Gender Reveal Party

So this past weekend was Easter and our gender reveal party. Busy but fun! I know a few people have been waiting not only for pictures, but also for the details of the party: the cake, the decor and how we made the reveal. So here's the pics with the corresponding descriptions!

First: The Cake! I originally was going to use the filling of the cake to be the actual reveal, but after more thought I decided to have a package wrapped up and then reveal that way. So below is a 5-layer angel food cake with a strawberry filling, masked in green icing and decorated with flowers (Hobby Lobby) and sprinkles.  I used 2 boxes of angel food cake (makes about five to six 9-inch-rounds, depending on how full you make them). Filling the cake pans about 2/3 full is the best. Only half full and you'll get some sunken cakes which leads to the "compressed" look. I saved the best cake for the top.

The filling went in between each layer. Since I had some sunken cakes I put more filling in the middle, and as you'll see, that makes for an interesting cut when the time comes.



The Filling: 
(I made too much)
2 8-oz pkg of cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 pkg strawberry gelatin 
1/2 cup fresh strawberries (food processed into fine pieces)
1 8-oz container Cool Whip

Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on medium speed until blended. Add the gelatin and fresh strawberries. Once mixed, add in the Cool Whip (I used store brand) and fold until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once I assembled the cake, putting a good amount of filling in between each layer, I used one container of Key Lime icing as the crumb coat, (bought at Wal-Mart during Easter time. I am not sure if this is seasonal, so next time I may need to use food color). Angel food cake is very crumbly! After the first coat I put the cake in the freezer to let the icing get hard. This REALLY helped when I put the second coat on to cover up those crumbs. It wasn't perfect, but in the end the cake turned out fine (for my standards).

 These flowers were bought at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating aisle. They are gum paste, but I was able to put them back into their container and save them for another cake. The sprinkles (pearls and silver pieces) I've had from another cake-making day, but they were also bought at Hobby Lobby.

You don't have to do this, but I was feeling curiously ambitious and started putting the little balls on the bottom. Once you start, it's a good idea to finish! About half way through I got the hang of it and it went a bit quicker.








And as you can see, all that filling in the middle made for a slight mess, albeit a delicious one!






Okay, so that was the cake. Now onto the guests, who cast their votes for boy or girl by making gender specific onesies. I got the idea at some point in time (probably something I saw on Pinterest, but I don't remember). At first I was scouring stores for deals on onesies when it dawned on me (preggo minds run behind) that I've had TWO kids already and they have old clothes in storage. So then I went through all the bins of clothing (forcing me to filter through the clothes anyway) and I came across 35 useable onesies (not counting ones that were stained!).

 Once again, a few trips to Hobby Lobby (shocker!) I started purchasing iron-on patches. This takes time if you want to use the 40% off coupon each time you go. I am sure Michael's has similar items, but HL is just down the road from me, thus all things HL. As the guests arrived I had them choose a onesie, a patch or two, and then instructed them to decorate as they wish. I also had fabric paint available so they could add their own embellishments. In the end, I had some awesome new clothes! As for those who made boy onesies, they will either be gifted to my other preggo friends or donated. Some I could possibly add more girly things. We'll see! I had a line strung up so we could hang dry the clothes and take pics!

 

 

 

As for food, I just did finger foods mostly. My awesome mother-in-law made an orzo salad and my own parents provided the grapes. I bought some pink and regular lemonade, mixing some blue food coloring to the  regular lemonade to make it blue. That was it! People ate and drank as they pleased, the kids played out back (praise the Lord for great weather!) and we had fun. Once all the votes were "made" and people had their fill, we prepared for the big reveal.  

 

I bought some items and gifts for our newest little one that were gender specific. When Ryan and I had a date of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, we bought a "woolly mammoth"  (elephant) for the baby. I used a table cloth to wrap this thing and tied it at the top with a ribbon. When it came time to reveal, Tom and I simply untied it and let the cloth fall...  

Yay, it's a girl!

Pink or Blue?

During our 20 week ultrasound, the tech let it slip as to what the baby's gender was, upon which Tom and I just looked at each other. You see, we wanted to wait until the birth to find out what we are having, since we have one of each right now. It's kind of a bummer, but at the same time now I get to plan a gender reveal party! And if you know me, hosting fun things that require food and creativity is my specialty! So in the end, I'm still having fun with knowing the gender.

These are the invites I mailed out, which I created using Microsoft Paint (I know, I wish I had Photoshop, but it's all I have to work with right now). I found some pictures online of owls (apparently cute little owls and birds are the "thing" right now). And then I simply touched them up in Paint and pasted them into a Word doc. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some card stock: grey, blue and pink. I printed the invites on the grey linen-side up, and then had Tom cut each of the blue & pink paper 1/4 inch larger than the preceding paper. I think they turned out really cute! These fit into a 5x7 envelope and they didn't cost any extra postage.

