Pictures of the wedding

I know there are a lot more beautiful pictures yet to come but here are some of them, including (for those who are curious) some shots of me & the baby bump :)  Enjoy! http://solacearts.com/blog/2012/08/28/preston-community-center-wedding-becky-jarad/

Becky & Jarad's wedding

 

 

 

Hip, hip, hurray! The weather was cooler on wedding-day!

It was mild and pleasant. No bright sun to create glares or make us squint in pictures. 

No need to slather on sunblock. 

No uncomfortable heat for the very pregnant matron-of-honor!

The wedding was fun & relaxed. 

There were lawn games (which the kids played with/pulled apart more tan the grown-ups). 

There were pretty flowers & decorations. Yummy food and drinks and pleasant company to talk to. 

I was worried that the weather would be my least favorite part of the day and 

that the maternity spanx I was wearing would be too constrictive. Neither worry became a reality. 

I did have to do a wedding toast which I was nervous about & was really glad to just be done with :)

And despite the fact that it was not hot, the entire time I was standing up front during the ceremony I was sweating and could feel the drips travel down to my elbows. Lovely!

And my hands decided to fall asleep/go numb when I was holding my bouquet in one hand & Becky's in the other. I did not drop them but was really glad when I could pinch my fingers awake more. 

(My hands have been doing that a lot at night this pregnancy but not much during the day).

These pictures are all from Matt's phone. I look forward to seeing the professional shots. 

I had my hair & makeup professionally done that morning so despite being very pregnant I think I looked ok. But the only pictures Matt got of me were during the ceremony and they are side-view. 

That is an angle I very specifically avoided for the professional shots because it is my least flattering. Front-on is fine. Side view looks huge. 

Because this watermelon of a belly is all out front. 

There is no up & down!

Pre-wedding

 

 

 

Becky's wedding was last week Sunday.
There were all sorts of fun pre-wedding activities leading up to it, and I did not get many pictures. ..
We did a ladies tea on Thursday. Yum! The tea was good and the tasty treats were better.
Thursday was a hot day. I enjoyed being in my air-conditioned car, the air conditioned midwives office, etc. Being outside for any period of time did not appeal to me. And I sincerely hoped the weather reports would be accurate and the weather would cool by Sunday.
Friday morning was the rehearsal then a rehearsal brunch. The girls had fun being silly with their flower baskets and meeting the other flower girl and the . But we realized we should probably remind them of the correct way to walk with the baskets as well :) Brunch was casual and yummy.

Our basement became wedding storage central int eh months leading up to the wedding.
Wedding favors, a pop-up tent, vases, decorations, wine, you name it had found residence in our basement. On Thursday and Friday morning flowers had been purchased from Pikes Place market & wholesale & stored in our basement. Saturday morning our basement was transformed into a flower shop. We set up a couple folding tables, had large Rubbermaid containers on the ground for flower stems, leaves & other waste and 4 of us went to work on creating all the corsages, bouquets, table arrangements, etc. Thankfully Becky & another helper do flowers professionally. Plus Jarad's mom already had a bit of experience with flowers. So my lack of experience did not hamper things too much because I could do the simpler things and fetch what was needed from various places in the house.
Need some ribbon? I'm on it! Want a gluestick? No problem!
Meanwhile Becky's sister Laurie was up in the kitchen busting out some homemade pies for the wedding. (Instead of cake, Becky & Jarad had lots of women bake pies to share. Yum!)


Saturday night there was a Mariners game that a group of wedding party & friends went to.
I made the decision that sitting in a stadium on a potentially hot, muggy day was not for me.
Matt took Addie. This made Etta upset at first but she quickly got over it.
She will get a special daddy-date in a month or so.
Matt & Addie took the bus, so that is always an enjoyable adventure.
Add in hot dogs, Aunt Becky, and being downtown & you have a fun combination.
Plus there was baseball.

Annual Camping Trip

It is pretty tiring being carried in a backpack!

Hmm, maybe I'll catch us some dinner...

 

As you can tell, Lion came along and enjoyed the view peeking out from the backpack.

Downtown with Daddy

 

 

 

Saturday mornings are usually adventure or outing days.
Sometimes all four of us, but more often just Matt & the girls.
Adventures that involve the bus are always cool.
Here they are downtown checking out the fountain, the sculptures and the shore.

Flower Girl Practice

 

 

 

The other day we had to spend the morning at home while we waited for the utility workers to come. They had randomly selected our house to get a new gas meter & said they were coming on that day & we had to be home to give them access if we wanted things working again after the replacement. Of course they gave us no time frame. So we stayed busy by building an obstacle course, baking berry muffins and doing some flower girl practice. I created streamer wands for them to try out as well as we pulled petals off roses left over from the shower for Becky. So they got to practice both the petal-throwing and the wand-waving.

I need to have them wear the sandals a couple more times to break them in good.
Etta's especially were stiff at the buckles. But add a more formal setting, some cute hairclips,
smiling people looking at them and some real flowers or streamer wands and they are ready to go!

Seafair

It is Seafair time in Seattle! Matt & the girls went to the Greenwood Seafair Parade.
They also went to the milk carton races on Greenlake.
While there they got all sorts of free give-aways including boats-in-a-box.
They painted them and put stickers on and here are their finished products!

Meeting Baby Daphne

 

 

 

Etta took the job of baby-holder very seriously and sat still for long periods of time with baby Daphne!

Daphne Juniper Skye Marston

Born today around lunchtime.
8 lbs
20.5 inches long
At the same hospital, using the same doula and possible the exact same midwife as for when my little one comes in about a month. It is possible they will share the same birth month.
But of course little Daphne is daughter to proud parents Myron & Lori and big brother Coen.
The girls & I can't wait to meet her!!!