Baby Shower Decorum

     Last week a friend of ours held a shower for my friend, Christy, who is expecting about 4 weeks before we are.  It was a lovely, low-key sort of party that was really more of a girls' night in rather than a shower.  It was a lot of fun, but why - you may ask- did she not get a blowout shower like I did?  Because she has a child who is not yet three years old.  It was only upon the insistence of her close friends that there was a shower at all.
     I think this is an outdated custom we are best rid of.  Traditionally, you only get a shower for your first child, or sometimes if many years separate your children like mine (8.5 years).  It is assumed that you still have everything that you will need.  But babies are expensive.  There is always something you have given away or lost.  And what about diapers?  Wipes?  Formula?  And most of all --- what about the celebration of bringing a new life into this world.  It's just an exciting time.  Every expecting mom deserves a shower, whether it's her first child or her tenth.  We need to rewrite those etiquette books.  Who's with me?

I'm a Halloweener

     The time has come to start figuring out Halloween costumes.  My eight-year-old son, Ridley, has decided to be Joe Dirt.  How amazing is that?  I cannot wait to see this.  We have a friend who was Joe for Halloween a few years ago and still has the wig, so that's covered.  Next, we will have to put together an outfit.  We are thinking a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off over a white t-shirt or wife-beater.  Then, all we will need is to draw on a scruffy goatee and presto---little Joe.  Don't worry, I will definitely post pictures.
     I really need some ideas for a costume for me that will accentuate and possibly poke fun at my giant belly.  I really don't want to bare the belly, though, and most ideas I've seen on websites involve a bare belly with things drawn on it.  That just really grosses me out for some reason, and I just really don't want my big vulnerable belly hanging out for all the world to see.

 

 



     I'm sorry, but the above picture and those like it are just...yuck.  Not doing that.  And if the baby starts moving you have a gyrating, distorted pumpkin.  No.  A couple ideas I've thought of are Pregnant Prom Queen 80s style, and Pregnant Schoolgirl.  Both are verging on inappropriate, but I think cute nevertheless.  Halloween is supposed to be an irreverent holiday. 
     I could really use some feedback on this.  I know I have a lot of lurkers, because I can see how many people view this page!  So, come on!  A little help here!