Celebrating Hailey Rose

Katie and me at her baby shower

On Saturday I was invited to attend a baby shower at the home of my wonderful neighbors, Jackie and Allen, in celebration of their daughter, Katie, and her fiancé, Jay, who are expecting their first child in May. The eagerly anticipated baby girl is going to be named Hailey Rose, and if the number of guests and gifts at the baby shower is any indication, this child will not want for worldly possessions for the rest of her life!

Katie with the onesie I made for Hailey Rose

A charming frog prince and princess theme was chosen for the baby’s room, featuring pale green frogs, a turtle with blue spots, a yellow duck with orange feet, and a blue and green dragonfly. This endearing theme was evident on receiving blankets, curtains, changing table, bedding and other assorted fabrics that will decorate the baby’s room and was likewise the theme for the party. I was taken with the playful pattern when I first saw it several weeks ago, and decided to paint a onesie with my own freehand depictions of the adorable animals, along with Hailey’s name in sparkling green letters. It took three days to draw and paint the onesie, allowing preliminary outlines to dry before filling in with coordinated colors. But my efforts were minor compared to Jay’s mother, Pat, who crocheted, knitted and quilted no less than six blankets for the baby, plus spent two days baking and then elaborately decorating a large sheet cake for the party in a similar patchwork frog and animal theme.



Pat's elaborately decorated cake

As father-to-be, Jay, Katie's dad, Allen, and assorted male cousins and spouses of the shower attendees huddled in Allen’s expansive workshop out back with beer and snacks over a wood fire, dozens of girlfriends, neighbors and family members (no less than six grandmothers, counting the greats!) gathered in the comfortable living room to play games, snack on a delightful assortment of homemade treats, and watch Katie open her ceiling-high stack of baby gifts.

For my attire at the baby shower, I chose crisp, dark-washed, vintage Gloria Vanderbilt skinny jeans paired with a watermelon-colored nylon top featuring a fancy rhinestone quarter-length zipper at the neck by ski-wear maker Nils that I purchased in Utah last weekend, and drop earrings of rubies and gold by Stauer that were a birthday gift from my best friend’s mother, Joyce, in 2010. Together with a red and black stretchy stone bracelet and a red and black-hued Dea Dread by Thea Osato of Baltimore (http://deadreads.etsy.com/), my look was chic but very comfortable.

All in all, it was a delightful afternoon, and Katie and Jay are now the proud owners of thousands of diapers, as well as enough clothes to stock a baby boutique. That’s the problem with little girls – it’s just so darned fun to dress them up!

Cheers,

Lynell