Family. Fun. Fitness: Gender Reveal Party

Before we even found out we were pregnant, Tyler and I were thinking of ideas for our gender reveal party. This bonus party for the baby has recently become all the rage among expectant mothers. I had never heard of it until idea boards for "gender reveals" started blowing up on Pinterest. I LOVE parties so I loved the idea of having ANOTHER baby-themed party, however, in the back of my mind I was thinking... "Okay, is this completely narcissistic of us to throw yet ANOTHER party for our poor friends and family to drag themselves to?" I did not want people to think we were fishing for more gifts or that I in any way EXPECTED them to show up to EVERY baby event. I have been the "unmarried friend with-out kids" to some of my friends for many years and I know that while I love to be there to celebrate milestones and accomplishments with my friends, all the parties can be exhausting and the gifts for said parties can get expensive!

I finally decided to go ahead with the party, but I was sure to communicate to our friends and family that this was casual, we did not want gifts, and that they were not to feel guilty if they couldn't make it! We simply wanted to celebrate finding out the gender of our first born child with some crazy antics and lots of family & friends!

Planning the Party

I am notorious for spoiling surprises or secrets. I got my Christmas gift from my husband on December 18th, because I couldn't stand to wait, and the infamous story of Tyler's wedding proposal to me is one of me basically SPOILING it by begging him incessantly to give me my birthday present a day early, which he did. Obviously, he is equally bad at waiting to GIVE me surprises. We make a great team. :) That being said, he was adamant that I would not ruin THIS surprise for the gender reveal.

We went to our 20 week ultrasound on the Friday before Christmas. I was a little nervous because I knew the results of this ultrasound would tell us whether our baby was developing on pace and was healthy. I was afraid of negative results, but I remained positive because I knew the statistics for a healthy baby were on my side. Also, I had to remain positive for my own sanity. Thinking of every little thing that could go wrong will drive a woman mad.

We explained to the ultrasound tech that we were going to have a gender reveal party, so when it came to the portion of the exam where she would determine the sex of the baby, we needed to be looking the other direction and clueless about what she found. She loved the idea so she happily made us look the other way when it was time. She turned the monitor and watched us like hawks to make sure we weren't looking. After she had determined the sex, she printed pictures of that "region" with the gender typed on them as proof, stuffed the pictures in an envelope, and handed them to us before we left. She did an excellent job. I especially liked when she griped at my husband that he wasn't facing the wall and she thought he was cheating. :) Atta-girl!

Aside from determining the gender, we enjoyed the appointment and getting to see our baby, very much! It took a lot of fighting but I managed to not cry. I do not like to cry in front of strangers, even when it would be socially acceptable. I thought I had felt the baby moving at week 18, but then I wasn't sure if what I was feeling since then was the baby or not. It was really nice to SEE our baby moving around and punching on the screen while feeling those sensations so that I could know without a doubt, that was my baby beating up on mom from the inside. Our baby was VERY active during the ultrasound and gave the tech fits while she was trying to take her pictures. Someone told me to eat chocolate to make the baby active, so I happily complied. I don't have to have much of a reason to eat chocolate. The only downside to the appointment was having to drink the massive amount of water beforehand, and then subsequently laying there with a full bladder for the duration. It helps them to more easily see the cervix for their measurements, so the sole purpose is not to torture pregnant women, though it will feel that way.

Off topic... back to the party.

I scheduled the party to take place at Cecil's Cajun Kitchen in DeRidder, where most of my mom's huge family lives. I thought it would be a reasonable 1.5 hour drive for Nederland friends and not too far for our family in other parts of Louisiana. I knew the drive would likely be too much for Houston friends and family, but I had to weigh the options and since it seems just about EVERY other life event we've celebrated has been in Houston, it was fair enough to switch it up this time. I chose to schedule the party for the first available Saturday after Christmas and New Years had past. It was going to KILL me to have to wait that long, but I knew we'd have more luck of getting everyone together after the holidays. Besides, Tyler had hidden the envelope, so I had no way of finding out ahead of time, and the holidays kept me very well distracted from trying to find it anyway.

Cecil's had a party room that would fit way more than we needed and did not charge for it's use as long as at least half the guests ate or drank. I didn't anticipate that being a problem. We like to eat and the food there is good; it's a winning combination.

I spent most of the "planning" time pinning ideas from Pinterest. The hardest part was finally sitting down and focusing on committing to the ideas I really wanted to use. Once I had a plan, I spent about 2 hours in Hobby Lobby shopping for party supplies and getting more ideas, then another hour in Walmart finding less expensive versions of some of the items I'd already bought at Hobby Lobby. I may have gone a little overboard with the party supplies from Hobby Lobby. After the party had passed, I ended up returning about $50 worth of unopened supplies. Which, I then turned around and spent on baby room decor... but I digress.

That evening, after I had explained to my husband why our living room was covered with Hobby Lobby shopping bags and attempted to rationalize my insane shopping spree, I made a list of all the projects I needed to complete, any items I still needed to complete those projects, and all the things I had asked my mom to take care of and/or bring for the party. I do better with lists. Once I had the list, I was a woman on a mission. I knocked out all the projects the next day. When everything was done and we were simply waiting for the day of the party, I then made a mock setup of what I wanted the center table to look like. Our kitchen table then stayed in that state the rest of the week.

