Emily and Blake's Wedding

This weekend we went to Pageland, SC and celebrated the marriage of Emily and Blake. We've been waiting for this wedding pretty much since the first time we met Emily (when Emmie was 13mo old!) so we were very excited that the big day was finally here!! We all love Emily and are so excited that she's going to be part of our family and she and Blake are just perfect for each other!
We arrived Friday afternoon and after getting settled in the hotel we headed to the church for the rehearsal. Paul was a best man, along with his dad, and the little girls were flower girls. However, if you asked Emmie she would tell you that she was a princess and Ellie was a flower girl. Too funny! Paul and Blake's Uncle Clyde was the minister and Aunt Suzy was directing. The little girls adore Clyde and Suzy so they were pretty cooperative with all their instructions. The girls did really well walking down the aisle at the rehearsal but they were NOT doing well sitting still during the practice ceremony. It was ok though...I planned to bring stuff for them to do during the actual ceremony. Really I was just glad that they were willing to walk down the aisle!

After the rehearsal I took the girls back to the hotel. It worked out great that we had adjoining rooms with my parents so they could easily watch the girls. After we got them settled I headed over to the rehearsal dinner. The food was sooooo good and we all had a lot of fun. Emily and Blake gave the girls the sweetest gifts. They each got a flower girl book that Emily and Blake had written a note in, a flower girl tshirt, and a little pearl necklace and bracelet to wear at the wedding.  Emily and Blake have always been so good to the Emmie and Ellie and they really went out of their way to make the girls feel special this weekend.
Saturday morning Emmie was up bright and early at 6am...ugh. I managed to keep her relatively chilled out until 7 when Ellie woke up...double ugh. So we headed to breakfast where we met up with my parents and Ben who had arrived in the middle of the night due to some flight delays. The girls were soooo excited to see Uncle Ben although Ellie was a little hesitant at first. She didn't quite believe it was him! I showed her a picture he had sent me during one of his delays and she said "Uncle Ben" and I said  yes and that's him right there too...ohhhh. The light came on. After breakfast we headed to the hotel pool and the girls had a blast. We swam around for 1 1/2 hrs and then got cleaned up and headed over to Chick-fil-a for lunch and some playground time. I was determined to wear those girls out good so they would take naps!! My plan was successful and we all got a really good nap before we had to get up and head over to the church to start getting ready and take pictures.
The girls are not big fans of having their pictures taken but overall they did really well with the pictures before the ceremony.

helping Emily put her jewelry on

I LOVE this picture of Emily and the girls. (Also, check out Emily's beautiful boutique...it was so unique and just gorgeous!)

I tried to get a picture of me and the girls but apparently I was the only one cooperating!

As you can tell Emmie was not up for this picture either.

I was so nervous before the wedding because I knew that Emmie would be so upset later if she didn't actually walk down the aisle. I had nothing to fear however. My girls were champs! They walked down the aisle and smiled at everyone and were just adorable. They went and stood in their spots (with a little help) and then came and sat with me after Emily's dad sat down. They were a little wiggly during the ceremony but overall they did really well. They also did well going back down the aisle. I was so so proud of my sweet girls and I know they were proud of themselves!
The ceremony itself was wonderful and Emily's dress was beautiful and was definitely the perfect dress for her. Everything in the church was lovely as well and the wedding went very smoothly...always good!
After the ceremony it was time for pictures again and poor little girls were NOT having it. Suzy and I finally took them back to the room we got ready in and let them cool off and eat something and after that they were much more cooperative. We did spend about 5 min with everyone saying "cheese" trying to get the little girls to smile. Finally I told them to say "party" (I'd told them we were going to a party after the pictures) and I got BIG smiles...should have thought of that earlier!!

Trying to get a family shot after the wedding...the girls were crashing hard!

I actually really love this picture...it really captured the moment!

After we got the pictures taken we headed over to the reception. Emily and Blake rode up in a horse drawn carriage which was so pretty. The girls had a BLAST at the reception. They danced and danced and ate and danced and danced some more. All the little cousins were there (and they really aren't so little anymore....they're all mid to late elementary school) and my girls were so excited to get to dance and play with them.

first dance

Emily and her dad

At the end of Gin-g and Blake's dance they went over to Gin-g's mom and the whole family danced with her.

First guests out on the dance floor!

Clyde got out and did the hokey pokey with all the girls. They had so much fun!

Ellie was walking down the line and she didn't know Ben was following her so she got to the end and went to turn around and bumped into him. Her expression was priceless.

Cake!

Emmie teaching Emily and Blake some dance moves (not quite sure where she learned this one...haha!).

They were good students!

The girls were such troopers and they stayed the entire reception...it was after 10 before we left. My mom and I took them back to the hotel while the guys stayed to help clean up and the little girls were OUT by the time we got back. Poor Emmie we set her down in the room and she started crying that her feet hurt...little girl had just about danced her feet off!!
I was just praying that the little girls would sleep in this morning because we were all so tired. Emmie didn't get up till 8:45 which is just amazing. I took her to eat breakfast and let Ellie and Paul keep sleeping. Ellie slept until 9:45. We got packed up and came home and little puppy was sooo happy to see us! Samantha had been staying with him and apparently he had gotten kind of depressed and pitiful as the weekend went on. We were however so glad Samantha could stay with him...at least he was with someone he knew!
We all were worn out today but we had so, so much fun this weekend and had a great time at the wedding and getting to visit with all our family and friends!

Congrats Blake and Emily!

Greenville Trip

We went up to Greenville Friday night and came home Wednesday afternoon and in the days we were there we packed in a LOT of fun!

Sweet Emmie reading a book to Ellie.

