Shower Time!

Last weekend, we had our first baby shower. It was lots of fun, mainly because we had such an interesting mix of people. There were long time family friends (who have known me since before I was born), friends from GA Tech, friends from church, neighbors...yet despite such a diverse group, everyone seemed to get along really well and have a good time.

We played a couple of games...both of them guessing games. For the first game, 19 "baby essentials" were stuffed in baby socks and tied off. The object of the game was to guess what was in the sock based on feel...these baby essentials included things like spoons, pacifiers (and pacifier clips), aspirators, diaper rash cream, etc. Some of these things were easier to guess than others, but it was fun to try to figure it out.

The second game was a name guessing game. We have picked out a name for Baby Payne, but we are keeping it a secret until he's born. So, index cards were passed out and people were asked to write to write down their guesses for Baby Payne's first and middle names. To make the game a little more interesting, my mom is throwing in a $50 prize. Anyone who guesses the name will get the money. Full kitty goes to anyone who guesses both the first and middle name, though a smaller amount will be awarded to anyone who guess one or the other. Bryan and I have already looked through the names, and it was really fun to see what everyone guessed. We're going to put all the guesses in our Baby Book. I think it will make a great memento, and it will be interesting for Baby Payne to look back and see what sort of things people guessed his name would be.

We got a nice variety of gifts...clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, toys, books, baby bath supplies...Baby Payne is already starting to get a little spoiled! But we appreciate everything, and look forward to reading to our son, bathing him, and playing with him. And it was great to have so many friends join us in celebrating our new baby, and helping us prepare for his arrival!