A Kaki Party!!

As I alluded to in my last post, we had QUITE the Kaki Party to attend this weekend alongside our friends and family. Saturday morning before the shower, all of our family members who were able to make it congregated at our house to see the Cade-man. He, of course, is still the main attraction around these parts...

Check him out with two of his three great-grandmas... I think they are pretty fine looking ladies if I do say so myself... And that little cutie in pink is not so bad either! :)

The weekend of May 14th and 15th was a BIG weekend for the Evans side of the family. My cousin Shannon graduated from Texas Tech University, my cousin Kathleen set sail to Missouri to work at camp all summer, AND my second cousin Cy turned TWO... so amongst all of the fun our family had to spread the love all around to make sure we were all covered! We were sad to have missed all of the festivities, but were SUPER excited to celebrate Kaki-pants all the same! Congrats Shannon on your graduation!! I can't believe you're done... didn't you just graduate from high school?! Oh man...time flies!

I digress... back to the Kaki party... normally, these baby parties are called showers, but when we were talking to Caden about Kaki's Shower he really didn't like the sound of that, so we had to switch it to party. I think he has a STRONG dislike of showers since part of his new "manage the ear/snot/cough" regimen involves a steam shower every night after his bath... he is NOT A FAN! So a Kaki Party it became... and a Kaki Party is SURELY was!!

My sweet, sweet friend Gina who lives just seconds from our house and who we spend LOTS of time with, offered to open up her home and help host a most WONDERFUL party for Kaki. My sister-in-law Cori wanted to help too and so it became the Cori and Gina show... and I think it is safe to say that they are one heck of a party-throwing team! It was a beautiful shower full of lots of sweet sentiments and thoughtful details that made our first official party for Kaki oh so special... and PINK! :)

They made ALL sorts of YUMMY drinks to go with the full spread of food they prepared! And the cake... oh the cake...

One of my VERY favorites... strawberry cake with strawberry icing... something my Mommy made for me every year on my birthday... YUM! Perhaps, this will be something that I do for Kaki too... obviously she is already a HUGE fan of all things pink! :)

Here is the set-up for the most hilarious shower, I mean party, game I've ever played. There was an assortment of different candy that we had to match with several terms related to pregnancy/childbirth/parenting... like Mr. Goodbar= the anesthesiologist and 9, 10, and 11 pound babies= Whoppers and so on... SUPER cute game and one that gets lots of laughs, especially when you have a crew like we did playing! The great-grandmas were the fiercest competitors throughout the game and in fact, they were so ferocious that Gran came out the overall winner!! Too funny!! You'd think one of us spring chickens who had more recently done the whole pregnancy/childbirth thing would have taken the prize... but no!! :)

The diaper cake... Gina is super talented when it comes to all things party... especially baby parties... and diaper cakes are one of her "thangs" she loves them and she is pretty darn good at making them. And now I have 200 diapers to put in Kaki's closet!! NICE!!

Cori and Gina came up with the sweetest party favor idea... each guest left with an adorable, pink and white mini flower pot with a bag of potting soil and a cute tag that gave a specific date for guests to pray for Kaki throughout the last part of her "blooming." I love this!!

Lots of dates where Kaki pants is going to be covered in prayer!!

And check out more of Gina's amazing creations... a homemade fruit bouquet... if you look closely you can see pineapple pieces in the shapes of prams, ducks, and flowers... SO, SO cute!! Sadly, hardly anyone touched the yummy fruit but I KNOW it was because NO ONE wanted to be responsible for destroying the cuteness!!

Kaki... I L.O.V.E. seeing her name in print... and BIG :)

All of my loot... Kaki-girl was spoiled!! :) I want everyone to look in the top left-hand corner of the picture... you see that cupcake stand on the table?? That was FULL OF BOWS... ALL for Kaki. Sweet Gina made EVERY single one of those bows with Kaki in mind and she also made us a precious bow hanger to hang them all on in her room! I made everyone at the shower look at every single bow... :) Yep... one by one I picked them up and showed them off! Girlfriend put some serious work into those and I just had to give her some love! Can't wait for Kaki to wear them!! :)

Next please notice the NAP NANNY!! My Grandmother was so sweet to think ahead and send our gift early knowing she would be unable to make it to the shower. It was QUITE the hit... all of us second-time-around mommies have been eyeing the Nap Nanny for a while now and we were ALL super excited to experience it first-hand! Even Caden tried it out before the party... and he approves!! Thanks Gram!!

Nana signing the guest book, which was actually a children's book that everyone was asked to write a little note in... isn't that a great idea? And what a special keepsake for our family!!

The food... SO yummy! Gina made her famous chicken salad with cashews... I could have eaten the whole bowl!! One of my Gina-favs!

So I am only posting ONE, YES ONE picture of me opening gifts because let's be honest... it is just NOT attractive. I am having a really hard time keeping my legs together these days because Kaki is literally laying on my lap... one would think I would learn to cross my ankles but sometimes I think it might look even worse... but nonetheless... you get the idea... I sat (very unladylike) and opened ALL of my WONDERFUL gifts!! Thank you sweet friends and family for SPOILING us rotten!! I don't think I opened ANY gift that didn't include some form of PINK... you should see her closet... it is amazing!! And yes... you will see her closet soon... but you'll have to wait for the big room reveal post first!! :) It's coming soon...

A pic of me and my sweet hostesses who I know must have been pooped after all of the hard work they put into Kaki's party... it was perfect in every way... THANK YOU to the moon and back you two!! I cherish you both so very much!! Gina you're like a sister and Cori you are the greatest friend a sister could have... you two could flip flop between sister/friend roles with ease and I am grateful to experience such special relationships with each of you!! Thank you for a FABULOUS party!! :)

Me and my favorite Evans girls... Emily and Josh drove all the way from Nac to celebrate Kaki and THEN we put them to work... BUT more on that later in the room reveal post... I told you... it is coming VERY soon! :) And KK... well y'all know that KK wouldn't miss a chance to celebrate her Kaki-pants!! She came in that morning and went home on Monday afternoon... YEP... we put her to WORK too!! :) Aren't I sweet..."Welcome to my house... now GET TO WORK!!"

Me and the Cox women... minus Aunt Georgia who skipped out before our photo-op! So thankful for your love and support!!

Sadly, the only pictures I have our other sweet friends who attended the party were when we were all stuffing our faces with delicious food and I wasn't about to do that to ANYONE!! You're welcome!! :)

So perfectly special and so perfectly PINK! Such a FUN morning of celebrating my sweet Kaki girl! Thank you SO much to ALL of our friends near and far who made an effort to come, thought and ahead sent a gift with another friend (you TWO know who you are!!) or a nice word to help us celebrate Kaki's special day. We are blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by such a wonderful group of friends and family who walk every road we travel right along with us, encouraging us each step of the way. We could not do what we do without you... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!