Running from the Law: Mac's Family Baby Shower

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Mac's Family Baby Shower

I have to tell you right up front that Mac and I are SO spoiled!  It is really humbling and amazing to feel so loved by so many friends and family members.  I'm totally biased, but I think this little guy did a great job of picking a family to join that's going to love him to pieces.  We may all be crazy, but we love it each for it!

A few weekends ago, I headed up to the little river town of Clarksville, Missouri (about an hour and a half North of St. Louis) for a family baby shower for Mac.  The shower was held at the Clarksville Station Restaurant, part of Overlook Farms.  The shower was hosted by my mother-in-law, my mom and my (soon-to-be) sister in-law and they went ABOVE and BEYOND.  I'm not kidding when I say this may be the nicest shower I've ever been to.  

First of all, the weather way gorgeous.  Maybe a little too gorgeous.  When we planned this April 1st shower, we never expected to have a day full of sunshine and temperatures in the 90s!  We fully expected it to be dark and rainy and have the shower indoors.  However, the beautiful weather allowed us to move to the party outside on the patio, surrounded by all the gorgeous wisteria.  What a stunning location!









The theme of the shower was "birds and bees" - specifically, ducks and bumblebees.  Perhaps this is my not-so-secret attempt to get my unborn child to like ducks and not want to kill them, like my husband.  But don't tell him I said that.


The invitations were from Trinity Street Studio (on Etsy) and started the yellow and gray trend.


My amazing sister-in-law Lindsey did all the decorations, from bee hives, fabric, duckies and flowers on the tables....



(Irish duckies!)


...to pinwheels, daisy pomanders and decorated onesies on clotheslines...












...to personalized advice cards (not to mention thank you cards)...





...to bubbles hanging from the rafters...


...to the little jars of honey as party favors.




Pretty incredible, huh?!  I was blown away!

My mom brought the cupcakes, punch and the brownie pops.  
This officially put me over the edge.  
I was crying...and I'm crying again now just thinking about this.
How do I possibly deserve to be loved this much?












Sticking with the "bee" theme, the restaurant gave me a gift package of home-made honey-infused bath products from a little boutique in Clarksville called "Bee Naturals."  


We even had a couple real bees show up.  Luckily, they didn't bother anyone.  No ducks showed up though...slightly disappointed in that.


As the guests started showing up, I got so emotional.  Most of these people have known me my entire life.  As embarrassing as it sometimes is, it was wonderful to hear their stories of what I was like as a kid and all the hell I can expect to get from my kid when he gets here.









Apparently, if Mac's anything like me, he will be a complete mama's baby and throw wild dramatic tantrums when left with any baby-sitter.  









He'll be easily bribed to do anything with chocolate or candy.






He'll insist on picking out all his own clothing/outfits, no matter how bad they look together.  





And he'll love to use big words at a very early age and say things like, "We should go to the convenience store to put gasoline in the automobile."  





It was also pretty fun to see my cousins and friends with their little ones.
I got to meet Baby Alexander for the first time.  


At just a few weeks old, he's the newest addition to the family.
And Jayme is already such a good momma.



Alex and Mac are going to be ski buddies.  His mom and I are already looking forward to the days when we can take our boys on ski trips.  They're moving to San Francisco this summer, so we expect to make a trip out to California to visit soon.




Alex's cousin Taelynn is just a few months older and was a big hit at the shower!










It doesn't get much cuter than that!


And my best friend from high school brought her two beautiful girls.
I don't know how these two are so grown up already...I swear they were just born yesterday.




After mingling for a while, it was time to eat.



The food was absolutely OUTSTANDING.


Chicken salad sandwiches, fresh fruit...



...grilled vegetables, bruschetta, flatbread and goat cheese stuffed mini tomatoes.






I had three plates full.
Not kidding.


After lunch, we took a few minutes to snap some family photos and pictures with the guests.
I wanted to get pictures of Mac (in bump form) with all his relatives and friends.
Plus, I love having these photos to print off and put in each guest's thank you card.

