Surprise!!!

At the last minute, several of her sneaky friends and I got together last night to throw Jessel a surprise baby shower at my home, on a weeknight! Here's a blurry picture, but it definitely shows how shocked she was!


It was pure joy for us to be so sneaky and plan this rather last-minute shower. Jessel is at 37 weeks! It was also easy to plan this event because all of her wonderful friends helped me make the dinner and dessert!

The theme of the shower was Asian-Inspired. So, the appetizers were sushi, egg rolls, and thai steamed dumplings. The main course was Thai Basil Chicken and the dessert was Mango with Sticky Rice. I had a lot of help in the kitchen! Also, I found cheap, creative, ways to decorate!

I call this: My Zen.
Picture frame (gift from sister-in-law)
with rocks ($1 bag at Michaels) and votive candle.

Free branches outside with silk flower petals ($0.99) that I cut off the flower tips and glue-gunned to the real branches. Add a green bird ($1.99, both from Michaels.) I call this Cambodian Cherry Blossom.

Floating Zen.

One thing I love about Jessel is that she's always introducing her favorite people to her favorite people. She is about connecting people. So, short of one person invited to this event, I already knew everyone. And the one new friend? Well, after meeting Andrean for 30 seconds, I already knew we would be gal pals.

We had fun together on a Girls Night Out, playing games and being quite competitive. Tanya and Silke were neck-in-neck, and here Tanya is calculating exact measurements to the "Guess how big my belly is?" game.


Jessel got the best prize---all her gifts, which were mostly practical. We thought with baby #3, that she would more likely need all the essentials like diaper rash cream and baby tylenol, since she already has a lot of Joey's boy clothing and toys.


So, my gift was all the practical stuff---but travel-size. Since Jessel is the world traveler, I figure it'll be no time at all before she takes baby #3 to a third world country. A creative idea is to find a $1 basket and pack it with wonderful travel sized baby items: Burts Bees travel items, wipes, saline, shampoos, and some diapers to go! Put a bow and a handmade stamped card (save yourself $4 at the store) and they will appreciate it more because it was especially made.



Jessel actually declined my earlier offer to give her a shower, (I felt that way too with my second boy) but as she was getting closer to her due date, Amy and I thought every baby needs to be celebrated so we secretly plotted with Sheli, her sister & Rob, the husband, to make it all come together. Praise God we were able to celebrate the newest miracle to the Newton family, and it also gave Jessel a chance to see everyone before the craziness of the newborn. She really felt blessed, and so did we!