1st Ultrasound Oct 13 2008

I went in to my appointment to meet with the nurse who answers all the questions that the doctor won't have time for (can I drink coffee, can I run, is this normal, etc.) It's just a sit down meeting to make sure I'm not doing something stupid that might hurt the baby.

Everything was fine, but I mentioned that I was still having the pain in my right side. She said they may want to do an ultrasound that week just to make sure that everything is okay. Then she came back in the room and said they may want to do it TODAY. Well, I didn't bring poor Tony with because I didn't think I needed him. After all this was just a sit down with the nurse. So I call Tony and tell him he needs to get to the office as soon as possible. The nurse came back in the room and said "they want you to go NOW."

Poor Tony missed the first ultrasound. We are both so bummed. BUT, the baby is fine. I got to see the little heartbeat and the teeny legs and arms. I cried. It's so amazing to know that there is a teeny tiny little person in my belly. (I'm not showing yet, so it's still pretty weird to me.)

So it's taken me a couple of weeks to post this because, later that week Tony said the police showed up at our house. I called the number on the card and set up a meeting to talk to them. I can't get into much detail yet, but it turns out that someone I know stole my idenity. I was able to figure out who had done it and watched the person get arrested later in the day. I have to go to court this Tuesday to deal with this. I can't say more, other than I am pissed. This is someone I spoke to on a daily basis on a professional level. I'll post more about this as I can.

Well, that didn't take long...

So 95% of the reason that we decided to get married was to start a family and not have my grandma have a heart attack (the out of wedlock thing would not have flown!) Before the wedding I went to the Dr and got the all clear, just to make sure that everything is in working order so to speak. The Dr. said to not expect to get pregnant for 6 months to a year.

We were married a little over 7 weeks ago and well, I'm a little over 6 weeks pregnant. That didn't take long at all! :)

I'm feeling fine (no morning sickness yet, just a little tired) and I'm planning on working. I will have a little time of from the lab to actually have the baby and then I will be back. I'm not planning on taking weddings in May or June and I'm guessing I won't want to shoot until the end of July.

I am planning on going to PPA in January also because I wouldn't miss getting out of cooooold Michigan for the world!

This wedding blog has now turned into a "life" blog! I will keep everyone posted on how we're doing and whatnot. I just can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl. I have a feeling it's a girl (and I'm hoping!) But as long as the baby is healthy that's all that really matters.

Anyway, that's my story! :)

Some photos by Katie

I really dig these photos that Katie took. Hopefully she doesn't mind that I took them from her Flickr page :)

More photos!

Sorry, I'm back to work this week and it's been crazy. It's amazing how quickly I revert to my "college days" sleeping habits! 7am comes mighty early!

Anywho here's some pics from the wedding!

Ahhhhh....

So we did it! It's finally over and we can start living like normal people again. The day was pretty close to perfect too and it zipped by just like I knew it would.

Thank you to all my friends and family. Without you all our day would not have happened.

Thank you to Sara for staying up for two days straight and making a billion desserts, making the signs, decorating our car, decorating the entire reception, cleaning the reception, lining the bathroom with toilet paper so I didn't have to sit on the seat, helping me get dressed, taking me for my mani/pedi, listening to me vent, dealing with the chairs, writing and delivering a speech, recruiting people to help...all while taking care of three children, a husband and a puppy. You truly are wonder-woman and someone I genuinely look up to! (I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the things you did...the list could go on and on!)

Thank you also to Tanya- you mean the world to me and I'm so happy you could be there to share our day. We could not have done it without your help. Thank you so much for everything.

Thank you to the guys, Ryan (for letting me steal your wife to be at my beck and call) Mark, for helping with the chairs and heavy lifting, Greg, for flying in from Cali and then being rooked into working:)

Here's a sneak peek of the day! (These are a few shots from my camera....we had Arrae Photography (http://www.arraephotography.com/) take the actual photos, which will be coming soon.

Down to one day!

Ahh yes, the end of a crazy 42 days. I can't believe it's here already! I don't know how people have long engagements. The longer we've been planning the more money we're spending and the more stressed we're getting! I'm glad we're done! I have this new appreciation for brides now...I promise I will be more understanding at weddings! (I'm a wedding photographer for those of you that didn't know.)

We found a violin player (and a cello.) The girl that I called last weekend JUST called me back this morning. "Ummmm, do you still want me for your wedding tomorrow?" Ah, no thanks....Real professional huh? We've had the worst luck with the musicians being total flakes. I have a feeling about the ones we hired too, so keep your fingers crossed!

