Baby Brother Bash

Second children can sometimes get a bum deal. After all, with first children, most moms have at least one (if not more) baby shower where they celebrate the upcoming birth of their new baby and are blessed with many nifty, neat, and new items to use to care for that baby. Many soon-to-be moms spend hours and hours painting and decorating a nursery and making sure everything is perfect for their expected arrival. I was no different.

However, when it comes time to have the second baby, things are a bit different. While I am no less excited about baby #2 than I was about baby #1, the truth is that I just don't need very much stuff. Jaden was born a scant 19 months ago, so we still have the car seat, the swing, the playmat, the bouncy seat, the boppy, the toys, and the clothes, especially since baby #2 is another little boy.

So, what to do? I didn't want anyone to feel obligated to throw me another shower, but I still wanted to celebrate the life of this new baby. So, I contacted a good friend of mine, Tasha Tyner, who is in a similar situation. She has one son who is soon to be 3 years old and is due with her second son a few weeks after me. We put our heads together and decided we would throw ourselves a "Baby Brother Bash" at their home in Dripping Springs.

We invited all our local friends out for a good old fashioned backyard cookout. The Tyners have a big playscape and also provided a sand box and two baby pools for all the kiddos to play on and in. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had all the fixin's, including potato salad, chips, fruit salad, peach cobbler, and chocolate chip cookies. We watched the kids play, ate the yummy food, and fellowshipped together for several wonderful hours on a warm June Texas evening.

Even though Jaden has no clue what having a baby brother means, he still enjoyed the party. . .

The sand box fascinated him for a good 30 minutes straight, even though no one else was playing with him.

All the playing made him hot and sweaty, so the next order of "business" was a dip in the pool.

Tristan showed off his new playscape.

A testament to how good Tasha's cookies were.

After dinner, Jaden took a go at the playscape himself.

Who knew the biggest hit of the evening would be ice in a bucket?

Thanks to all our wonderful friends and family who came out to the bash and brought little diapers to cover the little butts that will soon be needing attention. We look forward to announcing our little guy's arrival!!!!!!!