Baby Shower Surprise!

I can't believe it was just last weekend that we pulled off one of the greatest surprises in my 26 years of life: Amanda's (Epic) Baby Shower.

Okay, I know what you're thinking: what's so great about a baby shower?

Well let me tell you, when it comes to my sister and her new baby, there is MUCH to celebrate.

Like the fact that Keegan stayed nestled safely in her womb until his scheduled c-section date, when it had been officially determined that this little man was healthy and strong enough to make it out here in the real world. No need for ventilators. Or feeding tubes. Or isolettes.  No NICU, period.

Or how about my sister's much-anticipated reunification with the rest of the social world after months and months of essentially being grounded to the couch while she did everything she could to accomplish our first celebration point?

As if that wasn't enough, her astonishingly generous friend Darsie not only hosted the shower, but also donated four Buddy Passes to fly in Amanda's friends and family from all over the US, just so we could celebrate together.  Each of these guests were a complete surprise to my sister. 

There was Michelle, who flew in from Florida...from Connecticut (lots of airtime for this friend).

Kandi, who came from Oklahoma and brought her precious little bundle of joy, Ryann, with her.

And two of our other sisters, Emily from Seattle and Kendra from Portland.

Is that amazing, or what?

And guess what?! I didn't even spoil the surprise!  That's right, everyone.  I was able to successfully maintain a secret. For weeks. And seeing the look on my sister's face as she greeted each and every one of these surprise guests was totally worth all the tongue biting I had to do to keep quiet for that long.

The shower was incredible. I was so blessed to watch Amanda's friends each contribute their own unique talents to create such a memorable day.

From the insanely creative cakes:

The little nautical flags spell out Keegan's name.  Isn't that amazing?

To the totally non-traditional (and blessedly non-cheesy games) - cheers to not smearing candy bars into diapers and making us sniff them to guess which chocolate had to sacrifice itself all in the name of baby shower:

This was a multi-tasking game, where you had one minute to try and hang as many clothes as possible - while holding a baby and talking on the phone at the same time.

I jokingly informed everyone I also had dinner cooking in the crockpot.  Sadly, my attempt at bolstering my score with additional multi-tasking items did nothing to help me win.  I was just no match for the two twin-mommas in attendance. Is anyone really that surprised?

The crafts were so clever and fun:

Decorate your own onesies!

Naturally, I made a mustache one.  The back says "But I'll SHAVE it for later." 

All of the special touches to incorporate "Big Sister Cadence" into the shower were brilliant (I have no clue how to fix the photo formatting on these so I'm sorry they are all wonky...I need a bloggy tutor):

Cadence's Cape says "Big Sister to the Rescue!" It was custom made using her favorite colors. She adapted to her new role very quickly.

The food was delicious, but (unsurprisingly) I was too busy eating it to take a picture.  You'll just have to trust me.

But hands down the most special part of this shower were all the fabulous guests: 

It was so fun getting to know Amanda's friends a little better.  And I absolutely loved spending some time with my sisters. It is pretty rare for more than two of us to be in the same place at the same time, so this was a real treat.

We saved a spot for you, Vanessa.   

I love my sisters, but I don't really think we look much alike.  Do you see it?

Can I confess something?

This many seem a little strange to some of you, but one of the biggest blessings to come out of this whole picking-up-my-entire-life-and-moving-to-Nevada-to-help-my-family thing has been actually becoming friends with my sister.

I mean, I've always loved her. She's my sister for goodness sake. But I don't think I ever really knew her until life shoved us into a house in the desert together and we had to figure each other out real quick or someone would probably die.

Okay maybe that was a bit dramatic.

But seriously, I am in awe of this opportunity to actually witness what a fantastic human being I get to share my gene pool with. This woman is incredible!  She is probably one of the most generous people I've ever met. I don't think a single day has gone by since I've moved here where she hasn't given someone something - even in the peak of her modified bed rest she was busy crafting Christmas gifts to ship to her friends all over the world.

She has organizational skills that blow my mind. While they sometimes manifest themselves a bit like a mad-scientist, she has it all on lock-down in that brilliant brain of hers.  Plus, she totally nerds out on spread sheets.

She is prepared for anything. Holidays, potlucks, emergencies, Pinterest, costumes - you name it, my sister has got it. (This is largely due to her mad couponing/garage-sale-ing skills. Seriously, she drags her sleep-deprived body out of bed at obnoxiously early hours in the morning just to score a good deal for her family. That is love)

She loves Jesus and is passionate about raising her family in a way that glorifies Him.

And dang, can she cook.

Amanda, I love you. Thank you for not only being my sister, but also being my friend.