Family/Indiana Baby Shower

I've just returned from my FINAL trip to Indiana before Grace comes. It feels so nice to be home, but I had a really great weekend.

I've got about an hour before we need to leave for our Childbirth Education class, so I thought I'd give a quick recap.

Eric wasn't able to come with me this weekend as he had to work on Saturday morning. The shower was at 2:00 p.m. (3 OH time), so we would have had to leave by at least 10:00 or so to make it with enough time for me to get there before guests, etc. That wasn't possible and we didn't want to drive out separately, so I came alone. I had a nice uneventful drive over on Friday night and got in around 8:30 p.m. Mom and Dad had driven over from Iowa and gotten in around 4:30 that afternoon. We spent some time visiting and Mom went over some of the shower games and other stuff for the shower with me.

Saturday morning we got up and Dad went to town and got us McDonald's for breakfast while we showered and got ready. Mom wanted to take some stuff over to my cousin Karey's (the hostess for the shower) early, so we left around 10:00 a.m., stopped at the store for a few last minute items and then went to her house to drop off the punch, game supplies, and centerpiece my Mom had made. Then we stopped by Taco Bell to pick up lunch and went back to Grandma's. Mom and I decided a nap would be good, so we layed down for about 20 minutes. When we got up, we changed into our nicer outfits and headed back to Karey's.

We were about 25 minutes early, but guests had already started to arrive. I knew we had invited alot of people, plus we have a pretty big extended family, but I was still overwhelmed by all the people who came. I think we had 26 people including kids. Only one of my aunts couldn't make it (she's still got kids in high school and junior high, so her weekends are packed!). All of my cousins were there except the one male cousin, my youngest girl cousin who had a soccer game, and one other cousin who had to work (but she stopped by my Grandma's after the shower). There were three people that we used to go to church with, one friend from highschool, and of course my Mom, Grandma, Mother-In-Law, Sister-In-Law and Nieces. We played a couple of games my Mom put together which were fun and not the hugely embarrasing kind, like "Guess How Much Jennifer Weighs!" After game time, we had some finger foods and cake (my cousins Karey and Kelly put that all together and it was wonderful). After eating, it was time to open gifts. I was so seriously overwhelmed that I can't even begin to list everything, but Grace got some very nice gifts. I few that I remember; my Grandma made a quilt. This will be so special as we can always keep it and Grace will know that her Great-Grandma made it for her. We got a lot of bath items, 4 hooded towels, 2 pkgs of washclothes, several bottles of shampoo, baby wash, lotion, etc, a duckie water temperature gage. We got lots of changing table items 2 or 3 packages of diapers and wipes. Lots of very pink clothes. 3 or 4 packages of onsies, socks, lots of baby bibs, 3 or 4 stuffed toys, 2 blankets, a boppy and slip cover, some babyproofing items, a couple of pacifiers, bottle brush, dishwasher basket, a couple of baskets, some books, and I'm sure lots more. Also, my sister-in-law brought me a whole bag of hand-me-down bottles. I registered for the same brand they used for Logan, so if I sterilize them, she brought me about 15 bottles, 4 pacifiers, and some bowls etc. I'm starting to feel like we'll really be ready when she comes. Also, a couple of people who couldn't make it, dropped off or sent cards with cash and/or gift certificates, so after my shower here in town next week, we'll go pick up some of the still needed items.

Eric was pointing out that we have almost everything we'd need to take care of her when she first comes home. She has lots of clothes, diapers, wipes, bath supplies, and bottles. The major things we'll still need to get are the car seat/stroller, diaper genie, baby bath tub, breast pump, nipples for the bottles, and maybe formula if breast feeding doesn't go as planned, the changing table pad or at least a cover for the one that came with the table. There are other things I'm sure I still want like an extra crib sheet or two, a laundry hamper, some type of organizer for the changing table, and I'm sure much more after I look at the registry again, but as far as the basics go, we're almost there.

Well, I better finish up and get ready for class. The hospital tour is tonight, so I'm excited! I'll update later tonight or tomorrow.