Baby Mama Shower Drama

Due to the large size of our family (our Mom is one of eight and our Dad is one of fifteen) we planned two showers for Kate.  Our Aunt Anne offered to host our father’s side of the family for one shower while Aly (who was in her first trimester of pregnancy) and I began to prepare the baby shower for the other side of the family and Kate’s friends.  We planned an evening garden party at Aly’s new home.  Kate had a vision of what she wanted her second shower to be and we were trying to accommodate her wishes.

Just a note of warning when you are dealing with two pregnant (read:  very hormonal) sisters where one is very sensible and the other is a bit more eccentric – it may be wise to either limit their involvement and hire professionals to help you execute everything or as one of my uncle’s was quoted as saying on his daughter’s wedding day:  “my job is to shut up, suit up, show up and bring a checkbook.”

The day of the shower arrived.  Kate, her friend Andria who flew in from Michigan, and I met at Aly’s to help with the preparations.  We repurposed many of the decorations from Kate’s wedding and got the majority of the set up completed.  Home for a quick shower /outfit change and back for final prep.

Here’s where it all went pear-shaped…

Aly has a lovely dog, Lucy, but she is an alpha female and extremely protective.  We had her in the backyard with us as we finished the set up.  Along came the stray cat and Lucy was off like a rocket!  So imagine my brother-in-law’s surprise to return home from an errand to see his sisters-in-law, one heavily pregnant, running down the street after his dog.  We sighed a breath of relief when he returned home with the dog, but felt terrible upon learning she bit another dog during her great escape.

Things settled down a bit until a tablecloth caught on fire which, of course, Kate ran to put out.  Again, a seven month pregnant woman running…not a good thing.  While some of us worked to repair the damage, get the food and drinks set up, Kate and Aly due to soaring hormones had a bit of a crying jag over the drama. Harkin back to my warning on dealing with two pregnant sisters.

All ended well as the disasters stopped before the guests arrived.  Everyone was delighted with the food and beverages.  No one noticed the burnt tablecloth.  We pulled off another “Quinn Girl Extravaganza” and we have a great story to tell Kate’s daughter Nora when she grows up.

Oh right, I almost forgot about the antique platter I dropped… I still am looking for a replacement for that.

-Aunt Heather