Kate's "Miss Alabama" Shower

I hoped to share these blogs months ago - but this Summer and Fall we kept ourselves busy preparing Kate's room and our home, and dealing with unexpected issues on the adoption front. Now here we are - just days away from meeting our little girl! As many things as I have on my heart to share - I want to first take the time to recap Kate's four beautiful showers here so that someday, when she looks back on this blog, she will see that she was loved by so many who anticipated her homecoming!

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I had no idea what to expect when it came to Baby Showers for our little girl. With so many "unknowns" and long wait times with adoption, it is hard to know when or how to plan a shower. I wondered if we would have the opportunity to have any showers for Kate. Imagine my surprise, when mere days after our matching, I was contacted by two sweet friends from my Miss Alabama Pageant days - begging me to let them throw our first shower! I was so touched by their excitement, and soon plans were underway. Our very first shower for Kate was held on July 10th and announced with this beautiful invitation.

My time in the Miss Alabama Pageant and the Miss America Organization impacted my life in extraordinary ways. Growing up without sisters - that void was quickly filled when I began to compete in pageants. It meant the world to me to have so many of my "Mu Alpha Sigma" (Miss America Sorority) sisters, my very first director (from the year I was Miss Gadsden Area), and so many of the Miss Alabama volunteers and pageant moms (who took such good care of me in my competition days) come together to celebrate our little princess! These ladies have helped "pray Kate home" from the moment we announced we were adopting almost 5 years ago. It was so special to celebrate our little girl with them at this beautiful event! 

The "theme" for this shower was "sugar and spice and everything nice" - because that's what little girls are made of you know! 

The decorations were lovely - there were pink roses, pink banners, and pink details everywhere! The food was delicious - and in keeping with the theme everything was sweet and spicy! We had the most delicious cake bites, candied jalepenos and cream cheese, and of course Pad Thai. I loved that so many of our friends got to try this delicious Thai dish for the first time that day!

I loved having 3 of my precious "Impact Award" winners there to celebrate with me too! These girls are so special to me, and I cannot wait for Kate to meet them someday! I am blessed to know so many women through the MAP that I know will be wonderful role models for our little girl (and these are 3 of them!)

This beautiful day was made possible by these two precious ladies below! Katie (left) was one of my very first friends I made the first year I competed in the Miss Alabama Pageant. I just adore her - and have been blessed to stay in touch with her long after we "retired" from pageants. Her incredible mom Laura (right) is the person I lovingly refer to as my "Fairy Godmother". She made the gorgeous custom Belle costume I used for several years in my side job as a "Party Princess"! Both of these women are so beautiful, kind, compassionate, talented, and full of LOVE and JOY! It blessed my heart to have them throw a shower for Kate! Thank you Boyd Ladies! 

At the end of the day, Kate was incredibly spoiled with so many beautiful gifts! She received her very first smocked dress and her very first monogrammed shirt (necessities for any southern lady!)... her very first Auburn dress (from an Alabama fan no less! She is loved!)... fairy tale blocks, princess pajamas, a box full of Princess Belle goodies from my director Amy (she knows me so well) and so many other beautiful things you can see pictured below. She also got an adorable radio flyer tricycle that I couldn't fit into the picture, and lots of gift cards! 

Thank you to my Miss Alabama family for showering our little princess with so much love! 

Miss America... I KNOW HER!

Did you read that title in your best "ELF" voice? Oh good. Because that's exactly how I said it! Haha!

I just had to take a minute here to brag on my friend Mallory Hytes Hagan, who won the title of Miss America on Saturday night! Although she competed as Miss New York, Mallory is actually from Sweet Home Alabama, and even attended my beloved Auburn University for one year. She grew up in Opelika, Alabama, and was a teen contestant when I was competing in Miss Alabama. She actually held the Miss Teen Auburn Opelika title one year, while I held the Miss Auburn Opelika title another. Her precious Mom was also on my Board of Directors the year I was Miss Auburn Opelika Area, and did a wonderful job choreographing all the Miss AO pageants! (Mandy - I know you are just bursting with PRIDE right now! Look at what you did... you raised a MISS AMERICA! What an accomplishment! ;)

There she is... MISS AMERICA!

I can't say enough WONDERFUL things about Mallory - or how thrilled I am that she was given the honor to be our 2013 Miss America! I've been following her journey via facebook and twitter the last few years as she competed in Miss NY, and as she prepared herself for Miss America. I know that she has worked SO hard to become the best version of herself that she can be - and that she's worked incredibly hard to shine a light on Child Sexual Abuse Awareness & Prevention (which is her platform). It was such a treat to see her hard work pay off when they put this beautiful crown on her head!!! She is so deserving of this great honor, and she's going to be a wonderful representative of the Miss America Organization!

Mallory - CONGRATULATIONS on this wonderful accomplishment! I know you are going to do INCREDIBLE things this year as Miss America, and I can't wait to watch it all unfold! WAR EAGLE and God bless you as you begin the journey of a lifetime! 

There she is... Miss America!

Before I start posting about our trip, I thought I'd share one more blog about "regular life" here in Michigan!

I just posted about Auburn winning the National Championship, now I thought I'd post about my birthday night and my Miss America party! (A National Championship AND the Miss America Pageant all on my birthday week.... could it get any better?!? ;)

For those of you who don't know me well, you may not know that it was my lifelong dream to become Miss America. I wrote about it on my old blog here (and about how God changed my path). Though I no longer compete in pageants, I did compete for 19 years, so it was a BIG part of my life. And while I never fulfilled my dream of becoming Miss America, I still love the Miss America Organization (and all the wonderful memories I have from my time as a titleholder!)

So, every year, I try to get a group of girls together to watch Miss America! We wear crowns and girl talk and just have a fun girl's night. This year, it just happened to fall on my BIRTHDAY!!! So some sweet girlfriends came over to help me celebrate. Check out the pictures below!