The Long Awaited Wedding

Charlie and Christina's wedding was beautiful! They couldn't have asked for better weather (85 in the end of June in Merced? Who would've thought?!) and the whole day went off without a hitch. We've all been waiting a long time for these two to get married and we're so excited it's official now. They're currently enjoying their honeymoon in Hawaii, but we can't wait for them to get back so we can just live life with them now that they're married and living on the West coast again.

Here's a sneak picture of the Lockridge family after the ceremony.

Dave, Me, Diane, Christina, Charlie, Mom & Dad

Me & Dave

Christina & Me

I got to sneak into the bride's room to spend some time with the girls before the ceremony. She has such amazing friends and I really enjoyed getting to meet them and hang out with them this week. They were so thoughtful to include me in their special times together during the bachelorette and on the wedding day.

My family came to the wedding too (with the exception of Sarah who was still in Europe)!

And of course we danced the night away at the reception!

It was an awesome trip home and a great reason to celebrate!

Wedding Rehearsal

After a week of fun and celebrating, it was time to get down to business with Charlie & Christina's wedding rehearsal. They got married in Merced at the First Baptist Church where Christina grew up. It was really fun to be a part of it and sort of crazy to think that it's been almost 4 years since Dave and I were preparing for our own wedding. Time flies!

Dave & I

The Lockridge Men

Best Man Dave, Groom Charlie, Officiant/Father of the Groom Dad

The almost-newlyweds getting ready for their trip down the aisle.

The wedding party! The each had 9 attendants and 4 flower girls and 2 ring bearers. And believe it or not, we still got the rehearsal dinner on time!

The Nordman and Lockridge families (minus Diane who flew in later). We're so excited to officially welcome Christina into our family. It's about time! :)

Fun in the Valley

We went up North for Charlie & Christina's wedding and wedding week festivities, but we were able to do lots of other fun things while we were there. We had our last baby shower thrown by my best friend Crista, we spent lots of time in the pool, we made strawberry jam with all my girl cousins, we went to Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, we made it to Concert in the Park, the Modesto Farmers Market and even to the Merced County Fair! It was a BUSY week but so much fun! It will probably take a couple of posts to get all the pictures up but here's the first part of the week...

Dave, Me and Alison lounging in the pool. The weather was perfect!

My parents' dog Molly has recently found a love for swimming. Here is Dave teaching her how to jump off the diving board!

Strawberry jam time! This year we made about 8 or 9 dozen jars of strawberry jam. It is sooooo yummy!

Aunt Sharon, Amy, Grandma, Jessica, Mom & Alison

We missed having Sarah there to help so we found a picture of her on Grandma's fridge and had to have her represented. It wasn't the same without her!

We had so much fun at home getting to see everyone and spend some time at home before Baby L comes! More pictures to come...

It's Wedding Time!

We're heading home to watch one of our favorite couples get married! Dave's brother Charlie and his fiance Christina have been dating for a very long time and have been living in Virginia attending Liberty University. We so excited to have them both back on the West Coast and to welcome Christina into our Lockridge family! We can't wait for it to be official!!!

Here's a picture of the soon-to-be-newlyweds the day they got engaged at Thomas Jefferson's house in Montecito.

On a side note, I'm missing this girl:

She's currently galavanting around Europe doing a study abroad program for the summer. She's having so much fun and we get to live vicariously through her pictures and hilarious facebook updates. But I miss her jokes, and her smiley face and the option of picking up the phone whenever I want to talk to her. Come home Sarah!!!

Baby Classes

We are in full baby mode over here in Lockridgeland. I signed us up to take a few (ok, A LOT) of baby classes at our hospital and they have started! I heard that they were all good so I picked out a couple recommended ones and then the free hospital tour. Dave has been such a trooper through a couple of really crummy classes (Baby Care Basics? Yes, we'd like to watch a video from 1990 about how to do things just to be told that it's not entirely up to date and that's not how we do things anymore. Super helpful, thank you.) and one pretty great one. We really enjoyed "The Happiest Baby on the Block" where they showed us how to soothe a baby by using a few techniques. The best (weirdest?) part was being able to practice on a baby doll. Dave was a champ and by far the best swaddler in our class... he even had other people in the group asking his opinion! I guess we'll see how beneficial it all is once Baby L comes into the world...

