A Glorious Baby Shower Brunch for Sweet Jill

Last Saturday I hosted, with a lot of help from my sisters and mother and, of course marvelous hubby Bob, a baby shower brunch for my niece Jill.  She and Jamie are expecting their first – a little boy due May 19th.  We are so happy for them.  They will be wonderful, loving parents to this precious child.

So, I wanted her day to be special and one to remember and how do you make a celebration special?  With Stampin’ Up! products and projects!!!  So, without further adieu, here’s a snapshot (or rather several snapshots) or our glorious day.

 

Jill and Jamie Arrive VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I really liked how the invitations turned out. They were made with all Stampin’ Up! product.  Jill’s nursery has a bird theme so I tried to incorporate that in all the decorations. I also was pleased with the photo banner. It was on two sides of the foyer and a big hit with the guests.

Delightful Decorations VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I had a ball making the decorations.  Banners, birds, diaper cakes – even little mini diaper cakes for the table decorations.  The banner on the mirror reads “Baby Parchman” and the spring colored M and M’s are in a baby food jar.  I loved making the tissue paper pom poms.  I remember making these when I was a young girl.  What sweet memories.

		Yummy Food VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The food was delish! My sister Charlotte and mother brought lots of goodies. Mother made a marvelous sausage and egg breakfast casserole. I tried a Cinnamon Roll casserole that turned out yummy. The flavored water was a hit! I used lemons, limes, cucumbers and strawberries. I discovered the secret is to wait until about 30 minutes before you serve to put it together. Use cold water, add ice and do not squeeze the fruits. A nice fresh taste. This will be a staple at my events from now on.  I made a little banner with the baby’s name on it for the diaper cake.  What a cute way to welcome the little one.  The diaper cakes are now in their new home in Drake’s nursery.  The birds flying above the table were made with Stampin’ Up!’s brand new Elegant Bird Die.  Leaving those up all summer!

		Gifts! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And, of course, opening the gifts was so much fun. I think Jamie was a little overwhelmed among all the gals, but he was a good sport and enjoyed all the hoop-la. This was their first shower and was a great success.

We are all looking forward to the arrival of Drake Christian in May.  Jill is a sweetheart and it is hard to believe she will be a mom soon.  She was a precious little girl, a cracker-jack softball player and now a Registered Nurse.  I am so proud of her and can’t wait to be Aunt Di to another precious little boy.  I hope I will earn the honor of being a “great” aunt.

Blessings,

Diane

The Twelve Days of Thanksgiving

Are you a subscriber to Pinterest?  If not, let me tell you about it.  Pinterest is a free website that is like a virtual bulletin board or virtual bookmark tool.  I have hundreds of bookmarks on my computer, which are kind of useless because of the volume.  Well, Pinterest let’s you develop categories and you can add a photo that automatically links back to the original site, of items you want to keep handy.  You can also search on Pinterest for absolutely anything and “repin” the item to your boards.   I know I sound like an advertisement for Pinterest, but I just want to share with you this terrific site.  Click on the Big P below and it will take you to my page:

 

Which brings me to today’s project.  I found this on Pinterest and decided to make a few adjustments and create a little Thankfulness Jar for a my sisters, mom and aunt.  Each jar has  little slips of paper for each family member to write what you are thankful for each day.  Then, on Thanksgiving, empty the jar and share your “thankfulness” with the entire family.

I added Stampin’ Up! Spice Cake Fabric, some tomato twine and cut out some leaves from the Gently Falling stamp set.  About 10 minutes each jar and it can be used every year.  I just kinda love it!

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving next week and Isabella’s first birthday party.  She was here this weekend and is walking everywhere.  She looks like a little monster holding her arms straight out for balance.  I have a lot to do to get ready for the party and Thanksgiving Dinner for about 35 and I am a little under the weather, so it will be a few days before I can get back to it.   In the meantime, I can get a lot done on the computer printing cupcake toppers, banner, treat toppers, etc.  Here’s the invite that we sent that was created for us by 3PeasPrints, a terrific shop on Etsy.  I really wanted to make it myself on Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio software, but I am just not quite there yet with my expertise.  Maybe next year.

We are so thankful for this little miracle baby that it is only fitting that her first birthday theme is one of thanks.

I hope your holiday plans are moving along nicely.

Blessings to you,

Diane

Little Lamb

The little sweetie and her parents had planned to visit here this past weekend, but plans were changed because she began running a very high fever….and needed her Mimi and Poppy.  So we abandoned all plans for the weekend and made our way to Franklin to help out.  We took her to the doctor on Friday who said she didn’t see anything major- perhaps a cold was coming on and to continue with the baby fever reducer and call if…..you know the drill.  And sure enough, her fever went away and all was well, except that she had her days and nights mixed up….so that is where Mimi and Poppy stepped up.  Fortunately, she didn’t know she was sick (except for a lack of appetite) and played hard with us.

She’s walking a little bit and probably will be running all over the place on her first birthday in three weeks.

Poppy took her for a couple of stroller trips in the beautiful fall weather of Middle Tennessee and she loved it.  Here she is all bundled up….our little lamb.

Blessings to you,

Diane

Terrific Weekend! New Baby and the Name Game….

Oh, what a terrific weekend!

All my children were here visiting and we were also blessed with a new addition to our family.  Sons Scott and Bo and sweet DIL Jennifer arrived at various times during the week and we had such fun.  We celebrated (a little late) Jennifer’s birthday- she turned 29 on July 4th, and niece Marcie and hubby Michael’s first child, Easton James Williams, arrived at 5:12 a.m. on July 10.   I cannot believe I was holding this sweet angel just 30 minutes later.  Things have really changed since my fellas were born.  All went well- God is good.  I’ve added a few photos – isn’t he adorable?

View Full Album

It was so nice having my boys and Jennifer around for a few days.  We ate great and large and visited family and laughed and just had a great time.  It was totally a baby weekend because Bo and Jennifer are having our first grandchild in early December!  And it’s a girl!!! Jennifer is doing great and we are all so excited about this miracle baby.   At Jenn’s birthday get together we all got to “vote” on the name.  Bo posted the “top ten” on a chalkboard and everyone voted for their top three.  Scott assigned a value to each place and tallied the official results.  And the winner?  ISABELLA….with AnnaKate and AnnaBelle coming in 2nd and 3rd.  I guess we all knew that Bo and Jenn’s top name has been Isabella from the get-go and they hadn’t even heard of Twilight when they picked it!   So, as of today and, maybe subject to change, we will be welcoming Isabella Song Stader later this year.  Sweet!!!

Sure hope your weekend was wonderful too.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Bo,Jenn,Marcie,Michael,Scott,Baby,Isabella,Easton