Austrian Babyshower

One of the things that I really liked in the US were my baby showers. Although it was a little weird to me to tell people what they should buy us (register) and I had to get used to that, I in the end really liked it. And I enjoyed the events and the idea behind it: to get together to celebrate the mom to be and the baby that will soon be part of the family. I was lucky to have several showers and sprinkles for both of my children and I would like to thank everybody involved one more time for all their effort and support. It was really special, because all my family was far away during that time. Thank you!

So when I got to Austria I decided to bring this tradition with me. I decided to host a baby shower for my friend Maria who was due April 19th with her second baby.
And here were my preparations:

• I first checked with Maria if she would like to have something like this and she loved the idea.
• I then made a list of guests with her and contacted them. As we were running short on time I just called them all, explained what I had in mind and asked them to be part of it. All except one were able to come! 
• I made a reservation at the Panorama Restaurant for Saturday morning brunch for the 9 of us. As most of us have children, an evening event was a little difficult - morning seemed better. And I decided against hosting at my house as we are still in the process of moving in.
• I asked my mother in law to buy me some decorations in the US (thanks Barbara) and to send them over here with my cousin who happened to visit her at the end of March. They were super cute and the staff at the restaurant put them up for us the night before.
• I prepared a little speech for the beginning and I searched for some games (guess the belly size, come up with baby names, etc.). I also gathered some funny prizes for the winners (Reba CD for example - thanks Trina).
• And I wrote out some "presents" on little cards for everybody to give to Maria. As we did not know what she was having and as people usually come and visit after the baby is born in Austria and might bring a little outfit or something small then, presents were not really part of the shower. But I decided to come up with my own version of MamaCare for her! I wrote out 8 little favors like "I will come and watch the kids one day so you can take a shower", "I will come and cook for you one day", "I will come and play with Vinzenz one day so you can enjoy some alone time with the baby", etc. Then everyone had to pick one card, read it out loud, write in their name and hand them to Maria. 

Overall the morning was a big success. We all got out to spend some quality time without our little ones, enjoyed some good fun and had some good laughter. Maria can hopefully use all her vouchers to get some sanity in the coming months!

And I am glad we did have the shower last week, because baby Silvester was born on Thursday morning. Welcome little man!