Hanging Out

On Tuesday I went to see the wedding venue. Since I knew there would be a lot of traffic trying to get there at 6, Judah and I left home at 2 and hung out. We went to emissions first and then we had a dinner date. The waiter kept on touching Judah and at one point I thought he was going to pick him up. I wanted to ask him to stop touching his hands while he was eating, but I didn't. He did surprisingly well at the restaurant. There was a younger baby nearby having a melt down and he was so intrigued. He was staring like she was telling him all her problems and he was providing moral support. After our dinner we went shopping until it was time to go to the orchard. He had a good time at the orchard! We rode the golf cart which was a lot of fun for him. He also lunged at the dogs and got to pet one and touch his teeth before I grabbed his hand. The dog was 130 pounds but Judah did not care that he could have been eaten alive. We didn't get back home until after 8 and by then Judah was ready to help daddy on the computer. Maybe the baby from the restaurant told him about a cool website to check out.

He's trying to grow up

This boy is doing too much. We had to lower his crib this week because he was hanging over the sides every time we walked in the room. I also had to convert his mobile into a music box because he would pull on the animals if he woke up angry in the middle of the night. I put up a plastic cover yesterday to shield him from being able to fall through the railings around the stairs. He still thinks it's great fun to bang on the plastic, but at least I don't have to worry about looking away for one second and having him fall through the bars. His eating has kicked up tremendously. Just last week I was dividing his meals into two, now he eats the whole plate. I cook 1/4 ground oatmeal and mash half a piece of fruit and dice the other half and mix it in for breakfast. Dinner is 1/4 cup brown rice and 1/4 cup veggies mixed in. This used to last 2 days, but this week he started crying when the food stopped so we added more and he finished it all. I'm going to have to increase his lunch/snack too.  I like his midday meal to be a self serve meal and it used to be cheerios and puffs but I started adding in a diced fruit or vegetable too this week. He has no teeth, but he will happily gum some diced apples, carrots, grapes, pears, mango, squash, and blueberries. We're going on a 6 hour road trip this weekend to visit my family. We rented a mini van and we're leaving at 11 pm. Can we say a prayer that he sleeps the whole trip? My parents are going with us and they act like it's the end of the world if King Judah cries, so I'm hoping for stellar behavior.

MrC and I have taken up betting as a hobby lately the prizes so far have all been an extra piece of bacon. We're placing bets on when Judah will start walking. Here are the stats: he started crawling at 7 months, would push a box standing up at 8 months, learned how to get down from a standing position voluntarily at 9 months and also started to pull up on everything and keep his balance  at 9.5 months. I think he'll start walking at 11 months just to give me something else to do. MrC thinks 13 months because he doesn't stand on his own yet and I won't buy him any real shoes. If we hold his hands and ask him to walk, he acts like he doesn't want to do it. If we hold his hands while he's standing on something like a doctors table, he'll walk right on over to the edge because he wants to scare everybody and be dangerous.  I hope we're both wrong because I'm not ready for a walking child yet. Once they walk, they run and I have a feeling this kid will be a runner. Anybody care to place a bet?

Wedding decorations

Thanks for all your help with the menu! I met with the caterer yesterday (ok, it's my dad. He has a catering company as a side hustle) and I'm waiting for the formal proposal. We had to make some changes so once I'll run it by the bride, I'll post the final menu.

On Saturday I went with the bride to try on wedding dresses. Her mom passed away in 2010 so it was just her Aunt and me at the shop. Her aunt volunteered to contribute to the dress. When we got there she said she brought $500. I was doing my thing at Da.vid's Bridal and we picked and ordered a dress. I had so much fun pulling out accessories and giving her ideas and then smiling and nodding when I didn't agree with her but I knew it was her decision. She went with my favorite in the end anddddddddd the $499 dress was on sale and the grand total came up to $486.54!

These are the ideas I'm working on for decor. Over the next few days I'll be pricing all the materials to make sure we can afford it.

I like the bouquets and the signs in these pictures. I'll be replicating both of those things. Wood, burlap, lace, and twine will be used throughout the ceremony and reception but I'll be incorporating more color.

All of these pictures came from these two sites:

http://www.weddingchicks.com/2011/07/05/atlanta-shabby-chic-wedding/

http://greenweddingshoes.com/real-wedding-hannah-daniels-rustic-wedding/

Planning a Wedding

In January I decided that I wanted to be a wedding planner. A few days later my friend told me she was getting married and that I could plan her wedding. I'm so freaking excited and I'm getting the vision together to present to her some ideas on Wednesday. Here are the details:

Date: June 9

Venue: a local orchard

Guests: 100

Colors: Cockatoo, driftwood, starfish (aqua, dusty brown, tan)

Budget: $3,000 for everything

That budget makes me so sad! I had some great ideas and they'd be a bit easier to accomplish with a $5,000 budget. A $10,000 budget would guarantee her the cutest wedding she's ever seen. She told me that she wants a BBQ style reception and she wants to end the night with a bonfire and s'mores making session. I haven't had a meeting with her about everything she wants yet or what the rules of the orchard are (is?) but I have a few ideas already in mind. Since the budget is small, the food will serve as a major part of the decoration. Wood, wildflowers, and glass bottles will be part of the decor as well.

I've done the most thinking about how the s'mores will work because that'll be so memorable and fun and I'm pretty sure most people haven't been to a wedding with a bonfire.

The s'mores will be set up on a table with flavored marshmallows in large glass jars. A one pound bag is $13 and has around 70 marshmallows in it. They sell them at the organic market by my house so I'll go check them out this week. Vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and coconut marshmallows seem perfect for variety and fun. I'm also thinking different chocolate varieties as well. Does anybody have a good brand to recommend? The ghiardelli filled chocolates seem like they would be delicious in a hot s'more. I need to see if they sell them in bulk, because they are not budget friendly. Do you think it would be overkill to also have a variety of graham crackers? I need to figure out a good brand also. If it were my wedding I'd get my friends together and we'd bake them. Unfortunately, I've been to a cookie exchange with her friends and they are not up to my sanitation standards. Those chicks picked up cookies with their bare hands. I almost passed out, my friend had to stop her exchange and let me tell them how to handle food in a group. I wish I was lying.

Anyway, how about y'all answer the questions I have in bold AND leave some ideas of what type of food you'd expect a BBQ Wedding Bonfire. Hmmm, I also need a better name to describe this wedding. I have some food ideas that I'll post later this week, but I'm sure you guys will come up with some things I wouldn't think about.