Best Baby Shower Ever!

Karl and I knew from the beginning that we wanted our baby shower to be fun.  As in, no awkward games involving measuring my belly.  And we wanted to invite everyone, not just ladies who happen to love finger sandwiches.  Nothing against finger sandwiches, of course.  And nothing against ladies, but we happen to also like hanging out with children and men.  So we decided on a barbecue picnic in a park.  Our families were gracious enough to indulge our request, and they went above and beyond to throw a picturesque shower that we absolutely loved.  

Elsworth and Lia did all of the decorations and centerpieces.  They could not have been more perfect!  The park shelter was pretty rustic/brown, so we wanted to jazz it up with some color.  Check out these gorgeous tissue paper pom-poms:

 Karl was a natural pom-pom fluffer.  You'll notice that I'm not actually helping in any of these pictures... that's because I was too busy eating cake.  True confession: I ordered a separate cake just to have at home that weekend.  We'll chalk that up to being pregnant, but honestly I probably would have done that no matter what the occasion was.  And it was so worth it.  

Hanna and Chad during a team-building exercise called "hanging up pom-poms." 

Here they are, all hung up!  This picture really doesn't do them justice.  Imagine the most beautiful decorations ever, and that's what these looked like.  

Centerpieces were little beach pails full of candy... and there were adorable striped paper bags for people to fill with treats to take home!  

Speaking of photos that don't do their subjects justice... Elsworth and Lia made these amazing embroidered onesies to hang up.  Here's a slightly better picture, taken at home later: 

 Who doesn't love to predict baby details?

Hanna coordinated this craft station for adults (kids were welcome to jump in, too, but hot glue was involved).  We ended up with a beautiful bouquet of fabric flowers for the baby! 

The set-up crew... Chad, Lia, Elsworth, and Hanna

 Karl's mom and dad grilled brats and did a great job keeping everyone fed!  Did I mention that we had 85 guests?  85 guests x 2 brats per person (hello, this is Wisconsin!) = a lot of work on the grill!

My mom (who took most of the pictures, which is why she's not in them... I think she does that on purpose!) rocked the desserts and drinks, as well as the paper goods, which were super cute but unfortunately went un-photographed.  Next time we have a baby shower I'll have to take many more pictures!  We had cake and ice cream (And ice cream cones!  Super fun.  Every baby shower should have ice cream cones.), lemonade, and beer.  Once again, this is Wisconsin, people.   

 One detail that I loved (and so did our little friend, K) were these sweet polka-dotted nut cups filled with nuts and chocolate.  I've always loved nut cups, but these were the cutest ones ever.

Many thanks to our families and friends for such a perfect shower!  Everyone was so generous and thoughtful, and of course we loved having a chance to see so many of the people we love the most.