Wedding Flowers

Most people know that I absolutely love flowers, all kinds, colors, and fragrances. They make me smile, warm up a room, and can even say "I love you."  My wedding flowers were so beautiful, every day I wish I would've been able to keep some alive and vibrant for my kitchen table...but no such luck.

Making pretty bouquets is one of my hobbies, although I don't splurge on fresh flowers often enough.  Anyway, my brother and sister know how much I love to make flowers, and they both asked me to make the flowers for their weddings.  My brother's wedding was in 2008, and my sister's is in 14 days! 
Two weeks ago when I was in Ft. Wayne, I spent two whole days working on Anna's.  Thank God my mom was there to help me, and James had all sorts of grandparents to play with him while we worked. 
1 bridal bouquet
7 bridesmaids
1 flower girl
1 altar flower arrangement
18 boutonnieres
6 corsages

It was a busy few days!  Here's a quick tutorial on how to make a boutonniere.  It's really quite simple, and will save you tons of cash...it just takes time and patience. 

1.  (above)   Start by purchasing a few flowers, silk or fresh.

2.  Strip down the stems, cut off all extra leaves, thorns, etc.

3.  Hold them tightly in the order you want them arranged, and begin to wind floral tape tightly around the stems.  You want to stretch the floral tape a bit so that it will stick together for you.

4.  Cover the stem completely with floral tape so there are no loose parts hanging out!

5.  Twist the stem around a pen to finish it. 

6.  Trim off the excess stem.  You're done! 

Attach a bow if you wish. 

Corsages

Here they are....finished!  I wish i had a close-up of the bridal bouquet, but that will just have to come later! 

Greg and Sarah's flowers in 2008.

Anna's Shower and Bachelorette Party

This past weekend I went to Fort Wayne to celebrate my sister's upcoming wedding.  She will tie the knot on May 15 to her perfect match, Scott, and we're all pretty excited about it!  We started the festivities by making some decorations (idea via my great friend Erin...check out her blog "The Huberts" on My Blog List).  They are made of 10 sheets of tissue paper, folded like a fan, tied in the middle, and then separated to make these gorgeous puffy balls of fun!  :-) 

If you notch the middle before you tie your ribbon or wire in the middle, it makes the separating of tissues a little easier. 

The Bride to be, Anna. 

After the shower was the BACHELORETTE PARTY!

A few of Anna's closest friends came to celebrate and we had a great night.   First, we started the fun by decorating an outfit for Anna to wear.  We had lots of random decorating items that we attached to a t-shirt, tube socks, and a crown-veil!

She was smiling here, but in the car on the way to the bowling alley, these orange balloons mysteriously fell off???  hmmm.......she blames the car door, but we know the truth.  :-)  Hahaa!  Oh well, at least she still had the bird on her shoulder!

Sarah found Anna some new orange balloons, but we had the hardest time attaching them to her shirt!

There were prizes for the Winner, Loser, and most Strikes.  However, I should have given a prize for most inventive bowl...Sarah may have had a shot at a prize...  :-)  *just kidding, Sarah*  xoxo

James' First Cereal

James had is four month appointment on Friday and everything looks great!  He is 14 lbs 14 oz and 24 3/4 inches tall which is right on the 50% mark on the charts.   His little bow legs and turned in feet are just fine, in fact, the doc said they are perfect for walking since babies center of gravity is low.  She also did this cool trick where she rubbed the outside of his foot, and James turned it square...so everything is working like it should be!  Pheww!  We (well....mostly me) were worried!  However, we are getting referred to an ear, nose and throat doc to check out his little tongue.  He has always been a pretty poor sucker, and we think his tongue may be attached too tight.   Let's hope he doesn't have to get it clipped.  :-( 

Steven came home on Friday night and we had a nice time.  James was so excited to see him and was very full of smiles!  On Saturday morning we got up and fixed James' first bowl of rice cereal.  He was less than impressed to say the least!  We tried feeding him some more that evening as well, with pretty much the same results...furrowed brow, spitting it out, and finally screaming.  Oh well, that won't stop me....we're going to keep trying!  hahaa!  It will be a fun activity to pass the time....and get him ready for his bath.

Week Recap

Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks.  Steven started his Captain's Career Course at Ft. Knox, KY this past Monday, and I went up to Indiana.  Steven had a great first week of school, he's glad to be doing something different...it was an interesting year, to say the least, and he's glad it's over!  Now it's on to bigger and better things...and speaking of that...He got accepted to attend Special Forces Selection!  Basically, for all of the non-army readers, he put in his resume for Special Forces and it passed the board.  Now he has the opportunity to tryout and see if he passes "Selection."  This will not happen until after his CCC at Knox, so we're looking at an October through December time frame.  The Selection process is a 2.5 week tryout and at the end, you either get selected or not!  If he does, that means we will be moving to Fort Bragg, NC for 14-19 months sometime in early 2011 most likely.  This is Steven's life-long dream, so please keep him in your prayers.

James and I took a trip up to Indiana for Anna's bridal shower, bachelorette party and some grandma/pa holding time so i could make Anna's wedding flowers...post on that to come later!  On the way up we stopped in Indianapolis to see one of my best friends, Megan, and her little man, Cole.  Cole was born just three weeks before James, and we finally worked it out to meet up.  We meant to get together a month ago, but with screaming babies in the car and trying to coordinate travel, it just didn't work out.  Anyway, with Lacy in tow, we met up at Megan's adorable home and had a nice visit.  Megs, sorry it was short, but we'll get together again soon!  James and i had so much fun!

Cole and Megan...he is such a great mix of Megan and Ty!  adorable!

The Drool!  it has begun for James too...ewwww

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

James rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time today!  He really has not enjoyed tummy time at all lately, and i could hardly get him to push his head up, let along think about rolling!  Yesterday, however, he played for a bit on his stomach and used his arms to keep his head up for a long time...but i never thought he'd be rolling over only one day later!  How fun!  I missed the first roll, but caught the second one on video.

He really has been changing so much lately.  He's cooing and gurgling nonstop during his awake time, and he loves when daddy and I sing to him, he gurgles right along.  so cute!  he's sitting in his bumbo chair, playing with his toys, and even enjoys looking at himself in the mirror.  We can't wait to see what he does next.

He loves reading books!