Gender Reveal!

On December 10th, I had my ultrasound appointment with the doctor. I was so grateful to see a healthy, active little baby squirming around on the screen throughout the entire appointment! I fell in love with this baby the minute I saw it on the screen back in September, and it was so much fun to see it again. Because Travis was flying and unable to make it to this appointment, I asked the sonogram tech not to reveal the gender to me. Instead, he took a picture, labeled in on the computer, and folded it into an envelope for me to take home. So, I left my appointment without knowing our new baby's gender, but so happy to have seen it looking so good!

I left the envelope in the car overnight to avoid temptation or any "accidental" viewing. The next morning, Barrett and I headed out to Target with the envelope, and together, we picked out a pink outfit and a blue outfit. I took the outfits, as well as a box and some tissue paper I had brought with me, to the customer service desk. The elderly woman behind the counter was more than happy to help me out! I left her with the envelope, both outfits, and the box, with instructions to read the sonogram, wrap the correct colored outfit, and throughly hide the other outfit so I wouldn't see it! She even reviewed my receipt for me later to make sure I couldn't figure it out beforehand. So, I left Target with a freshly wrapped gift, still not knowing our new baby's gender!

When I got home, I decorated the box with the labels and added it to the collection under the tree!

The plan was to open the gift on Christmas morning in Destin with Barrett and Travis. We wanted to include the rest of the family in the reveal, so we had to get creative. My family was going to be together in Dallas for Christmas, and Travis' family was not arriving in Destin until December 26th. So, after a little online research, I came up with a plan:

I made several Christmas cards, one set revealing a boy and one set revealing a girl 

(since we ourselves did not know the gender yet)

The poem on the inside (slightly altered from one I found online to fit our needs) reads:

Merry Christmas to you

our dear family and friends.

We wish you health and happiness

as this year comes to an end.

Our present for you

is sharing our joy

of unveiling the gender

of our little girl or boy.

Scratch off below

so you can see

whether it's pink or blue

for our precious new baby!

I ordered some scratch off stickers and covered the section that revealed the baby's gender.

Then, I wrapped the cards into two boxes - Box 1 for a boy and Box 2 for a girl - for my family to open. I sent both boxes to Dallas with instructions not to open anything until they heard from me about which box to open! Then, they would all have scratch off cards to find out for themselves and could join in on our fun celebration!

So, Christmas Eve, we decided we had been patient enough and opened our present. Then we called our family in Dallas and let them know which box to open. And then, on the 26th, we shared the cards with Travis' family as well.

So are you ready to know?

Are you sure?

IT'S A GIRL!!

Ruffles and pink! Bows and sparkly shoes! Tutus, ballet tights, dolls, and cute headbands!

And, finally, I can shop the other half of the store at Gymboree!! Yay!!!

It was a very merry Christmas indeed :)

From our growing family to yours,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!