Gender Reveal Baby BBQ

Here's the long overdue photos from our gender reveal baby BBQ. I blame the lack of keeping up on posts on the wee babe I'm currently cooking. That's one of the perks of being pregnant, right? Our gender reveal barbecue was only, let's see, four months ago. Forgive me.

We found out the sex of Baby Turner at our ultrasound, but decided to do a fun reveal for our family and friends. We invited everyone over to our place for tri-tip, beer, and a gender reveal. Above is the invite. Below are some of the crafty details.

As folks arrived, they had the opportunity to bet on the sex of the baby. Guests dropped a dollar in the jar and then wrote their name on a slip and circled boy or girl. We framed a list of old wives' tales used to predict gender. They turned out 50/50.

After the gender reveal, we pulled out all of the slips with the correct gender circled. While everyone was chowing down, we drew a winning slip and gave the winner a mason jar filled with all the cash.

Of course, we displayed a giant baby photo of both Ryan and I from the 80's. He wins chunkier elbows and I take the cake for most neck rolls.

We also hung a clothesline with random baby photos of the both of us. When else do all of these photographic gems get to come out of the dusty box in the garage where they normally reside?

The last photo addition was something I saw on Pinterest that cracked me up. 

Take a photo of both the mom and the dad around the same age. School photos work best, because they're typically facing straight on and have a solid background. I scanned them and reprinted as 8x10s.

Then cut both photos into strips horizontally so guests can mix and match to predict what the future offspring will look like. For example...

Another Pinterest idea that's super easy. Get a bunch of Hershey's bars and color in a "he" and "she" with Sharpies.

I bought these little canvas flowers for a dollar at Michaels.

Using freezer paper, I cut out letters with my Cricut and then ironed them on. Then just paint, dry, remove paper.

For the actual reveal, we went with silly string. I bought a bunch of silly string at the dollar store and as you can see, it's a girl! Should I have said spoiler alert? First step, take off the colored caps. 

I printed off sheets that say "He or She? Wait to spray and see!" on regular computer paper. Cut them to the height of the silly string and secured with some double-stick tape. Displayed them with mandatory "Do not touch!" sign.

After everyone arrived and placed their bets, we lined up those who thought girl on the left and those who thought boy on the right. We passed out the silly string and counted down from three...

It's going to be a girl!

Then we feasted. Ryan marinated and grilled a bunch of tri-tip. And everyone else brought a side dish or dessert. It was really low-key and easy. If you've never had tri-tip, it's delicious! It's a certain cut of beef that we eat a lot here in California and for some reason it's hard to find in the rest of the country.

Oh, to be this small again. I would be able to sleep comfortably, reach my toes with ease, and walk up a slight incline without becoming out of breath. No complaints though, I've had a really healthy pregnancy. It's just strange to look back and realize how big my belly has become. My dear baby girl is gaining weight like a champ.