Hosting a baby shower

Grace, Camille and I hosted a baby shower last night for our dear friend Allison.  She is expecting her fourth child in just a little over six weeks!  We had so much fun planning and then creating for this event.  We wanted it to be special but simple and I think we managed to do just that!  Thanks to Ben for taking the three boys out to Costco for pizza and then grocery shopping.

On the menu

Cupcakes (we cheated and used boxed white cake mix) with homemade butter cream frosting
Banana Bread, made by Camille
Zucchini Bread (made with our own zucchini we froze from our garden), made by Grace
Crackers w/ cheese (brie, goat cheese, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella with prosciutto) 
Roasted Almonds
Necco Wafers
Hershey Kisses
Dried Coconut
Sweet Pickles
Lightly Buttered and Salted Popcorn
Veggie tray (brought by a friend)
Fruit tray (brought from a friend)
Water w/ lemons

My thoughts on the food . . . well we made way too many cupcakes!  Now what to do with 23 cupcakes leftover?  Gabe tells me he will have one for breakfast if I let him.  I also thought that the frosting was just way too rich.  I will have to do some research on the best frosting recipe for cupcakes.  I love frosting them more decorative but then you end up with way too much frosting (in my opinion).  The crackers and cheese were tasty.  Along with the sweet pickles.  Although I must say my overall favorite was the bowl of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries that my friend Melissa brought.  And I think most people must have felt the same way because they were gone first! Perhaps a little more chocolate would have been appreciated too.  Thankfully we did have some Hershey Kisses.  I forget how much people really do enjoy chocolate!

Decorations

We chose to do a lavender themed baby shower!

We put out some luminaries (white lunch sacks weighted down with pinto beans and a battery operated candle) along our walkway to our front door.  It was a very windy night and they didn't stay lighted for as long as we had hoped. 

Tissue paper flowers made by Grace.  Baby's Breath (one of my personal favorite flowers for a baby shower).  "It's a girl" banner on dining room window.  A simple welcome sign on the front door.

Games

I didn't do any baby shower games.  I really just think people enjoy visiting with one another.  I did have everyone introduce themselves and tell how much the weighed at birth.  It was fun to hear who remembered their birth weight and how much they weighed.  I think the smallest was 4 lbs. 5 oz. and the largest was 9 lbs. 13 oz.  One lady didn't know her birth weight and her mom has passed on now and she said she doesn't know anything about her infancy.  This made me sad and also reminded me of how important it is to keep records.

It was a delightful evening!  Babies are such a fun event to celebrate!

Banner from here.

The crowd.

Allison and I making a funny face!