It’s A Boy!

Ummm…what were you thinking?!  That I’d tactlessly announce my pregnancy over our blog before giving you a personal heads up?  I know some of you will be sorely disappointed, but this blogger is not prego.  On the flip side, I did host my first official baby shower last Saturday!  I keep saying that I feel like I’m a real adult now.  Anyone else ever feel like that?  My dad said the umbilical cord was truly severed when I finally was removed from the family plan and Matt and I started paying our own cell phone bill.  Don’t worry—we didn’t mooch off my parents for too long…

I hosted the baby shower with a slew of others who did just as much prep work as I did.  Thanks to Brandi, Hannah, Tiffani, Sarah, and Beth for pitching in and making the shower a success!  And of course, congrats are in line for Ellen, the delightful guest of honor with a bun in her oven.  You wouldn’t believe it if I told you, but we crammed fit 25 lovely ladies into our little bungalow!  That’s right.  It was a tight squeeze, but in the end everyone pretty much found a space to claim as their own.  A table laden with goodies, old acquaintances chatting happily, and lots of laughter—all the ingredients needed for a baby shower.

We themed the shower after Ellen’s nursery—vintage bicycles.  Isn’t that just the best idea?  I suppose it would be weird to steal the nursery theme of a good friend, so when we eventually enter that season of life I’ll just have to find new inspiration.

Although the invitations were store-bought, the colors were just right and we were able to personalize them with a bicycle stamp.

Since I was in charge of décor, I tried to keep things sweet and simple—and cheap.  I started by looking online for images of vintage bicycles.  I found more than I bargained for!  Then I printed them off and popped them into our newly hung frames (good timing!) for a subtle backdrop.

Since I wanted the bike theme to carry beyond just one wall, I added a few photos to frames (that normally house our wedding photos) and settled them down beside all the plates and serving ware—which happened to fit snugly into our built ins, creating more space on our dining room table to display food and flowers.

Speaking of flowers, we bought ours at Costco.  For vases, we used vintage steel pitchers that I happened to pick up at a local antique store last year.  Since we wanted to send flowers home with some of the guests, we just popped a few into mason jars for easy transportation.

And I can’t forget to showcase the darling watering can that my sister Hannah picked out specially for me a few years ago.

Doesn’t it look like it was made for these roses?  I love the tightly packed look and their slightly nostalgic color.  We actually gave the flowers away as a gift after playing a trivia game about the mom-to-be, but I won!  (Is that wrong?  I know…I wasn’t sure about it either, but I must admit that I’m loving the fresh flowers!  And no, I didn’t create the game, so I had no idea what the answers were ahead of time.)

Warning!  Food pictures below!  Since it was a mid-morning shower, we opted for an array of breakfast foods, like quiches, baked blue berry French toast, scones with cream and berries, fresh fruit, petite lemon cakes, and some delicious cup cakes (which aren’t officially a breakfast food, but what’s a shower without a little celebratory cake?).

One of my favorite things was the tub chock full of Izzes.  Ellen loves Izzes, plus we thought it added a bit of vintage flair.

Lastly, we passed around a blessing book where friends could leave Ellen with a blessing or bit of wisdom about motherhood.

If you’re looking for baby shower inspiration, I recommend Pinterest, an addictive site loaded with images for your imagination to feast on.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you find that it’s midnight and you’re still browsing…