Noe News is Good News

Christmas!!

We were expecting a lazy Christmas Eve but it turned out to be the exact opposite when Christmas shopping was put off until the last minute. We faced the bad traffic and heavy crowds and finally got all of our Christmas shopping done by mid-afternoon. When we did, we headed over to Adam's parents for dinner and opening presents, as is the yearly tradition in their family. After dinner, we let Landen and Joselyn open their first gift- a new set of Christmas PJs which we put on right away.

 

Landen got some Christmas monkey PJs...

And Jos got some cute Reindeer/Penguin PJs



Watching the kids open their presents this year was absolutely magical. I could have cared less if I got anything! (although I got some wonderfully awesome things!)

(Don't you just love how she sticks her tongue out while she concentrates on opening her present?)

One of Joselyn's absolutely favorite toys this year was a little mini pack and play for her babies. She kept on taking her baby to take a nap, waking it up, put her down for a nap, get it up... repeat over and over again. It was adorable.

I wanted to do something special and thoughtful for my families this year, so I made everyone something. Most everyone got a scarf from me that I made all by myself! The newlyweds (Seth and Holly) as well as the soon-to-be-weds (Suzanne and Drew) got a little Family sign that I made. I got a picture of Drew and Suzanne with their signs but sadly forgot to take any pictures of the Kravetz's!! It looks about the same though.

For Adam's parents, I framed some of the family pictures I took for them earlier on in the year and some of Landen, Joselyn and Melanie. For my parents, I was able to frame some of the amazing photos that my friend Kasey took for us over the summer! Both were hits.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. For the first time ever, we had our own little gift opening session in our own home... and SANTA came!! I will never forget the look on Joselyn's face when she saw all the presents under the tree! (it was empty when she went to bed). She got all sorts of fun little goodies in her stocking and even got her own laptop so she can "work" like mommy and daddy! (a toy one of course- but it looks pretty real!)

I had fun shopping for Adam this year... he got a gift certificate to the Buckle (his favorite store), A shirt that I picked out for him from the Buckle, and a leather watch box from Fossil. 

Adam really did good this year on gifts for me... he knew that I was needing some warm items for my trip to Montana, so I got a really nice (and perfectly me) Steve Madden scarf, a Columbia hat lined with the softest fabric imagineable and a warm winter coat. He also got me a new wallet from Fossil. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I am so excited about my new winter ensemble that I made Adam take a picture of me in everything despite the fact I hate pictures of myself right now...

After our own festivities we went over to my parents where we had a delicious Christmas breakfast!!! I loved being able to be there with my family and my new sister in law! We really missed Amaree but I get to see her in January with my new niece which made it less bitter!! After hanging out and playing some games, we dropped off Landen and Jos at Adam's parents house for a nap while we all went and saw "Sherlock Holmes". LOVED it!!

I must say I am a little sad to see the holiday season go... it always brings me so much happiness and reason to reflect on the things that I am grateful for. But I am also looking forward to this new year and all the excitement it will bring. I am looking forward to all the fun I am going to have with my kids as they grow a little cuter every day. I look forward to setting some personal goals and to better myself.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a happy new year!!

Merry Christmas from the Noe Family!

Making Gingerbread Houses

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and Visiting Teaching companion Tressa invited our family and the families we visit teach over to her beautiful home to make graham cracker gingerbread houses. It was a mad house but such fun. Everyone made such wonderful gingerbread houses! Our version included a little orange car with jellybean wheels (just in case you couldn't tell it was a car) and a simple gumdrop snowman. 

The candy:

 

The setup:

 

Hard at work!!

 

 

Here's a little video of everyone having fun!!


 

Landen's First Birthday!

Landen doesn't seem old enough to be turning one. I know that makes no sense, but he still seems like such a little baby to me. He's my little momma's boy. My cuddle bug. My little cute redheaded charmer. What an adventure watching him grow... and I will admit it has gone by much faster with him than it did with Joselyn! We decided to keep things simple for his first birthday party and just had mostly family over. My little (big) bro was to be married 2 days after Landen's actual birthday so that weekend was out. We ended up having the party a week early at my house. That doesn't mean I didn't have fun with a theme though... Ever since Halloween I've been calling Landen my little monster. So a monster theme it was! The ever talented Chelsea once again HOOKED ME UP with one of the cutest little monster cakes your have ever seen! AND little monster cupcakes to go with it! Don't forget the little monster smash cake either!!

