Henry: 6 Months

Today is Henry's half birthday, although Brett says we don't celebrate half birthdays (for mommy at least).  This past month has been busy for Henry.  He was dedicated at our church.  Brett and I committed to raising Henry to know God's love and the precious gift He gave us in Jesus.  It is our prayer that Henry comes to know Jesus as his Savior at an early age.

Henry has started to sit by himself pretty well the past week.  He still leans a little to one side, but he is getting much better.  If something is out of his reach, he is starting to put his legs under him to try to get to it.  It ends up that he does a small face plant into carpet like a seesaw.  He's one tough kid and doesn't seem to mind.  He continues to roll across the floor and loves to lay or sit next to Piper.  Piper has been our saving grace when Henry is fussy.  He looks at her and just starts to smile or laugh. 

We started some solids this month.  His favorite has been rice cereal, followed by sweet potatoes and carrots.  He doesn't seem to like fruit yet.  He has tried pears, apples, and bananas.  Henry is teething like crazy.  I think his teeth are getting closer to the surface, but still no breaking through.

Henry has his 6 month appointment in 1.5 weeks so I will update on his weight and height when that happens.  In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from Henry's sixth month!

This is what month pictures looks like with a 6 month old

This picture is hilarious to me. Henry kept on eyeing Chris while he ate these chips. And of course, Chris teased him.

Henry's Sports-Themed Baby Shower

On March 28th, my best friends and sisters-in-love threw me a wonderful shower.  I had mentioned that a sports-themed shower would be really neat and had pinned a couple of things on Pinterest to give them an idea.  Wow. They did not disappoint. Below are some of the amazing details.

Megan made this cute little banner. I love the colors.

Kelci had this sweet and creative cookie cake made.

I think Maggie made this banner for by the food.

Jessica and Meesh made diaper cakes! So fun.

Gail knows how much I love cupcakes from Ocean Isle, so she brought them as favors.

Because Brett's parents live pretty far from us and I would be doing the driving by myself with spring practice in gear (hello being a coach's wife), we decided to do one joint shower with my friends and family, my parents' friends, and Brett's parents' friends.  Needless to say, a ton of people were invited.  We ended up with around 25, which was a great number.  

The thing I loved most about this shower was that most of my extended family came!  We had family flying or driving from Connecticut, Boston, D.C., South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.  It made me feel so loved that they would take the time out of their busy schedule to shower Henry and me with gifts, fellowship, and love.  Here are some pictures from before the shower.

Piper has learned what an Oba massage is from watching Sierra

Daniella and Mimi reading Goodnight Moon.

Uncle Rich and Aunt Nan seeing me with a belly for the first time. Love the reactions.

Our family patriarch. Oh, how I love him so.

Oba, because of her dementia, forgot Chris was coming. Her reaction was priceless.

The "kids" table. Just missing Brett, Kyle, Sam, Adrian, and Cassy.

My baby girl and my men, minus Brett.

Most of my family came in before lunch so I was able to hang out with them before the shower.  After lunch, most of the guys went to take naps since a lot of them had to get up early to make it by lunch time, while the women attended the shower.  The shower was so much fun!  Laura had planned a game where people filled out if Brett or I would want Henry to have an attribute from Brett or me.  For example, who did we want Henry to get his personality from?  Daddy. How about teeth?  Mommy.  Brett and I had filled out the answer key together.  There were some things where we said, "Oh definitely not Daddy" or "Definitely not Mommy."  We had a lot of laughs and fun thinking about what our little guy is going to look and be like.

There was also a there was a present with multiple layers of wrapping.  Each layer had a phrase from a poem that described a person in the room, like who has on clothing with the most buttons.  The person that matched the description would tear off one layer of wrapping, read the next line, and pass the gift to the person it matched.  At the end, the gift came back to me.  Inside was an NFL football that became the guest book!  I loved it.  The football, with names that would mean so much to Henry throughout his life, is sitting on his dresser in his nursery.  I'll treasure it forever. 

Guests also filled out little silver stars where they wrote wishes for me.  I've been a little anxious recently so reading them has given me a lot of encouragement.  They also wrote funny things on some diapers for some comic relief for me during those middle-of-the-night changings.  I haven't looked at those yet, as I want them to be a surprise.

Then came the gifts, which were more than I ever dreamed.  There were some really practical gifts, and also some really creative and heartfelt gifts.  After the gifts, we got some group pictures.

Me with the hostesses: Henry's aunts and honorary aunts (my besties)

Hickman women (and two little Hickman fellas too)

Fantastic four

Girl cousins!

The cousins that made the trek to Mom and Dad's

Silly picture

Grandchildren with Mimi and Pappaw

Henry and his great grandmothers. Such a special moment to treasure in my heart.

Laura and Weston. Me and Henry.

Henry with his Grammy (my mom) and Nana (Brett's mom).

My family stayed until the next morning, since we don't get to see each other much.  We just enjoyed each other's company and ate more food.  Isn't that what happens when all families get together?  One cute moment was when Mimi and Pappaw gave Daniella an Easter dress.  Daniella loved it!  She kept twirling around.  Growing up, Mimi always bought me a birthday dress for my birthday pictures. She still had great taste in little girl clothes. 

