I can’t believe Leah and Matt’s wedding was three years ago. And now they are expecting their first baby!
Leah is due in September and will have a baby boy. She will be the most incredible mama! I’ve been friends with Leah since elementary school and she’s always had such a nurturing quality about her. She’s a teacher and absolutely phenomenal with kids. She’s also my first pregnant best friend, so her pregnancy is especially exciting!
During our girls’ weekend trip to Sarasota back in April, Carrie, Michaela and I loved hearing all about her experience so far and her predictions about whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. Leah was pretty convinced it would be a girl, so learning her baby is a boy was quite a surprise! He is very healthy and Leah is now 31 weeks pregnant and absolutely thrilled.
Ryan and I stayed with Leah and Matt over the weekend in Chicago and I loved the extra time with one of my oldest friends. Leah and I drove to her shower together on Sunday afternoon and I had a great time catching up with her relatives, coworkers and friends.
Leah’s college friend Colleen has a sister who has a 9-year-old vizsla so we obviously had a lot to chat about!
Leah’s older sister Rachel planned the shower and did an incredible job with decorations, favors, food and drinks.
Fun fact: Rachel had a baby girl last year and Leah is due within a few days of Rachel’s daughter’s birthday!
One of the first things that caught my eye after I arrived at the shower was the stunning cake.
It was way too adorable and looked just like the invitations to the shower. An added bonus? Underneath the fondant was a layer of buttercream icing. Heck yes!
For the first hour or so, everyone chatted away while snacking on delicious passed hors d’oevuvres, including bacon-wrapped dates and mini risotto cups.
Plus plenty of champagne, wine and Bloody Mary’s!
When it was time to take our seats for lunch, we made our way into Rachel’s living room where she had a bunch of tables decorated with the cutest centerpieces.
A diaper was placed at each person’s place at the table with a card that read, “Decorate your diaper to give Leah a middle of the night smile or any new mommy advice.”
Since I’m not a mom and didn’t have any words of wisdom to share, I went the “give Leah a middle of the night smile” route!
The favors at Leah’s shower included a cake pop shaped like a rattle and a CD of lullabies created by Leah’s brother, Paul.
I thought the CD was such a neat idea for a favor and I hope to enjoy it with a little one of my own one day!
After a delicious plated lunch of chicken salad on a croissant with spinach salad and fresh fruit, Leah opened her gifts.
Just like during her bridal shower, Matt arrived to open gifts with her toward the end of the baby shower which I thought was so nice (and way less awkward for her)!
I’m so glad I was able to attend such a fun event and celebrate Leah and Matt’s little one.
Congratulations again to both of you! You will be the most wonderful parents and I can’t wait to meet your baby boy.
Questions of the Afternoon
- To the mamas out there: Did you think you were having a boy or girl only to be shocked by the sex of your baby? Or were your predictions correct?
- To those who want kids: Would you want to find out what you were having ahead of time?
I would definitely want to know the sex of the baby ahead of time. Ryan said he wouldn’t mind being surprised one day, but I’m pretty sure that would kill me. I am waaaaay too curious!
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This looks like a baby shower to beat all baby showers! Yay for the frosting under the fonadant surprise! The diaper idea is adorable – I am in love with it! I’m tucking that idea away for when one of my friends has a baby shower. Everything looks gorgeous and like it was such a nice time with friends.
While it might be nice to be surprised by the gender, I think I will end up knowing ahead of time. Mainly because 1) I am impatient!! and 2) I am a HUGE planner – I’ll want to buy clothes and things ahead of time.
I love the decorations at that shower – those yellow and white vases are too cute! And the food spread – hello bacon-wrapped dates – one of my go-to favorite appetizers.
So cute – isn’t it crazy watching friends have kids. My sister in law just announced she is expecting again- they have a boy so it’s time for a girl!
What a beautiful shower! Looks like you had a great time!
My husband and I have discussed this one and we would have to know before the baby came! Too many choices and hardly anything is gender neutral.
I had to know what I was having! I originally wanted a girl but ended up having a boy! I would have it any other way but I still what a girl!
I love that cake! Adorable!!
I just found out that I am pregnant with my first baby last week! It’s still pretty surreal but we are so excited! We are going to wait to find out the sex. I love the idea of that moment in the delivery room when it’s announced and when my husband will announce it to our family in the waiting room.
Congratulations! What an exciting time!
I would want to know because I feel like there are so many surprises with a child, I’d want as much information as possible.
I’ll want to know, I’ll get too impatient & curious!! I also LOVE your green dress! Where did you get it?
