Caitiln + Bo

Last month, Ben, Liam, Caroline, and I traveled to Knoxville, TN (my first time) for Caitlin's wedding!

I posted a little background on the 2 lovebirds when they got engaged here

I was SO looking forward to Caitlin and Bo's wedding weekend...for a few reasons.

1. Witnessing Caitlin marry the love of her life...duh
2. MEETING Bo
3. Getting to see Caitlin's new Knoxville life
4. A reunion with so many college bff's
5. A few nights out with Ben

With a pretty long drive ahead of us, we decided to leave Raleigh Thursday night and stayed in Brevard with Grandmerle and Pop Pop to break up the trip for Liam. He did AWESOME on the ride to Brevard and hung tough until we all had a little bit of a breakdown on Friday during the last leg of the trip through the gorge.

I may or may not have caused this breakdown.

I'm not sure what the last straw was, but I blacked out and saw red after we hit traffic, I was topless pumping in the FRONT seat while truckers passed by waving, got approximately .5 ounces when I needed around 4 ounces, started sweating, and Liam woke up crying.

BUT we made it to the church, Caroline threw my hair in a fashionable fishtail, I changed in the car, composed myself, and met everyone for the rehearsal while Ben, Caroline, and Liam checked into the hotel.

The rest of the night was fab. The rehearsal was so smooth, Caitlin was GLOWING, her friends were so fun and sweet, and the rehearsal dinner was such an awesome celebration of Caitlin and Bo as individuals and a couple.

Rehearsal Dinner with my faves 

The next morning, I got to hang out at the hotel with Ben, Caroline, and Liam while I got ready. We literally could not have done any of this weekend without Caroline coming to help with Liam, as usual!

The bridesmaids luncheon was so fun and relaxed, Liam even got to come down to meet all of the girls since it was at the hotel!

The rest of the day was just as easy and beautiful as the rest of the weekend. Caitlin was SUCH a calm and gorgeous bride! It was so special getting to spend the entire day with her and the people closest to her before she walked down the aisle to become Mrs. Johnson.

The reception was so Caitlin...awesome southern food, lots of friends and family, dancing all night long, and a great band! 

For pictures not from my iphone, you should check out their awesome photographer! 

Jennifer Crook

Caitlin and Bo, I am SO happy for you!! You are so much fun to be with, I love how much you laugh together and it is so apparent that the Lord has blessed you both and made you better through each other! I cannot wait to watch as your life together unfolds. 

I love you!! 

blowing.my.mind.

1.  BEST NEWS OF MY LIFE

2. Chills:

Laney's Bachelorette Weekend

Bachelorette weekend round 2 was held at my family's house in Atlantic Beach, where Laney and I have lots and lots of fun memories, so I was really excited to be able to host her weekend there. 

Usually - because I love to plan a good celebration - when I'm the hostess, I lose my mind wanting everything to be perfect, hoping people are always having fun, making sure I've provided enough activities etc. BUT this weekend was SO refreshingly different! I have no idea what happened, but everything seemed to fall into place so easily! My parents and Caroline stayed at my grandparents beach house where they babysat Liam all weekend so I could be fully present, the dynamics with all of the girls were awesome, and we had PERFECT weather! 

Kara, Laney, and I drove down Thursday night and got to set up the house and hit the beach early. Friday, we waited for the first car of girls to arrive, walked to grab some lunch and stayed on the beach the rest of the day - praise the Lord for some sun! (notice I volunteered to take the picture) 

That night, there was no question what was going to happen. Our favorite special pizza we get once, maybe 5 times every time we go to AB and a trip to Dairy Queen...duh. 

Saturday, we woke up and had a big breakfast, then hung out on the beach the whole day! SO SO fun to swim, talk, and relax! 

That night we went to dinner at Stillwater in Beaufort, then came back to the house for Laney's lingerie shower.

After the shower, we headed back out to the waterfront for a scavenger hunt and some dancing...prepare for horrible, blurry, dark, and hilarious iphone pictures of our night. 

Birthday girl and a Bride to be

selfies on selfies

Laney and her crew

not on the scavenger hunt, she just wanted a picture with the bride...

take a picture with a guy with a mullet...he will do

bridezilla and mohzilla selfie

late night McDonalds run

Laney, your weekend was one of the highlights of my summer! I don't remember the last time I laughed as hard or as much as I did throughout the entire weekend. Love you too much! 

Celebrating My Sister Brides!!

