such a special day

I am delighted to share a few photos from the beautiful wedding Jamie, Jay and I got to be a part of last weekend. On Friday the 4th Jamie’s cousin married her long time boyfriend Josh in what can only be described as the perfect day! The weather was beautiful, the bride was even more so, the details were thoughtful and springy and the whole day was just so full of love and joy! Maggie and Josh, we truly couldn’t be happier for the two of you and were so honored to be a part of your special day.

While there were SO many things and moments that I would have loved the opportunity to photograph at this wedding I simply didn’t get the chance. It has been so long since I have attended, much less participated in, a wedding that I didn’t photograph! However, I did get a handful of photos that I love. So please excuse the ridiculous amount of photos I am about to share. I really had way too many favorites to narrow it down any further than I did!

First up- Bridesmaids’ luncheon and mani/pedis
Maggie and Josh- bridesmaids

Maggie and Josh- MOB and the bride

Maggie and Josh- the Bridesmaids with Maggie

the rehearsal dinner
Jay has a hard time not making a silly face these days
Maggie and Josh- me with Jay at the rehearsal dinner

Maggie and Josh- Jenna and Holly

Maggie and Josh- Kenny, Holly and Jenna

 

The wedding day!

Maggie and Josh- Jenna and Hannah getting ready for the big day!

Maggie and Josh- Uncle Mark prepping for the big event

Maggie and Josh- shennanigans from the day

Maggie and Josh- fancy bride!

Maggie and Josh- Maggie with her parents before the ceremony

Maggie and Josh- the beautiful bride

Maggie and Josh- something borrowed, old and blue

Maggie and Josh- gorgeous flowers!!

Maggie and Josh- beautiful flowers

Maggie and Josh- a few details

Maggie and Josh- Jamie and Luc

Maggie and Josh- an attempt at a family shot

Maggie and Josh- sweet Charlie with my boquet

Maggie and Josh- November cool dudes

Maggie and Josh- two of my cool dudes

Maggie and Josh - a few details

Maggie and Josh- the happy couple

Maggie and Josh- kisses

Maggie and Josh-

Maggie and Josh- Kenny and Jenna

Maggie and Josh- KENNY!

Maggie and Josh- Holly and Jamie

Maggie and Josh- me and Jamie

Maggie and Josh- the flowers

Maggie and Josh- silly parents of the Bride

Maggie and Josh- silly Aunt Holly the great and Uncle Mark

Maggie and Josh- Jamie and his mom

Maggie and Josh- Nicole and Jeremiah

Maggie and Josh- Mary Beth and Michael

Maggie and Josh- more flowers

Maggie and Josh- more flowers

Maggie and Josh- with Grandma

wild

I woke up today and thought we needed to get out of the house. I hadn’t seen either of the boys yet but I knew we needed to be out. Luckily it is the first Monday of the month which means that it’s free admission day to Leu Gardens because the Orlando public library is doing story time. So I sent my dear friend Staci a text asking if she would like to join our crazy for the morning and she agreed to. If we are going for full disclosure here I admit that I had no intention of actually going to listen to story time, we have done that before and it’s not all that great- It’s a huge room so the boys have a hard time seeing/hearing and overall I just haven’t ever been a fan, I just wanted a mostly fenced in area in which the boys could run.

So we loaded up, stopped by Dunkin Donuts to stock up on sugar and caffeine and headed to the gardens. I should have known that it was going to be a stellar morning when Charlie was using the corner of his shirt as a make-shift blankie and sucking his thumb on the way there (the thumb is the ultimate “I want sleep” indicator); however, I ignored the neon flashing sign and we trudged on. Charlie cried and fussed for a good portion of the morning out of sheer indecision and tiredness- the kid had no idea what he wanted or didn’t want, to ride in the stroller, to walk, to be held etc. And Jay left his “glistening ears” (what he calls his listening ears) at home or in the car or something so we were in rare form.

Regardless of all of that, we did have a really great time. We picnicked with donuts, got some of our energy out and Jay got filthy dirty when he “tripped” and rolled around the hill (ie purposefully fell while running down the hill). However, I certainly am looking forward to the being able to use the new (currently waiting for it to arrive) stroller. It has two seats and two buckles so I can strap both of my crazies in at one time and just push the singing (I mean screaming) children places without pushing one and trying to wrangle the other on top of my ever growing belly. Oh and did I mention that I am super grateful for sweet friends who will chase your kids down when they start running straight for the lake without warning? If I didn’t well I meant to; those kind of friends are the best ;)

Here’s our troop of doughnut-eating boys (the lone girl between the two of us was at school)- four pictured (ages 6, 3.5, 2.5 and 1.5), another not pictured (5 months old) was in the stroller and the last one in my tummy still baking. I know it’s a lot but they are wild and fun never the less.

our troop

Jay Bird

Brock

Charlie

Eli

Happy Monday to you, hope your day was a walk in the park ;)

summer fun

We had some good friends over the other day to splash around in the front yard.  I searched for our sprinkler in the morning before they came over without success and realized when they were here that the kiddie pool needed a good scrub and the top ring wouldn’t stay blown up; however, none of these things mattered to the littles.  I can’t count the number of times they took running jumps into the pool (top ring deflated and all) and I am pretty sure that they enjoyed using the hose way more than they would have enjoyed the sprinkler.  It was a great morning with wonderful company and I hope we can do it again soon!

