Here Comes the Bride

The much anticipated nuptials of my sister in law Brandi and her fiance Joe finally took place this Saturday May 26th! All of the dreaming and planning and stressing by all involved came together and the day was perfect. With its exposed brick walls and elegant light fixtures the venue was very romantic and chic. The flowers were beautiful and the wedding color palette of pink and gray complimented the venue.

We started off our day at the salon getting our hair done and then off to the bride's home where we had our makeup professionally done. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay to have my makeup done but oh I am so glad I did. The artist Mary was fantastic and we all looked great. The hair stylists and Mary all commented on what a laid back bridal party we were. Apparently there are some real uptight brides and bridesmaids and mother of the brides out there! 

We made our way to the venue to meet the photographer and get the pictures done before the ceremony was to start. Once we got Brandi into her dress the excitement really began. I can't begin to explain how beautiful she looked. That dress! Oh the dress was so spectacular. We finished up with all of the posed pics and then we were ushered into the bridal room as the guests were starting to arrive. As we all lined up to take our walk down the aisle Brandi started to get tears in her eyes which started the tears for Karen and I. We dabbed our beautifully made up eyes with tissues and the music began. We all walked down to Angel by Jack Johnson. My Lilah was the flower girl and in her true diva fashion be bopped down the aisle escorted by her brother Kaleb. Everyone stood for the bride who was escorted down the aisle by her father and her step-father. The ceremony was very beautiful and went off without a hitch. 

After dinner there was lots of mingling and dancing and all around good times. I even stumbled through a toast. I really did have a great speech planned but when the time came to give it I couldn't remember much of what I had planned to say! Lesson here...right down your speech no matter how short it is! I loved watching my kiddos dancing all night and was even lucky enough that Kaleb danced with me three times! I even got a slow dance out of the husband which in all of our 14 years together is probably the 5th time! The man will not dance! He will also not smile in photos unless intoxicated but that is a different story! :) 

Getting the bride in her dress

Brandi and Karen

Logan, Kaleb, Lilah and Lane before the ceremony

Me and the bride

The bride and her momma

The adorable flower girl! ; )

The groom and the girls 

How cute were my babies!

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Toasting

Me and Josh (him not smiling!)

Karen and Brandi getting down on the dance floor

Josh and his dad

The bridesmaids

My Boy

Kaleb is hard to get up for school in the mornings. Like hide under the covers and whine for 10 minutes followed by 20  minutes to get dressed hard. I usually go in prepared with some kind of positive "Hey hey hey it's Friday" or "Woot Woot I'm making pancakes for breakfast" to get him excited to wake up and get dressed. This morning's positive greeting was easy! "Wake up! It's the last day of 2nd grade!". He jumped up and got dressed probably the fastest I have ever seen him do it. He is super excited to start his summer vacation. And why wouldn't he be... he gets to spend every day all day with his mother! ;)

He is growing so fast! I love it and hate it all at the same time. I love seeing his personality develop and how smart and funny he is. I love that he has his own mind and opinion (I also hate that part as well sometimes) and that we can have interesting and intelligent conversations. I hate it for the obvious reasons. He is not a baby anymore, not even close. He can do almost anything by himself and needs no help from mom. He does not appreciate all of the parental rules and demands that I impose on him (like do your homework, take a shower, turn off the video games, eat your vegetables, comb your hair) and gets mad at me and brings out the attitude. But as a parent I know that is all part of the job and although it is tough and not at all fun it is just part of the growing up process. Sometimes the only thing that gets me through it is thinking about how much he will love and appreciate me when he is an adult and understands how much I love him and that everything I ever did was for a purpose..to grow him into a man for him to be everything that being a man means. I hope he grows up to know that anyway! 

So this morning I dropped him off and said "Have a great last day of 2nd grade!". I drove off and I cried for a good minute or so on the way home. I think it was just a combination of being sad about the rapid pace in which he is growing up and the pride I feel when I think about what a great kid he is. He is a sweet, funny, smart and loving boy and I love him so much. When I pick him up today I will be officially be the mom of a 3rd grader! Man that makes me sound old! 

Welcome to the world Kaleb Robert!

Momma loves those big blue eyes!

My crazy toddler

Big boy on a skateboard!

Too cool for Pre-K graduation

Horsing around

Kaleb becomes a big brother!

Lost his first front tooth!

First day of 2nd grade

My handsome boy 

Word to your Mother

Ah Mother's Day. The one day of the year where moms get recognized for all of the things that they do. All of the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, snot wiping, diaper changing, butt wiping, sibling refereeing, boo boo kissing goodness. That doesn't even cover mother's of pre-teens and teens. Yikes! I don't even want to think about all of the fun that is going to come with that. I am seriously already stressing about those days and have already put my doctor on speed dial to get my prescription of Xanax ordered up for those days. I shudder just thinking about it. I have heard it said a million times from a million different sources that being a mom is the hardest job on earth. Agreed.

So why in the hell do so many women sign up for this crazy ass job? Why are most women hardwired to yearn for motherhood? Why do babies have to smell so good? To tell the truth I stated through most of my teen and early adult years that I never wanted to have children. I wanted to live my life and be free and didn't want to be tied down to some needy little human calling me mommy. Then came Kaleb. Our happy little surprise. Something else I have heard a million times from a million different sources is this: you never know true love until you become a mother. Agreed. I suppose this is also true about becoming a father but this isn't about them! :)

It is not a feeling that can be explained but only felt. I sat for a few minutes and tried to put it into words but I just couldn't find the right combination of words to justify the feeling. It is just amazing to be a mother. That is the simplest way I can put it. We have the amazing job of growing a baby in our bodies, to feel them move and grow, to bring them into our world and love them like nobody else ever will. It is a beautiful gift that I am so happy and proud that I have been given not once but twice!

As nice as it is to have a "Mother's Day" to get some special recognition for all I do for my family, it isn't really necessary. I get joy every day from my kids. Those little crazy, sweet, whiney, stubborn, beautiful kids. All I need is a smile, a giggle out of happiness, an "I love you Momma" or a stolen kiss while they are soundly sleeping. Motherhood might be the hardest job on earth but it is also the BEST job on earth.

And hey, guess what? I got a new camera for Mother's Day! Remember I said in my last blog that I broke mine at my sister in laws bachelorette party? Well I got a new one today and it is waaaaaay nicer than my last camera. Yeah! We celebrated Mother's Day with dinner at my mother in laws house (prepared by my wonderful father in law Doug). We brought my mom along and we all had a really nice time. I love my mother in law like my own mother so it was nice to be able to be with my mom and Cindy (MIL) both today. My mom isn't in the best health and we had a real scare with her last summer and almost lost her. So it could go unsaid that it was a huge blessing to be able to celebrate Mother's Day with her this year. But I said it anyway because she reads my blog and it will make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Love you mom. :) I took lots of photos today with my new camera. Check em out!

Me and my momma

Momma and sis

Sis and Ma Cindy

Sis and Ma Debbie

Cindy and Brandi

My FIL Doug and his mom Roberta

Me and my babies

Brandi and her boys