Baby Shower

A few weeks ago, my dear friends Eleanor, Eva and Jen threw a shower for me at my parents' home. The party was beautiful - fresh flowers, baby bootie petit fours from Stein's, champagne Mimosas, homemade girly hor d'oeuvres and lots of friends from all different phases of my life. What a wonderful way to celebrate our baby girl.

The hostesses and I started talking about a shower a few months ago when the time frame for an adoption like ours was much shorter. As our wait became longer, I was hesitant to commit to a date until it felt right. I think lots of adoptive parents struggle with the same thing. We don't want to be ill-prepared, but we don't want to get the nursery ready and fully-stocked only to have it sit empty for weeks or months. And we are scared to celebrate an arrival that could be delayed again and again.

For me, the time finally felt right, and the shower was October 19th. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of my family and friends. As I opened gifts and everybody oohed and aahed, this whole baby girl thing became very real. A couple of different times during the shower, I lost it and boo-hooed. Not dainty, lady-like tears, but serious awed-by-the-miracle-of-this-baby tears. I realized that our little girl is already loved by so many people. Family, friends and neighbors are all excited for her to get here. Can't wait to get you home, baby sister.