I wish I could relive the entire weekend and left Raleigh last night with a very full heart. I feel so grateful to have such kind and thoughtful family members who wanted to celebrate this special time in our lives.
Most of us arrived in town on Friday but my shower didn’t kick off until lunchtime on Saturday. I was told I had to spend Saturday morning away from my aunt’s house and after I picked up my grandmother and great aunt around 11:30 a.m., the three of us headed back to my Aunt Laurie’s place and arrived to a house that had been transformed with adorable light blue and baby boy-themed décor.
To my incredible family: Thank you all so much for the time and effort you poured into my shower. There were so many little details that came together to make my shower so special. I think I spent the first 30 minutes pointing out creative decorations and crafty projects that popped out at me from around the house!
There was plenty of wine, sangria and “spa water” made with freshly sliced lemons and limes to drink and we sipped out of stemless wine glasses decorated with our initials that my aunt had made for everyone as party favors.
(HUGE thank you to my sister and my cousin Katie for taking almost all of the pictures you see in this post. I did not snap a single photo this weekend and they both captured everything perfectly!)
We didn’t waste too much time chatting and catching up before it was time to sit down for lunch.
We had plenty of chopped salad, fresh fruit and mini sandwiches to eat, all of which were so delicious! The chopped salad was packed with fresh fruit, almonds and avocado and I’ll try to get the recipe to share with you guys soon because everyone absolutely raved about it. Such a great summertime dish!
After lunch, we all moved into the living room to open gifts. I was completely overwhelmed by the gifts everyone brought for our baby boy and their incredible generosity. I said it felt like Christmas morning!
I’m pretty sure our little boy is already spoiled and he hasn’t even arrived yet!
I opened some of the most thoughtful gifts including hand-knit sweaters, homemade artwork for the nursery and much-needed items from our registry.
My mom made me cry with a bassinette filled with the most touching gifts. She gave us a handmade baby toy and blanket, scrapbook (already filled with lots of pictures from my pregnancy that she took from the blog!), a first-edition copy of The Bobbsey Twins book (a book from one of my favorite childhood series), clothes, diapers and more.
I have the best mother in the whole world and I only hope to one day be half the mother she is to our little boy. I’ve had one heck of a good teacher, that’s for sure!
One of the gifts Ryan was particularly excited about when I showed him everything after I arrived home yesterday was a snazzy red car toy from my grandma!
With help from my aunt, they changed out the license plate on the front to say “Fagan’s First” which was way too cute!
The rest of my shower included a series of three fun games, including one where we used toothpicks to take tiny tastes of baby food.
We had to guess what kind of baby food was in which jar and it was harder than expected… and also quite hilarious!
This was everyone’s reaction to jar number two, which ended up being green beans:
Ick!
Once we were done with games, my shower was officially over, but since everyone was staying for the weekend, the fun didn’t stop! We headed out onto the deck for happy hour (more spa water for me!) and spent several hours chatting until we moved back inside to watch American Pharoah win the first Triple Crown in 37 years.
And then it was time for dinner! We dug into a delicious homemade meal before surprising my grandma with a celebration for birthday!
She turned 86 at the end of May and it was such a treat to be able to celebrate together. Happy birthday, Mimi!
I think she’s going to make an absolutely amazing great grandmother!
Thank you again to my aunt and grandma for hosting such a beautiful shower for me and our little boy. And to my entire family for all of the love and effort you poured into making Saturday so special. I know I am so lucky to be able to call all of you my family. I love you!
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What a beautiful shower, and you looked great!! I love your dress (and your sister’s as well..really cute! Do you know where it’s from?). The countdown is on now! Congratulations 🙂
Thank you! Leslie’s dress is from Nordstrom Rack, but I cannot remember the brand!
Aw, I’m glad you had a lovely time! I love that little car! I can just see Ryan racing your little one up and down the park on that!! Adorable!xx
Me too!! <3 Can't wait for those days!
looks like an absolutely lovely baby shower!
What a beautiful shower, Julie! Such a blessing to have so many amazing women and moms in your life / baby’s life.
This looks so lovely and even more special because your family really tailored it to you. I’m a little nervous (but also VERY excited!) to plan a baby shower for my best friend from growing up in the early autumn. Her mom and I are going to plan it together as she is the first one to have a little one (she was first to get married, as we are only two years out of college) and I want to make it really special for her. Of course we are both total nerds so I think we will be playing lots of baby BOOK games 🙂
What a great family shower! Everyone looked so happy. So great that you could get everyone together!
What a beautiful wedding shower! Everyone looks so happy just to be together. So glad you had a great time this weekend and got to spend so much quality time with those closest to you. Plus, you have a red truck now and that looks like it will be awesome. 🙂
Sounds like such a special weekend. And I absolutely love your dress!
Julie, I have been a long time reader and don’t typically comment on things. I love reading your posts about your family, and now your future family. I can really tell there is a lot of love and it is so much fun to see and read. What a beautiful shower!
Thank you, Jessica. I really do feel so grateful for all of them! <3 And thanks for reading for so long!!
What a gorgeous shower! It is amazing the love that comes around a new baby. They are so precious and such a blessing. And speaking of, how lucky you have your grandma to celebrate and share your little one with.
I can just see the love pouring out from these photos! It made me tear up just reading!! Sounds like a perfect weekend!
Such a beautiful shower! You’re little man is already so loved. I especially loved the Chips Ahoys! So thoughtful and creative!
You have such an amazing family! Your shower looked just beautiful, my friend! Hard to believe things are getting so CLOSE! 🙂 xoxo
What a sweet shower. The car with the license plate is way too cute!
