Last weekend, Hub and I went down to the Cities for my baby shower...put on by my sister-in-law, sister, and mother, it was more lovely and thoughtful than I could have ever imagined! I was absolutely blown away by their creativity and all the effort they put into making it such a special day for me and soon-to-arrive baby! Here are some snapshots I took of the sweet "woodland" shower details:
The adorable handmade "welcome" sign hanging outside to greet all the lovely guests as they arrived. 
My "corsage"...a plush butterfly holding real mini roses wrapped in tulle and topped off with a little brown "baby" button.
My sister-in-law had the center of her table decked out in a sweet array of glass cloches filled with woodland details...deer, mushrooms, moss, butterflies.
See the bunting in the photo above? Mum made a few of these pretty fabric buntings...
...in the cutest of fabrics (floral, owls, hedgehogs, etc...)
And even a tiny one to hang in this wreath.
Another woodland scene under a belljar...a mother and baby deer.
And the food, oh the food was phenomenal! But of course I only got photos of the desserts! Like these cute mini chocolate cupcakes...
And remnants of my favorite cake in the world!!! (I almost didn't get a piece! Thanks for making sure I did, Sis!)
And finally, delicious and darling sugar cookies, were each individually packaged in little bags for the guests to enjoy then or take home for later...there were "boy" owls and "girl" hedgehogs...since we don't yet know what our little baby will be! We're keeping it a surprise...and surprises are so nice, just like this party was...a wonderful surprise of thoughtfulness and love!
Thanks so much, ladies, for making it a special day that I will always remember!
Today on the table, a pot of my favorite springtime flower: the Grape Hyacinth! Such a pretty blue color, ends tinged with white, and the sweetest subtle scent. Just yesterday, I noticed the grape hyacinths in my garden in the woods popping up, their little blue tops just beginning to poke through the surface. But these ones above must be a different type/species from the ones I planted a couple years ago as the flowers are more spread out, less clustered. They'll be a good addition to my garden for next year. Spring is good! 
Lately I've been knitting little tiny things...like these baby socks/booties (in the most neutral of colors, of course). For the brown pair (left), I followed 
I picked up these vintage "cover-your-own" button kits at my local thrift store the other day. I do like 
I had just bought some new fabric prior to this with all these little circles filled with cute things like flowers and birds. 
The bird one fit perfectly onto this tiny button. 
And I had a tiny scrap of vintage fabric that I always thought was so sweet...and it was just perfect for making a set of 3 cheery, yellow buttons. Hmm...the crafty ideas are really flying now! 
I have no idea where February went...and the first week of March. Well, I sort of do. But it's been so long since I blogged that I had to really think about what my password was. I think I've just been waiting for Spring, almost holding my breath for it really. And enjoying this quiet time before the baby arrives, trying to finish projects, and imagining how much our life is going to change in just about 3 short months! 
Can one really prepare themself for a baby? I'm trying to accomplish everything and anything before the baby comes. As if I won't ever be able to do anything again after. I know that really isn't the case. But I sure would like to have as much done and organized and squared away as is humanly possible. Is that what they refer to as "nesting?" 
All I know for sure is that this is likely to be the one and only quilt I'll ever make. Potholders seem more up my alley. Maybe even pillows, yes. But another quilt?...don't think so. It's not that I didn't enjoy making it. I did, for the most part. But I learned that working on my sewing machine on bigger things like this makes me very, very nervous and tense. It involved a lot of grumbling with my sewing machine. For me it is not a relaxing hobby. My favorite part was cutting the squares and blindstitching the border on by hand. Perhaps because I had more control over those things. But working with my sewing machine left me a little stressed...although it was mostly due to user error (incompetence) I'm sure. Hub kept me rooted in reality while making it, trying to make me feel better by saying that the baby is just going to leak on it anyway. He's so helpful like that. ;)