Jungle Animal Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago, I helped host a baby shower for one of my bestest friends. Baby B should be making his debut sometime at the end of March.

I've decided that baby showers are much more fun than bridal showers. Sorry soon-to-be-brides out there, but baby gear is just much more exciting to watch your guest open!

She's having a boy and her nursery theme is jungle animals, so we took that and ran with it.

I was on maternity leave, so I had some extra time on my hands to design the invites and include a few DIY touches.

 Front of Invite

Not gonna lie, I found this invite somewhere online and then re-created in Illustrator/InDesign with minor changes.

Don't you just love the elephants?

 Back of Invite

Is that not the cutest idea ever? This is a great way to help start a baby's book collection. My shower included this very same idea, and I loved receiving books for Carson!

Small touches of blue, green and brown were scattered through Megan's large open living room and kitchen area. "Advice for the new Mom" cards greeted guests at a table by the front door. A DIY "Baby B" banner hung on the fireplace mantle and Megan's chalkboard in her kitchen made for a nice touch.

Lucky for us, Megan's daughter, Grace, has an animal-themed nursery, so we snuck a few decorations from her room:)

Cute onesies (facing both ways) were hung in the door frame to mimic a clothes line. Baby B is going to be one stylish kid!

The spread was simple.

• Crab Cake Muffins found on Pinterest - Highly recommend.
• Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip from Skinny Taste - To. Die. For. And a healthier version.
• Fruit skewers - Always go over well
• Mexican Corn Dip - Always a hit at our gatherings. Heather's staple dish.
• Mini Pigs in a blanket - Can't get much easier!
• Desserts - cupcakes and cookies
• Baby Blue Punch (with rubber duckies!) - So fun! Megan did a great job with this.
• Blackberry Tea - Delish.

Heather arranged a nice jungle-themed vase that made the perfect centerpiece for the food table. So fitting.

All dishes were adorned with cute folded placards including elephants, a monkey or a giraffe. We fancied up the fruit skewers by hot gluing animal tags to each side of the stick. 

 

 

The dessert table was my fav. I just love sweets. And these sweets were nothing short of ordinary.

 

Cupcakes from Gigi's. Oh my gosh. So good. And SO cute.

White chocolate dipped Oreos and chocolate chip cookies (dyed blue of course!). I think I had two of each.

To switch it up from other recent baby showers, we played the baby food game. It was something different and fun to guess the kinds of food. The worst was the chicken noodle dinner. I may or may not secretly like the pears. 

Julie got some great gifts. One of the books she received is called "Goodnight iPad", spin off of "Goodnight Moon." Hilarious! What is going to be the newest technological advance when our kids are our age?

 

Carson soaked up lots of cuddles from everyone. And had some playtime with his girlfriend, Maggie. :)

Hootie Hoo! Love me some owls.

I just love this pic of Julie and her mother-in-law. And Carson:). So Candid.

Guests took home favor bags filled with animal cookies. I borrowed a Noah's ark cookie cutter set from a coworker to make the cookies (similar to this set found on Amazon), then filled the bags with a little green raffia paper confetti (to look like grass) and attached thank you animal tags.

Mags and Carson. Destined to be together.

Adriane and I shared the same Pledge Mom in Chi Omega. Does that make this relationship incest?

 

Mags flirting!

The hosts and guest of honor

Mommy-to-be and her moms...and sleepy Carson:)

Congrats to Julie and Josh and Baby B! 

We are anxiously awaiting your arrival!!

One.

Say hi to Matt.

One of my best friends.

With the biggest heart.

The Godfather of my child.

Passionate about a lot of things.

One of them being biking.  

Carson and I were lucky enough to watch him in his first bike race of the season this past weekend.

Biking is exciting to watch.

Especially Matt, because he's a stud.

Carson enjoyed the action.

Intently watching sleeping most of the time.

We all cheered him on.

And hoped that we didn't witness any crashes.

Matt took 2nd in the first race, 3rd in the second race, and 1st in one of the intermediate races. He placed 2nd overall.

 

Like I said, he's a stud.

We were all so proud of him.

Fast forward to Sunday. Matt was involved in a serious crash with a car slamming on their brakes to miss hitting a deer.  

He's OK and will recover, but underwent extensive surgery on his nose and face.  He is extremely lucky his injuries weren't worse.

It takes only ONE second to have your life taken from you. 

Life is short.

Matt, you're in our thoughts and prayers. We love you. You are ONE special person and wish you a speedy recovery.

Back to the Grind

Well, I survived my first week back to work.

I sort of forgot what the working world was like until I received a warm welcome back.

A not-so-small project on my desk on Wednesday.
With a deadline of Friday.
At Noon...in Topeka.

I felt like I was thrown into a ring of fire. But I finished it in time. I only had to eat breakfast brunch in the car while racing to Topeka...and then had to find a place to pump.

Oh the life of a working mommy.

