Makeup Baby Shower Made Me Cry

Without going into too much detail, our first baby shower, which was put on by a family member, was a VERY costly expense for us (cross country travel and related costs) that ended up being really stressful and kind of heart breaking (didn’t feel particularly surrounded by love or excitement). it was a beautiful shower but obviously cost my mother in law a lot of money and time and barely anyone showed up. It made us weary about continuing with the plans for our home base baby shower with a guest list full of friends. We felt if our family didn’t want to come together, why would “just” friends?

Well that was a silly notion because oh my god the love was REAL at the baby shower that I threw for my damn self (don’t let anyone tell you it’s bad form or dumb to throw your own shower...). With a little help from my closest, sweetest friends, it all came together pretty last minute and almost EVERYONE invited showed up. We asked people to bring books instead of cards and ended up with a stack of baby books filled with sweet and meaningful inscriptions for baby to read for years to come. We ended up with a stack of diapers with hilarious drawings on them for the late night changes. And we ended up with full, happy bellies and hearts. Our friends are our family and any doubts I had about being able to raise this baby among loved ones were totally put to rest. The few family members we have who are supportive and amazing all live so far away, but we are so glad we have friends nearby who we can count on during this big adventure we’re on.

(I thought I was very clever supplying Dad’s root beer)