ChezAlesiaDunn: Baby Shower Fun

This time last week, I was basking in the celebrations of my baby shower with dear family and friends.

I have been anticipating this event for months—even for years (since I lost my first little one back in March 2014, see article on My First). And so it was very important to me that everything be perfect, and it was, thanks to the four loveliest ladies in my life: Mom #1, Mom #2, Sister #1 and Sister #2.

Their teamwork really showed in this project, and for that I am extremely grateful. The details in the decorations were fabulous, the food was overflowing and the whole set up was fantastic. Also, the weather could not have been any better.

As you read in my last post, I was having a hard time finding a suitable dress. Thankfully, that was all taken care of. But I also wanted to contribute to my baby boy's baby shower in some way to honour him, so I thought I would take care of making the table centrepieces, alphabet boxes making up his name, and some desserts, like rock candy and crème caramel cups. For the centrepieces, I thought of making tulle topiaries (a tutorial on that will be coming in the following weeks, as I begin to wrap things up at work). I will also be sharing a tutorial on how I made the rock candy as well :).

Where it was held:
My baby shower was held at my parents' house, in the backyard. They rented out four tables and 50 chairs and placed them outside, since A) there would not have been enough room to fit 50+ people in one room in their home, and B) it was a gorgeous day, so why not take advantage of Mother Nature's gift?! This gave off a nice garden party feel.

When it was held:
My family threw my baby shower when I was at 33.4 weeks. I think it is nice to have a baby shower around that time, provided that you are still feeling alright and not waddling around too much. Because then, chances are that you have a beautiful rounder belly than you did in your second trimester, and you get more admiration for that beautiful little creation within. And between you and me, I love the attention my little man has been getting, considering I did not get to experience that the first time around with my first angel. It is touching to see people love on your unborn child! So if you have a say in the timing of your shower, I would suggest you self-assess yourself and try to imagine how you will feel doing it at X-amount of weeks. And if this is a surprise celebration, as mine originally was, cross your fingers and hope they plan your baby shower when it is best for you.

Chosen games:
The ladies chose three games:

Word Restricting, which consists of restricting certain words like "Alesia", "pregnant", "baby", etc. When guests start coming in, let them know of these restrictions and give them all 1-2 baby pins. Each time someone catches someone else saying one of these restricted words, they get to steal one of their pins. Near the end of the shower, the person with the most pins wins a prize!
Mommy and Daddy's Secrets and Facts Trivia, which consists of asking a pre-determined list of questions to the guests, and the one with the most right answers wins. This game is fun since you get to hear all sorts of embarrassing facts about the parents-to-be when they were younger.
Guess the Belly Size, which is self-explanatory, consists of the guests cutting ribbon to reflect their guess of your belly size. Pregos, do not get offended if some people over-guesstimate. Truth is, most people have no idea how big or small a baby bump can be! And here is a funny fact for you, the winner of this game at my baby shower actually measured her own midsection to guess, and there was about a 0.5 cm different! Lol that was awesome.

And to top it all off, the winners received a tin can of different types of gourmet teas like iced wine tea (Mmmmm) and beautiful candles.

How much food to have & variety:

Lots. Think of it this way: You are better off having too much food than not enough. What is the worst that can happen if you make too much food? Leftovers? Oh, what a big deal, who doesn't love leftovers?! But be on the other side of the spectrum, and you will risk having complaining and hungry guests. Also, a lot of people end up spending a fair amount on a nice gift and take time out of their day to celebrate your pregnancy, and what better way to show appreciation for the turn out than by showering them with a lot of yummy munchies and desserts?! My family had A LOT to offer:

various types of mini pies (meat, pizza, feta cheese and tomato, spinach, cheese, etc);
kale salad;
hummus;
vegetables and dip;
feta cheese salad skewers;
salsa and chips;
three-layer dip;
cheese and meat platter;
grape leaves;
cheesecake cups;
creme caramel cups;
blue velvet cupcakes;
baklava;
fruit skewers;
other Arabic desserts;
baby shower cake; and
Oreo truffle bites.

Thank-you favours:
My family came up with such a cute idea for favours—they thought of giving out loofahs :). There was a lot of thought that went into these favours, as they are very usable by anyone, and they fit the "shower" theme and colours perfectly!

And now, here are some pictures that were snapped during this beautiful, special day!

Thanks for reading!

-Alesia D.