big boy Everett! (and a belated Austin post...)

A month ago my main man turned two.  I have been meaning to sit down and write him a note (well, his mom) about how special he is to me and how much I love having him in my life.  It is hard to believe that this is his second birthday that I have come into town for.  (Remember this?) It is NOT hard to believe that it was TWICE as nice as his first fete.  That mama of his really has a way with details. :)

Stoplight brownies, train whistle party favors, real toys atop his delicious cake, and propeller marshmallow treats!  She thought of it all!

I just love staying at the Seach house and watching my best friend take the world by storm, one mama moment at a time.  She was nursing Caroline (that new bundle of joy!), picking up barbecue/brownie mix, and taping train tracks on the floor in party prep mode without blinking an eye.

Of course, Everett is growing and changing each day.  His independence, affection for baby sister, and sense of humor continue to impress me.  I never wanna forget his little mannerisms, and even gave Vanessa a quote book that I'm sure will be full in no-time. :)

• affectionate to everyone - kisses people on the lips confidently!
•  His tractor is the perfect sidekick.  At the breakfast table, in bed, in the bathroom.  GO TRACTOR GO!
•  Throwing the ball at someone usually means it ends up behind him, and he cracks himself up!
•  sayings - "done," "uh-oh," "Oh yeah," "Potty, mama, potty!"
•  When something is over - it goes "night, night" - at the end of Mr. Rodgers he explained that Daniel Tiger needs to go to bed.
•  GASP! 
• anything yellow (usually a jellybean after the potty) is called "BUS"
• "HAND" means - come and hold my hand so I can get where I am going :)

Not to mention, little sister is beautiful.  I know we all say "She's so pretty!" when our best friends are holding a pink, cuddly girl with a bow stuck in her hair, but I really mean it.  Caroline's dark eyes, precious smile, and beautiful skin already have heads turning.  She is just as in love with Everett and is so personable - watching intently everywhere you carry her, and locking eyes with everybody in the room. 

• She is working her tongue and eyebrows constantly - her face is so expressive! 
•  WIGGLE WORM
•  She finds DD's voice or Everett's voice and follows them with her eyes
•  Her smile is constant!
•  I love her giggle and laughter

I cannot wait to see these two siblings grow even closer!

{holding hands - he said, "hand, baby"}

The trip to Austin last month was double fun because all of the Casanovas (plus the new men in our family) were in town together for the first time since we relocated West in 2007.  What energy.  We realized (yet again) what a blessing it is to be closer together, and to have the luxury to put "family first" over and over again.  It had only been two weeks since we all left from winter break, but we couldn't get enough of each other. 

{party pics: Louisa Stegmann/4SquareDesign} 

The unbelievable NOLA wedding from October just wasn't complete without one more fabulous FIESTA in honor of these two...

We danced (shocker!), drank, ate, and sprang from our seats to catch candy out of a precious pair of pinatas. 

I got to hold hands and hug my third grade teacher, watch my mama and her women dancing and screaming in circles with the change of each song on the iPod playlist, and watch my father and brother smoking cigars with Cuban men I have looked up to since grade school.  We relived our schoolbus days with the girls from our neighborhood who used to sled with us down icy hills when school was cancelled and recreated those famous "Noche Buena at 1409" memories in the middle of January instead. 

Of course, Vanessa was there too!

{beautiful women}

 

"Cuban Kids" reunion.  Now some of us even have our own kids! 

There's something special about moments when everyone you love is all in the same room.  There's something hard to explain about being surrounded by your village in the flesh.  It's hard to put it into words, hard to type out exactly how powerful memories like that are.  Instead they are tucked inside of my heart so that I can pull them out and look back on these moments the way you pull out an old picture :) Which is probably why I might never be able to finish the rough draft of the Casanova+Jaynes wedding post I started 5 months ago....

  (photo credits to Heather Rowland and Brittany Smith Jones)

I can't wait to hit the highway again to head back down to the ATX.  This weekend we celebrate two grown up gals.  It's hard to believe that 10 years ago I was changing diapers and chasing little swimsuit-clad, sunscreen-covered twins down the sandy shore at South Padre.  

 

Wow.  Time really does fly. 

gray + wiley

I got on Facebook after work today and could not stop laughing and smiling.  Tyler had posted pictures from our late-July wedding weekend celebrating our other BFF Gray and I was reminded all over again how much fun we had.  Fun, FUN, fUn, Fun, fUN,...all around good times!

posing like cheerleaders with our floral pom-poms pre-ceremony 

got a little bit antsy waiting to get our hair did so we did our own manis? 

what's not fun about a ROTUNDA cake?!?! 

aaaaand Thank you Mr. Wheeler for your amazing rendition of Uva's Good 'Ol Song...

