Baby Shower 2.0

On Tuesday, April 13, Jackie Brown, Therese Gaulke, Emilie Greenwald, and Kati Greenhill hosted a baby shower at Kati's house. So after work that day, I went to Kati and Kip's house, and for once I didn't have to worry about finding my way there. Your dad had just recently bought me a GPS, which I call Jack In The Box. The voices have names, and you can choose between a male and female voice (Jack or Jill). Your dad thought the GPS would be helpful for us (and by "us" I mean you and me). You see, your mom is directionally challenged, and he knew that I would have to find my way to all sorts of new places after you came along. I didn't really want one because I was getting along fine using MapQuest, but your dad insisted, and I'm so glad he did. I love my Jack In The Box! It is so much less stressful driving to or in unknown territories. I hope you are better than me and better than your dad thinks he is at navigating Columbus and surrounding areas.

So I found my way there, and so did the following people: Judy Hite and Emma (Judy's granddaughter), Lorri Kuczynski, Lynn Pendergast, Jackie Brown, Dawn Kirkbride, Kati Greenhill (of course), JoAnn Bigham, Laura Brennan, Therese Gaulke, Julie Hartfelder, Melissa Hasebrook, Melissa Thien, Paula Combs, and Judy Meyer.

Even though Emilie couldn't make it to the shower, she dropped off the cake she made, which was delicious, before work that day. The next day, people were still talking about how yummy that cake was. Tammie Weaston-Fisher, Jane Schmidt, and Cheryl Fackelman also could not attend but were kind enough to drop off gifts for you before the shower. Debbie Crockett wasn't feeling well and didn't come to the shower, but she pitched in with Judy Meyer and Melissa Thien to get you a shelf with plastic bins to hold all (or more likely, some of) the toys you will eventually have.

Instead of playing games, Jackie asked everyone to give me some much needed advice. I wish I could remember every tidbit and who told me what. Unfortunately, I haven't had a dependable memory since about month four of our pregnancy. You stole it, and you still haven't given it back. But I remember the following comments and advice (and I'm paraphrasing at this point):

• Enjoy every minute. They grow up so fast.
• Try to appreciate the middle-of-the-night feedings. It's so quiet and peaceful and the best time to bond with your little one because there are less distractions.
• At night, don't turn on lights or talk a lot during feedings. It will help keep her from mixing up her nights and days, and it will help her go back to sleep. Just be quiet and comforting.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help. That's what friends and family are for.
• Teach her to be independent. Don't hang on too tight.
• (Possibly the best advice, given by little Emma...) If you have another baby, they will fight a lot. Also, when the baby gets older, you won't have to change poopie diapers.
• (Another piece of advice competing for first place, given by Melissa Hasebrook...) If your child does something embarrassing in public, look at her and say, "Just wait until I tell your mother what you did!" and walk away.

The advice agreed upon by many:

• Sleep when the baby sleeps.
• Epidural!!!

We received lots of great and helpful gifts--clothes, blankets, toys, an infant tub, stuffed animals, hair accessories, a growth chart, bottles, pacifiers, a shower cake (made of diapers, with bath items, toys, little shiny, purple shoes, receiving blankets, and more), first aid items, a step stool, books, a piggy bank, bubbles, an entertainment mat, a rubber ducky, baby lotions and potions, and the list goes on and on. Melissa Hasebrook made you a little bathrobe. It's green with pink on the outside and has little monkeys and multi-colored polka dots on the inside. I can't wait to see you in it! Kip, Kati, and Emilie gave us gobs of diapers. I know it's not very exciting for you, but we were thrilled. It's darn expensive to keep your little butt clean and covered (and it's such a cute little butt). Lorri gave us a bottle warmer, which I didn't even know we registered for. But your dad was looking out for us and must have scanned or registered for it without me knowing it. It really does make life easier!! She also crocheted a beautiful multi-colored afghan for you and gave it to us later, a week or so before you were born. Jackie Brown had a year-'round theme. She gave you an outfit for each season, including the cutest little pink and brown faux fur winter coat that I am so jealous of.

JoAnn Bigham gave me an odd item that deserves mentioning and explaining. A couple years ago, JoAnn gave me a Frithel for Christmas. She thinks it's funny that I make up words from time to time (or at least I used to when I was younger). When we started working together in the Main Office, I began teaching her some of those "vocabulary words," so she thought she'd make up one of her own. And so a Frithel was born--a hula coconut doll she bought at a party store. The next year, she gave me a pregnant Frithel, a hula coconut doll wearing a t-shirt with a well-placed bump. And at the shower, she gave me a baby Frithel, among other things. Baby Frithel--a monkey coconut bank--was sporting a little Winnie-the Pooh hat. Thanks to JoAnn, we have a complete Frithel family. Add them to the list of weird, funny, and/or inappropriate things we have around the house. So when you ask me about them 5 or 10 years from now, I may not remember why we have them, but at least it is documented here.

After we were full of food and cake and discussing baby stuff, Jackie cracked a whip and had everyone load up all those presents in my truck. When I got home, your dad brought them all in the house, and they filled the living room. There was a trail in front of the couch and to the front door. Bags and boxes and storage containers took up the rest of the space. Your dad and I looked at all the presents together; we oohed and aahed over all the little outfits, imagining what you'd look like in them; we talked about where this and that would go in your room; we ate cake (yes, I had another piece--you needed it), and we went to bed. What a great evening, thanks to my friends and co-workers from Upper Arlington High School!!