Today is the Day!

Dear Friends,

Can you believe the day of the shower is finally here?! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Thank you to each of you for sharing your time and talents to make this happen. You took a simple idea and turned it into something much greater... something magical. You are an extraordinary group of ladies and I feel blessed for having had the chance to be a part of this with you.

According to Susan, the shower will take place at 8pm tonight (Pacific Time). Since I'm a list-maker by nature, here's my to do list for today:

*Streamline the blog a bit - I plan to take it down to only one post showing, which will be a welcome post for Leslie and the guests. That post will include links to the baby shower games and the blogs of everyone involved. I will also remove the personal information for Leslie and Amanda. Of course, anyone who is interested can cruise through the older posts. I will also include the url for the chatbox which pulls it up full screen, in case anyone is interested.

*Write the welcome post. Chelle, would you like to help with this one?

*Test the links.

*Write my personal blog post about the shower (everyone should do this one) and wait until 8 pm to publish it. I think you can schedule a post to publish at a specific time so it will do it automatically... If you use blogger, there is a "Post Options" link at the bottom of your post next to the Labels box. When you click it you can choose the time it will publish (make sure you adjust for time zones, if necessary), then hit "Publish Post". I will also be including the amazing link button that Wendi created. (Thanks!)

*Make the blog public at 8pm.

Am I forgetting anything? At 8:00 when all of the blogs are published, you might pop into your friends' blogs and invite them to stop by Showers of Blessing and leave a comment for Leslie. Then, sit back and chat. Can you imagine how fun and crazy it will be with all of us online at the same time? I can't wait.

Have a blessed day! Hugs, Dawna

More on Amanda (plus a little housekeeping)

I know many of you have been praying for Amanda today and some of you have expressed an interest in contacting her. I asked her for permission to share her information and she agreed, as long as we take it down before the blog goes public.


Also, several of you have raised good questions about what will happen on the shower day. Remember that we're making this up as we go along (so far, so good); I'm thinking that everyone will write a blog post(can be done ahead of time) and publish at the same time. In that post will be a link to the shower site, which we will make public at that time (does anyone know how to create a link button?). We'll have the chatbox up and running (I'll repost the direct link if you want it larger so its easier to read), and anyone who's available can hang around and chat it up with Leslie. It sounds like Susan will be visiting Leslie to deliver treats and presents, and I'm guessing we could twist her arm and talk her into taking lots of fabulous photos. There will also be some on-line baby shower games going on, with fabulous prizes from Chelle, Fairlight, and Katie (we've seen how creative and talented this group is... who wouldn't want to win one of their prizes?!). If anyone has any suggestions for making the shower more interactive, please speak up. Like I said, we're making this up as we go along.

I'm still making changes to the video, so if you want to add anything please try to get it to me by noon (PST) on Thursday 10/2. Onetruevideo isn't liking my file, but I'm still working on a solution for getting the video to play full-screen. Again, suggestions welcome.

Hugs and Blessings to you all! ~Dawna

New Feature

Hello, dear friends. I have been working this morning to make it easier for everyone to stay updated on what is going on with this shower. I've never done anything like this shower before, so I am definitely learning and making things up as I go, but here's what I did.

I went through all of the old posts and added tags, and on the right you will see a list of blog posts by tags. I know the list isn't perfect, but I tried to be consistent. Now if you have questions about the messy journal, you should be able to find the posts related to it. Same for other topics.

I hope this helps. I know it's been tough for those who joined later to get caught up and I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner. If I have any of the posts mislabeled or you have a suggestion for something that will work better, please let me know. Special thanks to Wendi for the nudge to do this, and (per her suggestion) it would also be a great idea to use the links when discussing an idea.

Have a wonderful week! ~Dawna

Don't Forget

Hello, wonderful ladies. I have had so much fun meeting new people through this blog! As I was getting a little more familiar with a few of you today, I noticed the Showers of Blessing blog is visible under your profile. I'm guessing that Leslie doesn't get to do much blogging right now, but just to be safe you might want to hide it until the shower date. Directions are provided here:

http://showersofblessingforcade.blogspot.com/2008/08/arent-we-sneaky.html

And if you have any questions feel free to post them (here or in the chatbox), or email me or Chelle or Fairlight.

Thank you so much, ladies, for being such a blessing not only in Leslie's life... but also in mine. Leslie once said to me that blogging friends "get entwined in each others' lives and know each others' hearts". Eloquently put by our dear friend. Blessings to you all! ~Dawna

We have the ever-so-sly Nick working on our behalf...

As soon as he lets me know when he can "lock-down" Leslie at home (not before Sept. 20th), I'll let you all know. :-)

Let's try this again....

MSN Messenger worked... sort of. Not everyone could get it to work right, and I have been receiving error messages too. Since we have a little time to play around before the shower date (have we decided on 9/20? 9/27? I know we're trying to work around her dr. appts.), I thought I'd try another option. On the sidebar is a CBox chat room. When you get a moment, please try it out. If it doesn't work the way we want, we'll try something else. (My computer genius brother will be home from Liberia around midnight tomorrow, so I can always ask him.) I will find a way for us to communicate!!!! Thanks for your help, ladies. :-)

PS- If it looks like it works fine, we can add a link directly to the chat in our individual blogs using this link: http://showersofblessingfor.cbox.ws/ . Just remember to wait until the day of the shower to post the link so we don't spoil the surprise.

MSN Messenger

You may have noticed that I have added a new button for MSN Messenger on the sidebar (thanks for the great idea, Katie!), now I just need someone to test it out since I can't IM myself. I believe you need an MSN id to sign in (hotmail, live, or msn e-mail address) but you can sign up for one for free if you need to. As soon as we know the button is working correctly, we can move it to a more aesthetically pleasing location on the page.

