What I’ve Learned After 3 Baby Showers!

I was lucky enough to have 3 different baby showers to help welcome our first little bundle of joy into this world — ALL 3 of them were squeezed into 4 days! Whew!

And even though I’ve been to a ton of different baby showers over the past few years, I learned that it’s totally different when the shower is for you!

Here are a few of my baby shower observations:

1. They are WAY more work than what you think!

I’ve been to a bunch of baby showers but never hosted one myself… and I’m so thankful for my sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and friends who hosted my 3 different showers!

2. They don’t have to be expensive.

We used these fun pink paint chips {found at any local hardware store} for the invitations. They turned out so great!! We also used Facebook and email to send out reminders.

 

One shower had no decorations {which was totally fine with me} and the other two “shared” some free decorations that were also made out of the paint chips!

 

3. Keep the food to a minimum.

Dave’s mom did make a full meal for our family shower, but my other two showers were pretty minimalistic when it came to food. My sister and sister-in-law made egg dishes, muffins, and fruit salad for one shower, and the 3rd shower simply had my favorite candy corn mix, caramel apples, and apple cider.

4. Over invite because people don’t show up.

At first I was worried about inviting too many people because I didn’t know if we’d have room in our living room for everyone. However, I’m SO glad I over invited, because a bunch of people couldn’t come, and a bunch more just didn’t show up.

The final head-count for one of my showers was only HALF the people who were originally invited! If we would have had any fewer people, the games might not have worked very well.

 

5. Co-ed baby showers can be fun too.

Maybe I should let Dave speak on this point, but in my opinion, our co-ed shower was a blast!

It was such a different atmosphere than the all-female baby shower and the family baby shower; we both had a REALLY great time!

I had to laugh at this picture of Dave because it makes him look like he’s totally “checked out” but I promise, he was laughing and have a great time with the rest of us!

6. Handmade gifts are extra special.

Normally, I like to stick to the gift registry whenever I go a baby shower… but sometimes I get creative and make something like hooded towels, car-seat covers, burp cloths, blankets, etc. and I think they are always well-recieved.

Apparently I have super talented friends and relatives because I got some great hand-made gifts!

{from L to R: a knitted unicorn, baby hats, a knitted lady bug, and a “wearable burp cloth”}

{from L to R: blankets, small diaper bag, burp cloths, teddy bear hat}

 

7. Gift cards are REALLY great gifts.

I’ve mentioned this several times before — but I used to feel bad about giving people gifts cards. I thought it was a “lazy” way out — but I’ve recently started giving more and more gifts cards {I try to package them creatively} mainly because I realize how much I personally love getting gift cards.

Obviously, gifts off the registry are equally fantastic — but gift cards really are so practical and you know the recipient will be able to find something they love.

 

8. It’s fun to be the center of attention!

I’m a huge ‘gifts’ person… it’s actually my #1 “Love Language”, so it’s REALLY fun for me to get gifts. I love love wrapping gifts, I love giving gifts, I love getting gifts, I love wondering what the gift might be, and I LOVE opening gifts. {Yes, I know, I’m 26 but I just can’t help it!}

So since adults usually don’t have many opportunities to open mass amounts of gifts, my baby showers were just the perfect opportunity for me to be the center of attention and get my gift ‘fix’ in… I should definitely be good until Christmas now 🙂

9. Little girl things are SOOOO cute!

Seriously, I wish I had the time and energy to take a picture of every single gift I got… because they are ALL so cute.

And my frugal nature is already being tested when I walk through the aisle at Target and the mall because everything is simply adorable and it all seems so inexpensive. However, I have to remember that she’ll only wear it for a couple of months {at the most} and then it won’t fit any more.

So far, I’ve resisted every urge to buy cute girl things... but I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out!

 

Now that we officially have everything we could possibly need, a whole bunch of things we probably don’t need, and so many other adorably cute handmade items — I think we are FINALLY ready for our baby to arrive. 

Yes, that means the nursery is finished… and I’ll be posting lots of pictures later this week!

Thanks so much to everyone involved in planning my showers as well as everyone who came and “showered us with gifts.”

We feel so blessed!