The "Baby Celebration" pretty much was a Baby Shower - but since Gabriel is a second pregnancy, we did not call it a "shower," rather a "celebration." Another difference in this "celebration" is that, since we are having a third boy and were blessed with TONS of stuff for the twins that we still have, we had a "teddy bear drive" in lieu of gifts to go Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, where Deputies will distribute them to children effected by domestic violence and similar situations.
Mostly we feel that EVERY child is a blessing and deserves to be celebrated, so we wanted to get to get friends and family together to have snacks, cake, punch, and, of course, chocolate and coffee to celebrate our newest little gift from God - but did not want everyone to bring gifts. Thus, a Baby Celebration!
Jon and our dads were there (mostly because Jacob and Caleb came and we needed help corralling them while I visited with everyone!). But, since they were all there, we thought it would be fun to "punk" them and have a little surprise game - just for them. We gave each guy a baby bottle with about 4 ounces of juice, in which they had to suck down as fast as they could. Well, my dad and Jon had the same exact though, as they, simultaneous, unscrewed the top and chugged it within seconds! (So quickly, my camera did not get the shot in time, but this is them afterward.) Taking the top off had NEVER crossed our minds - but they both agreed that it was the first thing they though of! I must say that I am a little freaked out that they BOTH had the same thought. My dad won because his was sucked dry and Jon had a little left at the bottom. He had to wear a sign that said "I'm a Sucker," and also got a sucker out of the deal. (The gift isn't as funny, considering he didn't actual suck it down!)
We ended up collecting 40 bears at the celebration! I wasn't expecting that many, but am honored that we will be able to give so much on Gabe's behalf. Here's a cute pink bear, as I rarely see many pink things anymore! ;-)
And, because my friends and family are such sweet, generous people, many couldn't just bring bears to donate; so I ended up getting gifts anyway! The biggest gift given? Diapers and wipes! Overall, we got a grand total of 862 diapers (ranging from Size 1 - Size 2/3) and 3191 wipes for Gabe's little butt - literally! Wow! It's A LOT of wipes, but figure they will most definitely get used around this joint, considering they will be used on three hinies.
There were also several other things brought - gift cards, some really cute clothes, lotions, etc. (At least Gabe won't get ALL hand-me-downs now! LOL!)
My friend, Amy, came up with the idea of doing the celebration for Gabe and made/sent out the cute invites shown above. My mom stepped up to do a lot of the other work involved in the celebration, however, since Amy lives so far away and my mom felt it was a lot for one person to tackle. Because of both of their hard work, I gave them each a bottle of wine. (Although that's not NEAR enough for all of the work that they put forth!!) You can't tell very well from the picture, but the wine bottle is in a little cradle-looking basket and wearing a diaper and baby t-shirt. :-) (Yes, I am too creative for my own good - I know!)
Mommy and Daddy were overwhelmed by all of the friends and family who turned out for the celebration and all of the great gifts received.
Here's a shot of all of the bears and stuffed animals collected. Wow, guys, this is going to potentially put a smile on 40 once scared kiddos' faces! I am so excited to present these in honor of our son.
After we stacked them all up, we did let Jacob and Caleb play in the huge mound of animals for a while before bagging them up.
My LITTLE guys had so much fun, however, whether he'll admit it or not, I think Jon had as just much - if not more - fun diving into the mound of bears!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who came out to be a part of this special day! We had a lot of fun, and hope that you did as well. Gabe is one lucky little boy to already have so many people who love him so much.
4 comments:
Wow Amber, what a special day! That is so thoughtful. What a unique idea! I love it!
I'm still using hand-me-downs from Devin's older brothers and STILL have too many clothes he had never worn, and never will. I'm so happy to pass them on, however, to a newly born grandchild of my mother-in-law's coworker. They are in tough times and it warms my heart to see the items used.
It's still fun to go through the clothes thinking, "remember this?".
Gabe's an "angel" already! Livin' up to his name!
I can't wait to "meet" him!
Sorry I didn't make the celebration, Elise hasn't been feeling well again. Poor little girl had to go back to the doctor yesterday. She's gotten to the point where she recognizes where she is and starts crying the second a nurse or the doctor comes towards her.
Anyway, it looked like you had a great time and I'm sorry I missed it.
It looks like you guys had a lot of fun! I'm sad that I couldn't be there for the celebration. :( The boys looked like they had fun in the bears! Your Mom and your friend did a good job!
My sister is sending you guys an invitation to my party, so you should be recieving it soon. I'll be back in Dallas early next week. I'll call you to see how you're doing and to see if you got the invite. Have a good week!
girl! LOVED the pics and wish i could have made it! about 30 minutes after i emailed you, joe showed up w/ my bro, unloaded the fridge and somehow in the process sliced his arm from his wrist to his elbow (DEEP!)...so we spent all of saturday in the ER for 7 hours! JEEZ!
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