one colorful baby shower

Alright. I've got a few pictures, and I think they sort of sum up the tone of this shower. Somehow the party planners took my quirks and oddities and turned them into a really good time. The room was decorated with paper chains, in honor of my love of a good looped countdown. They were gorgeous and made sort of a tent for the celebration.

I called this the mother of all baby showers, because it was all of my worlds come together. There was Cedar Valley Church family there, Shepherd of the Valley Church family there, Bredberg, Harrington and Groves family there, friends from Mount Carmel, friends from Flathead, and even my third grade teacher, sixth grade math teacher and 10th grade English and History teacher.

Mrs. Ice (3rd grade), Mrs. Groves (10th grade), me and Mrs. Johnston (6th grade)

To have this many women together to love on and support this little life growing inside of me was fantastically overwhelming. When God set us up in community, I believe this is exactly what he had in mind. I felt so affirmed and loved and supported as we prepare to step into this new season

I'm adding these next two pictures, because they basically sum up my mood the entire evening. I was quite excited, all night long.

Sara gave a very thoughtful devotional, focusing on the different roles each member of the family brings to the whole. She referenced The Art of Family and Real Love for Real Life and I have a feeling lots of ladies there will be ordering these books real soon.

The cake is worthy of a post all of its own, but I'm dying to share this one. First of all, this was my face when I saw the cake:

And my face looked like this, because this is what I was looking at:

Remember the Scandinavian wall hanging we are going to have in the baby's nursery?

Unbelievable. I still can't get over the colors and detail that was put into this cake! And this is how the whole night felt. The thoughtful details, all of the prep that went into every part of the shower, and the special touches were perfect. Lisa, Sara, Beth and Marlene pulled together one of the best parties of my life. I can't thank them enough. And I can't believe we didn't get a picture! But we did get this one, with all of the lovely ladies who helped pull the night off.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Sara, Beth, Carleen, Lisa, Maddie, Melanie and Dawn! (And Mom Groves!) This baby has so much love awaiting its arrival!

The mother of all baby showers

I am imagining our neighbors just now as they looked out their window, "Hey, come look at this. Becca is very pregnant in her pajamas and taking pictures of balloons. When is that baby due again?"

***
Last night our little baby-to-be was celebrated big time by one fabulous baby shower. I have no pictures from the evening, but will get them from others so that I can show, rather than just tell.

But let me just say that the night was more fun than I could have imagined, more colorful than even I could dream, and with more considerate thought going into every detail than I could comprehend. I literally could not sleep last night. I was wired. I told Rory all about it, and at 2 in the morning I still had a grin on my face as he tried his first attempt at deep breathing exercises with me. Then I was up at 4:30, just excited to see all of the new baby things that had been generously given and I began creating a game plan for where each thing will go in the nursery.

Lisa, Sara, Beth and Mom Groves hit this one out of the park and I'm so excited to share every detail. They outdid themselves, which is saying so much, because they always are outdoing themselves.

More than anything, to be surrounded by that many women ready to support, love and help us raise the little life inside of me made me feel strong and able. Rory and I are not raising this babe alone- we've got a deep, faithful and supportive community ready to love and help shape this life right along side of us.

sugar cookies

Last February I made frosted sugar cookies during the Super Bowl, and I remember thinking it was so fun to make these typical Christmas cookies at a different time of the year other than Christmas. This week I decided to make them again, since I have super cute fall cookie cutters and every magazine I see seems so inspired and festive for the change of seasons.

My favorite recipe as of late is my sister-in-law, Sara's. This is saying a lot, because my great grandma Anders has held her own as the favored sugar cookie my whole life long. The truth is, they're two very different cookies. Great Grandma's are the kind of sugar cookie where the dough must be cold when you roll it out, it falls apart easily and when you eat them, they literally melt down on your tongue they're so filled with buttery goodness. I love them, but they are a project to take on. You've got to be committed and patient with the super fragile dough.

Sara's are a different ball game altogether. They keep their shape perfectly. The dough is so easy to work with, and the thicker the cookie (in my opinion) the better. They only need to bake in the oven for five minutes, and the recipe doesn't make a ton of dough so making them is not an all day process. In fact, I made and baked these cookies in a bit over an hours time and had the dishes loaded in the dishwasher before an hour and a half had passed. Then I stuck the cookies in the fridge so that I could decorate them today.

These are milk dunkers for sure. Coffee is even better, if you like the stuff. They can soak up a lot of goodness before you take a bite.

Here is Sara's recipe:
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar, on low beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour and baking powder a little at a time. Do not refrigerate. Dough will not roll if cold. Cook 6-7 minutes at 400.

*I was able to fit all of my cookies onto four trays. They do not spread, so you can put them fairly close together. I also only baked mine for 5 minutes and they came out great. I really appreciated that the recipe only makes about 4 dozen. It made for quick cookies...

Cream Cheese Frosting:
I deviated from her royal frosting recipe, making my own favorite cream cheese frosting. I added enough milk to make it a bit runny and glossy. And then I used those Wilton's food gels to really punch up the color. Again, I apologize if you are anti food coloring. I just really like the brilliant colors!

cream cheese
powdered sugar
vanilla
milk

I have no recipe or real method to this madness, other than I think the milk helps it look shiny and I usually whip it with my kitchen aid for a few minutes, adding milk and sugar until it looks about right...

My favorite cookie cutter in this mix is the squirrel I got at Betsy's wedding reception. Grey frosting seemed a bit yucky to me, so they are a sweet purple in the midst of all these brilliant colors.

candy wreath

I bought these corn candies after seeing the Women's Day magazine with a cute corn candy wreath on the cover. Seemed doable, seemed adorable, seemed like an easy project to attempt. Only problem is that the rest of the bag has been mysteriously eaten. And this cute dish is almost gone too. I don't know who keeps eating them around here, but Rory is not a huge fan which makes me a bit suspicious of myself.

me and the dmv

A few tips from my week at the DMV:

1. Plan your day as if going to the DMV is the main event. Go get a new magazine and grab a hot apple cider before you arrive. Because the DMV will end up being the main event of your day, whether you are in a hurry or not. So sit back, settle in, and just wait for your lucky number to be called. It's going to be a while.

2. Plan on going to the DMV two times. For real. I don't believe I have ever been there when I haven't gotten to the front and they say something like, "and do you have two certified pieces of mail addressed to you at this location?" What? No. I have my license here, my car insurance, title to my vehicle, checkbook...

This week I truly planned on the second trip, so my rejection at the first one didn't bend me out of shape. I had even told Rory that morning that I was doing my preliminary DMV visit today. Now deep down I was hoping it would be my only visit, but when I had to return home without plates and a MN license, I was relatively less annoyed.

3. And a final bonus thought: it's not really fair to have to take a drivers license picture when you're 9 months pregnant. A bit round in the cheeks, I'd say. But, they did let me make up my own weight based on not being pregnant, so now I'll have a little piece of plastic with a magical, hopeful, dreamy number written in. Maybe, one day...