Yahoo for Baby Showers!

We had our BBQ/Shower yesterday and it was awesome!! My friend Laura and Jordan came up Saturday and helped set everything up and grocery shop and clean, which was so nice of them. We finally got to use a lot of the platters and big bowls we got from the wedding, which made me happy. This was the first "party" we threw at our place since getting married...or ever actually!!Jordan picked the colors of the party, green and lilac purple, so there were green and purple table clothes and plates and cups and balloons everywhere. We had champagne punch, which was amazing I guess (I of course didn't get to have any) and beer and soda and then Brian and his guy friends manned the grill and made hot dogs and hamburgers and we served that with Baked Beans and watermelon, plus chips and salsa and guacamole and french onion dip. Jordan brought up the cake from the bakery she works at, which had a baby hiding under a blanket made of frosting and it said "Isabella Reese" on the top of it. It was so delicious; it had white cake, chocolate cake and fresh strawberries in the middle, with a chocolate frosting on top. Sooo good!

Leslie, Brian's Mom, was the only one taking pictures, so after I get those developed, I will post some pics. I forgot to take some of our house all set up though...so I failed there...sorry!

There were about 17 guests or so, and we played a few games and ate and opened presents. I had like 5 games set up to play, but we only got through 2 by the time people chatted and ate, so I had tons of prizes left over. The prizes were pretty cute. I had originally thought of them for the bachelorette party I threw my friend Erin a week before we both got pregnant...ha; I just readjusted the idea to fit a baby shower instead. We bought really cheap wine (Boone's farm...if you can even call it wine...), and made our own labels for the bottles that had this poem on them:

Here is your prize, to show off your win;
For playing our silly Shower game!
A different kind of “bottle” than Bella will use,
But fun to drink from, all the same!

The only craving mom has had,
Is for a glass of something “strong”.
So she is passing off her thirst to you,
Since drinking while preggo is frowned upon.

So have a glass and two for mom,
Her longing for “grown up juice” must continue to wait!
August 23 seems so far, far away!
Hopefully this baby doesn’t come late!

And then underneath that it had written:

The Martin’s Baby Shower
June 28, 2009

Those were printed on green paper and then the green paper was over purple and white polka dotted paper and that took over the whole bottle. I forget to take a picture of them. I think I have one left over, so I will take a pic and post it tomorrow, if I can remember!

We also had really cute favors to send home with everyone. Jordan also brought up with her 24 cinnamon buns and we put them on cute little plates purple polka dot/striped plates and wrapped them with cellophane and tied them with purple ribbon and they had a tag on them saying "thanks, Love Brian, Carmelle and the 'bun' in the oven". They turned out adorable! Here are a few pictures of those:

The same green paper and purple paper was used on the wine bottles.

Gift-wise, we got some great stuff!

Before the party even started, Dad and Kelly got me a beautiful dress to wear for the shower and they sent it up with Olivia, which worked out perfect since I couldn't figure out what I wanted to wear, so that came in the nick of time!

We got a "Boppy" breastfeeding pillow (seen below in the sweet pea cover), some bottles, a dishwasher crate to wash nipples in so they don't go flying around the dishwasher, a little baby photo album, a framed drawing of her name, some diapers and wipes, a gift card to target and some cute clothes!

Olivia got us a bunch of cute newborn outfits...our favorite is one that has a little dress, seen below, with flowers on it and a sweater that goes over with a stitched in design of winnie-the-pooh.

Jordan got us a little swing that is easily portable, so we can bring it with us where ever we go! It has cute little woodland creatures on it.

Laura got us every bath time necessity out there! Bedtime lotion, waterproof tile sticking letters and numbers, marine life squeezable water toys, 8 wash clothes with fishies on them, a winnie the pooh hooded towel and two winnie the pooh character hooded towels. All we need for bath time is a tub at this point, otherwise, we are all set!!!

Some of the clothes we got included:

A Milwaukee brewer onesie with a bib and booties that match, from Matt Moldenhauer

A cute Hershey Kisses onesie from Leslie and an adorable Hershey kisses t-shirt from Mike (Brian's parents) (will take pics and upload them later!)

Grandma Lorraine made Bella some amazing handmade apparel, which includes a yellow jacket, yellow booties, yellow bonnet and a matching yellow blanket (I will get pics and upload them later). On Etsy.com, there are these cutie crotched baby hats that you can buy, and I found one that looks like a bear that I absolutely loved, and Marcie had a pattern made and bought the yarn, and then grandma made the hat that looks just like it! It is so perfect! I might use it for the birth announcements!

Cathy gave us a quilted blanket that was handmade from someone at the hospital she works/volunteers at. There is an organization, called "Project Linus" (like the Peanuts cartoon character that always has the blue blankie with him), and they make blankets for newborns. Some people, for whatever reason, do not keep the blanket for their baby, so she grabbed us one that was left over, and it is so cute!! I love the organization and am thrilled to have a blanket by them!

I will try to take some pictures of some of the stuff we got and post them so everyone can see how awesome the gifts are and what amazing people Isabella is going to have in her life! Thank you everyone!

I should add, that Justin and Amanda and Erin and Noa sent us our baby shower gifts a while ago, and they include a fantastic jogging stroller and a car seat sac/cover for the winter time, so Bella will not freeze in the frigid Wisconsin snow! Thank you to them again as well!