I'm certainly really timely on these blog posts, aren't I? Almost four months later, I guess it's time to share the details of my brother's wedding weekend!

Before Jeff proposed to Katie, I made it clear that if he did anything to screw it up I would choose Katie over him! She has turned out to be one of my favorite people, ever - and what a joy it was to be able to watch the two of them get married on April 8!

After a loooong delay, we were finally headed to Fort Worth! Shout out to Adam for being the baby whisperer and getting Aiden to sleep on the plane.

Lunch with the bride in the Stockyards!

Rehearsing how to be sisters at the Lonesome Dove!

The most stunning bride.

Because what is more exciting than a water fountain to a toddler? (Unlike some of the wedding guests, Aiden stayed OUTSIDE of the fountain. Yikes.)

My handsome date!

The wedding was on the rooftop of The Worthington in Fort Worth and it was absolutely stunning! The weather could not have been more perfect.

They're married!

Katie's dad surprised her with a longhorn at the reception! Adam and I happened to be coming back to the reception after leaving Aiden with the babysitter and got caught behind this bad boy in the hallway. We were so confused - and it was MASSIVE! Katie's reaction was amazing when she saw it!

Love these two so much!

Mixtape available now on Limewire,

My little musician babe.

And home we go! 

This time they both conked out... what a weekend!

I really didn't take too many pictures that weekend. I was too busy living it, I suppose! It was a beautiful wedding between two of my favorite people, and we're so glad we got to be a part of it! Cheers to Jeff and Katie!

Parents Weekend Out

I remember planning this weekend when I was pregnant thinking I would probably be ready to leave Aiden for a few nights when she was ten months old. Turns out, I was right. I was probably ready to leave her - but I still didn't want to. Alas, we pulled the bandaid off and headed to New York on Thursday, June 30 for the #Greerzba wedding festivities!

Brent was the Best Man in our wedding, and Adam was one of the chosen few who made the short list of Groosmen for Brent's. The wedding was at the Wagner Vineyards in Lodi, NY. Where, you ask? It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Rochester, in the Finger Lakes. It was a beautiful part of the country, and we were excited to check out a new place.

The wedding took place on Friday, and I felt like an honorary groomsmen (sorry, guys!). I was staying at the Boys Cabin, with Brent and the other groomsmen and basically followed them around all day. The other wife, Emiley, is pregnant and spent most of the day relaxing (well deserved - she has two little boys at home, too!). Before we knew it, we were getting dressed to head out to the big event.  

Beautiful backdrop for a wedding.

The Greers! We were so honored to be there for their big day. 

Emiley and I got a little chilly - thank goodness for husbands with jackets!

The beautiful bride! It was my first time meeting Julie, and we hit it off right away. Can't wait to see her again now that the wedding craziness is over. 

After a quick two nights in Lodi, we got up Saturday morning and headed back to Rochester for the quick flight to NYC. Adam had never been to The Big Apple and I was beyond excited to be there with  him!

We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and headed out to see a few of the nearby touristy spots.

Up first... 30 Rock and Times Square! (Adam was such a good sport letting me take all these pictures of him.)

Grand Central Station

Once our room was ready, we headed back to our basecamp for the next two nights - the Waldorf Astoria! My mom was sweet enough to cover the difference from the original hotel where we were planning to stay - my "commission" for sending her so much travel business. :) A girl I work with happens to live in NYC and was making me a list of must-visit restaurants and bars, and once she heard we were staying at the Waldorf she called and had us upgraded to a King Suite! 

We felt very fancy! When the Front Desk gave us our key it said '15V', and we weren't really sure what that meant... until we got off the elevator. (Getting fancier!)

Our room has double doors!

Anddd that's the last picture I took of our room. Oops! It was so beautiful and the bed was insanely comfortable. I don't think Adam was able to really appreciate it, because he's never seen a typical NYC hotel room!

I noticed my first night in Lodi that I forgot the outlet adapter for my breastpump - nooooo! I panicked, but Amazon Prime saved the day and this was at the hotel when I arrived. (How fancy is that envelope? I'm telling ya - FANCY.)

We met up with Christine for a drink at The Crow's Nest and then over to Tonic. I love a good rooftop bar situation, and both of these fit the bill.

For dinner, we headed to Lombardi's. "Apparently" it's America's first pizzeria. 

We walked around Little Italy for a bit before we tapped out and headed back to the hotel. We couldn't hang - we were exhausted!

Check out this view from our hotel window - the Chrysler Building!

The next morning we headed to Little Collins for a quick breakfast. This was toast with pb&j...and coconut flakes! So simple and delicious.

We navigated the Subway (hooray us!) and made it to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I had seen the memorial before, but the last time I was in the city the museum wasn't built yet. 

The museum was a must for every American. So heart-wrenching, but also so interesting. You will spend the entire time crying or choking back tears.

After about two hours in the museum, we made our way to the water so Adam could see the Statue of Liberty. He had no desire to actually go (thank goodness), so a quick look sufficed. 

We then made our way to Grand Banks for cocktails and lunch. It was adorable - a restaurant on a boat! And I had literally the greatest cocktail (wine-tail?), ever - The Skipper Key.

On Pier 25, after lunch. That's the Freedom Tower in the background. 

Being so city and figuring out the subway.

We specifically made our way to the Upper West Side just to grab some cookies at Levain Bakery... until we came upon this line. The cookies are good, but not that good! It was a bummer, but we just moved on to Central Park.

Central Park was beautiful and fun to walk through! We saw a fun little roller skating club, and they were a blast to watch.

Someone told them it was our anniversary, so the hotel sent up a bottle of champagne! We felt so fancy sitting in our robes drinking champagne. (It was also the first time I saw Adam in a robe, which was hilarious.)

