About to POP! Gender Neutral Baby Shower for Leo

I have always been really into showers for second, third, etc babies. I know the social norm is only to have showers to honor the first baby, but I don’t understand why?!?!

Each baby is equally special and exciting and deserves to be celebrated! I’m super blessed to have friends and family who feel the same way and who have thrown awesome showers for my second and third babies! 

Robyn volunteered to host a friend shower for Leo and I was SO excited about it! The theme was a spin about “about to POP” using popsicles! How cute is that?!?! Robyn’s mom has a beautiful home that she opened up for us to have the shower and it was the perfect setting to such a wonderful morning!

Robyn put so much thought and detail into everything and it really all came together so awesome! I appreciate everything she did to make it happen, I know how much work goes into party planning!!!

Here’s some of the decor from the shower…if you want more details of where Robyn got everything and some of the special touches that went into it all you can see her blog post about it here! 

Love the diaper cake using popsicle sticks!

Some “Pop” Favors!

When I gave Robyn the list of invites for the shower I seriously didn’t expect a huge turn out. It’s my third kid, people just aren’t that into third kid showers! I especially didn’t expect any of my out of town friends to come.

Boy, was I wrong!!! Rachael and her sister Sarah came down JUST for the shower!!!! I hated it had to be such a quick visit but it meant the world to me that they wanted to be there that morning. I mean who does that, right?!?! I am so, so blessed with such wonderful friends 🙂 It was truly an act of love that will never be forgotten!

Not only did it mean a lot to me that Rach and Sarah made the trip, but I was overjoyed to see so many of my friends take time from their busy schedules to come to the shower.

I am not exaggerating when I say this: I have NEVER felt so loved!!! It really just made my heart beyond happy to realize I do have so many people who truly care about me 🙂 

We played two games and both were so fun! The first was where everyone wrote messages on diapers! I am excited about this!!!

Zach usually does night duty for diaper changes so I told everyone to make them the “night diapers” so he’ll have something to laugh about in the middle of the night 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what they all say…it was hilarious hearing some of the stuff people came up with!

I love shower games! They are always so fun and I’m so glad Robyn planned such cute and unique ideas! The second game was where we had to have a balloon under our shirt (or just rock our pregnant bellies in the case of Casey and I!).

Then we had to carry a golf ball in between our knees and waddle over to a bucket and drop the ball in. It sounds way easier than it actually is and it was also super funny to watch!!!

Trust me, that’s my game face too haha

Sarah had SUCH a cute pregnant belly!!! 

Work it Rach!

Mrs. Charlotte is always down for some competition 🙂

Another SUPER thoughtful touch to the party was a wall for pictures. Duh. I loved that junk! I am ALL about picture taking! It’s funny how it’s one of the things about me that EVERYONE knows. And I really have always been this way…even back in the day with film cameras I carried mine with me to school since 6th grade 🙂

She used dollar store table cloths to make the backdrop and it’s for sure an idea I totally plan on stealing in the future! It turned out so cute!!!

Rachael and Sarah

(and btw I had never met Sarah until that weekend…I mean how is that even possible?!?!)

We totally took advantage of the cute backdrop and I took individual pics with each guest 😉

Crissy  (not pregnant together for the first time in awhile!)

Jolee

Courtney

Sisters!

Keeli

Ashley

Amanda

(Another person I’d never met! We have been blog/online friends for a couple years now and she lives very close so she came to the shower! SO SWEET!)

Mrs. Charlotte

(we are so in-sync we just coordinated without even discussing it!)

Hostess with the Mostest!

Julie

(Who I totally owe BIG TIME for letting me borrow so many adorable maternity outfits…if you like something I’ve worn this pregnancy…it was probably Julie’s!)

Rachael

Sarah

With the Miller Sisters 🙂

Katie!

Amanda has been blog friends with the three of us and it was neat for us all to get to finally meet her in person!

Group Photo!

Time for presents!

Not only was it an adorable shower…and not only did I feel SO LOVED by the amazing turn out…and not only were the games super fun…but I also got hooked up with AWESOME gifts for Leo!

I seriously didn’t have anything I didn’t love!!! It made me super pumped for Leo to get here to put all the fun baby things to good use 🙂 I appreciate Casey for snapping so many action shots…def pay back for when I took so many of her at her shower haha!

Something that really touched my heart in a big way was Mrs. Charlotte. She sat right next to me and really, truly played the mother role. She helped handle each gift and made comments about them all and organized them all as I opened them.

It may seem like a small thing, but it was a big deal to me and is something that has stuck with me since that day and makes me smile (and a little teary-eyed!) just thinking about. I’m super thankful for these pics to remind me of how much Mrs. Charlotte truly does consider me a daughter 🙂 

After the shower ended Zach and the kids met me at Robyn’s Mom’s house to take a couple family pics together. I really didn’t ever plan for any maternity pics this time around.

I snapped a couple before Britt was born and just kinda kept it causal this time too. We take SO MANY pictures all the time that this pregnancy is plenty well documented anyway 🙂 

Rachael and Sarah had to head out. I’m jealous of Zach b/c he got to actually hang out with them more than I did! The three of them had stayed up late the night before talking…I fell asleep before they even arrived haha. Blame pregnancy, right?

I’m glad we had that morning together and am super glad they made the trip! Their bond and sweet sister friendship is one of the big reasons I do want Britt to have a sister someday. I have always wished I had a bond like theirs! 

A couple shots of pregnant Emily 🙂

I cannot express enough how thankful I am for this amazing morning. It was a time I will never forget and will always cherish. It’s easy at times to feel down or lonely or sad about people who aren’t in my life. But this day serves a as a reminder to me of how surrounded

I am by so many people who love me, love my children, and want to be part of our lives! Thank you to each person who came that morning…I love all of you! And a special thank you to Robyn who is such a phenomenal friend to me!!!