Chelle's Baby Shower

Heather, Vanessa, and I hosted Chelle’s baby shower at my house last weekend.  The three of us made a great team: we each fulfilled certain roles well, we figured out how to plan this thing without any drama, and we prepped the day of easily and with minimal stress.  Wanna see how things turned out?

I had the idea to use pinwheels as décor, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to affix them to the wall without messing up my newly painted dining room. I have no idea what turned the lightbulb on, but I suddenly remembered one day that I had window inserts/grills up in the attic, including a big one for the bay window in the dining room.  I super-glued the pinwheels to the grill and, well, I think it turned out pretty well.  I mean, I had two people who wanted to take it home with them so I guess that means it looked nice.

We used Vanessa’s wooden crates plus her basket and birdcages on either side of the food table to support our mason jars and birds theme.

 

I want to thank Bianca, Heather's daughter, who helped fulfill my last-minute vision to add a pennant to the window behind the drink table.  Thank goodness for otherwise idle hands!

 

 

  

And we used my sideboard cabinet for dessert.  Our invitations had mason jars on them and we used those in other ways  in the décor but nothing made as big as impact as Heather’s single-serving chocolate éclair dessert in small jars.

 

Other than the scrapbook paper, our main decorations were fresh flowers and Vanessa’s “BABY H” frames on the mantle.  Oh, and the birdhouses belonged to the McMom.

 

 

 I know, let’s see the guest of honor, huh?

 

 Each of us had to get a picture with Chelle individually, of course.

 

  

 Chelle with her (very excited) mom.

  

And with Amanda, who was at the shower because she was still pregnant even though the shower date was her due date.  Spoiler alert: she had Baby Emma the next day.

 

A couple of crowd pics for posterity’s sake.

  

And no shower post would be complete without a few pics of the mom-to-be opening her adorable (and sometimes alcoholic) gifts.

 

 

  

Before everyone left, we had to take a group picture of everyone who was there to celebrate Chelle and her baby girl.

 

Kim had to leave early so she missed the group shot, but luckily we got a photo of her and Chelle together earlier.

And finally, we had to document Chelle and all her loot.

 

That is one lucky girl!  The baby girl, that is. (But Chelle is, too.)

Chelle and I have known each other since we were about 11 years old; I can’t believe that in a decade, our kids will be the same age we were when we first met.  I can only hope that their friendships (and we’re including Karis here) stand the test of time like mine and Chelle’s has.

We can’t wait to meet Baby H next month!

(Sorry for any strange formatting.  I'm having to use Blogger for this post as opposed to Windows Live Writer, which is kinda like Word for blogging - it just made everything so easy and simple, but now it's not compatible with Google.  I hope to figure out a good solution soon.)

 

 

 

 

{Recipe Recap} Malted Chocolate Cake

We had a “gathering” on Saturday: just our nearest and dearest hanging out, no big deal.

I differentiate between a party and a gathering by how hard I have to work to get ready for the event.  In this case, I only made four things (and three of them were treats!), I didn’t do any extra cleaning other than the usual weekend stuff, and people brought food to share.

Karis came with Shawn and Vanessa, and Connor, ever the gentleman, let her ride in his walker.  He showed her how all the fun buttons worked and even tried to push her a little.

(Vanessa and I can’t wait to display all these pictures of them at their rehearsal dinner.)

But back to the food.  I rarely make cakes and when I do, they are typically the 9 x 13 type.  But I decide to do a layer cake this time, just something a little more special.

Chelle isn’t a fan of malt, but the flavor isn’t prominent in the cake (disappointing to some of us) and she said it was a delicious cake.  I can’t argue with her, it was quite tasty.

I loved the frosting.  It was silky and unlike how I like and need it for cupcakes, it was very smooth and creamy.

I appreciated that this recipe just doctored up a cake mix.  Easy is always good.

Once we had our fill of munchies, sweets, and pineapple margaritas, we ended up having a dance party in the den.  Jeremy came prepared with his music and even a fancy party light.  Who needs the clubs when you can push the coffee table out of the way and get your groove on without paying a cover?  Another perk?  No long lines in the bathroom!

I think Heather and Jennifer headed out just before we snapped this selfie, but I need to include them when I say that I am incredibly lucky to have these amazing ladies in my life.  Love you girls!

{Recipe}

Lately

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday.  I didn’t sit down from the time we got home from the park at 5:15 til…well, never.  We went to bed around 10:30 and that was my first moment to relax what with Connor and some chores and dinner and preparing a couple of lunches for Connor.

I had some bagels from my office and I wanted to make an official outing of feeding them to the geese at the park. Unfortunately, the geese must’ve been feeling crowded by the gazillion people at the park and sought quieter ground (water?) for the day.  So we just walked around and swung a little when a swing freed up. 

