Christina’s baby shower went by so fast! I wish I would have taken more photos! And had more of a chance to talk to people. And a way to slow down time, ha.
We held the shower at a “new to our family” location – the Waterloo Boat House. It was a sunny day and we had neat views of the river!
The inside of the space is pretty on its own – it has a wood wainscot and lots of windows. We didn’t have to do much for decorations (but we did have banners, balloons, and table settings that I managed to not get a picture of, sad face).
The shower theme (if you want to call it that) was “Brunch for Baby.” We thought it would be fun to do something different, so we held it from 11am-1pm and served “brunch” foods – hashbrowns, “roll-ups” (what my family calls french pancakes, aka crepes), sausage (meat and vegan – there was actually another vegan and a vegetarian at the party!), egg casseroles, and fruit. Oh, and of course, mimosas!
I cannot take credit for the fruit duck – I saw it on Shelley’s blog and Christina’s sister-in-law recreated it. Thank you for posting that on Friday, Shelley – perfect timing!
My mom, Christina’s mother-in-law (Gale), and I hosted. Did I get a picture of the three of us? No. Sigh. But here is a cute picture of Gale, Will and Christina!
My mom and I spent most of Saturday prepping for the party. And had a great time doing it – lots and lots of shopping, and a bit of food and decoration prep as well. I am very grateful we had so much help preparing and setting up for the party! The two of us could NOT have done it alone. My dad, sister-in-laws, mom’s mom, Gale, Gale’s friend, and Christina’s sister and brother-in-laws were HUGE helps with set up (and tear down – we had more of the spouses there to help with that, too)!
Amber (younger brother’s wife), me, Christina, Alyssa (older brother’s wife) and Mom
And with my mom’s mom
Gale was in charge of games and came up with cute ones! First people did “late night diapers” – writing messages on diapers for Christina to see when she is doing changes. Christina read them all out loud and picked her favorite three. The second game was “price is right,” where we had to guess how much baby stuff cost. I was WAY off (no surprise there). And the final game was “present bingo” – people filled out their own items on a bingo card and crossed them off as Christina opened them.
Present opening took almost an hour! Baby William is well loved! I felt special when everyone oohed and ahhed over the blanket I made.
I had a grand plan to have hot cinnamon rolls for dessert since it was a brunch theme but… the place didn’t have a stove! Oops! So cake it was – half white with raspberry filling and chocolate with boston creme filling (and there was a vegan cheesecake, not pictured).
And you know I ordered cookies from Maria’s Oven as handouts!
Along with games, Gale also was in charge of game prizes and she brought (separate from the prizes) these adorable handouts – the lollipop, pretzel and chocolate coins are ALL customized for Baby William!
We had a big crowd – almost thirty adults and six kids (not all pictured below, some had to leave early).
And it was a big success – people kept saying how nice everything was. Phew! I was stressed about it and wanted it to be perfect for my snis, and wanted the guests to have fun (and for there to be enough food, ha – that is always my worry for parties – that we’ll run out of food).
It was such a pleasure to see everyone showing love for Christina and baby William, and to meet some of her friends and family that I haven’t met before, and to reconnect with the people I know. I really do wish I had more time to chat with everyone – it’s hard when you’re hosting.
Not sponsored, but people kept asking where my dress was from – it’s Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s. I didn’t realize it came in other colors too! I may need the blue one…
And now… we continue to wait for Baby William to arrive at the end of January! I’m so excited to meet him!
Awwwwww you gals look so happy! What a cute baby shower for your Snis 🙂 What were some of the winning “Late night diaper” messages?
That dress is gorgeous on you!
I wish I could remember them, exactly! Some said sweet stuff like “You’re doing a great job” and “I’ll use the potty someday” and some were funny “super duper pooper” and “#1 or #2?,” etc.
Thank you!
What a neat shower – I love how everyone came together to make it so special! The fruit ducky looked so cute; love that the one from our shower was an inspiration. I know you must have been tired afterward, but it’s so worth it to do such a fun party for your new nephew.
Thank you! And thanks for the inspiration! And it was completely worth it. It made me feel good to see my snis so happy and loved!
OOhh, what a lovely party!!! You guys did a great job. I do understand how you feel about not having time to talk to everyone – I felt the same way when I had my 50th birthday parties last month. Too busy being the hostess!
Thanks!
Right? Unless you are hosting only a few people, the hostess doesn’t really get to partake in the party!
Awww, that sounds so fun! The venue looks really nice! I’m glad you had such a nice day to be on the river too 🙂
My family started doing brunch parties for EVERYTHING years ago – it’s good timing for everyone who has to leave town after the party (and there are more than a few of us)! And I love breakfast food, so definitely can’t go wrong there 🙂
I actually just saw the blue version of that dress while browsing Kohl’s website.. you probably DO need it.
I was very happy with the new venue! We’d been having all the showers (except one) in the same place and I didn’t care for it.
More people should get on board with brunch food, cause it rocks! Although, hardly any of it was vegan, ha ha.
It was the most perfect shower!! I wish we could do it all over again this weekend. 🙂 Thanks for being such a great hostess! <3 <3 I am so lucky!
You’re welcome! I am so happy you enjoyed it!!! 🙂 We should do it again, and have it be longer 🙂
Aww it looks like such a nice shower! I’m glad things went over so well 🙂
Thanks 🙂
What a beautiful place to host, and you obviously made it even more festive. I’m so impressed with the blanket that you knitted – that definitely makes it extra special.
Thank you! I love the pictures she is sending to me of the blanket in the nursery! 🙂
What a lovely shower! The venue is so neat and even better that you didn’t have to do much decorating. I’m glad everyone had a nice time. For all of your stressing, it looks like it came out perfectly. Congratulations!
Thanks! I am so happy it did. I just wanted her to have a great time and for it to be … not a disaster. And it wasn’t. Phew 🙂