2 Baby Shower Questions?

So call me boring, or whatever, but I hate baby shower games. I pretty much hate baby showers. I am throwing my stepdaughter a baby shower but it is a couples/family open house combined with a celebration for her brother's graduate school graduation. So, food, a place to gather, a place to leave the presents/cards for each kid (OK they're not kids at 29 and 27, but you know what I mean). This is the closest thing to a "baby shower" I would have agreed to put on for our family.

For a gift - how about a gift certificate for dinner or some other outing she would enjoy?

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I like baby showers only if I'm a good friend of theirs or its family. Hahah! Anyhow, I like the toilet paper game where they rip off how big they think you are around the waist. I also enjoyed the "guess which baby food it is". I don't remember what it is called but people pass around baby food with label torn off and we all guess and write down what kind it is. I ALWAYS get almost every single one of them right. The green beans and peas always throws me for a loop though. LOL! At my shower we played bingo. Instead of bingo it was my daughters name. She would ramble of list of baby items and whoever got my daughters name won. They won a prize then gave it to me. I had a all pink shower and they put ice & soda in a baby bath on table. They cut the watermelon into a bowl with watermelon in it. It was so much fun! As for gift I just wrote my cousin a thank you card. I should have bought her something. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I don't think I did...hmm. But what is she in to? I think an AWESOME gift would be an hour long massage. What girl doesn't like those? If you cannot afford hour, then maybe try for 30 minutes.
Good luck with your pregnancy and have a blast at your shower!

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I hate baby showers, in general. I get out of going to most of them. Hate the games. Hate the small talk. Hate watching the pregnant mom opening presents that she thinks she needs. (I've had 4 and most of the stuff they get is an awful amount of excess.)

I have my baby showers AFTER the baby is born. Everyone gets to hold the guest of honor and I only have to tell the birth story once. Everyone is in and out in 2-3 hours. I've known someone who had a shower and a house full or presents and then the baby died. It was awful. She had a house full of reminders....so all around, I like having mine after the baby shows up.

Take her to an amazing lunch/brunch BEFORE the baby is born, but after the shower.

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Baby shower games are not fun for me.

As for a gift... a gift certificate to go do something she enjoys would be great. I have also done a delivery of an Edible Arrangement a week or so after my shower, which was much appreciated!

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I like the games! My daughter hosted a shower and had a list of animals on a paper for each guest. They had to try and guess what the baby of each animal is called. Such as a deer is called a fawn when its a baby. You can google all the answers to make up your list. I do like the baby food guessing game. Number the top of the jar and take the labels off. Pass them around and see if anyone can figure out which one is which. Then give them to the mom to be to use when her baby starts eating solids. (Make sure they wont expire before then). I also did a shower once where I had each guest bring their own baby picture. Make sure they dont show anyone else but you, and pin them to a wall with numbers and have everyone guess who is who. It did make us all laugh when we had 1 Japanese gal,, and some ladies got her baby picture wrong,,lol. I guess as a thankyou gift it would be nice to treat her to a lovely lunch. And maybe give her a pretty necklace, or earrings in a style you know she likes. have fun!

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Sorry -- I'm really not a game fan at baby or bridal showers. I like to be able to speak with the other guests!

As for a gift for your friend, remember this is her gift to YOU. I would think a heartfelt note, maybe a plant or small tree (to symbolize this new life & your growing relationship?) but nothing extravagant, I wouldn't think.
Best wishes on your new little one!

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I actually can't stand baby shower games. I would rather sit and chat.
For a gift, you could get her a nice gift card to her favorite store, or take her out for a nice dinner?

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1. Depends on the crowd. I like purse bingo. It's like bingo but you call out common items that might be in someone's purse.

2. What does your friend like? A nice floral arrangement is a standard.

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I LOVE baby shower games! Lol. We did one where you had to find the tiny babies in your jello, the "taste the poop" game where you put different chocolate bars into diapers and you have to taste to guess what kind of candy bar it was (so hilarious!!!), blindfolded diaper changing race. For this you have to diaper a doll blindfolded and see who can do it the fastest.

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I have never enjoyed baby shower games.

The only one I think I can stomach.....possibly......is the one where each person gets a clothespin & if you get caught crossing your legs you have to give up the clothespin. The person w/the most clothespins wins.

Maybe do something different like have some fun music, only have it be 2 hrs, don't have everyone watch you open up all of your gifts.

