About 45 family members and friends gathered yesterday afternoon for a joint Gender Reveal/Memorial Day party. My 15-year-old sister-in-law, Mae, took a handful of beautiful photos that I just have to share.
It looks like my sister-in-law went “all out,” but aside from the cakes and disposable plates, napkins, and silverware, she didn’t have to purchase a single item. (My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law took care of food.) All the supplies and decorations, including the white tent, were left over from our DIY backyard wedding.
In the picture above, you’ll notice two bulletin boards covered in chalkboard paper. Here are the close-ups of those:
This one is an actual chalkboard. Anne constantly amazes me with her creativity!
To drink, we had “bouncing blue Hawaiian punch,” “pretty pink lemonade,” and water. I’m not a huge fan of sugary drinks, so I went with water, but I have to admit that the festive drinks were a cute idea.
Anne created a nursery decoration by printing off an outline of a tree and having everyone decorate it with their thumb print.
My mom, Lily, and I were given the important task of picking up the cakes. The big one is a regular vanilla sheet cake, and the small one is the announcement cake, with either a pink or blue center.
My jokester husband Mr. Handsome grabbed a plastic knife and pretended to cut into the cake before it was time. LOL. He and a few of the men examined the cake (without touching it) to see if they could tell what color was inside.
Mr. Handsome came over to me and whispered, “I know the gender!” He proceeded to tell me that he had found a stray colored crumb. “It’s a boy,” he said. I didn’t believe him because everyone was convinced that it was a girl, mostly because of the fast heartbeat and the other old wives’ tales. But Mr. Handsome was very sure of his prediction.
When the time came for Anne and her husband to cut the cake, everyone grabbed their phones and gathered around.
Well, you can imagine our surprise when we saw blue instead of pink. Anne was floored. She had been so sure that it was a girl. We are all looking forward to welcoming this “bouncing baby boy” into our family in October!
So happy for them!!😀 from the pictures it looks like a great party. So glad you shared them.
Thank you, Shela! Glad you enjoyed the pictures. 🙂
Ellie
Congratulations Mr. Handsome, you were right. So happy for you Anna!! Hope you have a good rest of your prengnancy and it isn't too hard for you!! Praying that you will have a healthy, baby boy.
Thank you for the prayers! I know Anne appreciates them.
Blessings,
Ellie
Aww. Congrats so happy for ya guys!
Thank you! We are happy for them too.
Ellie
Aww Congratulations!!
Thanks, Jessica!
Ellie
Awww!!! How fun! Tell Anne congratulations for me! 🙂
I'll do that. Thank you! 🙂
Ellie
Congratulations Anne! Mr.Handsome was right Ellie you should have believe him.
Know Anne will have one of each. Can't wait to find out what she going to name this one.
Yep, he was right! After we all found out, he went and found the crumb that was still sitting on top of the cake and showed it to me. Lol
Ellie
She should have made Sugar Free Hawaiian punch. They also have sugar free orange crush and strawberry crush. I have some and been drink them.
Sugar-free can be great sometimes, although some sugar-free drinks contain sugar substitutes that taste icky…
Ellie
Not all sugar free drinks taste icky. The sugar free orange crush doesn't it taste really good.
Anne is just nonstop! Always with the diy ideas. She's awesome!
But I don't think Mr handsome saw a stray crumb. Lol. Maybe he thought he saw it but I doubt a stray crumb would just appear out of the cake. Sorry Mr handsome. But…there's always a possibility I could be wrong!
I know, right? She absolutely loves planning parties.
Haha, I was thinking the same thing, until he went and found the crumb and showed it to me. Lol
Ellie
Congratulations to Anna, her husband, and big sister Ana! So excited for them. Ellie, would you want to find out the gender before your baby is born?
I think I would like to find out the gender before our children are born. It would really help with planning, and if i'm nauseous and not feeling well, it would be a nice surprise to look forward to at 20 weeks. But maybe I'll change my mind. 🙂
Ellie
Tell them congrats! Boys are great.
How did your sister-one-law like being surprised with their first? My ultrasound is coming up soon and I don't know if we want to find out or not. We have two boys so if it's a girl we would need girl clothes and stuff.
My parents didn't find out with either me or my brother! Just get "neutral" clothes and then get some gender-specific clothes a few weeks after the baby is born! 🙂
I didn't want to know with either of my two kids. When I went to the hospital to have them, I just took one outfit for a boy and one outfit for a girl. In my opinion, I think it's more fun to be surprised:)
I'll tell them! She liked being surprised, and she liked the fact that not knowing the gender forced people to get her gender-neutral stuff, like bouncy seats and all that, that she can use for all her children. But this time, she got really excited about decorating the nursery and decided to find out early. Let us know whether you decide to find out. 🙂
Ellie
We decided to find out. We were both expecting another boy. I didn't have any morning sickness with my boys pregnancy and this time around I didn't as well. But we found out we are having a girl! My boys are really excited to have a sister.
