Kaplan's Texas (church) baby shower

This past weekend, our sweet church family also hosted us a shower.  They used a "little man" theme that revolved around mustaches (something else I have always loved and think is just adorable!)  It was SO stinkin' cute! 

This was only a week after my other shower (so I was 36 weeks), but he had grown!

My beautiful hostesses!  

Debbie, Windy, Dajuanna, and Tomya

These ladies have become family away from home and are so dear to my heart.  Some special bonds happen when you do Kingdom work together, and I am so blessed to love alongside these beauties!

(: And here we are in truer form :)

So glad my mama and sister (and Abygail) were able to drive over for it!

This little girl... She's had my heart for over eight years now. She's my sister's oldest and my buddy from day one.  Big time Gigi's girl (and she knows it!) 

Here's some closeups and details about what all was on that table we're behind:

First of all, those plates and napkins--how adorable can you get?!  The cupcakes...oh the cupcakes were so delightful.  There were buttered pecan cupcakes with cream cheese buttered pecan icing; caramel apple cupcakes filled with caramel and topped with caramel apple icing; and pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cinnamon cream cheese icing.  I can feel my blood sugar rising...they were so good!  They also had little mustache toothpicks in them to add a little manly flair :)  

There were some little bowls of other small snacks (nuts and Reese's and the like).  

This table also had the punch and water bottles on it (the water was on ice in that big red tub).  They wrapped the water bottles with mustache duct tape and they were precious!  The sign there said, "Wet Your Whiskers"...if you know anything about me, you know I'm a sucker for a good pun--and this shower was FULL of them!

They cut out mustaches (with a Cricut) and glued them to clothespins.  This was a fun spin on the traditional baby shower game that kept with the theme.

They had a basket of diapers out with some Sharpies next to this sign (oh my goodness with the wording--sooo cute!) for people to write me some little messages to make me smile when I have to change that wrinkly little booty over and over and over and over again...  

It was pretty fun to see what some people came up with!  Plus, we'll take all the diapers we can get!

They also had "Wishes for the Little Man" cards out for each guest to fill out.  Again, these words are so special to me and I teared up reading each one.  Thankfully I did that at home this time and they didn't read them all out loud like they did at the other shower!

This game was too cute of an idea and was a lot of fun!  Those are all pictures of famous people with mustaches, but the top half of their face is covered.  It was fun to watch everyone try to figure out where they had seen that 'stache before!

Who doesn't love a good guessing game?  Especially when you get to keep the item and the item is candy!  The lady who won was only 7 off, which I thought was really impressive!

The gift table!  I bought that little chalkboard for another shower I hosted and loved that it was getting to be used again :)  They wrote, "Stache your presents here" on the board--I'm telling you, the puns were everywhere and fantastic!

It took us a loooooong time to settle on a name for this little man child.  My dad got tired of him not having a name and decided he was just going to call him Gomer...  We knew the middle name was Paul; so not only was Gomer bad enough alone, but Gomer Paul?  A little too close to this goober for comfort...  Anywho, he has my nephew calling him Gomer and had Bella on his team for a while (although she is swift to correct him now!)  It made me giggle to see his little note he added on to the card.  Mom had no clue he had written anything on there until I showed it to her before I opened it :P

Oh, that miracle medicine.  Based on my expression and reaction to receiving it, you should be able to infer how much of a lifesaver that stuff was with Bella.  It goes with us everywhere...

This made me giggle :)  Our friend, Danielle, was SO kind to give us this huge box of diapers (on top of so many other gifts!)...but the addition of all the mustaches to the babies on the box was just priceless!

She also gave us the gorgeous frame!  I absolutely cannot wait to get a family picture taken of our new little foursome to put in it.

This sweet friend of mine makes me look huge will be having her little girl the same week we have our little man.  Our first kiddos (also opposite genders) are four months apart; it was too funny when we found out each other was pregnant together again...and this time only a week apart!

Hunter and I have been very involved with our youth group these past five years.  These two ladybirds were so sweet to come love on me this special day!  I have gotten so close to all of these kids and I love them in a way I never could explain.  They keep me giggling, they keep me questioning, and they keep me accountable.  And we have a good time :)

Our "stache"!  We got SO many things we needed and SO many fun extras!

Here's a sneak peek at one of the water bottles!

These are the cookies I made as thank you favors for our guests this time (I'll have a separate post on those soon).

Hunter and I never would have imagined we'd live in Texas...but these people up here make it an okay place to be.  In all sincerity, they have been such a stable force for us these past six years and we are beyond blessed to serve with them.  It is an honor and a joy to raise my kids and in this church family.  They love us so well.  I hope they feel the same from us!

love, angie

Kaplan's Louisiana baby shower

I know it used to not be a popular thing to have a baby shower or "sprinkle" for people other than the first time.  But I am sooo grateful that my girls realized and understood how much you need no matter what go round it is (all the consumables add up quick--and way more if you're having a different gender) and were willing to host a beautiful shower for me and our little fella.