Luckily, I have a battery pack, which makes pumping in the car easy if need be. Only problem? You have to find a somewhat secluded place to do the deed. Well, I stumbled upon a large parking lot with a lot of cars, and parked myself nestled somewhere near the back, but in a pack of cars, hoping for some blockage. I put up the window shade I use in the summer, you know the silvery ones that look like tin toil... for some extra blockage.

I know what you're thinking...why would anyone do that? Well, when you're breastfeeding, you must pump to keep up your supply, and do your best to stay on a schedule. In my case, it's every 3 hours. If I don't pump a certain amount of times during the day, I don't have enough to take to daycare.

Anyways, eight minutes into pumping I realized I was in a State parking lot which required a permit. All I could think about was a parking attendant coming to my window and questioning my actions. Wouldn't that be a story to tell?!

However, my first car pumping experience was successful.

It was a big week for us. Carson spent his first week at daycare and I had to learn how to adjust to our new routine. I think it hurt me worse than him.

The first day was painful, and so was the second, but it got better as the week went on. It's so hard to leave him, but I know that he is making lots of friends and getting smart:).

Big Boy is getting so much stimulation at school that he sleeps a lot when we get home. I barely get to see him! I can already tell how much he is learning. Seriously, in only five days, he is better at holding up his head and is starting to like tolerate tummy time. And...he rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time yesterday! I love that they are working on these things with him.

The drop offs are less fun, but the pick ups are the best. I can't even describe the feeling you get when you see your baby smile at you. All I could think is: "YAY, he knows me! And he remembers my face. And he's SO happy to see me."

It's our weekend away from Daddy, but we are staying busy. It was also my 28th birthday yesterday. Woo hoo. Another year closer to 30. We spent the day with friends, so we had lots to keep our minds off missing Brian.

In typical style, I forgot the Friday Phone Dump. Better late than never. Just like the long list of other posts I have planned to share. I'll get to them...someday.

For now, I'm going to enjoy my sweet baby. Back to fully appreciating the weekends!

Watch Me Grow: 3 Months

Well, you're three months old and officially a daycare baby.

It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Handing you over to somebody else and walking away...leaving. It was horrific. It was heart wrenching. And it was just like everyone said it would be.

I thought about you all day, and even snuck out of work early to pick you up. I couldn't wait to snuggle you in my arms.

We aren't quite through our first week, but I know it will get easier. Eventually. Baby steps.

Your Daddy is away right now working in Canada. He just left Monday, so we both are adjusting to this new change. I don't know how I'm managing taking care of you all by myself (you are a lot of work sweet thang), but somehow I'm managing.

You were baptized earlier this month at Sacred Heart and for the most part, you did great. You were a major fuss pot towards the end and cried in all our photos. Whatever it takes for you to become a child of God.

We are both pros at feeding in public now. I just take you anywhere and everywhere and use breastfeeding as a convenience. We've fed in numerous dressing rooms, in the bathroom at some restaurants and even at Ky's wrestling tournament! You have a way of making everything an adventure!

The weather in Kansas City right now is unheard of. We are taking a ton of walks and you just love being in your stroller and up at me.

Big boy, your smile is the most precious thing in the whole world. Can you please keep those up? It just makes everything else in this world seem so distant.

I do everything in my power to get a smile out of you. Silly noises? Yep. Funny faces? Yep. I'll do anything. ANYTHING to see you smile. You just melt my heart.

Carson at 3 months:

In the Closet: 0-3 Months and 3-6 months, depends on the size

Diapers: Size 1

Grub: Exclusive breast milk

Sleep: You are such an angel child. Sleeping 7-8 hrs

New Activity/Development: You just started going to daycare a week ago, and I can already see a difference in your activity level and strength. You're starting to actually tolerate tummy time and getting better at holding up your head. You are SO tired when we get home. And...you just rolled from your tummy to your back!

Loves: Being happy, peek-a-boo, mirror time, staring at the fans and lights, the paci.

Hates: Napping (naps a lot in the swing) and tummy time.

2 Months
1 Month
Newborn

Love Day

Brian and I spent Carson's first Valentine's Day apart, but it didn't mean me and the little man didn't think about him on love day.

We don't really celebrate V-day, other than card exchanges and a heart shaped dinner like last year:), but I thought it was only fitting to try and do something special for him. Something that would really make him smile.

Nothing makes him smile more than his sweet boy.

Here's the card we sent him.

Ordered from Tiny Prints. Love that site.

Getting the monkeys together for an impromptu photo shoot was an adventure. I've gotten really good at making stupid noises and faces to get him to smile. I was hoping Carson would hold the sign since he recently discovered his hanging toys. Luckily, I caught Carson at a great time and was able to capture some great shots.

Man, do you really learn to appreciate your better half when you are away from them.

Daddy loved his card. And the picture collage we made for him to take back to Canada. He's home this weekend, so we are soaking up lots of love.

Have a great weekend!