HaleyI’ve said before that I will never move again while pregnant, or at least not 8 months pregnant. So I think it goes without saying that I will not have another housewarming party at 9 months pregnant. Twelve hours on my feet moving 90 miles an hour were tough, but hopefully no one else picked up on it 🙂
Somehow, I think we managed to pull everything off–a clean house and an array of food and drinks to promote socializing. Sure, there were plenty of things I wished I had time to do, from small things such as decorating with some hydrangea arrangements or wiping off the windows next to the front door to remove JM’s little mouth marks to more involved tasks such as upgrading our faucets and putting together our patio swivel chairs. But I have a feeling there will always be a to-do list for the house, so I’m considering everything we pulled off in less than a month a huge success.
During this next month before little Beau makes his grand appearance, I’m keeping my task list simple and putting no timeline on my projects. If I can knock out more to-dos, then great. But otherwise, I have a fully functional, halfway decorated house that will be fine just as it is for the next 6 months until I have time (and more importantly, energy) to devote to it.
But back to the housewarming party on Sunday. James Michael and I worked our tails off Friday and Saturday as daddy was wrapped up the end of season tournament for his Atlanta Affiliate League in Decatur, a good hour’s drive from our house. JM blessed me with two naps each day totaling 5 to 6 hours, giving me enough time to knock out quite a bit without interruption. This boy must be going through a growth spurt–that, and he never ever stops moving.
I’d estimate that 45 to 50 people stopped by our humble abode on Sunday afternoon to say hi and get James’ grand tour, which occurred every 30 minutes for a full three hours. I have no idea what he said, but I can only assume he was a very colorful tour guide.
Meanwhile, for the first hour of the party, I was sweating up a storm in the kitchen. Oh how amazing double ovens sound. I am so thankful for the ceiling fan in our kitchen, otherwise I would have melted into a puddle on Sunday.
I had planned the menu a week early, overlooking the fact that three of my appetizers included bacon. Of course, most everyone in attendance loves bacon, so I knew it wouldn’t be an issue. For the party alone, I purchased 7 pounds of bacon to make roughly 50 portions of each bacon appetizer. On the menu were my bacon-wrapped smokies (a true paleo option), jalapeno poppers and chocolate-covered bacon strips. As you can see, I couldn’t even snap a picture before more than half of the bacon appetizers were eaten. But I take that as a sign of success.
And obviously, JM is a huge fan of bacon. I snapped this photo of him on Friday as I was prepping for the party. I had a couple pounds of bacon on the counter, and though I let him eat nearly two pieces, he wanted more. When I told him he couldn’t have more, he was not a happy baby.
Despite how it looks, there were a few non-bacon options, such as my favorite Perfect Paleo Banana Bread, which I make every couple weeks because it’s so good.
Also on the menu were easy items such as chips, salsa, chili cheese dip and watermelon. Watermelon seemed like the perfect summery fruit option, and it truly was, but my idea of using a melon scoop to prettify my watermelon bowl was soon abandoned after I realized the amount of effort involved. I have no idea how anyone can get the scoop to make perfect circles.
To round out my dessert offerings, I also made gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip truffles. Peanut butter + chocolate is right up there with chocolate + bacon in my book.
And besides offering several varieties of beer, I made a pineapple rum punch, which was very tasty–based on the couple sips I took.
I hate that I didn’t have time to go around and snap pictures of the party. I only managed to get one of me and my sister, who is also pregnant and due the first of December with a baby girl. We often end up unintentionally dressing alike!
And even though we did not expect any gifts, we received quite a few from guests: wine, beer, Home Depot gift cards, a large beverage dispenser, fresh flowers and some pretty unique items such as pool chair covers, a basil plant, fresh garden veggies and a UGA rocker for JM, which he LOVES!
We’re so grateful that we had the opportunity to share our little abode with friends and family.
