Rachael's Shower!!...much belated I might add...

I dont know what they heck has kept me from

posting this for so long....

I think I somewhat mentally checked-out after the

shower finally happened.

But...All in all I'd say it was a success!!!

Alicia came over at about noon the day of and

we spent about 3 hours getting everything 

set-up and ready.

Rachael came over a bit early around 2:30 to get 

first glimpses of all the preparations...and

I think she was pleased with how things turned out!

The rest of this post is going to turn into somewhat

of a picture dump....so, enjoy!!

The Wall-O-Belly Pics

Tissue poms and cute girly dresses

These pictures turned out so dark :(

But here was the food table as we started getting 

things set up and arranged.

Wish Tree!!

I made little birds that people could either

write a wish they had for Rachael & baby or

guess the birthdate/weight. 

People seemed to prefer guessing the

weight and birthdate!

Rachael is not a big fan of cake...so it only seemed

right that we have an ice cream sundae bar at her shower!!

The guest of honor in front of her food table!

I used mason jars and paper straws for beverages

Guests starting to arrive

Last fall when we went to the Plaza Art Fair Rachael &

I saw this booth of paintings that we really liked. I made a 

mental note of the Studio's name and ordered a print a few

months later. This is my replication of the print that I ordered.

It has a lot of the colors that Rachael & Matt are using in their

nursery and I hope it's something that Baby Girl can have in

her room for a long time!!

Present time!!

Rachael was excited to get lots of 

practical gifts from her nursing friends...

Yay for breast pads and nipple cream!!

She had lots of little helpers carrying away 

tissue papers and ribbons...

Ashley and Rachael

Becca & Megan.

Becca is expecting her first just a few

weeks after Rachael!

Molly and her sweet new baby Ellie

Amelia, Mia and Rach

Miss Mia is just too cool for skool...

Rach & Stacey

Baby Savannah, Cathi and Rachael

Alicia & Rach

Rach and myself

Guests crafting headbands for Baby Girl Clark

Last but not least, your hostesses...

Alicia & I!!

Phew!!

Who knew throwing a baby shower could

be so stressful?! I'm sure it has much less to do

with the actual party and a lot MORE to do with my

neurotic personality!!

Now all thats left to do is wait for Baby Clark

to make her highly anticipated appearance!!

Party Planning = no time for blogging!!

Bah! I'm getting behind on my updates....

and I hate feeling like I have things like a dumb blog post

hanging over my head!

I never even posted about my mom's 60th birthday party...

Which was great, btw, and I think she had a great time.

Shame on me, for not grabbing the horns on planning

her big party....

but I guess there's always her 75th to look forward to!

Currently though,

 I am completely consumed with getting everything 

together for Rachael's baby shower tomorrow.

I can't believe it's finally here!!

I've known I would throw her work shower from the day

she told me she was pregnant, so I've had way too much

time to plan and scheme....oh and maybe stress a lil' bit ;)

But at this point I'm feeling much less stressed and a lot

more giddy/excited/anxious for her to see

all of our hard work and preparation!

It's been really fun and rewarding to see my ideas

and plans come to fruition....

(I may or may not have cackled like a 

crazy mad scientist on several occasions)

My sweet mom came over on Thursday and helped

me clean and get things ready.

She has hosted many a party at her house and

is very familiar with the stress that can come

along with trying to have your house looking perfect.

I can totally remember as a kid, seeing her completely freak out

the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas and I never got it..

.....well mom, I get it now.

Anyways,

I've got about 10 balls in the air right now,

and much more running around like a headless 

chicken to do, so I'll just hurry and finish up this

post with a few pictures from my moms party!!

Kelly and I on the ride down to Mound City

Thank goodness the weather cooperated with

the plans to have everything outside!

My mom's oldest friend gave her 

a pair of Depends...

now thats just mean I tell ya!

Yummy Costco cake

Sibling love

This was towards the end of the party

when my mom had had a few glasses

of some beverage that was being called

'Jungle Juice'.....

This other lady was also 

quite fond of said 'juice' and shortly

after this picture went running off towards 

the pasture with plans of jumping

on a horse....yikes....

My next post will be filled with

pictures from Rachael's shower!!

....and then it's nothing but

waiting for baby to come!!

I can't wait!!

Instafriday

  

I seriously wanted to arrange these pictures in a nice

little compact square...but I'm apparently old as dirt and

can't figure out computers anymore.

Geez. I'm turning into my mother.

Ah-ha!

SUCCESS!!

I win...take that technology!

(do you like how proud I am of doing

something that millions of bloggers

figured out a long time ago??)

The first two pictures are what happened

yesterday....after I completely slept through my

dermatology appointment, which, btw...

seriously needed to happen so I was pissed...

Anyways, I rallied and made a trip to Suburban lawn and garden 

where I spent WAY too much money, 

but I got a bunch of flowers that I'm very excited about.

