordered mini cupcakes and cake balls in a variety of flavors.
We couldn't pick just one flavor, and figured for a baby girl shower the more sugary treats the better! They turned out beautifully!

 

 

And for the final detail, the name banner made from the Cricut.....
The name for the sweet baby girl, Tori Elizabeth! 

 

expiration dates...

So, I've had this thing since I saw the two lines telling me I'm pregnant.  It's an obsession with expiration dates. One of my former students' mom confessed she also had a similar obsession, so I figured it wasn't too strange to blog about.

Ever since becoming pregnant and getting that April 1st 2009 due date, I've paid much more attention to expiration dates than I used to.  At first I thought it was responsible mommy instinct kicking in, not wanting to poison my unborn child with food that's past due. (You'd think most people are just this responsible enough without the excuse of protecting a fetus, but then again I'm the girl who thought 4 day old pizza was safe and ended up in ER with e coli)

I've been getting my thrills lately from finding food products with expiration dates that occur after Cade's due date.  I dub my life in 2 categories now: B.C. (Before Cade) and A.C. (After Cade).  That's not too blasphemous to get kicked by karma, right? Anyways, each time I find a new expiration date that is A.C., I get so excited. It was pretty exhilarating to find my first RERIGERATED food product that was going to be good even when Cade is here. Green olives. Yes!! Cade could eat these! (Not that we'll be past a liquid diet in June...)  

 I know when the milk's expiration date is A.C. it will be the ultimate satisfaction.  I'll be so close to meeting and holding my son!  That milk will be some of the most special milk ever.  I might just have to save the empty carton for Cade's memory box.   I'll let you know when that day comes.  Until then, I'm 24 days and counting!