Showering Baby Miles...from miles away

SOOO super sad I couldn't make the trek up to NorCal today to celebrate a beautiful mamma-to-be... my "Bammie" and fellow lover of all things "crafty", Miss Kate:

Her 1st child/son Miles will be born in August...and I could NOT be more excited for her & her hubs! She was one of the first few people I told about my pregnancy when we used to work together. Since then she's moved up north, found a new great job...and just bought her first new amazeballs house - though I'd love to actually see the inside one day soon, haha!

Anyway - when I found that I wouldn't be able to make it for the shower, I knew I had to make some great gifts to send up with my sis-in-law to give her.

First up...Name blocks. She'd asked me recently how much I charge for a whole set of alphabet blocks. But I'd only made those once as a gift & never thought about prices really...so I gave her a rough estimate then made a mental note for a potential shower gift. I dug around and found she was doing greens/blues in the nursery, along with some plaid print...voila!! (note - if you move the "S" in front of the "M"..."SMILE"!!)

thought I'd use Kapri's artwork as a backdrop...a little fun?!

Then I totally stalked around on her Pinterest page and found this little guy on her 'to-do' list... so I whipped one up & named it "Scrappy the Elephant" softie...made purely from scraps of extra material I had laying around. I made a few teeny mistakes...so I'll have to make little Miles another (more fashionable) one after he's born ;-)

Next up: The Bowtie Ribbon Suspender Onesie!! 
So in love with this.  Kate had sent me a picture of a similar idea she'd found, and asked if I could replicate. **I'm always up for a little challenge**  So I asked her what colors... and this is the end result... Again, first time doing this one - so I've made some notes on areas to improve on next time around (especially with the proper use of dying fabric) :-\

In addition to all that - she had sent the shower invite, with the cutest message that basically said - instead of signing cards, buy a book & sign that... so I bought 2 (the one K picked out didn't have an area to write on). And while I was in Target, with Kapri patiently reading her own princess book... I picked up "Love You Forever" - and began to read.

NOTE: I must be the ONLY person/parent, who's NEVER heard or read this book ever before. Because after I bought it & told people about it - they totally knew it, had remembered it from their childhoods, etc. So - not sure where I missed that train. 

Ah well - point being: I cried. CRIED. In Target...in the middle of their tiny book section... fanning away my pathetic sappy tears with the book itself. I knew right then & there - THIS was the book I had to get her....especially since she's having a boy, and a boy is part of the book.

Inside the front cover - I typed a pretty lengthy letter to Miles, telling him what wonderful parents he had, and what he'll learn from them. And on the back cover - a sweet letter to mamma of course, and reference the "moments to cherish" from THIS post!

Then I threw in a little safari-themed burp cloth & some adorable bunny slippers - which K had gotten has a gift from a friend, but they were too small the day she received them. So I've kept them on hand for the moment I could pass them along:

Love you dearly Kate - hope your shower was everything you hoped for & much much more!! I'll start savin my pennies for a trip up to see you THREE when the time is right!! xoxo - BAM

Kate & Kapri - she's a natural mamma :-)