Baby Showers

One of the things I was prepared for in moving to Scotland was not to have baby showers with my friends. I thought if they wanted to get me something when I was there, I would try to register with some store in the UK that had a website that they could order from and not have to pay shipping. I was pleasantly surprised that others had thought about this before me.

Kerry and I attend a Bible study on Tuesday nights in Tyler with a group of friends who I hope are all reading this. They are fantastic! They threw us a surprise baby shower. Kerry knew about it and his version of keeping it a secret was saying, "The guys and girls are going to be together tonight and they want us to be 15 minutes late." We usually split up the guys and girls, so this was a clue that something was happening, but I wasn't expecting what I was greeted with. We walked in Mark and Sheila's house and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" The living room had some balloons, the dining room table had a cake that looked like a train and cupcakes that had pacifiers made of candy on them. There was a full baby shower waiting. The food was good, the conversation was fun, and the gifts were very appropriate for our limited luggage space. They were even thoughtful enough to find Classic Winnie the Pooh (which I know is hard to find) for the receiving blankets and pacifier that I received. The cute rattle had all the little tactile things that babies love hanging on it. The little baby clothes made me think, "Wow, I am going to have a baby who will wear this!" It was very neat! The whole thing was very wonderful and was the first surprise party I ever had. In fact, I can only remember having one birthday party when I was a little kid, so it was a very unique experience! I will treasure it always.

At work, I was told they would be giving me and baby shower/going away party the Friday after the surprise party I just described. I had not ever seen the company give a going away party before and I was surprised that I would get a baby shower since I am still so newly pregnant (I was only ten weeks). I was expecting only a few people to show up and a little celebration. I was surprised that nearly everyone in the company who could be there was there. The conference table was decorated in polka-dot themed cake, baby blanket, and cookies. There was also a "money-tree" in the center of the table with cards and money. There were also some small baby items on the table with which we played a "price-is-right" style game and then a name mommy songs game. It was very nice and everyone was very generous. I especially liked the card that was signed by everyone, even those not there.

I was very surprised by these two events, and it was more than I had expected even if I had stayed throughout my pregnancy. I think that I am always surprised by acts of true friendship because of my lack of friends when I was in school, but I hope that I never take these acts that I have experienced for granted. Thank you to all my friends who are reading this. You are all very special and I hope that such acts will be returned to you ten fold!