We had our gender reveal party last Saturday the 24th over at my parents house. We invited our family and a few friends and it was just the perfect day. Cam's dad came over bright and early to our house to smoke the meat with Cam. He came with donuts and Starbucks in hand and as they were getting the fire going outside I was cozied up inside on the couch and a soft blanket. The boys were in charge of all the meat and the girls, mainly my mom, mother in law, and sister in law, were in charge of the rest. The menu included smoked pork shoulder, smoked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, rolls, and of course pecan pie and banana pudding. It was delicious!
I had hoped we would be able to decorate and hang outside during the party, but the soggy weather kind of put a damper on those ideas. My sister did an amazing job of decorating and helping with the party and we stuck with a neutral fall theme for the decor. We had two different tables set up and a chalkboard where people could mark their guess.
The rain did hold off when it was time to do the reveal and it allowed us to stand outside to pop our confetti poppers. As soon as everyone had arrived we were all boiling over with excitement so we decided to pop those poppers right away! Cam wanted to be in charge of the surprise, so he is the only one who knew the gender. I had ordered a set of boy and a set of girl poppers just in case we didn't get the results in time, turns out we would have, but oh well. I ordered the poppers on Esty from the Gender Reveal shop and they turned out fantastic. The ladies at that shop were also very sweet and responded quickly to all of my questions.
On to the results...
and for some blurry I phone pictures!
We are completely thrilled that Baby Mav is a girl and can't wait to welcome her into our family next year.
Thoughts:We went to the doctor this week and were able to hear the heartbeat! It was so cool to hear that. We also had the panorama blood test done so we have anxiously awaiting the results! Cam's plan is to read them and then keep it a secret from everyone and we will have the reveal Saturday the 24th. Weight: I weighed myself on our home scalene morning and weighed 97. At the doctor I was 100 pounds even which is what they told me at week 7 as well. Symptoms: I'm still having crazy breakouts, which are mostly just annoying. My allergies are bugging me this week and I think they've turned into a cold. I've had a sore throat and the whole bit for a couple days. Sleep: I have been sleeping pretty well this week, minus my allergy issues. I have to wake up to pee once anig Cravings/aversions: I haven't had any cravings yet, but I haven't had many more aversions either! I'm still not a big meat fan but I'm getting better and I feel like my appetite is coming back. Doctor's visits: We went to the doctor this week! We heard the heartbeat and all was well. We will know what this sweet babe is soon!
12 weeks: Thoughts: Feeling super ready to find out if baby Mav is a boy or girl. I feel like it's a boy, either way I will be super excited. Weight: I didn't weigh myself this week.
Symptoms: Pregnancy symptoms have subsided. I have noticed a tiny bit of cramping or more like stretching in my lower belly, but only a few times. I still have a terrible head cold, but finally have a normal voice and am not coughing up a lung. Sleep: Not sleeping the best this week, but only because of this stuffy head cold. Cravings/aversions: I think I had my first craving Saturday. I was dying for some cheese fries or buffalo chips from Buffalo Wild Wings. I have yet to get those, but I've definetly been eating salty things. Doctor's visits: No doctor this week. Random: We are having our gender reveal party Saturday!! I can not wait. Baby Mav technically went to his or her first arranger game this week and it was a brutal one. It was game three of the ALCS and we lost by way too much.
So as you know, or maybe you don't? We found out we were pregnant on August 24th and waited 3 full weeks to tell our family. Both Cam and I are the worst at keeping secrets so how we accomplished this feat I am not sure. Why did we wait to tell our family? Well, I was still in shock and really wanted to have a "for sure answer" before we told anyone and that meant waiting until after we visited the doctor. I still have to remind myself that there is in fact a baby in there and God willing we will meet her or him in just 7 months.
We are both thrilled to become parents and we were chomping at the bit to tell everyone. Not to mention it was hard to keep it a secret when I sit within arms reach of Cam's mom all day every day and we eat dinner with my family about twice a week (sometimes more, they live 5 minutes away and mom's food is always better, duh).
Originally I had wanted to get cams family all together at once and was hoping to do that on Sunday after our appointment Friday 9/11. But, Cam couldn't wait and we ended up telling his parents on Thursday the night before our appointment. He said he wanted to tell them because they were getting on a plane to Chicago the next morning and they "might not ever know", but I think he just really was done with the secret keeping and I don't blame him one bit.
