Gender Reveal Preparations

So people who know me well know I love to host things. I don't think it's how Brian always was but now that we've been together for a while, he gets pretty into it, too.

When we first got married we did monthly beer clubs, which were so awesome we should try to revive.  We did the usual stuff like birthdays, holidays and of course, the super bowl. Whenever we were at a loss for a party excuse, we'd host game nights. We've done dinner parties but never really cook outs because we didn't have the outdoor space. Well, as of yesterday, we now have a big patio, and shit is about to get real.

Brian teases me every time we plan a party because I am a total freak. I love to plan the menu. I love to do the invitation (usually an evite). And I love to plan the activities.  I kind of hog the party planning. So at one point, we actually started, "The Food Draft". This is where we would make a list of our appetizer options, and each get to "draft" a certain number.

I won't lie, I'm a little worried for how baby crane will affect Crane's Nest parties. In fact, 2014 will be the first super bowl during our marriage where we won't host people. Yep, we did 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

So, as of right now, we think we're going to get in two parties before baby (unless I decide to somehow pull off a Christmas one).

The first of those two is the Gender Reveal. Now, as hard as it is going to be not to learn the gender at next week's ultrasound, I think this is totally worth a little extra wait.

Here's how it's going to work:

1. Go in to the doctor's office for the anatomy scan and tell them our intentions of a gender reveal so not to mention the gender out loud
2. Have the tech write down on a card the baby's gender (Brian is typing up a note with a blank slot for the gender)
3. Have the tech or Brian seal the envelope (he can be trusted not to look)
4. Mail envelope to the baker

Voila! When we cut the cake with family and friends watching, we will all find out the gender at the same time.

During treatment we decided on this option. The truth is, when you struggle so hard trying to have one child, you want to make sure you make that pregnancy count. We never wanted to look back and feel like there's something we didn't do since there was no guarantee we'd do it again.

And it's perfectly us. We love a good party. And this is really the best kind of party I can think of.

So this past weekend, we went to Party City. I agonized over the shade of pink and blue that I wanted to go with for our paper products. I found some decor that loosely matches our elephant invitation. And as our cart began to fill I told Brian I felt bad about spending so much money on party supplies. $60 just to make the house have some blue and pink for 1 party felt a little silly to me.

But Brian, standing in the aisle in the store looked me dead in the eye, "We're doing this once so it's gotta be great, right? It's worth it."

Sometimes I forget how much this means to both of us, not just me. And that is really is a little more than one of our regular Cranes' Nest parties.

Cutting that cake with some very special people surrounding us will be like opening the best Christmas present in the world. I can't wait to start connecting even more with my son or daughter.

And I can't believe how almost everyone invited is coming! We really tried to keep this list as small as possible. And the only real NO's are my sister and my father in law. I tried to give the date in as far in advance as possible but it's tough for my sister to come up and my father in law travels half the time.

T minus 20 days.

Baby Crane, dad says you're a girl. Mom says you're a boy. The one thing we completely agree on is how excited we are to find out more about you!