Downside to traveling with just two people, there's no one to take pictures!

We did find someone to take our picture in the lobby - A for effort, I guess.

We grabbed dinner at a pub recommended by Nathan and Meagan, The Long Room. We really just wanted some normal, cheap (ish) food - and the pub did the trick! Adam wanted to see Times Square at night, so that was our next stop.

This is Adam's "you're the worst at taking selfies" face. Haha. 

We ended the night at Refinery Rooftop. It was a beautiful bar and a beautiful night - what more could you ask for? Oh, maybe this view of the Empire State Building!

I loved seeing the city lit up for the 4th of July!

The Waldorf Astoria! I'm so glad we were able to stay at this historic hotel before it gets turned into condos next year!

We were up bright and early (like 5:15am, barf) on the 4th of July to head home to our munchkin. I told Adam I was nervous how she was going to react to seeing us, and she did not disappoint. She was in her carseat and Adam opened the trunk to put the luggage in. She saw him and immediately started crying! But in a " Daddddy! It's YOU!" kind of way. We had to get her out for some snuggles before we made the trek back home.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, until dinner at the Causeys with our patriotic little babe!

I may or may not have mentioned how much I missed Aiden every thirty minutes, but it really was an amazing weekend. Adam and I had felt so disjointed lately. It's hard to make time to work on your marriage when you work full-time and have a baby, but man is it necessary. I honestly don't know how people do this whole marriage thing without putting God in the middle of it. So a big shout out to Jesus - thanks for pulling our hearts closer to you, and closer to each other.

#yeptwosheps

I met Kalyn at LAX airport waiting for my (very delayed) flight to New Zealand. We were both traveling with the same study abroad group and became instant BFFs! I love that we have so many amazing memories together in New Zealand… and the US of A. Her amazing boyfriend, Corey, proposed to her last September in (drum roll, please) NEW ZEALAND! Shortly after, she asked me to be a bridesmaid (hooray!) and when we found out Aiden was a girl, she insisted she be the Flower Baby! Funny Fact: Kalyn needed to get the programs to the printer before Aiden was born and begged me for her name! Luckily, she arrived the next week so I didn't have to spill the beans.

Anywho, the wedding was on November 6 in sunny California! I actually wasn't too nervous about traveling with Aiden - my mom was with me on the flight out there and really what's the worst that could happen? She could scream the whole (5 hour) flight. Of course, since I gave birth to the best baby ever, she did amazing! I just fed her, let her sleep, and played with her in the lavatory for a while (sounds gross, but it wasn't). The people behind us even asked if we drugged her! (Yes, that's exactly what we did, ya psychos.)

Just chilling before our flight! We got to the airport pretty early, because we didn't know what to expect. Curbside Check-In at Delta was a breeze!

Party in the lavatory! She loved being able to stretch out for a little bit.

Weeeeee!

We purposefully got a window seat… and then we show up and we are the lucky ones who get the window seat without an actual WINDOW. Talk about being claustrophobic!

Once we arrived in LA, we had to rent a car and drive to Palm Springs. We hit the infamous LA traffic, but Aiden was a trooper (for the most part). She did scream the last 40 miles… and I felt so bad!

Adam had to work, so he took a later flight on Wednesday and then drove down with my dad (who was already in town for work).

Thursday morning we got up and had breakfast in the hotel (breakfast in PJs!!), and then Kalyn came by to see us/meet her new BFF!

We had most of the day to ourselves, so we took Aiden on a walk and ended up at a delicious mexican restaurant, Las Casuelas. They had amazing salsa!

The dad who does it all!

Soaking up the beautiful weather!

We headed over to Desert Ridge Estate around 3p for the rehearsal. How incredibly GORGEOUS is this place?! Pictures don't do it justice.

Rehearsing for the big day!

Rehearsal dinner time with our bride!

Corey and Aiden!

Aiden's first place card! Should this go in her baby book?

Getting ready on Friday with the other Bridesmaids! I've been out to visit Kalyn a couple times, so luckily I knew just about everyone else in the bridal party - so I wasn't the weirdo from the East Coast.

How cool in my hair?! Bravo, hair lady.

The bride just hanging out with her flower baby! The whole day was so relaxed, I kept forgetting we were even at a wedding! Kalyn was so calm and the most in love bride I've ever seen! It was fun to watch.

Ready to go!

So are we!

Bridal party pics!

Showtime! (Adam was so good at taking pictures.)

The bride and her mama, making their way to the aisle.

LOVE these programs! They were filled with confetti to throw when they were officially MARRIED!

Wahoo!!! Mr. & Mrs. Shepardson!

We're kind of cute, if I may say so myself.

My roommate from New Zealand scheduled his "American Holiday" around Kalyn's wedding! SO fun to see him after 8 long years! 

Annnnd that's basically the last picture I took of the wedding - whoops. I can't wait to see the photographer's pictures!

Saturday they hosted a Pool Party back at the venue. Jeff and Katie are only a 4 hour drive away, so they joined in on the fun!

Baby's first bikini! Can't even handle the cuteness!

How hilarious are these big heads?

Wahhhh, weekend is over. :( Miss her and everyone so much already!

Oh, at the airport coming home on Sunday these Asians kept taking pictures of Aiden. I get she's cute, but back off people.

Adam was a TROOPER. Aiden got fussy shortly after takeoff, and Adam calmed her down and held her like this for 3.5 HOURS. I don't know how his arm didn't fall off.

We had such a wonderful time in California and miss Kalyn, Corey and all their fun friends and family so much!! She wants to have babies very soon, so hopefully Aiden and I can make another trip back next year to meet their potential new addition!