Maternity Showers

We've all heard of baby showers. They are such a wonderful American tradition!! Our church makes a point to have a baby shower for each and every baby born. 

But you know what else? We also throw maternity showers! Whenever I tell people about that, they wonder what in world I am talking about, or if maybe as a foreigner I just don't know that's it's supposed to be called a baby shower. But there is a difference, you see!

 "Mother to Bee" party theme courtesy of Pinterest (yes, again!)

 

A maternity shower is a time to celebrate the pregnancy, and pamper mom. As such, the gifts are geared at the expectant mother, such as maternity clothes, personal care items, and some of my favorites: full-body pillows and oversized towels. We typically hold these showers around the 4 to 5 month mark of pregnancy.

When we were expecting Solomon, we had no extra money for me to go out and buy a maternity wardrobe. Both my mother-in-law, as well as my sister-in-law, took me out and bought outfits for me, but that's all I had. This being our first, and me being very morning-sick, I didn't gain any weight at first and was able to wear my regular clothes for a long time. Just as I was about to outgrow them, our church threw a surprise maternity shower for me, and to this day I remember it as one of the best parties I have ever had in my honor. It was a blessing to us at the time, and one we have tried to repay to others.

In all fairness, while we do baby showers for each baby, we only host maternity showers for first-time moms to keep these events from becoming overwhelming as we usually have several pregnant moms at any given time. Besides, anyone with one or more children no longer has time for that many parties, anyway. ;)

 I think one of my favorite things about these showers is the food... 

Sorry, all the pictures are from before the party started - we don't have a staff photographer so it's hard to snap photos once everyone arrives and the fun starts.