Laney + Graham

2 Weeks after celebrating with Caroline and Will, we wrapped up the summer of weddings with Laney and Graham getting married on September 7, 2013. 

Again, family and friends came to Raleigh to be with them on their special day. The Scalf's came to town and were able to stay at our neighbors house...(thank you, Co!!) so we took advantage of being pretend neighbors for the weekend with lots of cousin time :). 

The festivities started out with Laney and the bridesmaids being treated to mani/pedis by Jana and her mom at the Spa by Mitchell's. It was great to relax, reconnect with all of the bridesmaids, and start #lookinwright for the big day.

Had to get a mirror selfie with the groom 

After heading home and getting ready, we all met at the Little Herb House for the rehearsal. Getting a preview of the field and the barn where the ceremony and the reception would be held was so exciting. Everything was so beautiful and Laney's vision was coming to life right before our eyes!

Nobody puts on a rehearsal dinner like Robert and Ann! There were so many personal touches added to the beautiful room at Mia Francesca where family and close friends gathered to express their love and excitement for Graham and Laney. Robert and Ann wrote and read a full on fairy tale describing Graham, the risk taker, growing up to meet his princess, Laney!

It was really sweet to be able to stand up with Megan, EJ, Ben, and Austin to welcome Laney to the family and speak about Graham as a brother. Once again, I couldn't hold it together and had to quickly end my toast before even getting to the "real" part. Good thing you both know I love you :) 

The morning of the wedding came and everyone went their separate ways to shower and get ready to head out to the Little Herb House except Laney and I. 

Laney woke up trying her best not to be nervous or overwhelmed about the big day while I did my best to keep her distracted talking about other normal, everyday things as I drove us to her hair appointment. 

It was so sweet to be able to have the morning to ourselves reminiscing about Saturday's together throughout college, how she and Graham met, our various vacations together, and how crazy it is that we were about to be family! We talked about it all on the way to the bridesmaids luncheon at the Little Herb House where we were met by the bridesmaids, Susan, and Ann!  

After eating a beautiful lunch and sipping on the most amazing tea (made at the Little Herb house of course), the photographer, Robyn Van Dyke, arrived and took pictures while we got ready! All of the following photos are by her. 

After the bridal party took pictures, Laney and Graham read the letters they had written to each other. As you can see from Laney's reaction below, I exited the room as I got way emotional AGAIN watching her read Graham's words to his bride to be!

The emotional roller coaster continued as we prayed over Laney right before walking over to the ceremony!

The ceremony was beautiful, personal, and so special. Jesus was glorified and so obviously in our presence as two of my best friends vowed to love each other for the rest of their lives by His grace.

At the reception, we all ate amazing Southern food, danced the entire night, laughed a lot and celebrated with Graham and Laney as we sent them off to Mexico as husband and wife!! 

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Graham Wright!! 

We love you so much and are so thankful to call you family! 

Caroline + Will

After almost 7 years of dating, Caroline and Will were married on August 24, 2013! 

Their weekend was absolutely perfect. Family and friends traveled from all over the place to be there to celebrate these two. 

I was so excited to see my sister so happy. Caroline had waited and waited for the day she would be Will's bride, so to see how eager the two of them were to pledge their lives to each other was so special. 

Wedding week kicked off with our cousins Barry, Amy, Jake, and Sam coming from Florida to stay with my parents for the whole week! I can't even begin to describe these people. The absurdity, noise, generosity, laughter, and love that our family experiences with them is on another level. We LOVE them, so to have them in Raleigh for a whole week was the best! 

Barry is an incredibly talented chef and just so happens to be the most giving person on this planet (Amy, you're alright too), so he offered to cook for Caroline's Bridesmaid Luncheon - just as he did for mine :). The luncheon was on Friday at our friend's the Barkers house. The hostesses did such a great job, it was so beautiful and I know Caroline felt so celebrated. 

I had to take pictures of every course Barry served to relive the blissful food coma I was in....

