We are probably in one of the weirdest seasons of our marriage so far. With a new baby on the way and not knowing where we may even deliver the baby...let alone live this next year...hangs over our heads consuming much of our time and energy. So as I consider all those baby things that I dreamed about doing one day, it has been hard to even have much of a desire, let alone the energy, to follow through with many of them.
But I have dreamed of having a gender reveal party since the first time I ever attended one, long before Pinterest days. So I decided I would do one, to check off my list of things I will be glad I did long after this pregnancy is over.
I chose to make it small putting less pressure on myself but still allowed myself to go crazy over the decorations. Because really, while I love having people in our home, I REALLY love the planning aspect of parties.
The first big decision was how we were going to present the reveal. I really liked the idea of popping a balloon full of confetti but didn't care so much for the idea of having to clean it all up later. So instead I went with a cake instead. This was my first time making an ombre cake and plus having chocolate candy spill out just sounded fun. I knew it would also make for great, easy to capture photos, which is always a plus when half of my motivation in doing things is blog related!
To make the cake (I used a box mix), I divided up the batter into separate layers and added more food coloring to each layer. I then used a small circle biscuit cutter to cut out a hole in the middle of each layer. I frosted each layer and then filled the long hole with candy. When we did the reveal, the candy didn't come out on it's own as I thought it would. It was fine but if I was to do it again I would either use less frosting near the hole or make the hole bigger. For this mini cake though, any more candy would have been overwhelming. I would recommend two cake mixes for a bigger cake with more than two layers.
My other major focus was creating a backdrop for the reveal. I had already planned decorating our downstairs dining room with little boy decor so I had to figure out a spot in our smaller living room with a backdrop that would be photo friendly.
I ended up buying a roll of wrapping paper to hang behind us to help with the glare in front of the window. This was our only neutral backdrop so I was determined to make it work. The baby balloons I ordered on Etsy from Oh Shiny! Paper Co. I love how they turned out plus they were super great at quick shipping and helpful customer service. Always a win to feel like you are supporting a great business.
As I wrap my creative brain around boyish things, I am learning that I can stay true to my desire for color and including pink into things. It is tempting to go the all blue route, but I found myself gravitating to my normal range of colors. Even the baby boy clothes I picked out are a similar color scheme as to what I would wear as well as what I buy for my husband.
The macarons I purchased from Whole Foods (I have no time or desire for making homemade these days!). Having made my own and eaten many in Paris, I would say I am still a big fan of the ones at Whole Foods. They are a little softer than my preference but they are still delicious and I love the range of flavors they come in.
The alphabet blocks are from Target. They are my absolute favorite with their cheery colors and whimsical design. I bought them a few years ago for my nephews (but secretly they were for me in case they stopped selling them). But if you are interested, to your luck, they still keep them in stock regularly.
A little welcome chalkboard for our guests!
The plan was to do the reveal and then celebrate over dinner together. It was a simple and small gathering which was nice to have our immediate family together in one place.
For the clothes, I just wanted a few really cute things (nothing too baby). I am going to get a ton of hand me downs from my nephews, who are already very stylish, so I didn't want to go crazy. But after our appointment where we found out, I had to go shopping.
I hit up Marshall's, Once Upon a Child, and Carter's, in that order. And it was a good lesson in learning how things cost. Marshall's has cute and inexpensive new clothing. Once Upon a Child had great prices, a wide range of clothes (including that stinking cute jacket!), and lots of higher end styles. And then I went to Carter's where it was full of typical baby clothes for much higher prices. With not a huge need for buying clothes any time soon, I am confident in sticking with second hand for unique and inexpensive pieces.
Once family arrived we did the reveal.
We set up two cameras - one for video and one for stop motion photos of the event. Here are a million pictures that our camera took. You can obviously see who is most excited about the gender reveal presentation! And that I also apparently talk very loudly with my hands!
And then I thought since Brent and I were cutting a cake together, naturally we would feed each other a piece all throwback wedding style. Brent was not a fan (I smashed the cake in his face at our wedding!).
We enjoyed dinner together, talked baby things, and told stories of all of Brent's emergency room visits as a kid so that I could start my mother of a son worrying now.
I found cotton candy ice cream which we had to have. Because - pink and blue - obviously. It ended up being really delicious! Way to go Walmart.
It was a fun evening with family. And technically, the first party I threw in honor of this little boy.
Here is a little video of the actual reveal. Please ignore the constant clicking. We set the video camera right next to our other camera that was taking time lapse photos at the same time.
(Click here to watch if you are having trouble viewing this video)
And in case you caught they were calling out the name Trevor, this is not the baby's name (at this point at least!). My oldest nephew insists we name him Trevor, after a friend that he doesn't see very often and misses, and so somehow we are now all calling the baby Trevor! If it sticks our poor child will be named by his cousin!
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