Sugar & Spice and EVERYTHING Nice!

I don't have to think that hard to find things I'm thankful for this year - especially after the mega outpouring of love that was my baby shower last weekend! What a WONDERFUL day, I couldn't have felt more special. My BFF Alison outdid herself (as she often does). You already saw the impossibly cute invitations she made here, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. There were SO MANY adorable little details, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

I entered to bunches of brightly colored balloons floating all about the house:



Looped over the end of the banister are little die-cut cupcakes on ribbon necklaces for the icebreaker game - guess the famous mother! You asked yes or no questions, and when you got someone's "identity" right, you captured their cupcake :) So cute!



More die cut cupcakes made a huge swag banner, and the "guest book" was a gorgeous collection of fairy tales that I can't WAIT to read to our little one! Everyone signed dear messages on the cover page, it is definitely a keepsake.



The mantle was trimmed with custom made cupcake onesies Al ordered from Etsy! Did you know our little Cupcake would be decked out in such couture finery? :) My favorite is the one with the face :)



Pink favor boxes tied with ribbon waited on the table - filled with jellybeans that matched the balloons, and foil wrapped Hershey Kisses.



And then there was the food! I started drooling as soon as I walked in, and I HAD to claim one of these strawberry shortcakes...they were AMAZING! (Also, I loved my dress...that was the one I ordered to wear for Halloween but then changed my mind about my costume, but I'm so glad I got the dress :) It's about the only non-jeans maternity wear I've purchased!)



Mmmm, are you drooling yet? Tiny morsels of deliciousness...



My lil' sis flew in from Utah for the occasion, and even made these pretty cupcakes - YUM!



There were two full tables of desserts, including this "Milk & Cookies Bar" that is too cute for words.



Onesie cookies!



Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla milk - is this not the best menu ever for a pregnant woman?!?!? With my heartburn, dessert is pretty much the only pleasant food group these days, and I'm drinking 1/2 gallon of milk a DAY. Not to mention it looks so very Martha all displayed in the carafes :)



Cake Balls! My cousin Holly has been making Bakerella-style cake pops and cake balls, I can't wait for her to teach me!



And of COURSE, you need some classic cookies - my soon to be sister-in-law (AKA, the OTHER HEATHER) made these little chocolate chip and chocolate mint goodies, perfect for dipping in milk.



I am not a glamorous gift opener, so I'll spare you the whole litany of my strange facial expressions, this is one of the most "normal" looking snapshots :) In the future, I'll have to be a little more conscious and try for much more photogenic posing. But I definitely appreciated EVERYTHING, and it was so fun to see what everyone picked out! We got a few of the essentials, and a LOT of little girl outfigs - the Cupcake definitely has a full and fancy wardrobe now, including this hand-crocheted frock from her Great Grandma (above).



We played a second little game during the gift opening as well - after each gift, Alison asked me a question about my childhood or my husband's, and if my answer matched the information that my mom or his mom had given about our early years, then the gift GIVER won a prize! I'm sorry to say I was oddly TERRIBLE at this game, at least when it came to my own childhood :) But I got some of hubby's questions right, and it was pretty cute to hear the stories!



The "big finish" was pretty literal - this huge present was Cupcake's crib & mattress, from her Grandparents (my mom & dad)! Can't wait to get it assembled in her room, I think it will really make it feel like a nursery.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Alison & everyone who came to share in this "sweet" occasion :)