Baby shower etiquette questions

overtonhayes

Hello ladies,

Couple of questions about baby shower etiquette, because I don't know whether they're an 'American thing' but I don't know anyone who's ever had one. Sorry if this becomes one of my long posts. 

First off, timing. My baby's due in late July. I understand that usually you do a shower when you're 7 or 8 months, right? Well, right now we live in the same town as pretty much everyone who would be invited, but in April we'll be moving over an hour away. If I throw the shower before we move, and mention that I'm throwing it so early because we'll be moving, would that be considered rude? It would have to be very early April, too, so it would be a long way off to when my baby's due. I'm going to request no gifts, if that makes a difference. Also, is there a guideline to how much notice you should give people, like there is with a wedding?

Second, who to invite. I came to the US in the first place as a kind of exchange student, and was looked after by 'host families' who were absolutely wonderful. I mean these people were invited to my wedding, and whenever they come up this way to see their own kids, who are in college up here, they stop in to say hey. I have a feeling I should invite them, but the trouble is that they're older than myself and all my friends: one of the families are in their late 50s, one in their mid 30s, and my friends and I are in our early 20s. I also always feel like I have to be on my absolute best behaviour around them, and I'm naturally the kind to crack dirty jokes and swap stories about boozy nights out with my friends. I couldn't do any of that around my former host families, and neither could my friends. Here's the other thing: they are such genuinely lovely people that if I send them an invitation, they would definitely be there. They're the type who would take a "we have to be there for her, let's cancel our plans so we can go" approach, so sending an invitition to be polite and half-hoping they wouldn't come isn't really an option here.

 Any ideas?

Edit: Just thought of something. Considering that some of the guests are pretty conservative, do you think that the good old 'melt chocolate into diapers and have them guess what it is' game is a little distasteful? For the record, the two conservative guests are both mothers, one to two kids in their 20s and one to two kids under 4.