Wedding Weekend: Wells & Kate are Hitched!

This weekend we celebrated the marriage of family friends Wells and Kate. Well's is the nephew of Todd and Amy (the family I lived with after my mother died 6 years ago before getting married to David).  Wells and Kate met at Shepherds University during college a few years ago, they are truly the sweetest couple and so good for one another.

We drove up to Winchester on Saturday mid-afternoon, knowing that the wedding was that evening. I wanted to get us checked into our hotel a few hours before so we could relax, the girls could stretch out their legs and we could get ready before heading out to the wedding.

Around 4 David and started getting ready, knowing we needed to be all ready to go when we got the girls dressed at 5, so we could leave by 5:15. Good intentions I'd say, everyone was ready to go but me at 5:15 (welcome to mom life y'all!), once I got my dress on we were ready to go! We loaded up and headed to the farm.

Kate's family has a beautiful farm, dates back to the 1930's, 3 generations of farming. It was so specially seeing Kate get married on her family's farm. When we arrived we walked up to little driveway like, there you were able to leave your gifts and cards, also pick up water for the ceremony. Once you dropped off your gifts and grabbed your water, you waited to catch a ride on the hayride pulled by the John Deere tractor all the way down to the ceremony. This was Tensley's favorite part of the wedding thus far, she was so excited to ride down to the ceremony. She was beaming from ear to ear.
Once we arrived at the ceremony on the back part of their land, we found out seats in the shade and waited for the rest of the guest to arrive. Once everyone arrived, the grooms and groomsmen arrived via hayride as well. Then the bride, bridesmaid, her parents and the groom's parents. It was fun watching everyone crowd around Kate as she got off the tractor so no one could see her dress, especially Wells. He was even sweet enough to not turn his head at all once he heard the tractor coming up the field to ensure he didn't sneak a peak until it was time.

The wedding started, it was beautiful and Kate looked absolutely beautiful!

and just like that they are Mr. & Mrs. Larson!

Once the ceremony was over, the bridal party headed out for photos on another part of the farms property. While the guest all loaded back up on the hayride to the reception. The reception was set up outdoors, under a large tent beside the pond. It was breathing taking. Absolutely the perfect combination of country meets chic. I was blown away with our romantic everything looked and how well it represented both Wells and Kate.

Our rides to and from the ceremony!

David played with our new camera lens and took a few videos, here are some of the wedding scenery. Not bad for just playing around, good job honey! 

We grabbed a snack and a cocktail, mingled around while waiting for the bridal party to come back from photos. We also tried to beat the Southern Heat! Yes it was blazing hot for an evening wedding, but thats okay everyone looked fabulous even if we were all sweating like crazy by the end of the night. Tensley played with Todd's nephews, Peter and Carter while we waited for everyone to arrived. It was so fun sitting with them and their parents Nikki and Keg (no worries its a nickname, his real name is Keith). It always amazes me how much the boys have grown when I see them, I still think of them being 4 and 5, plus taking them to baseball practice when David and I were dating. They both get cuter and cuter every time I see them.

My Wedding Date for Life!!
My dress can be found here. David shirt here,  khakis, and similar bowtie. 

Finally get to attend a wedding! :)
Everley's dress and Tensley's dress. 

They introduce the bridal party, each couple did different funny things walking in. Then Wells and Kate walked in and shared their first dance, it was the sweetest thing. Once the dance was over we waited for our tables to be dismissed to eat dinner. At this point we had put Everley down in her travel bassinet by our table so that we could socialize and get ready for dinner. Once our table was cleared to go get in line, it wasn't long before Kat (Well's sister) came and took her for some snuggles and to show her off to her boyfriend and all her married friends! Yep, she even show Wells & Kate how easy she is and they need to have a baby, only married a couple of hours folks.
  [Kat truly is a naturally with kids, she can keep Everley for us anytime. Though I honestly wasn't sure if I'd get her back or not.]

