An Un-Shower

I don't know what the protocol is for having baby showers for the second and subsequent children. I mean, the first child gets the big shower with the silly games and extensive baby registry. The parents are given the swing, bedding, bouncy seat, high chair, baby monitor, car seat, bibs, blankets, pack-n-play, onesies, burp cloths and more, and if the next kiddo comes along relatively soon after the first, then the household is already prepared for Baby 2. Aside from shopping for blue versus pink and refilling the diaper supply, everything is already in place. Just add baby.

When my sister Kim was 7 months pregnant I started to question the need for a shower. I mean, she didn't need a shower, but not doing anything to celebrate Baby Lilly seemed wrong. We thought she should be welcomed and celebrated with as much anticipation as her brother Jake (whose shower I couldn't attend), so we set about planning an "un-shower", if you will.

Instead of calling it a shower, my sister Angie and I hosted a casual Welcome, Baby Lilly party last weekend. Baby Lilly was finally here and 10 days old, and we thought it would be fun to have Kim's friends and family come visit and meet Lilly, catch up with Kim, and eat yummy things at the same time. We pictured this as more of an open house, held at Kim's house, and while we stressed that no gifts were expected, everyone completely ignored that comment on the invitation. (But, really, who can resist shopping for Baby Girl things??)

We had Josh's grandparents, Kim's mom, aunt, and cousin, friends from college and friends from church/Lexington all pop in to see Sweet Baby Lilly.

Lilly, 10 days

And while I tried to keep the decor to a minimum (this was an un-shower, after all), I still wanted a pretty table, because Lilly deserved her day to be special, too.

 Kim and Josh just had Lilly's pictures taken, so we were able to use Lilly as her own decoration.

This was the door sign I made to welcome home my niece.

Welcome, Baby Lilly!