Catherine and Benjamin's Baby Shower

You have been invited to our baby shower!! A few things first, before I get to the registry link.

Yes, I made my husband build yet another website for a life event of ours. You can officially expect a custom site for any future milestones—our golden anniversaries are going to look high-tech.

To be completely honest, when people first started asking if I wanted to do another baby shower, my initial reaction was a hard no (I already did this with George!). But so many of you asked that I finally caved. So here we are. You're welcome.

The Game Plan

First of all, this is a casual event. Wear jeans, wear a T-shirt, wear sweatpants if you're feeling bold. I promise there will be zero weird games involving eating baby food out of diapers. Instead, come ready for mingling, food, desserts, and drinks. There might be some light icebreakers, mostly because I'm forcing all my different friend circles to intermingle. Name tags may be required.

A Note on the Vibe:

Men are, of course, welcome! Just a fair warning: there won't be much structured entertainment for you. However, my dad will have the garage open for beer and smoking, so feel free to consider that the official Dad-Cave lounge.

Theme & Gender (Or Lack Thereof!)

The Theme: The baby's room and the shower are Winnie the Pooh themed. We felt it worked well since Winnie the Pooh is officially 100 years old!

The Great Gender Mystery: As most of you know, I (Catherine) do not know the gender of the baby. Ben, George, and a select few trusted accomplices who know how to keep a secret do. If you happen to know the secret and purchased a gendered item that would spoil the surprise, do not worry! We won't be opening those at the shower. Instead, slip those gifts directly to Ben to be stashed in the car for later.

Gifts & Registries

LOTS of people have asked about a baby registry. It is sitting right at the bottom of this giant speech, so you can scroll down once you've finished enduring my commentary. These are some category options for gifts:

The Registry: It’s meant to be a light recommendation. If you find something similar that you love, go for it! Just please mark it off as purchased so we don't end up with 100 of the exact same burp cloth.

Second-hand is a win: If you find gear second-hand, I love that! Let's save money and the environment all in one. (Confession: practically everything I’ve bought so far has been pre-loved).

No cards, bring books: Instead of a greeting card, we're asking for a book to help build our little home library for years to come. Think of your favorite book or author from when you were under 12, or your kid's absolute favorite. Quick caveat: we do not need 100 books about the ABCs. Also, Ben is really looking forward to bedtime reading, and we all know he can read for hours, so we are definitely good with longer books or series.

Feed the sleep-deprived parents: Instead of a specific baby gift, family gifts are fun as well. I learned with George that dinner is basically an impossible sport when you're running on two hours of sleep. If you're feeling generous, making a double batch of your family's favorite dinner, freezing it, and slapping instructions on it would make sleep-deprived Catherine and Ben weep with joy. (For equipment specs: we own a large slow cooker, an Instant Pot, and a standard oven. The options are endless!)

Don't Forget the Boys

Instead of a baby or Catherine gift, think of the boys! Let's not forget about George and Ben. If you find super awesome big brother/dad things, that would be amazing! I don't know what that exactly entails, but I will entirely allow you to be creative. Also, since this is Ben's first child, this is a great excuse to celebrate him as well.

Bonus points: We are a proudly nerdy household. Anything Star Wars, Stargate, video games, computers, Disney, or Pokémon-themed for the baby, Ben, or George is aggressively encouraged.

One Last Thing...

If there's an absolute must-have item that saved your sanity with your own littles—something I completely forgot to put on the registry—surround me with your wisdom! I would love that item (and your advice) more than anything.

(Scroll down for the registry link, you made it, I am proud of you!)