A Wedding, a Vacation, a Family Outing, a Birthday, and a Baby!

We had a busy couple of weeks this month.... my college friend Kellie got married on June 20 and I was a bridesmaid in the wedding. It really meant alot to be apart of the celebration and it allowed me to get to know Kellie's husband, David, alot better. The ceremony was one of the best I've ever seen because it was so funny but heartfelt... David could hardly speak he was so emotional and Kellie kept giggling and laying her head on his chest. It was just precious... I think at times we get so caught up in trying to have this serious or "perfect" wedding ceremony and I think that Kellie and David's vows were a reflection of each of their personalities. I had a great time being apart of the festivities and made new friends in the process.

After the wedding reception, Jamie and I headed home to pack for the beach, since we were leaving out early the next morning. We intended to leave at 7am but were running a little behind and finally got out of town around 8ish. We arrived in Sandestin around 3pm, got checked in, unpacked, and went for an early dinner at Bayou Bill's for some seafood. The following day, we spent the day at the pool and then went to Seaside for family beach pictures that evening. We used Memories by Micha and I highly recommend her! She did a great job and is extremely reasonably priced. Her website is http://www.memoriesbymicha.com/. In fact, the new picture in the blog header is one she took. Check out her website... and I hope you'll consider her for your beach pictures if you head to the Destin area!

We spent each day at the pool and Noah did so great! We would get out there late morning and he would play in the pool with us for an hour or so, then he would fall asleep on a lounge chair and nap under the umbrella for an hour or so, which allowed Jamie and I to lay out. He would wake back up and play some more in the pool, then Jamie would take him to the room and eat lunch; which allowed me to lay out a little longer. During the week, I noticed that Noah did a considerable amount more jabbering, especially when he was in the pool! (He has continued jabbering lots even now that we are home!) We ate alot of great seafood (The Back Porch, Bud & Alley's, Louisiana Lagniappe, etc), did a lot of relaxing, and I managing to get some shopping in at the outlets. I definitely wasn't ready to come home on Friday but it was probably best that we did because it was SOOO HOT and poor Noah was drained. We got home around 2pm on Friday afternoon to house guests... my parents air conditioning went out so they have been staying with us since Friday. That night, we grilled out and had our friends, Brett & Chenequa over. Chenequa was scheduled to have a c-section on Monday morning, so this was our last chance to hang out with them before the baby arrived.

Saturday morning, I got up and went to Huntsville with my 2 sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law. We planned a little getaway because Stacey just found out that she's having a baby boy, Christopher "Eastlon" Brink, so we went shopping to look for clothes, furniture, bedding, etc. We stayed at the Westin at Bridgestreet and had a great time. Once we were finished shopping for baby Eastlon, we did a little shopping for ourselves, then hit up The Proposal at The Monaco... and whats a trip to Bridgestreet without stopping in for chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate covered apple from the Chocolate Crocodile!

We returned home Sunday late afternoon just in time for my sister, Lindsay's 25th birthday dinner. Yes, my baby sister is 25... crazy!! Anyways, my whole family and my sis's boyfriend, Derrick, went to dinner, then came back to my house for cake, ice cream, and presents.

Monday morning, I woke up super early so that I could get to hospital by 6:30 to see Chenequa before her c-section. Amanda, Melissa, and I were there with the family and awaited the baby's arrival. Everything went great and her sweet baby girl, Hannah Reece, was born at 7:36am, weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and 19.5 in long. We were able to visit with Chenequa for a little while once she came out of recovery but I had to leave the hospital around 10:30 to go pick Noah up from Jamie's work. After Jamie got off work, he and I went back to the hospital and we got to hold sweet little Hannah and visit with Brett... poor Chenequa was nauseated from all the pain medicine, so she slept most of the time we were there. Hannah's a doll and I'm so happy for our best friends' and what lies ahead for them. Being a parent is undescribeable and I'm so excited that they now get to experience the joys of it!

Jamie and me at Kellie and David's wedding reception

Noah relaxing out by the pool

Dinner at Louisiana Lagniappe in Destin

Me and baby Hannah

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