It's a Girl!!!

Julie Rea is having a girl!!!

When Julie told me that she was pregnant I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to attend any of her showers living all the way out here in Washington. When Doug told me that we could go home for a week over the holidays the first thing that I thought of was not only could I go to a shower for Julie, I could host one for her. Since Julie has so many close friends, I was not the only one in Atlanta that wanted to have a shower for her. Julie put me in contact with a few of her friends that had offered to have a shower and what a shower we planned!

Of course I seem to get a little carried away with all the small details that go into hosting a shower. The first thing that we needed was a theme. Julie's nursery is decorated in a jungle theme...so I ran with that. I found adorable invitations on line that had a monkey (perfect for the jungle theme) on them and were brown and pink.

I hung baby socks and animals from the chandelier.



With the help of my cousin Elizabeth I made a diaper cake that I am super proud of. (So proud of my work that I actually let a Julie have a sneak peek a week before her shower.)



We had a cute baby banner made by Brittney.

We had an amazing spread of food.

I found a bakery in Alpharetta that made this wonderful cake. Not only did it look awesome, it tasted just as good!

I loved all of the little girl clothes that we hung on the clothes line.

Thanks again to Brittney for donating her baby shower decorations.

I don't know where she finds this stuff...but again, too cute!

I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves.

We played a couple of shower games, including the dirty diaper game. I was amazed that 6 girls got all 7 of the melted candy bars right.

When you plan a party/shower there is always one aspect that you don't know how it will go over with the guest. I had the idea to get onesies and let guest decorate them during the party. At the end, when every one is finished, Julie will pick which one she likes best. I was completely surprised at how much fun every one was having decorating the little shirts. I guess everyone secretly loves craft time!

My personal favorite! On the butt there was another buckeye.

Julie with all of the shower host...

Julie's favorite onesie...

Loved the little animals on the cake...

Julie and Ellen...

Another silly idea of mine...

I ordered these stickers when I ordered the invitations. They say "Enjoy! From Julie's 'Bun in the Oven'". I had the same bakery that I ordered the cake from make cupcake that looked like Cinnamon buns.

Wasn't quite sure how they would turn out. They look pretty close to Cinnamon Buns.

I can't wait for little Elizabeth Nordmann Rea to arrive!

There's No Place Like Home

Doug and I finally headed back to Atlanta after being away for over a year and half. It was so great to see everyone. We were only home for a week, but tried to fit in as much family and friend time as we could.

On Sunday, Doug joined my Uncle Allan and my brother Justin for some duck hunting. I am so glad that he got to tag along. He loves to hunt and I know that he has been missing out since we have been living in WA with his super busy schedule. He shot three ducks. While he was hanging with the boys, I spent time with my Nanny.

On Monday, we had Christmas with Doug's family. It was so much fun watching Henry and Bennett open their presents. When Henry opened his Bat Mobile, he was so excited. He told us, "Oh my gosh! I have always wanted this! I am not kidding! How can I ever thank you?!" It was so funny! Bennett's face was priceless as well, when he was opening all his Little People gifts. He didn't want to open anymore gifts after he opened his Little People Christmas parade. We had to open the rest of his gifts for him. Both Henry and Bennett have grown so much since we have last seen them. We are looking forward to spending a whole week in March with them in Jackson Hole, WY!







On Tuesday, Doug's Dad took us quail hunting in Alabama. Doug has taken me skeet shooting before and I didn't hit a single one. I tagged along on the hunt, just to take pictures and to be with Doug and his Dad. When we got to the hunting plantation, we shot some skeet to warm up. To everyone's surprise, I was nailing the suckers! Since I was shooting the skeet so well, I decided I would try to hunt some quail. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually got one. After I shot it, Doug told me that I powdered it...apparently that is a good thing. The only other one that I got was a quail that landed on a tree branch. I got to shoot it out of the tree. The guys were a lot better shots then I was, and we got a grand total of 30 quail! I really had a great time...Doug was so excited that I enjoyed it. I think he already has a trip planned for us to go pheasant hunting in South Dakota...What have I gotten myself into ;)






We got to see a lot of our friends throughout the week and had a ball at Charlie and Julie's New Year's Eve party.



We have missed Atlanta and all of our friends and family, but we are enjoying our time out here in Washington. We will back in the Southeast one day, but for now we are exploring all that WA and the west coast have to offer.

Our Little Man is Growin Up

Wrecks is 7 1/2 months old...I hope he stops growing soon!