My Baby Shower

Last Saturday, my friends and family overwhelmed me with the most obscenely generous baby shower I've ever attended. And it was mine!

My two wonderful college friends, Lena and Emily, co-hosted the shower at Lena's house. Her husband took their two kids to the golf course so nobody had to be on kid duty. The only baby was Emily's 3 month old, Carson. And Grandma Dana (Emily's mom) sacrificed herself by holding Carson the majority of the party.

So many people went to so much effort to come. Jessica (Dylan's wife, a step-sister-in-law) drove up from Salem with her mom-in-law, Cindy (my wicked stepmother). Stacia (the lovely wife of Glen from high school) came up from Gresham and partied with us while Glen did man-chores with his cousin in Bonney Lake. Katherine, Lori, and MariClaire, all girlfriends from Kevin's gaming group, made time to come. Cindy (Don's wife) carved out time while trying to pack for an LA move to be there. Raissa was there also, having enlisted Dad on duty while she slipped away for girl time. My mother-in-law drove up as well. Camille (in LA) sent a wonderful package ahead of time, and Beth (Dave's wife, my wonderful sister-in-law) sent a gift with Jessica, as she was stuck at work for the day.

It goes without saying that my mom was there.

After on-line arguments with Lena about whether I should bring stuff for the party, I lost. But I did come up with a cute idea for thank-you gifts. Rachael Ray had templets for candy bar wrappers on her website, including several for baby announcements. Instead of a baby name and birthday, I wrote "Thanks for Coming!" and used the date of the party. Rather clever, I thought.

Lots of eating and chatting before the official party events began. Emily deserves my everlasting gratitude for coming up with great baby shower games. Precious enough for a baby shower, fun enough that adults didn't cringe to play them, and they were charming ice-breakers for the party. First we got clothespins with instructions NOT to say "baby." If you said it, the person who caught you got all your clothespins. I lost this game immediately. Next, the girls had to guess how many squares of toilet paper I was around. 39 inches = 10 squares. My mom lost by the most, guessing 15 squares. Finally, Emily put together a list of adult animals and we had to list the baby names. I sucked at this game as well. I couldn't even remember what a baby sheep was called. A lamb. Like I said, great games and well done Emily.

The presents. Dear God, I couldn't believe it, and I'm a girl who really likes presents. But I was overwhelmed by how generous everybody was. It was truly too, too much. I cried before I opened a damn thing. I couldn't say it enough--I was so touched by all the time and effort these wonderful women took to celebrate with me and share their love. It was very moving. I'm still deeply touched by their generosity. Clothes, safety supplies, breastfeeding supplies, and a few wonderful toys.

Lena organized a scrapbook of sorts. A Girlfriends' Guide to Baby. She took pictures of our friends' beautiful children, and had all the guests write down baby advice. I have a couple blank cards for people to fill out later on as well. It's the most wonderful present because it's so personal. And it looks fabulous!

In typical fashion, Kevin was using our camera, Nancy forgot hers, and Cindy's ran out of batteries after two pictures. Luckily, Lena actually takes pictures. And she posted them on Kodak Gallery so I can order my own. She's a smart cookies that Lena.

Emily did all the food prep, and made my favorite cream cheese mints. Then she put them on top of chocolate cupcakes. Heaven. Lots of yummy drinks, veggies, and great home-made pickles from Dana's cupboard. Much good snacking.

It was wonderful, and I'll never be able to thank my wonderful friends and family enough for all their generosity. I felt so loved and supported as I begin my life as a mom.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.