Baby Akins is a BOY!!!!! We are so grateful and excited and can’t wait to meet this little guy! We have a SON!! We had the best time celebrating baby boy Akins with our family and friends this week at our gender reveal party! 

We went back and forth the last few months if we’d want to have a party or just find out at the ultrasound appointment…we could see so many pros to doing it both ways!! So eventually we just decided to do BOTH! Instead of US being surprised at the party, we went to our ultrasound appointment on Monday early afternoon and got to find out there that we are having a baby BOY! It was such a special experience for Ryan and I and I think we could have stared at the screen with our baby BOY moving around all day if they let us! It was a special private moment we’ll never forget! 

Then we got to process and talk about the news together on the way home…

…before meeting all our party guests at our house to surprise THEM!! It was so fun knowing the secret and getting to hear everyone’s guesses once we already knew if it was a boy or girl!

But the BEST part was getting to really focus in on their faces when we shared the news!!! If we had been surprised too I think I would have been too overwhelmed with emotion to appreciate everybody else’s reactions too! Of course there’s no wrong way to do it…but this was PERFECT for us!! 

I’m so grateful for both our parents who really brought the party to life and put so much effort into making it special for us! And for all our family and friends who came to join in the celebration!!

We also went back and forth on all the different “reveal” options and finally settled on the smoke sticks! We gathered all our guests in a big group and then set off the smoke! *You can watch the video at the bottom of this post!!* So much joy and so many happy tears…Thank you Jesus for our precious baby boy!! 

After the party we FaceTimed and called our friends and family who couldn’t be at the party and it was so fun to share the exciting news all over again! Then Ryan and I got to go out to dinner just the two of us to talk about our SON and dream together a little…it all still feels so surreal! 

We love all these people so much!! Ready to watch the reveal…

Here we gooo….
It’s a BOY!!

I love my boys!!
And my momma!! 

Showing off the pictures of baby A…

My dad’s best friend and his wife!
Some of the best aunties! 

Showing off the pictures of his son :)
Proud Grandparents!!
Lexie the Cockapoo is a big sister!!
Setting off the extra smoke bomb for fun!!

Huge thank you to my friends Brittany and Ali for the sweet photos and video!!!