Me and my mama.

My beautiful mother-in-law, Grandma Bonnie.

My grandmother and Mac's soon-to-be great-grandmother.

My stepmom and my mom.

Me, Mac and his three grandmas!





Aunt Jeanne, Ryan's best friend's mom.

My best friend from high school, Amanda, her mother (my second mother) Terri and her girls.

My Aunt Jane - she drove in all the way from Jefferson City!

My Aunt Nadine, with her daughters, Jayme and Cara and their little ones.


My stepmom Kelly, her mother Barb and me.

The Holtsman side of the family.

My mom and her good friend Jan.

My very first boss, Barbara.  
Her and her husband hired me to help out in their flower shop when I was in high school and basically adopted me into their family.

My cousins Jenny, Suzy and Jessica.

The Lenz side of the family.


Just the girl cousins.


Me with Ryan's aunt MaryAnne and cousin Monica.

My sorority sister and good friend, Kirsten.


My mom's best friend, Liz.



And then it was time to open presents!




Lindsey made another AMAZING diaper cake.
This one was covered in bees and ducks.  
She should seriously think about going into business with these cakes - they're amazing!



I'll spare you the play-by-play and just touch on a few gifts.
Cardinals gear.






I think I've mentioned my husband's obsession with Superman...
Apparently, as a child, he wore a Superman cape for years.
So, this Superman onesie and bib are perfect for Baby Mac.


Barbara's daughter Emily makes these - they're available in her Etsy shop (So Abigail).  
She makes the CUTEST stuff!





Super soft blankets.


Adorable rompers.




Beach wear!



Cowboy boot socks.


Lots of camo.






Hooded ducky towels!










The tiniest diapers I've ever seen!





Books galore!


This one's titled "Don't Lick the Dog - Making Friends with Dogs"  
So appropriate for our house!








And stuffed animals.



Then, before I could blink, it was over.
How does that happen?
I didn't want it to ever end.


Thank you SO much to all my amazing family members and friends. 
I am so incredibly lucky to be a part of such a loving and generous group of women.

And a GIANT thank you to the hostesses for all their hard work and generosity.

Bonnie - Thank you SO much for absolutely EVERYTHING.  I am so lucky to have a mother-in-law that I adore and that's so thoughtful and giving.  Thank you for raising my best friend and giving me the best husband I could ever ask for.  I'm so proud to be part of your family.

Lindsey - You are so talented, thoughtful and caring.  Mac is VERY lucky to have you as an aunt and I know you'll be such a wonderful role model for him!  I cannot wait for your wedding and to see all the amazing things you do for it!  But mostly, I can't wait for you to be my sister.

Mom - Thank you for being my mama.  You're so much stronger and smarter than you even realize.  I'm so excited to be able to give you your first grandbaby - you've only been hounding me over this for 15 years.  You're going to rock at being a grandma!


Baby Mac and I are forever grateful to each of you for making us feel so special and loved.
My cup runneth over.


*All photos by Amanda of Amkar Photography

36 comments:

  1. what a gorgeous shower! and you look fabulous. i love all the details, but more importantly how much fun everyone was having!

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  2. What a beautiful shower! You deserve all that attention! I love all the facial expressions you were making as you opened gifts. You and your cousin Cara sure do look alike!

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  3. What a beautiful day! Such detail!

    Looks like everyone had a great day and you, my dear, looked incredible!

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  4. Aww, what a shower! That's so awesome! You are most definitely loved, and so is Mac!

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  5. Looks like you guys were spoiled, but you deserve it!!! Congrats again, can't wait for baby Mac to get here!!!

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  6. You are beautiful. your dress is beautiful.
    the shower was beautiful.

    so happy for you!

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  7. What an amazing party!! Baby Mac is already a star! You look amazing!!

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  8. What a beautiful shower- love all the details! And you look wonderful- just glowing. :)

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  9. Sara,
    Wow!! You and baby Mac were completely spoiled like y'all should be!! This is the prettiest baby shower I've ever seen. So so nice to have it outdoors! Your pics rocked!! I'm adore your dress...LOVED it!

