I was thrilled that the very first items that I prepared in my “almost finished” new kitchen were for the Rawdon Baby’s shower.

The radiant new Momma.

It takes many hands to raise a child AND to put on such a gorgeous gathering. Auntie Kristen was responsible for so many of the beautiful touches including these shadow boxes of the parent’s baby things.

This table (and another one) was bulging with beautiful gifts by the time all of the guests had assembled.

This image of the baby’s heartbeat graced the room.

This was such a sweet detail too.

Simple, yet so thoughfully accomplished.

Everything was ready for the guests’ arrival. Auntie K and her Bestie spent hours decorating to get everything just so.

That’s Momma in the top left, can you tell that she is pregnant from behind?

The food was placed out in advance so that everyone could leisurely partake.

The bounty!

The cupcakes (made by the photographer of the event) were exquisite.

I particularly loved these Portugese pastries and am hoping that I can get the recipe to share.

Momma, Glamma and Auntie.

The girl cousins (unfortunately another Momma cousin had to leave with the youngest attendee at the party).

Momma and Great Grandma-beautiful women, both.

Kath’s quote: “And we have learned that to raise a happy, healthy and hopeful child, it takes a family, it takes teachers, it takes clergy, it takes business people, it takes community leaders, it takes those who protect our health and safety, it takes all of us. Yes, it takes a village.”- Hilary Clinton

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Read the instructions above for another thoughtful touch.

The beautiful reason for our celebration.

Here are a couple of her second cousins (but that all gets so confusing) that they will be called “Aunties”.  With gorgeous women like this in our blood lines, I suppose that it is no surprise that she is stunning as well.

You are already know that we are a family that love to celebrate milestones together.  The birth of a new member of our family hasn’t occurred since four years ago (and Colton was a tough act to follow), but waiting a while for something wonderful to happen, makes the event that much sweeter.

One of our nephews and his much-loved wife were not quite sure that this miracle of life would happen for them (as she shared in her thank-you time at the shower) so that too, made this celebration extra special.

Many family members have a great deal of experience hosting parties and events and others, not so much.  I personally did not care to throw birthday parties for the kids when they were growing up (I hope that they couldn’t tell).  I would get pretty stressed out and I now I wish that I could do it all over again.

I think that this was perhaps the first shower that our niece had hosted and that she might have had the jitters.  But there was absolutely no need, because the afternoon was absolutely perfect!  The food, I believe, was contributed by a number of family sources and it is no surprise that it was stellar.  Later that evening at the supper table, I remarked that I wasn’t hungry because I had eaten six fancy sandwiches at the party.  That is a testament to how good all the food was.  J2 sheepishly share that she had eaten six sandwiches too, but was ravenous for supper.  She has a perfect excuse because she is in the second trimester of pregnancy with our first Grandchild!

The hostess had planned a party game and there was a slide show of photographs from the babies’ new- born photo session.

My favourite gift of the day.

So besides opening presents and visiting with everybody, the time just sped away.  Upon departure, everybody was invited to take shower favours:

Photos of the baby for our fridge and a homemade brown sugar scrub for the shower.

My  niece has graciously sent me the recipe (and the site where it was posted) so that I can  share it with you.

Here is the simple recipe for making this delectable brown sugar scrub:

• 3 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 Tablespoons honey

Stir all of the ingredients together and that’s it!

Here is a life lesson that I can share with you in hindsight: Get all worked up and stressed out over celebrating the milestones in your family.  You are making memories that will life a lifetime.  If working hard and going to scads of trouble to demonstrate how much you love someone, is not of worth, then what is?

Kath’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.   The other is as though everything is a miracle.”―Albert Einstein

Love-that is all.