The cutest shower that ever was

On Sunday, my friend Kelly threw me the cutest, most thoughtful baby shower. I had been bummed that I wouldn't be able to travel to Ohio for a family shower (let's just say that flights were outrageously expensive), so when Kelly offered several weeks ago to throw one for some Phoenix friends, I got really excited.

I never had a wedding shower, which was a-ok with me. I'm not a huge fan of tons of attention (my major stress about the wedding was that everyone was going to be looking at me as I walked down the aisle...). Plus, Mike and I had already combined households and lived together for some time, so we didn't need a lot of the regular toaster/towels/dishes stuff.

But to me, a baby shower was a totally different story. I wanted to celebrate Ryan. I love the little guy so much already and having a day dedicated to him just felt special.

Kelly, of course, told me it would be a very "low-key" shower (she understands my aversion to tons of attention). Just a few good friends, some food and gifts. But I also know Kelly, and I know she's not capable of doing anything halfway, so I knew the shower would be amazing.

Kelly's low-key shower had her cooking up an amazing spread the day before (with the help of our friend, Lynh):

Of course, you also have to have drinks (both alcoholic and non):

And apparently she got wind of my current Skittle obsession:

And there has to be dessert:

There was also lots of really cute baby boy decor, including plain onesies and bibs that the guests took turns decorating with stamps, paint and fabric markers:

And Kelly put together a really sweet recipe book, with handwritten recipes from family and friends all across the country. I may or may not have teared up when I opened it (ok, I did tear up):

But most important were the people who came out to celebrate with us:

Every single person that Kelly invited came to the shower, and that meant the world to me. It's nice to know that I have such a strong support system out here.

Speaking of support, one of the best parts about the shower was that my mom was able to fly in for it. We got in lots of shopping while she was here, a good deal of eating, and a seriously relaxing pedicure. She even posed for a rare picture with me!:

Of course, we also got lots of good stuff for the Rhino. Kelly asked everyone to bring a favorite book from their childhood as a gift, to help build his library. We got all kinds of books, including Dr. Seuss, Goodnight Moon and Corduroy. A few family members also sent gifts out to Kelly's place, so I had even more to open than I could have expected.

And this is what my kitchen table looked like after the shower:

(Full disclosure: My kitchen table still looks like that.)

Huge, enormous, gigantic thanks to Kelly for throwing an amazing shower, to Lynh for helping her so much, to my mom for traveling 2,000 miles to be a part of it, to everyone who contributed a recipe, and to everyone who attended or sent a gift in their place. We're going to have one very loved little boy.