My bro

Daniella modeling her new dress

Excuse the tired looks. This was early in the morning.

Henry's first Easter basket (and some candy for Brett and me)

Thank you Megan, Meesh, Jessica, Laura, Maggie, and Kelci for hosting an amazing shower, and to my family and friends who made the weekend unforgettable.  I love y'all!

Chris and Kelci: Wedding Day

This post is going to be picture overload, but I am not apologizing because Chris and Kelci's wedding was so beautiful, it cannot be contained.  The bridesmaids and Kelci met at a salon where Kelci's friend Amira has a booth.  Normally, I would have struggled getting up before 5 AM, but Amira was so wonderful and happy, that it wasn't difficult.  Not to mention, my brother was getting married so I was pretty excited.

After coffee and getting our hair done, we headed over to the church.  Kelci had gone a little before us so she and her mom could have some alone time while her mom helped her into her dress.  Oh what a sight it was to walk in and see the beautiful bride! 

We had some time before the ceremony to get some bridal party pictures (without Chris and Kelci seeing each other).   After the bridesmaids got pictures with Kelci, and Kelci was hidden in the back, I went out to see Chris before the ceremony.  He was pacing the room, and sweating a bunch.  It was super sweet.  (Don't hate my for saying that)  Right before the ceremony started, we all prayed over Kelci.  Moments like that are something I will never forget.

By the time the wedding started, it was like blizzard conditions to this East Coast girl.  I have never seen snow like that.  Because of the weather, the turnout was a little less than expected, but it was perfect.  Chris and Kelci didn't do a first look, so Chris' first time seeing Kelci was as she walked down the aisle.  He got a little choked up.  The ceremony was so Christ-centered, and exactly what Chris and Kelci wanted.

She was so calm before the wedding.

Mother and daughter-in-love

Groom and his best man (Dad)

Crazy friends.

Love her so, and love my Carolina blue dress.

I accidentally got makeup on his jacket.

Family

Deb in our going outside get up. Stylish huh?

Wedding party

The fam

Siblings

After the ceremony, we headed over to Big Horn Resort, where the reception was located.  Kelci's family had prepared all of the food.  I have to say, the baked beans were the best baked beans I have ever had.  It was a very relaxed and intimate reception. 

People started trickling out because the snow was getting worse and worse.   By the time the garter and bouquet were supposed to be tossed, it was pretty much family and some of Chris and Kelci's friends from ultimate and the hospital.  Although there weren't very many people for the tosses, it was still great that they got to do it.  For their exit, we decided to do a human tunnel.  You know, like the ones we did when we played rec soccer in elementary school.   I loved that we did that.

Kelci's dad and flower girl dancing.

Love my hubby and our Carolina blue clothes.

First dance

Father-daughter dance

Kelci and Chris with Amira. She is wonderful, and I love her accent.

My parents. Love them.

Bridesmaids

Kelci and her mom

Our impromptu send-off.  I love it.

Helping his WIFE into the truck

Sending off Chris and Kelci

The most snow he's ever seen... and the coldest weather.

Parents of the bride and groom. Notice how the men are already changed.

Mother of the bride and groom

God answered our fervent prayers, and Chris and Kelci were able to make their flight out of Billings the afternoon of the wedding, unlike the rest of us.  Mom, Dad, and Oba (released from the hospital after the wedding) were able to make their first leg of their flight at 6 AM on Sunday and get home early Monday morning.

Brett and I found out Saturday evening that our flight was cancelled.  We supposed to leave at 6 AM too, but our plane never reached Billings from the previous night. Mom drove me to the airport at 8:30 Saturday night after I had been on hold for 2 hours with the airlines.  Unfortunately, the check-in lady cut off the line right before me. 

The airline rescheduled our flight on THURSDAY! Yes, five days later.  Neither Bret nor I could wait that long, as Brett was in the middle of recruiting (without cell phone coverage in Montana), and I had some deadlines for work.  We decided to go to the airport at 4 AM Sunday morning to see if we could switch our flight.  Thankfully we were the second in line so we could walk right up.  The ticket counter lady was on the phone for us for 1.5 hours!  Something is wrong with the system if your own employee has to be on hold that long.

Anyway, we were able to get out of Billings Monday evening, with a layover in Denver, a 1:30 AM flight to Philadelphia, and finally a 9 AM flight home, arriving home by 11 AM on Tuesday morning.  It was a long night with very little sleep, but we made it.  When we landed, it was single digits in North Carolina!! I don't know if I have ever seen that before.  Because it had been so cold for so long, our car battery was dead.  We called the parking people at the airport and only had to stand in the single digit weather for about 20 minutes.  Apparently, it had been happening to a lot of people.  Very thankful the parking people were so fast at the airport.  After a long day of traveling, standing in the cold was not what we wanted.

Well, that is my recap of my brother's wedding.  We love you, Chris and Kelci, and are so glad you found each other.  God orchestrated your lives so you would meet each other, fall in love, get married, and further His Kingdom together.  I am so excited to see what He is going to do in your life and marriage.