amy's lion king baby shower

back in june, amy's husband approached sarah about flying her out here (from alaska) for a weekend, and if we would be capable of throwing her a baby shower at the same time.  uh.  yes!  so we picked a weekend, and got planning.  the thing is, amy didn't know where she was going until the night before she got on the plane!  she flew in on a friday morning, and the baby shower was a total surprise as well.
the plan, as she knew it, was that i was going to pick her up from her parent's house and then we were going to go get sarah so we could go to the fabric store in order to have her pick out some fabric for a baby quilt that would match her nursery theme.  well, safe to say that wasn't what happened.  we filled sarah's home with friends and family from reno to san diego and everywhere in between to celebrate baby barto before his arrival this december in alaska.  here's a few fun photos of party decor, chocolate poop smelling, and present opening :)
instead of doing a diaper package donation, we decided to do a donation jar, since it would be easier to travel back to alaska with that instead. i painted the simba on using chalkboard paint that i got at joanns after i traced an outline printed off the internet. i found a chalk pen at hobby lobby that claims to just wipe off so you can write on it again. i'll have to ask amy if she's tried to re-use it yet!
we wanted to make sure everyone had some food to snack on, including amy's favorites of cotton candy and gold fish crackers :)
i promise, they're all chocolate! the other shower games we had were guessing the size of amy's belly (ribbon compared to measured size) and the "don't say the word" game. our two words you couldn't say were "cute" and "name". the necklaces you see in some of the photos were what we used instead of clothes pins. all they are made from are 2 life savers and a jelly bean to make it look like a pacifier. when i went to jessica's baby shower a few years back, her mom made them for the same game and i thought they were perfect! i feel like i might be forgetting a game... Sarah bought a packet of diapers to use for decorating with sharpies as a "late night" diaper change. some people doodled (I know Leah & I drew animals), while others (well, most of us) wrote things instructing the baby to be given to luke to change.
we asked that instead of cards, people bring books to start building a library for baby. i found a double sided little critter book that had both a story for amy to read (just me & my mom) and a story for luke to read (just me & my dad) to the baby.
and that's all the peek that you get at my gifts! more on those throughout the week :)
a crafty shout out to sarah who knitted this adorable little octopus baby beanie! i can't wait to see it rocked on a baby noggin this winter.
it was sad to have the weekend zoom by so quickly, but just as wonderful to spend time with amy and all these wonderful ladies who were able to trek it out to northern california to celebrate with us.  the next day was spent celebrating even more by going to brunch with sarah, amy & dori followed by a trip to carter to do some hardcore baby clothes shopping.  and then we finally, as promised since day one (haha) made it to the fabric store!  amy picked out some fabric to make curtains for baby's room with, as well as some to make a crib sheet.
it was absolutely a weekend to remember, and i cannot wait to see everyone again once little leonidas is here :)  congratulations again, amy!