Traditional and Virtual Hybrid Baby Shower

Remember my two best girl friends?  Kate and Allison.  We've been friends since college and just last year we took a long weekend trip together to Nashville to celebrate our 30th birthdays.  They're the best.

Kate and I live in Pennsylvania with our two kids a piece.  We shuffle them back and forth to each other's houses for playdates and supervise occasional facetime conversations where the camera on each hand either shows a close-up on a child's nostril or no child at all (our kids like to have races around the houses against each other to see who can get back to the iPad first).

Racing!

Allison (fondly known as Karpy) lived for awhile in Baltimore which meant we visited her and she visited us at least a few times a year.  And then she and her hubs moved further south to NC and now THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST BABY ?!?!?!!!!!  Did you get the excitement from my full caps and punctuation?!  I AM WILDLY EXCITED!!!!!!!

gender reveal via facetime

So when Kate and I discovered that our best friend in the whole world was bringing a new best friend for our kids into this world - do you think we let 450 miles stand in our way of celebrating with her?  (translates to a 6.5 hour drive).  Heck no!

We wanted to organize a baby shower for Allison, the Grandma-to-be (also lives in NC), the aunt-to-be (didn't let international borders stand in her way - she currently lives & works in Panama!) and all of Allison's neighbors and local friends.

But we knew too, that not everyone that cared about Al and this sweet boy of hers would be able to make the haul down south to join us, so we got to planning a Traditional and Virtual Hybrid Baby Shower.  

Since Al and Matt are expecting a boy, we took a cue from Allison's Dad's sailboat to settle on a sailing theme for the shower.

We created two invitations, both using Paperless Post.  The traditional invitation included all the standard details for a shower including registries, place/time, and a section to RSVP.  The virtual invitation stated the details date/registries and in the place of an RSVP, we supplied a link to a sign-up for the virtual shower.

Guests were then able to log into SignUpGenius to choose a 15-minute time slots during the evening (after the traditional shower) to connect with Allison via their preferred choice of technology (facetime, skype, or google hangout).  In the instructions, we asked that guests try to get their gift to Allison in time for the virtual shower so that she would be able to open the gift with them there.

Weeks before the shower, I also sent out mailed packages to confirmed virtual guests that included some cards for them to complete (that we also had at the traditional shower).  The cards asked why Allison would be a great mother and the best parenting advice that they've ever heard/received.  They were instructed to use the stamped envelope to return the letter to Allison before the virtual shower (with a big "ALLISON DO NOT OPEN THIS!" on the back of the envelope).

Finally, in early December, Kate and I kissed our babies and husbands farewell and made the trek down south to celebrate our very best friend and that sweet baby boy bump.  The trip wasn't bad considering I talked (literally) the.entire.ride.down (I need more adult interaction, HAH) and we had clear skies after waiting to leave Saturday morning instead of Friday night.

We made it all the way to Apex unscathed and spent Saturday night beaming over Karpy's adorable belly, stumbling upon a town parade, and noshing on delish dinner together.  No matter how long is spent apart, it's always like no time at all when we get back together.

On Sunday, we all got up bright and early and got to preparing for Baby Shower day.  Traditional shower would be from 11am until 2pm with an hour of rest before the start of Virtual shower time slots scattered between 3pm until 6pm.  We were all set and ready to go before anyone arrived.  We had light brunch fare of waffles and croissant sandwiches with some desserts and a beautiful cake brought by the Grandmother-to-Be.

 

Grandma, Aunt Joce, and a surprise out-of-town guest all arrived first (Allison's godmother came all the way from PA as a surprise!).   We got some photo ops in front of our Ahoy! It's a Boy! banner and used our 'guestbook' life saver as an adorable belly frame:)

The traditional shower was beautiful and simple.  It was so amazing for Kate and I to get to meet all of Allison's neighbors and friends here in their town.  We felt so grateful to meet and laugh with the people that will be surrounding our best friend with support and love for those first weeks (the rotten 8!)  It was a afternoon filled with smiles, love, and excitement.

baby shower mad libs

toilet paper - belly measuring game

rice & pin game

Grandmother-to-be

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After a successful traditional shower and some quick bites to eat - we headed upstairs to continue the virtual shower.  We set Allison up in a comfy chair with the Ipad.  We had the list of which guest would be attending at what time, so we pulled the gifts from the large pile of mailed boxes and had them ready for the specific times.  It was so sweet to see Allison's face light up each time she had a call coming through facetime or skype.

Our girl spent the afternoon showing off her bump, giggling, and opening gifts with all the people who love and care about her but couldn't make the trip for her shower.  It was such a fun way to spend the evening after the shower still sort of relaxing but with the added bonus of seeing familiar and happy faces.

We decided at the end of the day that both showers were a success!  Allison and Matt have quite a bit of assembling and organizing to get done before that boy makes his appearance late next month:)

Kate and I were so grateful to get to spend the weekend celebrating our best friend and were both moved to tears (read: to sobs) when we received our thank you from Karpy in the mail.

Katie's baby shower in 2009, My baby shower in 2010, Allison's baby shower in 2013

So many years as best friends, so many memories, challenges, scary stuff, and awesome stuff.  But always shared together.  We are the luckiest.

the worst news my three year old son ever heard (yet)

The other morning, I stepped into a conversation that for my son may have been the worst news he has ever heard (at least yet in his life).

