a new little man

 A week and a half ago we had a baby shower for my sister!  I am so excited for her to be a mommy and I am SO excited to meet that sweet baby in a few weeks!!  I'm sure Elaina will be happy for a cousin to play with too!  Everything turned out beautifully and we had a great turn out.  I'm pretty sure my sis loved it and I'm so glad!! That's what all the hard work is for, right?! :)  It was a great day with great food and great people, so we could celebrate the new "little man" in our lives!

When you walked in there was a little table right by the front door.  There was a "sign in" book (a copy of Love You Forever) where everyone could write a note to the new baby and bow ties for all of the guests to wear for the day.

entry table

Bow ties so everyone could "dress for the occasion"

 I busted my butt ;) making my first diaper cake.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself!!  I only copied the best though.  My friend Jacquelyn and her mom make the cutest diaper cakes and I took a ton of pictures of the one they made for my shower and the one they made for Julie's shower.  The whole time I made mine I just had all of the pictures up on my computer so I could compare.

diaper cake - topped off of course with a bear in a bow tie :)

 For dessert we ordered cupcakes from Crave.  My sister and Scott had Crave cupcakes at their wedding so I thought it would be a special touch to have them at the shower too.  I ordered four different flavors and made sure every flavor I ordered had some kind of white frosting and a blue stroller on it to match the decor.  Only problem was that my sister's favorite cupcake is strawberry! I couldn't go order pink strawberry cupcakes for a boy shower now could I?!  So, she got her own special strawberry cupcake to enjoy.

For the food we had a yogurt parfait station with vanilla yogurt, granola, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.  Elaina especially enjoyed this part of the meal.

 We also had teriyaki meatballs, shrimp cocktail, artichoke dip, shrimp wrapped in snowpeas, deviled eggs, chicken salad bites, and "bow tie" pasta salad.

For any party I throw I usually wrap the silverware just so it looks a little nicer.  I found a picture online where they wrapped the silverware to look like bow ties and I just had to do it!  It matched the theme perfectly!!  It seems so simple, but out of every craft/project I did for the shower, wrapping silverware was the most time consuming! I couldn't believe it!  I spent quite a few nights watching tv surrounded by ribbon, napkins, forks, and knives!

My aunt Margie is a florist and she put together all of the flowers for the shower.  She outdid herself!  They were absolutely gorgeous!!  She even thought to put flower in places I would have never thought of, like the candle holders above the entry table!  They were beautiful and totally set the tone for the whole party.

the walkway leading up to the house

the bow tie wreath
my sister took it with her to hang on the front door when he is born!

 We also had a "Mommy to be Mimosa Bar." When we were planning the shower my mom mentioned that my sis had liked the mimosas we saw at a bridal shower a few months ago.  It was a "nice touch." I didn't really think much of it because I knew she wouldn't even be able to drink a mimosa!  But, I started thinking about it and decided we could have a mimosa bar with different juices, champagne, and sparkling cider for the mommy to be and those who wanted a tamer version :)  It turned out SO cute and I think everyone loved it!  The drink table was beautiful but I didn't get any good pictures of it because there were always people around it!! :)

The mantle had a blue and gray bunting and a few onesies.  Two onesies had a bow tie applique and one had a tie.

I found a tie clipart online and just added it to an ultrasound picture that my sis had emailed me and just had it printed out at the store.  The little man himself dressed up for his own party! It turned out so cute!!

the little man himself! hehe!

 I just love my big sister and I'm so so so happy for her.  She and Scott will be amazing, loving parents and I know they've been wanting this for a long time.  I can't wait to meet my new nephew and give him lots of snuggles and kisses!

nana and stina

some of my two favorite ladies. love you!

the hostesses and the mommy to be

 And, it wouldn't be a post without a picture of my own little bit!  Houston had to study for his first final so she joined the party for a little while!