 

 

 

Landen is waiting to smash his cake... literally... with his new toy hammer in hand and a monster "FEED ME" shirt.

Don't worry he got messier!!

Opening all his fun gifts!!

 

As I was making his birthday video, I must confess that I cried a little. I just miss my little baby and he has grown way too fast! The good thing is that he really does get cuter everyday and I just love him more and more as time goes on! Here's his video!

Joselyn's Second Birthday Video

I know this is almost 2 months late... but things have been SUPER crazy and I haven't had a chance to upload this video until today! Here is Joselyn's second Birthday video that we showed at the party (and watch over and over again at home...)

Have we watched "UP" too many times?

Yesterday, Adam and I took our vehicles to the Jeep dealership to get the oil changed and to take care a the key fob recall etc. While we were there, the salesmen gave both the kids some really big balloons. I mean, we were almost afraid Joselyn was going to be carried away!

Well, when they went down for their naps, Adam decided to have a little fun with the balloons so that when Joselyn woke up she would have a little surprise!

So... Adam tied an Oreo to one balloon and two of her pacifiers to the other one.

There were giggles all over the place when she woke up! And lots of silliness followed.

Landen's first Haircut

Landen's hair was getting a little shaggy- especially on the sides. We kept on talking about how we wanted to cut it, but the thought of it was a little sad. (what's even sadder was that Joselyn was still BALD at his age!) Well, we finally did it last night. We gave the little guy a sucker and sat him in his high chair.

 

He did pretty good... until he started getting stickiness all over him and hair on that stickiness!! We gave him a bath and when he woke up this morning Adam had to touch it up a little. But the end result? Oh my goodness it about made me cry! My little baby suddenly looked like a little man- in fact, he looked almost exactly like his daddy! But I must say I am loving his new look!

And don't worry- I kept a lock of his hair!

Countdown to Christmas- Days 3-5

Day 3- Buy a new Christmas book

Books are always a great way for Joselyn to learn new things. I know that reading has helped her understand many concepts that we wouldn't have been able to explain otherwise. I have struggled to come up with a way to explain what Christmas is all about to a two year old. Joselyn knows who Jesus is- but I don't quite know if she understands the concept of how people grow up. So when we tell her about baby Jesus, is she understanding it's the same person? Anyway, this book that we found tells the ystory of the birth of baby Jesus. It has a little star button you can push to play "Silent Night" while little lights light up around the baby Jesus. Joselyn loves this book.

Day 4- Go on a carriage ride downtown

I was really really looking forward to this one. In November, I was starting to plan activities for December so I looked up the local event calendar. It was there that I found out about the FREE CARRIAGE rides downtown on certain Fridays! Joselyn loves horses (or any animal for that matter) so I knew she would have fun. The weather was calling for a really chilly night, so we went out and bought some toddler gloves for Joselyn. Funny thing is they were still HUGE on her! Another problem was that the rides didn't start until 7. That is usually the kids' bedtime. I didn't mind if Joselyn stayed up a little, but I knew Landen would have some issues if he didn't get to bed around that time- especially with the chance we may not be home until 9! So Adam stayed at home with Landen and put him to bed while I met up with my mom downtown (where she works right across the street from Triangle Park; where the rides would start). Before getting in line, we stopped by Starbucks to grab some hot chocolate and pumpkin bread. We got in line at around 6:40 and were the 2nd "group" in line.

Joselyn's face lit up when she saw the horse drawn carriages coming around the corner! We hopped on the second carriage with a young couple. The horses went through downtown Lexington by the courthouse etc. where we saw some pretty lights and displays. Joselyn LOVED it. The young couple with us told us they were expecting a baby in the summer- so I was relieved to find out they weren't going to be annoyed with a 2 year old in the carriage with them! They were really nice. They even took a few pictures for us!

The horse that was pulling the carriage behind us would get really really close to us- we could have reached out our hands and petted him!

We were really really cold but it was so much fun. I love having a 2 year old! She can be a little "spirited" and naughty, but she is so full of life and laughter. Seeing her smile melts all my cares away. 

Day 5- Drive around and see Christmas Lights

This is something we actually seem to do every other day as it is, but we sure love to do it! It is very fun to drive around and see how people have decorated their homes to bring in holiday cheer. Our favorite place to visit so far is Hartland. In the nicer area of Hartland, there are a few homes that have gone above and beyond with waving Santas in the windows and yards filled with blow-up characters. Joselyn is wowed every time and even Landen gets excited!

