Gender Reveal!!

Since we are all out of order with summerly posting, I thought I'd just jump in post the fun photos and story of our Gender Reveal party we hosted earlier this summer.  It was such great fun!  Memories to treasure forever!!

We decided to find out the gender of this baby since everyone had such a strong preference, hope, prayer, longing, and were *convinced* this baby is a boy.  I wanted to have some time to work through any issues that would come up if the Lord had chosen otherwise for us, so I talked everyone into finding out gender before baby arrived if it was possible. 

Because I knew that most of the family was so eager to see blue this time around, I thought it would be a good idea to find out the surprise with our friends at our side. After all, you can't be too disappointed when you have some of your favorite people surrounding you, right? ;)

First, the ultrasound went great and we saw one adorable, healthy little baby.  We used a tech that hosts her clients in a lovely, spa-like suite.  Two of the girlies came along and we spent a lot of time looking at baby and all the parts we could see. Because we don't have ultrasounds routinely, no one in our family was able to identify gender on our own. However, the tech said it was quite obvious to her and, per our request, she wrote the gender down and put it in a sealed envelope for us to open at the reveal party.  Boy, was it HARD for me to not sneak a peak in the envelope!



 

It was a little last minute, but we put the invite out to anyone that was able to come for some food and fun.  We served foods for the theme and colors of the night, red and blue.  We decorated and put out red and blue ribbons for people to cast their vote.  Wear a red headband if you are voting girl and blue bow tie if you vote boy.

Watermelon Baby Cradle made by big brother, Joshua

Baby Veggies

Red and blue punch and yummy desserts

Mini chips and pretzels

Taco Bar!!

We decided to reveal the baby's gender with a bang.  Since letting off real fireworks isn't allowed in our town, we opted for lighting colored sparklers.  Red for girl and blue for boy.  We gave the sealed envelope to one of our friends and she and her husband went in to collect the appropriate colored sparklers to hand out to everyone.  David and the guys fired up the propane tanks. The children were armed with sparklers and at the count of three they were all lit together.

 

We saw a bright glow of....well...we didn't know!!  The sparklers all looked white for the most part and no one was sure just what color they were seeing.  The sparks falling were orange, so I was pretty sure we were welcoming another little girl.  That's when my sweet friend tugged at my arm and said, "Well, then the sparklers are wrong because LOOK!"  and she held up the card that said, "BOY!!" 

 

I screeched and held up the card for everyone to see...IT'S A BOY!!!!! BOY!!! BOY!!!"

 

 

Pretty much I can't fully describe the joy, chaos, and craziness that followed.  Cheers, hugs, laughter, and the lighting of more boxes of sparklers in a ten minute time frame than you've ever seen. The teenaged boys made sure that this little guy was celebrated in style!! 

 

 

We are so grateful to our friends that joined us. Everyone helped to make this event an amazing celebration for our family.  Of course, we would have celebrated a new little girl. But, I have to say that seeing the Lord answer the many prayers of many months from this little guy's siblings for a new baby brother, well, it just makes my heart swell.  Knowing I'll be snuggling a little bundle of blue in just another couple of months makes me giddy.

 

It's been over 12 years since we had a baby boy in our home.  In so many ways, it feels like starting over again. And, really, it is in a special way. We've never had a ninth baby before, so this IS a brand new adventure!  Welcome Little Boy Blue!! We are THRILLED and love you to bits!!