Pictures

*If you haven't read my previous blog, check it out. I posted both of these around the same time, and I know that people don't always catch that there was one before.*

In the midst of planning for my own baby's arrival and figuring out everything with work, I also took on the planning of a baby shower for a lady, Kim, from my church. Party planning is something I enjoy doing. It's something I hope I could eventually make a career out of. And, after having only girls before, I wanted to especially celebrate the upcoming birth of this Kim's baby boy, who will be just 2 months younger than my own. (By the way, there is only one other boy in our nursery FULL of girls, and he is 3 years older than our two little boys will be.)

So, I picked out a lot of potential themes for the baby shower, and Kim chose the one she liked, and I made it happen the best I could. I didn't get any pictures of people during the actual party since I was busy hosting, but I have pics of all of the decor beforehand. All of the games we played were ones that I had never played before, and, in hindsight, I would do a little differently, but things went fairly well. Kim was VERY appreciative. In the end, she said, "I was just expecting a "It's a Boy!" banner and some confetti or something." I just responded, "You obviously don't know me at all!"

I was exhausted afterwards. I was up until nearly 2 am the night before the party. Then I woke up at 6 am to finish the last minute details. We arrived at her house at 8 am to begin decorating and the party started at 11 am. We finished cleaning up and I made it home around 2 that afternoon (8 hours later), and I just crashed on the bed and slept for nearly 4 hours! When I got out of bed, my body was so sore and stiff, I could barely move! It was worth it, though. I'm glad I got to bless her in that way, and I'm glad that it's all over now and I can relex until Josiah arrives! Here are the pics:

The entire table decor:

The onesie was one that I bought as a gift for Kim. She specifically told me that she liked whales. This had whales all over it and said, "Little Squirt". It even had a big whale on the butt! And next to that, I had real goldfish in a pail.




The place settings and favors (Lifesaver candies)


I painted both of these signs and the lifesaver


These are all part of the games and prizes for the guests. Each person who won a prize received a gift plus a tote bag (that I hand-painted) fillled with washcloths, chapstick, sunblock, and sunglasses, plus a message in a bottle filled with sand, seashells, and a Scripture verse on a piece of paper.



My mom made the cake and I sculpted the whale and boy on top. We're just now learning how to use fondant and decided we need to take a class on it.

My mom saw this done at a recent baby shower, where people stick their faces and hands through a cardboard cutout and take pictures. These are what I ended up with:


Me


The other mom-to-be, Kim

And her two daughters: Alicia who's 15 and Hannah who's 2

The only other bit of news I've neglected to write about is my recent maternity photo shoot.

I saw an ad on Craigslist from this girl who was offering a free maternity photo shoot at the beach in order to build up her portfolio. The beach was my ideal place to get a photo shoot done, and I especially liked that I didn't have to worry about paying for her travel time or labor time. So I expressed my interest and we decided to meet at the end of July at a coast town about 45 minutes from where I live. The shoot itself went fine. I felt comfortable with her, although I think that she wasn't all that sure of what to do as far as poses or locations (which will come with more practice). This made the whole process take longer than usual. And, it was REALLY windy! So, it sucked that I got up at 5:30 that morning to curl my hair before work. I should've just worn it up!!! But, otherwise, the weather was beautiful.

There are some shots where they drape you in cloth. Most of them turned out fine, although I felt a bit like the Little Mermaid when she turns into a human and is wrapped in a sail cloth:

It's not bad. It's just not really my style.

In the end, I'd say that about half of them are pretty good. There's a handful that I'm willing to buy. Not too bad. Let me know which ones you like. Click here to go to the website. Go to the "proofing" section. The username is krphoto and the password is photoclient. Enjoy!