Mary Graduates

So on Friday May 11, 2012, all of Mary's hard work paid off. After 9 years of grade school, 4 years of high school, and 4 years of college, Mary graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University. (Now, that's a mouthful!) That school is also known is being the same one I graduated from 8 years ago :) She is following in her big sister's foot steps! (Except her foot steps are MUCH bigger.) The graduation was at 4 pm so Anne Marie came up from Jeff City, MO that morning as well as our cousin Ryan. We all hung out and caught up. Charlotte loved the attention from Aunt Meem and Ryan.  This is a long group of pictures... and to think I didn't add most of them :) AND I didn't get the pictures off of mom's camera that I wanted.

Mom and Dad... their last college graduate. All four of their kids went to straight to college after high school and all four of their kids graduated college in four years!! AND all four of their kids received honors/awards at their college graduations. That, my friends, is impressive. 

Charlotte loves her Grandma Great

All ready for the ceremony. Oh, Braden Auditorium, the memories I have in you!

All dressed up for the ball. We had to ditch the sparkle shoes bc they kept falling off.

National Anthem

At least she doesn't think she rules the world or anything.

We saw Aunt Bare as she walked in and then again as she was on her way to get her diploma. Stupid pregnancy hormones made me tear up both times. Geesh... Charlotte was so proud of her Aunt Bare...and couldn't understand why she couldn't go with her.

Thank God that Katie missed school to come! She helped me take care of my crazy kiddo.

CHARLOTTE LOVES KATIE.

This, my friend, is what you've been working towards.

Hugs, pins, diplomas, back pats, tears, applause

Mary received the Outstanding Senior Award... the AKA "I am awesome" Award... AKA the same award I won 8 years ago on the very same stage. BOOM!

I think this picture is hilarious bc Charlotte has Mary's ropes in her mouth like a dog.

So proud of Bare Cat Webb

This picture explains all of our personalities to a T. John is ready for whatever is next. I am hating the moment and ready to slap someone. Dad doesn't know what's going on, he's just there. Mary wants this part to be over. Anne doesn't know if she's standing in the right place with the right family. Mom is bossing everyone around. I love this moment.

Has anyone seen a pregnant woman wearing a hot pink dress anywhere?

Mary and Chad

Grandparents make the world go 'round.

Katie is having too much fun! Aunt Kat, Mary, Ryan, Aunt Didi and Katie

Charlotte loves attention.

After graduation we drove to Sunnyland and ate some DELICIOUS Bernardis. AMAZING. Then, Chad proposed to Mary (see next post). We all celebrated later on at mom and dad's house. 

Saturday morning we had plenty of visitors hanging out at the house. Mary, Aunt Didi, Ryan, Katie, both Grandmas, Anne, Charlotte, and I went to see a bridal gown that Mary and I had gone and looked at a few weeks prior in Peoria. She tried on a few dresses but she had her heart set on the one that we found.

Her graduation party was Saturday,May 12. It was chilly and a bit crappy but the yard and house both looked great. Plenty of people came to see Mary and wish her congratulations :)

Mary used to work for a cake decorator so she had her do her graduation cake.

How cool is that nursing cap????

I didn't take a single picture the day after graduation (except when we were trying on wedding dresses) so I just took some off of Mary's Facebook.

Mary and Meliss.

Both sisters have bling now.

All three Weber girls with our old neighbor. It's crazy to think how young we were when she lived next door. She looks amazing...and is so happy now.

This is Mary and Chad's ring bearer and flower girl. How cute are they together??

It was a great night. Charlotte played outside with everyone. (I didn't have to worry about where she was bc there were so many people there to play with her.) I got to see so much family (AGAIN). I got to see old friends and so many friends of our family. I didn't even have to get my big 'ole pregnant rear end off of the couch to talk to anyone. They all came to me. :) It was a great night filled with amazing food and approximately 4 cupcakes. (And I wondered why I gained so much weight between doctor's appts.)

Happy Graduation, Mary! We are so proud of you!!! Charlotte, Little Bean, and I are so happy we were there to share the moment w you...and Alex really wishes he could have been there. We love you!! After you take your boards, you will be ALLLL set!!

A Busy Thursday

Thursday, May 10, was a busy day for me :) It was my last regular day in Illinois with nothing planned. I got up early and went to see my best friend, Brianne, try on her wedding dress for alterations. Her mom and dad live in the same county as my parents so I made the short trip over to the huge town of El Paso, IL to see her. Her dress looks AMAZING on her!! She looks absolutely beautiful!!! I can't wait until her wedding day in August! Here is a picture of her naked :) I blocked out everything except her face.

 She's going to be one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen... and my postpartum hormones will probably have me sobbing like a baby.