Congratulations! It sure will be sweet to see your boys interact with their sister. Praying for a smooth pregnancy and delivery.
Ellie
I had a friend ask me to bake her reveal cake and oh! The responsibility of keeping the secret!! 🙂
I know, it's a huge responsibility! My mom and I picked the cake up, and it was all we could do to not take a peek.
Ellie
Congratulations to Anne and her little family! Anne has so many cute and creative ideas. It looks like it was a fun party!
Thank you, Alicia! It was a fun party. 🙂 she also had everyone guess the due date and birthweight. My guess was that the baby will arrive a week before his due date, since her first was about a week early. Ana weighed just under 7 pounds, so I guessed an even seven for this little guy.
Ellie
Oh, that's always so much fun guessing the due date and the birth weight! Even though I am generally way off with my guesses, haha.
So exciting + fun! Congratulations to all of you! I've been loving your blog.♡:)
Do you think you could maybe do a "meet my family/in-laws" post? I'd like to know more about all of them! 🙂 Have a fantastic day! -Jenna
Thank you, Jenna! I'm thrilled to hear that you're loving my blog. That would be a fun idea for a post. I'll start planning. 🙂
Ellie
I think the gender reveal parties are over rated.
I can see why you say that, but it ended up being really fun. It was also an excuse to have a party and to celebrate new life. It's definitely not for everybody, but we ended up really enjoying it. 🙂
Blessings,
Ellie
I also think they're silly & unnecessary festivities. Everyone will find out sooner or later anyway. Just buy a non-blue or non-pink gift that any mother & child can use, if you're going to a shower. That's what used to be done. Nobody knew anything til the baby arrived and the doctor made an announcement on the spot. Nothing wrong with that system. Nothing wrong with finding out now from an ultrasound, so you can decorate a certain way if you want. But making everyone stand around & play guessing games & drink pink or blue drinks…unnecessary. Yes, I'm a killjoy, but I wish crazy baby (and bridal) parties would stop. They're getting out of control. Put the money spent on the party into a new college fund for the baby and some good parenting books.
Another thing out of control are kids' birthday parties! What happened to cake & ice cream & balloons & pin the tail on the donkey & musical chairs? Now you have to have an elaborate "theme" party, or rent bounce houses, or hire entertainers, or go to some expensive destination. It's nuts. Does anyone really enjoy the pressure of parties these days, giving them or going to them?
I agree with you that the kids birthday parties are out of control. With my son, instead of giving him a birthday party, we used to take him on a birthday trip to someplace fun. My parents would go with us, and it was a nice way for us to make family memories. My daughter is five, and I plan on starting that with her in another year or two.
Congratulations to Anne!! I'll be praying that the rest of her pregnancy goes smoothly, and for a safe and easy delivery of a happy and healthy baby boy!! God bless. ~Regina
Thank you for the prayers, Regina. I know that Anne will appreciate them.
Ellie
I've heard about the cake idea! Gender reveal parties are so cute! But I think I would like to be surprised with each one. Congratulations!!!
Thank you! 🙂
Ellie
So exciting a baby just in time for the holidays!!!
Yep! 🙂
Ellie
Do they have any names picked out? I think names are very important. I like different ones. Names you don't hear everyday.
They do, but they don't want to officially announce them yet. 🙂 what are some of your favorite names?
Ellie
She is named Anne and her daughter Ana? That sounds alike. Maybe the son's name will be Adam. All As.
Yep! Although Ana is pronunced awe-nah. I think she is planning to do A names for her girls, since she has a few that she likes. But I don't think the boys will follow a specific letter.
Ellie
I was not sure if I wanted to know the gender before birth. But at my ultrasound, the baby decided to show us everything! She decided to do the splits for the camera! We laughed so hard!
congrats little boys are awsome! I just welcomed my little boy (monkey is what I call him) April 19th! And I couldn't be more in love. My SIL also welcome her little boy May 22, it must be the year of boys!
Congratulations! How fun that the two cousins are so close in age. Ana is the first grandchild on either side, so hopefully she and this little guy will become good friends. Are you all settled into a routine now with your new little one?
Ellie
Yes I am, I have a 2 and 1/2 year old niece she was the first grandbaby on both sides so now she has a little brother and cousin.
Ellie what's Anne husband's name? Maybe they will name the baby the first letter of his name.
His name is Michael. 🙂
Ellie
Ellie I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the cake decorating kit Anne used? I am super interested in cake decorating, and hope to pursue that hobby this summer.
Hi there!
She's doesn't know the name of it, but it was just a cheap kit from Walmart. Hope that helps 🙂
Ellie
Wilton is the maker of most cake decorating supplies you find in craft stores & Wal-Mart.
Do we get to make suggestions for the name? 🙂
If so, I say Eric. It's a great name, easy to pronounce, doesn't sound too grown or childish, etc