Our family has faced many health challenges lately, and we have all needed to focus on something positive. My sister, Jennifer, is expecting a baby in July, and this little one has given us cause to celebrate. I love the new trend toward gender reveal parties and was thrilled when Jennifer agreed to share her happy news with the family at our house over the weekend.
Pink roses, blue hydrangeas and white gardenias set a lovely and fragrant table. Teacups full of flowers served as place markers, with white doily tags announcing each guest.
When 8-year-old Christian saw our dining room table, he surmised that Aunt Jennifer must be having a girl because boys don't like flowers. I assured him that this party was for Aunt Jennifer and mommies love flowers. Over lunch, we encouraged everyone to share their gender predictions. The girls voted "girl" and the boys voted "boy."
Left to right, me, Jennifer and my grandmother.
I didn't tell the children how the surprise would be revealed for fear that someone would peak, but the two-tier cake that served as our centerpiece during the meal held the secret.
I found "It's a boy" and "It's a girl" charms at Michaels and tied the appropriate charms to pink and blue ribbons. Before lunch I tucked the charms into the flowers on top of the cake, and the ribbons looked so pretty cascading down the cake.
After lunch we let all the children grab a ribbon. Family members who could not make it down for lunch waited on the phone to hear the children announce the joyous news.
It's a ...
My 9-year-old nephew, David, was ecstatic to learn that he will have a little brother! This baby will be my parents' eighth grandchild, bringing the count to four boys and four girls.
With the exciting news revealed, it was time to cut the cake. To carry the pink-and-blue theme into the cake, I baked pink and blue layers and cut them in half horizontally to give each tier four layers of pink and blue. The pink layers were strawberry cake, and the blue layers were white cake tinted with blue food coloring.
Since I was in on the secret -- a perk of being the party planner -- I surprised Jennifer with a baby gift after the reveal. All the guests kept a charm -- perfect to tuck in a scrapbook, add to a bracelet, or use as a bookmark. And I encouraged Jennifer to keep the pink and blue floral teacup at her place.
My parents were not able to attend the party because of my mother's health issues, so we visited them the next day. Jennifer let Mother open a package revealing her baby's name:
Jonathan Page Driver
I am so relieved that I can talk about Jonathan now! I was so afraid I would accidentally reveal the gender before the party that I felt I could not talk much about him. But now I can ask for prayers for my nephew-to-be, who has growths in his lungs. Although Jennifer's doctors have differing opinions on what they are, they all agree that the growths will probably need to be removed surgically after birth. We pray that Jonathan will be healthy and strong -- a beautiful blessing who has already brought so much joy to our family!
"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." -- Carl Sandburg
I'm linking this post to Show and Tell Friday at Cindy's Romantic Home.
