Baby Shower in Tampa

My two closest friends in Tampa planned a very fun baby shower for me on Sunday, September 29th.

One of the many Bee decorations at the party.

Shower hosted by:
Heather Campbell
Jessica Gonzalez

Honey and beehive soaps were the sweetest little favors
 in honor of me and Bea at the shower.

The party was held at Heather's home. Heather and Jessica did all the food which included chicken nuggets, spinach dip, pasta salad, hummus and pita chips, cheese and cold cuts. They decorated Heather's house so adorably with bee items and baby items. They had really cute wish cards for BB that all the guests filled out. We also had bibs and puff paint so everyone got to personalize a bib just for Bea. It was super special and very fun.

Heather breading the chicken nuggets.
I could NOT have been more flattered by this act of love on her part - she's not into cooking. :-)

Heather and Jessica had offered to cancel the shower after they heard about my mom, but I said no and I'm glad I did. It was certainly hard as I thought of her often during the shower and on the way home afterward I wished I could have called her to tell her about it - but it was a baby step towards life moving on. I hate to use the term, "life moves on" when talking about life after my mom's passing because I don't want to imply she's not a part of it. Because to me she is. She's constantly in my thoughts and I know she always will be. But I also know that for my own sake and especially for Bea's  - I need to tackle life events without my mom and enjoy them to the fullest. Momma would want that for me and she'd especially want that for Bea.

So despite a slightly heavy heart on my part - I had a WONDERFUL time with good friends celebrating Bea. She is a super blessed gal to be surrounded by loving people spread out all over the USA. I can't wait to introduce her to our friends here in town.

Could this cake "BEE" ANY cuter!?

And it tasted AMAZING.

In addition to her wonderful Aunts (Andrea, Marg and Maggie) - she has two pretty rockin' "Aunts" here in town - Jessica and Heather - who could not be more excited about her. She and I are lucky gals.

Heather and Jessica working on their bibs for BB.

Here's some of the bibs:

LtoR - Bibs made by Kyla Gribbons, Leticia Gaglianone, and Mandi Martin
(The green one with the family was made by me)

First birthday bib by Rachel Braukman, Bees Knees by Jessica Gonzalez, Fish by Ms. Helen Gonzalez

Bibs by Tonia Campisi (or Tonia Marie), Jessica Williams and Coleen Savard.

The guests were all good friend of me AND Matt - some of them even work with Matt at EY.

They actually did a very cool thing on the invites and requested that guests bring a book signed by them for BB rather than a card. Such a cool idea. Matt's looking over the Winnie the Pooh books given to Bea from Jessica's mom - Ms. Helen. 

Matt came by towards the end of the shower to enjoy some tasty food -
Say thanks to the ladies and help me pack up the goodies.

Jessica took tons of photos at the shower and is going to put them in a scrapbook for me along with the wish cards for BB. The wish cards were such fun idea. They include wishes for Bea like: "I hope you love..." "I hope you respect...." "I hope you get this trait from your Mom....." "I hope you get this trait from your Dad...." I'm looking forward to getting the scrapbook and reading what everyone said.

It was a wonderful party and I am so grateful to Heather and Jessica to devoting so much to making it a success. I was completely flattered. Having the books signed just for her and the written wishes for BB warms my heart so much. She is truly a loved little girl already and I am so lucky to have folks who are so excited to welcome her to the world.