Mendy & Cannon's Baby Shower

I had the great privilege of hosting a baby shower for Mendy and my soon-to-be nephew, Cannon!

I was SUPER emotional and excited for it the entire week and it did not help make me less emotional when I got to go with Mendy to her sonogram apt the day before the shower. It was so fun and so surreal to go with her. I have never been to a sono that wasn't my own and I was so surprised how moving it still was!
I mean, life is just incredible. and hearing a baby's heartbeat just can't be beat. It is just a miracle!
Dylan came with me and we just ooh'd and aaah'd over his new cousin.

 
 I had the BEST group of co-hosts that brainstormed, helped, set up and hosted with me.
I could not be more thankful for them.
They were just as excited for Mendy and Alex as I was and did not even care how sappy I was about it.
There wasn't really a "theme" for the shower...if anything we just went for a neutral, natural, classic look.
Whites, greys and the outdoors.
The invite we chose had birch trees on it so, trees were definitely used a-plenty.
 
 I had Ben chop up some wood from our back yard to make some centerpieces for the table.

I tend to just try to use everything I already have around the house and from old parties and recycle it. Like everything on my fireplace mantle.

 

and like this blessing tree from backyard sticks and paper bunting

 

The hostesses just brought things left and right that might go with the theme.
 Serving dishes, frames, decorative items, more fabric bunting, Ashley made some cute pinecone garland and Katie made the cute front door hanger.

 We all brought every moscow mule mug we could find to serve the frozen coffee in and it turned out just a cute as it was delicious.
   

The cake though!
Oh what pressure. Mendy is THE BEST cake person ever.
 She just out does herself every time I ask for something new.
 It's insane how talented she is.
 For one hot minute I thought I could MAKE her cake before mom helped me realize I was delusional and should get help from a professional.
Oh and I am SO glad I did.
We went for the new, trendy "naked cake" look from Legacy cakes and it turned out PERFECT.
 We added the hydrangeas at the house and it was so cute.
Looked kind of like the tree theme we were going for too.
It was gorgeous and delish. Whew!
 
Other than cake and coffee, we served brunch food that everyone pitched in and brought and some mimosas.
 
 I love that the baby pics they both picked were naked :)

And we had popcorn being served by the cutest little popcorn crew ever.

I got the best seat in the house during the opening of presents. I just loved seeing everything she got up close.
 So much cute stuff for Cannon.
 

Just a few of the many family and party pics of all the sweet people that wanted to celebrate Mendy. 

Hostess pic! They girls are the BEST.

 I lost it during the prayer and might every time I think of how special and loved Cannon is already. He is an answered prayer and such a faithful way the Lord has blessed our family already.
 He is beyond blessed with the best parents ever and I could not be more happy for Mendy and Alex. What a treasure he already is!
 I can't wait to meet him.

Valentine's Day

We had a fun Valentine's season with lots of school parties and celebratory get-togethers. 

Kinley made her Valentine's box into a puppy dog. 

Everything was heart shaped...feet, nose, mouth, tongue, ears, eyes, everything, It turned out pretty cute.

 
We busted out the Valentines glasses again this year for Kinley and Ty gave some super hero masks.

Ty's valentines party was much easier on me as room mom than the Christmas party.
We pretty much just did our own room decorations and the teachers planned all the activities.
We played color bingo, read a book and had ice cream sundaes.
 I love this silly boy.

And Ms. Vicki and Ms. Mitzi are THE BEST teachers!

We had Valentine's playgroup over at the Bartels.

I considered this Dylan's valentine party and called for a selfie from the selfie king.

I actually got to go to Kinley's party this time because the parties were on different days.
 It was pretty much the exact same party as Ty's...crafting, valentines bingo and ice cream sundaes.

Kinley and Jaymes

 I loved seeing what all she got in her valentine box from her sweet friends.

Some classmates posing in the glasses she gave them.

Class pic
 
Valentine lunch that day with Savannah
 
I kid you not, this was one kid's "Valentine box" at Kinley's school.
 For the love.
 I mean, how will Riley's mom top that next year??? 

Bridge is my friend Channing's son and just a dream.
He loves the US presidents and could not, for the life of him, figure out why we weren't all celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday instead of valentines day. He even recited all the US presidents from me, in order, from George Washington to Barack Obama.
 
We even got a sweet treat on our front porch from Bridge's family full of stuff to make heart shaped valentine cookies. It was such a sweet gift and activity for us to do.
Valentine's day was actually on a Sunday. The kids each had a bag of treats to open before church.
 
In the afternoon, we went to Casa Manana with Honey and saw School House Rock.

And Sunday night we had Honey and Boss and Anson over for dinner. Bart and Olivia were out of town so we got to have Anson with us.
 It was so fun!
 
Group dinner pic.  Kinley can't just smile.
 
Honey and Boss with their grandkid Valentines.
 This is real life.

 I don't have a pic of me and my number one Valentine. I guess I need to be better about that.
But, he is the love of my life for so many reasons.
 Just one thing I love is how hands-on he loves our kids.
He takes the time to make homemade pizza with them when they want it for dinner.
 

 And he just holds them when they want to cuddle a little.
 Be still my heart.

And just to recognize how well he listens and pays attention, I had been talking for weeks about how I wanted the Magnolia wreath from Magnolia Market for my mantle centerpiece since I was about to throw Mendy's baby shower.
 I kept changing my mind because it was too expensive. But, sure enough the day before the shower, he was driving home from Austin and stopped off in Waco to grab the wreath for me for Valentine's Day.
I decided it to hang over my kitchen sink window for the shower,
and truth be told, I haven't moved it since.
I love it.
Thanks babe!