The Big Reveal

Shamefully, most of you are just now getting a glimpse of the big bash we threw to announce our baby's gender on May 31. That's right, we decided to throw a "gender reveal" party the night I had my 20-week ultrasound that allowed us to know whether our little one is a boy or girl.

Without our immediate families nearby, we thought this would be a fun way to make the surprise a big excitement for us. Luckily, we've met some great people down here who were totally up for it and went along with the silliness quite well. My friend Kate offered to reveal the gender to us by means of filling the inside of a cake with blue or pink icing.

At first we thought we would have to find out the gender before the party in order to be able to tell Kate, and in order not to miss any details of the ultrasound. We were wrong, which made for even bigger fun that night as we welcomed our friends and informed them we still didn't have a clue. During the ultrasound we were able to see plenty of the baby's movements and features without actually knowing the gender. The technician moved the screen out of our view while she was looking and let us know it was very clear and she knew exactly what we were having. Ahhh! To our surprise, the ultrasound lasted for what seemed like forever because our child wouldn't cooperate, stubbornly refusing to move into one particular position. How surprising. My mom is currently eating that up big time. We ended up having to go back two weeks later in order to get this last measurement, at which point we were able to confirm the gender and see it for ourselves.

And how did Kate find out? Jeremiah flagged down a nurse in the hallway and had her call Kate and read what the technician had wrote on a slip of paper in an envelope for us. Perfect!

But back to the big bash.

Our friends played along and kindly showed up in blue or pink, revealing their prediction. Jeremiah dressed in pink and I was in blue. Although what seemed like 99% of people have predicted girl, our split was about even that night. We had a place for name suggestions, which as you may imagine, got slightly out of hand. Pink and blue candy, tissue paper pom poms, blush wine in blue cups, and a fabric table runner I made all created a festive atmosphere.

Once everyone was gathered and had had time to enjoy each other's company it was time for the big reveal! Jeremiah and I each made a cut in the cake and lifted the slice to unveil PINK icing.

It's a girl!

Everyone celebrated, and Jeremiah didn't gloat too much. I probably reacted terribly...you know, like opening gifts in front of people, you always look fake or unappreciative. But oh my goodness I'm excited! I always thought it was surely a boy and always imagined having a boy first, but now envisioning our little lady I wouldn't have it any other way. We're in for one fun and wild ride.

And let's not forget a shout out to my friend and amazing photographer, Kate Joyce. You're so great!