I am realizing that I never posted about the fabulous Tally-time we had because as soon as I unloaded my boxes here in Dallas, I was off!  I also returned to a new job, quite the unpacking fiasco and the start to a new school year.

I have SO many pictures at this point from the weekend that I just have to share.  Not to mention the warmest of wishes and biggest post full of love that I want to wish on this beautiful new couple.  They have had quite the newlywed induction - the BAR exam, new teaching job, new condo, hurricane season, moving to a new town, you name it!  But of course, just like everything else, Wiley and Gray have lived every day with a smile on their face!

It seems like just yesterday we were all sitting on the couch in graduate school, watching movie marathons, making house dinners together, and bossing Wiley's pledges around!

oh, michael's bistro.  

gray is a bit tired and cranky at a football game.  curly hair all around. :)  

 I cannot believe they are now Mr. and Mrs. I cannot wait to see where life takes them and what growing and changing they do together down the road.

Cheers to GWG!

beautiful bridal brunch!

bow-quet by sister, aka Pippa Crabtree 

precious church

serious PARTY bus on the way to rehearsal dinner 

incredible venue, beautiful toasts, great music! 

bbq sauce and coozie.  happy girl! 

wedding day!  Father of the Bride with the gals at the salon.  

we like carbs.  go ahead, judge.  

only Gray would have a color-coded binder for the big event. 

get it, C! 

my date, Tyler, and her bouffant.  

Gray chose amazing colors.  

SO PRETTY! 

LOVWEE. 

admiring our beautiful bride.  

Also, I do have to say they had the BEST first dance jam.  

Love you, Ray LaMontagne! 

Love you, Mrs. Gray Grandy! 

gina + brian

I am going through my pictures and organizing things on my computer before school starts and realizing I never did a post about the beautiful San Antonio wedding I went to late in June to celebrate G and B!

I have loved watching the relationship between these two incredible people grow and change.  Gina and I were roommates right when she and Brian were trying out their long distance relationship status between Houston and Savannah, and I got to witness their incredible communication, love for Christ, and faith in each other change each day.  Brian is such a hard working medical student and I love how much creativity and love Gina puts into her job at SCAD.  I cannot wait to see where life takes them!  Gina's sweet blog is such a fun website to check in on each week, she has so many great decor ideas and loves to share their adventures in newlywed world.

What a beautiful time we had in San Antonio.  From mani/pedi parties to margaritas at the rehearsal dinner, all of the events leading up to the big day were fantastic and so well planned.

 Becca, the MOH, did a great job on the ribbon bouquet! 

La Fonda restaurant where we had delicious mexican food on Friday night! 

It was so fun to meet Brian's family and to spend more time with Gina's awesome mama, Kitty.  Her family had us over for a fabulous bridesmaid luncheon with an incredible spread.  Don't you love how this table is decorated with old tins and silver?  What great flowers!

Mrs. Dudics is an amazing artist and painted each girl in the bridal party a small painting of pansies, her specialty.  She and Gina both LOVE flowers (I remember how often Gina would arrange bouquets in small vases around our Savannah apartment) and the pansy flower is a symbol of friendship, of thinking of someone during a special time, and the girls were all so thrilled to get such a sweet memento from this weekend.

I cannot wait to hang my canvas in my new apartment! 

The church at The Incarnate Word campus was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been inside of - with intricate ceilings, the seating faced the aisle for a very intimate view during the ceremony and aisle procession, and Gina's colors (of course!) were beautiful!  Her bridesmaids wore this amazing blue and her green/peach/cream flowers tied everything together perfectly.    

photograph by stela alessi photography

It was really fun to see my SCAD buddy Ashley who is now doing floral and event designs with her own company in Austin.  I hope I get to see a lot more of her and her sweet family now that I am back in Texas.  She did an incredible job setting up The Argyle for this spectacular event!

 photograph by stela alessi photography

photograph by stela alessi photography

Gina's friends were so fun to be around - I had a blast getting to spend more time with Becca, Molly, the Sarahs, meeting Miss Caroline, Christina, Michael, Heather, and Natalie.  I am so excited to live with Whittaker in Dallas!  We tied programs, did hair and makeup, giggled so hard, got teary eyed when we saw her in her dress for the first time, and danced  like nobody's business on the floor.  

I loved seeing Olivia again, she is so grown up!, and was so impressed with this little flower girl and her fabulous mama, Jenni. :)

And of course, my little Jean was a beautiful bride and Brian could not have looked more handsome.  

Congratulations, you two!  May the Lord bless you and keep you always! XOXO!