Gender Reveal Party & Ultrasound Day!! {Plus FREE Printables!}

We have been looking forward to finding out what our baby is ever since the day we found out we were pregnant! I remember thinking that very night that we had 14 L-O-N-G weeks to wait. Those weeks went by so fast, but yet so slow at the same time! Our appointment wasn't until the afternoon, so my day at school felt like it lasted forever! My students were so sweet, though, and were so excited all day, too. :) Our math data question of the week was whether they thought I would have a boy or a girl. All the girls except one voted for girl, and all the boys {plus one girl} voted for boy.

Daniel and I met that afternoon and all the way to the hospital, we talked about how we couldn't believe the day had finally come! We both wore pink and it turns out we were right!

Even though we both thought it was a girl, hearing the words, "It's a girl" was so amazing. It just made it a million times more real for both of us. She was a little wiggle worm and moved around the entire time. Of course, we thought everything was incredibly adorable. :) Here we are right after finding out!

After we were done at the hospital, we went out to dinner and did some shopping to celebrate. It was so much fun being able to buy our little girl something!! We both just fell in love with this adorable little kitten blanket!

We also got this sweet ornament for our Christmas tree this year. We're going to put one of her ultrasound pictures in it.

Daniel's protective nature came out full force as he inspected some of the strollers. It was hilarious. He started throwing around words like suspension! He's definitely in charge of the stroller research. :)

The next few days we were busy getting ready for our gender reveal party. We decorated the fireplace with pink and blue balloons and a pennant banner that I made to match the invitation.

I made some tissue paper pom poms {tutorial coming soon!} in baby colors to hang in the kitchen. They were really easy and I love how they turned out!

For food, we did "Boy Cravings" {salty/savory} and "Girl Cravings" {sweets}. You can download a free printable of the tent cards at the bottom of this post.

We had veggies with veggie dip, buffalo chicken bites, my mom's famous {and super yummy} taco dip, and pigs in a blanket. Don't the pigs in a blanket look like little babies? So cute. :)

On the girl side, we had our reveal cake {with pink frosting on the inside!}, pink and blue chocolate cake pops, he/she Hershey bars, and fruit with fruit dip...which was still in the refrigerator when we took the picture. :-\

I also did an old wives' tales printable that we displayed. It looks like most of the old wives' tales were true in our case!! There's a free {blank} download for this at the bottom of this post, too. :)

We kept the pink and blue trend going with the drinks. For the pink sparkling punch, I made this recipe. The blue punch was just limeade with a couple drops of blue food coloring.

Both of my parents and my brother-in-law, Dale, wore blue {or something in the blue family...Mom :)} to cast their vote for a boy.

Aliesha and Vanna both thought it was a girl!

Vanna wanted to make sure that everyone knew that she thought it was a girl!!

We weren't telling yet! It was so funny when everyone realized they had to wait until we cut the cake to find out! There may have been some "hurry up and eat" talk going on...I won't mention names. :)

Finally, we cut the cake!

You can't tell in the picture, but that's pink icing in there!!! :) Everyone was so excited to finally know the news, and Vanna was jumping up and down squealing, "It's a girl! It's a girl!" So precious.

Everyone brought our baby girl gifts, too! My mom and dad came with both boy and girl gifts. Inside the girl box were these precious outfits. Baby clothes are the cutest!

Aliesha, Dale, and Vanna got her this adorable Lion King book. The Lion King was my *favorite* movie growing up {could have had something to do with my Jonathan Taylor Thomas obsession!} and is still my favorite Disney movie, so I absolutely love that our little girl will get to know all about Simba at an early age. :)

On Monday, we headed back to work and were excited to share our news with everyone. I took "she" Hershey bars to my students. I laid them face down on their desks and then they flipped them over at the same time. Their reaction was so cute!!

I took pink cake pops to my coworkers with "It's a Girl!" tags {free download at the end of this post!}.

One of my sweet friends at work let me borrow this cute carriage pin to wear that day, too.

We absolutely loved sharing our news with everyone! We can only imagine how wonderful it's going to be when we get to introduce our sweet baby girl to our family and friends!!

Now, for the free printables... Just click the links below each picture to download a PDF of that file. I've also made an invitation and complete DIY printable party kit that matches the chevron, polka dot, chalkboard theme. You can check them out in my Etsy shop if you're interested!! :)

 

Click here to download the tent cards

Click here to download the "It's a Girl!" circle tags

Click here to download the old wives' tales printable

  

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies

I absolutely love having a reason to bake! Last night, the girls in my community group got together for a Pinterest party. We were all supposed to bring a recipe that we had pinned, but never made. This was perfect for me because I pin like crazy...especially to my desserts board! When I'm supposed to make something for an event, I almost never even consider making anything but dessert. Dessert is my favorite {at least before I was pregnant!}. Even though I haven't been eating as many sweets lately, desserts are still my favorite thing to make.

