Gender Reveal

Since I first found out we were expecting our little one, I have been thinking about having a gender reveal party.  The preparations started about 6-8 weeks ago and I vividly remember staying up late watching the final game of March Madness while cutting out black mustaches and pink lips.  I had so much fun with every aspect of it!  I made the table clothes and runners, the photo props, almost every aspect of decor was homemade, as well as most of the food.  I tried to pace myself throughout the whole process so there wasn’t a crazy rush at the end and thankfully I didn’t get too stressed about it.  

Once the preparations started, I was a little worried about the size of the party.  At first I had planned to invite all of our friends and family, but as the planning continued taking shape, I realized it would be too large a number to handle without a ton of cost and stress, so we decided to keep the guest list very small.  We decided to make it primarily an adult party since I wanted to have a candy table and some fun photo props that I figured a large group of kids would love to devour.  In the end we only invited about 10 couples who lived locally.  

We had planned to have the party outside, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  A few days before the party, we got a cold front making it too chilly for an outdoor party.  Thankfully I had been watching the weather and changed the menu before I did any major shopping.  We moved some of the outdoor furniture inside and rearranged and few things and it worked wonderfully.  Thankfully our group was small or else it would have been a nightmare!!  

I had the ultrasound on Friday (20 weeks) and told the tech I did NOT want to know, but wanted her to seal the results in an envelope for me to take to the balloon shop.  She was fantastic!  She didn’t give any hints either way and I could not read anything in her expression.  Obviously she is experienced at this!  The ballon shop was also amazing.  I took the box in and asked them to open the envelope and not tell me in any way what the results were, but to fill the box accordingly.  They did an amazing job and we honestly had no idea until we opened the box.  It was SUCH fun!!!  

Here are quite a few pictures:  

 Fresh greens with organic edible flowers

 Vegetable Crudites (pronounced krue-dē-tā)

 Simple, fresh decor.  

 Homemade frosted cookies in the shape of either a B or G 

 Fruit Tarts

 Chocolate Mousse Cake (Courtesy of Bit of Swiss Bakery)

This was some of the best cake I've ever had!  No wonder they're so well known!  

 The previously mentioned lips and mustaches

 The candy spread

 The red looking rock candy was actually pink in real life :-) 

 The tassels (in the background) and the pom poms took a little time to make, but were SO easy!  I loved how they turned out!  

 Taking a break before the party guests arrived.  

 Before the hot dishes were set out

 Pink and Blue Lemonade.  Thank you Martha again for another great recipe!  

 Some great friends!  You may recognize them from my half marathon pictures late last year.  

 Vegetarian Meatballs and Vegetable Lasagna

 Male bonding ;-) 

 A few kids came and enjoyed some food! 

Erica and Karin--such beautiful ladies!  

 Janelle and Jamie--an amazing couple!  

 Erica and Stefanie--more gorgeous ladies!  

 Erica and Tom--more great friends!  

 Doug and Melanie--another incredible couple! 

 Tonya--hahahahahaha!!  Seriously, I have laughed out loud every time I look at this picture!!!!  

 Tonya, Erica, Jason, and Chris--a big happy family :-) 

 Krystian and Julie (hahahaha, okay, so Chris just stood in for Krystian who was off flying a helicopter somewhere--thanks Chris and we missed you Krystian! ;-)  

 Erica and Jason--just look at the love!  

 His name is Jasonia... ;-)  

 The final votes before the big reveal...

Thanks Rob for taking all of these balloon pictures!  You did a fantastic job!!  

 The first peek!!!!  PINK!!!!!!!!!  I could hardly believe my eyes!!!!  

 Neither could Kai! 

  

   Still in total shock!! 

Kasen said this morning, "Mommy, I sure hope those balloons are having a fun time flying where ever they are!"  I love the way his mind works!   

 It was a great time!  We are thrilled to be having a girl!!  I had completely prepared myself for a life of 3 boys and we were excited about that possibility.  I imagined lots of camping and backpacking trips, getting very familiar with creepy crawly things, and being involved with tons of sporting events.  When I saw the pink tops of the balloons, I could hardly believe my eyes and almost cried as my vision for the future rapidly changed shape.  I have all kinds of fun things I am imagining and hoping for 2 boys and a girl, but most importantly, I hope she is healthy and strong because she will need to keep up with her 2 older brothers who will adore her!  

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!!