Perhaps you remember this post where

I explained my love/hate relationship with plants....

I say love/hate because I love the way they look,

but they hate me and often commit plant suicide

by dying at obscenely fast rates....

(P.S. all but ONE of those mums I planted died)

But anyhoo, 

They're currently looking fabulous and I've

threatened the chipmunk that lives under our front

porch with rat poison if he even thinks about munching

on my flower-babies!!!

Roy was super impressed and surprised when

he got home and saw the new and improved

abode...he didn't even bawk when I told 

him how much I'd spent!! SCORE!

Pic #3 is of the continued crafting that is

still occurring on a daily basis around here.

I seem to have hopefully fixed my sewing

machine snafu (fingers crossed).

Thanks Rachael for teaching me how to

make these super-cute paper streamers!!

They're looking adorable if I do say so myself...

Pic #4 is of my lovely mama.

She came over early this morning and we

headed out to do one of our favorite things...

garage sale-ing!!!

We're pro's. 

We don't mess around.

We can size up a garage sale in one glance

 at 35 miles an hour while eating giant cupcakes...

It's true. It happened.

(P.S. If you haven't ever had an orange

creamsicle cupcake...I just feel sorry for you)

Bonus, it's the day before her birthday...

her last day in her 50's! Eeek!

When and how did my mom become 60 years old?

So we were needing a reason to celebrate & have fun!

Thankfully, despite quickly approaching her 60's 

and despite the un-godly amount of baby supplies seen at everysinglefreakinggaragesalewewentto....

she didn't harass me too much today about having a baby,

which was very much appreciated!

Her big birthday party is tomorrow and I got

her Shutterfly book in the mail this afternoon!

Talk about being just in the nick of time...

Stay tuned for pictures 

 from the party that she's calling the

'It's too late to die young now' 

Celebration

Oh, that Janet, She's a nut.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Along with putting the final touches on Rachael's baby
shower, I made the decision to create a photo book
for my mom's upcoming 60th birthday.
I love making these photo books,
BUT I'm indecisive and a perfectionist so making
them often takes awhile and
leaves me feeling stressed out.
I finished it today because I had an amazing
Shutterfly coupon that was expiring.
This book would have cost around $73 and
I got it for $34!!
SWEET!!

Anyways, I hope she likes it....
I'm hoping for lots of happy tears when she reads it!

Rachael's Baby Shower!

Saturday was a day I've been looking forward to for....oh, about SEVEN months now!!
Rachael's baby shower!!!  Hooray!!
Her best friend Gina and her sisters threw her an ah-mazingly cute baby shower that was so very thoughtful and very Rachael....(definitely worthy of pinterest ladies...NICE WORK!!!)


As the co-hostess of her work shower I was definitely analyzing the decor and food with my own shower plans in-mind....It surprised me how similar some of the ideas were, but I guess thats what happens when you have lots of close friends throwing someone the know so well a shower....and I'm sure it doesn't help that we've all been scouring the same internet sources...(pinterest/etsy...etc) for ideas!!

Can I just say that I've never seen someone get so much stuff at a shower...I mean, this is obviously one VERY LOVED mommy-to-be and it's the first grandchild on Rachael's side of the family.....that being said...gift opening went on for so long that I think Rachael was becoming dehydrated and I had to get up and go get more food halfway through!
(Well, that might have happened regardless of the amount of presents...but I'll blame it on a long gift opening!!!)
I honestly don't know of any couple/person/baby more deserving than their family to get showered with so many gifts and so much love!!
I might also throw in some extra props to Rachael for holding off on the clothes buying until her shower....I've admired her will power thus far, as she has barely bought any fun clothes---but I think she knew her family well enough to know that there would be no shortage of sweet baby girl clothes!! Let's just say that I hope someday I have a girl so I can get my hands on some of her adorable hand-me-downs!

As soon as her family leaves town I'm planning on bombarding her nursery to take a second look at all her awesome loot!!
But as relieved as I am to have another couple weeks until her work-shower....
(I need all the time I can get)
I'm definitely ready to be able to cross 'baby shower' off my to-do list!!
Then there will be nothing left but anxiously and impatiently wait for Baby Girl to arrive!!!

The spread....loved the chalkboard sign!

Mommy enjoying her tasty treats

Rachael and LeAnn

Headband making!!

We're doing this at the shower I'm planning too,

so it was interesting to see their take on this 

group craft vs. the way that I've been planning it.

'Keeks' trying on her headband from Aunt Beth :)

The loot....minus the additional 10 bags that

got carried in from Aunt Dory's car later on!!

Holy Moly!!

Adorable baby things piling up on the coffee table!

Myself, Rachael and Baby Girl

Sisters and party planners!

Rachael with Matt's sisters!!

I just realized I failed to get a picture with Rachael

and Gina....oops...but she was there and she 

looked lovely and was a great hostess too!!