gender reveal party -- the deets

warning: picture heavy post! i probably should have broke this down into two...but too late now!

i am so happy we went through with the gender reveal party! it was a blast to share such a special moment with our family and closest friends! we had such a good time and i think it was fun for everyone else as well! here's a play by play, complete with details...

invitations - please ignore the fact that i took a picture of it with my phone. it was a PDF file and i couldn't attach it to a post, so you get this. one day, i'll take a picture of the actual invitation, since that's the only picture i DON'T have...

 i had my very talented friend carli create the invitations and i printed them at fedex/kinkos. i mounted them on cardstock (on clearance!) from target.

decor -

• paper straws from sweet lulu - these were definitely a splurge, but so worth it in my opinion. they were so fun!

• gender votes (bows and mustaches) -we just finished unpacking everything so we had plenty of cardboard boxes headed for the trash. i decided to cut one up and paint it with chalkboard paint. it was free and pliable enough to stick pins in it. worked perfectly. i cut mustaches out of grey felt and tied simple bows from pink and orange ribbon. 

 

• photobooth props - i printed these on paper (from ohhappyday) and traced them onto foam. the pirate and batman were most definitely the crown favorites. unfortunately, there weren't many girly ones to choose from, so they were kinda lame.

•  a while back i had created a bunting banner for a photo shoot that unfortunately never happened so i quickly decided this was the perfect opportunity to use it! the ribbon bunting behind the banner is the same fabric i used for the bows. i purchased a small "jelly roll" of fabric from michaels, cut the strip into thirds, and tied it on jute string. it was a perfect backdrop to the bunting banner.

•  the big reveal - like i mentioned before, we had plenty of moving boxes destined for the trash so we saved the largest box and i wrapped it in black craft paper and wrote on the front with chalk. i took it to a party store, along with the envelope from our perinatologist and had them fill the box with the corresponding color of balloons. i had a friend pick up the box to avoid a spoiled surprise.

of course an obligatory shot of the photo booth/reveal station

• paper products - i purchased hot pink and teal/blue plastic plates from hobby lobby. i had originally planned to get these at the dollar store, but hobby lobby had better quality and prices, thanks to their 40% off coupons!

food - let's be honest, feeding 40+ people is overwhelming and can quickly get expensive! luckily, i had some wonderful friends and family help out in that department.

• appetizer - 7 layer dip made by stan's step-mom. delicious!
• honey baked ham - sprouts was running a killer deal on ham! i think it was like $1.50 per pound
• BBQ chicken - i love market street's texas tumble chicken. i miss not living close to a market street for that very reason! they happened to be running a special on their hand trimmed chicken breast ($2.00 per pound), so i purchased that to finish of the meat
• potato salad -stan's mom makes a killer potato salad and she was happy to help out
• green beans - my sweet friend, brittany, opened up her lovely home and cooked up some delicious green beans 
• mac 'n cheese - stan's step mom contributed some delicious mac 'n cheese to help out
• baked beans with bacon - stan's aunt was kind enough to whip up some yummy baked beans to wrap up the dinner menu

drinks -my parents supplied most of the drinks, and brittany and i picked up some beer that went pretty quickly. we also made a champagne spritzer that may or may not have tasted very good. it was more than half empty by the end of the party, but it was made by two preggos who didn't do any taste testing! oops...

• water
• soft drinks
• tea
•  beer
• champagne spritzer

dessert - cake balls from sugar derby  - these were absolutely amazing! our friend has always loved to bake and likes to do things like this on the side, so we hit her up for some of the most amazing cake balls i've ever had!

 

i'm pretty sure that wraps up the details of the party. here are some fun shots of friends and family!

Team Boy

Team Girl

he deserves his own photo because he's so darn cute! brittany's adorable son, Van

these two beautiful ladies were two of stan's best friends throughout his school years. and still remain today!

i grew up with these women! brenda (in the middle) was my best freind since the 6th grade! i love her dearly. that's her younger sister cortney on the right. and of course my mom on the left.

my sweet friend kristine. they moved back from nashville 4 months ago! best day ever!

stan's dad, step-mom and grandson, dash

my mom and dad

on the left, chris and tammy. tammy was my sister's best friend growing up and chris was one of my brother's friends. funny how that worked out ;) that's their sweet baby girl, Izzy. on the right is my sister and her boyfriend, jessep.

we met all of these amazing people through the lovely lady in the yellow shirt, michelle. her husband floyd is on the far left. next to us is our friend lauren and her fiance hunter. the far right is our friend (and stan's boss) brandon, his beautiful wife clarissa and their sweet baby kolbe.

carli and braden. like i mentioned before, stan grew up with carli. he is officiating their wedding in june! AND they will soon live one apartment building away from us!

