My daughter Paige is having her second child (my 8th grandchild) in September. I threw a Baby Shower for her when she was pregnant with River, her first, and was planning to do so again with Baby #2. When I brought this up with her several months ago, she informed me that Showers for second and subsequent children are considered inappropriate, and have been replaced by a Sprinkle. A Sprinkle? Who knew? When *I* was having babies back in the stone age I had a full-on Shower for each of mine. It was awesome! But these days, the mindset seems to be that you get all you primary supply needs met when you have your first Shower, so the celebration that comes after with subsequent children is much smaller, mainly family, and accomplishes the need of filling in the things that are disposable, or replenishable, like diapers, bottles etc. As Paige cloth diapers, and nurses, there's no need. But as this one is a girl, she wouldn't mind getting some girl themed stuff this time around along with a few other things that didn't hold over from last time. (We're giving her a baby swing for example...the one she had with River was second hand and finally gave out, but not before it got more use than any other single baby item, which is why she wants another one.) It's from 1 - 3 today. I'm expecting 20 - 25 people, ...these days the gatherings are typically not gender specific ... with a smattering of toddlers and a couple babies. (That's the other thing that has changed dramatically since I had Baby Showers.....mine only included my female friends, my husband was not in attendance at any of them, and there were generally no kids) I have a couple of my close friends attending, so that I have some help. The food is halfway done, the decorations are almost complete, and Lee (my housemate) is heading out around 10.30 to pick up the cake and the balloons I ordered. I'm heading outside shortly to weed the front garden so that it looks tidy for when the guests arrive (yeah, I know, I'm anal lol!) sweep the back deck (though it's supposed to rain, so folks may not be able to use that area to gather, like I'd hoped they would) and tie some balloons to the mailbox. I will be taking LOTS of pictures. I'll be sure to post some here.
I've never heard of a baby sprinkle before but it seems like a good idea. I hope you're not too tired out after all those visitors. You certainly made the house look nice with the decorations. :-D
Well, it was a success and everyone had fun! A few more photos. Love the cake! Food: Waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive: A Diaper Baby one of her friends made for her: The big brother! A couple of River's cousins: Paige and William: And this is is my favorite shot of the whole day! River is looking for his little sister! He actually lifted up Paige's shirt and said "Sis-er?" (sister?)
Looks like a success! I've never heard of a sprinkle before either! When I had my 3rd and last baby 10 years ago, my eldest daughter and a neighbor threw me a shower. And it was a surprise!
That cake and diaper baby are fantastic aren't they? It looks as though the whole 'sprinkle' was an enjoyable affair for all. Give my best wished to Paige and William and I hope all goes smoothly with the birth. Little River is going to adore his baby sister when she arrives. :-D
Eileen, thank you. Paige is doing something many think controversial, she's having a home birth this time. All 5 of my own children were birthed at home, so the concept is not a new one to her. She has a lovely nurse practitioner/midwife team, has been thoroughly checked by the ob/gyn they partner with, and is ready to go once little Lucy has cooked for 4 - 5 more weeks! She is at the bottom of the risk scale, River's birth was in a hospital and completely uncomplicated and she wanted a home birth with him too, but never having given birth before she wanted to make sure there were no hidden issues about her giving birth before she made that choice. Whether you agree with her choice or not, I hope you'll all wish her much success as she embarks on this new adventure.
Ronni, OF COURSE we wish Paige all the best. It's her decision, her baby. There are a multitude of multi-national honorary aunts and uncles here on the Stew awaiting the birth, so tell Paige we are all pulling for her (or should it be pushing?).
This sprinkle is new to me too. I had showers for each of my pregnancies.... but sounds like fun to me... hope you enjoy your sprinkle and congrats on the new baby.
