Oops!

I'm making Judah's photo book and I accidentally posted some here. My bad.

Aniya Joi

When I went to my ultrasound appointment to find out the sex of the baby at the beginning of October, the doctors noticed something wrong. There was fluid collecting around the baby's brain, lungs, and stomach. The doctor said that was a sign that the body was shutting down and the outcome of my pregnancy didn't look good. I was at the appointment by myself and I completely lost it. After talking to my ma and MrC I calmed down and we decided to continue on with the pregnancy and get weekly ultrasounds to monitor the baby's progress. We were praying and hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately, at the end of October during my ultrasound we discovered the baby didn't make it. Of course we wanted a different outcome, but we know that God is in control and everything will be alright. I went to the hospital that night to get induced and I had Aniya the next morning. Thanks to everybody that prayed with us and for us while we were going through our situation. When I get to heaven (at least 60 years from now) I'll get to see my sweet baby girl again!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

We took Judah to our neighborhood fall festival on Saturday and had a great time. While we were there we ran into some people we knew and Judah decided he loves Koree and thankfully the feeling was mutual. She helped him pick out a pumpkin and they even posed for pictures together. He's at such a fun age (17 months tomorrow) and it's fun to discover what he enjoys and things he doesn't care about. He follows directions really well, and by follows I mean completely understands and chooses if he's willing to obey depending on the way the wind is blowing that day. His sense of humor is developing and he likes making us laugh or joining in when he can tell somebody is telling a joke. If you can't tell by the pictures, Judah is a fat kid now. He's very solid with a fat face and huge belly which is even funnier when you realize he walks like Sherman Hemsley did on The Jeffersons. He's with his Gi Gi and Paw Paw tonight which is why I had a few minutes to blog before bed :)

Never a dull moment

I've been so busy...

Chasing a busy 15 month old and for the past 14 weeks... growing another one! Perhaps I should start blogging again? We'll see what happens!

Wedding Planning: Set up for the reception

On Friday evening my assistant and I went to the rehearsal. I wanted to get there early to start setting up for the reception, but traffic said no way. Thankfully the rehearsal was short and we were able to get the tables arranged and make note of what I needed to purchase for the next day.

The wedding was at 6 on Saturday evening and we started decorating at 11. Full table cloths weren't in the budget so I made runners instead. I cut strips of burlap and gathered them and wrapped lace and twine on the ends so it wouldn't just hang. I did end up purchasing 40 jars to supplement the 20 jars I managed to collect. I had yellow and white carnations and hydrangeas that went into separate vases and were placed in groups of 3 at the ends of the tables. Hydrangeas are a wimpy flower, we had to keep then in the fridge until right before the reception. We also put ice in all of the jars to keep the flowers from wilting. For the "centerpiece" I put fruit trays (dollar store chic) on each table so guests could immediately eat without moving around too much in case it was still hot in the barn. I designed the reception cards to match the invitation. Some had a logo up top, some had a logo at the bottom. I alternated the placement and positioned the bowls and silverware in a way that you could see the logo.

We had indoor and outdoor seating because we still needed room for the dance floor and I didn't want a bunch of people crammed in and hot. What I didn't anticipate was how much space the dj would require. I had to rearrange a few tables and change the food placement when he strolled in with all his equipment. The new placement was even better than the original plan I had. In the end, the only thing I would change about the reception set up was the head table. Somebody was supposed to provide me with one, but only half delivered. I made it work, but it wasn't up to my standard (i don't have a picture of that yet.)

Next up: ceremony set up
Follwed by: How it all went down and Well I won't make that mistake again

Coming soon...

Wedding recap coming soon! I'm waiting on some pictures. I was so busy I didn't have time to take any.

Wedding Countdown

I'm almost at the finish line for the wedding. My ma is decorating for her friends vow renewal Friday so it's been double duty wedding work (all those roses are hers). I don't have much more to do except finish the program and figure out the ring bearer pillow situation. The rehearsal is Friday at 6 and I'll be there 2 hours early to make sure I have everything in place and figured out before the bride shows up. I have a few arguments I need to have with the lady that runs the orchard and I don't want my clients to have to be part of that.

MrC was supposed to be coming up with a name for me so I can seem like a true professional. If I decide that I enjoy and am good at this I want the focus of my business to be wedding and party planning. I want a cool name like a certain blogger that runs The PH Balance ;) but I can't think of one.