Beautiful shower! I am super sentimental so I love those special, homemade gifts.
That being said, I am sure our son would LOVE that little red car. Do you know what brand it is?
I’ll check and report back ASAP!
Some cool presents! Love the car!! And your dress is gorgeous!
Looks like a beautiful shower! Your grandma is adorable! Sounds like you have two wonderful role models for “mommy life”!
What a beautiful shower! The small intimate ones are always the best. You look gorgeous by the way!
What a cute shower.. looks like you had a lot of fun and got some cute stuff!
What a beautiful shower!! I adore that they changed the license plate on the car–what a sweet touch!
It looks like you had a wonderful baby shower and were showered with so many thoughtful gifts! You look so great!
What a beautiful baby shower!! Love all those little touches that make it so special!
Your shower is just beautiful!
How cute! It’s always fun to have family together, your little guy is so lucky that he’s got such a loving support system already!
What a beautiful shower! I’m so glad you enjoyed your special day!
What sweet sweet memories!!!! Looks like your family did an incredible job decorating and showering you guys with love! So fun!! You look precious!
What a sweet and thoughtful family you have! That little boy is going to have quite the extended family to grow up with 🙂
Your bump looks so cute in that dress! I love how it’s different than most maternity dresses with the pleats may I ask where it’s from?
Congrats again, Julie! It will be so fun to see pictures of him soon and hear about your new adventures!
Looks like you had a fun shower. I still have my Bobbsey Twins series books (I wonder if the cover I have is the same as yours???) and my mom has quite a few of hers as well (Alas hers were hardcover so they are either incredibly worn off or non-existent.)
You have such a thoughtful family – what a sweet baby shower! And you looked just beautiful!
Don’t baby showers start making it feel SO REAL?!
(Also, so weird that no one bought you an R. Kelly lullaby CD…)
I know, right? I kept waiting for that gift 😉
It looks like everything came together so well! Your family is so thoughtful and sweet. What a blessing! I have a feeling your little guy is going to LOVE that little red race car! So fun!
What a beautiful baby shower! So elegant, and all those little personal touches make it so unique. Your little man is going to be spoiled in the best way. 🙂
Love everything about this blog post 🙂 My husband and I just found out that we’re expecting so I’m having a fun time re-reading your early pregnancy updates since it’s so much of what I’m going through right now. We’re super stoked!!
Beautiful shower, Julie. You are just glowing. 🙂 This makes me excited for my showers in the next two months. Like you, I am have having a family shower and then a shower with all of my girlfriends. So fun to celebrate with the ones we love. I’m betting a dollar that Ryan tries to sit on the red car and pretends to drive it. 😉
What a special (anointed) time!!! I pray many blessings over you guys – that baby is already so loved, Julie!
What a sweet family your baby boy (David Guetta 😉 ) is coming in to! Looks b-e-a-u-tiiiful! xox
Foody, huh?
Hi Julie! You are beaming with happiness in every photo. What a lovely day they planned for you. And you know, I’ve always wondered what baby food tastes like hehe, I don’t think I’d win that one! 🙂
I didn’t do so hot either!
You are truly blessed to have such a loving family. I know so many friends who have some pretty sketchy/sad and dysfunctional family trees, that it really is a lucky thing to be surrounded by familial support and kindness. You’re blessed!
Love your shower weekend and the photos taken by your sister and cousin. Makes me happy to see all those close knit relationships – putting good energy into the world! The birthday cake for your grandma is so beautiful! Happy birthday to her! Can’t wait for the fruit/avocado salad recipe, I’m always on the lookout, because I seem to repeat a lot of the same salads!
I LOVED the Bobbsey Twin books, too … I have a box of them in my storage closet that are looking for a good home 🙂
If I am ever near Charlotte I may just drop them off 🙂
You look so much like Blake Lively these days … there were a couple of pix where I swore it was her not you!
Um, I could fly to Canada and hug you for that comment!!! <3
The fourth pic where your head is tilted I swore it was her !!! (I am a Gossip Girl Fan..at my age!!?!?!?!?!?)
I would take that hug … and give you those books. I think we may need to drive to New Orleans via Charlotte and give you those books … they need a good home! Do you know any Toronto area bloggers who wold love those books? The library won’t take them for the “Book for Every Child” campaign as they are used. USED??? Try from the 1930s!
Sending a hug … it is hotter here today than it is in Charlotte!
I can totally see the blake lively thing in pic #4. I’m a Gossip Girl fan as well.
And MiMi is the cutest!!
And I LOVE your grandma … the photo of her with her arms up in the air when she heard you were expecting is on our fridge … it makes me smile so damn hard!
What a sweet, sweet shower. I’m so glad you were able to spend the weekend with these amazing women in your life! I’m sure they can offer so many stories and words of wisdom. <3 Also, LOVE your dress!
love your dress Julie! What a wonderful shower!!
What a beautiful shower! Your little boy is going to be surrounded by a LOT of love, that’s for sure.
What a beautiful shower!! I especially love the “Ahoy it’s a boy” favor!
Aww this looks adorable! What a great baby shower!! haha, I love the little red car, so cute!
What a fun shower! Every time I see pictures of your grandma, I always think of how adorable she was in your wedding video. She is DEFINITELY going to be the best great grandmother!
what a fun weekend! congratulations!
The food and decorations all look so great!
You look so genuinely happy. Looks like it was a lovely shower. 🙂
So fun! We threw Bobby’s grandmother a surprise 90th birthday party yesterday and made her wear a tiara that said happy birthday. It was adorable. Glad you had such a good weekend!