Let me know if it works and what you think.

What Would You Like the Shower to Look Like?

Expectations???

In the comments in the last post, we loosely started tossing around the "when" and "hows".

Here's what I'm initially thinking: to have a hard, fast date & time (when you all can "hang out online" at the same time), it will probably have to be a Saturday or Sunday (perhaps the 20th or 21st?). Weekdays are too "iffy" with all of Leslie's doc appointments. If it's a weekend date, I can pull Nick into the secret to guarantee Leslie's presence at a particular time.

So, what say you all?? What would you like this to look like?

I'm fairly flexible in terms of timing (I'm only unavailable mid-late afternoon weekdays).

Just a thought.....

What would you ladies think if we gave each girl a task - for example Chelle - quilts, Amanda - shoes, Andi - journal, someone else Rylans gift, maybe someones else could send Leslie something special, etc....
That way each of us can have a "job" and we do not have too many duplicates!
Any thoughts or ideas.....

Here is the link to Leslie's registry at Target, in case that might be useful. I see she registered for a boppy cover.... I have a pattern for a boppy cover and perhaps that is what I'll make. I was also thinking about picture frames. And burp cloths. And jammies. And about 20 other things.

I also love these, but since Chelle already ordered adorable shoes and I've never made these I think I'll probably skip this one. (But aren't they sweet?)

What do you think about posting a to-do list/responsibility chart on the sidebar? We could remove it before the blog goes public, but it may help us stay organized.

Example:

• Quilt- Chelle


• Journal- Andi


• Gift delivery/IRL coordinator- Susan

We could add a timeline, or not, depending on our needs.

Aren't we sneaky...

So ladies, as you have heard, the idea is to keep this blog a total secret from Leslie until reveal day. But if we all have it listed under our blog profiles, I am afraid she will be a little more than suspicious.

But this the coolest thing. If you

1. go to your Dashboard

2. click on Edit Profile

3. then scroll down a few options and it says " Show Blogs To Display "

4. unselect Showers of Blessing

5. poof, like magic it disappears from your profile, but not your dashboard...


Thanks for keeping our not so little secret safe, ladies!

Welcome

Welcome
Welcome to our virtual online baby shower
for our lovely friend, Leslie,
and her darling little one, Cade.

Our main purpose is to shower Leslie with love and adoration
and to bless her in the same way
that she blesses so many of us.

We want to help Leslie prepare for the arrival of little man Cade.

Here is a little of our plan to date:

~ set up a temporary blog on which we can collaboratively work,
every online blogging friend will have access to this blog
and can post their ideas and finished items.

~ Having each blogging friend prepare a special post
and link to the baby shower blog on the day of the shower.

~Coming up with a collaborative gift for Leslie and Cade from the group.
Chelle is already working on quilts for Rylan and Cade
and is willing to allow us to participate in some way to make it a group gift.
(Possibly by contributing fabric that she specifies or donating towards the
total cost of the quilt.)

~ Finding out what baby items Leslie still needs and coordinating their
collection and delivery.


Here are some facts that we know:
~Susan of "Short on Words" has most generously
agreed to be our real life go-between.
She is going to be collecting all of our gifts and then
delivering them to Leslie.
She will also be our subtle sleuth for finding things out for us. :)

~Leslie is registered at Target.

~Rylan & Cade will be sharing a room.
The walls are staying the same beautiful muted green, but the pink is coming out.
Everything is being replaced by primary colors,
with a retro toy-like feel,
alphabet letters framed around the room.

{You can view Leslie's first post about the nursery decorating
here and a new one should be coming soon
as she and Nick were busy swapping things
out on Saturday.}

~ Baby Boy clothes are a necessity at this point.
(Does any one know Leslie's preference on this stuff?
No logos, cutesie animals, etc?)


Here are a few more ideas we are tossing around:

~ Asking each person to include a children's book
to help start baby Cade's library.
Maybe really "boy" books such as
Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel,
Norman the Doorman,
the Billy and Blaze series,
Curious George, etc.
Primary colors and vintage or contemporary illustrations
would be an extra bonus. :)

~ Each person using the fabrics Chelle is using in the quilt
to personalize little things for Cade such as:
little onesies with applique
a receiving blanket or two with his name or an applique
a hooded terry bath towel edged with a contrasting fabric
burp clothes
a sling
bibs
a softie
fabric blocks or balls

~ making a little notebook or scrap book
full of wisdom, advice, and inspiration for Leslie.
One person would start it, decorate a page (or 3)
and then mail it to the next person.
At the end we could add it to the collection of shower gifts
and she would have a whole little book full of
sweet ideas, lovely quote, picture inspirations,
notes, and blessings from all of her friends.
We would have to work on this one quickly,
with each person only getting a few days
before sending it on to the next person.Please give us some feedback!
We would love to hear all your ideas.
We will be putting together a mast gift list/plan
in the next couple of days.
If you know anyone in the blogging world
who is a close friend of Leslie's and you think would like to be included,
please e-mail one of the administrators of this blog
and we will send them an invitation.

Please, please remember that secrecy is of the utmost concern!
Only use this blog or private email to communicate
about the shower.
We want this to be a total and complete surprise to Leslie.
Shhh! :)

Let's have lots of fun and
bless the socks of Leslie and baby Cade.

Administrators:

Dawna of mudpies4all
Chelle of The Value of Cheerfullness
Fairlight of Under the Polka Dot Tree

Andi of Tales of a Crafty Mama
Please do not contact them through their blogs about the shower. Thank you!

Maternity pictures used with permission from Susan of Short on Words