Or How to Host Your Own Baby Sprinkle Without Feeling Too Icky About It
At 32 weeks pregnant, Paddy asked if we were having a shower for this baby. I told him no and he declared that he thought it would be nice to celebrate this baby, like we had with Ella, with friends. Cue pregnant me trying to throw together a party before baby arrives.
Step #1. Pick a Date and Send Out Invitations
Somewhere between being an outdoor family, it being a co-ed event, and keeping cost low because we having another baby very soon; a barbeque made sense and having it at a local park kept costs low and provided scenery and things to keep the toddlers entertained. Four weeks gave guests time to put our party on their calendars and only have me in slight danger of delivering before or during the party at 36 weeks.
I hopped on Canva once the park pavilion was reserved, making sure it had a grill and scoring the primo location close to the bathrooms and the playground, and whipped up a pretty adorable invitation; if I do say so myself. Pinterest may have served up a little inspiration when it came to design. I used the free clipart and templates because isn’t saving money one of the perks of doing email invitations? Then I downloaded them and emailed them out to my guest list.
Step #2. Everything Else
After getting the invites sent out, that left me with 3 weeks to pull it all together. This is usually where I fall apart and the real reason my parties seem poorly planned. Truth is they are well planned and poorly executed.
There were two items that I knew were a MUST in my book; a calendar for everyone to guess when Baby will arrive and a Boy/Girl guest book page for everyone to pick a team and leave a message for baby. Simple enough, I had the BOY and GIRL pages ready and sitting on the kitchen table for weeks but I was drawing and styling the calendar the day before the party. I also made an Old Wives Tales poster to help anyone who may have wanted data before making their guess.
I borrowed some of Ella’s toys and a basket for the display table, got cheap red table cloths at the dollar store, and a bunch of people went grocery shopping.
Step #3. Relax and Enjoy?
Set up was a surprising breeze; though Ella napping certainly helped with that. We threw the table cloths over the picnic tables and I laid out the different papers I had insisted on having and pinned them down using cute baby toys. I love the effect. The red table cloths kept with the BBQ theme and kept it from being too baby shower with the baby toys and sonogram picture tying it all together.
But things can’t be perfect. The wind blew the heat of the grill under the pavilion, and in the Florida heat even when it is not at it worst, and it was more than a little toasty. We forgot the hotdogs we had put in the sink to thaw and grossly underestimated what we would need for drinks. Thankfully, Paddy’s uncle helped out by picking up hotdogs and I still have no idea who brought additional drinks. Our BBQ turned out to be more of a potluck with guests bring pork’n’beans, potatoes, pasta salad, and mac’n’cheese. Plus my sister going overboard on the wonderful desserts for the party; making a cake, cupcakes, and chocolate dipped Oreo baby rattles for the party.
Too cute!
Aren’t the chocolate cupcakes the perfect touch?
Maggie and I had planned out games but between eating and mingling and the guests disappearing to the playground to take a turn watching/playing with toddlers, they never happened and the party felt no less without them.
My biggest hesitation through it all was that it felt tacky to me to host my own “baby shower”. That is another reason I chose the BaByQue theme and left all registry information off of the invitation. I wanted to celebrate our new addition with people we love and have these memories to share once Little One is older, rather than take advantage of our family and friend’s generosity. But they are generous and we went home with everything a baby needs and more; as if we didn’t have anything to already from Baby #1.
Books are ALWAYS a good idea for a baby shower gift.
