Baby B is finally here! And quite on time I might add.
Ashleigh Madeline was born last night (Friday, 3 October 2008) at 8:03 PM. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces and is 20.5 inches long.
According to the proud parents she is quite beautiful, has a head full of hair, and possesses all her digits. Yay!
I can’t wait to see the pictures. With permission I might share one. Can’t wait to meet her!!!
Congratulations, Karla and Justin! We love you lots.
XOXO
M, J, and S
I’m so excited to announce that Karla and Justin are going to have the baby tomorrow! I’ve been calling Karla almost everyday to find out if this kid has arrived yet and everyday she has to tell me, “No.”
Well, today I was super-excited, yet not surprised, to answer the phone and hear that they are going to the hospital to be induced. And how perfect, Baby B is due tomorrow, October 3rd!
After nine months of waiting, tomorrow I will be able to find out what name to put on some of these baby things I’ve got hanging around.
I couldn’t believe that Justin wanted to wait nine months to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!! I tried to bribe Karla to find out in all sorts of ways, but I failed miserably.
I even kept checking their poll to see what everyone else thought. I kept telling Karla it was TWINS. She got mad every time.
Can’t wait to meet you, Baby B. Now I better check on our friends, Carrie and Towson, who are expecting their next little dude, Jack — due October 6th. (Apparently Karla and Carrie do everything together!!)
XOXO
M, J, and S
Editor’s Note: After posting this, I called Carrie myself to check up on her and guess what — NO BABY YET!! So I took the chance to remind her that Karla’s having the baby and she’s not, “nah nah nah!”
Isn’t that the cutest little thing? That’s Meya, our flower girl. And we mentioned before, this is a week of firsts – for everyone!
Meya has had her first day at preschool, just like her best friend, Haydn. She is our flower girl and we love her lots!
Look at that little backpack and those really cool pink Converse! Meya, my sweetie, and I could all be twins next time since we all have the same shoes!
Well, my sweetie doesn’t have an pink Cons, but that could change, just you wait!
We can’t wait to see you in your pretty dress on 9/13/2008, little miss!
We can’t believe you are such a big girl! Hope you make lots of friends at school.
We love you lots!
XOXO
Auntie, J, & S
Image: Meya, first day of preschool, 25 August 2008
Ring Bearer, Haydn, on his first day of Pre-School
Like I said before, today is a day of firsts.
Today was Haydn’s first day of preschool. He is such a grown up now! We are very proud of him.
Haydn plays a very important role in our wedding…he is the Ring Bearer. He is the groom’s special helper since he has to make sure the wedding rings make it down the aisle!
He will also need to escort our flower girl, Meya, down the aisle.
We are very excited to see Haydn all dressed up in his tuxedo to match the other groomsmen and ushers! He will be the star of the show!
We will see you, Haydn, in three weeks! Can’t wait!
Have lots of fun at school, make lots of friends, and learn lots.
XOXO
M, J, and S
I’ve been meaning to mention this since the end of May, but as you all probably know now, I am not so good at keeping up with the MANY things going on in our lives right now. The whirlwind is upon us and those of you who are near and dear to me know just how well I actually deal with whirlwinds…
As you know, our Non-Bridesmaid Karla and her husband Justin, are expecting their first baby in early
October (October 3rd), which is why they won’t be able to make it to the wedding on September 13th! While this saddens us, as Karla has been a part of SO MANY pivotal moments in my life, we completely understand and are already planning our first baby visit in October (don’t worry, I have already cleared this with Karla.)
Anyway, Baby Bayfield, boy or girl (who knows!!! I wish I did!!!), is quite the blog savvy little bugger. He/She already has his/her own website!
I check it frequently, but it looks like Mummy and Daddy are just about as good as I am about updating the blog regularly — eh hem, hint hint.
The countdown is on Baby Bayfield. We’ll be married in 21 days! But, we’ll see you in about 41 days!
XOXO
M, J, and S
If anyone has ever wondered what Cream of Tartar is, we have the answer! It’s actually a pure and natural ingredient that is created when grape juice turns to wine. Who knew?! It’s also a main component of baking powder and is commonly used to stabilize beaten eggs (like for meringue).
We know this because it says so on the Cream of Tartar bottle.
We found this out because Patrick and I are helping Melissa through a trial run of the Honey-Glazed Beehive Cake which will be prominently featured at the wedding shower Emily will bee giving us.
We hope it turns out like this:
Picture from MarthaStewart.com
XOXO
M, M, P, B, C, & O
P.S. My sweetie says hi!
Happy 4th of July, everyone! We meant to post this yesterday, on the 4th, but were swept up in running errands, wrapping up some work, and getting ready to spend the evening with some friends.
We had a fun little gathering with Brad and Samantha and some of their friends. Brad is actually one of my sweetie’s groomsmen, so you will probably hear about him at some point!
We had a great view of the fireworks over the East River from the apartment, so it was better than standing on the roof in the rain.
We hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July! See you all soon.
XOXO
M, J, and S
OK, so we’ve known about this since mid-to late February and it was absolutely killing me not to say a word about it! I went through our entire engagement party in Gainesville on March 1st without spilling the beans, and have wanted to do a congratulatory post for some time…
Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that my very own non-bridesmaid, Karla, and her Aussie hubby, Justin (who I used to fondly refer to as our very own Crocodile Hunter to Karla until she made me stop about 6 or so years ago…), are expecting their first baby right this fall. The baby is due to make his or her debut in early October of this year!
