Lately gender reveal parties have been all the rage. Cakes with colored insides, balloon releases, and all kinds of creative idea just a click away on Pinterest. Rob and I didn’t want to know, but had a creative alternative to a gender reveal.
Rob and I love surprises. All of our children so far (that’s three, if I’m counting correctly) were surprises. Though I really thought I saw, uh, boy parts in one of Cooper’s last ultrasounds, even that made for MORE of a surprise when Rob and I first heard the pronoun “she” from over the c-section surgical curtain.
On our fourth, due in just about 6 weeks (SIX WEEKS??????? I SHOULD PROBABLY PREPARE OR SOMETHING.) we decided to try something different. We still didn’t want to know, but we thought it might be fun if SOMEONE knew. We talked about letting the ultrasound tech find out and then sharing the news with some random person in the family or a friend, but then it seemed a little to weird to pick a person. But what about a raffle? Rob’s family for sure loves being competitive, so we thought bringing his family and my family and a few close friends would be a great idea.
The rules were this: $5 per entry with the money going for baby stuff. (Rob kept track of this because he is amazing at that kind of thing.) As many entries as you like and you could share ONLY with a spouse. If the word gets out, it’s a $25 fine. Because we really DON’T want to find out. (Time will tell if the secret remains secret.) Here are some photos of how it went down. 
I texted Rob’s dad to have him announce the news to Rob’s mom, pictured here, and to take a photo. Though blurry, I love the emotion here! In a day or so, we will hand over the envelope. I’ll really look forward to hearing later how this was, knowing but not being able to tell anyone.
Have you done any creative gender reveals? Do you like baby surprises or to know so you can plan?