Gender Reveal Recap and Lucky Winner

Truth be told - two weeks ago, I had this entire post finished.  It was late at night - I was stressed out with a bazillion things on my mind.  Carl had tried to entice me to put down the computer and watch Home Alone with him - a movie date (LOVE that movie)!  I told him that I just had to finish this post.  15 minutes later he fell asleep (some date!) and shortly thereafter, I went to click publish and then my computer did some weird wacky thing and then last thing I knew that post was wiped clean.  I mean not a single freakin' word left.  There was no way to recover what was lost.  It had taken me 2+ solid weeks to get this post done working alongside the chaos that is my life right now.  In the flash of a second - it was gone and I was really sad.  Heck, I am still sad but I guess today I've decided to make lemonade out of lemons and surge on.

Anyway - For those of you who didn't hear already:

Little Baby Hartford is a...

BOY!

Carl and I are beyond thrilled and happy. Carl so desperately wanted a boy and I really wanted that for him. He never asks for much, so I was hoping his wish would come true. Truth is, we are lucky and blessed and really would have been happy with either as long as they are healthy.   The day we found out was really exciting and I would be lying if I said we didn't shed any tears ;)  The toughest part was keeping it a secret for almost six weeks.  I only slipped once! and the person must have not noticed because they were on team Pink!

...and now it's official - I will finally be outnumbered in my house.. by humans!  Although Henry love bug is pretty much a human anyway.

As for the big party -

Our gender reveal party was a wonderful day.  We had our closest and dearest friends and family present and it was an all around fantastic day. 

The menu was Italian and consisted of:

• Baked ziti
• Roasted sausage, potatoes, peppers and onions
• Homemade marinara sauce
• Bruschetta
• Strombolli
• Pizza bites
• Homemade Garlic Knots (A Carl specialty)
• Italian meats, cheese and crackers
• Assorted olives
• Vanilla and double fudge cupcakes
• Pumpkin whoopie pies
• and my MIL's chocolate whoopie pies

I'm sure I'm probably missing a few other things in there - but that was the basic gist of it.



I really wanted to face plant myself into this delicious italian meat platter.  MY WEAKNESS!  Carl has been informed that I want NEED a proscuitto sandwich T minus 30 minutes after I give birth!

What will little baby Hartford bee?  A baby He or a baby She?!  I loved making these cute little behive cupcakes.  I also loved eating them... especially the chocolate ones.





The guests were encouraged to wear their color of choice and it was really fun to see people show up wearing blue and/or pink.  Team boy was definitely winning the numbers contest but where team pink lacked in numbers, they made up in style!  I mean - little girls in pink fluffy dresses?! SWOON!

Here were the teams:

Team Blue (plus a few really cute team pink triplets and Juliet!):

Team Pink:

As far as the actual reveal went, we had everyone count down from ten and then released a balloon for the gender that was not correct.  We were then left holding the gender of our sweet little babe.













Team Blue (minus a few) celebrates the victory:



I also had a little contest going on here on the blog.  Remember this post!?

Well the opposite happened on the blog.  Team pink far outnumbered team blue.  Carl and I loved reading all of the comments that people left.  It was so exciting especially because we just wanted to shout it from the rooftops instead of keeping mum for so long.

The individuals that correctly voted boy were:

1 - Aireen Arellano
2 - Diana J.
3 - Carrie Hartford Fedders
4 - Diana Cardella
5 - Meg Trimarchi
6 - Charlotte
7 - Jimbo
8 - Cupcake Kelly

All the correct entries were entered into a little raffle to win a $10 gift certificate to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks (winner's choice).

And the lucky winner is....



Congratulations, Charlotte!!  Please e-mail me at bakingitonmyown@gmail.com and let me know your preference of gift card.

Thank you, again, to all who voted.

Happy Thursday.  Just remember - tomorrow is Friday.  Yipeey!

Baby He or Baby She (and a weekend re-cap too!)

Today is a BIG day my friends!  We just found out that our sweet little baby is a ________ !!!

Cruel to keep that exciting news from you, I know - I'm sorry.  We are having a cute little gender reveal party in a little less than a month for our friends and family and just have to keep our lips sealed until then.  You know I will be back here in November sharing lots of pictures and... of course the BIG news!  We are so so so happy!

This past weekend was busy but very productive.  I had my last dress fitting for one of my best friend's wedding this coming weekend and we got to get a little tour of my father-in-law's place of employment.  He works in a paper mill as a head engineer and has been working countless hours and 7 day work weeks for the past few months and his hard work (on his latest project) is finally starting to pay off.  He is one of the smartest people I know and it was great to see him get to show off all of his hard work.  In true Hartford fashion - the one picture I got of Carl and his dad, their eyes were closed. I decided to spare you guys that picture (it is goofy though!) - gotta love those sensitive blue eyes! (I secretly hope our baby has my dark hair and Carl's gorgeous blue eyes!)  

Since we were home on Sunday, I was able to cook a delicious meal.  It was a chilly day outside and therefore perfect to turn on the oven and cook up some comfort food.  I have been craving meatloaf - so that is what I made. We also had some homemade Paula Deen mac+cheese (one of my favorite recipes) and delicious apple crisp.  It was delightful and I was happy.

Speaking of delightful and happy.... this is how Henry spent 95% of his long weekend. 

I also gave my closest an overhaul and started getting the upstairs ready to transition our office/2nd spare bedroom into our little babe's nursery.  I can't wait to shop and get moving on my baby registry!  And speaking of moving - late last week I started to feel little baby moving around... it is THE. BEST. FEELING.  I am in love.  Here is a picture taken this morning.  Yesterday, I hit 19 weeks. 

Do you think little baby Hartford will bee (hint hint at our little party "theme") a baby HE or a baby SHE?  Leave your guess in the comment section below and you'll be entered to win a little gift if you are correct.  That's right - I'll pick a name from those who have guessed correctly and that person will win a prize.  If you are having trouble commenting, e-mail me at bakingitonmyown@gmail.com and I'll help you.  NOTE: those entries that come through without a name or anonymous will not be entered into this drawing.  Drawing ends on November 10th - Good luck!

...and last but definitely not least - Don't forget to check out my post over at CafeMom .  Today I'm talking about deciding to find out the gender of our little one!