Surprise - The Unexpected Baby Shower!

How blessed we are! 

It would be one thing if I were writing about a shower thrown for me by my coworkers...but I'm not. I'm here to write about a shower thrown for Mingus and myself by his coworkers a few weeks ago. I feel it's not uncommon for an expecting mother to have a shower from the people she spends so much of her day with through work, but it's so special that Mingus works with people that are this excited for us.

I suppose this just reflects yet another blessing of living in a small town and him working for a family-based business. While Tarter is an international company, the people care about each other and about family. Neither of us knew the shower was planned, but it was all spearheaded by Sheila, who is now his boss, but he has worked alongside in his department since he started at Tarter in 2011. They worked with my mom to get me into the office for the event, which actually worked out pretty easily. My mom makes regular trips to Tarter, as The 10th Planet (our family business) does a lot of work for Tarter. And while I may not work with these people, like Mingus, because I have lived here my entire life a lot of them are people I have known for a number of years (ie, I'm not just "Mingus's wife" to many of those who were at the shower.)

So mom made up some story about visiting a baby consignment shop and asked me to come along (I admit this is the most far-fetched part I had a little trouble with... It's not exactly in my Mom's character to use her non-work time to go on a random shopping trip. She didn't have to make up a reason to stop by Tarter on the way, as she actually did have a delivery to make. But while there one thing led to another and next thing I knew I was walking into one of their conference rooms that was full of smiling faces, pastel baby decorations and a pile of gifts! It was so overwhelming and I did not know what to say! I'm pretty sure I was shaking. Mingus wasn't even there yet and had no idea I was there. I had a chance to sit down, calm down and make sure I knew everyone who was there. It was great to faces to some of the names I hear Mingus mention regularly. They brought him down for a "conference call" shortly thereafter. It was entertaining to hear all of their stories about ways they'd been diverting him all day and leading up to the surprise to be sure no one gave it away.

We got SO much great stuff and the people were so generous; I can't get over it really. We got some awesome blankies--which, surprisingly, we hadn't gotten any regular cuddle baby blankets yet! We even got a handmade quilt in the absolute perfect aqua/green color to go with other stuff I've done in the nursery. I'm in love. We got cloth diapering essentials we were lacking... more clothes, which we don't have a lot of (gender neutral is tough!), some more baskets and such for storage, crib sheets and bath essentials. We also had some awesome group gifts including a walker and a monitor. And then the biggie: our car seat AND the jogging stroller (something we truly did not expect to get yet). Wow!

I still cannot get over the kind of love and support we are receiving from people. It's special for Mingus to know that the people he works with are genuinely happy and excited for him and so many people are praying for us.