Blown away by our baby showers

I didn't expect to have a baby shower - let alone two. I've been so scared through this whole pregnancy that I really anticipated being hospitalized or ending up with a preemie. So up until a few weeks ago, I was having a hard time even conceptualizing having a baby shower. That being said - the idea of two was unfathomable. But we crossed the 28 week mark and then we crossed the 30 week mark and when we crossed the 32 week mark, I was willing to commit to a baby shower. I talked to my doctor and got an OK to attend a shower outside of the house and to have one at my house. Since I was on bedrest it was interesting to have so many people monitoring how much walking around I was doing. My water was always refilled and people were quick to remind me to sit back down :)

My coworkers threw and office shower for me - and I was just floored at the turnout and the number of gifts. We had roughly 25 people at the office shower. I was really humbled by the generosity of the gifts and the turnout. For our friends outside of my work, we hosted a shower at home. A good friend helped us organize the whole thing. Since I'm still on bedrest, we catered food. I bought favors online. I was a bit nervous about how it would go because I'm used to cooking for HUGE parties. We did a co-ed shower, so we went very light on the games.

For the guys ( and any brave women) there was a beer chugging competition. We filled 8 ounce baby bottles with beer. We closed them with slow flow nipples. The competition was basically to be the first person to suck 8 ounces of beer out of a baby bottle the fastest. It was a blur of people sucking on bottles for dear life, giggles, beer soaked t-shirts and crazy laughter. It was an absolute hit. The guys loved it and it didn't have that formality that you often see at baby showers. For the ladies and kids, we had a traditional baby shower game - guess the name of the baby animal. In both games the prize was alcohol. The beer chugging game gave the winner a 12 pack of beer. The animal game gave the top two winners a bottle of wine - a sauvignon blanc or a moscat.

The shower started around 4 pm and the last person left around midnight. After the games it was pretty much a free-for all food-wise and drink-wise. I was really happy to be able to celebrate this pregnancy as this is the first time I've actually celebrated it. My husband and I have been on pins and needles for so long that it felt just great to be able to say for one day - we didn't worry about the baby being ok... we were just happy.

Between both showers, we received close to 100 gifts. I know I keep saying it but I really was humbled by everyone's generosity. I had no idea that we'd be receiving that much stuff. The whole experience has made me appreciate our friends and our friendships with them that much more. Now I am beginning to fully appreciate how important these types of life events are.

Co-ed Baby Shower - I need some help guys!

I just realized I'm running out of time and I need to plan for our shower. I've begun planning for our co-ed baby shower and I have some questions about how a co-ed shower would go. 

For starters, let me say what we're planning. My husband and I throw these parties at our houses called a "Gathering of Friends". We've been doing this for roughly the last 5 years. We invite all of our friends from the different aspects and social circles. We've had as many as 100 people show up to one of these gigs before. We grill an enormous amount of meat, cook way too many entrees, make tons of desserts, and have tons of libations. It's pretty much an indulgent affair. It basically starts around 4 - 5 o'clock and has run as late as 4 am. It's sort of an all you can eat all you can drink thing! Normally that's the time by which I kick the last stragglers out. We do this at least twice a year, and it's always been a hit, because we get a chance to see everyone we care about at once. We also design the guest list so that everyone knows at least 3 - 4 people there. So no one feels left out.

I'm thinking that for our baby shower, I want to do a special version of our "Gathering of Friends". Because this event is for guys and girls, and the number of people coming, I'm thinking that the normal rules don't apply.

Question #1 
I am having a registry and expecting gifts, but do I have to go through the entire gift opening process with everyone watching? Is this feasible if we have 50 people show up?

Question #2
I'm assuming that traditional shower games are out - partly because of the number of invitees, and also because I don't know what games would work with guys and girls. Has anyone had games that have worked for lots of people or guys or girls?

Question #3 
What are good thank you gifts to give people for coming? So far I've found custom candy jars, personalized cookies, personalized hershey's kisses, and personalized mints. Do you know of any gifts that work well for guys and girls alike?

Question #4 
Now I'm still on bedrest, at the moment... it's just modified bedrest so I plan to sit through most of this event. Has anyone done a baby shower while on bedrest?

Question #5
Should I plan an "agenda" for this or should we just let it run like a party as it has in the past? I'm thinking I'd like to give a short toast / speech thanking everyone for coming and telling them how much this pregnancy means to me and how special it is that they have come here to celebrate it with us. No more than 1 - 2 minutes tops... Is that a good idea? and is that sufficient?