What Will Baby Bee?

12/31/11

Since we live several states away we have never been able to tell our families in person that we are expecting. My sister-in-law Caley suggested that we have a gender reveal party when we were in Texas and we decided it would be a great way to include our family in this exciting season.

Caley and John visited a couple of weeks before we went to Amarillo for Thanksgiving. I am not crafty but I was so inspired by pinterest! We decided on the theme, What Will Baby Bee?, based on lots of cute pictures of other gender reveal parties. Caley and I created most of the decor for the party. I was impressed with our work and it was a fun adventure for us to work on together.



We actually had our sonogram the day Caley and John came into town, so we knew we couldn't find out baby's gender and not spill the beans while they were there. The tech wrote the gender on a card that we tucked away once we got home. (We did end up peaking before the party. We wanted to celebrate together before we celebrated with everyone else. We were very impressed that we never let baby's gender slip, even while spending the entire weekend with my family for Jeffrey's wedding.)

Now on to the pictures...

The Banner that we made. LOVED it!!!






Our table.

The theme was pregnancy cravings so we had sweet, salty, sour and crunchy treats.

Our drink station.



The adorable cake!


The Big Sister to Be! She's so cute!


The Boy Votes


The Girl Votes



The votes. We had everyone write their name suggestion under their vote.
Very Entertaining!



We wanted Caley to cut the cake since she was so instrumental in helping me plan and execute all the party details.


The cake is BLUE!!!!!


We are thrilled to announce that Bennett Edwin Blandford will be joining our little family in March. We are so excited to be having a little boy and can not wait to meet him! Only three months from today! The time is flying by!

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More thoughts on the season

Precious Friends,


Thank you so much for so many words of encouragement about my thoughts on Christmas post. It always feels good to know that you aren't alone and I was amazed at how many other Mommas are struggling with finding balance when celebrating the holidays.

Since I got so much feedback, I thought that I would share my thoughts thus far...
  • I don't remember where I first heard the idea but we are keeping all of our Christmas cards this year. We are going to keep them in a small bucket in Blythe's room and use them to pray with Blythe. She LOVES pictures and we thought it would be a great way to introduce praying for others.
  • My sister-in-law, Megan, shared this post. I love this idea! Blythe may need to be a little bigger but I love the concept.
  • I have seen this Advent Book idea on several sites. I'll be collecting books this year to do with Blythe next year.
  • Ashley posted this idea which I also plan on using. (Her blog is worth reading in general. You always leave being encouraged and challenged!)
I realize that we will probably take pieces of all of these ideas to fit our families needs. I'm already looking forward to next year as we celebrate the season with 2 little ones! We are making great memories this season and hope that you too are enjoying time spent with your families!


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Ramblings


12/7/11

If I ever figure out how to telepathically send blogs you will be blown away but how many times I post a day! :) I write what feels like millions of blog posts in my head but getting them written out seems to happen less frequently.

Here are a few of the crazy things rolling around in my head....

Are you currently involved in a Bible Study? If the answer is no, please look into BSF. I've just finished my lesson from this week and I love it. A hot cup of coffee, God's word and a sleeping Peanut! I really should begin every day like this.

I started BSF 5 years ago and took a year off when I was working foster care. My mom has done BSF most of my life and I totally understand why she loves it. I am challenged, I grow, I meet new friends and get to spend every week with other women studying God's word. It's such a blessing! And Peanut gets to come too. She hears scripture, spends time with other kids and learns songs about God. It brings joy to my heart to hear her sweet voice singing!

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I can not believe that Amarillo has now had snow TWICE!!! We've yet to have any and I'm ready to experience snow. Please remind me of this when it's mid February and the snow has been around for a month! I'm hoping that we have snow by Christmas. Always makes the holidays feel more festive.

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Since we are all friends here, I'm going to admit that I'm really struggling with how to celebrate Christmas well with Blythe. She still doesn't really "get" Christmas but I know that next year will be here before I know it. I was really encouraged and challenged by this post. I found some ideas to keep and others that weren't a fit for us. I know that what we decide for our family won't be for all families and I love that.

We are spending a lot of time in prayer and just talking through how we want to celebrate as a family. It's a new season of life. I long for Blythe to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas but I also grew up with great celebrations and traditions that I want to continue as well. I know that we will find a way to incorporate it all and I look forward to growing as a parent.

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I loaded tons of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Texas onto Facebook. We are trying to be much more intentional with our picture taking while with family. Already, we are so glad that we challenged ourselves! We have loved looking back at our most recent trips and Peanut loves to look at pictures of herself. :) The child has very healthy self esteem!

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Because no post is complete without a picture...


Blythe was an adorable flower girl. We were thrilled that she walked down the isle! My brillant mom had an Amarillo girl who is at Baylor watch Blythe during the actual ceremony so we could enjoy the wedding. Blythe stayed at the reception dancing until the Bride and Groom Left at 10. She enjoyed herself! And all the cupcakes that she snagged my flashing that smile.

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Blythe and I went to the doctor today and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. I hope to do a post soon about our gender reveal party! Baby is growing and is healthy with a storng heartbeat. We are so grateful for a healthy baby!

Hope that you are all doing well on this Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of your week and the joy of this holiday season!

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