We have been blessed to have the support of so many different groups in our lives, and we have been showered with so many wonderful gifts. But the one category of baby gear in which we have so far been deficient is books. Well, not after tonight! Jon's work threw us a fabulous shower. The Fabers passed on a veritable library of books that were Vivian's favorites when she was younger. The collection took all of us on a trip down memory lane. And yes, it is worth it to have three copies of Goodnight Moon in board book form so that when Calvin chews his way through them, we have backups.

The plans included a slew of relatively innocuous games. Guess how many squares of toilet paper it takes to encircle Cortney's belly (Jon was kind enough to severely underestimate, while Rick nailed it exactly)! Who can blow up the biggest balloon (rumors of popping balloons causing pregnant women to go into labor surfaced here)? How many words can you make out of the name Calvin Curtis Ophoff (Cortney blew away the competition with 38, but since you got bonus points for baby-themed words, some people had some very inventive, er, stretches. Phallus? Coitus? Poo? And these were coming from Jon's bosses and co-workers!)

The Fabers served a wonderful meal (grilled chicken, potato salad with bacon, tomatoes with bleu cheese, and more), prefaced by baby food hors d'oeuvres, and the pregnant women's standby, pickles. While Cortney had to miss out on the wine, there was also excellent home-brewed iced tea.