Telling Our Family The Gender News

For some reason, I felt the need to tell our family the gender of this baby in a fun / creative way. When I was pregnant with Savannah, my mom went with us to the sonogram appointment when we found out the gender. And then on the way home, Caleb and I just made one phone call after another to tell all of our family that we were expecting a girl.

I had fun announcing to our families that Savannah was going to be a big sister and I liked that everyone got the news at the same time. I wanted to do something similar for announcing the gender. I thought and thought about ways to tell everyone. Because we were having the sonogram done on a Monday, it would be hard to do much with Caleb having to work until 6:00 that evening. And we didn't want to make everyone wait... I don't think WE could have kept it secret more than a few hours. 

We had finally decided to invite everyone over for a spaghetti dinner so that we would at least be able to tell everyone at once. But that wasn't enough for me. I needed there to be a fun, exciting moment. I didn't want to just blurt out the gender. So, I did what everyone does in the 21st century and I turned to the internet for ideas. 

I found several, but most were only so-so and the main idea that was repeated everywhere I looked was to bake or ice a cake using the color for the gender (blue for boy or pink for girl). This was a great and fun idea. There was just one problem. My brother and sister-in-law used this idea to announce the gender of their baby just a few weeks before. I didn't want to be a "copy-cat" and knew there had to be another idea just as great. Call me picky, but that's just the way I am. So I continued on with my search.

I went to the trusty old website for all things baby related, The Bump, and posted the question asking for ideas on how to tell our family the gender. I mentioned that this was our second child, that we have an 18 month old daughter and that I didn't want to use the cake idea. I was only given a few responses, but one was just PERFECT!

A girl suggested buying a balloon in the color according to the gender (again, blue for boy or pink for girl). Put it in a box, wrap it and then let Savannah be the one to open it and let the balloon just "pop out". I could not have been more excited about this idea. It would include everything I had hoped for: a fun "moment", a great thing to have on video and in photos AND it enabled Savannah to play a big role in such a fun announcement. Now, I really couldn't wait for Monday night...boy or girl...this was going to be FUN!!!

After we left the birthing center, we stopped for lunch at Jason's Deli and then made a quick stop into Party City so I could get a balloon. I actually got two balloons, just in case I popped one or something, and a big green bow to place on top of the wrapped box.

While Savannah napped and Caleb went back to work, I got to work on the "present". The balloon was actually too big to fit into the box that I had, so I had to cut the end off and let a little air out and then tie it back with a rubber band. The balloon was tied to a weight that looked like a gift bag and said "It's a Boy". I put the weight and the balloon into the box and tested it "popping out" probably fifty times.  I wanted to make sure the balloon wasn't going to get stuck or not "pop out" for some reason. 

Once I was sure that this was going to go as I planned, I had to then wrap the big box without turning it on it's sides or upside down. Otherwise, the weight would move around too much and might effect the balloon from "popping out" the way I hoped it would. I managed to get it all wrapped and I was giddy with excitement about the big reveal.

Savannah woke from her nap and that's when I started to get dinner ready. I made cupcakes for dessert...nothing special like the ones I learned to make in my cake decorating class because I didn't have the time. These were just a boxed cake mix and store bought icing with some boy baby decorations on top. 

The family started to arrive just a little before 6:00 and by 6:30 we had 17 family members and friends in our house, ready to eat. Everyone was scattered around the house to eat because our table only holds six, but everyone had a seat and something to eat.

Once everyone had full stomachs, we had them all gather into the living room and around the "present". Before we could make the big reveal, we had to take a poll and have everyone voice their prediction. Of course, we had to get this on film. Out of 17 people, 11 predicted a girl and only 6 predicted a boy. I found this funny because when I was pregnant with Savannah, just about everyone thought it would be a boy.


Baby #2... Boy or Girl? from Amy Braddock on Vimeo.

I was so excited as I helped Savannah open the gift. The balloon "popped out" just as I hoped it would and everyone clapped and laughed. Savannah was a little overwhelmed by it all. She has no idea what this means for our little family.

It was such a fun night and I was so happy with how it all went. I was glad that all of our family could be together and share in our exciting news. Now, we just wait for this little guy to "cook" a few more weeks before we get to meet him and hold him. Oh, how I cannot wait for that day!!!