I am so incredibly excited that my brother and sister-in-law are expecting a little boy – I get to officially be an aunt!! My mom and I (with the help of my Aunt Linda & cousin Katie) recently hosted a baby shower for them, and I just love how it turned out!

The gorgeous mama-to-be!

I got a cake and decorated sugar cookies from Treat Me Sweet Cupcakes in Nacogdoches and brought them down to Kingwood for the shower. Jordan seriously does the most adorable work, and the cookies were a hit!

This cake might look a little familiar – I had Jordan make a cake for Caleb’s cake smash photos, and we realized it would be just perfect for the shower, so we got another one!

My  mom had my brother’s first pair of boots saved (how cute are they?!?!), and she used them as decorations by putting tiny little vases in them and filling them with flowers. Such a cute idea!

I used some of CJ’s old matchbox cars to spell out letters and photographed them to make a banner to hang on the mantle. It was so fun to be able to use a lot of the things that CJ had when he was little to celebrate his soon-to-be son! The frame on the top of the mantle is actually how they told my parents they were expecting – it’s the drawing from It’s A Wonderful Life, and CJ changed it to say “CJ lassos stork.”

Some of our family from California flew in to surprise CJ & Emily, so while the shower was going on the boys hung out on the patio outside.

Another pair of CJ’s old baby shoes inspired me to create a spot where the women attending the shower could leave Emily some notes filled with advice or encouragement, because let’s face it – we all take baby steps in the parenting process!

Katie brought the cutest activity with her, and it was a big hit! There were blank letter pages for each letter of the alphabet, and everyone got to pick a word to go with their letter, draw a picture of it, and sign their name. The pages will then be turned into the baby’s first alphabet book filled with words and pictures drawn by those who already love him so much. There were so many great pictures, and I can’t wait to see how the book looks all bound and finished!

Pops got in on the book project too, and of course took the letter “p” for Pops!

In keeping with the theme of CJ’s old baby/childhood things, we used matchbox cars and a bunch of the loose wheels to have out for everyone to guess the number and have a chance to win some little prizes.

Mom made a cute display of baby pictures of both CJ & Emily, and I love that in the photo of CJ on the right he’s holding a bunch of his matchbox cars!

Katie and Linda made a whole basket full of adorable blankets, burp cloths & bibs for the baby. They did this for my shower when I was pregnant with Peanut, and they are still some of my most favorite baby items and we use them all the time with Pumpkin. They are so sweet to take the time to find fabric that matches the parent’s hobbies/interests, so there were lots of cars as well as food trucks, baking & the Texans.

A family friend was sweet enough to offer to grab a shot of all of the ladies in the family. We are so blessed to have family who flew out from California to help celebrate CJ, Emily & their baby.

Little man, you are so lucky to have big families on both your mom & dad’s side who already love you so so much! We can’t wait to meet you!!