A wedding post!

Since Sarah's wedding was 2 months ago I figured it was time to blog about it!  Ha!  I was waiting on pictures from the photographer and that took a little longer than expected.  So I know you've  been on the edge of your seats but here is a picture overload of the super fun wedding!  

Sarah and CJ got married at a place here in town called The Royal Ridge.  It is really neat and they have only been doing weddings there for about a year.  Basically they live on a ridge and the views are absolutely beautiful.  They built a large barn where they hold the reception and you get married outside.  

Their setup is really great actually.  They live there but the entire bottom floor of their house is where the girls get ready.  They have huge mirrors and a great place to get your hair and makeup done.  There are a few different rooms and plenty of space for 10+ girls to primp.  So we spent the whole day there getting ready and drinking champagne.

pre hair and makeup.  not pre champagne.  

post hair and makeup :)

Bless Hannah.  She came out with a friend to do all of our hair.  She cut and colors all of us anyway and she did such a great job!  

Lonnie brought Blakely up after her nap so I could get her dressed and fix her hair.  She was so not having pictures that day so I don't have any great ones but she was sure looking cute!

We took a few pictures before the wedding and then some after.  

being silly

Love this one of Sarah and her mom.  

Can we talk about how awesome that brooch bouquet is?  Her friend made it and she worked in pictures of Sarah and CJ as a baby as well as a pic of Sarah's dad and CJ's aunt...super special peeps.  

Right before it was time to start all of us girls had to go upstairs so we could make our grand entrance walking down the outdoor steps.  Lonnie was staying downstairs with Blakely and was going to tell her when to walk.  I had a little moment with her just giving her kisses and telling her how beautiful she was.  Lonnie snapped this pic and it is my favorite of all time.  Then she wanted to give Aunt Sarah some good luck kisses too!

the men making their way to the ceremony

Blakely and Kyndal were to walk down right after me.  We had practiced throwing the flowers and walking numerous times but she would never do both at the same time.  I was a little concerned but just thought if I can get her down the aisle then she can go off with Lonnie and he can handle her for the ceremony.  No way was she going to stand up there with us during the thing!  When they started walking I could hear her talking.  Then the talking got a little louder.  About a quarter of the way down she was full blown yelling ME SHROW FLOWERS while throwing them like baseballs.  Quiet giggles went around the crowd.  Then she made them all full on laugh when she stopped and yelled FLOWERS ALL GONE! UH OH! and proceeded to start picking them up.  I knew she would do that so I walked a little ways up the sidewalk and got her and Kyndal's attention.  All I had to do was say one word and they both booked it down the aisle.  Marshmallows.  

Then of course beautiful Sarah made her way down the aisle and the ceremony got started.  It was beautiful and we all got a little teary.  

And then the stressful part was over.  It was time to party!  We all went back into the house and popped the champagne before taking more pictures with the photographer. 

this girl was super happy to have the "standing in front of a crowd" thing over with!  

It was dreary all day but right when the ceremony was over the sky opened up and we got the most beautiful sunset.  I have to think that Sarah's dad was watching over her and gave her that sunset that she wanted.  It was beautiful.  

You know we had to play a little football....

We were all announced into the reception soon after that.  I didn't know that part was happening so there was pressure to make a grand entrance. 

nailed it  ;)

The rest was just all fun and dancing and more champagne.  

I don't even know what's going on here.  

or here... 

Blakely had the time of her life dancing.  She would shake her booty for a while and then come over and get someone to come dance with her. 

 I love kids dancing at weddings!  Lots of ring around the rosie..

My mom took her home when she was worn out and Lonnie and I stayed with our friends until the wee hours of the morn.  And I can't believe this but we did not get a family picture or even just a picture of me and Lonnie.  Total fail.  

I am so thankful for great friends.  We had such a great time together celebrating Sarah and CJ.  I feel like we need to do it again soon!  

