“Are you going to find out what you’re having?” seems to be one of the most asked questions I get since being pregnant. My answer is “psh! yeah! of course!”
Many of you who know me, know that I’m a planner, and since baby Swartout was a little bit of a surprise, at lease I can plan what the nursery will look like, and pick out adorable clothes right! So, as soon as we could find out…and be sure, we did. But, along with that, I thought it would be soooo much fun to keep family and friends in suspense by doing a gender reveal party.
I got the idea from a friend of mine, who I saw on facebook, threw her little sister one. This was way before I was preggers, but I said to myself “OMG, what an adorable idea! I’m so doing that if I ever have a baby!” Well, surprise! hahaha, little did I know that was going to be sooner than later. My hubby wasn’t that into it at first. He thought it was going to be a cheesy party, where you play games, and so I convinced him that, that wasn’t the case and his “boys” could come and it would be a bbq setting, and lots of beer. Once I said “beer” he was in.
Of course me, the planner that I am, weeks before finding out I started thinking of cute ways to decorate “diy” style. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas. I was specifically inspired by (surprisingly) an “evite” invitation. I wanted to keep the party simple, and easy on the budget, so I browsed evite.com, and saw a cute, basic invitation that was green, gray and yellow with a big abstract flower on it. I thought it was perfect, and ran with the colors. I eventually eliminated green and stuck with gray, yellow, and white. I was able to use the evite as some cute backgrounds for little cards like “cast your vote” and “jessica’s cravings.” Just little touches to tie everything in.
One of the biggest things was how we were going to reveal the news to our guests. I decided to go with the cake idea, where you die the cake blue or pink, so when you cut into the cake everyone goes wild (well at least that was our guests reactions, haha). We found this adorable local cake designer, Amy Newby with Luna Blue Bakery out of Clermont, Florida. She was so much fun to work with. As soon as we spoke, I felt like she was an old friend! She listened to my ideas and ran with it! It couldn’t have come out more perfect!! And, it was D-licious!!
So, the week we were going to find out, seemed like the longest week ever. Wednesday, March 23 at 3 p.m., was our appointment. Monday and Tuesday were sooooo slow, and Wednesday, even slower! Finally it was time. Honestly, Mike and I didn’t really have a preference. Healthy was and still is our top priority. Don’t get me wrong, I know if Mike could choose, it would be a boy, but again, it’s not like I was going in there thinking I was having a girl, already bought outfits, and told the tech, this better be a girl or else…nothing like that. In fact, as I was lying there and she was going through all of the steps, I kept asking, what’s that? How does the brain look, how is the heart, etc. Not until she said…”Ok, so you guys want to find out right?” was I like “psh! yeah! of course!” haha. When we heard what we’re having, both of us were definitely excited!! All of the gender neutral ideas, or the well if it’s a boy then this, or if it’s a girl then that was over. We could go back to arguing about the name, and it be productive, LOL. It was soooo fun, and soooo exciting to finally hear what baby S is going to be!! And, I couldn’t wait to share it to everyone at the party!! We ended up telling our parents, as my in-laws live in NY, and my dad was out of town working that weekend, but my sister didn’t know and was ready to track down Amy, my cake lady and “make her talk.” Luckily she’s not good with detective work, or directions, so Amy is safe! haha
Saturday finally arrived, and all of my planning came together. We had so many wonderful friends join us, and my sister and uncle were also there to celebrate the news. There was a lot of talk, rumors, and the “pencil test” played a big factor in people’s voting. Finally it came time to cut the cake, our friends and fam gathered around the table, and as soon as I made the first slice, people started shouting! I cut the piece, (with a little help from Mike…there was a lot of pressure on me and for some reason I forgot out to cut a cake properly but whatever!) and the clapping and shouting and high-fiving began! It was awesome!! There were a lot of “I new it’s” and “I told you so’s” going around as well, haha! It was truly the perfect way we could have shared such awesome news!!
So, I’m sure you’re dying to find out what we’re having right…unless you cheated and scrolled to the photos already, and in that case…”cheater!” haha. Well…drum roll please…we’re having a…
It’s a boy!
Thank you so much to everyone who came to celebrate with us!
So, it’s official! We’re having a little boy! We’re both so excited, and we’re looking forward to meeting him in August! We love you baby S!
Love,
Jessica Liane
