A shower of babies
I mentioned that a certain someone got married last month in Hawaii. I believe I mentioned that there was going to be a reception for the newly married couple a few weeks later. What I neglected to mention was that, soon, baby will make three. Granted, I may have been sworn to secrecy about the baby for what seemed like years, so to not mention her seemed normal. Yes, the baby will be a girl, unless they've seriously missed something in the ultrasounds. No, I don't know her name. I don't know that her parents have been sharing if they've settled on anything. I am patient; she is due next month; I can wait.
So, yes, this is Laura I'm talking about, and shortly before our dinner gathering early last month I got the shower invite from her mom, saying I could bring a "plus one" if I wanted. Laura had said I could bring my mom. Okay, what the heck. I RSVP'd within a day or two, then the whole dinner/arm-waving thing happened. Yeah, well...they've met the arm, now they can meet the rest of her. I did actually say that to Anna, who was one of the first people we saw; we ended up sitting at the same table, along with Laura's mom's neighbor (who was the bulk of the help in setting this up), some of her dad's cousins, I think...and a former coworker! If I never explained how we met, Laura and I worked together at the bookstore. There was an older woman I'll call CG who was the assistant manager at WB who then went over to Borders, which is where Laura met her (I don't believe the three of us ever actually worked together, now that I think about it, given that CG said she went to Borders early in 1998, and Laura started as holiday help later that year). It also turned out that most of us were from the Northwest Side of Chicago, all but Anna and CG, so the table had a lively discussion on landmarks in the area. Apparently there was an ice cream parlor called the Buffalo at Irving and Pulaski where people went for special occasions. Who knew.
First, I should say that this was held at a golf club, and we were maybe a mile from my uncle's house as the crow flies. We ended up being really early, so I ended up driving past his house to kill time. Even better, mom asked several times, including this morning, when we'd be leaving. The shower started at noon; we'd leave at 11. At 10:06, mom went, why aren't you ready? Uh, because I have an hour? ...Oh. Poor mom. She's so stressed out. So this was nice to have a break from everything related to her dad, but she did get a couple calls from family members, and when we ended up leaving, she did call the brother who lived nearby while I spent a few minutes helping to load gifts into cars. It ended up being about a 10-minute call; I practically wanted to go, you know, you could have this conversation in person. Oh well.
It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in a while, since I have met members of her family in the past. Her male cousin (husband to the cousin-in-law at the dinner last month) even came up to say hi, since we've seen each other on and off over the years. They are only two months apart in age, so they're very close. He also gave the blessing as we were about to have lunch. They had a typical spread--rolls, salad, mostaccioli, rice, green beans, chicken, and beef. Then cake, and since Laura's husband has a dairy allergy, his mom made a dairy-free pie. It turns out that CG also has dairy issues, and while she doesn't normally eat desserts, she said, she did try the pie and was impressed. I think mom later asked the husband's mom and learned it was made with rice milk.
I had asked Laura's mom if she needed help, back when I RSVP'd, and she gave me the task of writing down the gifts. Okay, I've been a secretary-type person, I can do this. Anna helped bring the gifts from the tables, along with some of the kids that were there, and Laura's (female) cousin would call out names to say who the gifts were from. I had gone over to say hi to Laura and her husband earlier and let her know that, no, not all of my gifts were hippo-related. She was disappointed. :) See, she loves hippos, and I've long gotten her hippo-related gifts. It's an illness. I'm trying to cut back. But for like 10 years now, I've seen tons of cute baby and kid things with hippos on them and had no reason to buy them. Now I do! So, yeah, she got a stuffed hippo, hippo bath stuff, hippo books--all off her registry, mind you--plus hats, mittens, receiving blankets, and hair stuff--tiaras (because we have a thing for tiaras) and flower hair bows (which I retitled as baby fascinators, because that's also a thing). She was like, holy crap, Jen, but don't worry, mom chipped in too. This is going to be one well-dressed kid; one pair of shoes and little socks killed me. Super cute. They were reminiscent of the ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz. Another former Borders coworker knit her this awesome bright pink hat with a poofy top. There were more books, natch, and plenty of diapers from family members. You knew who had kids because they gave really useful, thoughtful gifts. And, she got two Boppys, but having heard from other people, this is not a bad thing. Their place is two stories, so having one upstairs and one downstairs will likely be a good thing. I did my best to scribble everything down, but for a while the attendant kids were hanging around in front and it was hard. Laura and her husband were seated facing everyone, and I was a couple yards away at their table; the kids were there to grab ribbons and things like that, though eventually they dispersed. Laura's voice wasn't that strong, like she had a cold or something, so between that, my hearing, and the room, they'd have to repeat names a few times. And, at first, I was distracted by the kids, so I had to buckle down and pay attention. I think I got the bulk of everything, though maybe not individual outfits, that sort of thing. And, since I was doing all the writing, I took zero pictures during that time. Her dad was next to me much of the time, so that should help. At one point he wondered if my hand was cramping, but since I wasn't writing the entire time, I was fine.
It ended up being a beautiful day, and everyone seemed to have a lovely time. This was such a spot of sunshine with what we've been dealing with around here; it was nice to forget about the bad stuff and focus on someone new coming into the world. This kid's got a lot of people who love her and her parents already, so this is a good start. And, my mom made friends with a new family member--Laura now has a nephew by marriage, who's about a year old, and apparently he took a liking to my mom. I didn't get to see this, I don't think, but my mom went by to say hello and introduce herself to Laura's mother-in-law, who was holding the baby, and he reached out for mom! Mom even held him a couple times. How funny is that. Mom said, if Laura's baby is anything like her cousin, she's going to be a sweetheart. I hope so.
