Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I made a quick trip to Seattle under the guise of bringing up the rest of the shower gifts from last month's shower here in Texas. What she didn't know was that some of her new friends there had planned a surprise shower for her. Since my mom hadn't seen Meg's new house, I thought it would be fun the sneak her up, too, and surprise Meg. Memaw left a few hours before me and met me at the airport when I got there early Friday evening. When Meg pulled up to get me and jumped out of the car for a hug, Memaw walked out from behind a pillar. You should have heard the screaming! It was so cute! The next morning, I had to get up early so I could wrap gifts and hide them in her car before she got up. I'll spare you ALL the logistical details, but it was about all I could do to get her dressed appropriately and out of the house in time for the shower. Here is a short list.

Hurdles to overcome:

1. Get gifts wrapped and hidden in car. There were 6 from me and one from Memaw. Quite a feat since their house is 2 stories and the garage is detached.
2. Get her out of bed and ready, knowing she would kill me after the fact if I didn't make sure she had on the right clothes and her hair/makeup done. At about 8 months pregnant, those things become less important if all you think you are doing is running out to get a bite to eat.

3. Program address into the GPS without her knowing exactly where we were going.

4. Eddie coming home late (he had a 36 hour rotation and we thought he'd be home well before the time we planned on leaving) and she wanting to wait so she could cook breakfast for him.

5. Meg having already eaten at the decoy restaurant I had chosen to tell her we were going to and saying not only was it not as good as the reviews, but that we were going the wrong way! Who would have guessed out of all the places I could have chosen in Olympia, she would have been to the one I picked?

6.Parking!!!! She didn't want to pay for parking, but drive around and find street parking instead.

Finally we made it and I thought by that time I was going to have a heart attack. We walked in, she looked confused for a second and even after they said "surprise!" still didn't seem to get it was for her! We had a great time and she got lots of fun stuff.

I had finished the smocked dress that I started this summer at grandma camp. She had not seen it and had wanted a dress for the baby to come home in if it was a girl. I wanted to put some lace on it and asked my friend Phyllis if she had any vintage tatting. Her sister, Susan, who taught me to smock, sent some tatting that their paternal grandmother had done. I don't know how old it is, but I would guess around 60-70 yrs. old. It was exactly enough to do 2 sleeves. Another friend, Layce, helped finish the back smocking so I could get the dress made in time and I used a piece of ribbon from the gown that Meg wore when we brought her home from the hospital as the tie in the back. It really turned out better than I expected. The fact that so many friends had a hand in it made it even more special.

Another gift I made for the baby was a book with pictures of our family in it. I think this link may work.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZNGzNmxbOfA

Here are some other pics of the shower.