Baby Shower!

Living away from family and friends made it difficult to plan when to have a shower. After talking to my sister over it for weeks, we both came up with the idea of having it early. The average shower is held around 8 months pregnant, but when I was going to be 8 months it would be right after Christmas and I was concerned about a snow storm preventing me from making the trip to Massachusetts from Maine. So I decided on having it at 24 weeks. Which most people thought was really weird!

My best friend, Jess, planned it for me. I won't lie, the weeks leading up to the shower were stressful! I am kind of neurotic. I don't like not having control over things, so letting someone plan the shower was hard for me not to take over and run the show. I did have a huge say in everything, so that was great and on the day of the shower Jess had everything set and ready to go!

The shower was held at my father's house in October. We had it indoors because the weekend of the shower Hurricane Sandy was making her way up the east coast. Everything flowed nicely, the food was great, and everyone had a great time. Because the shower was held between 1-4 pm we served snacks and finger foods. I also wanted my guests to have the option to have a cocktail. Just because I couldn't enjoy a fruity sangria, didn't mean my friends and family couldn't!

The following is the menu from the shower:

• Fruit
• Cheese and crackers
• Chips and dip
• Broccoli Salad from Main Street Deli in Agawam, MA. That was a HUGE hit! Check out thier Facebook page Here!
• Meatballs
• Veggie platter
• Stuffed Celery, my dad's famous recipe!
• Kielbasa

We served the following beverages:

• Soda
• Juice
• Water
• Beer
• Wine
• Sangria
• Margaritas
• Pumpkin Martinis

We got the cake from Mama Cakes in Westfield, Ma. Check out their Facebook page Here!

I really wanted the color and theme to be baby Marine, since Andrew is in the Marine Corps. I had a hard time finding anything baby Marine themed, so I came up with the idea for the cake: little combat boots, dog tags, cammo baby clothes, and the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. I had red and blue plates, napkins, cups, and decorations. It was so easy to do, plus we added some USMC stickers on the table cloths. For the party favors we had blue dog tags made that said "Thank You From Sarah, Andrew, and Jacob" with the date of the shower on the back. We tied the dog tag to a candy bag with red, white, and blue ribbon. It was very inexpensive and super cute!

Jess had planned games, however we all just had so much fun chatting, eating, and opening gifts we didn't have enough time!

Here are some picture from the party!

Check back soon for my tips on a baby registry!

~Sarah~