12 Months

We had our 12 month check up last week. Judah is 17.2 pounds and 27 inches. He's still not on the growth chart, but if he keeps on being as greedy as he is, we'll make the chart next time. We're getting into a pretty good schedule these days, but I'm still tweaking naps. Judah wakes up at 6:30 to nurse and then we sleep for another few hours. Breakfast is at 9 and I cook 1/2 cup of oatmeal and a fruit (apple, pear, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, mango.) For the past week nap time was at 11:30 and he sleeps for 2 hours. I want it to turn into a 3 hour nap eventually, but he doesn't agree yet. When he wakes up we have lunch which is usually yogurt, Cheerios, fruit and he nurses. Dinner is at 6 (1/2 cup grains and veggies) and bath is at 8. He nurses before bed and goes to sleep at 8:30. His favorite snacks are strawberries, blueberries and bread. He doesn't have any teeth but he things he can eat whatever I'm eating.

His favorite activities are looking out in the backyard at the birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and bunnies and climbing up the stairs. He still isn't walking,  but he uses anything he can get to move to hold on to as he walks. He understands simple commands like "come here" and "go get your water." My mom claims she told him to go to his closet and he did it, but she exaggerates. When he can't do something he wants to do he arches his back and falls out and promptly gets a boy please from me and I keep it moving. He loves music and will raise his hands to rock out and bob his head at the slightest beat.

The first year wasn't what I expected of parenting. In a lot of ways it was easier than I expected, but on days when I was tired, hungry and didn't want to be bothered, I realized I didn't have the option to shut down or just chill because I had somebody to keep alive and safe. I honestly expected a lot more crying, frustration, and sleepless nights to be part of the first year. The scenes on tv of an inconsolable infant and parents spending 2 hours trying to figure out what's wrong happened less than a handful of times and all when
he was less than 2 months old. I also didn't expect to turn into such a breastfeeding advocate. I've had more conversations than I can count explaining and encouraging breastfeeding mothers. I've really enjoyed my first year with Judah. I think we're ready to try for number 2.

The ONEderful World of Dinosaurs

Judah turned one last week. We had his party Sunday afternoon and a good time was had by all. The sandwich bar was a hit especially since it was super hot outside. We ended up with 25 kids and they all ran and jumped and screamed till their cheeks were flush and we had to force them to drink some water. We had our regular backyard toys, balls, bubbles, a dinosaur egg hunt, pin the head on the dinosaur and coloring books. My ma gave me a hard time saying I needed a moon bounce and that I didn't need balls and kids don't color. She was wrong on all counts. Some of the kids even asked if they could have a coloring book (sure honeyyyyy.) There was a kickball game on my front lawn still going on at 9 p.m. even though the party ended at 6. The boys across the street came over and the eldest child gave my party the stamp of approval saying he didn't think it was going to be as fun as it was. If you ever want to make some kids happy have an egg hunt and puta few dollar bills in some of the eggs. The older kids were too cool to go blow bubbles while i hid the eggs, but when they found out 10 eggs had a dollar in them, they weren't so cool anymore. I need to get the party pictures from my dad of Judah and I with his cake. I made Judah a banana cake that had no sweetner in it at all. As he was digging in the cake his godsister came over and decided to grab a chunk of his cake too. A few people tried his cake, it tasted almost like a banana bread. For dessert there was an ice cream bar and cupcakes. I wanted to make it like coldstone, but I was told to chill out, but maybe next time. After most of the guests left between 8-9, MrC cooked on the grill in the rain for the after party people. One of my friends was having contractions the entire party so during the after party we gave her son a bath in case he ended up spending the night with us. The last of the guests left at 11. Good times. [ i don't know how to use spell check or type that well on my new tablet if you see any crazy errors pretend I'm not an idiot. Also, the pictures might not post. I'll post them next if they don't attach.]

Wedding Flowers

I'm doing an experiment to see how, many carnation stems it takes to make a full pretty bunch and how long it will stay fresh. I have 18 stems and I split them between 4 jars. I'm getting the flowers delivered 3 days before the wedding so they have time to open and it gives me a small window just in case anything goes wrong. That's the same time frame I used for my wedding and I had enough time to do everything. The hydrangeas I experimented with last week lasted over a week before they started wilting. My plan is to order 20 hydrangea stems and 200 carnation stems. The ceremony flowers are going to be tulips and I'm getting 100 stems of those. They'll be used in the bouquets, boutonnieres, and for the flower girl. The bride didn't want wedding favors, but I'll invite the guests to take a flower jar home if they want to. I still need about 80 jars. I wonder if I can convince anybody to go dumpster diving with me

I'm off work this week so I'll be doing a lot of party and wedding work. I can't believe Judah is turning 1 this week!

s'mores sticks

I went to Target for popcorn and found s'mores sticks in the $1 section. Coincidentally they're also in the wedding colors!

party planning pictures

my new phone sucks. it doesn't think pictures should ever post with the actual words I write for them.