My Flower Girl Dress

My Flower Girls- Violet and Brianna

This is it! Violet tried it on last Friday at Dillards. It is so adorable and poofy! It's by Cinderella and it comes with an American Girl Doll dress.

It's hard to see what it looks like with that doll dress right on top. Violet cried when it was time to take it off. We took that as a sign! It has small embroidered purple flowers "growing" all over it. Perfect for my garden wedding! I can't wait to show it to my niece Brianna. She is so excited to be in the wedding.

Potential Bridesmaid Dress

I think this is the dress my bridesmaids will wear. But in purple of course! None of my girls wear the same size so it was tricky to find a dress that would look good on all of them.

Jordan and I found this one at unique vintage. I think it looks perfect for a garden wedding. The halter top style is very flattering. The catch is that unique vintage doesn't do custom orders. We are busy looking for the right person to make 5 dresses without a pattern. My mom found a very similar pattern by Simplicity so if all else fails we have a backup plan.

This is the shade of purple I would like them to be. What do you think?

Flowers and Veils

I decided forever ago that I would wear a flower in my hair for my wedding. I always wanted an excuse to wear a pretty flower in my hair and now I have one!

Etsy has so many beautiful ones for sale as you can see. I'm going to wear my hair in a low pony over my shoulder and teased a lot at the roots. L.C.'s hair is just a little too flat on top for me!

I also love the birdcage veils. Like the one at the top from Unveiled Bridal Designs ! So pretty! I was opting not to have a veil but they look so pretty in portraits that I might have to wear one. I'm thinking we will buy the flower and then make the veil. Real flowers are too hard to handle with hair and they wilt if your wondering.

JMG Jewel Designs on etsy.

108 Days to GO!

San Antonio Trip Highlights

Violet on the River Walk.

Teaching my mom how to do a "myspace" self portrait.

Dad & I on this freaky 190 foot tall tower at Wonder World.

Taking V to the playground.

Eating tacos morning, noon, & night!

These delicious Vietnamese Spring Rolls!

Seeing the Cavern at Wonder World.

Violet feeding the animals.

These Veggie Tales Hats.

Seeing our Grandma.

Taking fun pictures!

Uncle Gregg's cooking.

"Visiting" the alamo from the Hagen Daaz window!

They Grow So Fast

Violet- March 2008. When Violet turned 8 months she had just learned to crawl. She officially crawled on February 22, 2008. It's written in her baby book. Another special thing she did at 8 months was clap her hands. The baby book also tells me that she was 29" and 21 pounds around this time! She was a Butter Ball! I love that first pic of her! She used to "show off" her new teeth and stick them out.

Here's Violet-March 2009. Look at that sweet face. My little girl is 20 months now. Her list of things she can say and do has grown dramatically since last year! She is 34 " and 25.6 pounds. My baby has gotten so tall. That puts her in the 90th percentile for height. I think she's gonna be taller than me for sure. I'm 5'4 if your wondering. I've noticed when were out and about strangers presume she is older than she is. They usually guess that she's a year older. We have taught her to say "ONE". Then she usually stares at her fingers trying to form a one. Most of the time she ends up holding both pointer fingers in the air.

I'm not sure where I was going with this post. I was just reminiscing while looking at her old pictures. It's neat to look back and see how much she's changed.

Healthy Taco Salad

Doesn't that look yummy?! Well, it was ;)

I'm trying to lower my carb intake at dinner. I've got a dress to fit in! (i mean i fit, just gotta keep fitting) I had a great workout this morning. I'm so ready for warm weather and lighter food!

My Taco Salad-

1 lb. browned seasoned with taco seasoning ground turkey

Romaine Lettuce

1 Roma Tomato

1 Jalapeno

1/4 cup chopped Red Bell Pepper

Mexican Cheese Blend

Salsa

Light Sour Cream

I ate 2 cups of lettuce with 1/2 cup browned turkey. (that was my serving in the pic) Plus a sprinkle of toppings. It was about 500 calories. Not bad, barely any carbs, and it's huge! The sauce looks pink because I mixed the salsa and sour cream together. Mmm, I feel lighter already!

The Candy Bar

Ahhh! Isn't this cute?! During the tons of wedding research that my mom and I have done we found this candy bar idea for the reception. Check this out for more info-http://budgetdreamweddings.com/1600/yellow-candy-buffets/


We started buying candy after Valentine's Day. So far we have suckers, Lindt chocolate, Hershey Kisses, Sixlets, jelly beans, Dove chocolate hearts, & Reese's pb cups! My parents have also started a glass container collection, lol. We ordered the takeout boxes online and thank goodness they came prefolded. We put labels and ribbon on 50 of them this past weekend. Only 100 more to go! I think our guest will having a blast filling up their boxes!

Thank You Jordan and Mom for making the lovely labels!

Karl

Karl passed away today in the Hospice with Dorothy (his wife) and Matt by his side. He will be greatly missed.

One thing I have learned about this situation is we don't know enough about Alzheimer's. Karl's wife was asked to explain to the ICU Doctors over and over again exactly how much Karl's thinking and behavior had changed over the past couple of years.

A lot of people assume you get diagnosed with Alzheimer's and then you instantly forget all the names of everyone in your family. That's how Hollywood portrays it. It's not that simple and wasn't the case for Karl. He knew what was happening to him. He saw his mother struggle and die from it.

It started with small things like forgetting to pay a bill. Then he couldn't keep a job as an Architect because he would lose track of the task his was doing. Last year Karl was still able to drive. He enjoyed picking up his granddaughter from school. His Alzheimer's was moving at a rapid pace. They had to tell him he would not be allowed to pick her up anymore. He was crushed. A lot of his independence got taken away this past year. Karl liked to mow the lawn. But his brain would not signal to him to mow it until he saw his son doing it. The family would let the grass grow tall with weeds because they knew he would get upset if someone else mowed it.

This disease started taking over his mind about 10 years ago at the age of 50. Most people with the disease are 65 or older according to www.alz.org. Alzheimer's is a long and devastating process for the family and the victim. My heart goes out to anyone suffering from it.

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp

I'm so worried that Matt will get it. Matt does everything he can to stay in shape and keep his mind healthy. I can honestly say he is the most fit person I know. But there are diseases that run in many families that only affect a handful. Matt and I both are too young to worry about this. I'm going to focus on turning these negative thoughts into a positive by cherishing my life with Matt and my family. I love them all so much and pray that God will give me peace of mind.

Thank You Jesus for my family and I pray you provide comfort to the Kuhlmann's during this hard time.