A Bash For Baby T (& a Video!)

We are on PINS AND NEEDLES, people. This little girl could come at any moment and the suspense is killer! We have worked really hard to tie up as many loose ends as we possibly can before she gets here, both at work and home. Our house is clean, counters are cleared, dishes done, laundry all caught up (those last three things don’t sound like major accomplishments, but they feel HUGE), and toilets scrubbed… thank you, Mitch. 🙂 Her room is almost complete (just some artwork and maybe a shelf or two to add), all her clothes washed and organized, the pack ‘n play is set up with fresh sheets next to our bed, and our bags almost 100% packed… the only things left to add are the bits and pieces we are still using for everyday life. The house is decorated for Christmas, our tree is totally finished, and the gifts are wrapped underneath. We even had one last date night last night, ate a hearty breakfast of French Toast this morning, and did the budget. We are READY, so any day now would work just fine, little Miss T!

Now, we relax and enjoy our last moments as a family of two… which, when I think about that, I get a little emotional so let’s not dwell. 🙂 In honor of the big wait, I figured it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane to a weekend back in September that we got to celebrate Baby Girl with an all-out Baby Bash. With our families, friends, and the amount of people we’ve met along the way in each of our jobs, we’ve accumulated quite the crew that loves and has so beautifully anticipated our little girl right alongside us. Our idea of a good time was to throw a big party and invite EVERYONE.

On September 17, 2016, we partied the day away with an open-house, no-gifts-necessary, tons of food, music, and games par-tay to celebrate Baby T. Oh, and there was a waterslide. The whole day was a blast and we felt so loved and cared for by each person who made the trip to come and party with us.

In terms of the party itself, our families knocked it out of the park to help us get our still-new-to-us house in shape to accommodate all of those people. Picture endless of hours of intense yardwork, house updates, and cleaning to get everything ready in time. Here’s the crew that made it all happen!

Let’s just say, there was A LOT of poison ivy to contend with and more than one giant bush and tree that needed removing. It was a massive endeavor to host it out of our home, but ended up being a great way for all of our friends and family to visit the new house, which they’d previously only heard about or seen snippets of on the blog.

The theme was pink, mint, and gold and our moms did a fabulous job of making everything look and feel so special.

Check out this fun sign my mom whipped up… it’s still hanging in our dining room. 🙂 Welcome Baby T!

For food, we worked together to provide a selection of main courses (chili, meatball subs, hot dogs, chicken salad) and invited guests to bring their favorite side or dessert to share. What a spread we ended up with! The food was housed inside, in the dining room so we could better control temperature and bugs around the food, as opposed to having it outside. For drinks, we kept it simple- lemonade, iced tea, water, and sodas… with cute paper straws and cups!

The backyard was transformed from a space we hardly ever spent any time in (so much overgrowth! so many mosquitoes!) to a an oasis of pink and gold, strung lights, and yard games. Because we worked so hard to remove all of the overgrown plants, we nipped our mosquito problem in the bud and found that it was quite comfortable to be out there with those changes made! Streamers were hung all around the fence, lanterns and fans adorned the tent and fence posts, and we even splurged on some big-bulbed bistro lights, which we hung in the trees.

And the games- so many lawn games, there was something for everyone! Plus, a few shower-themed activities like “decorate the diaper”, which will give us something to take our minds off 2:00am diaper changes when they start…

For our thrill seekers, we rigged up a GIANT waterslide going down the front yard hill (which is pretty steep) for those daring enough to give it a shot. It was pretty hilarious to watch people careen down the hill and crash into the hay bales at the bottom. Even the littles got in on the action!

When it started to get darker out, the lights came on and the fire pit got lit for s’mores. That was my favorite part… those lights just made it feel so magical.

It was so much fun to spend time with everyone who came… at one point, I looked around and just took it all in. There’s something very humbling about being cared for by people and we felt very thankful to be able to share that day with so many of the people who have cared for us in and through each different season of our lives.

One of our Youth Group girls had asked beforehand if she could bring her camera and put together a video of the whole thing (you can find her on Instagram here). Um, YES please and thank you! How special it is to have a time capsule of sorts to remember the day by… here’s the video she put together. We love it! Thanks, Laura!

Okay, Baby T… see how many people are ready for you to get here? What do you say… shall we make it happen? We’re ready when you are. 🙂