Thank You

Thank you Jen for this lovely virtual shower! But more importantly, thank you for being such an amazing friend for the last six years. We've seen each other through both good times, and bad and I can't thank you enough for all your love and support!

 xxMaria

Party Favors

Thank you for attending Maria's virtual baby shower! I wish I could give each and everyone of you a real shower favor, preferably something delicious. Since I can't do that in real life, here's what I would make if you were sitting in my living room right now.



Thank you for coming and I appreciate the love you've shown today!

Baby Xavi

Because the best part of a sip and see shower is the baby...

We love our beautiful and precious boy!

 xxMaria

Lots of Goodies

Thanks to my dear sweet friend and host, Jen, Xavi has received a lot of wonderful goodies. From cloth diapers, to books, to shoes galore, Jen has been so very generous. Here are some pictures of a portion of all the awesome things Jen's sent...

Seriously, isn't she the best!

 xxMaria

Advice

New moms always need lots of advice from the little old ladies in the grocery store, right? Or at least the little old ladies seem to think so.

So instead of frustrating and unhelpful advice ("where are that baby's sockies?!?"), let's share some kind and useful advice.

My advice is that you are the best mama for your baby. You know him better than anyone else so you know what he needs. So ignore what everyone says that you "should" be doing and do what you know. Babyhood is fleeting and you really can't mess up them as long as you are doing things with love.

Share your advice for Maria in the comment section.

Presents!

A fun part of new babies is new baby presents! If you had no restrictions on money or distance, what would you buy for Xavi?

I would get tons of things! Definitely some Woombie swaddles, they were my favorite with my newborn. I'd also get Maria a woven wrap for babywearing. I think a pattern like this one.

I would also get at least one pack of these Aden and Anais muslin blankets. I used these blankets exclusively for my baby. They were the softest and best size of all the blankets we had. Perfect for swaddling, covering a car seat from the sun, or just throwing down on the ground to put a baby on.



Leave a link in the comments to the baby gift you would love to give Xavi if money were no object!

Refreshments

If I were throwing an in-person baby shower, I would be providing all of the refreshments myself. Since this is a virtual one, I want your input!



Here's the cake I liked best and would be trying to replicate. I'd also serve my pasta salad.I made this for the last baby shower I hosted (and the last playdate and the last picnic...) and it was a fabulous success. I ended up with no leftovers even though I made a lot because all the guests took some home with them.

So for this virtual baby shower, I'm making it potluck. What food are you bringing? Leave a link or a recipe in the comment section!

Decorations

If I were throwing an in-person baby shower for Maria (and I do wish I could!), I would definitely use a nautical theme. I've set up a Pinterest Board with shower ideas.


Comment here with a link to your favorite nautical themed baby shower decoration that you would add to the shower. For Twitter, use the hashtag #xavishower. 

Welcome to the Shower!

This blog is where we will be celebrating the arrival of Xavier! Xavi showed up rather quickly, so he will be in attendance at his own shower, making it more of a Sip and See. So grab yourself a glass of champagne and settle in for today's shower activities. Make sure you add this blog to your feed reader or keep checking back throughout the day. New posts will go up hourly.

To participate in the virtual shower and spread the love, leave a comment on the posts or use the hashtag #xavishower on Twitter.

Invitation

Links:

Amazon Registry
Target Registry

Abundance from Internet Aunts!

This is a VERY picture heavy post, but there is so much to share and celebrate here! BG Talula was set on being in as many photos as she could. On behalf of Snork we are just so so thankful for the love and generosity of all of you and I will continue to update.

Photos from the day

You guys are the best Internet friends/Aunts to be EVER. I have been spoiled by your kindness and well wishes. Thank you, thank you.

So many amazing things have been arriving for Snork. I will share photos of the actual gifts tomorrow. I am just passed out from the sweetness and generosity.

