Drake's 1st Birthday

In an attempt to make the holidays (a little) less busy, we celebrated Drake and Katie's birthdays at a combined family party.  Becky was kind enough to host and provide dinner.  I brought the cakes and birthday boy.

 

Drake took one look at his cake and was ready to eat it.  I don't think his piece of cake moved away from his mouth while he ate it. 

 

He didn't quite get the hang of opening gifts but he liked what he found inside once he had help getting into them. 

We're so thankful to have family in town to celebrate these occasions with.

 

Drake's birthday accomplishment was taking his first steps!

 

 

Kristina's Baby Shower

I had the privilege of spending more time with my cousin Kristina this fall.  Her daughter was born at 28 weeks and spent a couple of months in the NICU at UIHC.  I visited frequently and watched as that little girl (and her mama) grew in many ways each week.  Shorty before they headed home as a family, we had a baby shower for Kristina.  My sister-in-law was gracious enough to let us use her house which is beautifully decorated and much cleaner than my house has ever been.  I enjoyed preparing most of the food, a few decorations and the games.

 

the spread

Becky serving up the polka dot cake

one of the many cute baby items for Sofia

the girl cousins

Kristina with her shower hosts

 

For those of you who are interested in party planning details...

invitation and shower activity

baby shower scattegories

identify the children's book character game

I saw a polka dot cake on pinterest and wanted to give it a try.  So, I borrowed a cake ball maker from a friend, did a successful test run of the cake and managed to pull it off again for the shower.  I also saw this frosting idea online.  You'll be seeing this again from me since it was such an easy way to pull off a fancy cake.

 

I also tried my hand at cake balls and some tissue paper flowers.  Sylvia and I worked on the flowers together.  I thought they'd be a little tricky for her but she mastered the petal making very quickly.  She ended up making the majority of the flower petals and I just had to put them together.