linens 'n things

I really ought to get into the habit of updating this thing more often. Not that there are many of you who read this, or that what I have to say is important....but it gives me something to do. Also, it's always entertaining to go back and read older posts. At some point I'll probably tire of the idea of my thoughts floating around on the internet and will delete this whole thing, like I did with my Live Journal. Though that was more out of embarrassment than anything. I don't see that happening any time soon. So, don't worry all 2 of you who read this!

Anywho, I do have a brief Ayden update. I had to end up going over to Louisville to see my dad instead of him coming to the apartment. So I got to see the boys and my brother and his wife. I hate driving over to Louisville other than to go to work, but it was nice to see everyone. Ayden is looking SO much better. He's still very very tiny, like 7 pounds or something. (did I mention he's almost 4 months old?) He's holding his head up more and more and generally acting more like a baby should. He has the shunt in still, I'm not sure how long that'll be in. The swelling has gone down a great bit in his head, and with medication they're keeping his seizures at bay.

He has also grown out of his preemie clothes finally and can wear newborn stuff, lol. Some of his clothes still swallow him though. Despite the fact that he's so small, he's doing more things. He smiles a lot and interacts with you when you hold him or are near him. My sister in law says that he can roll himself over if you lay him down. I'm sure he's not hitting milestones as he should at this point, but the fact that he's doing any of these things is a miracle to me; all things considered.

Adorable!

Here you can see the shunt running along his right side. It feels gross, but doesn't seem to bother him if you happen to brush it or anything.

Anywho, we got more wedding planning done. Mike and I went to Horseshoe this past friday to meet with the events coordinator lady. We just went over details, the menu, etc. They're providing us with linens, a dance floor, risers for the wedding area and for the cake table, candles, and even complimentary chocolate coins for the tables (being in a casino and all.) As it stands we plan to do black tablecloths with red napkins, which they are going to fold into Fleur De Lis for me! It's one of my favorite things, as it is the symbol for the city of Louisville where I was born. It was also the first tattoo I ever got. Needless to say I'm happy about that.

They're also providing dressing rooms for us to use before hand. Both of them have a bathroom and a dressing area and makeup tables with huge lit mirrors, and a steam machine if needed. Mike and I only have 2 people in our wedding party a piece, so we won't need a ton of room, but it's nice to know I won't have to get ready in our room. I think I mentioned we'll also be having a cash bar, which is nice. Though we'll have to pay extra if our party doesn't meet a certain amount. It's not a huge amount, and we'll budget to pay for it, though I'm crossing my fingers we won't have to.

Everything is mostly in place aside from the menu. We had originally planned on getting H'ors D'oeuvres, but with the amount of people we'll have coming will make feeding everyone difficult. Well, we hadn't really planned on feeding people per se. I mean, we certainly don't have the money to give everyone a proper meal, but we wanted to provide something as a snack aside from cake. But the servings are only for 50 people, and we can only afford 3 different items. So our guests would only get 3 small items a piece, which I realized was ridiculous. We obviously saw how strange that would be and have decided we are going to shoot for desserts. I know there will be cake and all, but the desserts are more affordable. I'm fat, I like desserts, and it's Halloween...so there. At the moment we're deciding between assorted desserts such as cakes and pies, or a 'make your own sundae' bar. We're also trying to figure out if they'll let us at least buy our own soft drinks to bring in. Their soft drinks are outrageous for 50 people, and they don't provide refills. It would be almost $300 to give 50 people two cans of coke, which I don't even understand. Our friends offered to pay for them as a wedding gift if they let us bring in our own, so we'll see.

Once we settle on that I'll feel much better about the whole thing. My mom said she would pay for our invitations as well, so that's a help. Mike is currently designing them himself and they're already looking really good. Once we get the menu down he can finalize the wording and we can send them to be printed. I'm hoping to have them out by the end of July or beginning of August if at all possible.

We called one place that rents speakers/PA systems, and they only charge $40 for a small one for an entire week. The downside is that they do a first come-first serve sort of thing. So we could come in a week before the wedding and they might not have it (they don't do reservations.) We're hoping that'll work out for us though. Other than those things, the only other major purchase will be the tux rental for Mike. As it stands we don't have all the money saved up for these things, but I'm hoping that between now and then I can sock away extra money each check to cover it. Seeing as though no one else can really help us financially, we have to make sure we can cover all of it ourselves...which is stressful.

I honestly don't know how people do these huge elaborate weddings with out going completely bat shit crazy. Our wedding is going to be very small and very simple with only 50 people and I already feel like I want to vomit from the stress. Though I have to admit I'd take that stress if I knew that I had a little help money wise. But my parents are as broke as I am, so I'm lucky that my mother can even help with the cupcakes and invitations. She'll certainly help in other ways, and I'm thankful, but I wish I didn't have to stress so much about money. (I don't hold that against anyone, except for myself of course. If I was making better money I could afford it more easily)

Now we could go to the court house and do a quickie thing. But I did that the first go-round and I want something real this time. As I'm sure I've said many times before, I had no family around to share that with. My dad wasn't there to give me away or anything. I refuse to do that again.

Despite all of the stress, I'm still quite excited. Everyone is promising me that all of this will pay off, that it'll be great, so I'm trying to remain optimistic. Though it is proving to be difficult. The pessimist in me is preparing for a complete disaster. I guess we'll see!

anyway, that's my update. More to come as it develops.