But until tomorrow- when I will post photos of the gifts and we can pass them around here and ooh & aaah- here are some photos from Jen, Elizabeth & Barb's road trip. Doesn't Barb look SO much like Liv Tyler? It's almost as if I photoshopped Liv Tyler's face onto Barb's face to protect her swirl of internet mystery...heh

Oh & one of the cool parts of the day is that Charlie dog met his first baby and totally loved her. Of course Elizabeth has been trained well by her own dogs so she was very chill with Charlie trying to lick her all over.

HUGE Thank you to Barb & Jen for making the massive drive up here to celebrate in person. And a huge thank you to you guys for stopping by all day and leaving comments.

SMOOOOOCH!

So come back tomorrow for a peak at the gifts!

Games

It is time to play some games! This is one of my favorite online games. I can play the 4X4 in nine seconds. Can you beat that?

Muppet trivia quiz. How did you do?

Another Muppet quiz!

Color that Muppet trivia quiz.

Muppet Time

Oh, come on! Like you thought the morning could pass without some Muppets?

Now, tell me, who is your favorite Muppet?

Personally, I like Pepe the King Prawn (he is not a shrimp). And I am also quite loyal to Kermit. Miss Piggy annoys me.

Dessert

Now that we've all enjoyed a little fruit, it is time for some dessert. Have a pretend cookie!

Let's Get the Party Started!

Welcome to the online baby shower for Cali and the Snork! Leave a comment to say hello and wish Cali congratulations.

I got us a picture of some snacks. Enjoy!

(I think I am hilarious. Cali finds these creepy because of how much they must have been touched. I personally have consumed two of these and I find them delicious. And look, I sprang for the one with the chocolate!)

The Snork: Loved by Hundreds Before He Was Even Created

Internets, the time has come! UTERUS is having a baby!

Okay, okay. Cali is actually having a baby. But since she was our very first UTERUS recipient, the whole internet gets to share in the love. I don't know about you, but I certainly feel like an auntie and I will be claiming that title. (No, Snork, it is Auntie Jen to you.) I've mentioned that I am an optimist, right? Well, I totally am. So back when we started fundraising, in April of 2008, my mindset was (and you have to hear this in my excited, not stopping to breathe voice) "so we'll raise enough money, she'll get her FET, it will work on the first try, she'll get pregnant, we'll have one of those internet showers for her, and everyone will live happily ever after!" And lo and behold, so far it is going exactly like that. My point is that we are up to the internet shower part of my optimistic timeline.

When Cali threw me my internet baby shower, I sent her a teary little email about how sweet she was and how it was so perfect because I had always intended to throw one for her. I'd like you to know, too, that I had to force her into this. She had a little shower last week and thought she didn't deserve another one. But first of all, those other shower people can't possibly love her as much as we all do. And secondly, the Snork is an internet baby and it would be totally unfair of her if she didn't let us share in the fun. So here are the plans. The shower date is set for Monday, March 9th. Yes, March 9th. That is only a week away! It is soon because we were waiting for Cali's home life to settle down a smidge and then I had to hurry up to make sure we beat the Snork. There is less than an month until he is due and we all know that babies don't always pay attention to dates. The main activities will take place during the afternoon at this blog here. But the greatest thing about internet showers is that you don't have to try to guess what the baby food is. No, sorry, I mean the greatest thing about internet showers is that they aren't stuck to a specific time. If you aren't available the afternoon of March 9th, stop by today or next weekend. There is another difference from real showers too. If you are reading this, you are invited to come. And by being invited, you are not required to bring a present. You are encouraged to just send a message welcoming the Snork. If you'd like to send a pen and ink card, contact me for address information. And if you'd like to send a gift, Cali has a registry here or you can contact me for address information if you want to think outside of the registry. (Remember, she likes plaid and her favorite Muppet is Super Grover.) Her registry for the Snork is meant to fill up his bookshelf, so I encourage you to send a message to write inside the book, if you chose to send one. (If you do online ordering, you can email the message to me, I volunteer to do all the hand writing.) Remember, gifts are certainly not required, so feel free just to stop by and send love.

