Lizzie's Baby Shower

Yesterday was the big baby shower. Generally, a shower is done before a baby is born, but in the case of an adoption people tend to do it afterwards. My mom wanted to do one for us, but suggested we do it after Elizabeth was born and came home with us.

I can understand why people choose to do this. If we had done the shower beforehand and Elizabeth ended up going home with her birthfamily, it would have been pretty heartbreaking to come home to a house full of toys and clothes and supplies all perfect for a baby girl who wasn't ours. It also would have been difficult to inform everyone that placement hadn't happened and that we would be holding off on using the gifts until later (my mom also thought that we would be required to return them. I'm not sure what the point of etiquette is on this since we would eventually be using the items, just not for this child). On the other hand, it would have also been fun to indulge in some of that mom-to-be fun that all the pregnant ladies get to enjoy (though I did get to do a little of this as my work friends threw us an awesome shower two days before Lizzie was born).

As it happened, Elizabeth did come home with us. And, it also happened that it didn't really matter that we didn't have all kinds of goodies to welcome her the moment she came home. Her needs were simple and sweet and she got by with what we had bought ourselves or the items her very generous relatives showered on her upon realizing she was to become part of our family.

However, our friends and family were extremely generous and thoughtful to shower her with even more gifts and good wishes yesterday. I feel like she's hardly had a day where she hasn't been presented with some new, beautiful gift by an adoring visitor. Yesterday, she received many more beautiful items that I know she will love and cherish. I cannot thank everyone enough for how good they have been to us throughout this process and how generous they have been to us and our daughter.

In the end, I was also glad that Elizabeth got to be there. The day kind of became "hers" instead of mine or Shawn's, which is how it should be. After all, those pregnant moms aren't going home to relax in their new bouncer seats, their babies are! And as one of our guests said, "I've never been to a baby shower where the baby was there... it's kind of nice!"

My mom planned and threw the shower, with help from some of Shawn's sisters, but I wanted to provide the cake. I found a picture of my mom's baby shower cake from when she was pregnant with me and had a bakery make an exact copy of it. It reads, "Happiness Is Having a Baby Lisa," though the original, naturally, had my mom's name on it instead of mine...

One of our guests looked at the cake and remarked curiously, "happiness is having a baby?" "I have a baby," I said and pointed to Elizabeth, "she's right over there."

Here's me cutting the cake...

Me, my sister, Jennifer, and Elizabeth...

And Shawn and I opening gifts (this one is a frog* bank from our niece, Kara, who will also be Elizabeth's godmother)...

Thank you again to all our guests for coming, to Namma/Mom for the wonderful party, and to my sisters-in-law for their help with games and prizes. You guys prove over and over with your kindness and love that you are the best!

-- Lisa

* The frog is our official relationship mascot. For some odd reason we both have a kinship with frogs and it is the animal we use to represent our love.