it’s raining friends

Baby Shower, Rev. 2: The local friends edition

The people came, the food was eaten, the gifts were unwrapped, the blessings were said.

Childhood BFF who is herself 22 weeks along (Hi Mel!) flew down from Portland, Or., for the event, which she had helped to co-host and coordinate long distance. Friend Naomi opened her house to the 16 or so of us and spearheaded the most organized tea-sandwich-making brigade I’ve ever witnessed (I arrived a bit early), and the healthiest party snacks possibly on record:

Sandwiches, 3 types: Lemon-mint cream cheese with cucumber on potato bread; avocado and radish on flax seed bread, and tuna salad on… can’t remember that bread as I’m too afraid of tuna salad during pregnancy to much indulge. Crusts on — because to cut them off just seemed wasteful.

Salads, 2 types: A “fall salad” of spinach, pomegranate seeds, and persimmons in vinaigrette, and a “goddess salad” (the former title is hers, the latter attribution mine — I lurve this salad!) of confetti-cut fruit: apples, pears, berries, melon, mango, in a vanilly-honey-rosewater-mint dressing.

Cheeeeeeeese, 4 types: Manchego, goat chevre, brie, and fontina.

Plus teas, juices, and mineral water.

A totally “Julie” menu.

I spent most of the party ensconced on the couch as I don’t move much these days, with my 35-weeks pregnant body hovering somewhere between blimp and school bus, at least in how it feels to carry it around. (I still *look* great.)

Got some lovely gifties including adorable clothes that we hung on a clothesline over my head after I opened each one — the whole wardrobe on display; everything matched! And a group of friends got together to get us the mini co-sleeper which means that now, pretty much, we have what we need for the little one’s arrival — as soon as Scott gets the masonite board cut to go under the special organic mattress I’d already ordered for it; a task I’m pretty sure he’ll complete this weekend.

There had been some debate pre-party as to whether or not to have games. We are not exactly games people, of the safety-pin-don’t-say-baby variety. However, the gals decided on three good-‘uns:

1. They passed around a journal and markers in which each guest was to write a story — something they know about me that they think will make me a good mother. I haven’t read these stories yet. Am thinking about saving them as palliative for the first post-birth breakdown. Just having the book makes me feel better…

2. We did the guess the size of the belly with string game — and as usual, nearly everyone was way over in their guesses, except one friend (Hi Gab!) who was within one inch of totally spot-on, winning the “prize” of getting to babysit for us; to which she promptly offered the services of her tween-aged daughter. Works for me.

3. A bowl of beads went around the circle and each person put one bead on a string, making a wish for me/us for the birth. I wished for a second that I could write them down or record them but I realized it wasn’t about that. I just opened up and let myself feel the love and blessings. A friend called and commented the next day (Hi Leila!) about how lucky I am to have such strong wonderful women in my life, such a powerful community. Yes!

At the end, I invited everyone to pat the belly, since it won’t be here much longer. So we took a photo like that — everyone crowded around and hands on me/us.

And that was that.