A Time to Nest

Though Ava is not due for another month, I am officially on maternity leave until June! (Not bad California!) Assuming Ava is on schedule of course. My job has been insanely hectic these last couple months since my boss left the company and I took on his role in addition to my previous one. Now that I will finally have some time to myself, there are so many things I want to accomplish. First of all, we are in the middle of major remodeling (we have to finish the nursery!) so of course that will take up the majority of my time for the next few weeks. But one project that has been hanging over my head is our wedding album that I am determined to finish before I have to start working on a baby book. I also want to start cooking more. I haven't really cooked much since Alex is home all day while I'm at work with an hour commute each way. But now it will be my turn to be the domestic housewife, if only for a few months. Oh, and in the next month or so I will also be caring for a newborn, and from what I hear that can be a pretty demanding job by itself, so we'll see how long I'll be cooking and cleaning during this limited "nesting" phase.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Holiday cookie party time!

For the last several years, one of my best friends Jenne (who hosted my adorable little birdie baby shower) throws a fantastic holiday cookie party. We each bake about three dozen cookies that we bring to share so that we end up with a sample of everyone's goods.

But the best part, everyone agrees, are the many, many sugar cookies Jenne provides that we decorate together. There are some very talented artists in the group, and my humble works pale in comparison, but here are some of my own sparkly-sprinkled favorites:

Jenne has the best cookie cutters and frosting colors! How about an ugly cookie sweater contest?

A Mad Hatter Tea Party Baby Shower Game

I'm planning a Mad Hatter baby shower for one of my besties. She doesn't want to play any of the traditional shower games but she suggested another game that would be appropriate for the party's theme: Since the white rabbit was always talking about being late and looking at a clock, the mother-to-be will pick an activity from a hat whenever the timer goes off at random intervals throughout the party.

Here are the activities I came up with:

1. Everyone move two seats to the left.
2. Everyone move one seat to the right.
3. Everyone switch seats with the person who has the closest birthday to your own.
4. Caucus Race: Walk clockwise around the table, and when Katie shouts "Stop" the last one to find a chair is out.
5. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Everyone write down a silly riddle. Katie will choose the most outlandish as the winner.
6. Contrariwise Violet: Everyone must refer to baby Violet by her backwards name (Teloiv) until the timer goes off for the next activity.
7. Name Contrariwise: Everyone must call each other by her backwards name until the timer goes off for the next activity.
8. The Mad Hatter said, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” Katie will ask someone a baby-related question and she must give the opposite answer.
9. Contemplate things that begin with the letter M: You have 3 minutes to write down as many things related to babies as you can that begin with the letter M. The person who can name the most is the winner.
10. Pass a box of bloomers around while the music plays. The person who ends up with the box when the music stops will have to wear the bloomers until the timer goes off for the next activity.
11. Everyone sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a group.
12. The first person to write down 6 impossible things wins.
13. Whoever can dance the Lobster Quadrille wins.
14. Whoever can do the Mad Hatter's dance wins.
15. Who Is the Queen of Hearts: Each person will draw a card until someone draws the Queen of Hearts. Musical chairs version of the "I Never" game: Move one chair from the table. Katie starts by saying something that she has never done before. If anyone in the circle has also not done that thing before, they have to get up and change seats. The person who does not have a seat is the next person to say something they have never done before. Play this game until there are no seats left around the table.

What do you think? Can you think of any others? How many would you recommend so that we get through all the activities during the party?