Nope! No Baby Shower for Baby #2, but I Am Doing This

Today I'm officially a week away from my due date and about halfway through this pregnancy I started getting asked about whether or not we're having a baby shower. We were generously blessed with three showers with Nia and with many of the items being gender neutral we were able to carry them over to Baby Agbai 2.0.

Throwback to our informal 2010 BBQ baby shower

Instead, I'd like to do a sip 'n' see - a Southern tradition that has been gaining widespread popularity since it happens once the baby arrives and is less intense than a traditional shower. I think of it as an open house for baby! 

I've been slowly gathering recipes and ideas for ours and recently came across Emily Henderson's circus-themed sip 'n' see for her son Charlie.

{Image Credit: Emily Henderson}

Emily partnered with Cricut, who was at Alt SLC in January, to craft special touches for the sip 'n' see - this video sums up all the fun moments:

I really like this idea because it gives people a chance to meet the baby once he arrives and it doesn't hold an obligation to give gifts. The New York Times ran an article about subsequent baby showers taking the form of "sprinkles" instead and briefly mentioned sip 'n' sees. Moms' founder Melissa Gerstein, who didn't have a shower for her 2nd child, is quoted in the article as saying: 

“I was disappointed,” she said. “I think every birth should be celebrated. You wouldn’t give your first child a bar or bat mitzvah and not your second or third, so why is a shower any different?”

I think there's definitely a fine line in gift-grabbiness of having subsequent showers. While I agree each baby should be celebrated, it doesn't necessarily have to happen in a materialistic way.

Did you have a baby shower for baby #2 or beyond? What are your thoughts on sip 'n' sees?

Next up: What I'm packing in my hospital bag this time around . . .