Baby Chapman: Telling Family and Friends

After I spilled our baby news to Zac and we had time to celebrate and take it all in, we got to work on finding a doctor. We wanted to make sure that I was indeed pregnant and that everything was okay with our little jellybean before filling our family in on our exciting news. A week or so later we found ourselves in a doctor's office answering a ton of questions and I geared myself up for the not so fun physical examinations I knew were ahead of me. The doctor confirmed that we had a little one on the way and estimated our due date as May 14. A few days after this appointment we went to an imaging facility to get the first peek at our little bean.

It was great to see that there really was something in there since I wasn't feeling pregnant in the slightest (this changed VERY soon...but more on that later). The sonogram technician estimated that I was about 6 weeks pregnant and that little baby's due date was actually May 20.

Now that we had confirmation that our family was expanding we started to discuss when and how we were going to let family know. We decided not to tell friends and coworkers until I hit the second trimester and everything was going great. Keeping the secret from our parents and immediate families for six weeks however was not something that we wanted to do.

We were inspired by this photo from our wedding:

We thought that it would be cute to put a little spin on this picture using the shoes that I had purchased to tell Zac about baby. This is what we came up with:

We put the pictures together in double frames, wrapped them up, and prepared to give them to our parents. Zac's parents were coming for a visit and my dad's birthday was right around the corner. We had the perfect opportunities to give these gifts and share our news. The funny thing about these reveals is that it took a few moments for our parents to understand what the pictures meant. My mom was the only one who got the idea right away. Once everyone understood that there were three pairs of shoes in the bottom picture and that the empty shoes were baby sized the hugs and kisses were countless and the excitement was unmeasurable. Both sets of parents were anxious to share the news with others as much as we were. The time couldn't pass quickly enough. (That changed pretty quickly, too.)

I have been blessed with an amazing group of ladies in my life. I have the sweetest most thoughtful and fun girls to call my sisters. I couldn't ask for better relationships! I knew that my baby was going to have some fantastic aunties and I wanted to find a fun way to tell these girlies the news. I got my craft on...

...and hand painted some tote bags for each of these special girls. I was able to see some of them in person and the others who live out of town were sent little care packages. The phone calls that followed the out of town deliveries and the moments that came after the in person announcements are ones I won't forget.

Pretty soon we had hit the second trimester and made our announcement to friends and coworkers. I posted our shoe photo on instagram (@cristina_chapman) and Facebook and the response was overwhelming. The sweet congratulatory messages were plentiful and Zac and I were happy to finally share our happy news.  

Making A List and Checking It Twice Part 2

After experiencing my first wedding nightmare, I've decided that it's time to revist my list of to-do's and get a handle on things that need to get done.

The last time I peeked at my list it looked like this:

9 - 11 months

- Research and choose a ceremony site.

- Research and choose a reception site.

- Start interviewing caterers.

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list.

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

- Settle on wedding colors (if you haven't already).

- Set up appointments with florists.

- Look for reception bands.

- Research photographers.

- Research videographers.

- Start your registry.

- Start thinking about your honeymoon. (Planning in advance can help you get better prices on airfare and hotels.)

- Choose your bridal party.

I've managed to cross one item off of this list:

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

Thankfully that task has been taken care of and I am the happy owner of a beautiful dress that I can't wait to wear!

Another item that we can check off of this list is:

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

Zac and I decided early on who we wanted to be our officiant. I guess since we haven't yet figured out the best way to ask this person to marry us, we can keep this item on our list for a little while longer.

Instead of just continuing on with this list I've decided to add onto it and get as much accomplished as I can in the next few months. I looked at other lists in my Bridal Bargains Wedding Planner as well as the list I created after my disturbing wedding nightmare. So with that in mind our new list looks like this:

9 - 11 Months

- Look for a ceremony officiant

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list

- Set up appointments with florists

- Set up appointments with djs

- Hire dj

- Place order for wedding cake

- Plan out and purchase items for at least two of the reception games

- Design and create the invitations

- Begin purchasing coffee mugs, plates, bowls, and jars for the dessert and candy tables

- Purchase supplies for and begin putting together the guestbook

- Choose our top three photos from our engagement photoshoot to use for the save the dates

- Begin purchasing flip flops in a variety of sizes for the reception

- Look at JoAnn's Fabrics for different fabrics for a variety of wedding related projects

I'm looking forward to getting started on all of the crafty parts of the wedding plans, especially working on the invitations and save the dates. Being a scrapbooker, the idea of working on paper projects excites me to no end. (Yes I know, I'm a weirdo....but that's me.) Gathering things together for the guestbook is another project that I am excited to get underway. I think what Zac and I have decided to do for the guestbook will be fun for our guests and a keepsake we'll really enjoy looking at years after we say 'I do'. (I'll be sure to share the details about the guestbook project once it's well underway.)

I think this will be plenty to keep me busy over the summer. If I can get as many of the little projects done as possible this summer I will have more time later to focus on the bigger decoration details. Look forward to some update posts as things get checked off the list. :)

Bells Will Ring

After Zac and I officially set the date, my mom was anxious to start working on a project for our wedding. Two years ago, she put herself in charge of making my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary and vow renewal a beautiful and fun event. She went dress shopping with my grandmother, organized the decorations, and along with the help of the family, put together a spectacular event for my grandparents. For the anniversary celebration my mother put together some beautiful bells for the guests to ring when they wanted the bride and groom to kiss.

Each bell is connected to a small wooden handle and decorated with ribbon that matches the wedding colors. Two kinds of ribbon are used for the project; the top ribbon displaying the names of the bride and groom on one side and the wedding date on the other side. To finish it off, she puts a small flower in the center of the bows and adds a few mini white pearl beads.

My mom has been very excited to put together these bells so that Zac and I can give them to our guests at the wedding. After picking up the ribbon she ordered that has our names and the wedding date on it, she started making the bells this week. But enough talking about it, I'll just show you what she's done.

All of mom's supplies: ribbon, wooden dowels, yellow flowers, and of course the bells.

Attaching the wooden handles to the bells.....oh so many bells.

The finishing touches.....

The final product! I think she did a great job.

On each bell, she is attaching a little piece of paper that says:

Let wedding bells sound a chorus

They ask the bride and groom before us

to share a kiss of harmony

and bring true joy to all who see.

I guess we all know who I get my crafty nature from, right?