Hi Friends,

So my little brother is FINALLY having a baby! I say finally because my husband and I are about four years ahead in the baby game, and we’ve been watching him and my sister-in-law enjoying all that kid-free freedom and being more than a little jealous.  But his time has come! And we couldn’t be happier about it.

They aren’t finding out what they are having, so the theme for their shower was a little tricky.  We settled on a Bee theme, because yellow is pretty neutral and we love a good theme.

We were a little worried because we had knocked their bridal shower so far out of the freaking park that we’d set a standard for ourselves that was a little high.  That theme was April showers, and it almost broke pinterest.

How was that for some bridal shower eye candy?  Also, can we have a moment for me and that itty bitty baby?

That’s my oldest at about a month old. I had no flying clue what I was doing.  And I had to do an outfit change during the shower because, well, for such a tiny little thing, she pretty much ruined a dress…and some carpet. Thankfully I happened to have the exact same dress in two colors, and had brought both because I couldn’t decide which one to wear.

Anyways, back the present and our Bee shower.

The problem was that we didn’t have quite as beautiful of a venue for this shower, but in the words of Tim Gunn, we were going to just have to make it work.  And we did! (It took lots of hours and three people staying there until almost midnight the night before. But gosh darn it, those onesies on the wall looked great.)

But this post isn’t so much about a cute baby shower, it’s about books. Shocking I know.

It has become a tradition at our family showers (both bridal and baby) to say a blessing over the bride or mommy to be.  I’m not sure who started this, but I know one of my aunts did an amazing one where she gave everyone at the shower a hammer and talked about being tools in God’s hands. I think we’ve all been trying to top that one ever since.

Well my mom was knee deep in Bee themed stuff, and since I have three little kids I’m about as much help as tornado these days, so I offered to take the blessing off her plate. I do write for a living after all. This was firmly in my ball park.  I kept meaning to write the blessing for the weeks leading up to the shower, but life and books and kids kept getting in my way. Plus, I wasn’t exactly sure where to start.

Fast forward to a week before the shower, and I was filling my amazon cart with a few last minute “she needs to own these” books for the shower, and I thought, why not do a BOOK BLESSING?

So while I baked the last two loaves of sour dough bread I’d promised to bring with for the fourth of July celebrations, I wrote a book blessing, and hit submit on a helfty order of Amazon Prime books.  Bam. Book Blessing.

I practiced it on my mom while my daughter (who was thrilled that she was going to get to help host the shower with us) filled the gift boxes with lemon drops. It made her cry. I had a winner.

So, in case you are looking for a cute way to bless someone about to enter the trenches of motherhood, I thought I’d share this here. It is easy to tweak depending on what books or message you want to give your mama to be.  What I love about it is that it will stick around for years and years to come.

With that in mind, try to choose “forever” kind of books. (So no “character” books like Daniel Tiger etc.). Try to pick books you could see them handing down to their grandkids someday. Think timeless.

 

A few tips:

Have your books in order.

I cut up the chunks of the blessing that pertained to each book and taped them inside.

Have someone grab your four year old so you don’t have to worry about them pulling your dress up for all to see mid-blessing.  Sigh.

Here is the blessing if you want to copy and paste it for your own use:

Cara,

You are about to embark on one of the most incredible journeys of your life. It is the adventure to top all adventures. The challenge to top all future challenges, and the most important thing you will do on this earth.

No pressure.

But in all seriousness, the stakes in this motherhood game are high and you’re playing for keeps. I thought about this blessing many many times over the last few months, and I kept falling into the bad habit of wanting to warn you about how exhausted you were going to be, or how utterly wrecked your house would become, or the fact that potty training a two year old could literally bring you to your knees, and then somehow I was supposed to also convey to you that all of that would be so incredibly worth it. That it will be by far the hardest thing you will ever do, but it would be the thing you would willingly choose to do over and over again without a second’s hesitation.

I read once that raising children is like climbing Everest. The climb is hard and backbreaking at times, and you don’t know if you are going to make it to the top, but Gosh, the views are breathtaking. And just like Everest, as soon as you reach the top you start planning a second climb to experience it all again. That’s how second and third children happen in case you were wondering. But I decided that this blessing should be one that you can remember long after the shiny wrapping paper has been thrown away and the toys and clothes have been worn and played with, and I only know of one thing that sticks around for years and years throughout a child’s life. Books.