I thought I was having a girl for sure and it was a boy! The lullabies for Leah is so cute:)
Looks like it was a beautiful shower! So fun!
While I was pregnant, before we found out the sex, I had two dreams about the baby and in both dreams it was a girl. And…I had a girl! I was hoping for a girl, but really didn’t have a gut feeling either way, just the dreams. A boy would’ve been great too. Honestly, I just didn’t want to deal with boy parts! Ha! My husband has two boys and I don’t think I could’ve handled prolonging pee on the toilet seat and bathroom floor–gross!
I am pregnant right now with my first baby! My husband and I will find out later this week what we are having. It has been an anxious 20 weeks waiting to find out if the baby will be a boy/girl. We each have our own predictions on which it will be. I am a planner also and need to know so I can get ready! We don’t have a gender preference, but we are certainly hoping for a happy, healthy baby.
Love the CD idea..so cute!
Just had my first in May. We found out. It was just as exciting when we found out at the ultrasound, and I am definitely a planner and wanted to know. I also felt like it made me feel more connected with her as I could start using pronouns (and later her name) vs. “it” or “the baby” or some other nickname. It made it feel more real to have that association of being a girl as well. I had no feelings/intuition ahead of time as to whether the baby would be a boy or a girl, but I know some people who have very strongly felt one or the other.
i LOVE the idea of not finding out. i always remember an old boss of mine saying that seeing his face when the baby actually comes is priceless, and that just melts my heart!!
plus i love neutral colors anyways 😉
I hoped for a boy from the day we say a positive on the test and it was confirmed at 18 weeks that we were in fact having a boy, I was ECSTATIC!!
My husband wanted a boy and I wanted a girl. (I wanted a girl just so if it was a girl we wouldn’t be disappointed but deep down I wanted a boy)
We ended up with a little girl. But since she is our first we are happy. We have 2 more tries! If not then we are going to adopt! (:
We are also due in September! My husband really wants the surprise so we are waiting, but the anticipation is killing me! The votes are split down the middle and I don’t have a strong feeling one way it another. So I guess we just have to wait and see!!
I found out with my first and was surprised with my second. I’m glad I did it that way, I’m a planner by nature and felt better knowing the first time around. But having a surprise the second time was SO MUCH FUN! It really is the only true surprise in life, and I loved it!
Love that diaper idea. Going to steal that for some future baby showers I have coming up!
We don’t have kids yet, but my fiancé and I have discussed it and both of us would like a surprise for the gender of our babies.
I could not wait to find out! I pretty much begged to find out at my earliest ultrasound and even though I was convinced I was having a girl, I was thrilled to find out it was a boy. The second time around I still couldn’t wait to go out but didnt have strong feelings either way! My husband was over the moon to find out we were having another boy! Although I know he would be wrapped around a little girl’s finger if that were the case
What a fun baby shower! I definitely need to find out the sex of the baby when I’m pregnant. How else will I be able to plan?? ;p
I totally thought I was having a girl, we asked the US technician to write The gender on a piece of paper so we could open it at lunch. Well I open the envelope at lunch and she had blown up a picture of the baby’s penis and I screamed lol!!! Needless to Say it was a boy. 😉
I would love to not find out! But I think the suspense would kill me, haha! I love their idea of having everyone decorate a diaper. Those would be so fun to use and get a little message from all your friends and family!
Such a cute idea to write a message on the diapers for late night changing 🙂 I think that’s when moms can really use some extra encouragement :). I was soo convinced I was having girls both pregnancies. And they both ended up being boys. They’re super awesome.
What a cute shower! I love all of the decor and the food looks amazing!!
My husband and I are expecting in September also, and we totally thought it was going to be a boy! We were super surprised at our Gender Reveal party when we found out we were having a girl! 🙂
I’m wayyyy to curious and I’d have to know! I can not wait 9 months to find out, I’d probably pull my hair out.
We found out ahead of time (my guy is almost 5 months now). My husband put it in a really good way: It’s still a surprise whether you find out ahead of time or on the day of delivery. And it’s like two surprises – the day you find out and then the day you finally get to meet your little one.
Congratulations to your friend! Yes! I knew I was having a boy the whole time. EVERYONE told me I was having a girl but I knew better. It’s such a strong feeling! For me it was anyway.
I was totally convinced I was having a girl. It somehow hadn’t entered my thoughts that it could be a boy, ha ha, (obviously I knew this biologically was a possibility, but it just seemed so odd that I would have a boy!) but sure enough, we were having a son! Once I found out, though, it was so exciting and it added to the shock of the surprise. Now I can’t imagine that the little bump could’ve been anything but my little Henry!
