Living in a new country with a baby on the way is hard. Especially when few of your family or friends are nearby. I am so lucky to have a friend like Dianne who coordinated a baby shower for me even being so far away from everyone. Complete with everyone via Google Hangout, decorations, games, presents and cupcakes, it was everything I could have wanted!
^^Right before the shower, we had our first Sunday lunch since being in England. A's sister and her bf stayed over the weekend and took over the cooking. Plus there's A putting together the decorations.
^^Look at those Yorkshire puddings! So good!
^^Filling up my plate and loading on the gravy.
^^Yum
^^Then it was time to set up the computer & TV for the shower!
^^Andrea had fun with Google Effects.
^^Here's the setup we had, facing the laptop/camera and seeing everyone on the TV. Notice A's cardboard construction to hang up some of the decorations since we have very high ceilings. It worked so that no one could see it except for those of us in the room!
^^After a quick pregnancy update and baby trivia, it was time for the best part! I bought 5 different kinds of baby food for A to try. He didn't need the blindfold though!
^^Lol, this may have been the cauliflower & cheese, it smelled so bad. Surprisingly he liked the fisherman's bake which was tuna, corn, tomatoes, etc. gross! I am definitely making my own baby food for Baby Senso!
^^Next it was time for gifts, and A loved his Baby on Board sign for the car!
^^Checking out some of the gifts, these are the special edition UK Little Princess baby bottles, so cute!
^^And we took a group screenshot with everyone, though a little blurry!
^^After our goodbyes, it was time to devour these funfetti cupcakes complete with rainbow chip frosting I've been saving since it has been discontinued.
^^Goofing around afterwards since A was not willing to pose for any pics.
Thank you to everyone who joined the shower.
Baby Senso is already so loved and spoiled and we cannot wait for her arrival!!
If you happen to live far away from a friend and are thinking about how to put together a shower, here is what Dianne included in our virtual baby shower to give you some ideas. It lasted a total of about one hour and included people from 4 time zones from the UK, Italy to Boston & Connecticut & Texas.
- The best way to be able to see and hear everyone at the same time that is free is via Google Hangout. You can use up to 10 total accounts. We only had a couple of problems with people dropping in and out, but nothing too major.
- Dianne sent me a box full of goodies including wrapped presents, decorations (the onesie garland & Baby Senso garland), and cards with wishes for the baby and words of encouragement. All with instructions on what to do with it all.
- Once everyone was in the hangout here was the agenda:
- Introductions
- Update on the pregnancy & baby
- Baby Trivia (found here)
- Baby Food Game for Dad
- Opening Gifts
- Goodbyes
- It was the perfect way to get everyone together and even though we weren't in the same room, it was still a great celebration and would not have been possible without all of the coordination of Dianne! Thank you so much DL! :)