Little Abi Lou Who

Now, if you know me, you know I love to throw parties! Some parties are great because of the theme, or the all the fun details, or the food or the guests... but most are just awesome because of who the party is for! And, in this case it was all of the above! I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for our dear friends (and Pastors) Andrew & Heather Robinson. They have been in the process of adopting a baby for... 3 years.  They had gone through all the paper work & financial contribution of an adoption through Nepal only to have the country pull the plug on international adoptions in the 11th hour. Devastating news! :(
BUT... on December 20, 2011 they received a phone call that changed their lives and is probably one of the happiest days of their lives to date. THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A DAUGHTER! ♥ They were sent her photos, name, personality overview, her daily schedule, likes & dislikes as well as her back story. They fell in the love the minute they laid eyes on her. They are naming her Abigail Mei and she's beautiful!
We are so thrilled for them, we've all been waiting for this moment. So, naturally there were a lot of people waiting in line to bless them with a shower & I wanted to be one of them! I had to throw a few elbows & jockeyed for position at this opportunity! ;o)
My co-conspirators were amazing and I'm proud to share with you photos from the evening we were able to bless our dear friends. First off, Andrew & Heather are very creative & artistic people and the minute they found out they indeed were having a baby soon, they began painting a mural in her nursery of the Dr.Seuss book (coming to theaters Mar 2!!) The Lorax. Honestly before Heather told me, I had no idea that book existed, nor did I know the movie was about to be released but I can tell you I won't be missing it! I forgot to take any pictures of the nursery, it looks so cool! Abi is going to think she's moved into heaven when she sees it for the first time. It's such a bright & whimsical room that makes you feel as if you've stepped inside the book. Her parents are so cool!
I knew they were considering a Seuss themed nursery last year and I've been secretly pinning & collecting ideas for their impending shower. Needless to say I was well equipped! Without further ado, here's the highlights from the night!

 

The menu was amazing, thanks to the culinary genius of Mika & Lauren: 

Kalua Pork Sliders with Pineapple Chutney- Rainbow "Lorax Fruit" Skewers - Coconut Mochi bars - Thai Lettuce Pork wraps with plum sauce - Red velvet cake - Pomegranate/Grapefruit/Star Anise Soda - Buckwheat Soba Noodle Salad with peanut lime dresing - "Green eggs & ham" dill deviled eggs wtih bacon & avocado - Ginger Apple Martini's- Brownies & Veggie Egg rolls

 Felicia set up the Lorax book in a corner & had each guest write something encouraging to Abigail on the pages, just letting her know how many people have been praying for her & awaiting her arrival.

 The happy parents to be

The spread

 Look at all those guests! Nearly 45 people came to support!

 Thank you Anne & Kendal for opening up your beautiful home!

 

Presents!!

 

Cute little Asian baby doll!

I love these people!

This is Leighan. Leighan is Andrew's sister, who just happens to be a Cordon Bleu trained Chef, who specializes in pastry's... You can imagine we jumped at the chance to have her make an extraordinary cake. Eat your heart out Cake Boss!

I forgot to get pictures of the cake cut open so you can see what it was, it was a 3 layers ( 2 tier) red velvet cake with mascarpone cheese frosting... what?! Yeah it was so good! And, it looked just like the cat in the hat's hat with the red & white stripes!

 This is the only picture I could find, from one of the slices we served. :)

Everyone had so much fun during this shower, it was overwhelming seeing the outpouring of love into this family & Abigail. If she only knew what God has in store for her.  She is chosen and is so blessed to have Andrew & Heather as parents. We consider ourselves extended family & we can not wait to meet this precious little angel!
Please join us in praying over Abigail Mei while she is in this time of transition from her foster family, to the orphanage & then to her parents' loving arms! We pray that her journey is expedited so that she can come HOME SOON! We are all waiting for you Abi! ♥♥♥

Angry Birds

Happy 2nd "bird-day", Grady!

  I am so proud of the cake Jared created! He did it all by himself, our favorite piece is the truck with pretzel log load in the back. :) He's such a cool dad!

Once again, Walmart's bakery comes through.





The love is in the details...



Grady's favorite pose, lately. YEAH!! Usually followed by, "pound it!" or "high five!"

 Grady says, "I, twoo!!" But, doesn't quite have the dexterity to make the2 with his fingers.

Grady crying when he was told he couldn't eat his cake yet...

Grady happy once he was able to play angry birds on my phone in the meantime.

 I love this next series of photos... just watch their expressions & body language, especially Logan's!


Logan thought it was HIS birthday & kept saying, "Grady took my birthday away!" Poor guy~ ha ha ~
You can see by the look on his face, he was so excited & then disappointed when he realized the candle was not meant for him.



Grady 2012

Grady turns two this month & I wanted to capture his cuteness at this stage. It was sort of impromptu & didn't last very long (the photo shoot) but I managed to capture a few keepers.

(Gotta love that Moses tried to sneak into some of the photos, the first was cute, then he started "spraying" the trees! YIKES!)

I had to laugh when I was editing the pictures, here's a cute smile from Grady, then you look down & see Moses about to do his business of marking the territory. lol

 These pictures were right after bath time and I decided to slick his hair back.

 I got some of the best smiley face pictures, too bad it was just with my iphone! He's adorable & with his hair back makes him look like a different kid!
I'm serious.... this kid needs an agent!