As soon as I can get to it, there will be many photos to come of the party! I should get to planning! Stuff like this gets me all excited. As you can imagine, making these invitations was quite the fun project for me!

Cancun

 Our latest family adventure led us to Cancun, Mexico for a week with Grammy and Pops at their time-share exchange. The weather was wonderful, the ocean was beautiful and it was a great break from the everyday actions here at the house. As I type this I stare at the 6 inches of snow and ice that cover the ground outside, with a high temperature of 35 degrees today. Oh, I love the beach, and I love the warm weather. I am ready for Spring and Summer.

Our time was spent at the pool and beach, as Ryan and Brooklyn LOVED just hanging out in the water. The resort had beautiful landscaping, and our beach was nice and secluded (unlike the resort next door - we could hardly walk through the area it was so crowded, and I think the dress code required less than 3 inches of clothing).

The travel was a sight to see: a family of walking through the airport with a stroller, 2 kids, 4 suitcases (carry-on), 2 diaper bags, 2 car seats and a backpack. Since we travel standby all luggage is carry-on. The first day traveling was spent going through LAX. Both flights had extra seats near us, so we were able to have two rows for us, which was nice. The flight home was a tighter fit, but it was non-stop back to Colorado. Here are some pics for you to enjoy.

Back to Life!

Why hello there! Sorry for the absence. As stated in previous posts, I am currently pregnant. Right now I am 26 weeks, but my first trimester I was totally incapacitated as I struggled with extreme fatigue. I hardly did a thing, and with the closing of Biltmore Inspirations, blogging was far from my mind. I still don't have much time to blog, as right now my daughter is clinging and whining at my legs. However, my energy is back (as much as it can be) and with winter break over things are back on a schedule. Even with Biltmore Inspirations is gone, I still plan on posting the latest news on the family, recipes I've tried and even some about my struggles with post partum depression. I truly believe that too many people struggle with depression and simply don't talk about it or even seek treatment. It makes life harder, but I know that it pleases God to give me this affliction right now, and for what purposes I still am not sure, but I am happy to share in my experiences.

A Holy Calling is a Hard Calling

Motherhood was not designed to make me "happy," but to make me holy. 

*Before you read ahead, let me clarify that I ADORE my children and I love being their mother. These are my random, yet hopefully collected thoughts on a part of motherhood that I believe others might be feeling and are afraid to confess*

In Genesis 3:16 God gave His curse to the woman, "I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." The New King James version says, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children..." I think something we mothers overlook is that God didn't just curse us with pain in actual labor, but with grief in all things when it comes to raising children. Think about when you first become pregnant. Your body goes through changes that can be anything but a blessing. Sickness, fatigue, hormones that can leave you severely depressed, and so on. For me, my curse in pregnancy is a severely stuffy nose (called pregnancy rhinitis). When I say severe, I mean sometimes my nose is 100% blocked leaving me chewing with my mouth open just so I can taste my food, nasal steroids and a crazy dry mouth in the morning...for ALL nine months! I know some of you would trade your nausea and vomiting for a stuffy nose, but alas, this is my curse. And the kid isn't even born yet!

I think you get the point. From conception we have pains in childbearing. Then you actually have the baby (painful) and without a chance to "recover" you immediately are swept into a world of feedings, neediness and little sleep. At first this might seem bearable, but then add another child, and then another. Oh you women of strength who make decisions to increase your quiver! I did make the choice for three. And now I think I must be nuts. Right now I have two toddlers and one on the way. When it's all said and done I will have three children ages 3 and younger. WHAT?! No, I am not crazy. And neither are you! Wait, maybe I take that back. 

I sit here today with a stuffy nose and extreme fatigue. And I mean extreme - it's bad. My poor husband currently has a roommate who can't pick up after herself, leaves dishes around and puts junk on the floor because that spot looked cozy for that item. I do what I can to make sure that my kids stay safe and fed, albeit via pizza three days in a row and as many fruit bars as they want. Healthy. Ah, but alas we are alive and safe! I think. I know this first trimester fatigue passes, my stuffy nose will not, and soon I will have three little ones in my care. Then what? 

Is there hope and help? Well, yes, but whoever said having children was a blessing.....was right. However, let me refer back to my opening statement that motherhood was designed to make me holy. Being sanctified day in and day out is hard work. Let me emphasize that there's no way to prepare for what kind of hard work lies ahead. Some of you may have children with special needs. Perhaps you thought you were done and ended up with a bonus baby, putting a wrench in any financial plans, not to mention vacations or schooling. Each one of our children are different, as is our job each day. And it's not just one job of being a mother, it's multiple jobs of being a mother to each child. And if you have a job, well, then you wear many hats, one of mine which I tip to you! Homeschooling? Then you're a teacher too, to each different child. At the end of the day this can be nothing but exhausting! 