So, yes, this is Laura I'm talking about, and shortly before our dinner gathering early last month I got the shower invite from her mom, saying I could bring a "plus one" if I wanted. Laura had said I could bring my mom. Okay, what the heck. I RSVP'd within a day or two, then the whole dinner/arm-waving thing happened. Yeah, well...they've met the arm, now they can meet the rest of her. I did actually say that to Anna, who was one of the first people we saw; we ended up sitting at the same table, along with Laura's mom's neighbor (who was the bulk of the help in setting this up), some of her dad's cousins, I think...and a former coworker! If I never explained how we met, Laura and I worked together at the bookstore. There was an older woman I'll call CG who was the assistant manager at WB who then went over to Borders, which is where Laura met her (I don't believe the three of us ever actually worked together, now that I think about it, given that CG said she went to Borders early in 1998, and Laura started as holiday help later that year). It also turned out that most of us were from the Northwest Side of Chicago, all but Anna and CG, so the table had a lively discussion on landmarks in the area. Apparently there was an ice cream parlor called the Buffalo at Irving and Pulaski where people went for special occasions. Who knew.
First, I should say that this was held at a golf club, and we were maybe a mile from my uncle's house as the crow flies. We ended up being really early, so I ended up driving past his house to kill time. Even better, mom asked several times, including this morning, when we'd be leaving. The shower started at noon; we'd leave at 11. At 10:06, mom went, why aren't you ready? Uh, because I have an hour? ...Oh. Poor mom. She's so stressed out. So this was nice to have a break from everything related to her dad, but she did get a couple calls from family members, and when we ended up leaving, she did call the brother who lived nearby while I spent a few minutes helping to load gifts into cars. It ended up being about a 10-minute call; I practically wanted to go, you know, you could have this conversation in person. Oh well.
It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in a while, since I have met members of her family in the past. Her male cousin (husband to the cousin-in-law at the dinner last month) even came up to say hi, since we've seen each other on and off over the years. They are only two months apart in age, so they're very close. He also gave the blessing as we were about to have lunch. They had a typical spread--rolls, salad, mostaccioli, rice, green beans, chicken, and beef. Then cake, and since Laura's husband has a dairy allergy, his mom made a dairy-free pie. It turns out that CG also has dairy issues, and while she doesn't normally eat desserts, she said, she did try the pie and was impressed. I think mom later asked the husband's mom and learned it was made with rice milk.
I had asked Laura's mom if she needed help, back when I RSVP'd, and she gave me the task of writing down the gifts. Okay, I've been a secretary-type person, I can do this. Anna helped bring the gifts from the tables, along with some of the kids that were there, and Laura's (female) cousin would call out names to say who the gifts were from. I had gone over to say hi to Laura and her husband earlier and let her know that, no, not all of my gifts were hippo-related. She was disappointed. :) See, she loves hippos, and I've long gotten her hippo-related gifts. It's an illness. I'm trying to cut back. But for like 10 years now, I've seen tons of cute baby and kid things with hippos on them and had no reason to buy them. Now I do! So, yeah, she got a stuffed hippo, hippo bath stuff, hippo books--all off her registry, mind you--plus hats, mittens, receiving blankets, and hair stuff--tiaras (because we have a thing for tiaras) and flower hair bows (which I retitled as baby fascinators, because that's also a thing). She was like, holy crap, Jen, but don't worry, mom chipped in too. This is going to be one well-dressed kid; one pair of shoes and little socks killed me. Super cute. They were reminiscent of the ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz. Another former Borders coworker knit her this awesome bright pink hat with a poofy top. There were more books, natch, and plenty of diapers from family members. You knew who had kids because they gave really useful, thoughtful gifts. And, she got two Boppys, but having heard from other people, this is not a bad thing. Their place is two stories, so having one upstairs and one downstairs will likely be a good thing. I did my best to scribble everything down, but for a while the attendant kids were hanging around in front and it was hard. Laura and her husband were seated facing everyone, and I was a couple yards away at their table; the kids were there to grab ribbons and things like that, though eventually they dispersed. Laura's voice wasn't that strong, like she had a cold or something, so between that, my hearing, and the room, they'd have to repeat names a few times. And, at first, I was distracted by the kids, so I had to buckle down and pay attention. I think I got the bulk of everything, though maybe not individual outfits, that sort of thing. And, since I was doing all the writing, I took zero pictures during that time. Her dad was next to me much of the time, so that should help. At one point he wondered if my hand was cramping, but since I wasn't writing the entire time, I was fine.
It ended up being a beautiful day, and everyone seemed to have a lovely time. This was such a spot of sunshine with what we've been dealing with around here; it was nice to forget about the bad stuff and focus on someone new coming into the world. This kid's got a lot of people who love her and her parents already, so this is a good start. And, my mom made friends with a new family member--Laura now has a nephew by marriage, who's about a year old, and apparently he took a liking to my mom. I didn't get to see this, I don't think, but my mom went by to say hello and introduce herself to Laura's mother-in-law, who was holding the baby, and he reached out for mom! Mom even held him a couple times. How funny is that. Mom said, if Laura's baby is anything like her cousin, she's going to be a sweetheart. I hope so.