This is the story of a Sunday afternoon baby shower. My brother and his wife are a month away from meeting their new baby Reagan. It doesn't feel like that long ago we were in the same anxious position. For the shower, I tried to think of a gift I would've enjoyed 8 months into carrying Mabel.

I should preclude the great gift unveil with this tidbit of information: the only thing filling our bank accounts right now are sounds, echoes of C and I asking where we spent so much money (bills, bills, bills). My first thought was to make a couple really simple, really fast frocks for little Reagan. I wasn't sure I'd get enough time at a sewing machine. Then it came to me, our fridge and freezer are filled to the brim of a delicious summer bounty (already!), so why not share the wealth?

An idea was born.

I made up a little menu of some of our favorite summer time meals, dressed up the wording, wrote it out in pretty font, printed it and voila! The beauty of this idea (for me) is that the work isn't any harder than fixing for 2 (and a small) hungry mouths.

I wrote up a little explanation that went a little something like this:

As Reagan's arrival approaches, we thought a gift of a week's worth of dinners would be helpful. Perfect for those nights when all you can do is ask Lonzo [my brother] to stick dinner in the microwave, but satisfying enough to curb your hunger for two!

I want the dinners to be go-to meals, not simply good intentions so I also let her know we'd tweak the meals to suit her own tastes and preferences. It seemed to be a hit! Wholesome, homegrown food, free range meats and affordability all rolled up into one caring gift.

What do you think? Would you have appreciated prepped meals during the last few weeks of pregnancy? Is it overreaching to meal plan?