Countdown to Christmas- Day 1 and 2

I decided that I really wanted to make Christmas memorable this year- not only for my children, but for me (THROUGH them). We started early with a trip to Southern Lights the first day it opened. Then the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do an activity countdown to Christmas. I'd seen the idea floating around online, and so I decided I would give it a try. I found an advent calendar at Michaels that I am "fixing up" (more on that later) but the activities couldn't wait so we went ahead and started.

Day 1-

This was the first day of our Christmas countdown. Nothing too extraveggant this day. We stayed home in our pajamas and put up the Christmas tree decorations. I played my new list of Christmas music that I uploaded and danced around to the music. I'll share the itunes list with you in the next few days- found a lot of fun and beautiful music to celebrate with this year!

Day 2-

We invited my sister Chelsea, my niece Autumn, and my friend Sierra and her little boy Caylor over for some Christmas cookie decorating. This was SO MUCH FUN despite all the messes that were made in the process!

As we waited for Chelsea to get to my house with the cookie dough, Sierra and I let our kids snack on sprinkles. Joselyn was being a little chatterbox as usual- these faces are SO her. She looks this cute when she is telling a story.

Here's cute little Caylor with his big brown eyes. Love this little guy!!!



When Chelsea got to my house, we pretty much threw flour all over my kitchen table and let the kids have fun with the cookie dough and cookie cutters. It was a HUUUUUUUGE mess. But the giggles and smiles made it all worth it!

The adults cute out a lot of gingerbread men. I must say they were my favorite- so cute!



The beautiful mess...





And yes, the flour got inside the little cracks in my table. Gotta love THAT!



Once the cookies were baked and cooled (the kids watched a little of UP while they waited) we got out the green frosting and Christmas sprinkles to decorate the cookies.... and um, eat more sprinkles and lick frosting.

Chelsea's cookies:

Joselyn's cookies:



My little gingerbread family- notice the little baby with red hair!!!

The cookies were very delicious!! Think we'll make some more another day...

Coming up!! Day 3: new book, Day 4: carriage ride downtown- I'll document it tomorrow! As for now, my husband is calling me over to watch The Terminator: Salvation. Oh boy.

Joselyn's new Kitchen

When I first saw this kitchen set at Target (many many years ago even before Joselyn was born) I knew someday I would have to have it.

Joselyn's 2nd birthday was the perfect occasion. When a $20 off coupon arrived in the mail, I couldn't wait any longer.

I started putting it together the day after her birthday party... but it was taking so long and I didn't get to finish it. On Sunday, the two kids were sick and so we ended up stayed home from church. Adam and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work on it. So we team-worked and finished it in about 2 hours!

When she woke up from her nap, Adam brought it upstairs and surprised her. She LOVED it. Now she hardly wants to play with anything else!

I love all the little details of this kitchen- the stylish faucet with knobs that turn, the other knobs on the oven and microwave that click when turned...



And I love all the little food that looks so cute on the kitchen shelves. I mean, SERIOUSLY! Look at the canned Green Giant green beans and little Hamburger Helper boxes!!



I love this little tea set that Joselyn got for her birthday too.



She is just SO CUTE playing with this kitchen.

And she even lets Landen in on the fun.



And they make me yummy snacks like cupcakes, pizza, ice cream and green beans. I love watching my children play together and having fun!

I have my eye on this little cookie set from Melissa & Doug next-- the perfect Christmas present or what?

Making Biscuits

My mother-in-law and Joselyn treated us to a breakfast of Biscuits and gravy on Saturday morning! Here's what I walked into after finishing up a photo shoot with my sister and her family:

And I must say- the biscuits were delicious!

What do you do when your 2 year old is a better cook than you are?? Hmm....

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Going into Thanksgiving I must admit I didn't have much of a holiday spirit. I don't know what it was... but I was hoping SOMETHING would turn it around! It's my absolute favorite time of the year and it felt so "scroogy" to not be as excited as I usually was.

We decided to split Thanksgiving Day with the families from now on and swtich every other year. This way we would get to spend time with both families without feeling pressure or guilt (from ourselves!). Thankgiving meal at the first, then dessert (and leftovers!) at the latter. This year we started out at my in-laws.

