Baby Shower!

Saturday morning I had to attend a funeral for Mrs. J. Curry, a lady I’d sat with for almost 2 years for Community Hospice. She passed away on Wednesday evening, which was particularly sad for me since the last time I’d seen her had been the previous Thursday. She was such a very strong and beautiful woman—I had really hoped (and expected) that she would someday meet William.

After the funeral, I drove over to St. Vincent’s, where 5 women from our church (Deirdra H, Judy M, Priscilla N, Peggy J, and Michelle S) hosted a baby shower for me! I think they must’ve invited all the women in the church; not all came, but there was a very good turn-out and it was amazing to me how many people showed their support for Darryl & me (and William). Especially considering I didn’t know all of them by name!

There were several games:
1) a clothespin game, where each attendee got to wear a clothespin with her name on it. After a set time, once everyone had arrived, no one was allowed to say the word “baby”. If someone caught another woman saying “baby” the first could take the clothespin of the second. And so the object was to accumulate as many clothespins as possible. I think Maddie, one of the Lacey girls, won with 13 clothespins!
2) a guess-my-circumference game, where each participant had to cut a piece of yarn the length she thought would fit around my tummy at its largest. Meanwhile I was measured and the results were compared. I measure 44.5”. The lowest guess was 40” and the highest was a whopping 83”!!! The two winners who were closest at 43” were Julie S (she is pregnant and due on June 22) and Priscilla N.
3) a word search to find baby-related words
4) a “baby body parts” word game where you had to deduce a body part from the clues (e.g. “found on the edge of a saw” = teeth; “two sailors saying ‘yes’”= two eyes [“ayes”])
5) a “baby names” word game, similar to the one above (e.g. “to be honest” = Frank [I think “Ernest” would fit as well]; “to write a post-script” = Adeline)

We ate some chicken tortillas, Spanish rice, chips & dip, and some lemon cake, and then I got to sit in a throne-like chair (it was comfortable, but actually quite difficult for me to get into and out of!). Donna W was the official gift-handler, and she kept me very busy with new cards and gifts to unwrap, which she would then hand off to the attendees to look at. Opening all of the gifts was quite overwhelming: there were so many and it all happened so quickly! I can’t possibly list everything we received, but most numerous among the gifts were: a lot of clothes, baby care/bath products, towels, blankets (Judy H made a lovely blue & white afghan), diapers and wipes, and books.

It was a very nice shower! It was really meaningful to me to see the outpouring of support, generosity, and kindness from our church family, and I feel blessed that we can be a part of such a congregation. I also feel blessed and happy that William will be able to grow up (physically and spiritually) with all the support and love of the folks at St. Vincent’s. THANK YOU to everyone!!