Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

On April 3rd, my Mom, Mother-in-law, and best girl friend, Lizzy, threw Micah and me the most beautiful baby shower.  The theme was a jungle tea party (jungle for Micah, and tea for Mommy!), and it was simply lovely!  My Mom made the fruit salad, gathered and wrapped a number of fun prizes for the games, and made the gift bags filled with a homemade goodies - tea holder, Baby Micah Blueberry Lemon Marmalade, and a photo album for each guest.  My Mother-in-law hauled all of her beautiful tea wares from Indiana to South Carolina, and made a huge assortment of baked goods, sandwiches, cheese balls, and tea.  Lizzy put together and orchestrated the games, and hosted the party in her lovely home.  And the whole party was a perfect!  I'm only sorry I didn't get more pictures of the event.

The lovely tea settings

Gifts for the guests

Tiny baby hats

Little lion bath towels

I wanted to do something special for these three awesome ladies - for making my shower so special and making me feel so loved.  Little did we know that I would go into labor just 22 days later, with two months of bed rest to follow...  So, buying presents was out of the question, and crafting was limited due to amount of time I was allowed (or not allowed and took anyway....ahem....) out of bed.  I did a lot of embroidery during my time on bed rest, including these three pieces:

  

For Lizzy, I embroidered this little bird in grayscale from a picture of an embroidered bird I found online and matted it in an embroidery frame, using fabric and rickrack, inspired by this little guy.  

My Mom just redid her bedroom in browns and yellows, with touches of cranberry, so I whipped up this little cutie from this pattern for her, and framed it in a frame that looks like old barn wood.

And for my Mother-in-law, I made a little brown and gold bird from the first pattern, edged in yellow rose reproduction fabric, and framed in the same old barn wood frame.

So, ladies, thank you, thank you, thank you, for making Micah's shower such a special day (a couple of months late)!!!

He's here!!!

I have been off the radar for a couple of weeks now because I have been very busy giving birth to, and then falling in love with our new little baby boy - Micah Owen Plew!  He was born on July 15th after 26 hours of labor at 6lbs, 6 oz, and 19 3/4 inches long.  And what a blessing he is!  I am still in shock that we have a baby, and all of the medical interventions and bed rest were well worth the result.  He made it to 37 weeks and one day (almost full term) because of the sweet prayers, meals, childcare for Jesse, and encouragement of our family, friends, and church family!  We are so blessed!!!  And now I will leave you with a couple of photos from Micah's first few hours of life on the outside....

Just a few moments old.

Spiderman visits Micah at the Hospital.

All bundled up.

Jesse loves his new baby brother.

Our first family shot on the way home from the hospital.

Sweet baby boy.