If you look in the distance you can see the newlyweds dancing.
oops we forgot to zoom in. 

Once dinner was done, it was time for the father-daughter and mother-son dances, then they even asked their parents to dance with them one time before truly getting the party started. It was so sweet watching them, David told me not to talk to him about the father-daughter dance as he looked at our girls and watching mother-son dance my heart yearned for a little boy. [One day Lord willing. Yes, Tensley is already asking if it is time to have a baby brother. 2 months of having a sister and she is ready for another...]

Mr. & Mrs. Larson, Mr. & Mrs. Larson, & Mr. & Mrs. Gore

Once the toast were given, it was time to PARTAAAY!
 Tensley got out on the dance floor and she barely left. She danced with me, David, Amy, Tucker and his girlfriend, Peter and Carter, Nikki. She even got to share a dance with the bride and groom (the highlight of her night, thanks guys!) You could tell by 10:30 she was getting tired by the look on her face and her movements started to get smaller, but when we suggested leaving she perked right up quick to prove she wasn't tired and need to keeping dancing.
  Everley loved a good party too. She stayed awake the majority of the time, barley cat napped here and there. She was held and loved on by a ton of people, even people we just met that evening. Kat, Amy, Mr. Gallagher, Cameron (Tucker's girlfriend), Trent, Todd, Nikki, Kelsea, and probably others that we didn't even notice.
  Our girls are so loved by this family and their friends, we are so thankful for them all.

Father-Daughter Dances

Dancing with the Bride & Groom. 

David and I even got to really enjoy ourselves and cut up on the dance floor. It was great seeing him dance and have a good time, I enjoy this side of David so much. Typically he doesn't show it for others very often, I was a little nervous he wouldn't since it was a wedding for my so called family. However it proved me wrong and showed us his moves! He has come along way since we first got together 5 years ago, no more Quiet-Dave. (Yes that was his nickname, yes we still throw it out there from time to time!)

Tensley and Uncle Trent!

The girls, Kat and I. 

At around 11 we decided it was probably best that we headed out since it was so late, Everley was fighting sleep (sweet girl didn't dare want to miss anything, but boy were her eyes heavy and trying so hard to close) and Tensley well she just kept dancing and dancing, though her moves kept getting slower and slower. haha!

We arrived back at our hotel by 11:3ish (we changed the girls in the parking lot in hopes they would fall asleep on our drive back to the hotel), well they were both wide awake. #parentfail. So I feed Everley quickly and we put Tensley in bed, she talked until she finally fell asleep close to 12. Everyone slept in until 9, well Everley woke up at 4am and 6am, but I mean does that really count?!? [Yes it does, says the momma that is exhausted!]

We moved a little slow yesterday morning, getting all packed up and deciding where to eat for brunch since we were getting on the road a little later then David had planned, but I know he was so grateful for sleeping in till 9. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at cracker barrel then headed up at 11, only needing to stop once, at arrived home by 2.
  On the drive home I was texting Amy to let her know we left and reminiscing on the wedding, we found out there were fireworks right after we left (like 20 minutes), we said it was best not to tell Tensley because she would have been so upset. Yet I think David was even upset that the pushed for us to leave, he said "I bet they looked awesome over looking the pond" Oh well, price you pay when you bring babies to a wedding, as David said last night "Can't party like rockstars with kids!" So true, but we partied hard for as long as we could.

It was such a beautiful weekend and everything was perfect, seriously no glitch at all. We truly enjoyed celebrating Wells & Kate as they start this new chapter in their lives. I'd loved getting to share this sweet memory with the girls too.

