Wedding Weekend!

Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie are married! It was a beautiful wedding and the weather was picture perfect. Thursday, I took off of work to help mom and dad with decorating Bradley's for the Rehearsal Dinner. Friday, I enjoyed a wonderful bridesmaid luncheon at Goodwood and Saturday was busy with all the wedding preparations and the ceremony at Southwood.  I have so many pictures of the weekend, but here are several of my favorites.

The Bridesmaid Luncheon at the Jubilee Cottege at Goodwood

Love the pink and green theme.

The bridesmaids each received a pink robe and an ivory shawl with our monograms on both!

The bridesmaids from left to right:

Kelly, Caroline, Whitney, Carrie, Morgan, Katie (bride), Libby (Maid of Honor), Amanda and me.

 

 

The Rehearsal Dinner at the Retreat at Bradley's Pond.

My mom did a fantastic job with the rehearsal dinner and of course she had plenty of help from my dad.  Everyone had a great time!

An added bonus to the weekend was being able to see my cousins.  Kayla (left) and her husband Wes came down from Boston and Tiffany (second from left) came down from Atlanta with her family.

Andrew (Tiffany's youngest) and Kate had a great time playing together. 

The Wedding at the Southwood Plantation House.

Here's what my little flower girl did most of the afternoon - watching her Mickey Mouse dvd.

Kate didn't do as well as I had hoped in the ceremony, but it was a long day and she is only 2.  I was hoping to get some professional pictures of Kate in her dress, but she was not willing to cooperate with Terri (the photographer).  I was so disappointed.  Luckily for me, my mom was able to get a good picture of the three of us all dressed up. 

Mimi and Papa took Kate home with them shortly after the ceremony and poor Kate was ready to go.  It would have been fun to see her dancing with Audrey on the dance floor, but I'm not sure if Kate would have lasted much longer.

We ended up taking most of the pictures after the ceremony and I was able to jump in and take a couple of Katie and Jordan.

Congrats Jordan and Katie! 

Happy 26th Birthday Uncle Jordan!

Tonight we had a family dinner at Logan's Roadhouse to celebrate Uncle Jordan's birthday. We had a great time and the cookie cake topped it off! I haven't had one of those in ages and it was just as good as I remembered it.

The birthday boy.

4 days before the wedding! 

I almost forgot about Jordan's birthday since I have been concentrating on the wedding.  

Happy Birthday Uncle Jordan! 

Pumpkin Patch with Audrey

This morning we met Audrey and her mommy and daddy at the Pumpkin Patch on John Knox Road. The girls had a good time running around, chasing each other, and I managed to get a couple pictures to share.

The family picture we've had made third year in a row.

Perfect picture for a family of three. 

Cutest pumpkins in the patch!

5 Year Anniversary

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary and to celebrate, Justin and I are having a date night tomorrow night. Our plans are to go to dinner at Marie Livingston’s (using a Living Social Coupon) and possibly a movie (using a gift card). I can’t remember the last time we went out to dinner just the two of us so I am really looking forward to it!

In our Wednesday night bible class, we have been talking about marriage and relationships, and the topic this past week really made me think. The bible verse we studied was Philippians 2: 3-4 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Our teacher (Tim Stutzman) suggested to replace the word “other” with our spouse’s name. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value JUSTIN above yourself, 4 not looking to your own interests but … to the interests of JUSTIN.

Although the context of these verses is not specifically referencing marriage, the same lesson can be applied. They become much more personal when I replace “others” with “Justin”. I kept reading these verses during class and thinking about how I could apply this mindset to my marriage. Tim’s point was instead of looking at marriage as a series of compromises, we need to view it as a series of sacrifices. I have heard the saying that marriage is all about compromise (and there are some cases where that is true) but the idea that a biblically based marriage is all about sacrifices was overwhelming at first (if I’m being honest). Sacrifice is such a powerful word compared to compromise. I have family and friends who have made great sacrifices (which mine pale in comparison to) and I think I now have a better idea of how they endured those challenging times and their marriage survived –an attitude of “sacrifice” (and faith in God). I started thinking about personal sacrifices that Justin and I have had to make over the years for each other and I am so thankful (and blessed) that I have a husband who is willing to make sacrifices for me and our family.

In honor of our anniversary, I'm including one of my favorite pictures from the wedding.

New Halloween Pail

Halloween will be here soon and I can’t wait to take Kate trick-or-treating this year!  This morning Aunt Katie had a surprise for Kate - a personalized trick-or-treat pail which is as cute as it can be.

front

back. 

Isn't this adorable?

A couple weeks ago, Kate found her trick-or-treat bucket from last year and has been carrying it around every since.  She also calls it "baby pumpkin" or sometimes "my bucket".

Kate loves that bucket so much that she has been sleeping with it.  And of coarse when I went in to take a picture this afternoon, she said "cheese mommy" and posed for the camera - really???  Where was that yesterday for pumpkin patch photos?  Silly girl.