Think of the times when you're in the kitchen cutting up veggies (because who wouldn't want to put effort into the health of your kids?), only to have one child hanging on your leg who cries the second you try to move, another child is running in literal circles because it's funny, knocking over a glass of milk (still funny) and then getting so caught up in the moment that they pee on the floor instead of the toilet, perhaps another one asking for dinner to be ready NOW and a baby who needs your breast so bad that if you don't stop what you're doing his little red face is going to explode. When you finally get to feeding him, he does explode, at the other end. Dinner is either burnt or it's 9pm. Fail.

So we have other mothers was can lean on and listen to when times get hard. It's hard to be a good mother when your kids are having bad days, when there's defiance and disobedience, when they're sick - you get the idea. And the good days leave you feeling blessed and refreshed. But can we have that same feeling of blessedness and refreshment when the day has gone kaput? How do we separate our children's behavior from the place of our heart? 

Scripture says yes! I say yes! Knowing that I have a God who has gone through everything (EVERYTHING) we have leads me to know that He understands this pain and suffering. Our labors are not in vain, and His promises for blessing are true and real. God does not lie. (God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Num. 23:18-20).

Psalm 127:3 says "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him."

Think about that. A reward. A heritage. There may be difficult days in child rearing, but each one is the Lord telling you that you're worthy to be a mother. A special mother. There is nothing little about a mother and what she does. Whether you have one child or many your role is very specific and holy! Some of you may not have children yet, whether it be by choice or infertility, this does not exclude you. Many women who were barren prayed for a child. God does what pleases Him the most to bring about your holiness. Sometimes we (me) need a few children to show us just how selfish and prideful we can be, and other times humbling yourself before a sovereign God asking for a child expands your faith (not to mention others around you) immensely.

If you're having a hard day then be encouraged that you are exactly where the Lord wants you!

I do love my children. I think everything they do is the cutest, cuter than other kids, of course. Even in their disobedience I can find humor (trying not to laugh in front of them), and even though I am super tired, being able to cuddle with my sick children brings joy. My children will not lay on my lap for much longer, they will not "need" a hug from me every time they get hurt or even ask me to feed them. There is a joy in their littleness. There is also a joy in their independence.

 So, I write all this to simply express how I can feel. I don't always look upon my children with radiating joy overflowing abundantly into the streams of my happy heart. Sometimes I want them to go to their room so I can have some quiet. Sometimes I want "me" time - usually during a time when they need me most. This, I believe, is not abnormal. We mothers are made of flesh. The same flesh that is cursed with sin. The same flesh that belongs to the old man. Putting on the "new," turning from sin and working out my salvation is a deliberate decision. It is a dying to myself all day, every day. I even confess that as I write this I am hoping my daughter doesn't wake from her nap so that I don't have to go get her, which will interrupt this writing. I don't think I'm a bad mother. I am a human working out my sanctification everyday with the calling that God has given me: Mother. Mother of Ryan. Mother of Brooklyn. Mother of Baby to be. And let's not forget that my first calling, before the children, was to be a wife. To love, serve and respect my husband is my first role. To come by his side and help him, to encourage his leadership and strength will only help me be a better mother. To work each day as unto the Lord, He will indeed bless me and my household. The woman who fears the Lord will be blessed by her children, her husband and by God (Proverbs 31:10-31).

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15

Now, I don't know if anything I said even makes sense, or can help you in anyway, but if you're thinking you're alone and crazy, think again. You're in good company, good crazy company!

Fall 2012

Here it is! Our new Fall/Winter 2012 catalog has just been released! The new items are available for purchase starting next week, so be sure and book your party with me before my August fills up! Earn some free swag for hosting an appetizer party, wine tasting or "back to school night"! The catalog is ready for viewing on my website! Click HERE to view it!

 Happy 4th of July!
Today we are doing a simple celebration with my parents, grilling some food and Broomfield's community festivities. Since the open space where they shoot off the fireworks is right next to our neighborhood we will sit in our front yard to watch. This way Brooklyn can be in bed and not be tortured by fatigue and loud noises. This will be Ryan's first year staying up to watch them, so we'll see how this goes!

To prepare for our little BBQ, I made some Red, White and Blue skewers with pineapple stars on top. Ryan had fun helping me "spray paint" the mallows and cut the pineapple with a cookie cutter.

I already had the blue food spray for Ryan's upcoming shark party, so it was perfect that I could spray white mallows for the occasion.

And there you have it! A simple treat for your guests. Also, as the Junco/Bruzza/Wassmer family states, "Waste Not, Want Not" I sliced the leftover star cut-outs into little triangles. The entire pineapple is being used for yummy consumption!