Spoiling My Future Nephew

My sister told me she was pregnant during my birthday weekend in February. She gave me a birthday gift before we went to dinner. As I pulled some Harry Potter onesies out of the gift bag, my brain did a weird little stutter.

Me: "Why are you giving me onesies?"

Her: "Why do you think?"

(Later Matt told me at first he thought, "Do they think we're pregnant?")

For awhile this was the hardest secret to keep! I was so excited, but Steph and Gordon found out they were pregnant pretty early on, so I had to wait another six weeks to spill the news.

Her kiddo will be the first grandchild for my parents and the first nephew for my brother, me, and Matt; I am delighted and already spoiling him.

I mean, here's the thing. I want to be the cool aunt. I want to be the aunt he wants to hang out with and gets excited to visit. Who cares that he won't really form lasting memories of me for the first couple years of his life? I need to start now.

My lifetime plan for spoilage is to send money in all holiday cards (this is a no-fail way to win a kid's affection) and have an ongoing list of books I can send him whenever the fancy strikes, so he always has something new and great to read.

It's important to me that I set an example for being compassionate, forward-thinking, creative, and confident. I want this kiddo to be kind and gentle, but to also follow his own instincts and be unafraid to stand up for himself, others, and what's right.

Aunts are allowed to have that kind of influence, right?!

Anyway, Steph's baby shower was a couple weekends ago, so here are some photos of the beginning of Operation Spoil-the-Nephew.

I purposely avoided anything very gender-specific or anything with creepy "future ladies' man" type wording. My sister and Gordon love the outdoors, and their theme for his room is nature and animals, so I went with that vibe. I also went with clothes from 0-9 months because I figured lots of people would get him newborn clothes and they'd need some bigger clothes for him to grow into!

I also got her a Boppy, which is what I get all my mom-friends because I know it's super useful!

I individually wrapped each outfit so they could really enjoy opening them.

Here is a glance at the list of books I plan to get him in small batches throughout his childhood. I'll obviously need to add to this as he grows up.

I already gave them two board books (I Like Myself and Hello, World! Solar System) because I couldn't wait.

The baby shower was beautiful. Steph and Gordon did a lot of the legwork, coming up with the favors and theme, etc., while my mom and I played Ringleader the day of. Matt was a super helpful brother-in-law, running errands and helping to decorate the night before. Here are some photos from the main event:

Making the "birch twigs" the night before.

The candy may not match the theme, but it screams "Stephanie's aesthetic". The cupcakes were from Parlour Vegan.

Besides the trail mix bar, Steph made s'more kits and tree stump tea candles for take-aways.

I recorded all the gifts in a copy of Where the Wild Things Are.

With the wedding and baby shower within a few days of each other, it was definitely a whirlwind weekend. Steph and Gordon are now feeling ready to nest and prepare for little Baby G's arrival. In fact, when we left them on Monday it was after Matt helped move some furniture around to prepare for the crib and dresser delivery that afternoon!

It felt so special to get to do this with Steph. I can't wait to meet the little guy and spoil him rotten!

ABK