Eli’s faces are so funny; I think I did something wrong here in his opinion!

the running starts

Jay followed suit

this splash got my camera pretty good… and not the waterproof camera either

Staci’s oldest, Brock

water tables are meant to be sat in, right?

all four kiddos- Charlie was napping and baby Forman #4 doesn’t arrive until December ;)

Eli trying to get control of the three other crazy kids

you will be missed

Today is bitter sweet day for the Knight family is moving home to Mississippi and while I am so excited for them and everything that this move means for their family I hate, hate, hate to see them go…

I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Nan called me 4.5 years ago to tell me that they were venturing down to Florida- I was so happy that they were going to be close and it has been so wonderful to have them here!  I’ve loved watching our families grow together and am not sure that I would have made it through having a newborn without her advice and shoulder to lean on.  And while I am thrilled at all of the opportunities this move will allow them, I just wish Hattiesburg wasn’t so far away!  I guess a trip back to the ‘burg will be in my future soon!

Good Luck Nan, Jeremy and Leyton!!  I love you friends and know that you will be so, so missed!

one of the boys from our last visit together- they may not be smiling but it's pretty good considering that it was close to bedtime and they are both at least looking!
goodbye hugs all around
I know it's a little blurry (it was really late and the light was low) but this melts my heart... hugs and kisses for dear friends

play date

this is Eli

He and his Mommy, Whitney, invited us over today to play.  It was a very nice treat to get out of the house and hang out somewhere different for a change.  The boys enjoyed playing “together” or at least playing in the same room together.  It is so fun to watch them interact at this age.

Most of the playing looked like this…

and this…

and sometimes they just crawled over each other…

I did pull out my camera a little before we left to grab a few photos- since that is what I do.  When I did Eli was really intrigued by the large black thing that I kept pointing in his face (guess he isn’t as used to it as Jay is).  Isn’t he cute?

He really wanted to have my camera. Notice my child in the background playing with a cord-like object- figures...

adorable big eyes!

Regardless of how the kiddos played it was a really nice treat to get out the house, play with someone else’s toys and have adult conversation.  We are looking forward to being able to do it again Whitney;  thanks for having us!

dinner with friends

On Sunday Jamie, Jay and I had the pleasure of visiting Lauren, John and Betsy (their Toy Yorkie- I think that’s the correct term, sorry Lauren if it’s not).  They had us over to their place, nice new digs by the way, where we had a wonderful dinner and were able to enjoy some time catching up.  A great time was had by all, even Jay and Betsy had a great time “playing” with each other.  Betsy is so tiny and much smaller and more energetic than any animal Jay has ever met; she was bounding around playing with toys and us the whole time we were there and Jay couldn’t keep his eyes off of her!  Those two were seriously too funny to watch…

our gracious hostess, Lauren, hanging out with Jay
Jay and Betsy getting acquainted...
sharing toys...
fast friends :-)

play date

Yesterday Jay and I walked over to have a play date with Christina and Chase (our next door neighbor and her almost 8 week old son).  We took a blanket and some toys outside, set up under the shade of  a tree and had a grand old time.  I can’t wait until we can do it again!

Jay with one of his new favorite toys
The many phases of Chase- alert and playing through crashed! I can't blame him though, I would have loved to nap in the shade :-)
just hanging out
just hanging out
a new favorite picture of mine- LOVE his expression!!
a new favorite picture of mine- LOVE his expression in this one!!
the whole crew, minus the lady with the camera

family pictures

I have been wanting to get some nice pictures of us as a family for some time now; you know aside from the self portrait style (which in all honestly I sometimes really love- but they have their place).  So this past Sunday Nan and her two adorable men headed over to Rollins College with us to grab a few.  My little guy wasn’t really cooperating, the ground was far more interesting than anything else around, however; Nan worked her magic and was able to grab a few that I’ll cherish forever.  Thanks friend- love you!

my favorite

man o' man do I love this guy!
might be a permanent expression on my face when this little boy gets to be mobile

love this too- my two handsome guys
the Knight family
sweet friend and the little boys
my sweet friend Nan

here’s hopping…

that you had as wonderful of a weekend as we did!

We lounged around…

We spent time with friends and family…

We cooked and ate a bunch…

We snoozed…

and snoozed some more…

We hung out in the hammock…

We went for our first stroller ride…

btw- Jay hates the car seat and therefore the stroller too. This picture was taken after he was taken out, calmed down, fell asleep and then put back in.

We documented our first Easter as a family…

and we posed by our new Easter basket…