For months I had been planning this surprise e-BabyShower for my cousin in Nevada and yesterday everything went off without a hitch!
When we first found out my cousin was pregnant the whole family asked, "How will we have a shower?" The majority of the family lives in here in Michigan and she lives halfway across the country in Nevada. "Do we expect her to fly here?" "Do we all fly to Nevada?"
"Neither!" I explained. And the e-BabyShower was born.
We decided this should be a surprise so we got together with her husband and family and began planning.
The first step was to make sure all the Michigan guests had all the correct information on where to ship gifts so they would accidentally be sent to the Mother-To-Be's house and ruin the surprise. Her family in Nevada graciously gave us their address and offered to receive, organize and wrap all the gifts.
Next we had to make sure everything was in order technology wise. In Michigan we would be using a 27" iMac and in Nevada they would be using a laptop and webcam hooked up to a HD TV. We did a few practice runs in secret to make sure everything worked smoothly.
Lastly, we had to coordinate the time schedule. We wanted to make sure that both parties were eating dinner at the same time. Michigan attendees ate a late dinner and the Nevada attendees ate an early dinner due to the time change.
Everything was perfectly planned and May 22nd rapidly approached!
In Michigan, we snacked on d'oeuvres at a long table decorated with brightly colored spring flowers with all our attention on the screen, waiting for the party to begin.
Shortly after 5pm we received the iChat invitation from Nevada from one of our accomplices. We waited quietly until the Momma stepped into view.
We all shouted "Surprise!" and held up her cake but she just looked at us and kept walking past. Confused, she turned around and gave us a second look. When she said nothing and just starred at us, her family bust out laughing then explained to her what was going on. Once she understood, she was ecstatic that we took the time to do this for her.
From then on, the baby shower proceeded as normal. We even got a tour of the baby's nursery, which we wouldn't have been able to do at a traditional baby shower!
After all the games and presents, it was time to eat. We had timed our meals perfectly so we could continue to chat while we ate. We discussed names and the sex of the baby--which is a mystery to everyone.
The e-BabyShower went perfectly! The duration of the video chat lasted over 5 hours, in which everyone got one-on-one time to talk to the expecting couple. Even grandma had a chance to catch up with the family in Nevada she hardly has a chance to see! We have even made plans to iChat/Skype more often at family parties so we can include our out-of-towners.
I was really happy to see this party go smoothly. For one afternoon, we were able to spend time together and make thousands of miles disappear in an instant!