Tyler and I debated for some time about how we wanted to do the big reveal. Did we want a cake or cupcakes or balloons or ... ? There were so many options! The week before Christmas, we met our friends, who own Daviss Donuts in Nederland, for dinner and when we told them about the upcoming reveal party, they offered to make reveal donuts for us! It was different and I loved the idea of all of our party guests participating and biting into the donuts together at once to reveal either blue or pink filling! Besides, who doesn't like DONUTS?? The next day, our friend made us a couple samples and they were DELICIOUS. I love food that is tasty AND functional!

The morning of the party, we stopped by Daviss Donuts to pick up our fresh reveal donuts and a couple kolaches for the road, and we headed out to DeRidder. We got to Cecil's early to set up. It was raining all over Louisiana and southeast Texas that day so I thought everyone would cancel or show up late, but I was pleasantly surprised with the turn out! We had over 40 guests come to the party and most were early. I guess everyone was as excited as we were to find out what we are having!

As we welcomed each guest, I had them choose their "team" by choosing to wear either a blue or a pink lei. It was obvious the room was heavily weighted with team BOY because the blue leis disappeared quickly. I also asked each person to write their name on a slip of paper and put it in a blue or pink jar. After the reveal, I would draw a name from the correct jar and that guest would win a door prize (a bag of chocolate goodies - themed after my cravings - and a gift card to Subway.)

We encouraged everyone to eat lunch, have a couple beverages, and visit. After lunch, we passed out the donuts and I reminded the entire room about 100x that NO ONE COULD BITE YET!! Before it was time to take the big bite, I stood at the front of the room and thanked everyone for coming. I then had a little surprise for my husband! His 30th birthday was only a few days away, and while we had a room full of our closest friends and family, I wanted everyone to sing and acknowledge this milestone. I had secretly asked his mom to pick up his favorite cake from a local baker in Nederland and bring it with her that morning. As I asked the room to sing to him, my mom lit the candles and walked the cake in. He was very surprised and it warmed my heart. He blew out the candles, said thank you, and then immediately said "OKAY, lets find out what we're having!" We had successfully built up the suspense and it was time for the big show...

I gave the instructions to bite on the count of 3, Tyler did the countdown, and.... IT'S A BOY!!

I thought Tyler was going to spike his donut and do a victory dance, he was so excited! Most of our guests had voted boy and were very excited, and those who were team pink immediately started telling us we'll have to have another... haha. Shortly after the reveal, we drew a name out of the blue jar for the door prize. My step-sister and her husband took home a bag of goodies!

Was it worth it?

I didn't know if the time and expense would be worth it going into the planning, but the entire drive home, all Tyler and I could talk about was how AWESOME the party was. We both had a wonderful time and were happy to see that so many people came out to celebrate with us and they all seemed to enjoy themselves, too. I hope it was worth it for those that had to make a long drive to be there. I know I appreciated seeing every single person that was there.

In total, I think we spent about $250 on this party. That includes all the decorations, 4 dozen reveal donuts, appetizers for 40+ guests, my great-grandma's lunch, Tyler's birthday cake, and a hefty tip for the awesome waitress that took care of our group. In my opinion, it was well spent and worth every penny. The build-up of anticipation, mingling with great family and friends, delicious food, the excitement of a huge group finding out simultaneously with a countdown and big unveiling, all made for a WONDERFUL experience.

If you're debating whether or not you want to have a gender reveal party, my suggestion is to GO FOR IT! Even if it ends up just being a handful of close friends and family, the surprise is worth it!

Highlight Reel

The main party table. The final result looked a little different then it did on my kitchen table, but I was happy with it...

Write your name on a slip of paper & make your guess! Someone's name would later be pulled from the "correct" jar for a door prize!

Team BLUE or Team PINK? Team Blue was dominating...


Boxes of Daviss Donuts reveal donuts!!

My mother-in-law, me, and my mom. I was out-numbered... the expectant grandmas wanted a boy!

My Maw-maw - the great, great grandmother-to-be! She wanted a girl, but said she would still "accept" a boy.

You can see my growing bump here. 5 months pregnant. We are two very excited parents-to-be!

What'll it be?? Daviss Donuts did a great job of plugging these up so the colored filling couldn't be seen! No cheating!

Everyone loved these rubber duckies on the table and played with them throughout lunch. Most of them disappeared after the party. I guess they all wanted their very own rubber ducky!

My aunt, my mom, and a family friend - flaunting their teams!

Another Pinterest idea, stolen! This list of Old Wives Tale predictions was fun in helping people to decide how to vote...

My brother-in-law and his girlfriend, enjoying some beer and hoping for a boy!

My Mamo (grandma) and her boyfriend enjoying lunch before the big reveal.

A really great iron-on I found at Hobby Lobby and could NOT pass up!

My Meme and Papa. Meme has the best quote from the party. After finding out it was a boy she exclaimed, "I'm SOOO disappointed!" Haha... I think she's accepted that we won't have a 5th generation GIRL this time... maybe next time!