i could not have made it throughout the past 4 years without these women in my life. they are a breath of fresh air and the truth when i desperately need to hear it from someone other than my husband! i owe a lot to them and am so blessed by their friendship.

our old small group when stan worked at providence. i absolutely hate that we aren't 10 minutes away anymore :( i love them dearly!

the guys

stan's mom's side of the family. his mom and step-dad on the far left. his great aunt next to us. on the far right is his aunt carol, his grandpa and next to me is carols father-in-law.

stan's dad's side of the family. on the left is his dad, step-mom and granddaughter. to the right of us is sister-in-law Alex and son dash, stan's sister jennifer and her husband charlie and their son charleston and on the far right is our brother-in-law jeremy (belongs with alex) and their other daughter!

our long time friend josh and his wonderful girl, kaitlyn

my parents and nephews, dalton and logan

and because i'm lazy...see this post for the big reveal!

gender reveal--it's a....

 we're having a boy--and we're so excited!

i mean, can't you tell by those AMAZINGLY sexy facial expressions?!

please allow me a vain moment?!

check out those legs :)

 i guess now would be as good a time as any to introduce our baby BOY...

darrell cash rhoden!

we are thrilled we are going to be parents of a little boy. i'm in a lot of trouble, you know, having two stanley's running around! we knew if we had a boy we wanted to name him after stan's dad, darrell. and we wanted to keep the same middle initial 'c' so, naturally, we went with stan's favorite musician, johnny cash!

we had a sweet friend photograph the event, so i will share all the details (food, drinks, decor, etc) when we get the dvd in the mail! she had them all edited a couple days after the party! she was absolutely wonderful!! i can't wait to see them and share the deets with you all! until then...

a new zip code and other random happenings, part 1

wow. it's been way too long. i know i promise to blog more and i keep failing at that! let me just say that moving during tax season while pregnant was a bad idea. since so much has happened, i'll start with all things baby related in this post and follow up with the rest of our life in another post later today!

so what's been going on with the Rhodens?! i'm glad you asked...

first of all, i'm so excited to share that baby Rhoden will have FOUR friends so close to his or her age. we found out in the past 6 weeks that four of our friends are pregnant and having their second child. how crazy is that?! i'm so glad that we will be close(ER) for play dates and such. i don't think any of them have announced it yet, so i won't share who, but baby Rhoden is lucky because these friends are so dear and special to us and i know their children will be just as awesome as their parents are!

i have had my eye on a particular style of a petunia pickle bottom diaper bag for a while now. i have several friends who have a PPB bag and swear by it. i knew i wanted the sashay satchel style and i had originally planned to purchase one off of ebay, since i wasn't about to pay over $100 for a diaper bag. i registered my email address on their outlet website over 6 months ago (yes, before we even decided to start a family) and kind of forgot about it. well, in early march i received an email about their upcoming outlet sale. they only do this twice a year and it took me 4 hours to finally place the order and then another two days before i got confirmation that i did in fact get my order placed in time to get the bag before they sold out of the style i wanted, but lo and behold! friday, march 16th this gal came in the mail! i got her 50% off and could not be happier! i was hoping i would find out the gender of baby Rhoden before they had an outlet sale but that didn't happen. i almost decided not to get anything since i wasn't sure if we were having a girl or boy, but later decided this would be replacing my purse and it really didn't need to match the baby, only me :) i am so happy i decided to go for it! i'm in LOVE!

i got her 50% off and could not be happier! i was hoping i would find out the gender of baby Rhoden before they had an outlet sale but that didn't happen. i almost decided not to get anything since i wasn't sure if we were having a girl or boy, but later decided this would be replacing my purse and it really didn't need to match the baby, only me :) i am so happy i decided to go for it! i'm in LOVE! unfortunately, it's an addiction and i now want an wistful weekender. if only i could find the same one to match my (discontinued) diaper bag...wah waaah.

on march 17th, i went with my parents and stan's mom to a huge consignment sale in plano. my brother and his wife and children are coming in town (TODAY!) to visit for a couple weeks and go to brandy's sister's wedding in VEGAS and their new baby Grayson is going to be staying with my mom for FIVE DAYS! my mom has not kept an infant for five days in at least twelve years! yikes! all that to say, she needed some baby gear...and fast! she managed to find a highchair, an umbrella stroller, a few toys, some puzzles and games on the cheap at this place. stan's mom scored an umbrella stroller, some toys/puzzles, and a johnny jumper for an amazing deal.and i scored a cute tummy time mat and a baby carrier for stan (and me--but mostly stan). i found the same carrier brand new at buy buy baby for $129! i scored this bad boy for $18. well, my dad scored it for $18. i subsequently got it for free :) thanks dad!

afterwards, we stopped by buy buy baby so i could show them the crib stan and i decided on. i had originally though i wanted a simple clean lined, modern crib such as this:

 

but while browsing buy buy baby one day for gliders, we came across this brand new style crib from bassett baby.

