Happy Birthday Millie!

I can't believe our niece/goddaughter, Millie, is two years old today! It seems like we just made the trip to Connecticut for her first birthday. A lot has changed in a year! This year we only had to go a whole 6 miles to celebrate :) Millie has changed so much in the past year. Her vocabulary has exploded and she is such a little firecracker. She constantly makes Jason and I laugh and amazes us with how smart she is and how quickly she picks up on things. She is full of energy and we are usually wiped out after playing with her but love every second of it!

Shannon and Scott had a birthday party for Millie this past Sunday and she had a blast! She got tons of new toys and had fun with her new friends :)
Opening presents

Looking cute in her new party dress!

The amazing and delicious cake my sister made!

Happy Birthday Millie! Lolo and Jason love you very much!

The Ceremony

Ok, back to wedding posts!

Saturday, September 12

Walking down the aisle was probably the most emotional part of the day for me. I was pretty determined not to totally lose it but really had no idea how overwhelming that moment would be. I almost couldn't breathe because of all the happiness, excitement, nervousness I was feeling. I remember passing my brother, Christian, who was standing at the back of the church and letting out a huge breath - I remember this because it made him laugh and made me realize that I had been holding my breath! One piece of advice I read during wedding planning was to lock eyes with your groom the whole way down the aisle and that is exactly what I did. I didn't notice anyone else in that big church but Jason and couldn't wait to get to him! I tried to smile the whole way down but did almost lose it towards the end. I think I was making little squeaking noises trying to suppress any sobs that might escape!
The doors opening. My dad asked me right before if I was ready for this. My response: YES!

Making our way down the aisle

Eyes on the prize :)

Still going...

Once we finally got to the end of the loong aisle (150 ft!) and my dad handed me off to Jason, I immediately felt calm. Finally being next to him made all of my nerves dissapear and I was completely relaxed for the rest of the ceremony. Now, Jason on the hand...not so much. Poor guy had a bit of rough time under those hot lights and being in a full tux. His nerves didn't help the situation either. There was a moment when his groomsmen were fully braced to catch him if he started to faint. They also laughed at me later because they could hear me whisper to Jason, "Get your hanky". Luckily, he made it through the ceremony fully conscious!

Our ceremony was beautiful and Monsignor Jovanovic did a wonderful job officiating. I know many people appreciated the fact that he was fairly short and to the point and it didn't drag as some Catholic ceremonies can. The music was also beautiful. I have to admit that I really didn't "hear" it because I was so focused on Jason and kept whispering to him during lulls in the ceremony;). However, my parents received many compliments. The organist at the church is just the cutest little old man and he was very helpful when we picked out our music. We also hired a trumpeter and I think it made a big difference. There is something about a trumpet that just makes music sound more grand. We also hired the soloist through the church. All 3 combined made for some beautiful music!

After the ceremony Jason and I were both extremely happy/relieved that the hardest part of the day was over and we were ready to party with all of our guests!

Fall Fun

The past two weekends have been full of fun fall activities! Last weekend we started the weekend off by showing our support for the the Walk Now for Autism Speaks. The walk was held at Forest Park and we enjoyed the activites and hanging out with Shannon, Scott and the girls.

After the walk, Jason headed off to play in 3 kickball games (yes as in the game you played in grade school!) and I went with Shannon and Scott to the Kirkwood Fall Festival. Kirkwood is such a quaint neighborhood and I always enjoy walking around downtown.

Sunday we went to Eckerts and enjoyed some apple and pumpkin picking with my parents and Shannon, Scott and the girls. I have never been to Eckerts before and it was a lot of fun and now we have tons of yummy apples!



On the way home we stopped for lunch and Merrill was all smiles :)

We also picked out pumpkins at Eckerts and Shannon and Scott hosted a carving party yesterday! It was the first time we had carved pumpkins as a family in years! I think we all are a little out of practice but have to say that our pumpkins came out quite nice! Some of us may or may not have cheated a little by using stencils ;) We enjoyed a yummy dinner with the family and lots of play time with Millie and Merrill.
Pumpkin carving is hard work!

I really wasn't too excited about sticking my hand in the pumpkin guts.


Millie liked helping everyone clean out their pumpkins!

Concentrating ;)

Our pumpkin family!

Mine and Jason's pumpkins lit up on the front porch - Jason did the fancy spider pumpkin!



