Baby Bear Kelley 2.0 - Gender Reveal 2015

So I'm actually quite proud of Chad and I for holding this TEENY, TINY, bit of HUUUUGEE information all to ourselves for over SIX WHOLE weeks.  Who knew my will power was so strong?! I think it was easy cause we actually just flat out LIED to everyone.  No one knew we'd gotten a sneak peak at an early doctor appointment, so no one bugged us to tell them.  

At our 12 week sonogram, over a month and a half ago, the sono tech doing the first round of a two part scan of our baby, told me that 9 times out of 10, the perinatologist (who I'd be seeing next) was correct in being able to accurately see gender that early on.  Without Chad at that particular appointment, I contemplated the POSSIBILITY of knowing the sex of our growing baby.  I didn't even think it was an option at this point so it took me a minute to get up the courage to ask the Dr when he finally came in to see me.  After a quick scan and without any hesitation AT ALL the doctor said.. "Well don't go out and paint the nursery room or anything... BUT I'm pretty good at this stuff and I'm MORE than 85% sure that it's a......."  (to be continued... to the end of this post  ;)

Right away we knew that we wanted to try to get my parents up to visit for our next scheduled sonogram, at 18 weeks (this past Friday, March 27th).  When we found out Everleigh's gender, we literally couldn't contain our excitement and called my parents from the parking lot right after our appointment.  I knew they wouldn't care how they found out this time around, but I was set and determined to make it up to them for not making that first reveal EXTRA special.  With that in mind, Chad and I went full force into "Gender Reveal Party Planning Mode".  

With this sonogram being so close to Easter, we took advantage and decided to make our party "Easter" themed.  It was gender neutral, springy and let us have the opportunity to have an egg hunt for the kiddies attending the party.  It was a hit!  

With the party set for 4pm (past lunch and before dinner time) we focused on light snacks and, of course, yummy sugary treats.  ;) 

Tasty flavor options from Nothing Bundt Cakes

Main Cake - White Chocolate Raspberry (topper made by yours truly ;)

Mini Cake Flavors - Pecan Praline, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Carrot 

 

After all the kiddie guests had arrived, we went outside to start the Egg Hunting festivities!

So proud of all the littles for being patient enough for me to snap a few pictures.  ;) 

Aaaaaannnnd... THEY'RE OFF!!!

So cute watching all the smaller ones walk RIGHT OVER the eggs, not really understanding the concept of filling their baskets.. lol.  

Saving the best eggs for last, I came out with 2 dozen confetti filled eggs that I handed to each kiddie to "SMASH" on each others heads.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy that messy part.  ;)  

As Chad and I mulled over our "Reveal" options, the one that we both really liked involved creating a unique piece of art for the baby's nursery.  Finding this inspired post on Pinterest, we quickly decided this was the idea for us. (Along with TWO other back-up plans in case the weather was bad ;)

Luckily for us, the weather was perfect.  A bit windy, a bit too bright but perfect enough for our plan.
A couple nights before, we emptied, washed and painted some egg shells that we later filled with different color paints.  The idea was that we'd throw the first set of eggs containing either BLUE or PINK paint...thus our REVEAL.  ;)

READY?!  SET?!  THROOOOOWWWW!!!!

It's....A....BOOOOY!!! 

The screams in the background told us that everyone was as excited as we are to be adding a sweet little bear cub to our family.  :) :) :) 

After that we invited everyone to help create our masterpiece!  :)  

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We're definitely loving the way they turned out.. but we will most likely add more color splashes before we hang them up ;)  

Our "INDOOR" reveal option - A giant filled egg with BROTHER bear hiding inside.  

Everleigh got to open that one on her own later that afternoon.  ;)

Friends for nearly half their lives... Sophia and Everleigh now go to preschool together! 

It's been so great seeing their little friendship blossom and grow and we're so glad they get to spend so much time together ;)

Sweet little eggheads.  ;) 

A sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who was able to make our reveal so special.  To those who traveled from long distances to be with us and to all our friends and family who have sent well wishes from all over.  We are definitely feeling the LOVE for the little man growing in my belly.  We are truly thankful for the friendships we've made and the special people that surround us daily.  

