Brad and I love a good celebration. But, what happens when you are celebrating something that is completely foreign to you...like babies? This was exactly the dilemma we faced as we tried to plan a baby shower for our expecting friends.
We love Brandon and Erin. They moved from Raleigh to STL about a year or so ago and have meshed seamlessly with our friends. Brandon, Erin, and Brad are all NC originals. Brad and Brandon were fraternity brothers and are obviously die hard followers of the Wolfpack. (you see why they fit seamlessly now, right). So, when Brandon and Erin told us they were expecting an addition to their "pack", we were thrilled for them. And, we couldn't wait to celebrate!
But, other than wanting to celebrate, I was a little unsure where to start. Strike 1: I've never organized a baby shower before. Strike 2: Erin is the first girl in our joint group of STL friends to take the plunge into motherhood. And Strike 3: I don't know much about pregnancy or babies, which meant any baby themed agenda I came up with would likely be a flop.
So, when it came time to plan, I was a little unsure about the right approach. In typical Siems fashion, I started a brainstorm. Brad graciously obliged my brainstorming - dinner in a private room, a typical baby shower complete with melted candy bars in diapers, a spa party, a march madness basketball party where Erin opens gifts during halftime (guess who came up with that idea). The ideas were endless, but none seemed quite right...yet.
Then, in a daydream, I was thinking about how life changing my world would be with a newborn baby. Farewell 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, hello 8 hours of uninterrupted crying. So long changing channels, hello changing diapers. No longer are conversations about pumps referring only to shoes. Long gone are the days of Friday night dinner dates. And then, it occurred to me...long gone are the days of a home cooked dinner - period. Immediately, I was thrown back into a conversation with one of my friends who recently had a baby. I remember her talking about how she thought a newborn would be fairly easy. So easy that she would have time to tend to the house, prepare dinner, and care for herself while the baby slept. In reality, after her first bundle of joy was born, she realized that on a good day, she was lucky to get a shower. And dinner...dinner, for the first few months, seemed like a "fend for yourself" type of affair. Suddenly, it struck me. I may not know anything about babies, pregnancy, or diapers, but I know how terrible it is to realize that even though all your energy is gone, there are still hungry people in the house asking what's for dinner!
With that realization, the plan was born. We "borrowed" a large, beautiful kitchen and asked Brandon, Erin, and a few of our closest friends to a baby celebration. The plan was to have a "dinner party", but not your typical dinner party. Everyone was asked to bring a recipe and all the ingredients to make that particular recipe. At this party, each person would assemble a meal for Brandon and Erin. After the shower, Brandon and Erin would take the meals home and freeze them to eat after the baby is born. During the shower, we chatted, drank wine, prepared the meals for Brandon and Erin, and, yes, even watched basketball. At the end of the day, Brandon and Erin left with 2 containers of meatloaf , mashed potatoes, a chicken and rice casserole, a cheeseburger casserole, and a lasagna. Hopefully now, at least for a few meals, there will only be one person in their house crying because she's hungry...