We found out with our first – twin girls – the surprise of 2 at once was enough. With our 3rd we did not find out and it was the most awesome experience in our life. I highly recommend not finding out with at least one. It was so cool.
I think I would leave the first one a surprise, then find out about the rest 🙂 Maybe! For planning purposes it would be SO nice to know!
I’m pregnant with #3 now and we are not finding out the sex. We were surprised at the deliveries with the other two as well. It keeps everyone involved and surprised until the very end. We have a boy and girl already, so we really have no preference with this one!
Great looking baby shower!!
Congratulations!!
We were wanting to wait until delivery to find out but at one of our appointments, the nurse accidentally said “he” and then we knew. Love the CD idea as a favor!!!
Such a cute shower! I would have to know the sex…it would drive me nuts not knowing!!
My sister has four babies and didn’t find out the sex for any of them, even when she was growing twins! Probably because I was so desperate to know who I was going to be Auntie to I announced I would never be able to wait to find out naturally. However these days I’m reconsidering. It might be quite charming to learn the way nature intended? I don’t know! Have to see how my patience is feeling when I am one day pregnant. A dear friend of mine did find out and I documented her stunning baby shower on my blog also! If you want even more ideas for a babyshower as well as the gorgeous ones on here then visit http://hanjanran.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/feel-celebratory-at-baby-shower.html or just to look at some really cute pictures! The mumma-to-be just gave birth this morning! So exciting!
Love, Hannah xxx
I have two beautiful daughters. I too thought I would need to find out the sex of both but my husband didn’t want to know. I’m so glad we waited. I love the surprise factor. I was pretty sure with the first that it was a girl but then never had a definite feeling with the second. Sure there were times I really wanted to know. Didn’t matter to me though. I just wanted healthy babies.
I would definitely want to find out the sex ahead of time. I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else if I waited! I also think it’s helpful because then you can get the room decorated and ready before the little one arrives!
It was a miracle to find out we were expecting in the first place so we kept it a surprise until the very end. When it happened again, we did the same thing. My OB doctor had to mark my chart so no one would accidentally let it out what the gender was for either one. We have a boy and a girl. 🙂
So happy for you, Cindy!
I didn’t find out what I was having and really had no clue leading up haha. I was leaning a little more towards a girl at the end and that is what I ended up having!!
That looked like a super cute baby shower! Love seeing as the creative ideas people come up with!
she’s due about the same time as me 🙂 I too thought I was having a girl, but mostly because I really wanted a girl. Ah well, I knew I had a 50/50 shot 😛
I will definitely wait to find out the gender and I will never spill my name ideas. I just want the opinions to be left to me and my husband 🙂 . I also don’t think I could handle all of the pink if we had a girl, so I would hope for gender-neutral colors for gifts 🙂
We didn’t know our baby’s gender until he was born. I thought boy from the day i found out i was pregnant but my husband thought girl. At one of my final ultrasounds, the nurse slipped and said “she” several times, so i started doubting myself. But, i guess my motherly instincts were spot on. We now have the most AMAZING baby boy and i couldn’t be happier 🙂
We didn’t find out for our baby. I hated the idea at first, but it was so much fun. Everybody has crazy reasons for their guess and they are so entertaining. Plus, that moment in the delivery room is just amazing! We did everything in really bright colors instead of pastels and it was very gender neutral. Plus, you can re-use everything for your next baby, no matter what the gender is.
Cute decor! I love the mantle pieces.
We found out the sex of our baby as soon as we could. As a first time mom, there was NO WAY I couldn’t be prepared. I was too OCD. Hah.
CUTE cake!! Wow!
We definitely found out the sex of our baby, NO way was I waiting! haha. We had a darling little girl in October, and man is it amazing to be a mom! Congrats to Leah!!
I am such a planner, so there’s no way I’ll be able to wait! I know people say it’s an amazing moment when you find out in the delivery room… but that moment will be amazing anyway 😉
I’m expecting my first in September as well. I wish I had the patience to wait but I was counting down the days until our 20 week ultrasound to find out! I was positive it was a boy from the time we saw our first ultrasound at 8 weeks, and I was right. The night before we found out I had two dreams it was a boy. We are keeping the name a secret though so at least we will be able to announce one surprise when he’s born.
I would love to know the sex of the baby because a. I’m curious and b. I’d want to have gender specific decorations/clothes/etc. But, my hubby and I decided we’d be surprised since I want girls and he wants boys 🙂 That way, we’re just excited once the little one is born and we aren’t “disappointed” (harsh word, but you know what I mean) beforehand.