I've got Wedding Fever!!!

I promised you guys I would write a post on the birthday parties we had....and I will. But today all I can think about is my wedding!!

Most of you know we eloped in September. Sunday we will have been married for two months :)

We are planning a legit wedding, though. I want the dress and the party and everyone looking at me- at us...seeing how completely in love we are, and celebrating our lives with us. So we have been planning our wedding for about 2 months now. We already knew who would be in our bridal parties. He knew who would be his best man.

You all know about my love affair with Pinterest. It runs my life sometimes. So, of course, I took to Pinterest right away to start planning the wedding. First was the dress.

I found this picture. It was PERFECT! I was sure that it wouldn't fit like I wanted, or that I wouldn't be able to find it. But I had to try it on....I knew I wouldn't be able to buy a dress until I had ruled this one out. I searched for salons that carried the designer- Mori Lee. I found 4 in the area, one in our hometown, 2 about an hour away and a fourth in the next town over. I tried the one in our town first, obviously. I showed the attendant the picture on Pinterest to start. We gathered dresses, I was getting disheartened because none of them were the dress I wanted. The last one she picked up was it! The one I found online! I wanted to try it on first, so I could move on when it wasn't all I hoped it would be.

This is the only sneak peek I can share...I'm trying real hard to keep it a secret from hubby <3

It. Was. PERFECT!!! I almost cried. Mom almost cried. Everyone made the same face, a face that said omg don't even think about taking that off! The attendant put a veil on me and that was that. I want it! We bought it that day.

My new hubby and I recently found a home church- one which we are in the process of joining. And now, we will be starting our lives as husband and wife right there. We are so excited to have found a home before we began to plan our wedding. And over the moon that our beloved pastor will be officiating the ceremony. The best man, a friend of my husband's for like 20 years and mine for at least 15, is helping us set up our reception at the restaurant where he bartends. He's also going to have his band play at our reception for free.

My MOH and I are getting ready to make the invitations ourselves (people are CRAZY with what they charge for wedding invitations!! What the heck???) and we're going to make decorations for the church and reception ourselves too. My goal is to make this all happen for less than $5,000....but right now my estimate is like $11,000.

We cut costs with the photographer, my nephew's god-mom does photography super part time so we roped her in with the promise of seeing the little guy in an adorable tux and fedora <3 our ring bearers are going to be ADORABLE!! So instead of paying $1,500 for a photographer, we'll be paying her $5-700. My twin-in-law will be in charge of flowers for us, I'm pretty sure. She has like 10 years or more of floral experience.

Hubby is a twin, I call his twin sister my twin-in-law. 

If any of my readers have any input or tips on wedding stuff...bridesmaids dresses, tux rentals, mother of the bride/groom stuff, decorations, anything like that....please please please share them with me!

If you want to make any donations to our wedding fund you can do so here...http://www.gofundme.com/gxayu4

 

Six Weeks of Birthdays

Whew! We have been BUSY the last couple months!!

I knew when we got home from vacation mid-August it was going to be non-stop until Halloween....I just didn't realize how long that actually was!! There was the normal kid stuff...school shopping, school starting, soccer practices and games (hubby gets in on that one, he coaches), then dance lessons get started and suddenly there's no time for anything. Ever.

The first week of September we started our Birthday Extravaganza with a Superman Party for our biggest 3 year old. To my complete surprise, there was absolutely nothing- I mean NOTHING Superman in the stores the whole time I was planning. It turned into a huge DIY project for me.

I think it turned out pretty okay, though!








The following week was when we decided to elope. We scurried around only 3 days after the party to get our marriage license, rings and something for each of us to wear. The next day we found an officiant and took the day off all our obligations and got hitched!!

Just one week later we got to go to a birthday party for my sweet little nephew. My sister did things the smart- and easy- way...she rented a room at World of Bounce (where she works). They do all the decorating for you, and they even supervise the kids while they play! It was stress and hassle free, that's for sure. A bit too pricey for us though.

We got a couple weeks to plan the next party after that. We decided to throw 2 parties for my oldest daughter, one for her friends and family and a separate one not at our house for her bio-dad's mom to come to. We invited his whole family (except him, restraining orders and whatnot...) but she is the only one who showed up.

Anyway....we had a pretty low-budget Spiderman Party the first week in October. Another decent DIY project for me.