The gift for your friend throwing your shower? A box of her favorite things: magazines, her fave candy, candle, frame, poem, book.
Congratulations btw! Enjoy!

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I like games, but only 2 or so. The purse bingo is fun. The guessing which melted candy bar in the diaper for poop is fun. One I really like (b/c I always win)... is you get 10 mins, and everyone has to right down a name for each letter of the alphabet for the gender of the child the woman is having. So if you are having a girl, they would write down names a-z. After the time is up, every one goes around and says the names, crossing off any duplicates. So, the next person says their names, minus the duplicates. Whoever gets the most original names, wins. It's actually really fun! I despise the guessing the pregnant belly size game with the toilet paper, or making a baby out of a piece of gum.

As for hostess gift, a lovely bouquet of flowers or something.

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I love baby shower games! Love the idea of baby bingo or having people check items off lists while the gifts are being opened. First person to get all items checked off their list wins. Not so big on the ones with a gross factor. As for a thank you gift, I would get her a gift card to her favorite restaurant. Best wishes!

I don't mind the baby games, but any more than 2 and I'm kind of over it. I do like Baby Bingo. My favorite game though was an icecube baby game. They sell really tiny plastic babies in the cake decorating section of Michaels or Walmart. We took those and froze them with water in an icecube tray. After they were frozen solid, we placed them in sandwich bags (not the ziplock kind) and used ribbon (blue or pink if you know the gender) to close the top. Obviously, you stick them back in ther freezer until ready to play. The object of the game is to see who can "break the water" first and deliver the baby. Each person is given the bag with the icecube and given no other instruction other than be creative to get that baby born. It was hillarious. People were sticking the icecube under their arms, in between their legs, in their mouths, etc. The person that won ended up sticking it in the microwave (without the baggie). Everyone was giggling and had a blast.

As far as giving her a gift, I definitely agree with the heart felt card. If you really want to give a gift, then I love KN's idea of a plant to represent new life. I had a few people host my shower and I gave them homemade candles. You could always take your friend out to lunch too.

my favorite baby shower game has always been the one where you try to come up with a list of words that are in your baby's name. And of course, the clothespin game, every time someone says "baby", "adorable" or some other word that you hear a million times at your shower, you get to take one of their clothespins.

A good gift? Think of something you know she will love... a nice necklace and earrings set, a manicure, something tailored to her specifically.

Have fun, enjoy your shower, and congratulations!

I dont love the games either....

Too much work. lol I just want to eat and talk and look at baby stuff. :)

Maybe a giftcard to her fav store or restaurant? Im sure yes doesnt expect anything though!

YES, I like games... I think showers get boring without them!!!!

I would get your friend a gift card to a spa...If she doesn't like spas, does she get her hair done? Gift card to her hair salon..If that doesn't work, take her out for the day...Go to lunch together, get your nails/feet done, then take her to a movie..

The best game I ever played at a baby shower was a Mad Libs of the story of how the parents met. It was a scream!

Congrats on your pregnancy!

Shower w/ just family: Games are a riot! The sillier the better!
Shower w/ friends that don't all know each other...can be somewhat awkward (or a icebreaker) depending on the crowd...ya' know? ;)

My favorite: the poopy diaper game. Melt several different candy bars in (different) diapers and everyone has to guess what kind it is.

Not a fan of tasting baby food, but you can guess by looking and smelling. We did this at our last shower and it was a lot of fun.
We always chat during the games-who sits in silence?

Wouldn't do more than 2 or 3. And one be a super simple one like how many TP squares to go around mom's belly. Or have everyone bring a baby pic of themselves...have to guess who's who.

Have fun! :)

Gift? W/o knowing your friend, my only (lame) suggestion would be a Starbucks giftcard or something like that...

I think some games are nice. I wouldn't do too many otherwise it seems overwhelming.
The most common game I think is Baby Bingo. You fill in the bingo card with items you think the mom will get as gifts.
Another pretty common one is the baby name. You give each guest a pin or beaded necklace and everytime you hear someone say the word baby or your baby's name you can take their pin/necklace. At the end of the shower whoever has the most wins
Also, the dirty diaper game. You take a few diapers, number them and melt a candy into it, you then have the guests try and guess what it is just by looking at it and smelling it.
You can also have a ball of yarn and have the girls each cut a piece that they think is how big mommys belly is.
As far as a gift I agree with T.B. the shower is supposed to be for you there should be no need for a gift. Just a special note in her thank you card.