Grey:  maybe when I'm big, I can make you dinner with mashed potatoes, sausage, and eggies
Me:  Okay, me and Daddy can come to your house and eat it
Grey:  what house?
Me:  when you grow up and get big you'll get your own house to live in
Grey:  are you just kidding?
Me:  hahha, no.
Grey:  will Gemmi come with me?
Me:  ummm..if you want, she can.
Grey:  No, you're kidding.
Me:  hahha, it's not for a very long time, honey.
Grey:  I don't want another house.  I love our house and our family!
Me:  we love you, baby!  it's okay Grey, you'll see, someday when you're big you'll want your own house, and you can make spaghetti every night for dinner if you want and never make your bed!
Grey:  No, Mum.  Please stop talking about this.

Dear Grey,
Don't think I'm not going to remind you of this when you're 17.
Because I definitely am.
I love you forever,
even when you get big and get your own house,
Mum

the world according to Greyson

Our Greyson is 3 and half now.  He is loud, fast-moving, and too clever for his own good.
  

He went to the kitchen during quiet time, climbed up on the counter, got a handful of cookies, and then walked up the steps with them behind his body so that we couldn't see them from the living room.  When Brandon asked, "Grey, what do you have?"  He called out, "Nothing!" followed by giggles and quicker steps.

Grey recently learned to wink one eye and I immediately sent out a tiny prayer to future high school girls, "I am so sorry."

After Booboo's suffered through a few minutes in time-out, he'll announce that he's been 'dreaming' about what he did wrong and he 'won't do it ever again.'  Recent things he's 'dreamed about' in time-out include hitting Gemmi, shooting his nerf gun at Trixie, and pushing Gem off of the couch. 

while watching tv together -
Dora: Say backpack! Say backpack!
-silence....so I tap Greyson's leg - 
Greyson: Backpack.
Mum: Good job, Buddy.
Greyson: Mum, you know if you don't say it, it still comes up.

Greyson:  "Mum, I'm not hungry right now.  Dad fed me last year." 

Grey says "Sure" or "Sure, I can" when we ask him to do favors for us.  

Yesterday = "Last Day"
(Brandon says he doesn't ever want to teach him the word 'yesterday' because he loves Grey's use of 'last day' so much)

When Gemmi is teasing him-
"Mum, she's worsting me!"

Grey is very polite in the morning and at mealtimes, he is always the first one to ask how everyone is enjoying their time - for example:
"So, Mum, how was your sleep last night?  What were you dreaming about?
or
"Dad, how is your dinner?"

He is usually very patient with his little sister who wants to do exactly everything that he does at exactly the same time.  He has been practicing calling for 'Help, Mum!' if Gem is trying to tease him (take his drink, turn off the tv, steal his snack, take his toy, etc) instead of dealing with her with his own hands/voice. 

Booboo makes attempts all day to include Gem in weird little games where they run around in a tight circle chasing each other and belly laughing, or hiding from me while I cry out in a confused voice, 'Greyson!  Gemma!  Where are youuuuu?'  He likes to get her up in the morning (after checking with me) and announce, "Look who I found!  A little Gremlin!"  

great hiding place

There is a very thin line between spooky and scary, and he loves all things spooky.  He likes playing in dark rooms with flashlights, looking at spiders, talking about ghosts, witches, and goblins.  Last weekend, we spent a large part of our country roads drive pointing out spooky houses and barns.  But the moment something crosses the line to scary, he's done.  Scary things include movies/shows where children get separated from each other or their parents, unfamiliar noises coming from shadows, and anything that might try to come to our house at night (monsters, bad guys).

My some of my very favorite moments of the day are when I say a few sentences to Grey about something we've seen together or something we've done together and he gets a big smile on his face and say, "Now tell me another story."  Or "Let's talk about it again." 

If being a boy mom has taught me anything - its that no matter how young or old they are, boys just have the innate ability to break and mend your heart in the same instant.

Boy Mom: when a fish dies

Our fish died when Greyson was 2 and a half during naptime and we waited until the kids woke up to be able to talk to Grey about death for the first time that he'd be able to understand.

Me:  Grey, honey, we have to tell you something.

Grey:  Okay, Mummie.

Me:  Daddy's fish have died.
(show's Grey the dead fish in an empty bowl)
.
Me:  You see how they aren't in the water anymore.  They won't be living in our fish tank now.

I rub the side of his head and scratch his back lovingly.

Me:  We are going to bury them* so they can go to heaven.  That's where God and Jesus live, so we can pray when we want to talk to them too.

Grey continues to stare silently at the fish in the bowl.

Me:  It's a little sad because they were part of our family and we'll miss them but they made us happy and we can still talk about and remember them.

Grey continues to stare silently at the fish.

Me:  Honey, do you want to ask us anything?

Grey (with an excited look in his eye and mischievous grin on his face):  Mum, touch his eye!

Me:  [harrumph]

Grey:  What?  He won't bite you, he's dead.





*because these fish were 7 years old, they were so big that we literally could not flush them.  We really did bury them.