an itty bitty baby party

A long overdue post...

Back in the beginning of November, we threw a little party as a way of telling our friends our baby news.

Never mind that I was still really sick at that time... I had it in my mind that we should do something special, and I was determined to get the house clean and appetizers made and make it a real occasion even if I had to take breaks from cutting fresh veggies to run for the bathroom and puke from time to time.

Since the party was in honor of Baby, I of course thought all the food should be miniature.

I made quite a few things, but I also cut myself some slack and bought pre-made things to make the whole process a little easier.

The sweet things: mini fall-colored sugar cookies, mini milano cookies, mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's, and mini Oreos and fig newtons.

The savory things: "teeny weenies" (Nathan's favorite appetizer food ever), mini tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole, and mini pretzel twists with mustard. And mini soda cans and water bottles to quench our guests' thirst.

The centerpiece: mini pumpkin bouquets, mini pumpkins and gourds, and our announcement photo.

The amazing cheese tray my friend Melissa (who was already in on the Baby news) brought. Some of the crackers were only about a half inch long... definitely the cutest, mini-est cheese tray ever made.

I made mini fruit kebabs on toothpicks.

And a tray of small veggies: baby carrots, celery, mini cucumbers cut into rounds, peppers, and teeny cherry tomatoes, garnished with mini sweet peppers from Trader Joe's.

And that was our itty bitty baby party.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the part that really mattered: the guests! We had some wonderful friends come, including Cara and Gregg, Melissa and Roman, Mary and Jeff, Joe, Chaz, Katie and Marc, Kevin and Sarah, Jillian, Hannah, Greg, and some students Nathan knows well from his work at Gordon, including Ellen and Maggie.

Even our church choir director Dan stopped by. He, a middle-aged unmarried man, was a bit confused by the announcement photo, but after Gregg explained, "It's a picture of shoes. Sarah's shoes, Nathan's shoes, and look, a very small pair of shoes in the middle. So small they might fit a baby. A baby who is not yet with us to wear them, but perhaps soon will be..." And at last Dan exclaimed, "Is this an announcement? Hurray!" and we all laughed.

All in all, it was a lot of work for a sick, pregnant woman, but I had lots of help from Nathan and Andrew, who took on all the cleaning while I prepared the food.

We thought Baby deserved a nice announcement party, and in the end, it was more than worth the effort.

We're glad you're in our lives, Baby, and we're looking forward to meeting you in May!