After the luncheon, the bridesmaids and Mom all went to get pedicures for the big day then headed home to get ready for the rehearsal. 

That night, we went to 518 West for the rehearsal dinner where immediate family, the wedding party, and some Navy boys I had heard so much about gathered to toast the happy couple. I may or may not have made it through mine without crying...

The morning of the wedding, the bridesmaids were all able to have a relaxing and low key morning while we got ready in the parlor room at the country club. It was so nice not to feel rushed or stressed, probably because we all got our make up done professionally! (A first for me - I felt like a celebrity) 

Caroline hinted that keeping busy would be good for her so that she didn't start getting nervous, so I was happy to help her out there. She spent a good chunk of time doing my hair :) It wouldn't be a wedding without Caroline helping me get pretty somehow - even if its her own! She also had a special visitor give her some love while she waited...

Caroline's photographer, Robyn Van Dyke arrived while we were finishing getting ready to get some pictures of us in our awesome robes that Caroline gave us. (I've been living in my robe since this day!) All of the following pictures are by Robyn Van Dyke photography! 

 

The rest of the night was flawless. We finished getting ready at the church, prayed over Caroline, and headed down the aisle with 8 flower girls and ring bearers - all children Caroline has cared for over the years. The kids were perfect and it was such a sweet personal touch that made the wedding so Caroline! 

 After the ceremony, a trolley took us from downtown to the reception at the country club where Caroline and Will led the party all night long! My dad might have stolen the show for a brief couple of hours on stage - but who didn't expect that?? The band was awesome and had the crowd involved the whole time - they played Sweet Caroline and let the navy boys serenade Caroline Top Gun style!

Caroline and Will, Ben and I are so excited for you and your new life together! We are so excited to be family and to get to walk through marriage, babies, holidays, and the rest of this life with you both! We love y'all! 

 Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Craven!! 

Dear Liam :: 7 Months

Liam, you turned 7 months old on the last day of our vacation with the Wrights at Holden Beach! This month has been so much fun with lots of activity, travel, and family time. You are a growing boy and we are loving getting to see your personality continue to come out! 

:: Feeding ::

Since you are a little bubby nugget, I decided to go back to nursing every 3 hours instead of spacing feedings out this month. I thought this was going to be super overwhelming for me to have to go back to this schedule plus the 3 solid meals a day, but I have been surprised at how easy it has been. It also feels totally different than when you were a newborn, maybe I'm just used to it, but I think it has something to do with a thankful heart for the fact that I am still able to nurse you and watch you grow into a healthy, content, busy little boy.  

You are still loving pretty much every solid food we throw your way. Some new ones have been sweet peas, carrots, mangos, pears, and a little bit of chicken! To help with the plumping up even more, I have started to add a little bit of formula and oatmeal cereal to some of your solid meals, which you have done great with. 

:: Sleeping :: 

We have hit our stride this month with sleeping. You are doing so well at night and by the end of this month you were regularly sleeping from about 7:30pm to 7:00am. Naps have also continued to improve and the first 2 of the day are consistently about an hour and the third is about 45 minutes. We're getting the hang of this! 

:: Fun Things ::

-The day that you turned 7 months old, we discovered your first tooth with the second already poking through! 

-You are definitely only wanting to play while sitting up all by yourself now. You're not content just to play laying on your back or tummy anymore! 

-You are so close to crawling, you can get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth. 

-You still love your excersaucer and have started to flat out run in circles in that thing. 

-Separation anxiety is still a hard thing, you have a really hard time with strangers and most of the time won't even go to anyone but me and your Dad. BUT we've noticed that when you're around people for a few days consistently, you start to warm up. It's totally opposite with other babies and kids....you LOVE them immediately :). 

-You are an outdoor boy! If you are fussy or bored, all you need is to step outside. You love going on walks, playing in the yard, or just walking around looking at the trees and the birds. 

-This month was the first time you ever spent the night away from me! Zuzu, Big Jim, and Aunt CaCa kept you for 2 nights while I hosted Aunt Laney’s bachelorette weekend.