Completely Buggin' Out!

I think everyone pretty much knows that the theme for our baby shower is going to be lady bugs, as is the nursery for our lil' bug. As such, I am going completely bonkers collecting every little lady bug item, not just for the baby shower, but for our little girl as well. I guess you can say that I am a bit obsessed. But why wouldn't I be? Aren't lady bugs cute anyway? You just wouldn't believe the things I've done or found. It might make you want to start collecting lady bug knick knacks too.

So, I've been trying to find some ideas for baby shower centerpieces. My friend, Jennifer, told me that Michael's was holding a craft class on how to make flower pot critters. And they just happened to be making the lady bug pots this weekend. So yesterday afternoon, I spent a good half hour in the Michael's store and made one of these cute lady bug pots. Aren't they darling? I had the teacher take a picture of me to show Malu. I'm going to take these, fill them with rice to weigh them down a little bit more and then I'll use them to anchor the red, white and yellow balloons that I plan to order for the party. I figure I'll put that on each table along with some confetti and possibly some printed paper or doilies. What do you think?

Jennifer also happened to take her little boys to the outlet mall on Friday and while shopping at the Converse store, she stumbled upon these. I told her to stop buying me more baby stuff, but I could not hassle her when she said that she couldn't help herself. When she gave them to me, I just about cried. They are sooooooooo cute.

So then I went to the outlet myself the next day and stumbled upon this matching outfit at Gymboree. They happened to be on sale and will fit my lil' bug next winter. See the little antennae on the hat? Too cute.

Jennifer (man, isn't she just great?) is also helping me make decorations for the baby shower. But she also thought to make these cool mums for me, my mom, grandma, and sister to wear that day. I thought that these things were an El Paso thing, but it turns out that these mums, are actually a whole-state-of-Texas kind of thing. Originally called homecoming mums, they were made popular in Texas (and also in Oklahoma) in the 1920s and were made of real flowers. It wasn't until the 1960s that silk flowers were used and additional items were used to symbolize what activities the students were involved in. Girls wear them and recently, more guys have come to wear a smaller version, gartered on their arms. Nowadays, they're not just used at homecoming, but for all kinds of occasions--including baby showers. How convenient! So, Jennifer and I went and bought all the materials and she came up with this one for me. The yellow ribbon has lady bugs on it. It's going to match perfectly with the black and white polka dot dress I'm going to be wearing.

And last, because I'm not trying to give away all the details of the baby shower to some nosy family members...I ordered about 100 of these charming lady bug soaps to give away as parting gifts for all my attendees, since there will be tons of them. I had them personalized and everything. I found them on http://www.babyshowerstuff.com/.

So yeah, I'm totally buggin' out and loving it. The baby shower is a little over two weeks away. The only reason I'm having it early is because my parents, being the crazy socialites that they are, are way too busy in the months of May and June to hold a baby shower. Nor will I be up to traveling during those months. I plan on having someone videotape the whole thing so that Malu doesn't miss out entirely. And guess what? Malu called me today during lunch. What a great surprise! He had received his Easter package, but hadn't opened it yet. I can't wait to hear how he liked it. Anyway, I digress.

Hope everyone's week got off to a great start!