Baby Shower Fun

Radio Flyer wagon holding the cupcakes

Yesterday we held our baby shower for Katie and her little son Jonathan. I thought we were going to have a fight as the ladies of the church called dibbs on who would hold him next. I was so much more mature then that (ok,I had already held him that morning in the church nursery.) The ladies relaxed more as Angela brought her little Lacey into the room—two babies to pass around. The babies were born just 12 days apart.

I was very pleased with the way the decorations transformed the room. I had planned on a "cupcake cake" (several layers of cupcakes made to resemble a cake.) But while setting up thought it would go better with the cupcakes inside one of the Radio Flyer wagons we used as the decoration theme for the party and I could just refill with the additional cupcakes if needed. It also gave more room on the table for the wonderful food the other ladies brought. I had a little frog from my photography days I hooked on the wagon and the ladies loved it. A tiny wagon held gummy worms while the slingshots were placed in the backpockets of the overalls.

Washtub ice bucket and glove with baseball

Katie had originally declined a shower, since her family had thrown her one and her work had thrown her another. She had felt it would be too greedy to accept more gifts and as a first time mother she thought she had everything she would need for him. She quickly found that he went through more wipes, diapers and bath supplies than she had expected. Also he has grown very rapidly and the baby clothes weren't going to fit as long as expected. So we were able to use this time to give her a mountain of diapers in many sizes, many boxes of wipes and bathing supplies to last at least into next week. Many guests also gave her wonderful little baby books and music that he will be able to enjoy soon. The outfits she received were in the 6 months and up range.

The ladies playing a riddle game

My friend Abigail joined us for the shower and even lead the games (baby pictionary was so much fun.) Since she is the next to have a baby this was a great experience hearing from another first time mother about the surprises she received with the birth of her son.

I was a little disappointed as I checked with some of the church ladies to see if they would be attending and was told "I really don't know her, so I won't be coming." My first thought is "are you going to know her any better by not attending" and my next thought was "aren't we as the older ladies supposed to teach the younger ladies?"

Katie opening her presents

Katie is very shy and quiet so it is harder to get to know her, but that doesn't mean we are not responsible to try and support her. We did have a good group of core women who are wonderfully supportive and at the end no one seemed inclined to leave as we talked with each other. Not only did the ladies who didn't attend miss out on the chance to support Katie, but they missed the sense of community and friendship that those of us who attended were able to enjoy.