Our Baby Shower

This past weekend Mr. Charming and I celebrated a day I've been dreaming about my whole life. As a lover of celebrations, babies and all things party planning, I prayed that one day I'd have a baby shower of my very own. 

This was a huge life milestone for us. After the loss of our first pregnancy and over three years of trying to get pregnant, this day felt like it may never come and as the months ticked by in this pregnancy and my sister in law offered to throw us a shower at her home, the anticipation grew and grew right up until the day of the party. 

It's hard to describe in words what this day meant to us and felt like for me, but below through details and photos, I hope to share with you, that very special day. 

Walking into the party was absolutely magical and as I caught a glimpse of each detail, my heart soared. My sister-in-law, along with my sisters, didn't forget a thing and it was truly the Pinterest shower of my dreams, haha. 

As I walked in I saw old photographs of Mr. Charming and I as babies, with places for guests to offer us advice and suggest baby names (because we still have no idea what to call this little nugget.) My niece Amber, an artist, painted a beautiful tree on canvas for guests to use stamps to guess the baby's gender that we are so excited to hang in the nursery. (75% Boy, 25% Girl it came out to by the way.) 

Along with colorful swags and delicate touches, my sister Felicia (who flew in from Wyoming and whom I hadn't seen in 15 years) painted an adorable 'P' sign to use as our guest book.

The room was filled with adorable pieces that we can cherish and keep forever. 

My sisters had planned an array of fun games for all the guests. Measure the Belly was humorous because, I think out of 60 guests, all but three totally overshot. Thank goodness for a small baby bump! haha. They also played a "Guess What's In The Baby Basket" game and afterwards I got to take home the basket filled with all kinds of amazing goodies and natural baby care products. 

There was also a baby word scramble and a pool to guess the baby's birthday. My due date is August 5th, so the people that guessed August 11th and 12th aren't allowed at the next party, haha, jk. No but seriously. 

During one of the games, it was nice to have a moment alone with my mama. We didn't get a chance to see each other for Mother's Day, so we snuck off and exchanged gifts. I had framed her an ultrasound photo of Baby P's latest photo. It was special to be able to give her one of the baby's first pictures. 

Since so many family parties, events and holidays revolve around food I can't eat, it was important that the food at my baby shower would be safe foods that both I myself, and my guests with similar food sensitivities, auto immune disorders or allergies could enjoy as well. I wanted to make all my guests comfortable in a setting one is rarely comfortable in with those food obstacles. 

The chicken salad, fresh meat and cheese spread (both dairy AND vegan cheese options available!) went over great and were paired with vegetables, fruit skewers, Paleo almond herb crackers, gluten-free chips and more. It was delicious and very filling! 

The dessert table was BEAUTIFUL and featured traditional desserts and regular cupcakes, as well as my own recipe for my gluten-free and dairy-free frosted white naked cake. 

It was my first time making a party cake and it went over AMAZINGLY well. It showed me I definitely need to make larger ones in the future. It was gone before anyone touched a traditional cupcakes. Due to the fact I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar, it almost had a hint of spice cake flavor. I used an organic frosting and dye-free sprinkles to top it off and make it festive! The recipe and more details on the cake can be seen here. 

The table was sweet and colorful and matched the pastel rainbow theme. The reason behind the rainbow theme was three fold and so, so special. First, because Baby P is our Rainbow Baby (or miracle baby after a loss), second, pastel colors worked with not knowing the baby's gender and third, Somewhere Over The Rainbow was one of the reasons I became a singer at such a young age. So I was swooning over all of the decor. 

Not only were we showered with love, we were showered with so many amazing things to take home for Baby. All the gifts were so special and many people asked what my favorite things of the day were. While I loved every single thing, there were some items that really stuck out and that grabbed a place in my heart. 

My mother-in-law bought us a piece of art I'd been eyeing for the nursery that read "I never knew how much I loved your father, until I saw how much he loves you." Baby P isn't even here yet, and I know there is so much truth to that. I adore my husband more each day I'm married to him, but picturing him holding our baby, I just melt into a puddle of goo.

Some of the clothes were just too cute to handle, and the handmade blankets and baby books showed so much love and support for our little growing family. 

There were just SO many favorite moments of the day and my heart was just so full and still is. I am beyond blessed and so grateful and can't wait for this baby to experience all the love and support I know is here for him or her. 

Another huge thank you to my hostesses, my sister in law Tiffani and my sister Ashley (both pictured above with me and Mr. Charming.) It was perfectly perfect and a day I'll remember forever.

Again, if you want the recipe to my Dye-Free Rainbow Sprinkled Naked White Cake, click here. 

What was your favorite part of your baby shower? Do you have a go-to gluten-free party cake recipe that is always a hit? I'd love to hear in the comments below!