I have been meaning to post about the shower and just hadn’t gotten around to it. I knew February was going to be a busy month but in my wildest dreams I never expected for it to end up like it has. So I will take a break in the NICU posts and tell you about the weeks leading up to Baby G coming.
My family started coming in the week of the shower. My mom flew in Tuesday, my Tampa SIL and nephew drove in Thursday afternoon, and my little sister and Grandmother flew in late Thursday night. My mom and SIL had planned to stay for two weeks but my little sister and Grandmother could only stay through the weekend. It was fantastic to have everyone here though and I was blessed to have so much family here for the shower.
I had my baby shower theme picked out since almost the beginning of my pregnancy. I had decided on an “Alice in Wonderland” theme before we knew what we were having and narrowed it down to “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” when we found out it was a boy. The planning of it wasn’t totally traditional as I was involved in a lot of it and my local SIL and two good friends were all planning it together. I had some specific ideas of what I wanted and didn’t want after looking through a lot of things online but the shower came together really well.
We started out with the invitation which the color scheme of black, teal blue, and red was set from. I wanted it to look haphazard and a little eclectic like the tea party Alice attended with the Mad Hatter and his friends. The main food table had different sizes and color platters and containers of little tea party foods such as mini quiches, little fruit kabobs, small tea sandwiches (egg salad and pimiento), pinwheels, etc. The color scheme on this table (which was all set on a large lacy-looking tablecloth) was teal and white. There were bunnies, teapots, teacups, flowers and other odds and ends on the table and large blue and white tissue paper pom poms hanging above.
The dessert table was themed red and black and had a cupcake stand with beautiful white icing-topped cupcakes with red sprinkles wrapped in fancy heart-edged red wrappers. There were a few other dainty desserts on various platters and the open pass through behind was decorated with tiny tea sets.
There was a “Queen’s Corner” where I sat; decorated in black and red with roses. A mirror replaced our TV on the mantel and more bunnies decorated the small hearth below. I had found a nice black dress online and had diamond patterned stockings to go with it. My “Mom-to-be” badge and my wonderful mini top hat completed my ensemble.
I had seen the mini top hats online and had recruited my younger sister to make them for us for the shower. My hat was a black and white diamond pattern and was embellished with teal, white, and black. One of my friends had my “Mom-to-be” badge made to match and it turned out beautifully. Everyone else’s hats were black or white and were decorated to match their outfits. Each hat turned out fantastic.
We played a few games like guessing my belly circumference (the winner cut her piece of ribbon dead on), guessing baby food flavors, and the guests trying to decide whose features I’d rather the baby have; me or his daddy.
There were little accents all over the room that played into the theme. There was a wonderful mushroom lamp on a small table by the door with a framed excerpt from the book and some cards for guests to write their best wishes for us, a little basket of take-aways that was labeled “Take Me” by a tiny topiary with small red roses on it, another topiary on the drink table stating “Drink Me,” while another one on the food table stated the obvious “Eat Me.” There was a tiny field mouse on the food table and several keys scattered throughout. There was also a lovely frame hanging on the front door with a message to “Read the Directions, and directly you’ll be directed in the right direction.”‘
We had a wonderful time and the weeks of prep and effort were worth the result. It was elaborate and over-the-top and exactly what I wanted it to be. In fact, there were things we had intended to do that just didn’t get accomplished that would have made it even more elaborate. It was ok that we didn’t get to them, but it would have been even more amazing had we been able to.
I’m really glad we planned the shower for when we did, by the way, as my sweet little boy ended up coming the next weekend. Originally I had wanted my shower to be nearer to the end of February but with all the other events planned in February (other birthdays, friends going out of town, etc) the weekend we chose was literally the only one open. Guess God was already setting us up for an early birth day even then.
Sunday's Child 