sad to say goodbye

Seriously. What a whirlwind weekend. We had so much fun that it's hard to put it into words. So many great memories were made and a lot of friends and family came to celebrate with us. It felt so special and I will never forget this day. I'll give you a little rundown of some of my favorite parts of the day/night.

-Ummmm you guys, Pat did seriously amazing at our photoshoot before the reception. I had been dreading that for about a month now. Pat is so not a picture person, but he was my little model that day. He really did a good job and sucked it up.

-My sister's speech was pretty epic. Let's just say, she related Pat and I to Liv's all time favorite, Prince's and Princesses. It was hilarious and cute and a tear jerker all at the same time.

-My mom and MIL both spoke too, I'm sure they were none pleased to follow Dani's speech, but they did amazing as well.

-My friend Tara made our cake, it was beautiful and delicious, I can't wait to get all of our pictures so I can post what a great job she did! She also made a groom's cake with the Calgary Flame's logo on it (pat and all of his friends loved it).

-Our photobooth was a huge hit. HUGE. Everyone loved the props and you can bet that I was in a few pictures with a mustache on a stick!

I will for sure be doing another post when I receive all of our pictures, but for now....my two favorites of what the photographer has shown me :).

Vienna Glen Photography

weeping willow = success!

as promised

I have pictures! loads of them. We have been taking advantage of the beach while we can get it. It's also been disgustingly hot and humid here. Poor liv has beads of sweat rolling off her nose constantly. Unfortunately, the poor girl has inherited my red/splotchy face when I'm hot or crying.

 Auntie Dani bought Liv an ariel swimsuit when we were in Chicago and Liv is obsessed with it. I think I've stated a few times how obsessed she is with princesses, she asks for them the minute she wakes up in the morning until the minute she goes to sleep. When she does something bad, sometimes I tell her that princesses don't act that way...apparently, she thinks they do because  it takes a few reminders. I was at Walgreens the other day and I saw a little plush snow white doll on sale for $3, so obviously I had to buy it and when I handed it to her she immediately began singing and dancing with it. She is a girly girl. My mom went back today and bought her the sleeping beauty doll to go with it.

She relates princesses to a lot of things in daily life lately. If I have a dress on she says "ooooh mama, pityyy desss". So, naturally we've been playing up the reception as a princess party where everyone will wear their princess dresses. I think she'll be very thrilled with it. I also can't wait to see her on the dance floor!

Rambling is over, onto the good stuff:

me: who are you wearing liv?  liv: Alilol

enjoying some sandy graham crackers

enchantment

a little song and dance.

gardening with papa.

probably saying "no mama no"

yooper girl

liv and papa.

torturing poor nahla

paris hilton?

gaga, liv, papa and good 'ol abbie

this is what a day at the beach can do to you...even with Tangled playing.

elmo is still on our list of things we like.

this week

The week has come! Pat and so many friends and family start heading in town on Wednesday. Let the festivities begin! Liv and I just enjoyed two days at the cabin and she's currently still sleeping and will hopefully stay that way for another 30 minutes because she was BUSY yesterday. She is definitely a beach babe. She was so good, which I'm thankful for, because it was a relaxing day at the beach. I am a little more tan than I'd like to be (Dani reminded me last night that you don't look so hot in black and white pictures when you are really tan...whoops).

I haven't downloaded my pictures from this last week...yet. I will today though. I have a lot of cleaning to do this week, as we are hosting an Anniversary cocktail party for Pat and I on Friday. I suppose it should feel like a huge accomplishment, but I think we have bigger accomplishments under out belt. Being married to Pat isn't really hard.

Did I mention that I'm having a faux bachelorette party? Faux because I'm already married, but my friend Tara and Dani decided that I shouldn't have to miss out on the fun. So, on Thursday night we are going to head over to Tara's for some homemade bellinis by Dani and celebrate. I have also helped plan a little something for Pat (with the help of my cousin, Sean). I'm such a nice wife, I know.

I've been a bit absent from the blog lately, for apparent reasons, but I'll be back with some pictures from last week and, of course, from the reception!

excitement

I know I'm already married, but I can't help but be excited for our big celebration. We've been doing a lot of work around here...I don't even want to share pictures of all of our DIY projects because I want it to be a big surprise.

We finally finished all of the centerpieces. It took us longer than expected, but I'm so glad we took the time to do them. I having been recruiting friends and family left and right to make this all happen. I'm so thankful that they all wanted to help!

There are still some last minute things I need to finish and some phone calls to make but my list is almost finished. I'm also really happy that my sister is so creative because it comes in reallyyy handy when I need it the most :).

My friend Andrea, who is going to do my make-up, came over tonight and did a demo. She did an awesome job and It made me even that more anxious. We have decided that in order to infect Liv with the excitement we are going to tell her that she is going to a princess party, where she is going to have to wear her princess dress and lots of princesses will be there with their's on too. We've been having issues getting her to want to keep her dress on, oy.

Oh, and my baby? She turned 23 months on the second and I didn't even acknowledge it like usual. I'll sum her up as: the funniest person I know, wannabe princess on the verge of overly obsessive, loves to talk our ears off, play outside, read books, and bug her mama.

So...yes, Pat will be here soon, I'm excited, I've said this a few times...I will end my rant now. Here are two pictures from down in Chicago :)

Liv and I in front of Dani and Bikey's townhouse

Liv and Auntie Dani (the only person she wanted to swim with)

drowning

I'm knee deep in DIY projects for our reception. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, my escapades have involved plaster, spray paint, rocks, chicken wire, and a few cuts and bruises.

I also discovered that I have a talent for cutting out mustaches.... Its a talent that I don't take lightly, because you never know when you'll need a mustache :).

I have also been attempting to organize and make sure everything goes smoothly on the day. This has proved to be my most dreaded task, in fact every time I look at my list I want to walk away and put it off for another day. However, slowly but surely, I am checking things off my list, one of the most exciting ones was picking up my dress today!

I have decided to keep it a secret and not show a picture, because its more fun that way and the model looks better in it than I do! I will leave you with the newest addition to my ensemble. My mom is a trooper and took another trip to David's Bridal with me when we were in Chicago.

I don't plan on wearing my hair like that, but you get the idea...

Here and There (pictures overload)

We have been so busy since I've been home that I've put my blogging on the back burner. Busy in a good way though. Its been really nice here, so we've been enjoying a lot of time outside and I've been working on all of my DIY projects for the reception. Everything is coming along nicely, but not finished yet!

My mom, Liv, and I drove down to Chicago Friday evening and are here until Tuesday. We are having a lot of fun and I don't know if its because Dani is my twin, but Liv is obsessed with her...she could really care less about me when Dani is around. It kind of works in my favor though :).  It was hilarious when we pulled up here at 1am (yes liv was stilll awake), Liv was going crazy in her carseat. She was bouncing around, kicking, and yelling. She was thrilled to see Auntie Dani and Uncle Bikey in person instead of on skype.

I'm going to try to be better about posting while I'm back home. Its just so crazy when you first arrive somewhere new with a toddler and have to get them used to their new surroundings. 

Some pictures to share.

we've been riding our bike.

using a necklace as a leash to walk Abbie.

boat ride...and some crazy hair!

Lake Superior...how I've missed you.

old friends! (Jill and Ashley)

had to add another one. It was amazing.

Did I mention how excited Liv has been to Have Auntie Dani and Uncle Bikey around??

visiting Auntie at work...hanging out on the lawn.

love for auntie.

we found some princess shoes!

Bikey blew some bubbles with his gum which Liv found weirdly interesting

oh and we played some hockey with sticks...liv was clearly the referee.