I didn't have to scroll down far on my desserts board before these layered peanut butter brownies from Six Sisters' Stuff caught my eye. With the layers of marshmallow frosting and peanut butter, these brownies are super fudgy, perfectly peanut buttery, and ultra rich. Just the way a brownie should be. :) I mean, check out this peanut butter layer. There's just something I love about melted peanut butter.

Seriously, just look at those peanut butter and chocolate layers! It's almost like a layer of fudge on top of a brownie.

The original recipe called for homemade brownies, but I took the easy way out and used a box mix. I certainly wouldn't hold it against you if you have a favorite homemade brownie recipe you want to use, though. ;) Either way, you'll definitely want to have someone to share these brownies with!

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies
Makes 24 1-inch brownies
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Boxed brownie mix + ingredients to make brownies
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Frosting
3 T. milk
2 T. cocoa
1/4 cup butter
5 large marshmallows
1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare brownies according to package directions (I used an 8x8 pan). Allow brownies to cool for 30 minutes. It's okay if they're still warm. Melt peanut butter in the microwave until it's smooth. I microwaved it for 1 minute and it was just right. Spread the peanut butter over the brownies. Refrigerate until the peanut butter layer sets up (30 minutes to an hour).

Once the peanut butter layer is set up, make the frosting. Over medium heat, combine the milk, cocoa, butter, and marshmallows and stir until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Once the frosting is smooth, spread it over the peanut butter layer and refrigerate until set.

Recipe slightly adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

  

Pizza Bites {Football Food}

Only one more day until college football starts!!! Yay!! I am SO excited! I do love watching the game every week, but one of my favorite things about football season is having a reason to make fun appetizers and snacks. I shared the recipe for cheddar bacon dip last week which is of our favorites. It is so good! This week, I'm sharing another one of our favorites. Pizza bites!

These pizza bites are easy, cute, and most importantly, delicious! They also taste great at room temperature so you don't have to stress about keeping them warm. Just serve them with a side of your favorite marinara sauce and you have a great party snack. To make this recipe even easier, I always use pre-made pizza dough. I buy it in the bakery section at Publix. You could definitely make it with your own favorite pizza dough recipe, though.

Here's the recipe!

Pizza Bites
Makes about 20-24 bites
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1 lb. pizza dough (enough for one whole pizza)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese (20-24 pieces)
Pepperoni

Topping:
olive oil
Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.  Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces.  Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed.  Place seam-side down in the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

Source: Annie's Eats

Hope you love this one! Oh, and Roll Tide! :)

  

Oreo Truffles {3 Ingredients!}

We had our family cookout this past weekend and it was so much fun to see everyone and get to spend some time together {and eats lots of food}. I realized late in the evening that I had not taken one picture. Not one. :(

Well, I guess I took one picture. These Oreo truffles. Yes. I first made these two years ago for Christmas and they were such a hit that I've made them for several of our family gatherings since. My nieces and nephews especially love them. And of course I do, too. They do involve Oreos, after all. :)

These truffles really couldn't be easier and the results are fancier than you would think considering how easy they are to make! You only need a package of Oreos, one package of cream cheese, and white almond bark {found in the baking section of your grocery store}. You could also dip them in chocolate almond bark, but my favorite is the white.

{Source}

You definitely need to try these for your next party! I'm pretty sure they'll become one of your favorites, too! :)

Oreo Truffles
Makes approximately 30 truffles
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1 package Oreos (reserve one Oreo for sprinkling)
1 (8 oz) package light cream cheese
1 package white almond bark

1. Place all but one of the Oreos into a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs.
2. Add the cream cheese to the food processor and process until the mixture is fully combined.
3. Roll the mixture into one inch balls and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4. Dip the truffles into the melted almond bark and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet to set up. To garnish, sprinkle with Oreo crumbs, drizzle with melted chocolate, etc... Store in the refrigerator.

Notes:

• I use my Pampered Chef small cookie scoop to scoop the truffles and then I roll them into balls.
• If the almond bark is too thick, you can thin it out by adding a teaspoon of vegetable oil at a time. This will also give it a nice shine.
• To dip, place a toothpick in the truffle, dip into the almond bark, lift the truffle off of the toothpick with a fork, and then push the truffle off of the fork with the toothpick.

Linking up with Anyonita Nibbles, Lamberts Lately, and Chef in Training.