We decided to write our own ceremony and vows! We stayed up till well past 2am last night and finally got it perfected. We sent them off to our awesome minister who said that he liked what we came up with...yey!

I've managed to stay pretty sane, with the exception of yesterday when I realized that I had missed my hair appointment. I FLEW to the salon and begged my hairdresser for forgiveness! She was totally cool about it and we're going to do it tonight instead. She even sent me on the mission to the mall to buy hair clips. Deep down I know it was just to get my mind off from things and it totally worked. Nothing like trying on some clothes, eating a pretzel and wandering around aimlessly to take your mind off of things! My phone even went dead, which was awesome because I had an hour to myself. (Normally I can get two days of life out of my phone. Mine was dead within 5 hours since EVERYONE was calling...thank goodness I switched to the unlimited plan!)

We are getting chairs so our guests won't have to sit in the lawn for the ceremony, haha. Poor Ryan and Greg are picking up the chairs, it's amazing what guys will do for the promise of beer!

Well, I suppose I should start my day. I'll let you all know how everything turned out. (I'll post vendors names then too, since they have been so kind to us!)

Wish us luck!!

this has nothing to do with the wedding...

But it's a nice distraction! It must be ruff being a puppy...

Engagement photo!

I only had time to edit one, but I lurv it! It looks like we're in an alleyway in Paris and soooo in love, awwwww...

More coming soon!

Cake and Chairs

Okay, I promise I'm ordering the cake and the chairs today! Tomorrow I get to pick up my dress, I can't wait!!!

Still looking for someone to play the violin....the iPod may have to do :/

Engagement photos and Bachlorette party!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, there hasn't been too much to say! I was able to get just about everything done so quickly.

My bachlorette party was this past weekend, thank you to all my girlfriends that made it so much fun! We went to Friday's downtown and had dinner, then went to Dr. Grins at the BOB, and then headed down to the Crush to dance. It look a little while for the party to get started, but we had a great time! Crush wasn't really playing the music I like and was uber packed with sweaty drunk people, so we went to Eve. Eve is the shiiiz for real. Loved the music, loved that there were just a few people on the dance floor and it seemed like all the cool people were there (so I fit right in, haha!) The best part is that they are open til 3am, my kinda place! My goal was to not get drunk and make an ass of myself. I had a few drinks and danced for about 4 hours straight. It was perfect!

Today we had our engagement photos taken tonight (by Tim Motley of Motley Cat Studios.) I've known Tim for about 10 years...we've worked together and I had my internship/apprenticeship through him. We did some in his studio and some downtown. We went for the high fashion/urban look, I can't wait to see them! I will post them this weekend:)

I still have a few things on my "to do" list:
1. Ouuuups, get the wedding cake ordered.
2. Order the chairs
3. pick up my dress
4. find someone to play the violin

Other than that, we're good to go! Less than 10 days....bring it on!

The little details

So I think we pretty much have all of the big details wrapped up. Except for chairs, which I haven't decided if we need for sure. (It's a big expense!)

But, I've managed to plan a wedding in a little over two weeks. Kudos to me, thank you very much.

It won't be the grandest, flashiest "it" wedding, but it will be lovely all the same. But I'm marrying my best friend and I'm going to get to spend time with my family and a few friends and means the world to me.


Thank you again for all your support! (Especially you "S" who hand wrote all the addresses on the invites!)

less than 30 days!

So lot's has happened! We found a minister, so now I can send out the invites for sure. He's really a cool guy and has a lot of the same views, so I think we will all mesh well.

Tony got his ring- and booooy did we get a deal! All I have to say is that the Internet beats the mall hands down! It's the coolest ring I've ever seen! "T" wanted to know if he could wear it now...I said only girls get to wear their rings before the ceremony. I thought that was cute though.

The photographer is all set and I can't wait to see all of the cool photos we're going to come up with. I've had quite a few friends offer to shoot for free, which has made me feel very loved. Thanks again guys, you all rock!

I bought a TON of lavender, which is for the centerpieces, along with terracotta planters. (Since the theme has turned into more of a garden party.) I also got some cool ribbon- it's funny that pretty ribbon gets me all excited now. I think I've turned into a "girl."

We might not do all of the food- as some of the moms have backed down on the dessert making, so we're looking at an alternative. I'll let you know about the company if we book them.

I want to thank all of my girlfriends that have offered their help. Thank you so much!! It really feels for the first time that I can really pull this off. :)

34 days

Yey! I got my ring!

