The "Saturday" 7

I have to write this up quickly because I need to get in bed. School starts tomorrow, and I'm not ready for my early wake-up call!

This is late because yesterday was the big wedding!! More on that later. We have some other stuff to catch up on first.

1. Last Saturday after writing my Saturday 7, I took the girls to the nail salon in Meijer to get our wedding pedicures. They were swamped, so we had to wait forever. Finally, Lucy got in the chair and they got started on her nails while Lena and I waited for another tech to open up.

All of a sudden, the radio broke in with an announcement for a tornado warning in our county. It wasn't storming, though, so I figured it was just in a different part of our county. Sure enough, it was south of us, but moving in our direction. At first I wasn't too worried. Historically, Michigan hasn't seen much tornadic activity - and when we do, it's just a little swirling in the clouds. But then, the sirens started going off outside. And the radio continued to break in with multiple reports of touchdowns, and the storm strengthening as it tore in our direction. The anxiety was rising up in me, so I texted Justin, "Tornado?" He responded, "It's coming your direction. You better come home." So then I was real nervous. Justin never worries about storms. He always tells me it'll be fine. The fact that he was even slightly worried made me very anxious. Haha. So I told the guy to finish Lucy's toes and Lena and I would come back later. We ran through the pouring rain to our car and I sped a few miles to our friends' house because I was nervous about driving all the way home. Our gracious friends let us hide in their basement and keep an eye on the radar as the storm totally swerved to the east and missed us altogether. All that anxiety for nothing! Haha.

2. So on Tuesday, we tried again. This time, all 3 of us were able to get our toes done sans tornadoes. (They graciously re-did Lucy's polish for free because it got really smudged while running through the rain.) I wasn't sure how Lena would do, but she loved it and followed directions and held still the whole time.

3. We got to go to school and meet Lucy's teacher on Wednesday. Her teacher this year for 1st grade is Mrs. Kebless. Justin and I both had Mrs. Kebless as our teacher in Kindergarten 26 years ago. Circle of life. Haha. As soon as Lucy walked in the door on Wednesday, Mrs. Kebless gasped and said, "Oh! It's a flashback of Sadie!" Haha. I'm sure I'll be hearing that often throughout the year as Lucy is becoming more and more like me. Lucy loved seeing her desk and getting her books and checking out the classroom. It's amazing how excited and at ease she is about going back to school. She was a little shy with her teacher, but for the most part, she can't wait to go back and isn't nervous at all. It breaks my heart to think that she'll probably have to switch schools at some point (Christian school ain't cheap, yo.) She knows all the kids in her class, she's comfortable with the school, she's even comforted by the fact that Justin and I and most of our siblings have had and loved this same teacher before! I'm excited for her to go back.

4. And now for the wedding update! Good news, guys: my spanx came on time. Even better news: I didn't have to wear it! Haha. We went Goodwill shopping on Monday in search of wedding attire and I found a fabulous dress in my size with these perfect layers of ruffles that completely disguised my post-baby belly. And the best part: it was $6! Then I found the perfect pair of shoes at Once Upon a Child for $3.50! They were heels, which I wanted, but also strappy sandals, so there was the perfect spot for my bunion to stick through. Hahaha. I joked that I needed to find a dress that would work for nursing and shoes that would work for my bunion. And I found both for under $10! Woot!

5. Thursday through Saturday was all wedding prep all the time. On Thursday, I joined some of Niki's other fabulous friends and we browned 60 lbs of ground beef, made 200 brownie bites, scooped 250 cups of ice cream, and made 200ish favors. And then we spent allll day Friday decorating and prepping and setting tables and transporting things to the church and doing a hundred million other little details. It was crazy and chaotic, but so much fun. I love spending all that time with my family and working together to create a beautiful day for someone we love. Tyler and Rieley (my nephew and new niece) have spent months planning this gorgeous wedding and we were happy to help carry out some of the details. I'm very grateful to have a husband that can step in and take over the childcare without missing a beat while I'm running around like a crazy person. The kids were awesome and flexible. Even Levi did great with being away from me (for a few hours at a time - I still had to feed him every 3-4 hour hours since bottles are obviously torture instruments from Hell).

6. And then Saturday was the big day. We decided at some point this week that it was futile to expect Lena to walk down the aisle by herself, and we might as well just plan on Lucy being a co-flower girl. So the three of us went to Niki's house where everyone was getting ready bright and early on Saturday morning. Our fabulous sister-in-law, Esther, curled all of our hair.

And did all of our make-up:

It was so fun to hang out all morning and watch everyone getting ready. My nephews were all in the wedding and they're crazy and fun.

It rained all morning, so we went to a local greenhouse for pictures. This one that the photographer put up as a "sneak peek" is my new favorite:

My heart!

Lena did not have a wonderful attitude. She was overwhelmed and nervous and just plain ole naughty some of the time. Haha. This was her attitude much of the day:

But she warmed up as the day went on, and when it came down to it, she actually walked down the aisle!! I wasn't sure it would happen, even with Lucy there to help her. But they did a great job. I didn't get very good pictures on my phone, so this is all I have for now:

The wedding was beautiful. Rieley looked amazing. Tyler couldn't stop grinning. Niki couldn't stop crying. Haha.

Another one the photographer put up today. (staciebphotography - we love her!)

7. And the reception was so much fun. Everything went off without a hitch. We even remembered to get a family picture.

So many great memories. Such a fun day, and a great way to end the summer. Now, back to reality!