So, we planned dinner with them Thursday after work at a local restaurant in town.I picked Cheryl up and we beat the boys there so we were already seated when they arrived. Cam, unbeknownst to all of us, snuck in a baseball with "#8 coming soon" written on it and told our waitress to bring it with the drinks. When the drinks cam the waitress sat the ball inside of a kids cup and said that it was for us. Jim and Cheryl were so confused and Cheryl even stood up to see if one of Jim's former players were there (Jim is a retired coach and sees players often and they always like to say hi). Still confused and I was finally realizing what Cam's plan was I told her to read it again. They read it out loud and it clicked and that cued all the tears. It was super sweet and we loved being able to tell them that we were expecting their 8th grand baby this spring! I hate that we didn't get a picture of us!
Friday before our appointment Cam and I were delivering product across town and made a point to meet Ally, Cam's oldest sister, at her school. She is an elementary PE teacher and Fridays are crazy at school so we literally pulled in as she was pulling out during her lunch break. We caught her by surprise, but she didn't suspect anything. She finally asked what we were doing and Cam answered by saying "Bailee has a doctor's appointment" and she immediately knew and rushed over to hug me. I knew Ally would be ecstatic and that she was! I actually thought she might already know because just a week earlier she had called me to ask how I was feeling and I was so confused!
We told Cory, Cams brother who works at the shop with me, right before we were leaving for the appointment. Fridays are crazy days at work so he kind of needed to know why we both were going to be gone. Cam told him I was pregnant and he immediately shrugged it off and was like yeah whatever. He looked over and me and I was like yep.... and he was pumped. We then texted Amanda and asked if Tatum was ready to be a big cousin! Cam called Coby, the oldest brother, and told them we were expecting and he had the same reaction as Cory. Obviously Cam has done some fibbing in his past as the youngest brother!
Our original plan was to tell my parents and sister Friday night at dinner since Kenn was in town from college and then we could have the rest of the weekend to celebrate, but that didn't work out. We ended up not being able to tell them until Saturday night, which isn't all that much longer, but I spent all day with Kenn trying not throw up or spill the beans. Cam had shirts made for our dogs, Griffey's said "I'm going to be a big brother" and Deuce's said "You're going to be an aunt". Cam brought the dogs over and I put them in their shirts before the busted into the back yard. Dad and Kenn were standing out there and Cam had to hurry and get mom out there. Unfortunately I didn't get it on video, but they were all super surprised and happy. Kennedy couldn't believe it and just cried. Mom jumped up and down and dad, the tough old man he is, said he wasn't going to cry while squeezing me and tearing up. We got to show them our first sonogram pictures and talk baby stuff the rest of the night. Kenn has since texted me the sweetest things every night and reminds us how much time is left until Baby Mav is here weekly.
We finally were able to tell Randi at dinner the next week. I told her we had an early birthday gift for her and to meet us at a place by our house. Jim and Cheryl came too and acted like they had no idea. I wrapped up a onesie (the first one I bought!) for her to open as her "gift". She opened it and screamed the whole restaurant turned around. I knew she would be excited and we were so anxious to tell her. She is ready to add number 8 to her aunt randi list!
After two full weeks of everyone else knowing we were finally able to head up to tell gram and papa. These two were the ones I was most anxious and excited to tell. I can remember Gram asking me when I turned 17 when Cam and I were going to get married and have kids. And if you remember from our wedding our guests wrote on baseballs for us to have forever and on Papa's his note was "I'm looking for a pony and little red boots". They were made to be great grandparents and they are going to be the absolute best. We met them for lunch after church at the one Mexican restaurant in town and then headed to their house to open Gram's gifts, it just so happens that her birthday is this week so it worked out perfectly. I had a card for Papa to open and a chalkboard stand for gram to open. The card read "coming soon... two little feet to fill those little red boots" and Gram's chalkboard stand said Great Gram & Papa. Once they understood what was happening they were over the moon and it was just the sweetest moment.
We were able to call Cam's Paw Paw and he was just as thrilled as we knew he would be. Our little baby will be his 14th great grand baby (I think). I was able to see my grandparents that live in Colorado this month as well, which worked out perfectly. They were in town with some of their friends on a vacation and they are super excited to be great grandparents. Telling our friends has been equally as awesome and fun! This little bean is just so so loved and everyone cannot wait to meet him or her. I equally can't wait to introduce her or him to all of our friends and family!
