Co-Ed Baby Shower Fun

Blake and I went to a co-ed baby shower a few weeks ago for one of my friends, and while I am not sure how much Blake enjoyed it, I had lots of fun!

My expectant friend was one of the people that I met in my Bible study group, and so it was nice to see all of the male counterparts to the other girls that I know and to get to spend time with them, and catch up during this time that our study is on a break. Unfortunately, Blake's shy side came out, and he only spoke to people who spoke to him. The one exception to that was during the relay game.

As a co-ed shower, it had co-ed games. The guys had to get into teams of four, and do a relay race, where you "tagged" the next person in line by taking off your adult diaper, and having the next guy put it on. The first member of the team had to finish a baby bottle full of coke, the second had to put a pacifier into a jar without using their hands, and the third had to stack four blocks blindfolded so they spelled baby. Blake, being himself, had chosen to stand at the back of the line.

This meant that he was the person who determined the winning team, and his job was not easy. The fourth member of the team had to take off a dirty diaper from the doll, put on a clean one, and then throw the doll through a hole in the wood (which was painted to look like a crib, so they were "putting the baby to bed") from about 7 feet away. Blake showed that he is really ready to be a dad, by expertly executing the change, and then getting the doll in the hole on the second try, but still fast enough that he won for his team! For his effort, he got us a gift card. :-)

(The girls competition was much less exciting, and our team lost by 10 seconds).

It was a really nice shower, not just because of the games and getting to socialize (which are true of every baby shower really), but I loved a lot of their ideas. For example, it was held at a park, and kids were welcome, which made it feel very family oriented. Also, they had blankets spread out, with a table in the middle of each that was actually a door that was painted and had blocks mounted on it, so it was a low table. Our glasses were mason jars, and overall the decor was beautiful.

My favorite baby shower idea that they did was a onesie decorating contest. The onesies were donated (they were clean, but used onesies). They had stencils and paint, and pens, and everyone who came decorated a onesie for the baby. Even better, the couple plans to take pictures of their daughter with each person's onesies on, and send a copy of her modeling their "design" to each of us. What a fun idea! A great way to personalize the onesies, and give the parents quite the collection. The contest was just whose onesie they liked the best.Mine didn't turn out as intended as it got smeared before it dried, and then I attempted to mask the smear by adding more decorations to it... let's just say I wasn't surprised when I didn't win.  I couldn't help thinking that even if our child is older when they come home, this could easily be changed into a t-shirt decorating contest, with the same picture sending idea, and it would be so much fun to see what people come up with.

I actually really like the idea of a co-ed shower, but my shy husband might not appreciate it. If we could convince him, it makes a lot of sense to me to have it be co-ed because we are both becoming parents, not just me. Also, I liked that my friend's male family members were able to come as well and celebrate the birth of the baby. It should be an occasion for the whole family, not just the females to rejoice in.

My most proud moment was that my jealousy level was low, in spite of being surrounded by pregnant women or women with their children. I am so thankful for the peace that I have towards the lack of pregnancy, even as I do sometimes get frustrated over how long adoption is taking.