This baby is one well-loved little munchkin and he or she isn't even here yet. In the past month, little baby Prins has had two baby showers -- one at my work and one from our church music ministry.
I suppose it might be a little hard to call the one at work a "shower" but it was still a nice gesture. We had a team brunch on Wednesday morning, and I found out upon arrival that the main reason for having the brunch was to celebrate upcoming babies. So, they did good at keeping it a surprise. There was a yummy Ukrop's cake and a group gift card to Babies R Us -- one of our "favorite" stores right now. We will certainly find excellent uses for the gift card.
The music ministry shower was definitely the more traditional shower of gifts party. Although it was intended to be co-ed, Matthew and my dad sure felt outnumbered. But both of us are choir members so it only makes sense that Matthew would be there, too. Besides, I needed help opening presents! Everyone was so generous and I really felt loved by so many people. Even several members of the choir that couldn't make it to the party sent gifts. And a few friends and relatives from across the country shipped gifts. Perhaps most impressively, one of our faithful blog readers -- Lisa -- trooped her way across the country to visit with an old friend and share this special occasion.
As people had warned us months ago, most of the clothing received was for little babies so baby's wardrobe up to 6 months old is really taken care of now. I think my parents gave us 7 or 8 warm sleep sacks, so I don't think we need to worry about baby getting cold in the house this winter. Of course, the wisdom right now says to not use a blanket at all with a baby (due to SIDS risk) so I think they will be quite useful and avoid having to wash every day. Actually, however, we received quite a bit of non-clothing baby gear which is much needed. Receiving blankets were very popular (apprently keeping baby warm is a big concern of everyone).
Lisa brought a great bath set -- tub, washcloths, bathmat --
while moM and daD sent a really soft teddy bear and some classic books.
We now have the ever-popular Boppy pillow and a week's worth of hooded towels. And we now have plenty of crib sheets as well as a kit for baby grooming and baby healthcare. With the SIDS campaign to put babies to sleep on their backs, it's now become important to have supervised "tummy time" during the day with baby. One of the gifts addresses this with a brightly-colored blanket to put on the floor with many textures, a pillow, and several toys attached in order to appeal to baby's curiosity and encourage tummy movement.
One of the more entertaining presents to open was the diaper disposal system. Hardly seems like a "fun" present, but it was sent by one of my high school friends via target.com. So it was gift wrapped by the great internet gift wrappers, not in wrapping paper in a traditional box, but in a huge red "Santa bag." It sure made for a funny looking photo opp as Matthew tried to untie all of the ribbon and get inside the huge red bag. (I think I'll be keeping that bag for future Christmases.)
Of course it wasn't all about the presents (but they sure were great). We didn't play any silly games, but I think that most of the attendees are just as happy that we didn't. We did, however, have plenty of food with some sandwich trays, fruit and veggies, and really good punch. My favorite foods, not surprisingly, were the cake and petit fours. One of the guests decorated the cake herself and it was really beautiful. I got a bit of a surprise when cutting it, however. When I sliced into it, the whole center of the cake collapsed! It turns out it was a chocolate pound cake bundt cake and the center was just a paper with icing on it. Oops!
For the weeks after the shower, the UPS guy continued to visit our house bringing more gifts for our little one, including a Pooh bear sweater and diaper stuff from Ed and Beth-Annie and another sleep sack and an adorable Baby Einstein hooded towel from my brother. I know I've thanked you all personally, but thanks again for giving us such a special day and making all 3 of us feel so loved!
[note: I will rotate the funky images tomorrow -- mdp]
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