 

i love the simple style while still being a little different. you can't tell from the pictures, but it almost looks like a gray wash over white paint. it would work well for a boy or a girl. it is also convertible. it goes from a crib to a toddler bed with rails:

 

to a toddler day-ish bed:

 

to a full size bed:

 

and it's from a quality furniture company so i know it will last a long time. and best of all, with a 20% off coupon (thanks buy buy baby) it is only $40 more than the simple, cheap crib from target i had been looking at! score!!

on march 29th, we had our 18-22 week appointment with our perinatologist. we actually saw one of his partners and she was so sweet. she asked us ahead of time if we wanted to know the gender and we told her we'd like it in an envelope and what our plans were and she was so nice to accommodate our request! baby Rhoden was being extra stubborn that day and WOULD. NOT. MOVE. we couldn't get baby to stay still during the first appointment and this time we needed him/her to flip over and baby would just not cooperate.the doctor needed a different view of the heart and cross-section of the stomach and we tried just about everything. she jiggled my belly with the want, she had me roll to one side and then to the other. NOTHING. in the end she was able to get what she needed i guess because she let us know we needed to look away from the screen because she was going to check out the gender of baby Rhoden. i was originally thinking we could go home later that night and watch the recorded sono and make our guesses (because let's be honest, neither of us could pick out anything except the beating heart!) but she was able to tell without a doubt after just a few seconds so i decided it was a bad idea to watch it, in case it really was THAT obvious.

as soon as i got home i hid the envelope but pretended to keep it with me at all times. when we left the appointment i put it in my planner/life binder and didn't let that sucker out of my sight so stan would think it was still in there. i know my husband and he is sneaky and this is the only way i knew i could keep him from searching the apartment for it! fast forward a week and i get a phone call from stan saying he had a confession to make. i immediately thought he found the envelope and opened it. instead he took the dvd out of my planner and watched it! the little turd...

lucky for me, the doctor picked up on the fact that i have a sneaky husband and she cut off the recording just before she checked the gender! crisis averted!!

a few weeks back living social was running a great deal. pay $25 and get $50 to spend at a local cloth diaper shop, called the nappy shoppe. even better, if you purchase the deal and then get 3 other people to purchase it also, yours is free! so i had stan purchase it, as well as my mom and dad. so in the end, i got $200 to spend at the nappy shoppe and only paid $75! we are planning to cloth diaper baby Rhoden. but before you think i'm CRAZY--know that they have come A LONG way since the days of folding and pinning and covering! it is expensive to get started (between $15 and $20 PER DIAPER) but when you compare that to how much you would spend in just the first 3 months ALONE it is so worth it! when all is said and done, i will have a pretty good start to my collection. i will have 12 cloth diapers for roughly $100. i would like to have between two to three dozen. if i were staying home with baby Rhoden, i could probably get away with only two dozen, but i would like to have a dozen that could stay at my mom's house so i wouldn't have to cart them back and forth so often. but hey--that's what a registry is for, right?! well, wednesday night my mom took me out to get an outfit for the gender reveal party and we decided to stop by and use two of our vouchers. here's a picture of two (of the six) that i purchased:

contrary to what it appears, one is black and the other is bright blue (not brown and baby blue). it was dark already when i took this picture, but i was so excited i couldn't wait until the morning when the sun was out! they are the pocket style, meaning there is an opening in the back between the inner and outer layer for a "soaker layer" to fit inside and when the diaper is wet or soiled you pull the soaker out and throw them in the washer. it is also a one-size style. all those snaps allow it to fit all the way from 6 pounds to 35 pounds! meaning one set of diapers will last until baby Rhoden is potty trained! hooray! i purchased 4 of the same style in the picture, and then i purchased two of another brand because the associate said it was especially good to last throughout the night = less diaper changes while i'm barely awake.

in WAY more exciting news, the gender reveal party is less than 36 hours away and i could not be more excited! some super AWESOME friends of ours opened up their home to host the party. how amazing is that?! another sweet friend, Elyse is going to photograph the event. i don't want to give away too much, but it will be a good time! i'll have a separate post after the event to detail everything from the party. i also have some great family members contributing food. i could not have done this without them! I CANNOT WAIT!!! 

well, i think that's everything baby related for now. i'll FINALLY do a separate recap post of my pregnancy so far after the party. stay tuned for the rest of the crazy, under construction life we are currently living...