First Communion Day

Well now that it has come and gone, I can't believe it's gone already.

 

Here she is at home before we left :)

 

 

 She was pretty nervous but then after talking with the kids there, they were all nervous.

 

 

 

 

 Papa and Mikayla.

 

 

 

(look at the little goof ball below)(such a silly girl - it's nice she's never far away even when she is nervous)

 

 

 

 

 

Some of her little friends.  We were in the "holding" room before they processed into the church.  We had the choice to do it with her school mates or at our church - she really wanted to be with her friends.

 

 

(um.... she's tall!)

 

 

 

Gosh little girls are fun!!!!!  They were all fixing each other and really enjoying being dressed up for the occassion.  Gracie and Mikayla are great friends.

 

 

 

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the church but they did have a professional photographer there.

 

They arranged the kids by height - she was near the end, we thought we missed her coming in because it seemed like it was taking so long.

 

Our "cousin" Tyler!!  We were so happy he could come!

 

 

We went to a Tuscan Grille for lunch afterwards to celebrate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her friend Brandon (below on the left) brought her flowers to the restaurant too. Isn't that SO sweet!

 

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun. 

 

 

It was a wonderful day

It was so incredibly special

It was everything Mikayla wanted and needed it to be

She didn't experience any disappointments on her day, which was very important to me

She was a bit overwhelmed, in a good way

 

She IS different now

 

She did grow up on me just a bit more on Saturday.

 

Today is the day!!!! We're on our way!

I wish this was our method of transportation.  To know me, you should know that I'm seriously obsessed with golf carts.  I love them, I want one, I need one!  Seriously - NEED!

Well the day of our photo shoot - my family also has discovered the joy of the golf cart... I had to share - BOO

Leading to two of my favorite pictures!  Mikayla loved driving it around!!!

I wish this is how we scooted around town!

After today.
She'll be different.
She'll have grown a little more.
I'll love her even more than I do today.

The day before our big day

Today is the day I thought I'd share some more of Mikayla's formal photographs.  I am SO in love with these pictures.  They just amaze me and I can't wait to see some of them displayed throughout our home.

 

Tomorrow is our big day!!  We are really excited, a tiny bit anxious but overall, just can't wait!  This post is very picture extensive - I'll let them do the talking.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of tradition

In keeping Mikayla's First Communion which is a very important sacrament, I found a way (thank you Pinterest) to preserve and hopefully capture her sacraments as she achieves them. 

 

The picture below shows her baptism gown while she wears her first communion gown... sniff sniff

 

 

Next is first communion Mikayla holding a picture of baptism Mikayla.... (not at all confusing).  

 

 

My hope with these pictures is that as she moves on to her next sacrament of confirmation, I will be able to get a picture of her holding a picture of her in her first communion gown holding the picture of her baptism.

 

 

Then maybe if she wants to carry it on through her wedding holding a picture of confirmation, first communion, and baptism.

 

 

All so special and important as she continues to grow and change.

 

 

I love the idea of capturing and stopping time for a moment to really celebrate and recognize her religious journey.

 

**sniff sniff**

 

Special times are beginning

Well all times are really special and this is no exception.

 

We have a big celebration coming up with Mikayla's First Communion and we got her pictures taken and I am IN LOVE with how they came out. 

 

It was an amazing experience and oh so special. 

 

She is wearing my wedding jewelery

Katie's wedding veil

We brought my mom's dad's bible that was a gift to him in 1927 (Mikayla's great-grandfather)

We also have my mom's mom's dress gloves from the 1950s-60s (Mikayla's great-grandmother)

 

So Mikayla is wrapped in generations of love and feeling every single bit of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm having MAJOR flash forward images in my head. I am so excited and happy for Mikayla to be making her First Communion.  I cry just to think about all of this.... happy tears.

 

There will be a series of posts on this - I can't wait to share them all!

A special dress

When we were figuring out what Mikayla would wear for her first communion, my first thought was what we had in the house that could be worn.  And I pulled out my grandmother's wedding dress that she wore on January 3, 1932.  And it FITS Mikayla!!!  Can you believe that!

 

Here it is!  Just needs to be pressed!

 

 

Doesn't it look beautiful!  It's about 4 inches long but other than that only some restoration on the seams is needed, cleaning and truth be told, a bit of modernization or beading to add some of what Mikayla wants on it some how.

 

 

 

Our biggest issue is that it's not white, it's a true ivory color no amount of cleaning/bleaching can change that so we decided that it just wasn't going to work for our occassion.  Which is ok but I really would have loved the sentiment of Mikayla wearing it.

 

So while playing around with dresses.  Mikayla put on my wedding dress just for fun! 

 

 

WAAAAAAA  serious flash forward moments for this momma!

 

So in the end we went down a completely different but perfect path.