More Fabulous Presents from Awesome People

Thank You

Thank you all so much for this wonderful shower. It meant so much to me. (I don't think I can even begin to explain.) I got so many lovely things, with promises of more to come. It wasn't just the presents (although, who doesn't love presents?), but just the fact that so many people put effort into making me happy. I am one big gooey mess, just oozing with the fact that people really do like me and I have friends.

This isn't over yet. I know a lot of people were busy today. That is the fabulousness of an internet shower! You can't miss it. So no matter when you get here, play along and leave comments. I sat at my computer almost all day long (literally, I think my chair has a Jen shaped hole) and reveled in each comment I got and I will continue to do so. If anything else happens, I'll put up more updates, so check back!

Thank you all so, so much. There aren't enough nice words to express how much this meant to me.

Thank You From Matt

Jen's Magical Internet People,

Thank you sincerely for the generosity you have shown to our new family. Please do not read anything into any pictures of me that were taken during the opening of gifts, I was locked in a real barnburner of a game of NCAA Football 09. I would bet most of you could sympathize with the situation. Jen has literally checked the mail multiple times a day this week and usually comes back in jumping up and down with another package. I watched her stare at her gifts for most of the week, usually egging her on that it's ok if she cheats a bit, but she would not touch them until this afternoon. She carefully opened each one, told me who it was from, and laid out each individual item carefully on the couch while making a very happy and high pitched noise and some random clapping. It's hard moving so often that most of our friends, new and old, are scattered across the country. Having a little event like this meant the world to Jen and I sincerely thank every one who sent gifts and well wishes. I would thank each of you by name, but the list is long and I never get the names correct anyway. So please accept this group thanks from me, our new little girl will feel very spoiled. And I trust that you all know as well as I do, there will be no shortage of pictures of our little girl floating around the internet. I believe I've been instructed to find a way to bring a laptop to the hospital, so you all might be hearing more from me again soon. Thanks very much to all.

Matt

(PS from Jen: He neglected to mention how I would shoot squealing across the house, knocking him out of the way, every time the doorbell rang, in case it was a package. I didn't put up the picture of him yet. But perhaps I will.)

Nursery

You are supposed to show off the nursery at baby showers, right? (I've never been to a real shower, so I don't know anything.)

Here is our crib. The blue matches really nicely with our bedroom. My mom made the little blanket that is hanging over the back.
The dogs are really, REALLY suspicious of the mobile. It moves on its own! It plays music! It shines lights onto the ceiling! Clearly this thing with the innocent looking fish cannot be trusted. We've been playing it for them and they don't bark at it any longer, so there is progress. They still snap to attention and watch it very closely when it is on. Sometimes they growl quietly, to let the suspicious fish know that they are being watched.

Here is a picture of how close my desk is to the crib. This baby is going to be introduced to blogging at a very young age.

Here is our stroller and car seat. I love the color.

And so far, that is mostly all we've bought. I squished some of our clothes together to give the baby some room in our dresser. I've been looking at dresser/changing table combos online (I'm using the registries to hold onto the ones I kind of like, that is why there are a bunch of them in there, don't buy those, they are too expensive!) but I am not sure. Plus, we don't really have room for a big piece of furniture. It is entirely possible that the baby will end up with a changing station on top of that Trin's crate. A smaller changing table might fit into the guest bathroom too. We are also planning on getting the bassinet/cradle (for Matt's family tradition, not because I really think we need one) and the high chair that are on my registry. (Again, I never intended for a single second for anyone to buy those, too expensive. I just had them on there for reference for me.) I really like that high chair. It will match my kitchen and it is just so pretty.

Presents

In no particular order:

I am surprised that you couldn't hear the squealing from where you live. (Unless you did?) Thank you all so, so much. I didn't attach names to presents on this post because I didn't know if you wanted that? (But if you don't mind, let me know and I will put your name up!) I've also had several emails from people saying that their present won't make it today, so I get the fun of surprises all next week too.

Baby Pictures

Matt and I finished having our 3-D Ultrasound this morning. (It took four different tries to get enough pictures of the very stubborn baby.) Here is a link to the rest of the pictures.