The Peanut Gallery: Heather's Baby Shower

One of my dear and closest college friends, Heather, is pregnant and due on April 6th. Heather and her husband, Josh, are expecting a baby girl who they plan on naming Ryann. I am so excited for them and happily offered to host a baby shower for them. It was a wonderful day. Heather's mom was able to travel over from Idaho to be here as well as Josh's mom from Eastern Washington. We had her sister-in-law, her work friends, and various aunts, cousins, and relatives join us in the festivities. While the ladies were enjoying this baby shower bonanza, the boys (Clark and Josh) were golfing!

I loved decorating the house and having Spring and Easter made it rather easy. On the menu was turkey and swiss rollup sandwiches, caesar salad, chips w/ salsa and guacamole, taquitos (by Heather's request), my homemade baked brie (thanks for the recipe Michelle!), artichoke and jalepeno dip, and hummus w/ carrots, celery, and crackers. Panome, one of Heather's closest friends, brought us a red velvet cake and a mint chocolate chip Oreo ice cream cake - yummy! Heather also "gave us permission" to drink, even though she couldn't partake...so we had yummy pomengrante martinis and cocktails.

We ate, drank, and chatted and then the fun began...we started with a few games that I found on the internet (it's amazing what you can find!) The first game was fill in the blankof nursery rhymes. Good thing I wasn't playing because I would have lost. Heather's mom won and of course as a former teacher and daycare worker, she knew all the answers! The next game was everyone was asked to guess how many inches Heather's tummy was...I guess I should have asked permission in advance, but knowing Heather would be a good sport, she took it in stride. Two people both guessed the correct answer - 44 inches! Heather's tummy is big, firm, and definitely ready to pop! The third game was Guess the Gerber Food...it was a taste testing contest of baby food where I removed the labels, but for those that were turned off by the smell, they guessed by scent and color.

After games I had everyone write a note to Baby Ryann, Heather, and/or Josh on these pastel colored notecards. I am making Heather a scrapbook from her shower, including the invite, these notecards, the games, and pictures from the fun day. In addition to a scrapbook for mommy-to-be, I made scrapbooks for the two grandmothers. Heather's mom goes by "nana" and Josh's mom goes by "grandma." I made these accordian-style scrapbooks where you can put in pictures, but in the inside cover it says "Nana's (or Grandma's) Brag Book." I thought it is a special time for mommy-to-be, but also for the grandparents to be!

Last, but not least, we opened the gifts and Baby Ryann is so spoiled! She got so many cute outfits and mommy got lots of practical stuff, like a car seat, stroller, diapers, a nurse pump, bottles, bath stuff, and all the necessities.

I wish Josh and Heather the best of luck, though I know they don't need it...they are going to be great parents with all the love and support of their family and friends. I cannot wait to be an auntie!!! Congrats you guys!

Pretty spring tulips as a table decoration

Orange tulips on the coffee table

My shower gift basket for Baby Ryann - clothes, books, stuffed dog, bath toys, shoes, a sweater, and a first aid kit

Party favors for everyone - Spring/Easter pails filled with chocolate and "sweet pea" hand sanitizer...I got "sweet pea" for obvious reasons - it is pink, Baby Ryann is going to be their little sweet pea, and also it's important to sanitize your hands before feeding and after changing her!

This is the scrapbook I am making for Heather...on the first page is the invite to the baby shower and everyone that attended got to write a little note to the family