Baby Shower

Back in St. Louis I remember when people had their second (or third) babies, it wasn't customary to have another baby shower. But here in Southern California, things are different. "Every baby deserves to be celebrated", as a friend of mine says.
And our baby girl was VERY celebrated today.

My friends (Anamara, Christy, Karissa, Genese, and Lisa) hosted the most awesome and carefully thought out baby shower for our family (yes, husbands and kiddos were invited as well). There were numerous games, a delicious cake (Portos!), sangria (no, I didn't have any), balloons, tons of food including fajitas, a towering diaper cake, toddler pool and sand table under a big awning for the kids, tiki torches, party favors (including a personalized cd of tunes in honor of our baby girl and bags of homemade cookies for everyone who came), and lots of VERY generous gifts.

One gift in particular was from the whole group: a new stroller!

And games? Let's see, there was the 'how big is briana's belly' game (actual size was 10 squares around), where Ryan nearly came in second to last with estimating my tummy as GIGANTIC! (Cagdas, thanks for guessing my girth to be a few toilet paper squares larger than Ryan - you saved him!)
There was another game where you guessed how many jelly beans, pretzels, and goldfish were in various baby bottles.
And the gold standard: Guess what kind of candy (smashed up in diapers, only to be guessed by smelling one by one).

And a beer drinking game for the dads. That was a sight!
Imagine 7-8 grown men, lined up in a row, fiersly drinking beer from baby bottles...

And the kids decided they needed to play too, so here they are chugging their bottles alongside the daddies. (don't worry, theirs didn't have beer!)

I am still spinning with excitement from today. I'm in awe of how much effort, careful planning, and generosity these women put into making this such a special celebration for our family. A labor of love, for sure.

Thank you so much, my dear friends!