And let's be honest....I have about 20 outtakes juuuuust like this one.  ;)

If you made it to the end of this super long post then you are my favorite reader by far!  ;)  

Flashback Friday-Sleepover Edition

Sarah texted me the other day saying that we needed to have a slumber party soon.  I have been thinking about it since then.  I think the last time we had one was wayyyy back in 2010 (not counting the bachelorette weekend spent out of town).  Katie had just bought a house and her husband was out of town so we made a weekend of it and had so very much fun.  As you can see.  And yes, Sarah and I wore the same shirt.  Not on purpose and not the first time that has happened.  

There was a lot of dancing.  

yes, I am spanking Jenny.  I don't even know...

Fun times.  I hope we can plan another one soon.  Jenny just bought a house so it seems like the perfect opportunity for a sleepover!  Happy Friday peeps!  

8 years ago...

I wrote this post on January 3rd (Lonnie's birthday) but somehow it got lost in my drafts and I forgot to publish it.  Basically, on his birthday, we were sitting around talking about all of the birthdays we have spent together.  I was telling him that I remember very well the first time we celebrated his birthday together.  He didn't remember it at all so I went looking for this picture to jog his memory.  It worked.  

January 3rd 2006

We had known each other like 6 months.  His mom took this picture.  The three of us had dinner at Lonnie's favorite restaurant (The Terrace...I'll never forget!).  It was the second time I met her.  I super love looking back on this picture because it makes me feel all of the feelings I was feeling then.  I remember all of it.  We were crazy in love, I was oh so nervous because I wanted his mom to like me (love me).  We were "talking" about moving here but mostly just crazy in love.  This picture makes me think about the beginning of us.  I love remembering that time.  I was a few months away from finishing school and he had recently completed his fellowship.  The world was at our fingertips.  He was turning 33 and I was 23.  BABIES.  Great memories.  

PS.  Have y'all ever even seen a picture of Lonnie with ZERO facial hair?

PPS.  My husband and my baby look very similar, no?  

Easy Valentine's (or not) activity for your toddler!

We woke up to straight up ice everywhere this morning.  All the schools are closed so even if I hadn't taken Blakely out of MDO this week she wouldn't be able to go today.  Juanet usually comes to clean on Tuesdays but the roads are bad so she's not coming either.

So me and B are stuck in the house again.  I wanted to come up with a fun way to entertain her.  I saw this idea on a blog (I can't remember where!) a while ago and it came to my mind this morning.  A super easy and not too messy toddler activity!  

As you all may know I have a craft closet and am somewhat of a craft supplies hoarder.  I had some leftover foam (I have no idea from what) so I cut out a bunch of different sized hearts.  I had heart cookie cutters so I pressed them into the foam and then cut on the indented line.  Very easy and it took me all of 10 minutes to cut these hearts out.  Honestly, I don't think you even need the the cookie cutters...  You can buy a large package of different color foam at your local craft store for pretty darn cheap.  (Hob Lob online sells this package for $6.  For comparison, I used 6 sheets to cut out all of these hearts.  If you don't want to cut stuff out they sell foam cut outs for a little more money)

Anyway.  I put a little bit of water in a sturdy bowl and laid some towels down just in case.  You really don't need that much water.  I only used enough to cover the bottom of this bowl.    

First dip the foam heart in the water.  

Then it will stick to the window.  Blakely was obviously amazed.  

She played with these for over an hour.  Unheard of.  Once they were all on the window she took them off, dried them on the towels and started over.  Then she put them all in the bowl and told me that they were swimming.  

I dried them off when we were finished playing and I think we will play with them again later in the bubble bath.  The foam doesn't really get that wet, it sort of repels the water so they dry out really easily.  Although if we play with them in the bath I will probably throw them out after that.  

I am already planning the next time I do this activity with her.  I am going to cut out different sized shapes and have her match them up and count them.  I have a lot of foam ;)

Because errrbody loves a bullet post...

