the big reveal.

It was a great weekend. Okay, maybe great is an understatement. For me, it was one of the best weekends to date. Let's start with Friday...

John and I were counting down the days and minutes until July 27 at 9:15 a.m. We waited 14 long weeks to see our wee one again. Do you remember the first time that you took a trip to Disney World? How you couldn't sleep because you were that excited about meeting Mickey Mouse and Cinderella in the days to come? Well, that "night before" giddiness is exactly what overcame me Thursday night. I could hardly contain myself. So, of course, I woke up early Friday morning. No alarm clock needed.

When we got to the hospital we headed straight to ultrasound. I chugged a little bit of Coke Zero (not a grand idea) to be sure the little one cooperated. Not necessary. Baby Bryant did not want to sit still--arms flying, legs spread...yeahhhh. And then I started feeling a little funny and before you knew it, I wasn't wanting to sit still either. That is EXACTLY why I don't do caffeine.

I wish that I could describe the feeling of looking at our precious baby on the screen, but it is close to impossible. SO many emotions. I felt like my entire insides were smiling. Is that really my baby?! To see ten fingers and ten toes was/is such a blessing. We are so thankful for this child, a healthy child at that. The joy in my heart while staring at our baby on screen, however, did not compare to the joy that I felt while watching John do the same. He looked happy. Very happy. He is going to be such a great daddy. He already is.

After our ultrasound we walked over to see my doctor. After a quick conversation, a few questions and two thumbs up, we were good to go! Next appointment: August 27 at 8:45 a.m.

So, are you ready for the big reveal?


We're having a...


Sorry, not yet.

Our original plan was to find out the sex of Baby Bryant at the ultrasound, have a cake made with blue or pink filling and then have a fun "reveal party" for our friends in Opelika that evening. Plans changed a bit when the idea of waiting and being surprised with everyone else really appealed to John. That's more fun, right? So we decided to get the ultrasound technician to turn off the screen when she got down to the nether-regions and write down the gender in an envelope. With mighty self-control I then took the sealed envelope to Edgar's Bakery and handed it off to the head cake designer. Done deal.

We picked up the cake at 4:00 and were Opelika bound. I could not wait to be reunited with my besties and spend good, quality time with them ALL weekend. To top it off, Lea and Bradley decided to make the trek from Columbus to Opelika for dinner and the reveal. It meant so much to us to have them there. Once we all arrived into town we went to the quaint little Ma Fia's Ristorante & Pizzeria for dinner.

One word: YUM. For dessert we headed back to the Branches for the BIG REVEAL!

Gearing up for this gender reveal party was super easy. Thanks to the ever-fascinating Pinterest, I found this super cute reveal as inspiration and it came with free, yes, free, printouts. Paired with some borrowed mason jars from my mom-in-law, some stripey straws, leftover wedding burlap, a handful of flowers, and our delicious cake, we had ourselves a party!

And now, the moment you all have been waiting for...

Is Baby Bryant a BOY or a GIRL? I'll let the cake do the talking:

BOY!!!

As you can see from John's reaction, he is beyond thrilled to be having a son. I am so excited too seeing that it is a known fact that boys loooove their mommas. Bring on the blue!