Our Charmin' Mississippi Shower via Aunt Dolly

Hello, everyone in the Blogosphere!

 

I hope you are all well and that you are having a good week. I am officially 37 weeks pregnant today (HOORAY!), and I am so excited! I still feel my little one moving a lot; I have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow; and we have set an induction date of October 29 if I don't go into labor before then. My OBGYN has decided that the gestational diabetes constitutes my not going the full 40 weeks as baby is measuring ahead. I am excited, a little anxious, and feeling wonderful overall. I am definitely kicking the nesting feelings into high gear, and I am working frantically as much as my ever-growing tummy will allow to be sure all of my t's are crossed and i's are dotted. I plan on doing a post soon on my hospital bag (all packed!), the completed nursery (so close...it's almost there), and information, photos, and links to all of the DIY projects I did for Baby Muller's nursery. Whew! So much to say...so little time!

 

Meanwhile, I have completed my rounds of baby showers, and I cannot express how incredibly much it meant to my growing family to have so much love and support poured out onto us! The Beatles Baby Shower was my first shower, and that was followed by a church couples cook-out shower. The ladies at my office threw me a little luncheon one Friday, too. That left me with three down and two to go: my Mississippi baby shower for my friends and family there, and the couple diaper bunco derby that was thrown by several of Prince Charming's and my closest friends. Here are the details of my charming Mississippi shower: it was given by a close family friend who is fondly known by us as Aunt Dolly. She opened her home up (which is beautiful) to us and prepared the most adorable decorations and delicious, diabetes-friendly food. Here are some of the highlights of the shower.

 

There were signs with balloons posted throughout her huge neighborhood directing people to her home, and when we got into the driveway, this large chalkboard sign with balloons, a copy of the invite, and stork art was waiting by the entryway.

Aunt Dolly had set up an awesome dessert station! There were chocolate dipped pretzels with various toppings, chocolate dipped marshmallows, M & Ms (the ones in the bottle were for a guessing game prize drawing), and a precious shower cake!

The cake was beautiful! One of Aunt Dolly's daughter's friends had created it, and it was really a showstopper! The top part was chocolate, and the belly was vanilla cake. The frosting was made of a marshmallow fondant and fully edible. I LOVED the little foot pushing out on the tummy. I am still hoping to see that in real life before my pregnancy ends.

 

There were pom-poms hung up around the house in various colors setting a festive scene.

 

These also decorated the mantle. The colors were so perfect: gender neutral without screaming yellow and green.



The beautiful back pergola was a popular hangout for our guests despite the warm weather, and Aunt Dolly had decorated it with sets of onesies. These were some of my favorite sets I received. (Particularly the ones on the far left...they looked so vintage.)



The favors stand was set up by the door and included a delicious fall snack mixed wrapped in bags and placed in cute little boxes.

 

Next to the gift opening chair was this really cute diaper package setup wrapped in a sweet baby sheet. I loved this!

Bella, SugarPie, and Maw-Maw Muller all drove up from New Orleans to take part in Baby Muller's special Mississippi day.

And, of course, Baby Muller's Aunt Cookie was there. (Whoa at that prego belly!!) I love it!

 

I lead the blessing for our time together before we began eating. After all, without the goodness of God and His handiwork, none of this would be possible at all.

The great-grandmothers lead the buffet way! From right to left are Memaw, SugarPie, Maw-Maw Muller, and my great-aunt Betty...who I guess will be Baby Muller's great-great aunt. Wow! The food was fantastic!! There were ham and cheese sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls (Mississippi shower staple), huge crudite tray with spinach dip, amazing variation of pimiento cheese dip, avocado chicken salad, apples and caramel dip, keylime pie dip with graham cracker sticks, mixed nuts. She and her hostess helpers (Ms. Paula and my mom) had also whipped up a champagne punch and a mommy punch...it was all so good!

Here are some of my best friends digging in: (from left to right) Krissy, Cookie, me, and my cousin Heater.
 

More of my faves: (from left to right) Melissa, Vada, Neeley, and Bella. My cousin Neeley was so sweet to come as it was her birthday! She is so stinkin' cute, and she is the best cake cutter in the world!

When gift time commenced, I received signed books for the baby from my guests instead of cards. I loved this! Baby Muller now has a full little book shelf (I love to read!), and we will have plenty of bedtime stories. I was SUPER excited to get this book from my little cousin Neeley as it was one of my absolute favorite Golden Books growing up.

Bella threw in a couple of gifts for mom, including several nursing friendly dresses and pajamas. I was very excited to get this as it is one less thing for me to worry about taking care of before baby comes.

Maw-Maw Muller got our little one a swing. I hope he or she likes it! Oh, as a side note, throughout the gift opening, Aunt Dolly had random drawings for little door prizes. It was so cute and kept my guests engaged in something fun while I opened presents.

Two of my guests are my former bosses from my college job, Saralyn and Deborah, and I ADORE them. They are two of the sweetest people you will ever meet, and they taught me so much during my time with them. They got Baby Muller a rocking bassinet that I am sure will come in handy. I have heard it highly acclaimed on several mommy blogs!

Ahh...first holiday attire! How sweet is this little Thanksgiving set with the turkey on the hiney and bib! I can't wait to see my little one decked out for the holidays!

This was a gift I was so excited about receiving. I read good things about it and thought it would be a great alternative to the Nap Nannies of old. It is a baby bean bag chair that is inclined. You strap baby snuggly in, and he or she can use it even as they grow. As a toddler, it will make a great tv chair!

My mom, Baby Muller's Noni (we think...at least for now), got to attend this shower, which was probably one of the most special things about it! Cookie has the pics of me and mom on her camera, so hopefully I will get to add those soon. She and my dad (definitely the baby's Deeda) got the baby his or her Pack n' Play! I was thrilled with this gift as it will make baby more mobile at home and away. It is already put together and in my den. All of the gifts were so wondeful and thoughtful, and Baby Muller has been so blessed by so many sweet friends and family. It is truly overwhelming!

Here is my Mississippi shower crowd. Each of these ladies is so precious, and I am so blessed to have all of them in our lives. That is my Aunt Dolly on the far left, and my mom is the third person to the right of her.

This shower was an intimate, lovely, thoughtful celebration of Baby Muller, and I am so grateful to Aunt Dolly, my mom, and Ms. Paula for making it happen. It was truly a special day, and I will never forget how kind and generous everyone was to our growing family!