Baseball Baby Shower Weekend

Last weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for my very dear friend, Ashley. My friend Val and three of Ashley's other friends shared in hosting responsibilities so it was the seriously the easiest shower I've ever put together. The theme was baseball for her little man due to arrive in November and I was in charge of invitations and thank you's. I ordered this invitation on Etsy (my new favorite place to order party invitations, by the way) and made semi-homemade thank-you notes. I bought blue and white thank-you notes at Target and added baseballs I made from scrapbook paper on top with a little sticky dot underneath each one to give the baseball a raised, 3D look. For an extra touch, I pre-printed address labels for each envelope so all Ashley would have to do is write the thank you and drop it in the mail.

Val was in charge of decorations and used Cracker Jacks boxes as party favors, made pennant banners to hang near the food table ("concessions") and "little slugger" for the fireplace mantle. We served croissant sandwiches, fruit and cupcakes. One of the gals in charge of games made a tie blanket for the baby which everyone at the party put the finishing touches on by "tying the edges together" for Ashley's baby boy. It all turned out really cute. Unfortunately, I didn't get one single photo of the party because I was too busy hosting and wrangling a certain 13 month old (ahem, Tory) who was along for the ride.

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Val and I left for Omaha, where the shower took place, on Friday morning. We were quite the sight - my backseat lined up with two car seats, toys galore, bags, party decorations, two pack-n-plays, a high chair and more. We made it a true girl's weekend with Tory and Val's little girl, Linden, along for the ride. The little girls handled the 7 hour car ride great, with only a few outbursts every now and then. Val and I took turns riding in between their car seats in the back row and kept ourselves busy with girl talk the entire way. Isn't it awesome when two friends can chat for 14 hours in a weekend without ever turning on the radio, flipping open a magazine or falling asleep?

Other fun memories from our trip:

Tory's first French fries (or fast food meal, really). 
Val and I stopped at Culver's half-way to Omaha for lunch and to give the girls a break from their car seats. The restaurant was PACKED. Who knew fast food joints were so hoppin' on a Friday afternoon? We fed both girls and attempted to shove a few bites of food into our own mouths amongst the crowded dining room. I dipped a few French fries into ketchup for Tory and at first she wasn't sure what to make of the weird taste. Soon enough, she was dipping her own fries and licking off the ketchup. It was pretty cute. When we piled back in to the car, we both let out a huge sigh - wrangling kids is a lot of work sometimes, especially when it's in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

Baseball
My friend Ashley has a fairly good-sized television in their living room and I think it was the first time Tory had ever seen a tv that big. She wouldn't stop staring at it and snuggled right up onto the couch with Ashley's husband Neal while he was watching a baseball game. Tory does this cute thing lately where she shrugs her shoulders if you ask her questions, as if she's saying "I don't know." I asked her "who's playing in the baseball game?" (shoulder shrug) "I don't know," she motioned. "What's the score?" (shoulder shrug) "I don't know."

Sing, Sing, Sing
Val and I sang so many kids songs on the drive to and from Omaha. It was the only way to quiet both girls when they started fussing. At first it was the standard Old MacDonald and ABC's but then we got creative and pulled all kinds of songs out of our memories. There's no shame in making animal sounds and singing off key in my car!

Spotless
Ashley's husband and my longtime friend, Neal, is a bit of a clean freak. We all know this about him and try not to scare him too badly with horror stories of how his life is all about to change with a new baby on the way. Val, Linden, Tory and I left for the baby shower on Saturday afternoon. I forgot a back-up outfit for Tory so we circled the block and I ran back into the house to grab one. We hadn't been gone for more than 10 minutes and Neal was already vacuuming the carpet! I tried so hard to keep all of Tory's toys and bags picked up and to wipe down every little mess she made during meal times. I don't think Neal and Ashley minded us being there one bit, but I bet they were glad to get their house back to normal after a whirlwind weekend. It really was cute how much Neal wanted the house to look nice for all of their visiting guests.

Tory and I had a fabulous time on our girl's weekend to Omaha. The next time we see Ashley, her baby boy will be here!