Baby Shower for Jones Mackenzie.......

This past Sunday we hosted a baby shower for our friends Meghan & Justin; we decided to do a jack & jill shower so that they could both enjoy the celebration of their 1st child & I think that it turned out really nice.  We did a sports/football theme since that is how Jones room will be decorated, because the guys would be there & also because the shower was on Sunday & we are all huge football fans!!

I asked a friend of ours who makes amazing cakes if she could do a cake to match Jones shower invite & boy did she........

Check out the beautiful cake that she created for the party...........it is a perfect match!!!

She also made the cupcakes; I ordered the toppers & candy bar covers from Karyn at Pixel Perfect since she designed the invite & I wanted then to match. 

I made the chocolate covered strawberries myself & bought the delicious fudge covered oreos & added the "J" to them so they would be more personalized......... 

These were the favors; I actually got them at the dollar store & added different scrapbook stickers to the fronts of them to make them cute.........not to bad for a $1 huh?? 

Everything on this table was "fat free" I promise.............. 

I tried to figure out things/games to do that weren't to "girlie" but would be fun & so I decided to do a DIY onsie & burp cloth area for everyone to enjoy......... 

This is the one that I made........ 

I had white onsies in all sizes & burp clothes as well & any that didn't get decorated went home with the new mommy & daddy!  Above the DIY table I huge Jones' ultrasound photos; I added so cute sayings to them, had them printed out & then glued them on to scrapbook paper & hung them with "It's a Boy" ribbon.  We only played one game & it was the YEAH Baby Candy Bar game; it is a fun game that both men & women can laugh about & enjoy!!

Mommy to Be creating her little guy something adorable to wear! 

For food & drinks we did sports type foods & snacks; I made chili, meatballs, weenies, buffalo chicken dip, veggies, & chicken salad sandwiches & then we had sweet tea, fruity water, spiked punch & beer!

Instead of a guest book we did a game ball; we had everyone sign it & then purchased a glass case so that Megs & Justin could display it in Jones nursery............ 

The boys needed their place to hang too so the garage was set up just for that; we have darts & checkers out there so add a heater & what guy wouldn't have fun?? 

Stan, Justin (daddy to be) & Lance 

I stole this idea from Mrs. F & think that it turned out perfect.  I wanted to do simple yet personalized decorations so I made monogrammed wreaths to hang on the back door by the DIY area.  It was pretty simple to make just kind of timely but all in all they loved it & so did I. 

I ordered the banner from Get the Party Started on Etsy & it was PERFECT!!!

I really think that Meghan & Justin loved the shower; at least I hope they did!! 

It is so crazy that she & I are pregnant at the same time; but it is so nice to have someone to relate to this time around!

Both Meghan & Justin are naturals when it comes to baby Vincent here so I am sure that they will have everything taken care of & under control when Jones arrives into the world!!

Brayden spent Saturday night & Sunday morning with his JuJu & PaPa so I could get everything set up & ready so when he got home everyone was there to met & greet him; he was such a ham the whole afternoon & it was so sweet to see everyone play & interact with him!!

& I guess what grown man after a few beers couldn't resist getting into the ball pit right??

Brayden did not like this one bit!!

The shower was so much fun & we enjoyed spending the afternoon with friends & celebrating Jones future arrival.  I was exhausted by the end of the evening but I got everything cleaned up & was in bed by 8:30 that night & I think I was asleep by 8:31.  I wouldn't have thought it possible but having their shower made me get even more excited for Colton's arrival & I will be getting my butt in gear on his nursery after the holidays have come & gone............

1st Birthday Party - Part Two

It all started with this invitation; it set the tone for Brayden's 1st Birthday party & was used to plan almost the entire party; a huge thank you to Karyn at Pixel Perfect Boutique!!

We actually bid on this jump house at a silent auction at Brayden's daycare; the silent auction purchase included the jump house, a snow cone machine & a game for the kids; all of these things were a huge hit at the party & I am so happy that we had them!!

 

Even with our bulldog decided to join in the fun!

The big polar bear in this photo is the snow cone machine & since it was a bazillion degrees that day the kids & adults both enjoyed the fact that we had it.  Kool Bounce was already bringing the jump house, game & snow cone machine so we also rented tents & tables from them for the afternoon. I wanted everyone to be able to sit, eat & watch the kids play so we needed to provide shade in order for that to happen; they came to the house & set everything up & then at the end of the day cleaned it all up as well. 

Here is my sis & my nephew.......I am so happy that they could make B's party!!  I wish I had a better picture of the banner behind them but this one is the best one.  I won a $25 Party Starters custom order gift certificate from Kim's Frost Me blog giveaway & used it to get this banner.  I sent Pam the invite & she used the pendent shapes for the banner since they matched the ones on the invite perfectly; she also made in the theme colors & used the Georgia Bulldog face as well & it turned out PERFECT!!

I didn't get a close up picture the day of the party but we hung Brayden's monthly pictures outside so everyone could see him as he grew.  I actually made these myself & thought that they turned out pretty well; all I did was use scrapbook paper in his party theme colors, glued them & then punched a hole in the top & bottom so that I could string them through with ribbon.  I tied the top to the inside of the tent & then used a balloon weight at the bottom so that they wouldn't fly around............not to bad right??  They are hanging in my craft closet now because I want to save them.

 

Lance was the grill master that day & I thank him very much for doing it since it was 105 degrees & there was barely a breeze.........he was sweating up a storm but cooked delicious cheeseburgers, hot dogs & chicken perfectly!!  We also served my moms famous potato salad & pasta salad, veggies & wheat thins (tomato basil) w/my yummy spinach dip, fruit, my mother in laws fabulous cheese & strawberry preserve spread, potato chips & baked beans..........YUMMY!!

Here is Brayden's Birthday cake we decided that we would make cupcakes for his party instead of an actual cake.  My dad was prepared to make him the smash cake that Christina featured in the Inspiration Boards I posted about here but we ran out of time that week so we did 3 large cupcakes with the pudding filling a bunch of small ones.  I say we made them but my dad really did do all of the work!!

Here the candy station (which was a hit with everyone); it was quite hard to find red, black & white candy but I think that it all turned out quite nice.  I ordered the White Chocolate Covered "B" & "1" Oreo Pops as well as the Chocolate Covered Oreo's that are surrounding the large cup cake from Sweetie's by Kim & also ordered the M&M's that you can have personalized in red, black & white.  We tried to make the dog bone sugar cookies but as you can see they didn't really turn out that great.........tasted great but looked nothing like dog bones!!  For the cupcake toppers & candy bar wrappers I went back to Pixel Perfect Boutique since she did such a great job on the invite & could match it with with these items too!!

I found these cute candy favor boxes at Michael's & put a thank you sticker that I ordered from Karyn at Pixel Perfect on them & loved the way they looked!

I tried very hard to get Brayden to wear this adorable hat but he just wouldn't; every time we would put it on

he would rip it right off.  It matched his birthday shirt though & that he had no problem wearing; I found these on Etsy as well; Sprinkles of Love.

 

The party was great & I think that Brayden really enjoyed everything; I know that he won't remember this party but I hope that when he gets older & looks at all the pictures that he sees that it was a fun time & we tried to make it as special as we possibly could!!

I did order the table center pieces featured the Inspiration Boards from Blume Box but ordered them late so they arrived a few days after the party...........they are sitting in my craft closet just waiting to be used at the couples baby shower we are throwing in October!!!!