It's our party and we'll have fun if we want to...

1. With Henry & Melissa, 2. Wonderful friends and hosts, Julie & Sarah, 3. Cupcakes outside, 4. Shower balloons, 5. Many, many presents to open, 6. Love, love, love!, 7. Girlfriends :), 8. 10 more books!, 9. Swaddling blankets and crib sheets

I know, it probably is a little much to have had three baby showers but we've made many good friends here in AA, and are really blessed that they all want to celebrate our impending parenthood with us. This time, it was with my classmates from the School of Education. I explicitly told our friends Julie & Sarah who hosted that I wanted it 1) to be a co-ed thing (why can't our guy friend celebrate with us too?); 2) games-free (I don't want anyone smelling anything off diapers or measuring my tummy); and 3) to be as casual as possible. And it turned out to be everything I had hoped for and more :) Thanks to wonderful weather, we grilled burgers outside and had plenty of snacks, drinks, dessert and good company. There was some talk of babies and parenthood but mostly just good chatting among friends about food, pets, crazy grad students, and whether or not Eve Aronoff was going to bomb out of next season's Top Chef... In fact, everyone had so much fun that it went on from 5 till almost 11, way longer than any baby shower I've been to (which I hope meant people treated it more like a party than a baby shower to begin with...)

We also got beautiful gifts, from things we registered for (blankets and crib sheets) to books to add to Baby's already large book collection, and yes, of course, more clothes... :) Both of us-- I'm glad we had a co-ed party so Jude wouldn't be left out of the fun-- had a wonderful, wonderful time :) Between this party and the birthday/shower extravaganza we had for Jude, I've come to realize that really, a baby shower doesn't have to involve only women, finger foods, and silly games that embarrass not only the would-be mom but the people in attendance as well. It can and should be anything *you* want it to be. To those of you out there expecting a baby shower, remember, it's *your* party, so make sure you have fun!