For the past week now I’ve been trying to get over the worst cold!! Getting sick while pregnant has been no joke! There’s not a lot of medicines you can take so I’ve just been trying to sleep and rest as much as possible and do all the natural remedies in hopes of getting better…

But also for the past week I’ve been on cloud nine and just felt like I’ve been dreaming that THIS was my baby shower!! It was such a sweet celebration surrounded by so many incredible women who drove in from near and far…they have impacted me in all different seasons and helped me become the mom I am going to be to this baby boy…and made me feel so loved that our boy is already so loved! My favorite part was when they surrounded me to pray over him…the journey to motherhood is so full of ups and downs and changes…and I know motherhood in general will be the same…and it’s an indescribable feeling to be held close in prayer and reminded that I’m not walking this path alone! The Lord is going before me in all of it! So thankful for a community of friends who remind me of that truth!!

And I’m so beyond thankful for the girls who teamed up to put so much heart and care into making the shower so incredibly special…I am so excited to show off their hard work!! These women are some of my closest friends who have prayed for me steadfastly, seen me through so many seasons of growth, and have loved me so well through so much and I get teary thinking about getting to share this next season with them! The season of pregnancy has already been the biggest reminder that life is most joyful when shared…and we were never meant to do life alone!! As the girls dropped hints about what they were planning I just got more and more excited and felt so cherished by how much thoughtfulness they were putting into it. I joked that Taylor Swift would be jealous of my baby shower planning girl squad! Haha! I think it’s true!! Ali, Katelyn, Jilly, Nikki, and Caroline…thank you doesn’t begin to cover it!! I’m so grateful for how hard you worked to bring this special day together! 

The theme for the shower was “Light & Bear-y”…I laughed so much when they told me this idea…it’s perfect!! I teach photographers to create Light & Airy photos with my friend Caroline AND I just love light, neutral colors in general! And the little bear on the invitation hand painted and designed by English Tea Paperie made the perfect shower mascot! :) 

Ali managed so much and organized everything with her champion admin skills…not to mention that she made the yummiest mocktails. Jilly did all of the incredible custom signage, took my snowy fairytale maternity photos, and she and Katelyn put together all of the beautiful florals! Katelyn also is the best host ever and opened up her beautiful home to so many friends! Nikki created the most perfect dairy free menu…I normally don’t get to eat many foods at showers because of my dairy allergy…so Nikki made sure that I could eat EVERYTHING on the menu which was such a treat!! My favorite was the mini chicken and waffles! I always want to order it for brunch at restaurants but of course it’s full of dairy normally…so this was the best treat!! I also had the best cake of my life from WPA bakery…baby boy packed on some pounds that day ;)…and finally Caroline brought her interior design magic to make sure the event was perfectly decorated with so much light & airy goodness and perfect style!!

So much love and so many beautiful details I never want to forget!! Thank you Katelyn for capturing so many sweet photos to remind me of the most special day!! Baby boy Akins may never care that he had the best shower ever..haha! But I will never ever forget it and will cherish these memories forever! I just want to live inside these pictures! 

The fabulous hostesses!! 

I don’t know what’s happening here…I was just so happy and laughed and cried the whole day!!

Jilly painted this herself!! It’s going to be baby boys monogram once we finally pick a name! And she chose the flowers she painted to reflect my German heritage…cue all the tears. How talented is she?? 
Baby Mason obviously helped Nikki put together all the food…
Love all these sweet friends!!
This was one of my favorite ideas ever…each guest highlighted a favorite verse and signed their name next to it in Baby Akins’ first bible!! I can’t wait to share it with him one day! 
My friend Lauren hand made this baby blanket and I can’t wait to put it in the nursery! She’s so talented!
One of my favorite cards…my friend Amanda’s daughter drew a portrait of pregnant me…definitely saving it forever! Thank you, Cammy!!
Sweet baby Margot!
Amelia showing us how to juggle babies…
I’ll never forget this special time of prayer for my first son!!
So grateful for all these amazing friends who came out to love on me and baby Akins!! I will never forget this day!!
One final “light & bear-y” touch…honey to take home!!
And a few favorite iphone shots I took from Caroline! 

Walking in to see all the pretty!!

Aunt Angelika and the best grandmas around!! Oma and Mia!

Baby boy doesn’t know how good he has it yet to have all these amazing honorary aunties!!