Baby shower in Missouri

On October 4, my friend and ninth cousin (!) Beverly Land cohosted a baby shower for us at her home in Parkville. Kimberly Mensch, a good friend from my golf club who had long ago offered to host a shower if we ever fostered a child, was the cohost. (Bev and I both do genealogy which is how we figured out our relationship. She is technically my only family who lives locally!)

The invitation list included my neighbors (and former one who flew in from New York!) and golfing friends. Quite a few who could not attend sent gifts. I was taken aback by everyone's generocity and thoughtfulness! Tim enjoyed looking at the gifts after I brought them home. I did bring in my mother-in-law's bassinet to use as a backdrop and gift holder, which worked out quite well.

The lovely gifts included Two handmade small quilts, Four boxed photo albums, Polka dotted sage crib skirt and sheets; Giraffe baby blankie, Sweet pea boppy, baby sign language set, breastmilk storage bags, breast flow bottles, "Guess How Much I Love You" book and soft matching rabbit, Chenille pastel baby blanket, "squeeze me" onesie, Irish pastel wool blanket, rosary beads, moo bib, peace signs onesie, silver feeding spoon, Wedgewood Beatrix Potter china set (bowl, plate, cup), Bathtub super scooper, sassy bath toys in bag, travel size Baby Johnson products, BRU gift card, Cowboys NFL bib autographed by Tony Romo, Jacksonville NFL bib autographed by Derrick Harvey, Peter Rabbit baby book, Beatrix Potter "wallies" cutouts, Hand woven pastel baby blanket (very soft and washable), 3-packs: bibs (I love grandma), too cute onesies, best of friends onesies, Gerber t-shirts; hat and sock set, playtex bottle liners, foam bath mat, Evenflo bottles, Bathtub, rubber ducky heat sensor, nasal aspirator, nail clipper with magnifying glass, and a High chair.

They served these absolutely delicious frosted sugar cookies -- and let me take home the extra! We also played a few games. The first one was to guess how many diapers were in a sturdy plastic case. Having purchased a few boxes of them over the past few weeks, I was closest at 150, which was probably an unfair advantage! In addition to getting to take this home as a gift, as a little prize Bev also gave me a "baby's first Christmas" ornament, the only one we've received! A second game was to match baby pictures to names, some of celebrities but mostly of the ladies present.

One of the guests was my next-door-neighbor, Ilona, who is due about three weeks before me. We did a belly comparison photo! At the time this photo was taken, I was at 32w2d, and Ilona was 35w0d.

I brought home with me a poster that Bev made that looked like a page from a November calendar. On it, the guests wrote their guesses for the baby's delivery date. So far, the guesses include November 11, 12, 14, 17, 22, 26 and 28. We shall see!

All in all, it was a wonderful shower filled with lots of beautiful blessings.