Baby Shower for Jake!

My wonderful friend Mnisa was so thoughtful and threw me a baby shower for my friends and neighbors that I get together with who are not in my ward. She made the cutest invitations (sports theme of course) and we mailed them out to about 20 ladies. I have made friends with ladies from other wards, book-clubs (all of our husbands work together and graduated from BYU) and from my kids' friends at pre-school and such. I know many of my neighbors as well, so it was so thoughtful of Mnisa to think of all of these friends and want to throw me a shower so I could celebrate with all of them. There were about 12 people there (including me)and it was so great being able to visit with everyone since I have been in the house (except for doctor's appointments) for over 2 months now. I was a bit nervous about having enough energy for everyone coming over. We had to do the shower at my house because it is just so much easier that way with things being the way they are. I had a great time, but I was definitely exhausted after-wards!

Mnisa did an amazing job with the whole shower. I appreciated everything so much! The decorations were just incredible...all sports themed! Over top the food she had made a "concessions" sign. Outside of the bathroom she had a "restrooms" sign. In the room where we were all sitting she had made a "bleachers" sign. Where everyone put their gifts she had made a "gift shop" sign. Where everyone came in and got a name tag (she didn't know anyone and wanted to get to know people so she had everyone have a name tag) she had "ticket booth." It was the most creative thing! She made me the most incredible baby gift in the world! She MADE 3 shadow boxes to hang on the wall in Jake's room. Josh is a huge Cleveland Indians fan and I am a big Boston Red Sox fan. She put an Indians jersey in one shadow box and a Red Sox jersey in another shadow box. In the middle she made a shadow box with Jake's name in it, a frame with his middle name on it (Joshua) and a baseball bat with our last name Dayton cut into it!! She has a quote from a Red Sox player and an Indians player in there along with a baseball glove and baseball. It is just awesome and I could talk about it over and over! Josh and I were both thrilled when we saw what she had been up to. She is the most thoughtful, creative and talented person! I can't wait to hang these in his room! She used these shadow boxes as part of the decorations for the shower as well. She (well actually Eric, her husband) had a cake made that said "Baby Jake" on it with a baseball and bat. It was so cute! Everything was just perfect. Ohh yeah, and she made the cutest score board too! Just all of the decorations were so much fun for me. It really did help make all the struggles that I have been facing seem small compared to the joy we will feel when our little Jake arrives!

There were two games that we played and they were both cute ones! Mnisa MADE adorable prizes for these games too! She should open her own business I swear! One of the games was everyone's favorite! She announced that we were going to start the first game and then all of a sudden my friend from the ward (Anna Weaver) hurriedly walked into the room with a baby gift and just started talking a mile a minute! She apologized profusely about being late and kept saying how embarrassed she was about it. She came right into the middle of the floor and commented on all of the decorations and this and that. She completely interrupted Mnisa and monopolized everyone's attention. She sat in the middle of the floor and started dumping out all of the different gifts she had in her bag for me. She was still talking a mile a minute and she was explaining every little thing she had in the bag. Everyone was starring at her like she was a crazy person. I was laughing SO hard that I was crying. She was HILARIOUS! After she went on and on about this and that Mnisa knelt down to her and told her that we were actually just about to start a game and that we would open gifts later and she could go and put hers with the rest of the gifts. All of a sudden Anna just got red in the face and started saying how embarrassed she was and how she didn't know and so forth. She got up and walked over to put her gift with the others and then saw the food and went on about how hungry she was and how the food looked so great! Everyone was in shock and I couldn't even see since I was laughing so hard! Then Mnisa said (she had given everyone a pen and paper before hand) that we had to write down all of the things Anna had pulled out of her "gift bag" and whoever remembered the most would get a prize! She told everyone that that was the game and that Anna was acting and all part of the show! Everyone was flabbergasted! It was the funniest thing ever! I had actually seen this game one time before, so I actually knew it was a game, so that was why I couldn't stop laughing. Anna is normally a quite soft-spoken person, so seeing her with so much energy was just awesome. It made the game so much fun! I also knew that Anna wasn't planning on coming to the baby shower so I wasn't surprised at all. No one else knew though (except Mnisa of course) and they were all so confused and shocked. After they all found out we couldn't stop talking about it. Some people thought there was something wrong with Anna, another one of my neighbors thought she was drunk and all sorts of things! They were all so confused and it took a while for everyone to actually believe that it was all a game. No one else at the shower knew Anna, so she was the perfect person. Anyway, it was the best part of the shower! I loved it and am so glad that Anna agreed to do it. She said she was so nervous because it was so out of her comfort zone! Mnisa really did pick great games!

Everyone was so generous at the shower and it was so much fun (expect for actually having to open gifts!). I really appreciated the gifts and loved what everyone bought us, but it is always so hard for me to actually open gifts in front of people. Even though I am an outgoing person I kind of get shy about having all of the attention on me! Everyone was patient with me and it all worked out well. It was funny because I had to lay on the couch the whole time (sitting doesn't work too well for my feet and legs) and so I took up so much room! I am so grateful to Mnisa and everyone else (a couple of my neighbors helped out as well and it was so wonderful of them!) for thinking of me and helping me to feel so special! I am so excited to have a little boy coming to our family!