Mom and Charlotte hung out while I went to see Brianne. After that, I went and saw them at mom and dad's house for a bit. Then they hit the rode to run some errands. I then grabbed some lunch at Jimmy John's (super disappointed in my sandwich but thoroughly impressed with the chocolate chip cookie). I met the beautiful Jodi and baby Emily at a nail place in Peoria. My last pedicure was when I had been back in Illinois in February. I still had the same nail polish on. I think the nail girl judged me when I told her that. But, I mean, what kind of mom goes and gets a pedicure by herself with a toddler that doesn't sit still??? It's not an option for me to get a pedicure in Charleston when I don't have childcare. DUH. Whatev. It was great to see Jodi one last time. We have vowed to someday live near each other again. She looks fabulous...doesn't even look like she had a baby April 21. Emily went to the nail place with us and never budged the entire appt. 

After my appt, I met Mary at mom and dad's house and we ran to pick up Charlotte from mom. Mary had just finished her last exam for nursing school earlier that day. Crazy to think that was me 8 yrs ago. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and she was ready to celebrate. So we went and got Charlotte from mom and ran a few errands.

It was a beautiful day outside so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening outside. Again, our last chill afternoon in Illinois so I wanted Charlotte to be able to run free.

When I told Sammy we would be leaving Sunday, he jumped for joy. Well, not really, but he looked pretty relieved.

How cute is she in this little dress???

Charlotte has no problem getting people to do what she wants them to do. She just grabs their finger and guides them...

Look at those baby blues...

Sammy actually let Charlotte pet him... he did scratch her one time and it DEVASTATED her. But this particular day, he was all about letting her pet him. Maybe because he knew she was on her way out the door.

Love this picture of this little guy.

Charlotte LOVES her Aunt "Bah". Loves her so much.

The time has gone so fast. It's crazy to think that it's been almost 4 weeks. But, now, it's Mary's Graduation weekend and then time for us to hit the road back to Charleston.

Thursday was a great day...and getting to see 2 of my closest, most wonderful friends was a HUGE bonus.

It's Hump Day

Here are a few random pictures I took on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. 

We are the classiest of the classy.

Eating lunch (a chicken pot pie nonetheless) in the middle of the kitchen floor. Just because.

Mom had to get her hair did in town so Charlotte and I went up with her. I re-introduced her to Abe. For those of you unfamiliar with the history of Metamora, IL, Abraham Lincoln actually practiced law in that courthouse right behind the statues. True story. No, I don't lie.

Charlotte liked him.

She really felt that she owned the park. It was put there for her to play in.

Rocks.

Up in the gazebo... the same gazebo momma was crowned for Homecoming Court, the same one Alex and I took some wedding pictures at, and the same one Mary would get engaged in 2 days later.

Crazy kid.

Charlotte loves the small town kind of life. She has A LOT more freedom outside of the house. She loved Metamora's square... and the weirdo high schoolers that were hanging out up there. She kept going over to them and waving. Naturally, they were too cool to even acknowledge she was there.

Park Date with Mitchell and Carter

On Tuesday May 8, 2012, Charlotte and I went to meet up with Aunt Tracey and cousins Mitchell and Carter. Instead of hanging out at their house or mom's house, we decided to meet halfway (45 minutes-ish) in Peru. We had lunch at Culver's... sooooo delicious! French fries and a butter burger for me, healthy Tracey had grilled chicken and NO FRIES. I was thinking, "Dude, way to make preggo feel like a chunk-a-munk." She looks amazing though so there is a reason why she ordered that :)

After lunch we put "parks" in our Maps App and drove to one park. It was not age appropriate for our kiddos so I punched another one in. It was a dump. It sucked. However, we didn't want to drive all around Peru looking for a place for the kids to play so we just went there. They didn't care. They just wanted to run around and have fun.

Charlotte loves her some outside and some playgrounds.

Mitchell was a bit hesitant at first but once he kepts seeing Charlotte get up and down off of the little playground and he finally decided it was his turn to do it all. 

Double stroller and busy kids. This will be me very very soon.

Carter and Mitchell are always representing with their White Sox gear. Charlotte is always in her girly girl gear.

Charlotte loves the "babies" in the group. The funny part is they weigh only a few pounds different.. So funny. 

My sweet girl LOVES to swing. LOVES IT.

My beautiful friend and her youngest little man, Carter Andrew.

He's such a happy little baby.

Mitchell loves his brother.

We played and played, went for a walk, and just loved being together. I miss these guys so much but I am so happy that even after 12 years of friendship and 1,000 miles distance, Tracey and I are still so close. There's a reason my kiddos will refer to her as "Aunt Tracey". 

Love you, friend! Thanks for the two playdates while we were back in the big IL visiting.