• I went to the gym this morning for the first time in 2 months.  After Sarah's wedding I just sort of bummed out, got lazy and ate everything in sight.  I have to say...it was awesome!  Ha!  But my clothes are getting a wee bit snug and I am feeling yuck so I knew it was time.  Gah, it felt great to be back there and to sweat.
• Speaking of Sarah, she said I could steal (is it still stealing if I asked her?) a bunch of pictures from her FB of the wedding and post them here.  SO I will work on that because seriously...it was awesome.    
• Did y'all watch the Super B.owl?  What an awful game!  I mean the Seaha.wks did amazing but I like it when the games are close, ya know?  Anyway, my cousin lives in Boulder CO, and is a huge Broncos fan.  She bought B a Mann.ing jersey for Christmas so I let her wear it yesterday.  No we are not cheating on Tom...but if it couldn't be Tom we were sure hoping Ma.nning could get that ring.  Boo.  

• I did lose a bet to this same cousin 2 weeks ago when the Pats and the Broncos played.  So I will be sporting a Broncos bathing suit cover up to the beach every day on our beach trip in May.  Awesome...
• I'm pretty sure a lot of my readers also read Bridget's blog but if you haven't you should be checking it out right now.  Seriously, now.  She has been doing some awesome research on essential oils and since she mentioned it to me I have too.  I bought a starter kit and have been using them for about 5 days or so.  I'm loving them!  
• I got sick (again!) on Friday and was completely miserable Saturday.  On Saturday the only time I didn't feel like death is after I would do my little concoction of oils.  It was the only relief I could get.  I was using peppermint, breathe and lavender.  I would inhale them and then rub them on my chest.  Then I would also put a dab on my sinuses and it would relieve some of the intense sinus pressure and sinus headache I was having and my nose would immediately start running trying to get that junk out of there.  I did the same thing every couple of hours.  I was amazed actually.  I've been putting the OnGuard on Blakely and Lonnie so hopefully they won't catch what I had.  So far so good.  
• We have taken Blakely out of MDO for a couple of weeks.  A few kids had the flu there and I just didn't want to risk her getting it.  I don't have to go to work or anything so she doesn't HAVE to go.  I would feel terrible if she did get sick just so I could grocery shop alone, ya know?  
• Can spring just get here?  I am so tired of the germs and the sickies and the cold.  I am sure all of you are as well. 
• We are on day 8 of 20 days in a row of Lonnie working.  So far it hasn't been pretty.  Not only has he had crazy full days with difficult cases but he had a busy weekend and has had to go back to the hospital at night a few times on call.  It isn't fun but he is off a week at the end so I am focusing on that.  Focusing on that...  I'll stop complaining about that now.  Sorry.
• Speaking of work.  My friend that manages a clinic close to my house and who I also went to ultrasound school with mentioned that they may have a PRN ultrasound job at the clinic.  I think I may be interested.  I need to know more.  What I do know is there would be no call and no weekends (I wouldn't even consider a job that did at this point).  Clinic hours and I could possibly make that work with MDO hours and with Juanet's help.  I'm thinking about it.  
• I just got my blog book in the mail.  I get it printed every year and I love having all my posts all in one place.  I can't stop flipping through it.  So many things I already forgot about.  
• I am devouring books on my iPad.  You guys have any good book suggestions?  I'm not picky...I read all types of books.  Bring it!  
• Now that is a whole lot of random.  Happy Monday!  I'm off the eat the rest of the dips I made for the game last night.  

Paint Date

Today, Blakely and I had a painting date.  She absolutely loves to paint and asks to do it every day but since I am such a mean mommy she doesn't get to do it as much as she would like.  ;)  

But since my girl was out of MDO today I decided to surprise her and let her go at it.  The reason we don't do it every day will become very obvious very soon.  

We started like this.

Once we finished making Valentine's for all of her friends (thanks for the great idea Sarah!), we moved on to more intense painting...

tongue out due to major concentration 

And after that things got real.  As I knew they would.  

scoop the paint out...

rub together...

show mom...

then slap 'em down.  

Repeat 487 times for maximum fun!  

We had a blast and I know I should let her do it more.  And bonus!  Bubble baths in the middle of the day.