Everley 2 months

How is that July 9 came and now we have a 2 month old baby girl on our hands. I know I am shocked just like the rest of you all are. We are still completing in love with little miss Everley and wonder what life was like without her. {though lets be honest, when are you not in love with your children. Don't let the thoughts of tantrums or disobedience enter your mind either, those only count for not liking your child during that moment. Trust me we have all been there, I have been there just recently with Tensley.}

You can find bow here

This month we have really been able to see peaks of Everley's personally peak through and I'm loving every minute of that! She is talking up a storm while on her play mat or when Tensley is close by. She is still sometimes unsure of Tensley, but you can tell she loves her so because she is constantly looking for her when she hears her voices. {Insert my heart melting here}

It has also been a month of first! First bath in the big tub. First trip to the beach. First nap in the sand. First vacation. First time in nursery at church (Sunday and Wednesday night). First time in child care at our local YMCA. This weekend she will attend her first wedding {I know we are brave. It's a family wedding so the girls can't skip out. Please pray for us this weekend. If Everley can keep her cool during the ceremony, I will consider the entire weekend a success! #smallvictories #settingmystandardslow }

She hates tummy time, I mean HATES it. We are good for about the first minute and a half, then we blow out into a full on tantrum; kicking and screaming her little lungs out until you finally pick her up or roll her onto her back. No fear we are still working on head control over here just not with tummy time. Little miss prefers to practice her neck strengthening muscles by sitting up or being up on someones shoulder. She is our nosey little girl, she doesn't want to miss a beat.

Everley's Romper can be found here.

She is still getting up once a night to nurse, its a rare occasion for her to be up multiple times during the night. She typically goes down between 9:00-10:00pm and then up again between 2:00-3:00am, then she starts her every 2-3 hour feedings at 5:00am. She is still sleeping in our room in her bassinet,  our goal is to move her to her room by Mid-August. That is when I will be working on getting our school routine back into play. Right now we are just enjoying summer and going with the flow.
 It is fun to see Everley put herself on her own schedule, helps me to see what we need to change or tweak once Tensley goes back to school in Sept. Right now Everley keeps up between 7:30-8:00am to start her day. Takes a morning nap around 9:30 till about 11ish. Then an afternoon nap around 1 till about 3:30 or 4ish. She is great about going with the flow and adjusting herself to the activities and schedule I have that day for Tensley.
     [disclaimer: thought I don't want summer to end, I am counting down the days until we are all on a  more accurate and daily schedule. 50 days to go!]

We go back to the doctor next week, so at this time I only know her weight and height from last month. She was 10 lbs 8 oz and 21.5 inches long. I'm interested to see how much she has grown this month, I wonder if its another 3 lbs and 3 inches. Girl can eat!!


Besides talking a ton, she is smiling. It is the sweetest thing and will honestly melt your heart if she smiles up at your. Right now its for people she recognizes, but I'm sure before long this sweet girl will be smiling all the time.

She has found her fist, fingers, and thumb. Constantly sucking on them if she is hungry or her paci has come out. If I see her sucking on her fingers/thumb and I know she isn't hungry, I'm quick to get the paci in her mouth instead. WHY? Its simple really, I can get rid of a paci. I can't get rid of a thumb.

Just like Tensley she seems to be keeping her blue eyes, Thanks Daddy! Her hair is slowly starting to show some blonde in it. So we are all assuming she will lighten up before her 1st birthday just like big sister did, though only time can truly tell.

She looks just like her big sister and in a lot of ways acts about the same way she did as a baby. Though I'm sure it won't last for much longer before she develops more of her own style and personality that fits her. Now she is trying to learn to love the comparisons she gets to her big sister, mostly she just makes faces at us when she says she looks like her. #youngersisterproblems

Tensleys Tunic here and Everley's Dress here. 

If I could dress them like this everyday I would, however we would be broke and David would probably set up some kind of intervention. But seriously though, how stinking cute is this photo and those crab outfits! Mud-Pie I need a crab tunic in my size ASAP!  I'm totally jealous that I'm not matching along with my sweet girls.
  Don't worry in time we will all be matching/coordinating our outfits together. I'm thinking about declaring #LilySunday a rule in our house. Think I could convince David that every Sunday for church his girls should be in Lily Pulitzer. :)