Baby Shower

A few weeks ago, my great friend, Anita, threw me a baby shower. I hadn't thought (initially) that I needed one, having had children before. However, since I'm having a boy this time, and it will have been nearly six years since the last one, it did make sense to stock up on a few new items. (Not to mention the fact that Jim and I have still been unable to find any of the old baby clothes I had--y'know, that early newborn stuff that's often unisex.)

So family and friends joined together at Anita's beautiful house. We were treated to all kinds of delicious goodies (two different gourmet cakes, pumpkin bars, bite-size ham or turkey sandwiches, chips, nuts, blue popcorn, etc.), and the games we played were fantastic! My favorite was the poopy diaper game: Anita stuck different candy bars into individual diapers, nuked 'em for a few seconds so they'd melt, and then passed around each diaper for us all to determine which kind of candybar it was. What fun, to have a group of women sitting around, sniffing what looks like poop in a bunch of diapers. I know (or, at least, I hope) I wasn't the only one who was tempted to have a taste. We all managed to use our self restraint, though. Sniffing was as far as it went! We also played the game where you decide, just by look (not even scent) what kind of baby food is in each of several baby jars. That was a tough one--you'd never believe how many foods are orange or green! Another game was to guess how many calories were in a huge jar of Baby Ruth candy bars. That was tough--I don't think I was anywhere close. Bummer, too, 'cuz I really wanted to win that jar of candy bars!!! My second favorite game was the memory game. I won't give that one away, as it had a bit of a twist, but I do want to say I got a huge kick out of it!!!

Naturally, I got a ton of great stuff--thanks to all who were there, and to those of you who didn't make it but sent or brought gifts anyway. I'm so very blessed to have such great friends and family! One of the gifts I was most excited about--one I'd even joke was the reason I got pregnant--was my Diaper Cake. Don't get me wrong, I love and am grateful for every single thing I've received. I mean it when I say that I'm blessed--Jim and I were starting to get worried about whether or not we'd be prepared, and now we will be. But the Diaper Cake (which Anita made) is something I've seen given to other expectant moms. It's one of the most clever, yet functional gifts I've ever seen. I was just about beside myself to receive my very own, and it's going to be very hard for me to break down and dismantle the thing to use the diapers. Thank goodness I got a couple of pictures of it! (If you can't tell by the pictures, the 'cake' is accented with little bottles of baby shampoo, baby lotion, baby powder, etc., and at the top is a rubber ducky, a washcloth, and a little key-ring rattle.)