I can’t tell you how nervous I was for this night. There are times that I just like being a total spotlight hog and have been since I was a kid. I love making people laugh and was always the class clown…HOWEVER, there have been a few moments in my life where I wish that NO one was looking at me and that I could just blend into the walls. One, was when I opened my LDS mission call to go out and preach the gospel. There seems to be a lot of hype of going foreign over state side and I felt very uncomfortable with people judging my reaction. I was happy to be sent anywhere but my initial reaction to reading where that would be…I just wanted it to be private. Didn’t happen btw. My mom hid it so that we could get the whole family together….sigh. The next moment was THIS one!!! I wanted to cut open a small cake just me and my boys and THEN share it with everyone else at the reveal. Kevin reeeaaaalllly didn’t want to do it that way and so we compromised. If he would leave all the colors and decor up to me for the party….then I would wait to see what we were having. He agreed so aaaaallllll thoughts of pastel blue and pink went OUT the window (thank heavens) and all the neutral deliciousness of tans, browns, whites and cream came into play. Since that will basically be the nursery, I felt good about making and buying things that I would still be able to use. Here is the inspiration pic that I found on good old Pinterest:

And this is what I came up with:

I was so in love with my husband for letting me take full creative control because I seriously was dreaming about these neutrals and wanted so badly not to use pastels. Here’s a breakdown of what I used and what I did to make it happen. I loved the banner idea so much but instead of spending a ton, I got a coupon from Michael’s and bought the banner ready made. I have made burlap banners a ton and just wanted the ease of a ready made. Super cheap with the 50% off coupon! Then I made the flowers on either end by using brown and cream coffee filters and ripped up paper from a book I frequently tear pages from lol. Got it at a second hand store and it’s been wonderful for so many projects! Instead of buying a stencil for the lettering I just made my own. I picked a font on the computer, made it large enough, then cut out the center and stipple painted onto the burlap material. It turned out great and will be hung in her room now. We framed one of her last ultrasound profile pics and had one of the boys as well. Almost everything on the table are items from around the house that just happened to fit the color scheme. We served chocolate milk and regular milk in Ikea old fashined milk jugs. I just took some doilies I had from Walmart and taped them to the front for a more delicate detail. The cookies were from Costco and the Chicken salad craisin sandwiches are from this pinned recipe (to die for!!!). The only difference is that I had run out of pecans so I used walnuts and it was still amazing! We also had white Lindt chocolate truffles and bon bons. It ws heavenly =).

I took jute twine that I already had and tied each end to the curtain rods above the windows. I then used my little boys’ blessing outfit (complete with bonnet), went out and bought little ruffle buns (kept the tag on just in case lol), socks and a onsie. Because it was winter, I felt the snowflakes were perfect and just took them from my Christmas decor and hung them. My dear friend and I have been drooling over all white nurseries and she insisted on getting me the softest stuffed animal she could find. This lil rabbit has my heart….I may keep it ha! =) This same dear friend partnered up with another gal to make these fantastic tissue poms. I am hopeless at trying to make them and they were so giving and kind to help me out!

As for the cake, there was NO one I wanted to have make it more than my darling friend Mandy from Favorite Cake Place (you can find her under that same name on IG). We talked about a ton of different options and then when the color scheme changed we just looked at the cake from the Pinterest pic. We had no idea what was really on it so we improvised. I made the topper so it would look like what I already had strung above (just drew the blessing outfit on paper) and I made the pretty lace ribbon bows using dental floss to hold them together. We pinned them in and now I will pin them to a board I have up in Sophie’s room. Soon enough, the bows and pins will hold up important reminders, like a pic of her first foot and hand prints, a lock of her hair in a baggie from her first hair cut etc. I seriously wanted to use all of these things again =). It was THE most mouth watering vanilla buttercream cake with a buttercream filling. I am dying just thinking about it!!!

And then the moment this happened. I cannot stress enough how important it is to get someone to take pictures at your gender reveal for you and to video the moment when it happened. My wonderful friend Jordan from Jordan Bree Photography (also find her on IG under that name) came and captured absolutely priceless moments. This picture is my favorite because it so perfect;y represented each of our family member’s emotions right when we found out. The boys were SO pro girl that I was trying to advocate for boys just so they wouldn’t be disappointed. But when they saw that pink frosting??? It was an explosion of excitement! As you’ll see in the video…B only wanted cake. He had been sick the whole week leading up to the party and I’m kind of a sugar beast when that happens. I ban all sugar (the little they do eat) and bust out the oils to make them better. He was so worried he wouldn’t be allowed to eat the cake that it consumed his thoughts day and night….believe me, he asked constantly so it plagued me too! It tales all of 10 seconds for him to clap politely, then take the cake from Dad’s unassuming hand to devour it before I could consent. SO funny, especially when you know the back story.

It’s a GIRL!!!!!!! I still can’t even fathom the fact that we are having another baby, let alone we will have a daughter. It just sounds so exciting and strange at the same time. We had guests pin on mustaches or bows for their pick of what they thought the gender would be. Kevin and I were both wearing mustaches!!! We couldn’t have been more wrong lol. In the video I thought we were going to cut the piece of cake all the way down the the base tier then lift but Kev apparently only wanted to make a small cut…..hence me being confused in the video as to what he was doing =D.

We were so excited and in shock. I just wanted to gobble him up at this point and smother him with hugs and kisses……too many witnesses ; D.

Needless to say we are SO happy to be welcoming another lil smoosh into the Springer clan and to have the new adventure of having another girl in the house. I was getting way too outnumbered =). I can’t wait to share with you all of the clothes I have already purchased and accessories she’ll wear. Oh my word it’s a girl!!!!!! Hope you enjoy the video. I think I’ve watched it 5,000 times and still cry.

XOXO

Jen