Surprise!

On Sunday, Alfredo's cousin Patty called us and asked us to come over for a bbq. We said okay, but I told her it would be an hour or so because Ella had just fallen asleep. Alfredo started complaining that he was starving and I offered to heat up some leftovers but he said no, let's just go. I started to get ready and he woke Ella up (poor tired girl). He kept saying he was hungry and for us to hurry. So we headed over to his cousin's house. When we got there, no one was there except his uncle. There was a note from Patty saying she'd had an emergency and would call us later. Alfredo said we should wait a half hour and see if they got back. So we sat there and I was getting worried that something was really wrong. Finally, Alfredo said we should just head home.

When we pulled into the driveway, I could see that there were a bunch of people in my backyard and knew that it was a surprise party. But even then, it took a second to click. My first thought was: Who is this party for? My birthday was in February, the girls just had theirs, and Alfredo's isn't until October. Then it hit me. Alfredo, his cousin and his aunt and uncle had planned a surprise baby shower for me! It was Patty's idea.

This is his cousin Patty who did most of the planning.
Ella and I
Oswaldo and Ana, his uncle and aunt who also helped plan the party
my friend Shannon and I
one game they played... they put horchata in bottles and had a contest to see who could drink it the quickest
Alfredo's cousin, Jason, was the definite winner. (Glad I didn't have to play this game. I really dislike horchata. But it was fun to watch.)
Other games played: guess how big my tummy is (most people guessed it was much, much bigger than reality... don't know whether I should feel good or bad about that)
put the pin on the diaper
guess which candy bar is in the diaper
guess the type of baby food


Michelle helping me open presents
Ella and Michelle helping me open presents

As I sat there at the party, I started thinking of all the little things I'd missed that should have clued me in. Alfredo had to work on Sunday, but he got home about 2 PM instead of 5. I'd cleaned the house well on Saturday, but he started tidying up the little bit of clutter that happens with two kids. His cousin had called a bunch of times this past week. But I just figured they had been playing phone tag and kept missing each other. He'd seemed in kind of a hurry for us to go to Patty's (complaining that he was starving) yet once we were there, I kept saying we should just head home so I could cook dinner and he was content to just sit there at his cousin and aunt and uncle's house for 45 minutes. Earlier in the day, when he first got home, he recommended we take a picnic to the park (but since I didn't really have picnic food and already had a different plan for dinner I declined). He asked if Janene was home from her camping trip because "he had a quick question for her." There were actually quite a few hints, but I was still totally surprised. We had a nice time visiting with his family (and a couple of neighbors, the Maldonados and Shannon and Xaria), we received some very nice gifts, and played some silly, fun games. It was so thoughtful of Patty & Nelson, Ana & Oswaldo, and Alfredo to put this together for me.