I guess every year they put on a baby shower for the wives of 2/5 and since our husbands are deployed with them we got invited too. You could go if you're prego (obviously) or if you have a baby that is younger than 6 months. There were about 25 ladies there in total. The shower was put on by Operation Help our Heros and Rancho Santa Margarita (their city "adopted" 2/5). There were 2 volunteer groups that helped set up, watch kids, and I'm sure donated a lot of stuff. I seriously don't know how they got ALL the stuff they did!
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part of the room, they had really funny balloons in the shape of pacifiers and bottles:P |
We played a bunch of sick games, like the one where they melt candy bars in diapers and you have to guess what candy it is. Guess who won with 9 out of 10?...ME!! I totally know my candy hahah I had first pick of the smaller prizes:) I grabbed an Infantino baby carrier. Then we decorated onsies, they had a contest for most artistic, most moto, funniest, etc. I knew I wasn't going to win cause I couldn't think of anything so I just tried to make it cute enough to put on my baby. We did a relay game, a "price is right" game, and then did a raffle for some larger prizes. My number got called first! So I picked a pack n play cause I want one but I didn't really want to pay $100+ for one so if I could get one for FREE that would be awesome! Plus it's brand new! woohoo! Everyone had their number called, it was just who got called first that got a better pick of the prizes. They also had a surprise video with messages from all the daddies to their wives, of course Jon wasn't in it. It's just our luck. They went to the Essex first to film, and when they were going to go to the Germantown, that's when the earthquake hit. I was 1 of 3 that didn't get to see their husbands.
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cute lil cuppy cake some volunteers made, de-lish! |
They had lunch catered with yummy paninis fruit, pasta salad, home made potato chips, and 3 kinds of cupcakes and some other chocolate treats that 2 volunteers made. They had a lady from a massage place come and gave us shoulder/neck massages as we ate. There were also lots of lady's there to hold babies and watch older kids so moms who already had kids could kick back and relax.
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my bounty haha they had spots out in the hall to keep all our stuff cause everyone got so much! |
They had tons of smaller prizes for the games we played and larger prizes we got from the raffle, PLUS the huge gift bag and gift basket we got just for going. They also gave us that little yellow bag that had goodies for me like cozy socks, awesome hand sanitizer(perfect for my diaper bag!), a gift card to target, and a few other goodies. They also had a table of second hand gear, clothes, books, and toys that we could just grab on our way out. I grabbed a cute cowgirl outfit. I was so content I didn't feel the need to grab more though I should have stuck around to see what was leftover. This is so helpful especially because a lot of us Marine Wives are tight on cash and most like me aren't working.
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laid all my goodies out when I got home, I didn't even know what all I got haha |
I am SO thankful for the ladies that put this on! Jon and I are young and this is our first baby. So we're starting from scratch. All of the stuff is so helpful and it made me feel a little more prepared. Especially the bigger stuff like the pack n play and carrier. I love that I'll have the hand made blankets, hat, and socks to show my daughter when she gets older that some very nice women made them for me when her daddy was a marine. This is definitely something I will always remember!
I miss you hunny, and even though you probably wouldn't have gone with me I'm sad you weren't here to see me drool over all this stuff! Can't wait for you to get home so you can see it all yourself.
Last year raul and i made to huge baby baskets and delivered them to camp pendelton. I think the organization was called operation baby baskets. anyway I am SOOO happy you got some cool stuff. starting out from scratch is hard, but save everything and if some offers you something, take it. you can always get rid of it if you dont like it. hope all is well. and i am so jealous of your girl!
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT!!!! I am really glad that they did that for you!!! Sounds like such fun and lots of cool stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteShayne: Thats rad, I've wanted to volunteer in some way with Camp Pendleton since I moved down there. I was going to do a "big brother/big sister" thing while Jon was deployed to keep me distracted. but when I got prego I didn't think I would wind up keeping with it and I didn't want to flake on the kiddos so I'm putting it off..but i love hearing of people helping out! thank you! I will grab what I can when things are offered to me from now on haha
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