Danielle's Baby Shower

My younger sister Danielle is expecting a baby boy April 7th.

It's so weird to refer to her as Danielle. Growing up she was always Dano the tomboy. Now she dresses all cute and always has her hair and make-up done.

I've been planning the baby shower for awhile now. Pinterest helps but it also creates great pressure. I don't know how those women do those over the top parties.

The baby shower was this Saturday and it was fun but I am glad it is over. I was out of town on a business trip last week before the shower and it was a bit stressful.

Some of the prep for the football-themed shower:

Football soap for the party favor. Pain in the butt to make and very time consuming.

The soap was tiny, so I ended up making over 100. I put five in a bag for the party favors. People thought it was candy at first. That could have been a problem. And I would like to say that the photo above is my very first batch. By the end I wasn't spilling a drop. Except for that one time on batch 9 when I was thinking to myself what a pro I am and how awesome my skills were...and that's when the universe decided I needed to be taught a lesson and I spilled soap everywhere.

A PVC football goal

My lovely Adirondack chairs needed to be painted. Luckily, I still had the old paint and luckier still it was not dried out.

I found these footstools at Goodwill awhile back. Normally these things are pricey, so when I found them (and on a half off day!) I grabbed them up. And had every intention of painting them.

Sometimes a party is all the motivation you need.

 We also did a lot of work to the yard. It was a co-ed shower and I had planned on having outside games - corn hole (or "bags") and ladder ball. We did a TON of yard work. The weekend before the baby shower we pretty much spent the entire weekend pulling weeds. When I closed my eyes I could see weeds. We also moved the rock in front of the grass area and covered it with mulch. J wants to lay an extended patio and has plans for an outside kitchen.

The before:

Do you see these WEEDS?

We also hung some lights, so that the people playing the outside games would be able to see. Another project that I had been meaning to complete.

The after:

That side of the yard still needs a little work. It's a huge yard, ok?

Let's just focus on the nice area. 

The day of the party it rained. And not a typical Phoenix sprinkle-for ten-minutes-and-that's-it rain.

It poured. J the green thumb dirt nerd loves the rain and he was looking out the back door grinning like a fool. He even has a rain meter to measure rain, which he faithfully tracks online. He gleefully informed me that we received 2.35 inches of rain. We live in a desert and that is about 20% of the rain for the year. 20 friggin' percent! On the day of my sister's baby shower!

All of our hard work on the backyard was completely wasted.

But there was a ton of food, people were laughing and talking, and Danielle and Andrew received a ton of gifts, so I considered it a success.

I'm never making cake pops again. Those suckers take forever. They sure were tasty though.

Can you tell it's a football-themed shower?

I forgot to get a shot of the other food table - there was meat, rice, beans, and a ton of other stuff.

In case you can't tell, that is a football helmet watermelon. It's tiny because that's the only kind I could find. Must not be in season. That was crafted by J. He was such a wonderful help all weekend.

This was supposed to be near the street in the front yard, but because of the pouring rain it was on the front porch.

This cake was delicious and humongous. Andrew's Mom has a friend who makes them. Over half of it was left so I took it to work and my arms started to ache because it was so heavy.

I spent the rest of the weekend returning the rented tables and chairs (that were outside, useless, getting wet), delivered the rest of the gifts that wouldn't fit in Dano's (I mean, Danielle's) car, and cleaning my house. My floor was a mess as a result of the rain. Dano offered to help but I didn't want her helping. It's just something a host does.

I felt a little crazy, getting home from the business trip and finishing the prep for the baby shower. No one in my family had better be pregnant anytime soon. I have been taking this week to recover.

And editing maternity photos. Here's a sneak peek.

I love this photo. First of all because Dano looks sassy. Doesn't she look sassy? Plus, I didn't have a blue ribbon - that ribbon is actually green but I edited the photo and made it blue.

I'm just waiting for Dano to take a look at the photos and tell me if she wants anything edited and then they'll be up on FB.

And then I'll make her thank you cards and then I'll crochet her little baby hats and then I will take photos of the newborn baby. Cross your fingers for me that they turn out alright. I'm sure it's an adorable baby. Just look at the parents.

And then I will be taking a vacation somewhere. Anywhere.