A Wedding to Remember

This past weekend the girls were in the wedding of Heather and Kaleb Leeper. This was a true honor as Heather and her family have been long time friends that feel like family. Juliana and Olivia were flower girls that walked down right before Heather, holding signs that say "Here Comes" "The Bride". Very cute.

Heather and Kaleb Leeper

Let me start with the beginning of our day that Sunday. We woke around 9AM, which was really nice, and went down to the lobby of our hotel to eat breakfast. Great. We had no problems and it was really nice to have some family time with the people sitting next to us....wait. That is right. The people sitting next to us decided to have conversations with our girls, because they thought they were so cute. It was fine. We are used to it by now.

After breakfast, we decided that we were going to visit a friend, Julie, at the gym I worked at when living in Georgia. It was great to see her again and the girls loved running around in the lobby and meeting the Gold's Gym frog that sat in the foyer. There were several attempts to jump on the treadmill, but Mama and Daddy discouraged that greatly.

What a great time it was to see friends but Mama had to get some shoes that didn't have heels. (Somehow I knew I needed them). So we made a trip to Kohl's and did a little shopping. Boy, that wore us all out. We left there and stopped in Johnny's New York Pizza place to eat lunch. Everyone ate subs and fries. At this time, it is now 12:45. We rushed back to the hotel and put the girls down for a nap. When they fell asleep it was 1:15. We had to be at the wedding destination at 2:30. Thankfully we were not far away. When Daddy woke all of us up, it was 2:10! Talk about a rush. We had to pack the rest of our stuff up, get dressed, and check out of the hotel. WOW! We moved very fast.

When arriving at the location, I took the girls up to the Bridal room to get their dresses on. Daddy was down setting up the piano, as he was the pianist for the wedding. That is right! I had to wrangle these little ones on my own. After getting them dressed it was time to take pictures with the Bride. Nope. They were too scared with all the people around and they decided to play with the rocks on the ground instead.

Playing with stickers before the wedding.

Olivia visiting Daddy during the wedding.

 Girls playing in the rocks. 

No pictures for them. 

By this time the girls are getting really warm as it is in the 90's and the wedding is outside. We rush back into the building to get some water and cool down. This is when the meltdown began. Tears and tears and more tears. They wanted me to hold them and they wanted ice. What a mess. The wedding coordinator then calls for everyone to line up. We do.

Olivia wanted to walk down the isle right away but I told her we had to wait and when I told her that, she went into a meltdown again. Now I am holding two 25.2 pound toddlers in my arms, standing in line to walk down the isle. The wedding coordinator asked if she could hold one and Olivia responded NO!!! That was that. Mama was going to have to walk with them.

We walked all the way to the back of the main isle and I put Olivia down thinking that she would walk with the sign. She picked it up, looked down the isle and started walking the opposite direction. When I told her to walk down the isle she said, NO!! and threw the sign down. OK. I picked her up while holding Juliana and grabbed the signs and walked down with one girl on each hip. Needless to say, we exited the same way we came in. So Heather, thank you for letting our WHOLE family be IN your wedding.

Olivia throwing the sign down.

 Olivia telling me she wanted to go sit in the chair.

Juliana worn out from the heat.

After the wedding and reception, we headed home on our 5 hour trip. We got in about 12AM and the girls were wiped out. What a long day, but we made it through.

26 Months and Growing Strong!

It has been awhile since I have taken the time to sit down and blog about the girls. We've been filled with so much excitement over here it is hard to keep up, but I will try to fill you in on the little happenings within this past month. May was a huge month for this little family. Our two major adventures were our move into our beautiful home in the country and our family's first vacation to the beach. Each adventure left us with lots of memories of our sweet little growing girls, Juliana and Olivia.

Right around when the girls turned 25 months we were in the process of moving into our home on the other side of Jonesborough, TN. Not a huge move, but a much needed one. After outgrowing our space we decided that it was time to move into something bigger with a backyard for the girls to run, play and grow. What a blessing this move was. With their own spacious room and an acre fenced backyard, they are able to run and explore new things like ticks. Oh wait! That was not intentional.

We found that living in the country brings a little bit more challenges than in a subdivision. Our first challenge was the tick infestation due to the woods behind us. We were out playing in the yard and one crawled up on Juliana and then a couple days later one fell out of the tree and bit her behind the ear. After that we heavily treated the lawn and sprayed the trees and wooded areas around the house. So far we have been in the clear.

Juliana playing with our neighbor's kitten.

Just as we were ready to sit back and enjoy the country, we found out that we have a rat snake who has made its home in our tree. Even though they are not harmful, it is right at the girls head level and with their curiosity it may bite them. Our neighbor has graciously volunteered to remove it and put it in the woods across the street. At least it will be better there then in our yard. But despite our little pest problems, we have been enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.

Right after our move to country life, our family decided to go on a vacation to Destin, Florida. This was our very first vacation with the girls and their very first beach experience. We went along with the girls' Godparents Greg and Dawn Schrader, and their family. Among their family was Kaylie. She is Greg and Dawn's granddaughter that was about to turn one. This was a great play buddy for Juliana and Olivia. Even though she was small, she made a perfect part of the trio.

"Uncle" Greg and "Auntie" Dawn

Juliana, Olivia, and Kaylie

While in Destin, there were daily opportunities to visit the beach. This was quite the experience for all of our family. The view was beautiful and the water was so clear. As we approached the sand, the girls were hesitant to walk in it. After some coaching, Juliana walked daintily to the water. Once we approached the water, the roar of the waves was a little much for Olivia. She would cover her ears and say "back", "back to towel". I do have to admit, I thought it would go a little smoother than it did, but I guess that is parenthood. You don't always get what you expect.

Destin, FL

After the first day at the beach, I decided the next morning to wake up at 6:30 and take Olivia down for some Mama, daughter time at the beach. What a beautiful morning to do that. It will always be one of those very special moments I have stored in my memory bank. As the sun came up over the horizon, I sat on a towel in the sand with my precious little girl. After, asking God to bless her and guide her in her walk with Him, we watched the waves come up onto the shore and rush over our feet. After about 30 minutes she decided that she would touch the sand. We got to the point where we could make faces in the sand, but couldn't quite get her to walk in it. Hey, we made progress. Our overall stay in Destin was wonderful and we look forward to taking another beach vacation.

Olivia and Mama on the beach.

Now that the girls are 26 months, we have started today the wonderful task of potty training. Both Juliana and Olivia have expressed their interest in the potty and telling me when they are dirty. They have also been sitting on their potties. Today, was an education day and a reality check for Mama. They sat almost every hour on the potty while I talked about what we do on it and how it works and how to tell when we have to go potty. The reality for me is that I have two. Two pull ups, two little booties to wipe, and two little girls with their own personalities. I am praying for patience. And at the end of today, my Olivia asked to go potty and she actually went. So patience has paid off. I know that it will happen and I just know it will take true dedication on my part and lots of pull ups.

Olivia 

Besides our potty adventures Juliana and Olivia still continue to climb. We had them on our bed one evening and they scaled our bed frame with no problem. We are thinking of putting them into something like gymnastics that will help them exert some energy in a positive way. We hope to start that in July along with putting them in Kindermusik in the fall to encourage their love for music and movement. Oh God has blessed our little family so much and all we can do is thank Him for opening opportunities for our little ones to grow. God is so good.

Climbing on Mama and Daddy's bed.

I wish I had more time to write about all the other adventures that have happened, but life continues to fly. We pray your summer is filled with fun in the sun and we will be back in July to tell you about the fun we are having. (Sneek peek: The girls are in their first wedding June 24).

Our little family.