Here's Dave practicing his baby swaddling technique.

Hmm, I think this is two techniques in one: the swaddle and the side laying position.

Also good for a laugh is our creepy baby. Dave picked him out, of course!

Obviously this did not happen at a class, but we've also been getting things ready around the house. We took out the car seat and guess who is letting us practice on her? Hannity! She has no idea the rude awakening that is going to be coming to her in a couple of weeks but so far she's been a great sport. She even let Dave swaddle her while our friend Angela video taped it! (The video is on Facebook. Not quite sure how to upload it here but it's worth checking out!)

We're also taking a lamaze type class with our good friends Tim & Sheri. That class seems to be pretty great and we usually walk away feeling like we've learned something and are a little better prepared for what is coming. I haven't taken any pictures there because the only thing worth documenting is our "relaxation time" and I'm pretty sure the teacher would frown on me snapping pictures when I'm supposed to be feeling like my "hands are as heavy as lead..." Haha! But you can be sure that we're enjoying walking through this stage of life with close friends and having plenty of laughs in the process.

Other than that, I'm feeling great and Baby L is growing and super active! We're measuring a little ahead of schedule but no one should be shocked that we might have a baby on the bigger side. :) We can't wait to meet him!

Celebrating Baby L in the South Bay

This past weekend three great friends helped to celebrate Baby Lockridge with all of our Southern California friends. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful shower and I felt so loved! They spent so much time doing all kinds of hand made projects like the banner that they hung (above picture) and the diaper cakes...these girls should go into business!

My mom was able to come down and meet some of our SB friends.

It was great having her there again to help us celebrate!

The Hostesses with the Most(esses)!

Becky, Angela (all the way from Colorado!) and Lacey.

Thank you so much! You did an amazing job girls!!!

The girls made a diaper cake (we now officially have diapers for Baby L!) and even got their hands on some old pictures of Dave and I. The one that got the most notice was this one of Dave's dad holding him in the hospital, they sure do resemble each other!

Group Shot!

Thanks to everyone for coming (and writing Haikus!) and helping us to love on this little guy before he arrives. You have all helped to make the South Bay feel more like home to us and we love you!

And another special thanks to Becky, Angela and Lacey- You put together an outstanding baby shower!

First Baby Shower

Last weekend Dave and I traveled up to Modesto for our very first baby shower. We feel so loved and blessed to have great families who want to help us celebrate Baby Lockridge's upcoming arrival! Special shout out to my mom and sister who worked hard to make things look great and go smoothly. Love you!!!

Sarah painted these awesome signs for the shower. She's so creative!

The pictures from the day wouldn't be complete without a special one of our favorite niece (or actually 2nd cousin, but niece sounds so much better/easier) Ashley! She was the entertainment for the afternoon and seemed to enjoy one of her first big girl parties.

The obligatory picture with the cake. Super cute and super good!

The dads and Dave (oh wait, I guess he's considered one of the dads now too? Almost??) were allowed for a few minutes of picture taking and then headed off to the shooting range for some "man fun". Here we are with Dave's parents.

And with my parents.

This is the Harden side of the family that was able to make it.

This is my Aunt Lori, cousin Lindsey, Grandma (Dad's mom), me, Sarah, Mom.

Me, Grandma (Mom's mom), Mom & Sarah.

More of the Underwood (Mom's) side.

Jessica (cousin Tim's gf), cousin Julie, niece Ashley, cousin Amy and Aunt Sharon.

Another one of Sarah's precious signs.

We had a great afternoon in the backyard and enjoyed our time together. We received a lot of very special gifts and it makes us even more excited for Baby Lockridge to come! Thank you to everyone that came out to make the day so special for us and for all your hard work. We love you all and can't wait to celebrate with you when Baby Lockridge decides to come into this world.

This weekend was also special for two other reasons:

*Mother's Day! After a couple year hiatus, we were able to see both of our mothers on Mother's day. What a great treat to be there to celebrate the two most amazing women we know! We love them both and are so lucky to call them Mom! Happy Mother's Day!!!

*It was Dave's parents 35th wedding anniversary! 35 years. It's hard to believe in this day and age but his parents have been together for 40 years now and married for 35. What a huge accomplishment to celebrate! They're both great role models for us to watch and aspire to. Happy Anniversay Mom & Dad!!!