:)

His ring

Sooooo it's a lot harder to find a guy ring we're finding out. Most of the rings we like take 4-6 weeks to get back and we have one month and one week. Holy crap. That's cutting it close.

I need to finish the invites, but I'm torn between blue and purple. Any thoughts? This is what I have so far...should I make the blue part purple?

I had to buy different shoes, since my dress is a bit long. I needed a 4.5 inch heel and I couldn't find shoes that tall anywhere. David's bridal had 'em and they'll even dye them. Sold!

We're off to watch a movie. Then more wedding stuff planned for the weekend. Wooo

37 days

Tried on the dress last night at David's bridal for alternations. It's a teeny bit big on me, so we added straps (I don't have time to get it altered.) My Grandma came with me, and then we went out to dinner.

My Grandma told the waitress to bring us some pie for dessert, and I reminded her that I have to fit into a sleek wedding dress within 37 days. The waitress brought back a HUGE piece of pie with the words "Congratulations" on the plate. It's amazing how nice people are to you when they find out you're getting married. It's like a secret club or something!

I took the rest of the night off from wedding planning and took the dog for a walk (she was bouncing off the walls, poor thing!)

We watched 10,000 BC and I stayed up way to late for the 5th night in a row. I'm going to be sleeping under my desk today for sure. Bring on the coffee IV!

Rings!

So we bought my ring today (it was the one I picked out yesterday.) We got an awesome deal on it and it's beautiful! I'm just bummed that it has to be sent out to be sized. But I'll have it in a week so no biggie.

So here's the rundown so far:

No groomsmen or bridesmaids.

The wedding is outside- with a dessert reception following.

It will be mostly family, with a few friends from school. (Sorry, I gotta keep it small!)

And that's about it. Short, sweet and simple!

We're engaged!

So I’m engaged. It happened last week while I was lying on the couch watching TV (we’re real romantics.) He looked over at me; asked “do you wanna get married?” and I said yes.

For those of you that don’t know me, I am a wedding photographer and I’ve been with my boyfriend for 13 years. I shot a wedding a few weeks back on 6.7.8, which I thought was a cool date. I mentioned that 8.8.8 would be a cool date to get married on if we were very going to do it. Well, after he proposed he said that we should try for 8.8.8 and like the crazy person I am, I agreed.

This gives us 42 days to plan the wedding.

Day one: Told the parents. My mom flipped (because of the date being so soon. I think she said that she needed to lose 40 lbs or something.) His mom cried, and said she was going on a diet. His sister called right away with a million ideas to help. Both Dads’ were happy of course, typical guy mumblings.

Budget:
(Not including the rings) Our goal is to keep it under $1000.00. I think it will be more like $1300.00, but it’s good to have a goal! And no, we’re not poor dirt farmers. I would just rather buy a house than pay for a huge wedding.

Day two: Went to David’s Bridal (which I do not recommend, as every experience with them has been not pleasant, but when you’re out of time- well, I was out of time.)

Dress shopping: I brought in photos of what I wanted. I knew exactly what I wanted and the price I wanted to spend. I tell her my date, and she gasps. She pulls out a $1,000 designer dress. Of course, I liked it, but told the saleslady that I’d like to keep looking. She brings me 5 dresses in row that are completely hideous. She tells me that if I don’t find my dream dress by the next dress that “we’re going to have a serious discussion about that first dress.” She sounded like a teacher scolding me. She tells me that most brides find their dress in the first try. But, before I can strangle her and stuff her in a dress bag, she brings me THE dress. I always thought that I would cry seeing THE dress for the first time. Instead I was more like “ring it up.”

We spend the rest of the day driving to the ceremony site and checking out Hobby Lobby (for centerpiece ideas.)

Day three: I found what I thought were the perfect shoes, on sale for cheap cheap! But, they are not tall enough, so I think I’m going to have to buy the expensive ones from David’s Bridal. Damn. Why do I have to be so short?? (Mental note: take back shoes- exchange for cute orange ones that were on sale.)

After shoe shopping, we went ring shopping and found an awesome ring that we can actually afford. The saleslady had him try on a ring and I cried! This sent the sales ladies into a frantic dash for Kleenex- and then she got all teary! (I’m normally not the crying type, but seeing him with a ring on kind of hit home.)

Later I was up until 1:30am designing our invitation and looking at Flickr for flower ideas. I was up by 5am- I think I may be a little excited. :)