This summer has been so fun to be able to celebrate Caroline and Laney throughout their engagements! Here are some pictures from each of their showers:

--Caroline's Lingerie Shower--

One of Caroline's best friends, Hannah (and one of my favorite people on this earth), threw the most gorgeous lingerie shower. It was on her family's private rooftop patio overlooking Raleigh...who knew downtown had views like that?? It was super intimate and relaxed with some of Caroline's closest friends sipping on wine, eating awesome food, and laughing about Will's answers to some hilarious questions.

Beautiful bride and hostess

:: Double Shower Day :: 

Somehow, with a whole summer to spread out the celebrating, Caroline and Laney ended up with a shower on the same day. Caroline's shower happened to be one that I was hosting with her best friend Grace, so I'm not even going to get into what a psycho person I was on this particular Saturday...lets just say that the wind was blowing too hard for our Pinterest vision to come alive and when my really cute pink balloons started popping, NOPE I lost it. The day was recovered with amazing food, friends, family, and coffee/ice cream punch! 

Hostesses with the bride

the bride with mom and future mother in law

High school friends! 

After wrapping Caroline's shower, I headed straight to Laney's which was hosted by some of her mom's great friends. 

Hostesses

 >> Laney's Last Shower <<

 The last shower before Laney's big day was so fun as the day was so close and so many family members and friends were able to be there, including the flower girl :)

Family from both sides!

Dear Liam :: 6 Months

Before forgetting about this blogging business for a good 2 months, I was honestly avoiding writing this post for a while after we had a little bit of a discouraging doctors appointment for your 6 month check up.

While I thought you were a perfectly chunky little bub, the doctors disagreed...you are only 8th percentile for weight right now! They want to see you gaining weight faster and somewhere between the suggestions about how to do this and the tests that would be necessary if your weight didn't start increasing quickly, I started to panic! The fact that you had an otherwise perfect checkup was not even in my mind, instead all I could think was, what am I doing wrong? how did I miss this?

After processing for a few days, talking with your dad, and confiding in my mommy friends and family, I was reminded of the fact that I am ultimately not in control. It is crazy how many times God has had to and will continue to remind me of the fact that your life is in his hands...and oh my gosh I am SO thankful! I have been praying this verse for your dad and me as we continue to learn to be parents and place our trust in Jesus and not ourselves:

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, 

because they trust in you." Isaiah 26: 3

With that being said, I'm going to cut down on  up long winded eating/sleeping updates because they are finally not the focus of our whole lives anymore! You have started to become this precious little person with your own personality and as you develop more and more I want to make sure to document those things and not the sleepless nights or how much milk you're drinking...boring. 

:: Feeding :: 

This month we started spacing out your feedings to every 3.5 to 4 hours and added in solid meals 3 times a day! You have LOVED eating solids once we moved on from the oatmeal cereal. I have been able to make all of your food at home which has been really fun and SO much cheaper. We have introduced a new food every 3 or 4 days to make sure you're not allergic to anything - so far so good. As of right now your favorites are avocado, sweet potato and banana! You're also eating green beans, butternut squash, prunes, yogurt, and peaches. 

The only really negative reaction to a food that we've had was the biggest shock of my life - apples! My favorite! You not only hated them, but every time I've given them to you you've had some sort of minor reaction...I don't think those will be offered again anytime soon. 

:: Sleeping :: 

We were on a little bit of a different schedule this month and it has seemed to work really well for us. You are still napping 3 times a day but we have finally broken that 45 minute intruder and you have been consistently sleeping about an hour to an hour and a half, halleluuuu! 

We have also bumped bed time back a little so that you are now going to sleep at 7:30. The majority of the time you are sleeping from 7:30pm to 4:30 or 5am, eating, and going back down until 7am. I am totally cool with this sleep schedule so keep it up! 

:: Fun Things :: 

-You are definitely saying "ma ma" and "da da" !! :) 

-When you get excited you flail your arms up and down and say "gollygollygolly"....kills us every time! 

-You are sitting up by yourself! Sometimes you lose your balance and need a little help, but most of the time you are able to do it by yourself for a few minutes. 

-You love peek a boo and any toys that make noise/music. 

-You are still a BUSY little thing. You would much rather be up on your feet than sitting down to play, so the excersaucer has been a life saver this month!  

-Water is the best thing that has ever happened to you. You LOVE it. Pool time and bath time are your favorite activities in this world! 

-You have started to warm up to other people! You especially love your family :)