8 May 2017
My dear friend Kristin is pregnant with TWINS! These babies are long-awaited and eagerly anticipated — and personally, two of the miracles I have most steadfastly prayed for. It makes sense that they have also been much celebrated! Last week I got to be a part of throwing Kristin’s first mini shower, and we came up with a fun game I wanted to pass along. Baby shower games can be so cheesy and lame, but this one was a definite crowd pleaser! My friend Jess and I brainstormed twenty questions and printed up a simple score card. The questions were: 1. Who was the more well-behaved child? 2. Who asked who out on your first date? 3. Who said “I love you” first? 4. Who cried more on your wedding day? 5. Who is the better gift giver? 6. Who will be more intense about researching baby items? 7. Who will be more nervous in the delivery room? 8. Who will be the master swaddler? 9. Who will change more diapers? 10. Who is more likely to forget the babies somewhere? 11. Who will call their mom most often for advice or encouragement? 12. Who will be more likely to enforce the rules? 13. Who will have better voices when reading stories? 14. Who will plan the twins’ birthday parties? 15. Who will be the more laid-back parent? 16. Who will help with math homework? 17. Who will insist board games be played by the rules, even if the twins always lose? 18. Who will do the driving on family road trips? 19. Who is more likely to be an overenthusiastic sideline parent? 20. Who will cry more on college move-in day? I read the questions one by one, and everyone wrote down either Kristin or Kyle for their answer
28 July 2014
The run-up to Natalie and Joe’s wedding was remarkably calm, from my perspective, but there was one aspect of the festivities that was a little nerve-wracking – my other sister-in-law’s due date, which was one week after the wedding! Today is our nephew’s official due date, but despite dancing up a storm at the reception he still hasn’t made an appearance. Though I’m not sure Marget would agree at this point, I’m glad I’m able to make a report of the shower in his mama’s honor before he arrives! We held the shower in New York, where my sister-in-law lives. We went with a loose “adventurous little boy” theme, since that’s (loosely) the theme of the nursery. Here’s the invite I made to send to guests: I printed the invitations at FedEx, and sent them out in kraft envelopes from Paper Presentation I had on hand. I actually decided to list these as a download in my Etsy shop, so if you have a use for them, they’re right here! We kept the decor fairly minimal: one of M’s friends made an adorable gingham garland, we arranged colorful yarrow into little tin buckets, and we displayed some adventurous books, pine cones, and wooden woodland animals. (They were part of my shower gift to Marget – maybe the start of a collection!) I also picked up a few tree trunk slices from A.C. Moore (easy to travel with!) for displaying food and made a special sign with nephew’s nickname. To make the sign, I spraypainted a wooden craft store plaque white, then hot glued on twigs. Easy! The favors were little muslin bags stamped with “Adventure is out there” and filled with trail mix! I used a self-inking stamp from RubberStamps.com and it worked beautifully on the fabric. I really dislike