The Shocking 18!

It's no secret that Brian and I love our families. It's also no secret that we don't believe "family" is always blood related. As a result our "families" are HUGE! Mine more than his, but when you put them together I can guarantee we will look like the Duggars on steroids. So when it came to the wedding and making the decision on who would be in it we ended up finding ourself in a very strange situation. The adults of the wedding party were easy, but figuring out places for all the kiddos became nearly impossible. When you add all of our neices and nephews up we get a total of 18. That's a lot of kids, but each one is super special to us and we can't imagine our lives without them! I thought I would give a little background on who they all are.

His... Brian has an older sister and a younger sister. Camille, his older sister, was blessed with her first daughter, Emma, when Brian was 18 and they had an immediate bond. Emma is a lot like her Uncle Brian and it shows every time they are together. For the first several years of Emma's life Brian was the closest thing to a Daddy she had. Later, Camille married James, who had Orien and Tyler from his first marriage. Eight years ago Olivia joined the family and then 5 years ago Grace entered the world. Brooke, Brian's little sister, contributed Abby to the family 9 years ago. Each one of the kids holds a little piece of Brian's heart and it shows every time they are around him. I'll never forget seeing him with them for the first time. Watching his eyes light up and seeing how much he loved them made me fall in love with him that instant. I knew right then that he would be a wonderful father.

Mine...This is where it gets confusing. Let's start with biological ones first. My older brother, BG, has a son Josh. I haven't been around Josh much, but I did get to spend some time with him when my brother passed away. Josh is his dad made over, physically, and has his mother's brilliant mind. When I look at him it makes me feel like God left a piece of BG just for us. My older sister, Jody, has two kiddos, Kaylie and Brady. Kaylie looks just like my sister did when she was younger and is so sweet. She never fails to hug me everytime I see her. Brady is a shy little monster. He's 5 years old and the size of a 7 year old. He's got sugar dripping out of him at every turn and is 100% boy! My little brother, John, has 2 boys. Christian, while not biologically his, loves his Daddy so much! You cans see the world disappear when John walks into the room. Aiden is a miniature version of my brother. If you were to compare pictures the only thing that would distinguish between the two of them is the age of the actual picture. Aiden is such a good baby and is quickly beginning to show signs of being his big brother's side kick!
Non biological...When I was 8 years old my mother got me involved in Big Brothers and Sister of Tarrant County. I was matched with Ethel and when our case was closed, due to me graduating high school and being 18, we were the longest running match in BB&S history. Alexandra, her oldest, was born the day after my 15th birthday and I will never forget the day she was born. Last year, Alex started on the Varsity Soccer team at her school. She was a freshman!! When Alex was 7 she was given a baby brother and sister. Isabel and Connor were born in February and are a miracle in themselves. Isabel is all girl and it shows in everything she does and says. Connor loves anything Alex does and you can see how much he looks up to her! You all know who Raquel is. Raquel came into our lives about 9 years ago when she and my mom started working together. Her entire family lives out of state so she adoped our family and we adopted her. When she got married 4 years ago my mom got two grandkids with the deal. Bailye is 13 and such a doll. We don't see her much, but we miss her when she isn't around. Ryen is involved in basketball, soccer, and football and keeps the family running. He has a huge heart and is the best big brother that I've ever seen. Three years ago Raquel gave birth to Ava and gave my mom her 3rd grandchild. Ava is another one that is all girl. She was tiny when she was born and hasn't changed much. She is petite and tiny and beautiful. Ava became a big sister when Alexa came into the world 2 years ago. Lexi is in a world of her own. She rolled over at 3 months, crawled at 5, and had a full array of words in her vocabulary by her first birthday...including octopuss!

There you go! That's all of them! They are literally what makes our world go round and having each one of them in our wedding is going to make our day that much more special. Now, Orien and Tyler will not be with us that day as they have moved to Hawaii with their mom. My Goddaughter, Katlin will be a part of the wedding and so will her little brother Matthew. Still makes it 18.

I know it's a lot of kids and it will likely be chaotic, but I can NOT imagine it any other way and neither can Brian.