I have been craving all things pumpkin this fall and found this recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies. They are delicious!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg and pumpkin. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir into mixture until well blended. Cut the cranberries in half and stir into mixture along with the orange zest and walnuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Getting Ready

Saturday, September 12

As I said in my previous post I woke up early the morning of the wedding. I was awake at 4:30 am but forced myself to stay in bed until 7! I couldn't sit still so my mom and I went down to the workout room in the hotel and I ran on the treadmil for about 25 minutes. It helped to work off some of my nervous energy! My mom and I had a nice breakfast just the two of us and then headed back to the room to get showered and wait for the rest of the girls. We had the hair and make-up artist come to us at the hotel and I'm so glad we decided to do it this way! We had a huge parlor room so there was plenty of room for all of the girls to get ready and it relaxing to be able to stay in one place all morning. I loved our hair and make up people. They were both very nice, did a great job and everyone looked beautiful!
Michaela and Erin getting their hair done.

Snuggling with Merrill helped keep my nerves in check!

Shannon getting beautiful!

Starting to look a little nervous

In the makeup chair

I loved my hair!

As the morning quickly turned to noon I started getting really nervous. My stomach was in knots and I even started shaking a little bit! Right as we were about to leave the room to catch our shuttle to the church, I had a little moment where I almost lost it. I can't remember what even triggered it but all of a sudden I felt very overwhelmed and someone asked me what was wrong. I got choked up and said "I feel like I'm going to cry." My sister was right there and told me it was ok to cry. "But I don't want to cry!" This made everyone giggle and broke the moment and I was fine again. Everything seemed so surreal up until that moment and it just kind of hit me all at once that this was really happening!
Excited to be at the church and getting close to wedding time!

Jason got ready with his groomsmen at one of their apartments. I'm not really sure what they did...guy stuff I guess! I do know that Jason got about as much sleep as I did and he was feeling some nerves too. We texted a few times throughout the morning which helped calm our nerves a bit.

The hotel shuttle took me and girls to the church and then went and picked up Jason and the guys which worked out well and ensured that there was no way we would bump into each other arriving at the church. The girls and I stayed in a room at the back of the church that was way too small (especially for Millie who never sits still!) but kept us hidden from everyone arriving. I got dressed about 15 minutes before it was time to walk down the aisle. My mom and I shared a special moment and few happy tears - after all her baby was getting married!
My mom and sister helping me get into my dress

Helping Millie get ready for her big walk down the aisle!

My mom and I sharing a few tears :)

My dad seeing me in my dress for the first time

The last five minutes before the ceremony started were the longest 5 minutes of my life! Time seemed to be standing still and I just wanted to get things going!
So nervous!

Ready to walk down the aisle!

Rehearsal

Friday September 11, 2009

Jason and I both took the day off work the Friday before the wedding. I woke up feeling good and very excited for all the festivities to begin. I spent the morning lounging in bed and then headed to the gym for one last butt kicking before getting into my dress! Later, I met my bridesmaids at the nail salon for mani/pedis and mimosas. It was great way to spend some time with the girls and relax before the rehearsal.

Before heading off to the church, Jason and I took some time to exchange gifts. We knew things would get hectic as soon as we walked out the door and wanted to have some quiet time together beforehand. I am really glad we did this. It allowed us to reflect on our relationship up to this point and soak in everything that was about to happen. Jason gave me a beautiful card and gift. He took a passage from one of the readings we chose for the wedding and framed it. It turned out beautiful and is hanging in our bedroom!


After exchanging gifts we headed to the church for rehearsal. We had our wedding at The Shrine of St. Joseph. It's a gorgeous church and I am in awe every time I step foot inside! The rehearsal ran smoothly and Monsignor Jovanovic made us feel very comfortable with everything.


Jason's parents hosted a wonderful dinner at LoRusso's, one of our favorite restaurants. It's a special place to us and we were so happy to have our rehearsal dinner there. We had a private room that worked out really well. The food was delicious and we had a great time catching up with the wedding party and family that were able to attend. Jake and Kelly helped Jason's mom put together a slide show with pictures of Jason and I from childhood to present. It was pretty entertaining!
Everyone enjoying the great food!


Hanging with the flower girl :)

My beautiful bridesmaids!

Kelly gave a very touching speech. We were both in tears!

Me and Brandon

Sisters :)

Two of my best friends!!

Mom, Shannon, and Merrill

Almost Husband and Wife!

After dinner Jason and I said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways. The next time we would see each other I would be walking down the aisle! It was about that time that the nerves started creeping in and it really hit me that tomorrow morning I would wake up and get ready for my wedding! I tried to get a good night sleep but it just wasn't possible. I was too excited and don't think I got more than a couple of hours of sleep before finally just giving up and getting up! It was finally Wedding Day!!