Layton's Arrival

  Layton finally made it into this big world! I along with a few other friends and Megan's family awaited his arrival! We had so much fun catching up, guessing what he would look like and weigh, and counting down till we saw him! I took some pictures right after he was born and they turned out so sweet!There is nothing like a baby right out of the oven! :) He is healthy and cute as a button! God's work is amazing!

Boot Skootin' Baby Shower

Recently I threw one of my best friend's from high school a baby shower. It seems like yesterday we were kids using all of her moms dawn dish washing soap on our homemade poly pipe slip in slides in her back yard, naming all her animals (she lived on old Mcdonald's farm and it was one of the funnest places to be growing up), and just going through those high school years together without a care in the world. We share so many fun and great memories that I will always cherish! Megan is due any day now with a sweet little boy named Layton and I cannot wait to meet the little guy! 

Graduation

Thursday night one of my husband's cousin's (& one of my great friends) graduated from nursing school! Stephanie and I have gotten close over the years since Dustin and I began dating, and I love being a part of that family! :) We are so proud and excited for her! Before graduation we meet up with family and friends to have dinner and celebrate! I made a banner for the special occasion and it turned out pretty cute! :) Happy Graduation to Stephanie!



Pottery Barn Look-A-Like

I have a confession: I (along with a lot of others I am sure) have an OBSESSION for Pottery Barn! I love everything they have! A little while back I saw a lamp on their website that I just fell in love with....BUT it was $199 for a table lamp! NO THANKS! Then... on a random trip to Hobby Lobby (my 2nd home) I found one very similar for $20!!! Yeah!!

Homemade Photo Prop

Recently I did a photo shoot for one of my sister's best friends. I saw a cute photo prop idea online and decided to make one for myself(imagine that;). It was a little time consuming but very inexpensive and ended up being one of my favorite pictures!

1. I bought 6 different shades of yarn. I used

5 bright colors and one cream colored with frilly edges.

  

2. I cut strips about a yard in length and lined them 

across a table. This was the time consuming part. I started a pattern 

with the colors and went from one end to the other.

3. When all the yarn was in place I hot glued strips of yarn about 2-3 

inches apart down the width of the other yarn strips to hold it all together. 

   

Ta da! Meet sweet little Aubree! Turned out pretty cute!:)

Wedding ABC's

 I got this idea from This Kind of Love and thought it was neat! We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary so I thought it was fitting too! :)

Wedding ABC's

Attending: 

I think we had about 150 guests helping us celebrate our sweet day.

Bridesmaids:

I had six bridesmaids and they were all stunning!

Catering:

Our wedding venue did not allow any outside catering so my wedding planner and his crew pretty much did everything including our cake! It was nice not having to worry about any of it! I just got to pick everything out! 

Dress:

I LOVED my dress! I went for a vintage flair and finally after trying on a bazillion I went with this anjolique design...

Engagement:

Dustin proposed to me on my birthday April 22, 2007..we were engaged a little over a year and got married on May 24, 2008! This is us at our surprise engagement party.. we were so excited! :-) So fun!

Flowers: 

Our flowers were also done by my wedding planner. I used mostly roses and bright spring flowers. I clipped ideas from magazines and he did an amazing job putting it all together!

Groomsmen:

We had 6 groomsmen to go with our 6 bridesmaids. Yes I can count, my brother just also made it into this pic. ;)

Honeymoon: 

We did not get to take the honeymoon we had planned because we just started a small business and could not leave town at the time, but we made up for it and took a trip to Disney World on our 1yr anniversary the next year. One day I will make it to Bora Bora, Tahiti, or Figi..hopefully not just in my dreams! :) On our wedding night we stayed in a suite at the Capitol Hotel. 

Look there we are! ha! ;)

Invitations:

I made our invitations! Printed them with a kit and changed out the ribbon that came with the kit to ribbon I liked more. Saved a lot of money doing that!

Justice of the Peace:

We actually had a preacher. Dustin's childhood preacher who is still preaching at the same church he attended growing up married us.

Keepsakes:

We had our guests sign a book made out of our engagement pictures.  I still display it in our bedroom on a small easel.  Another thing I did was have some material monnogrammed and put under our unity candle so later I could make a table runner out of it. 

Our guests got cd's wrapped in ribbon we made with some old,  new, and some fun songs they could listen to on their way home as their keepsakes! :)

Ladies Night:

We had more of a ladies day! We did a few things leading up to my wedding but my favorite by far was my bridal luncheon my mother-in-law gave me! Cutest thing ever! 

Music:

Our wedding music was very traditional. We had the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra string quartet playing in the balcony before and during the ceremony.

For our reception we had another group playing. 

We both love live music so that is what we went with. 

Newlyweds:

I think this picture speaks for itself :)

Old, New, Barrowed, Blue:

My something old was a vintage cloth handkerchief that was Dustin great grandmother's she had sewn when she was a kid. It was pinned under my bouquet.

My something new was my dress.

My something barrowed was a hair clip.

My something blue was a blue ribbon on my undies.

Photographer:

We used Crystal Goss and she was AMAZING! Do not think we could have made a better decesion on a photographer. So thankful we have her amazing work to cherish the rest of our lives. She captured every moment!

Question Popping:

Dustin proposed on my birthday the year before we were married in the sweetest way. He was friends with the lady at the jewlery store (it was my third pice of jewlery he had gotten me - 3rd ones always a charm ;) and she even hooked him up with ring box that had a light in it! How cool is that! :) 

Reception:

Every since I was a little girl I think I have dreamed of having my reception under a big white tent with a band playing, like you see in movies, and I got to do just that! 

Shoes: 

Everyone kept telling me to go comfy so I just went with wedding slippers and at the end of the day I was so glad I did! 

Trash the Dress:

No way.. I hear about people doing that or jumping in the water or something after their ceremony.. I wanted to keep mine in good condition just in case I have a little girl one day she can dress up in it or use part of it to make her dress?! I am way too sentimental!:)

Unique: 

One thing unique I guess was we had a horse drawn carriage, and we also had a recieving line at our reception where all of our guests came around and hugged us! Not many people take the time to do those any more, but I was so glad we did. We were able then to say thank you and a quick hello to everyone who loved and supported us! 

Vows: 

Our vows were traditional.

Wedding Woes:

It rained early in the day and I was freaking out at first! It was a hot humid day and then it cleared up and the sun came out and it even cooled off a little by the time the ceremony started! They say its good luck if it rains on your wedding day?! A funny thing was we were suppose to have punch in our toasting glasses and my wedding planner ended up putting the nastiest champagne in our glasses.. we both took a big gulp and almost spit it out!!

X-Rated: 

Our wedding night if that counts?! ha! Only kidding...maybe some dance moves..kidding about that too! We were pretty G-rated. ;)

Young Kids: 

We had a ring bearer and a flower girl plus two junior bridesmaids. The junior bridesmaids were girls I babysat for years and the ring bearer and flower girl were kiddos of friends of ours. 

Zzzzz:

Our wedding day was the best day but at the end of it I do not think I have ever been so tired!  I guess there was so much going on leading up to it too. It was by far the sweetest day of my life so far!