Baby Shower

No, don't' get all excited... not mine!

My dear friend Katie, the one that moved away to South Carolina with her hubby to get her dream of living on the east coast (near a beach with her new adorable black lab Hans) came back to Seattle for her baby shower, which I oh, so happily hosted. I got my hands filled with all sorts of research and played my hand at party / event planing. Being the dork that I am, I researched ideas, games, activities, decorations (which was made so easy after she mentioned that she was having a boy and they were going with a nautical theme in the nursery) , and gifts. I was extremely lucky that another dear friend of Katie's was going to help out with the shower as well, since there would have been no way I could of done it all alone.

I loved being the behind the scenes of the event... I was able to watch people enjoying Katie's company for her short visit her, get photos taken, printed and put into a small album that she was able to take with her before she left the house, plan out how games and activities were going to go and make sure to tweak things if needed... and that tweaking was always adding more time to them... seems as though everyone enjoyed the games. I was so happy about that, but I do think that part of that is I know how to read individuals (being a teacher and all) so I tried to present things in a way where everyone could enjoy each other company - even those meeting for the first time.

The party started with food! Lots and lots of good food, all done by Katie's friend who co-hosted with me (we all know I don't cook - I just eat). We meandered into the playroom (aka living room) where we played some games.

First game was the name the baby animal that goes with the listed mommy animal. When watching the guests struggle (I borrowed form Isabelle's favorite show, Go Diego Go - not everyone is familiar with this show), I decided to give bonus points as we went through the answers... if you could make the sound of the animal - give yourself a point... that was a 'hoot!'

The second was an activity, which each guest was to draw a number, which corresponded to an age (o-18) of a child's life and each guest was to write, on a card provided, advise to / for Katie for that age. Each advice card was to go in the book with the photos of Katie with each guest that she took home with her. Since many guests were stumped at first, I lightened that mood by introducing the next game... "Baby Food Tasting." Using Popsicle sticks, guests had to taste and /or smell baby food and write it down. Now this game can easily go two ways... no one plays it, or everyone does... and YEAH, everyone got into it. Some even tasted a couple of the foods twice.

The last game we played, in pairs, was 'Finish the Nursery Rhyme.' This is self explanatory, yet way harder than it seemed... and for bonus points (can we say teacher), I let teams sing the rhymes.

After all was said and done, it was present time and then cake time. Now here was something fun... I didn't like any of the cakes I went to buy (and our Safeway only give 2... yes TWO choices... lame ones!!). So with the recommondation of some co-workers I went to a local hole in the wall, home town bakery - pricier than most - and they let me design a cake. How cool is that!!! Of course, it took a few days for me to do more research and come up with a design, but I did, and it was cute. So YEAH! It was a success... Maybe I should do this on the side ;) just kidding.

Enjoy some photos.