With no preparation besides a Pinterest board, I think it turned out pretty awesome!

One more week and we're done. One more party and I can relax...

Doc McStuffins!! I was pretty excited about this one, I won't lie. But I was so burnt out with all the party planning...I had no desire to DIY anything. Huge bummer. I had big plans for the Doc party. Big DIY plans. Pinterest...always making me feel like I should be doing more.

I did DIY the tutu though....gotta get some credit for that, right??

Immediately after the party we packed up the family and went out of town for hubby's training. He started a whole new career in the midst of all of this. One that has changed every part of our daily routine.

Two days later it was my sister's birthday. Another two days and it's hubby's birthday. We came home for his birthday and the weekend, then packed up and left again until trick or treat.

And with that, the craziness comes to a close. I've moved on to wedding planning and planning our youngest's first birthday party. Oh yeah...and there's Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Posts on each of the birthday parties will be coming soon! I will link to them in this posts as soon as they are up :) Thanks for sticking with me through the madness!!

My Husband, the Hero

Whew! Things have been super crazy for me the past few weeks!!

I'm FINALLY getting a chance to write about what an amazing thing my husband did last weekend. He's legitimately a hero. I promise, I'm not just saying that because I love the guy.

So, his ex-wife. They have a complicated relationship and an ugly past. And she is more than unreliable when it comes to their children. Which only complicates things for everyone. Let's rewind to last weekend....

It's Saturday morning. Hubby's ex is supposed to pick up the girls at noon and keep them until 5. We see on facebook that she was in the hospital Friday night...the baby had no heartbeat for a while and they almost delivered. After a round of steroids the baby stabilized and they sent her home, but she was due back Saturday evening. Of course her appointment time conflicted with the time she was supposed to have the girls. So she was going to bring them back an hour early. She wanted to take them trick or treating at Wal Mart, so she asked us to get costumes together for them. We did, and had to explain to the girls why, so they were getting excited and looking forward to it. She refused to pick them up herself, wanting to send someone after them. Due to complicated past issues, hubby insisted it be her to pick them up or they weren't leaving. So she decided to take her other children trick or treating and said she would get the girls after.

At this point, I told my guy that I would be surprised if she didn't put herself in labor walking around the store for an hour carrying a toddler.

A little after 1 she told us she would be there in 20 minutes. The girls are already confused as to why she hasn't shown up, and why they don't get to trick or treat now. She pulls into the store next to the house, where hubby works part time. "Come out here, I need you" she texted him. She was literally screaming in pain. We know now what had happened was that when she tried to stand up to get out of the car her previous c-section scar, which was vertical, completely ruptured. She was bleeding out, internally. Pressure was near zero for her baby, who wasn't breathing and whose heart had stopped. Being the good man that he is, my husband called her parents and told them they needed to come and get her and take her to the hospital, like, now. She still wanted to get the girls and drive them to her parents house herself. Hubby had to half carry her from the driver's seat to the passenger's side. Her parents didn't like being told what to do, and told him he was exaggerating. They tried to just send one person to bring her back to their house. No, he insisted, you both come and get her to the hospital. Now.

We brought the girls to her so she could explain what was happening and why she couldn't pick them up. She cried, worried the girls sick. It was 1:44 when I got back to the house, her parents had not shown up yet. I don't know when they showed up or what time she got to the hospital, but I do know that by 2:07 she was headed back to the OR for a c-section and an emergency hysterectomy. By 2:11 the baby was out. 5-10 more minutes and neither of them would have made it.

Her and her parents have shocked everyone by personally and publicly thanking my husband for saving two lives that day. Had she been anywhere else when it happened, things would not have turned out so well. His ex wife is home and the baby is at Children's. She was 30 weeks along when he was born, and he was only 2 pounds. He's already gained 7 ounces and may be home by Christmas.

Other than when we took the girls to her hospital room to visit her, she hasn't seen them. Except for when I called her so they could talk to her after she woke up from surgery, she hasn't talked to them. Her parents took the girls for a few hours while I went wedding dress shopping (yay!!) but their mom was up at Children's all day. As far as we understand, she drove herself an hour away....a week after surgery.

The situation continues to baffle me. But I do know that I married the best possible person to be in this situation with. He blows my mind with his kindness and love for everyone...even those who have extremely wronged him in the past. My husband, the hero <3