Busy Saturday - Photos, a Party and a BBQ

Whew - it has been a busy Saturday for Ms. Kate. She has been sick since Sunday with a fever (no other symptoms) but it finally went away late Thursday so she was able to go to school on Friday. After being with Mommy or Daddy most of the week, I was glad Kate was going to have a big day full of fun.

Our morning started off with pumpkin patch pictures with Ms. Betsy. We met at Tallahassee Heights United Methodist Church's patch at 10am and let Kate run around and explore. She didn't have too many smiles, but Ms. Betsy was able to get a couple. I can't wait to see the whole cd but here are a couple pictures from our session Ms. Betsy shared on her blog:

After the pumpkin patch, Kate had a quick outfit change and off we went to Madelyn Persson's 2nd birthday party at Fun Station Jr.  Fun Station Jr. is a huge indoor facility with multiple bounce houses, play gyms and enough arcade games to keep kids entertained for hours.  I asked Kate to smile for me in the car before we went to the party and this was the reaction I got:

The birthday girl and her mommy.

Playing skee ball with Daddy. 

Mady's gift - two of Kate's favorites things (dress up set and markers).

We had a great time at the party and it was a good for Kate to burn off some extra energy before nap time.  After a good nap and some clothes shopping at Wal-Mart with Mommy, we headed over to Ben and Lindsey Threadgill's for a small group BBQ. They have a huge backyard so all the kids spent most of their time running around and playing.  It took some effort to get everyone to stop long enough to take this picture, but I got it!

Audrey and Emeline (back row), Kate and Nolan (front row)

As always, we had a great time with some wonderful friends.  And two weeks from tonight is the wedding - it's going to be here before I know it.

2 Years Old!

Today we went to see Dr. Elzie for Kate’s 2 year check up. He was impressed with her speech (pronunciation) and complimented her on her coloring (motor skills). Dr. Elzie also liked the “puff dance” Kate did while she was patently waiting for me to hand her some puffs to snack on. Overall, Kate was a perfect child during our visit today. She said “please” and “thank you” (with some reminders from me) and was very cooperative during her physical examination (weight, height, ears, nose, mouth, etc). There weren’t any tears until the shots were given, so I was a very proud momma.

Stats from this appointment:

Head Circumference: 33.5 inches (35 percentile)

Height: 46.9 cm (35 percentile)

Weight: 25 lbs 15 oz (38 percentile)

One of the biggest growths Kate has had since her 18 month appointment is her ability to communicate. Every day she says things that make me smile. Anytime she hears a bird chirping or a puppy barking, she gasps, puts her hand to her ear and says “Hear the birds?” or “Mommy, I hear a puppy!”. Mom said the other week she had some tummy trouble and when she tooted, she gasped and said “Hear the birds?”! Some additional phrases she says are “All done”, “Where are you?”, “I did it!”, “Ta-da!”, “I watch (tv show name)”, “I feed Nemo”, “One more time” , “I go see Au-dee” “I show kitty” and so many more to choose from.

One of her bedtime routines is to drag out saying “goodnight” as long as possible, even at this young age. We have to make sure her “pinkie” (pink blanket), “blanky” (pink and green blanket), “b” (her small taggie blanket), “kitty” (her kitty cat blanket), “one soccer ball” (stuffed princess ball), “two soccer ball (stuffed princess baseball), “minnie” (Minnie Mouse), and her pillow are all in the crib. And let me tell you, she notices if something is missing from her inventory. It would easier if these items stayed in the crib, but every morning, the first thing Kate does is (try) to gather everything up and carry it into the living room. So every night we have to take roll and make sure everything gets back into the crib.

Her favorite activities include coloring (she loves markers, crayons, colored pencils), stickers, watching TV shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates), putting together puzzles, cooking in her kitchen, having a tea party and strolling her baby dolls. Balloons, bubbles, and straws are also some of Kate’s favorite things. Bath time is another favorites of Kate’s and since we have discovered tear-free bubble bath, it’s a must have at the Evers house.

We haven’t started potty training but Gaga bought Kate the fanciest toilet I have ever seen for a toddler. It’s a hand painted throne that plays music, and comes complete with a magazine rack and a toilet paper holder. At school they encourage them to sit on the potty but we haven’t tried it at home yet. I’m still waiting for that moment when I’m tired of changing (or buying) diapers and it just hasn’t happened yet – maybe it never will.

Kate is still a very picky eater, but every now and then she will eat an unexpected thing like broccoli. French fries, chicken nuggets, turkey, ham, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, grapes, mandarin oranges, pickles, fruit snacks, cheerios, puffs, raisins, pizza and more continue to be her favorites.

As for Kate’s schedule, it is basically the same as it always has been. Wake up between 7:00-7:30 am, eat breakfast, leave for school around 8:00 (or later if Daddy is taking her), nap at 12:30 (usually 1.5 - 2 hours) Daddy picks her up from school around 3:30 or 4, dinner between 5:00 and 6:00pm and then bedtime between 7:00 and 7:30pm.

Kate is a smart, funny, creative, happy, friendly, well behaved, beautiful little girl and I am so thankful for her!  Mommy and Daddy love you Kate!

My little zebra girl from head to toe.