We can't WAIT to meet our little bear cub!!  

A Baby Bear Valentine Special.... ANNOUNCEMENT ;)

So it took THREE full attempts at photo sessions with my bear to get these particular shots.  The first time, she was uncooperative and totally NOT into our session AT ALL.  She refused any and all "commands" I gave her AND it was WAAAY too bright outside for any decent photos.  Her face came out, but everything else was blown out by the sun.  Strike 1.    

The second time, (leaving the camera out and ready JUST in case), I was so caught off guard that while I DID get some cute photos, they weren't the best lighting.  Indoor and at night with only the kitchen light to work with... Meh.  Strike 2. 

FINALLY, the third time was DEFINITELY a charm as my bear was MOSTLY cooperative and being extra cute.  The light was right.  Her hair was "done".  She actually had a bow on... and while this wasn't the outfit I had originally planned, I'm thrilled with how this "story" played out.  :)  FINALLY!  HOME RUN!!

So without further ado...

A Baby Bear Valentine Special ;)  

And the main reason why I've been MIA from our blog these last few weeks.. ;)

Someone's going to be a BIG SISTER!!  

LOVE this face.. hahaha.  It's ALMOST like she knows what's happening.  lol.  

God Gave Us Two.  :)  Everleigh and her sibling.  NOT twins.  lol..

Just wanted to clear the air.  

Everleigh's Big Girl Bed - SUCCESS

For those of you who've actually met our bear Everleigh... you know just how incredibly TALL this girl is.  At 28 months she's at least 36" tall and in the 98th percentile in both height and weight for her age.  With that being said, a couple months ago, Chad and I began to talk about when and how we would eventually transition her over to a big girl bed.  She hadn't QUITE grown out of her crib yet and had never given us issues climbing out so IMMEDIATELY this Momma Bear had reservations on making this transition at all.  It seemed silly to mess with a good thing...am I right?  Chad on the other hand, had a glimmer in his eye and an idea growing in his head.  There was no stopping him now.  ;)  

With a spare FULL sized bed in one of our guest rooms, we immediately thought that the smart, and most cost effective option would be to take that bed and BUILD Everleigh her own day bed.  Finding inspiration on Pinterest, Chad and I put our heads together to come up with a plan that would be the easiest for us to implement.  And when I say US, I mean HIM.  ;)  

I couldn't be more proud of my handy dandy husband and his first real build.  It turned out AMAZING and after four full nights of sleeping in her very own "Big Girl Bed", I think it's safe to say that this transition has been SUCCESSFUL!  (At least until she figures out that she can actually climb out of bed whenever she wants.  ;)  

For posterity sake, (and so Everleigh will hopefully one day truly appreciate the bed her dad made her with his own two hands), here's a quick glance of how it all came together.  

Boards cut.

Some assembly required ;)

The day bed "arms"

Double checking the fit

Decisions, decisions...

Painting in progress

Time for the headboard

Used a jig saw to cut out the curves

And we used a sparkly pink fabric over a mattress pad and some batting that we used to cover the board.  

Unfortunately, you can't truly appreciate the sparkle affect of the headboard unless you see this in person.  

We used the same process to "pad" this headboard as we did on our master headboard project.  You can see more on that project by following the link HERE.

We chose not to tuft this particular headboard like we did in our master bedroom because we were afraid our bear would just mess with the buttons, eventually pulling them off and causing a choking hazard???  (Paranoid mom I know..but better safe than sorry).  We might add that element later on as she gets older because I definitely think it would look cuter with a tufted look.  

For at least a week we talked constantly about her "Big Girl Bed" and how exciting it was that daddy made this for her.  

When it finally came time to ACTUALLY put it in her room, she was thrilled!

There are a couple of items on the list that STILL need to be done: 

We need to find a way to finish those arm edges...she needs a new bold print/fun comforter (can't seem to find one I'm completely in love with yet) and I'd like to get her some big pillows to line the back..  BUT, so far, SUCCESS!