heart to heart blog

Searching for some fun baby shower ideas? Just had to report in about BGT’s baby shower…Boo Bear (who is BGT’s aunt) and her wonderful chef of a BF threw the greatest baby shower ever (IMHO). It was a Jack N Jill shower so the men were included and it made for all the more fun.  42 0f BGT’s family and friends celebrated by eating, drinking, playing games and creating general merriment. Boo Bear came up with some really great ideas.

We had loads of fun playing some interactive games….

Diaper Olympics:  
Girls vs. Guys…unsnap the onesie, powder the baby, put on the diaper, re-snap the onesie, bring the baby to the next runner. Girls won! (but it was close) Be sure to make a rule that you can’t hold the baby upside down while you are snapping…GUYS!!!

Sweet Mess: 
Need:  Diapers, assorted candy bars and a method to melt candy. We used:
1. WhoppersReese’s Peanut Butter Malted Milk Balls
2. Raisinettes
3. Good ‘ol Hershey bar
4. Nestle Crunch
5. Hershey Cookies N Creme
6. Snickers
7. Twix
8. Milky Way - better yet, Milky Way Midnight
9. Butterfinger Minis
10. Reese’s chocolate bars filled with peanut butter

Fill each diaper with melted candy bar, add Raisinettes to some to make it really look messy.  Pass the diapers around to each guest. Give each an index card and a pencil and have them write their 1 to 9 guesses of what each diaper contains. The guest(s) with the most correct answers win the prize! We found that the guests were really studying, so you may want to pass one diaper at a time and allow only 10-20 seconds to record a guess before passing it along. 

“Advice for the new Parents”:   
Each guest was given a card to impart their words of parenting wisdom. Don’t tell your guests that these will be read aloud, you’ll get the best and funniest answers that way. We found specially printed cards in our local party store, but index cards would work just as well.

Another great find was Personalized Plantable Seed Favors we found on-line. These awesome favors are each simply a printed card containing a paper shape (teddy bear in this case) that is filled with seeds that is personalized and also reads “Plant this and wildflowers will grow.” We used extras to mark a chair at each table for a lucky guest to win the Gerber Daisy Centerpiece.  

And last but not least, the food:
Here was BF Chef’s menu all made fresh from fresh ingredients. The word “awesome” was heard numerous times over the din of the chewing and moaning. 

Appetizers:
Fruit Kabobs, Bruschetta, Pulled pork with caramelized onions and apples in a bourbon reduction on baguettes, Southwest Dip

Sandwiches:
Roast beef with cheddar and a creamy horseradish sauce on a kaiser roll, South West Turkey BLT, Grilled Chicken Caesar wrap (with tomatoes and roasted red peppers on a sun dried tomato wrap), Hummus, feta and veggie (spinach, red onion, tomato, and caesar dressing) wrap on a spinach wrap

Sides:
Potato Salad, Pasta Salad, Broccoli salad, Chips/Pretzels

Dessert:
“Bun in the oven” raspberry and chocolate cheese cake with a chocolate graham cracker crust, Chocolate covered pretzels, Rita’s Waterice

The gifts were floor to ceiling. The parents-to-be were showered with everything BGT will ever need… (of course the majority of the baby gear was Graco! Two favorites were the Blossom 4 in 1 High Chair and a coincidentally matching Bombay Playard).  I think two guests gave gifts that were not Graco so those folks were asked to leave (just kidding, but I was tempted).  But seriously, the nursery is complete and I’ve never seen so many poodle outfits!! An awesome time was had by all. 

P.S.  I’m so lucky to work for a company that is so employee-oriented and family supportive. I need to give a special shout-out to Graco and my friends in HR and Facilities for supplying tables and chairs for our event. We got everything back in one piece and DRY despite Hurricane Bill!

Next step: Waiting for “Labor Day”- we can’t wait to meet BGT!!! (and find out her name which has been kept a secret so far)…more on that later!