Ellie was ALL about Gran this week. She wanted my mom to help her with everything (including putting her to bed and Ellie never wants anyone but me to put her to bed!). It was kind of a nice change for a few days to have Ellie yelling Gran every few seconds instead of Mommy!

The girls had LOTS of fun with Grandaddy. They even got him to read a princess book!

Emmie wanted her watermelon with the "peel" on and apparently this is how one eats watermelon!

 

 

Saturday the girls and I went to a Bridesmaid's Luncheon for Emily. (But before we went they decided to do some full body painting thus requiring a bath.)

We had a really good time and we all got really great gifts! Emmie got a silver brush, comb, and mirror set and Ellie got a little monogrammed jewelry box. I got a pretty monogrammed garnet bag with bath and body goodies in it! Emily's cousin Kim hosted and Emmie and Ellie had so much fun with her daughters and we all enjoyed getting to meet Emily's friends.

Saturday evening my parents and I took the girls to the pool. I had gotten Emmie a vest to wear and she was not so trusting that it would hold her up! She did great when she didn't realize I was holding on to her but panicked when she realized she was on her own. I also got her some goggles which she loved...they made her feel like a big kid (they didn't, however, entice her to put her face in the water).
Sunday we went to church and then we had a special treat...all the dad's for Father's Day lunch! Paul's parents came over and Paul wondered back from Blake's bachelor party to join us ;) We were so happy that we got to celebrate with everyone. Gin-g also brought a birthday cookie for me and it was delicious!

Monday the girls and I met up with our sweet friends Carissa, Will, and Griffin at Fall's Park in downtown Greenville. Our intention was for the kids to play in the fountains but it was pretty overcast and not super warm so Emmie was the only one who was interested in getting in the water. We ended up going over to a little Children's Garden across the street and letting the kids play and then having our picnic lunch. After lunch we headed back to the park so we could show Will the big bridge and the water fall and as we passed the fountains all the kids decided they wanted to play. We took them to the bridge and then back to the fountains where they played and played and played (the sun had finally come out)! We spent 4 hours at the park and the girls were so worn out when we got home...we all took great naps! I'm so glad we got to meet up with Carissa and her boys...it was lots of fun!

Sweet sisters!

Emmie and Will

Griffin

Love this picture of the big kids!

Carissa and Griffin

Ellie, Will and Emmie on the bears at the Children's Garden

My girls LOVED all the flowers!

AMAZING! I got  picture of all the kiddos and they're all looking in the same direction!

Tuesday we were supposed to meet up with a group from my mom's church to play at a park but it was raining so my mom and I took the girls to Chick-fil-a for lunch and my dad came and joined us. Tuesday evening we went to my dad's office for a BBQ. The girls found some teenagers who would play with them and had a BLAST dancing in the lobby! (This was after they ran all over the office looking for Grandaddy because they thought he was playing hide and seek with them.) I was really regretting not bringing my camera when they were dancing!
Wednesday morning my mom and I took the girls to the pool and it was like I had a whole different Emmie in the pool! She was loving her vest and was so much braver in the water. I even got her to let me quickly dunk her under the water a few times...she did a great job remembering to hold her breath! Once Ellie saw Emmie being brave she was willing to try putting her mouth in the water which is more than she's ever been willing to do before (she was really funny because she'd cover her mouth with both hands and then stick her mouth in the water). Funny Ellie story of the day. When we were leaving the pool (to go home and get lunch) there was a lady eating her lunch at the pool and Ellie walked right up to her and said "I'm hungry". As in "give me your food"! It was pretty hilarious. The child has no shame. We headed back to Columbia after lunch on Wednesday...back to reality!

23 Months

I am 23 months!

• I wear a size 6 shoe, 24mo or 2t clothes, and a size 5 diaper.
• My new favorite word is "hungry". I say it all the time in hopes of getting some snacks!
• I pretty much always talk in short sentences now. One of my favorite phrases is "hi (insert name here)". I love to greet people!
• I am very outgoing and friendly.
• I have a very happy and easy going personality. Every now and then I will get upset about something and I will cry for a few minutes and then move on with life. I throw very few temper tantrums.
• I sleep from about 8 or 8:30pm - 8ish am. (Although Mommy or Daddy puts me to bed at 7:30...I usually stay up and play or read my books for a little bit.) I also, when given the opportunity, will take a solid 2 hr nap (sometimes 3hrs!) after lunch.
• I'm working on learning my colors.
• I will sometimes sing along when you sing Jesus Loves Me and I can sing Wheels on the Bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
• I love going to My Gym. I do all the exercises by myself and always introduce myself during circle time. I just moved up to the next group and do really well with sitting on the line and waiting my turn and with parent share time.
• When I count I say 1, 3 or if I'm going backwards I say 3,1. Mommy's hoping I learn about the number 2 before I turn 2!
• If someone asks me how old I am I say "one!" and hold up one finger.
• I'm slightly obsessed with Belle. My Belle pajamas are my favorite and I wear them every night unless they're dirty, in which case I talk about them over and over and need constant assurance that they really are in the wash.
• Some of my favorite books right now are Franklin the turtle, Bernstein Bears, the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books, and any princess story.
• I LOVE to dance!
• I rode in a boat this month and had the best time!

• I went to the beach with GG and Papa this month and had sooo much fun! I LOVE the beach and especially like the little tide pools.

• I'm slightly obsessed with having clean hands and a clean place while I eat. I'm so obsessed with it that Mommy can't give me a napkin or washcloth while I'm eating because I'll spend the whole meal wiping the same spot on the table. It's really funny because I'm generally oblivious to the food smeared all over my face!
• I do EVERYTHING that Emmie does!