So, Cara, I am going to give you a book blessing, so that maybe someday, when you are utterly exhausted on a level you thought could only be achieved by ultra marathon runners and Sherpas climbing Everest, and your child begs you for just one teeny tiny extra extra book pretty pretty please with sugar on top, you can grab one of these and remember that after all the tears and spilled food and tantrums of the day, that you are on your ultimate adventure, the adventure of motherhood.

Cara.

May your baby always be to you The Most Magnificent Thing. You may not have met your baby yet, or know if it’s a boy or a girl, but God has known that child for a long time. He knew exactly who he should give you and Aric as your first baby to make your family the best it could possibly be.

 

This book will help you teach your child that making mistakes is just a part of the road to success.

When you hear that first cry and meet that sweet little one for the first time, you will realize that you already love all of baby’s nose to toes. That every part of them was fearfully and wonderfully made, and after you hold that little one in your arms, you will no longer question miracles, because you helped bring one into the world.

This book will make your baby giggle and squeal and give you lots of opportunities to tickle their tummy.

Remember that this motherhood thing doesn’t come with an instruction manual, so give yourself a lot of grace along the way. Especially when baby number two or three comes along, there will be a point where you look around you and wonder how you ended up Where the Wild Things Are. But remember, you can always tame those wild things by yelling BE STILL and taming them with the magic trick of staring into their eyes without blinking once, and they will be frightened and call you the most wild thing of all. And if that doesn’t work, put them to bed early. They can’t tell time yet.

And remember that this motherhood journey has a co-pilot, and that Aric will not be The invisible boy. Give him the chance to change the diapers and rock the baby when he or she is fussy. Remember that his parenting won’t look exactly like yours, and that’s not just okay, that’s a wonderful wonderful blessing. And also remember that it’s completely acceptable to be as loud as possible getting in and out of bed when the baby wakes up in the middle of the night. He may not be able to feed the baby like you can, but he should know that you’re up. This is your God given right.  

This book will help teach baby VW that it’s important to be friends with everyone, and that no one should be treated like they are invisible.

I am almost at the end of my book blessing, but I want you to remember, that you will make mistakes on this journey as well. You’ll lose your temper over something dumb or forget pajama day at school, and that it is incredibly important to remember what happens After The Fall. That we are often brought to our knees in motherhood because God is teaching us to rely on him, not on our own strength. That HE is the one who gave you this child, and that you need to trust him in all things, including pajama day.

This book will help teach baby VW that it doesn’t matter how often you fall, what matters is how often you get back up.

And Just In Case You Ever Wonder about the most important lesson you will ever teach your baby, it is that they know and love Jesus. That they see through your life and Aric’s life what it is to walk the walk. As my mom used to tell me and Aric, I want to see you again someday in Heaven. I want you to be there, no matter what. Live your life accordingly. So, if you do nothing else, make sure that heaven accepts them when it’s time for them to go home.

This book is one of my favorite ways to teach that oh so valuable lesson.

So in closing, Cara, you got this. You have an army of Christian women in this room praying for you and for the blessing that you are carrying. That is the magic of a baby shower. It isn’t the gifts, although those are wonderful, it is that this is the last time all of your people will come together like this to shower you will blessings in one location. And that can be sad, but know that everyone here will continue to shower you with spiritual blessings long after they go home today. We love you. We already love baby VW. And good luck on your greatest adventure yet .

And since I know I love stuff like this, I thought I’d share a few more pictures from the shower.

Random Fun Fact:  My wedding was black and yellow.  So those runners we used were MADE BY MY MOM for my wedding, and we got to use them again! #winning

One of my favorite details was that everyone who hosted or helped with the shower got a Bee broach to wear.  I had grand plans of buying all vintage broaches, but then I got a good look at the total in my ebay cart and reconsidered. A few non-vintage broaches would be just fine, thanks.

We used water beads in the vases, and the cake stands were all re-used from my brother’s wedding. (He and my sister-in-law made them!).

I always think it’s the little details that make the big impact, like a cute sign on the seat the guest of honor will be sitting in, or a cheeky note on a letterboard.

The chalk board signs have been repainted over for multiple showers (repainted because the liquid chalk markers do not erase worth a darn.)

It ended up being a wonderful shower, and while we had fun throwing it, my mom and I are very glad that it’s the last one we have to throw for a LONG time. Pinterest has just set the bar really high these days.

Feel free to pin this idea for later! I even made a handy dandy pinterest graphic for you to use!