I find it hard to believe I'm even typing these words, but my joy is so full reflecting on such a special day, and time, and gift - celebrating our coming baby girl, Rosemary.
We stepped outside the "normal lines" and hosted our own baby shower - in the spirit of pure joy, immense gratitude, and the desire to prepare for and host such a celebration. It also served as the perfect catalyst to get our house feeling all prepped and ready to bring our baby girl home. We tackled those projects that had been only in our dreams, created invitations after looking at and taking in so much inspiration in the field we work in, and had our people (at least the ones who live close and some far-travelling family and friend!) in our home where we will spend many of our firsts with our baby Rosie.
It filled me absolutely to the brim - not just executing some of the pent up creative ideas in my head, but I was overwhelmed by the unexpected outflow of love and generosity by "our people". My mom and oldest sister came up, and I was surprised to find my other sister and our friend Megan also arrived at the airport (eek!). I dabbled with flower arranging, we refinished a rocking horse we thrifted, I baked some banana bread and tasked my sisters with decorating petit fours, we designed an invitation suite and snail mailed them out, and then I cried over and over the day of - feeling everyone's excitement for Rosemary Joy, and their love for us - such a beautiful and warm welcome to this gift of a baby I've been falling more and more in love with through this pregnancy. God is so abundantly good in His good gifts.
We found it fitting to pour into a party, because we feel the weight of this gift - we had tried to conceive for about three years, and just when we were disappointed back in December that the fertility clinic was closed when we were meant to have our IUI procedure, we had a positive pregnancy test in January. There were so many people praying, and this Christmas miracle came about the good old fashioned way. But let's get back to the celebration. I want to share some of my very favourite things and a just a snapshot of the Saturday July morning we celebrated.
Luke grabbed some shots just before guests started arriving, and this shows some of the highlights, and I'm so happy for these memories.
For the invites, Luke gave me full creative control, and then provided design feedback as we went. It was a lovely learning process as I drew flowers, and we figured out the best layout design, picked the most fitting typeface, and I tried my hand at writing out a script for Rosemary's name. I love letterpress, but without access to a machine, I decided with just the right thickness and feel of white paper, it would pair beautifully with a deckled edge. Tearing those lovely edges was worth every minute. Our "ideal design" consisted of a thick white paper and deckled edges for all the stationary pieces - from envelope to detail card to the main invitation, but it made most sense to go for a more economic gray and straight edge for the envelopes to actually mail out. I particularly love the envelope design - the simplicity of the rose on the back just before you open it up I thought served as the perfect "unbeknownst to you" preview of Rosie's name. The invite was also significant because for many people, because it served as a pregnancy announcement, gender reveal, and name announcement all in one. Our hearts are brimming with joy, and we wanted to share that far and wide, with friends and family near and far.
Next, let's chat about this rocking horse. It is definitely handmade with love, and the stain was dark and not quite my style. Luke and his dad were able to sand it all down to a light oak colour - perfectly complimenting not only the direction of our home at the moment, but also Rosemary's nursery decor.
Maple stuck around for the event, we snacked on baked goods and charcuterie, Luke's dad made his signature pavlova, and we celebrated and caught up with our people. It's a ceremonial thing, a baby shower, that helps prepare you for what's coming. And we're so excited and grateful for this time. Luke had the idea of a "guess Rosemary's birthday" spreadsheet that also served as our "guestbook" you sign your name when you think the day and time of her birthday will be. I absolutely love it. The bunny mobile I had been anticipating came the night before the shower, and complimented the crib space perfectly. My mom was kind enough to bring up an order from Amborella Organics - a California based company that makes seed-bearing lollipops and you plant the stick once you eat it to see what it will grow. We used these as favours and they seemed to fit the subtle floral theme. And you may recognize the arched wall that we have previously used for wedding trade shows for our business, but here we used it to display the favours and used the silhouette to apply some vinyl of the same florals we used on Rosie's invitation and the words "It's been a joy! Take a lollipop for your mouth and garden". I've included a few photos of the gifts Rosie received - I was blown away by the generosity and beauty of the gifts we received for our baby girl. Here's some more photos from the day and a few of the pretty things we were showered with. Thanks be to God! We can't wait to meet our Rosemary Joy.