How exciting, we are thrilled, as are the new parents-to-be, I’m sure.
(3/1/2008, The parents-to-be and me at the Engagement Party, Gainesville)
The only sad news associated with this thrilling announcement is that while Karla was an official “non-bridesmaid” she and Justin will likely not be attending our wedding this September 13th…I’ll be sure to thank Baby Bayfield someday (wink) for impeccable timing!
Oh, and I am thanking Baby B’s parents right now for not wanting to find out what the gender of the baby will be!!! Do you know how hard it makes to go shopping?????
Congratulations, guys, we couldn’t be happier for you! See you both soon.
XOXO
M, J, and S
(Haydn after 3 or 4 cotton candies at the engagement party, 3/1/2008.)
Hi everybody!
Since today is a very special someone’s birthday, we thought it would be the perfect way to resume posting on our wedding blog! As we wish Mr. Haydn a very special 4th birthday, we can also take a moment to introduce him as our very handsome, very cute Ring Bearer!
We’ve known Haydn since he was born and have been friends with his Mommy and Daddy, Nani and Will, for years. I’ve actually known Nani since our first year of college and our friendship has only grown over the years. I can remember her little truck and listening to country music [I’ll never understand that] in her dorm room! Will is the perfect match for her, and we love him too! Oh, and we can’t forget Haydn’s very special little brother, Graham, who will be 1 this summer!
(At the engagement party, 3/1/2008.)
Haydn had a birthday party last Sunday, April 20th, at Ft. De Soto near St. Pete. I heard it was a lot of fun and both my sweetie and I wish we were able to have made it! (Although, we did send Haydn a birthday card and a big package from Toys R Us is on its way!!)
We hope Haydn has a wonderful birthday today and is spoiled all day long! (Hint, hint Mom and Dad.) We also know that he is going to make the very best Ring Bearer any wedding has ever known, and we can’t wait to see him next!
We love you lots and miss you bunches Haydn!
XOXO
M, J, and S
(Karla circa Dec. 1998 — in college on our way to Orlando or some other adventure I dragged her on.)
We just wanted to give a quick “Happy Birthday” shout out to my one and only official non-bridesmaid, Karla! You may be wondering what a non-bridesmaid is; it’s a bridesmaid that kindly refused the invitation to be in the wedding. (This was not a shock and it was not rude; it’s an understanding between us.)
Karla and I have been friends for years, and acquaintances before that. You see, we went to high school together, but weren’t what you would call “friends” (you might recall that Emily and I weren’t fast friends either, but it seems that if we didn’t start off being friends, we sure ended up that way) – sure we knew some of the same people and even rode to school together at times, but we just weren’t really in the same social circles. I don’t even recall us having a single class together for more than a few days.
Put it this way, Karla was on the debate team and could twirl her pen or pencil with one hand – repeatedly! Who can do that? And debate at the same time?!?! She was also very good at math and thought I was weird with my Technicolor hair, constant Converse, music, movies, and books I liked, Amnesty International, and the various outfits I chose to wear.
I’m not sure what she really thought, but she just told me she thought I was some weird vegetarian…
Oh yeah, back then, Karla rarely ate a vegetable – strictly carnivore, but that’s since changed. She recently came up to NYC to visit and we shared a Caesar salad of all things! However, I can’t leave out that we were at Lombardi’s and the pizza was covered in meat.
Anyway, we ended up in the same dorm our first year of college – right down the hall from each other and just ended up being friends. There was no alternative. We didn’t really love the frat parties our respective roommates, Amy and Carrie, loved to attend…and I thought it was fun to “culture” Karla. Got her to watch movies she never would have (Basquiat, The Basketball Diaries, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and anything German – since that was my apparent concentration in Film Studies through school), listen to music she never would have – and still probably doesn’t (Tori, Bjork, Bikini Kill, the Pixies, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Ani, Less Than Jake, etc.), and go to events she normally wouldn’t have (certain art shows, ice skating in Orlando just because we were bored and had a car, a gay bar on New Year’s Eve 1998 turning into 1999, etc.)
In turn, she taught me a few country songs that I’ll never forget like Every Little Thing (not the Beatles song), which is actually a cool one – there’s a stalker. We saw all the Star Wars re-releases and new movies together and waited in line at an ungodly hour (5 AM) for tickets for Episode I (yeah, we admit it, we’re dorks). She supported me as I was tattooed.
She may or may not have loved these things I exposed her to, but at least she has a broader spectrum now and doesn’t only listen to country music, watch General Hospital, twirl her pen. She can at least tolerate “normal” things.
I tried to change her political views, but I failed. But I still love her just the way she is.
We ended up living together for the next 2 or 3 years, right through graduation of university and have stayed close ever since. It’s hard when you live so far apart (NYC & Atlanta) but we seem to do alright. And it’s good that way, because honestly, sometimes Karla is the voice of reason that comes in and says, “Melissa, what the hell are you thinking??” I stop and think about it, and generally do it anyway, though!
But God love her, she tries! Anyway, Karla my dear little Bosheropolous, here is my Ode to Karla (highly unoriginal, but it’s early yet – she’ll get a real one in the mail sometime soon):
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Karla,
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday! We love you lots!
XOXO
M, J, and S
P.S. Karla!!! Click that song title link!!!
P.P.S. Do you have any of that Sumo wrestler of rice pudding left?
Wedding Whirlwind 