Baby Showers in the County

This week-end, our little fam kicked it up North to throw my sweet little sister-in-law Jules a baby shower. The night before we had been having a hotdog roast in our backyard - hoodies and wellies on (read: no ski pants and boots), and our chickens were roaming quite happily all around our lawn that was, for the most part, quite snow free.

This is what happened when we went up home:

What the old folks call a "Spring Nor'Easter." This is the view from the porch of my parent's house. You should be able to see about five acres of potato field right off that porch. Not so much this week-end.

I'm sincerely trying not to hate my Pennsylvania friends who all have their gardens already planted in their yards that have already needed to be mowed in their happy little towns where they are running wild and free in t-shirts and shorts right now.

But I digress...

Instead I shall dwell on the positives. Like the fun little country baby shower that we had this week-end. This is my little country church that I grew up in way up in East Hodgdon, Maine.

This is the view from one of the sides of the church:

And another side:

And still another:

It really is in the country. And it is very quaint and sweet, and practically everyone who goes there is related, and there are like four generations of families who worship together on a Sunday morning, and it really is just one of a kind.

My history is there, and I love it. Funny how I am so super non-traditional in just about every way when it comes to church and worship and all things related. But, these are my roots, and I love bringing my family home to them.

Anyway, back to the shower. We decorated it very simply with tons of my homemade quilts and blankets that so many people have made for me for all of my babies.

We made boatloads of food, so we prayed really hard that people wouldn't be too overly worked up by the blizzard that just took place all flipping day and night previous and that they would brave the roads....they do live in Maine, after all. This shouldn't have been TOO much of a shocker.

And tons of ladies came, and we really did have tons of fun.

We played this one game where I had every candy bar and type of candy imaginable, and I set it up like a version of BLURT, where I would yell out a description of something to do with babies or labor or whatever, and whoever could yell out the name of the candy that best fit the description would win that candy bar for their prize. It was really fun, and a little risque - I wasn't sure if the older ladies would see the humor, but I got lots of cackles from the peanut gallery, so it was a success.

Here are some examples:
The night of conception - Skor
Daddy at conception - Big Hunk
The drive to the hospital - Rocky Road
Epidurals - Life Savors
Hospital Accountants - Nerds
Hospital bills - 100 Grand
Postpartum Stomach - Jelly Belly
Choosing Baby's Name - Whatchamacallit
Teething - Crunch


We played more silly games, we laughed, she got tons of loot, I read a little devotional that made me cry which made HER cry, which made us both laugh...she said that was her favorite part because she's never seen me cry before. I said I would rustle up some tears for her whenever she asked because I love her that much.

And then we proceeded to LIVE on egg salad sandwiches, veggy platters, cheese ball, and shower cake for the entire rest of our visit...

My ENTIRE family was up for the week-end - that's 15 of us now - so it was busy, and LOUD, and non-stop crazy. But it was also delightful and wonderful, and now my house feels super spacious and really REALLY calm and quiet. It's weird.

I don't quite know what to do with myself...