Hickman House

Today is my sweet, sweet niece's very first birthday. I can't believe it has already been a year! It has flown by so fast- it's almost sad. She has literally changed our lives. She has brought so much joy into our family. She will never know how much she is truly loved. I have the privilege of keeping Lillian every Monday. I have watched her grow, crawl, learn to walk, and now she is a talking machine. She says "Papa" for Poppy, "Luu" for Lulu, "bye bye", "bumble" for Mumble, "Pretty', "Whats that?" "Bath tub" and sometimes when she gets feisty she screams "David" to get my dads attention...pretty sure she learned that from my mom. We're working on Gigi...its coming, I just know it. I am so blessed to get to be this little one's aunt. Happy Birthday my sweet Lilly Bug, we love you very much!

Finally I am getting around to recap our honeymoon! We had the best time. We traveled to Cocoa Beach, Florida the day after we got married. We were so exhausted from all the wedding festivities that when we woke up the next morning we almost didn't leave! We finally packed up and headed out. Note to all future brides: you are going to be EXHAUSTED on your honeymoon. Months and months of non-stop planning finally catches up to you and literally all we did was sleep!

Continuing on with our wedding weekend recap we move to the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was such a fun time for me because all I had to do was show up. My sweet, sweet in law's took care of our rehearsal dinner. They held it at The Isles Restaurant in Ocean Isle Beach. It was absolutely perfect. Mrs. Gail had all the details planned out so wonderfully. We ate and fellow shipped with all of our family and closest friends. Lots of memories I will never forget. A big thank you again to my new parents for hosting such a great party! We loved every minute of it!

As most of you know today is my beautiful mothers birthday! I wanted to take a minute and share with you a few things about my mother. My mother is very hardworking- She gets one day off each week. I have not once ever heard her seriously complain about it. I'd like to think that she is the reason that I take working so seriously. She always made me work for my extras- which I can so appreciate now as an adult. She has taught me the value of a dollar- and despite what I thought when I was 16 that it does actually feel better when you work hard for something that you want instead of it getting handed to you. I no longer harbor bitter feelings about being the only teenager to have to pay bills in high school....HA!

My mother is very strict in her faith. She knows what she believes and there is no swaying her. Her yes means yes and her no means no. I am thankful for that as well. She taught us that our relationship with Christ is far more important than anything else on this earth. She is also one of the best mothers and grandmother I know. She goes above and beyond for her loved ones. I can only pray that one day I can be half the mom she is. 

And last but not least my mother is my very best friend. I look at so many girls that don't value their relationship with their moms and it makes me hurt. I don't know what I would do without her. She keeps me sane. I know that no matter what I can count on her for anything. She will always be my biggest fan. I love you so much mom! Happy Birthday!

Before we begin- I decided this 'ole blog needed a little cleaning up. New look- new name. It is still a work in progress but so far, I am diggin' it.

Today I wanted to recap the bridesmaids luncheon. I knew early in the planning process that I wanted to make sure that there was time to spend relaxing with the girls. I wanted to be able to pass out gifts, and let them take their time opening them. I wanted something special to do for them- after all the wonderful things they did for me during the year. I decided to host a bridesmaid luncheon for them at Clarks Seafood and Chop House in Little River. It was nice and calm that morning- we got to eat on the back deck and watch the sun rise over the water. I got to share a little bit about the women that helped throughout the process and then I passed out gifts. I gifted each girl with a monogrammed red zip up jacket to wear while we were getting ready, a red and white monogrammed tote bag, a personalized hanger for their dress, and some really pretty teardrop earrings to wear on the wedding day. I think they all enjoyed their gifts. I gifted the flower girls with monogrammed diaper covers (for the two babies) candy cane striped head bands for the wedding, and sweaters to wear over their dresses. Sam gifted his groomsmen and ushers with candy cane striped ties. See the pattern here? Ha! I really hoped the girls enjoyed their time at the luncheon- it will always be the perfect start of a weekend I will never forget!