Thanking Them

(Black, white and green wrapping of course!)

I researched and looked long and hard for the perfect gifts for our family and friends. It's always hard to find exactly what you want in the right price range but I wanted to make sure that our bridal party and parents knew we appreciated them and give them some nice items. In addition to the gifts we gave at the rehearsal dinner, we also gave each of our bridal party members 2 drink tickets for the cash bar during the reception.

• Bridesmaids - I gave each of my bridesmaid a green pashmina (I thought would be nice for the evening of the wedding) and matching earrings (black drop - like) and necklaces that were all different but paired well together.
• Groomsmen - Groomsmen received green argyle socks to wear for the wedding (had to have that photo!) and a leather money clip with their first name engraved on it.
• Ushers - Ushers received the same money clips as the groomsmen and a bottle of liquor. Neither of them came to the rehearsal (or dinner) due to their own personal decisions so we gave them their gifts during the reception dance.
• Flower girl - I found a cute Hello Kitty tote for Abigail as part of her gift because she loves Hello Kitty and then I knew she'd have something to keep all her flower girl things in on the day of. There was also a little Hello Kitty notepad and pen inside. Also - I gave her a nice photo frame with an IOU for a picture of us from the wedding for it.
• Moms - We ordered embroidered handercheifs on Etsy for our moms. They were really cute, dainty and lacy with "Mother of the Bride" and "Mother of the Groom" along with the wedding date on them.
• Dads - We ordered customized tie tacks from Etsy for our dads. They were vintage typewriter type buttons on the tack with their first initial on them.

(all personal photos)

Abigail

So I haven't told you guys the full story on my daughter, Abigail.

When I was 23 and in still college, I found out I was pregnant. Knowing that I didn't have any part of my life under control at the time and after lots of researching and soul searching, I decided on an open adoption plan for my daughter. The biological father of the baby wanted nothing to do with the baby or myself, so I spent my entire pregnancy alone (I lived alone, 14 hours away from my parents), going to college and working 2 part time jobs. When I was about 8 months pregnant, I moved back to my parents house and finished college at the school my dad teaches at in town. The baby was born in February 2007 and she now lives with her adoptive family in Ohio.

This experience was something that completely changed my world and made me the person I am today. There's no way to describe it other than learning how strong you really are. The whole overriding theme of my pregnancy/adoption story is that I chose to gave life to my baby and valued her life more than mine in order to give her to a family that could take good care of her. I didn't give her up - I gave her more. I would've loved to be her mother - and I can't wait to be a mother some day - but I did what any good mother does...gave the best life I could to my child. It just didn't happen to be with me.

The real beauty here is open adoption. Adoption has changed drastically over the last decade and open adoption is a wonderful way to work with an unplanned pregnancy. I chose Abigail's adoptive parents when I was a mere 20 weeks pregnant after looking at many profiles and interviewing 3 sets of parents. They were the ones that I was most comfortable with and who I felt the best connection with. I spent a lot of time with them during my pregnancy - getting to know them and sharing my life with them. After the baby was born, I receive almost monthly updates. Lots of pictures, video, emails and phone calls. I was able to see her a few times during her first weeks of life and then I attended her baptism and have seen her one other time since then.

I definitely still have bad days where I cry about everything and am very saddened by my loss. But not near as many as I used to have - my life has moved on and I'm so grateful to still be involved the way I am. Abigail has pictures of me in her home, she knows my name and we exchange gifts and cards often throughout the year. I'm so blessed to have found such wonderful parents for her and am so happy that I get to know as much as I do about her.

When Nick and I got engaged we pretty quickly knew that we wanted to ask Abigail's parents if she could be the flower girl. We thought it would be a very special way to include her and be able to have her at the wedding. We're VERY excited about it - as are my guests! Only one of my girlfriends saw her in the hospital with me, and my family has all spent time with her - but none of my other friends or relatives have been around her. She talked to me on the phone and said she's excited to be the flower girl and wants to wear a pretty dress and a bow in her hair! Be still my heart! :)

Nick and I are going out to visit them in March in order to spend some good time with them before the wedding.

So that's the story of my very special flower girl!
If you're interested in reading more about my adoption story - I blogged throughout the whole thing at www.livejournal.com/maryiodithsbaby (it's protected - so just ask for me to add you!).

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

I wanted to make sure and ask my bridesmaids in a creative and fun way so I made some cards for them. My bridesmaids will consist of my best friend Katherine (maid of honor), my great friend Rachel, my sister-in-law Hope and my future sister-in-law Melissa. DB is having his brother as his best man, one of his good friends and my two brothers as his groomsmen.

Here are the cards I made...
I bought 3 pieces of white (there's a little grain in it) cardstock from Archivers for $.49/each and they were buy one-get one so I paid a total of  $.74. Then I bought some fabric from JoAnn's for like $3 of the green that I love. The plan is black and white with a green accent. It's like a kiwi green so I wanted to include it on the card so that the girls could undersatnd the shade. I made a skirt out of the fabric and glued it onto the card. I drew the boddess of the dress and added a black ribbon bow from ribbon from JoAnn's that I paid $2 for. I found some cute poems online and printed those inside the cards (there are different ones for each girl to convey different relationships).

just another day

I've kinda been freaking out about this whole "I went ring shopping with him" thing. I just hope I'm still super surprised and love the ring he ends up with and I don't feel "cheated" or something by it not being a COMPLETE surprise. It's just weird to be like "I know he knows the rings I like, I know he's going to propose sooner than later," but still want it to be a surprise and romantic and exciting. ugh - whatev.

So last night we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. Put it on your list RIGHTNOW. kthanks. It was SO good!

So the other night we discussed the bridal party and who we wanted to stand up with us. Now, I have a real hard time with this because all of the girls that I've always thought would be my bridesmaids are all from different parts of my life and don't know each other...is that a problem? One from childhood (my bff), one from high school, one from college in MN and one from drum corps. Then, DB wants his sister to be in the party too - since his brother will be his best man. I'm not TOTALLY in love with the idea - but it's OK. Besides the fact that I have two brothers and I'm not asking him to fill two of his groomsmen spots with them. Ah, well. I'm not totally convinced on my girls yet - but he seems pretty set on his - his brother and 3 friends. So I need to cut one out of my list, I guess. That's stressful! The girl from HS is one of my best friends, but I feel like asking her to be a bridesmaid would be really asking a lot of her - she lives out of state and has a 3 year old daughter. Decisions, decisions!!

Also, today I fell in love with this amazing DIY cake topper by First Blush Bride. Super cute!! (I hope I did the correct linking that I was supposed to in order to give credit where credit is due!)

I had originally been thinking birds for a cake topper - glittery and pretty. But I could be convinced of making one of these! Or possible a music note? :)

Happy Thursday, everyone!