Rachel, Dajuanna, Melonie, and Michelle (Bella is being her placeholder...) were my hostesses.   Seriously four of my favorite people. Ever.  My two sisters have grown into my best friends.  And those other two girls are the sisters life and God chose to give me along the way.  They're my people and oh, how I love them!

I tried to convince them to keep things simple...that didn't happen so much (not like I can really say anything...).  They went with a "Ready to Pop!" theme (one I have always loved and wanted to host myself!) and combined that with his nursery colors (grey, navy, mint, and yellow).  It was absolutely beautiful and I'm so grateful!

This was the setup by the front door...just precious.  And the little yellow crib was my dad's baby bed which was just so special to be able to use!

These two tables had the food and punch on them.  Rachel ordered the banner and signs and place cards from a shop on Etsy (which all also coordinated with the invitations).  She matted and laminated them to give them an extra pop (and now I'm using the place cards as labels on baskets and drawers in his room!)

The food all also revolved around the theme--Dajuanna made cake pops, oreo pops, rice Krispie pops, and marshmallow pops (all in place of a cake).  They also had bubble gum, popcorn in adorable little containers, and rock candy (technically not pop rocks, but still one of my absolute faves so my sister spoiled me!)

They set up a little display table in the back with some of his nursery decor and our maternity pictures.  I also made cookies as a thank you favor for our guests and they were set out here (I'll do a separate post about them soon).

Big sister!

Big mama!

I was 35 weeks for this shower...and the main item of the shower that was ready to pop!

It just looked so good!  

Table decorations...alternating receiving blankets with toys and books and baby gear and his little shoes piled all around.  The vases had silver and blue gum balls alternating with foam K's spray painted in the opposite color.  Each person also got a "Wishes for Kaplan" sheet to fill out.  They let me draw these out of a bucket for small door prizes--and then read them out loud.  SO sweet and such special words for me...I was quite the weeper during that!

I love that they used a crib to hold the gifts in and around.  It's all the little details that add up!  

That gift in the front was pretty special too--it's from my parents, and mom let my nieces decorate the paper with their handprints in his colors.  I am so blessed for my kids to get to grow up with some pretty amazing cousins!

Maw Maw, Mimi, and Nanny!

Hunter's mom, my mom, and Hunter's stepmom

Three very excited grandmas!

This little girl...  She was the star of the show!  She loved helping open the presents and showing everyone what we had gotten.  She also loved spinning around in her dress and showing off her tricks--which of course led her to take a bow :)  Several times...

Hunter's aunt made us this beautiful quilt (it's currently getting his monogram right there in the middle!) as well as several blankets and all kinds of other goodies.  Hand made things are so special!

Another special gift are these burp rags (these are only a couple of many!).  My mom and her best friend collaborated to get all these different designs made for our little man.  They're all personalized and just precious.  

I mean, really...can it get any cuter or any more fun?!  These two are so perfect together...and a little bit dangerous :P

All the loot!  We are SO blessed to be so loved!

(I thought the clothesline idea was absolutely adorable!  And it was a great way for everyone to see all of his precious outfits he got)

It was such a great day and we are so grateful for everyone who came and "showered" us!  As I said (through tears) during my thank you speech, these people are why Hunter and I are who we are and why we are able to raise our children well in this crazy world.  We love them all and can't wait for him to be here to put all these goodies to use!

love, angie

Shower Hostess Gift

I was a hostess for a shower about a year and a half ago, and the mother to be made all of us picture frames out of wooden plaques.  It is absolutely beautiful and I love it in my living room.  I also get a compliment on it almost any time someone comes to my house.

So when my favorite girls offered to host a shower for me this pregnancy, I knew I wanted to try to do something similar for them.

I found the plaques at Michael's.  They're a little smaller than what I have, but were also therefore cheaper.  And since this wasn't the only gift I wanted to give them, I opted for that (and a 4x6 still fit on it, so all was good).

I picked up some chalk paint (which I had never used before, but liked...next time I would also get the wax finish to "age" it a little bit) and some burlap ribbon from Michael's as well.  It was all coming together, but I wanted a little more flair.  The buttons came from Hobby Lobby and were just what I was looking for.  The little clips were also a Hobby Lobby find (I love the Spare Parts collection they carry!)

A little hot glue, so sand paper, and a super cute easel (also a Michael's find) made pretty fantastic holders for some pictures of my people!

I paired them with a Leaves candle from Bath and Body Works (my absolute favorite scent they carry and the very definition of Fall in my book).  Of course I used the mess out of some coupons since all of these stores offer great deals with them :)

I love to craft, I love to give gifts, and I love these four girls with every ounce I have.  They're my people and my life is so much better because I have them.  I hope they enjoyed their gifts as much as I did!