Our Baby Gender Reveal Party

Omar wanted to know the sex of the baby and I didn't. Omar said he wouldn't tell me or anyone else so I could have my surprise, but I knew that wasn't a possible thing for him. We figured that since we have been doing so much stuff to our house, it might make sense to find out what the sex is so we can decide which room should be the baby room.

Of course if we are going to learn the sex, I wanted to have a gender reveal party. Thursday, February 19th was the date we saw the doctor. Omar became crazy thinking that he would have to wait to find out and so we planned to have the party the weekend after seeing the doctor.

We have had friends that have done various types of reveal parties --- the balloon reveal, the cake reveal, the silly string reveal, so we knew we needed to do something different --- something....

SPILSBURY STYLE

The Reveal Idea
My sister Kelly came over and we started bouncing ideas off of each other. It started with my idea of having the reveal have something to do with glow-in-the-dark paint. But after researching it, it didn't seem like it would work as I was thinking as glow-in-the-dark paint doesn't work like invisible ink.

Kelly and I somehow thought of fireworks, which is perfect because Omar is obsessed with fireworks and next to our neighborhood there is a fireworks store open 365 days a year. We had to make some changes as a typical baby reveal is with colors Pink and Blue but you can't really purchase a separate pink only firework. So we did red and blue... here is our invitation.

We had people choose which team they were on when they arrived and to provide some ideas for 4-letter baby names...

The Menu
Baby Bacon Burgers
Red Chili Hot Dogs
Red Strawberries & Watermelon with Blueberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce
Blue Corn Chips and Red Salsa
Firecracker Popcorn
Sparkling Red & Blue Punch
Crackle Cake

The Party List
We kept the party small --- hoping to celebrate with others in a less formal way.
Aaron Schreiber, Nicholas & Caroline
Gail and Dane Hill, Koben & Kianna
George & Lisa Long
Laura Wakefield


The Big "Boom"ing Reveal
About 6pm I handed Aaron Schreiber the envelope to see which firework he should light. We went out to our cul-de-sac so we could see if it would be a boy or a girl.

Check out the video

Myself and Gayle were the only ones who guessed it would be a girl...

Afterward we went back and enjoyed the 2 cakes my mom and I made....

Now to pick a name...Too bad the name at the top of the list made at the party is out...lol
These were the suggestions of 4-letter names.
Thor
Lily
Jack
Boby
Emma
A-ron
Omar
Jeni
Kate
Kimi

Valentine's Day 2015

I knew I would be working all weekend long for the end of "Obamacare". Valentine's Day took place on a Saturday and Health Care Reform Enrollment ended on Sunday the 15th. So Omar booked us a Groupon Friday night the 13th for a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater that takes place at the Omni Hotel.

We were supposed to go with Ashley and Mark but they ended up going to see Seinfeld instead so that left our table 2 seats empty at our table. This was not our first murder mystery dinner as a couple. We are good...we guessed the murderer. It was one of our waiters --- Bruce Bruce.

We had a good time, I was just tired you can tell below --- prego.... uhhh.

Saturday - Valentine's Day - Omar made me breakfast and then when I went to work he cleaned the kitchen and family room and bought me chocolate and flowers before going down to Orlando with the dog. I had a night all to myself. It was kind of nice. It will probably be one of the last times for some time too.

For a guy that doesn't "do" Valentine's Day or real flowers --- he did an exceptional job this year!

Upgrade Our Home: The Kitchen

It all started with changing the flooring. That caused us to upgrade the counter tops from laminate to granite. Both shown in other posts. That led to a new kitchen sink --- which is amazing. It is even activated by touch.

Then it was painting the kitchen to match the rest of the family room from green to grey.

Of course then we have to ensure that we add hardware to the cabinets and even added some under cabinet pull out storage.

Then time to purchase some new barstools. Omar bought these from some homeowners from really cheap --- they fit perfectly!

Top it all off we needed new appliances to make it look better ---

Samsung microwave and double convection oven with warming tray

4 Door Samsung Fridge

Cabinet hardware and Bosch dishwasher

What a gorgeous kitchen!

Upgrade Our House: Granitize it

Kitchen Exotic Granite

Guest Bath Exotic Granite

Master Bath Exotic Granite

Guest Bathroom After

Guest Bathroom Before

Master Bath Before

Master Bath After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Granite After

Notice old green color

Notice the granite backsplash