Flashback photo to last weekend in the swing in the backyard.

Know who else enjoyed the sunshine this weekend?  All the animals.  I think vitamin D should be called the peacekeeping vitamin.

You have to look closely to find Emma.  She’s in the shadow of the grill behind the litterbox top.

Please overlook the litterboxes; I was airing them out.  The boxes moved outside with the cats when they transitioned to backyard kitties but now the boxes are little houses with heated beds in them.  And don’t worry, we bring the cats in when it’s gets really cold or stays cold for days at a time.

I went for a run last night IN A TANK TOP!  It was so nice to be running when it was light and not dressed for temps close to the freezing mark.

My run was a pretty good one, but I’m a little worried about my right hip and IT band, which has been a problem before.  As I’m writing this Monday night, I don’t know how it’s feeling today but keep your fingers crossed that I’m mostly limp free.

My shirt says “I like to run because I really really really really really like food.”  Hey, if the shirt fits…

Oh!  Guess what we aren’t doing any more?  Bottles!  Connor was down to 2 a day (before his morning nap and before bed) at his first birthday so I started giving him smaller bottles (from 6 oz to 4 to 2 and finally to 1).  On Sunday, I put him down for his morning nap without a bottle and he had no problems.  I figured I’d try it again at bedtime and he was fine.  We read a book a few times through instead and he went into his crib without any problems.  Can I tell you how happy I am to be able to clear those bottles out of the cabinet?

Finally, I bought some supplies for general baking as well as for our upcoming St. Patrick’s Day party (that’s right, it’s back!).  If the McHusband doesn’t eat them all first, I will be incorporating Lucky Charms marshmallows into a treat.  Did you guys know you can buy JUST the marshmallows?  A five-year-old’s (and, let’s be honest, this thirty-five-year-old’s) dream come true for just $4!

Are you wearing your green today?  If not, watch out!  You don’t want to get pinched.  (Or maybe you do!)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Connor’s Party: The People

We had a HOUSEFUL for Connor’s party.  Both of our immediate families (even my dad from Kansas City) and their immediate families came plus so many of our friends.  It was really great to have everyone with us on Sunday to celebrate Connor’s first birthday and, to be honest, our first year as parents.

Kevin, Jenny, and the kids came up from SC with a pit stop in Charlotte to see Jenny’s parents.  We really appreciate them making that long drive. 

Aunt Jenny with Henley and Connor.

Kim and Sara traded babies.  Sara had her miracle twins, Cora and Deacon (that’s him below), two weeks before Connor – and they were due the beginning of May.  Kim just had Kaitlyn on January 29th.

While Connor was eating cake, I played Pin the Tail on the Donkey with some of the kids.  Our old-school game was a hit.

People were everywhere and anywhere there was space.

Connor wasn’t too sure about all the people in his house, but he was very happy to see Ashley, his sitter.

Okay, who wants to see some people in sombreros?  Unlike in the pinata game, let’s go oldest to youngest.

Terry.

Maxie and me.

And Henley.

Vanessa and I needed a couple more pictures for the slideshow we’ll have at the kids’ rehearsal dinner.  Connor has a thing for other babies’ heads.  I remember he “petted” Henley’s head at Christmas, and he couldn’t keep his hands off Karis’s noggin on Sunday.

It’s not too easy to get a one-year-old and a one-month-old to look in the camera’s direction at the same time, but at least their moms are pretty good at it.

All right, I think I’ve probably dragged these party posts out about as far as they’ll go, but I had to make sure I fully documented my little boy’s first birthday.  We had a wonderful day celebrating with everyone, and we really appreciate everyone taking the time to spend part of their Sunday with us.

Connor’s Party: Smash!

I made Connor’s smash cake: two little layers covered in vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. 

We brought the cake out and started singing “Happy Birthday,” which seemed to take Connor by surprise.

I wasn’t worried that Connor would be one of those kids who wouldn’t eat his cake.  The kid eats limes, I knew he’d like cake.

The little cake wasn’t the only thing that got smashed.  We had a pinata in the garage, too.  Kevin lined the kids up according to age (youngest to oldest) and everyone got a couple swings or so.  But first, Connor had the inaugural hit.

Rebecca got a little help from Greg.

Then Maxie took a turn, doing things her own way, of course.

Zachary made contact then Layton followed up with a couple good whacks.

Leah, Lucas, Lyla.

Just the two oldest boys left.  Chase had a couple really good hits and put a crack in the pinata.

Then Owen finished things off.

If things are working like I want, below is a video snippet from the rush to get the treats from the pinata.

I’ll have some general people pics soon.  Wait til you see Henley in the sombrero.