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  10. It's amazing how much detail and work went into this shower! You are so lucky to have so many people who love you!

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  11. I'm loving that first picture - it's the epitome of spring!

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  12. Adorable shower! Kudos to your family for all their creative touches!

    Love your dress :)

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  13. What a gorgeous shower! I love all of the little details. And the food looks amazing! And I am now officially obsessed with your dress! It is so pretty on you!!!!! I'm super jealous!

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  14. Absolutely stunning shower! You truly are blessed that you are spoiled with people who put so much thought and effort into this shower! Fun fact: wisteria is one of my favorite vines/flowers :) Glad that you were able to enjoy such a beautiful day celebrating a soon to be new addition to your family!

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  15. Even though I'm biased and loved my own showers, I think I'm right there with you in that this was the most gorgeous, well put together shower I've ever seen. You look amazing too and I can't believe you were still wearing heels at this point!

    You have to Pin this shower. I'm sure it will get tons of repins and will inspire so many others! Incredibly creative and adorable.

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  16. You look gorgeous!! Amazing, seriously!
    They did a fantastic job with the shower, it all looks like a party planner threw it!
    Ok, I'm done with exclamation points. ;)

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  17. What an amazing shower! I absolutley love your red dress...you look fabulous!!!! Baby MAC is one loved little guy :)

    And we have GOT to get a Sophie Teether!

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  18. I love you in that red dress...and seriously that is the cutest baby shower theme ever! And the venue was amazing!

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  19. this shower is stunning! Baby Mac is going to be one blessed little man!

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  20. Such an amazing shower! The scenery was stunning. You obviuosly have a great support system there to help you and baby Mac out! Congrats!

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  21. What an amazing shower! Love all the decore. Also, Love, love, love the dress. Where is it from? I must own it!

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  22. What a GORGEOUS venue!! Wow. Looks like the weather was perfect too - nice and warm, and perfectly sunny. Your reaction of excitement to all the gifts and seeing everyone is just too cute :-)

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  23. Are you kidding me with this shower!? So gorgeous and adorable and so much thought put into everything! WOW. :)

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  24. WOW! What a beyond gorgeous setting! And you look amazing my dear! Glad you had a great time!!

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  25. Every single celebration looks like it should be in a magazine. And you look fantastic as well. I love the theme - too cute!

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  26. WOW what a gorgeous venue and your family did an amazing job with the details!! Oh my gosh this is definitely one of the best baby showers I have ever seen- Baby Mac is one blessed little baby!

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  27. What an amazing shower. Everything was gorgeous....including that dress you were wearing!!

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  28. Oh my gosh! Wow! What an amazing shower! I love all the decorations and the food has me drooling!! Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. :)

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  29. beautiful, beautiful shower! what a blessing to be born into such love!
    and I am in love with that location too! wow.

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  30. What a perfect day! Gorgeous weather, absolutely gorgeous shower, and gorgeous mom to be! Every detail was perfect and so thought out. And I LOVE that the restaurant gave you a gift! how special! What a wonderful day. XOXO

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  31. What an amazing shower and such great shots of the day. Congrats on your pregnancy!
    Hoping you have a smooth delivery.
    Thanks for stopping by...love your cute little blog. Also my husband's from Missouri...such a great place.

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  32. wow, so amazing!! love every little bit...including your dress and that wisteria!

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  33. Nice to "meet" you and congratulations Momma! This is such an exciting time for you and I can't wait to go back and read more of your story. New follower here!


    By the way, this is the most gorgeous shower I've seen! Every little touch is amazing! And you, little Momma, are adorable!

    Looking forward to reading more!

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  34. A beautiful baby shower! You look wonderful. Best of luck and safe delivery.

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  35. That shower looks amazing. Like something out of a magazine! Congrats on your baby--very exciting!

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  36. What an amazing shower! You guys are spoiled! But that's a good thing! That just means that baby will be loved by so many. : )

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