A Little Sprinkle: Part 2

My mom and dad were also included in the baby shower. It was good to see my dad again, especially, since he is in Texas most of the time working. He brought his amazing camera and took some pictures during the party. Since I wasn't able to take any pictures during the actual "Sprinkle",  I stole these from my dad's Facebook page.

Some of the delicious treats on the dessert table. 

My mom and I. 

These pictures are of Willow, while all the ladies were inside playing some shower games. She is growing more brave with the dogs. At first, she was reckless with the dogs, then she began to fear them. Now she is learning how to exert what little authority she can muster and command Jake and Elwood to 'sit' or 'get down'.

It was at this point that Adam and I had to leave the party momentarily for a game to take place.
Willow is such a ham when it comes to posing.

Family picture! 

I was just noticing that Adam's and Willow's hair are almost the same color in this picture.

During the party, Willow continued to be a ham. She was such a hoot! I'm not sure if everyone at the party felt that way, but it was fun watching her 'participate' as much as she could. Here she is 'writing' her answers to a game. She raised her hand when her Aunt Hannah asked who had gotten at least 9 answers correct.

Willow with her Great-Grandma Johnson 

Every once in a while, Willow would come over to admire the gifts with loud exclamations. I think she knew that the gifts were not for her, but I'm not sure if she understood that they were for her brother once he arrives.

She also enjoyed playing with Adam's little cousins. The older girls were great about trying to be quiet and well-behaved, but Willow was hyper. She took this baby blanket that my mom made for our baby boy, and had all the girls covered up. Lots of squealing from Willow. During the devotion at the baby shower, she was so loud, that Adam intervened. Which caused Willow to cry for a minute. Somehow, Adam was able to quiet her down by the time we reached "Amen". To which Willow responded happily, "Amen!"

All of teh food! There were several kinds of salad and chicken salad sandwiches. So many kinds of deserts and delicious beverages to choose from!

The little girls ate outside on the porch.

Adam's cousin helping Willow eat lunch.

This picture was taken right after I grabbed Willow and reminded her that she should be sharing with her second cousin, Stella. "Sharing is good, Willow". "NO!" was her answer.

Thanks again, to Adam's family, for a wonderful baby shower! We truly didn't anticipate having a shower this time around, since this is our second baby, but we were very happy to celebrate the new life in our family! We felt very blessed and will remember this party with thankfulness.

Thanks dad, for the pictures. They are great memories! 

A Little Sprinkle: Part 1

Adam's first full weekend in America was filled with parties! Thus, the next few posts are going to be heavy on the party-side of things. First we celebrated the imminent arrival of our son!

Adam's sisters, Erica and Hannah, and his mom put together a cute baby shower on Saturday morning. Games, gifts, devotions, and a brunch--they put so much time and effort into making it a wonderful morning for us. Erica said it was not a full-blown shower, and so she called it a "Sprinkle". From the invitations, to the decorations and desserts--it was a very beautiful baby shower. We were blessed by many generous gifts and it was good to visit with Adam's family.

These are little babies made with rolled-up diapers, wash cloths, and socks (the hats!). Super cute idea! Willow thought they were amazing. 

Erica flew into town and began baking right away. The Johnson women were busy in the kitchen cooking and baking for many hours. They made chocolate covered pretzels, and at least six different kinds of cupcakes. On Friday (the day before the shower), we all went out together to go shopping. We made some pit-stops at Starbucks, Taco Bell, and a bagel shop, besides shopping at Cosco, Hobby Lobby, and Target. Willow was a champ through all the shopping adventures and driving around. Somehow, she also found time to get Hannah to paint her nails.

By Saturday morning, the Johnson ladies had the house cleaned, decorated, and set up to host a delicious brunch. There were already gifts waiting on the table to be opened, and Willow had fun running around like a crazy person. 

She was obsessed with these cute dot banners that her Aunt Hannah made for the shower. She would look at them and try to pull them down while saying "Blue, red, blue, red". She's a little confused about colors right now. But I hope that she's improving daily.

Yummy punch, cute straws, delicious lime water and lemon-limeade.

All the ladies in Adam's life kept asking Adam if he was going to change out of his shorts and t-shirt....so he eventually changed into a button-up and jeans. :)
Willow is so happy to play with Adam again on a daily basis--and she keeps very close tabs on his whereabouts.

Adam showing Willow the little diaper babies.

Kissing the diaper babies.

Angel food cupcakes.

Different cupcakes included brownies that were filled with peppermint, or raspberry chocolate, or peanut butter. Lollipops in buckets, and sugar cookies in the shape of cupcakes. My favorite dessert was the lime flavored cheesecake cupcakes. They were cool and refreshing!

Thank you for the fun "sprinkle", Hannah and Erica. Plus all the others who helped prepare food, and take care of the many details. We had a great time and were genuinely blessed by good fellowship and adorable gifts. We are even more excited to meet our little boy! Thank you!

Lake Villa Shower

My mom has some pretty amazing friends who have teamed up before (for my bridal shower two years ago) to throw a party for me--and now they're back at it again! This time, babies were the theme. Mrs. Heinz brought over tons of her antique decorations and odds and ends to spruce up my mom's kitchen and living room. She had antique toys, clothes, dollies, and all sorts of pretty little touches to make the rooms more festive. Mrs. Burg, Mrs. Biere, Mrs. Heinz and my mom put together a yummy assortment of food and drinks too. Cake, fudge, hand-dipped chocolates, and many kinds of finger foods and treats filled the kitchen. It was a dainty shower, complete with a few dozen friends, delicious food, and cute gifts. I'm very thankful for the ladies who organized this party and for those who attended. Even my Aunt Sandi came from Minnesota to help out and join in the festivities.

Here's a glimpse of the living room, from the kitchen's perspective.

The clothes line boasted some vintage baby clothes, as well as some newer outfits.

I'm just in love with this little blue cardigan--the detail was precious.

Mrs. Heinz made these party favors--they are little baby shoes filled with treats. Each baby shoe was cut-out and glued by hand out of scrap-booking paper. They were amazing.

The windows were lined with ribbons, more vintage baby clothes and toys...and in the corner there were old books for people to write on during the game time.

It was good to see some childhood friends. We've known each other almost our entire lives.

The Haywards stopped by for a few minutes and I just had to have a picture with them! They are moving out of state next week. I have so many memories wrapped up in this family--I used to go to their house at least once a week to help Mrs. Hayward, starting from the time I was eleven years old. Later on, I was one of their babysitters and spent at least one day a week playing with their 5 kids. Now their kids are all grown up, and their youngest is probably 8 years old! I watched them grow up and develop over the years, and changed many of their diapers--and now most are in middle school or high school!

Back to decorations....this was the 'throne' that I got to sit on. The little table-cloth on the back of the chair was hand-stitched by my grandmother many years ago--and was given to me after the party was over.

Some more reasons why this baby better be a girl! My little family received so many precious little baby girl things!

And a stack of English baby books....which will be great to take back to China with us.




Isn't this the most adorable onsie you've ever seen?

A book that records your voice reading to the baby.

My friend, Chelsey was able to attend--she's also pregnant! :)

It was a very beautiful party and I am thankful to all the women who helped put it together, and to my mom who helped make many arrangements, as well as host the baby shower. Thank you to my family for helping to clean and tidy before and afterwards too! And thank you to Aunt Sandi for coming down to join the fun!

It was great to see so many familiar faces and old friends again. And the wisdom shared by the experienced mommies was excellent. Lots to journal and ponder about.

~julie