Everything turned around the moment I walked in to my in-laws home on Thanksgiving morning. THe Christmas decorations were up, the tree was lit and decorated beautifully and Christmas music was playing. Joselyn's face lit up when she saw the Christmas tree all lit up and Landen couldn't stop staring. As soon as music was heard, dancing commenced of course. That totally got me in the holiday spirit. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at my in-laws and then headed over to my parents where we enjoyed the best pumpkin pie EVER and LOTS of yummy leftovers. We got to spend lots of time with my parents although I missed out on a lot of time with my siblings. Chelsea and her family rushed out, Solomon had to work and Seth and Holly weren't there. And don't forget Amaree who is all the way in Montana!

I had a lot of time to reflect on the things I am grateful for in my life- which is a lot. I wrote a post about one of those things on my photography blog. But there is so much more. For some reason I am feeling a bit personal this year so I will keep my sentiments to myself. I will say though that I have a wonderful family and the greatest friends. I love my husband and he has given me the most beautiful sweetest children.

I didn't take any pictures- my goal was to enjoy the day as much as possible and I most certainly did.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Friday.

Chelsea talked me into it. We got up at 1am, I left the house at 1:30. Chelsea wanted to start out at Old Navy but changed her mind after waiting in the cold for 10 minutes. So when I got there I picked her up and we pretty much wandered aimlessly around Lexington for a few hours. Things are a LOT different when you don't have your organized father taking the lead. We finally decided to grab some breakfast. We were having trouble finding places that were open, but finally came across McDonalds with a line and all the lights on. The line was moving REALLY slow and we waited for 15 minutes. By the time we got to the speaker, my patience had run thin. No one was answering!!! I finally decided to drive to the window- NO ONE THERE!!! Chelsea and I laughed and laughed before we turned around to tell the others behind us that no one was there (something the people in front of US didn't have the courtesy to do!) We finally found a McDonalds that really WAS open and got some breakfast. We then headed to the Mall then Target. I didn't have a whole lot of money so I didn't get anything TOO fancy, but I did leave with a $25 6ft pre-lit Christmas tree and a few other fun gifts for Adam and the kids. I have decided though that I'm not sure if Black Friday is worth the lack of sleep anymore... if someone wants to help change my mind next year let me know!!

Holly's Bridal Shower

Yes, I love planning parties. And the weekend after Joselyn's party I had yet another party to help plan- a bridal shower for my sister-in-law to be Holly. (who is marrying my brother Seth). We kind of were in a rush and lacking in creativity so you may see a few things similar to that of Joselyn's birthday party. Just letting you know.

We decided to have an around the clock bridal shower for Holly. Each invitee was assigned an hour of the day to use as a guide in picking out the gift. The talented Chelsea came through once again on the cake and cupcakes.

 

For decorations, we hung sepia toned pictures (the engagement pictures I took of Holly and Seth) with clothes pins and twine. The tables were set for a nice lunch with a bunch of flowers in the middle tied with a brown satin bow. We served some soup in bread bowls from Atlanta Bread Company as well as a salad garnished with cranberries. It was some yummy eating I must say.

 

 

We played a lot of fun games. My favorite? Pin a kiss on Seth's LIPS! We found the best looking picture of Seth we could find, blew it up and everyone had to try and plant a kiss sticker on his lips blindfolded. HILARIOUS! (I am just teasing about the best looking picture part)

 

(this pic of Seth was taken one year when he dressed up as a nerd for Halloween)

Some other games we played-

The infamous "how well do you know your fiance" game with bubble gum for the wrong answers. We found out that Holly hated bubble gum and felt kind of bad- but she did surprisingly well! We had an interview with Seth on tape which we played back for the answers. She knows him a lot better than we thought she would but still ended up with a mouth full of bubble gum.

For favors we gave out Hot Chocolate in a jar complete with peppermint balls and marshmallows.

I know- mason jars again. But it just worked out that way.

We are so excited to have Holly as part of the Kravetz family. She is super sweet and fits right in! The shower was lots of fun! And you bet I'm helping plan the reception too! Woohoo! I seriously love this party planning stuff!

Joselyn's Second Birthday Party

There is only one other thing that comes really close to my love for taking pictures and that is planning parties. I love love love it. I love planning out small details and making cute favors. I had a lot of help, but I must say it was one fun party this year for Joselyn's second birthday party.

Since I knew Joselyn would want plenty of space to run around, I ended up reserving the church gym for her birthday party. It's probably something I won't do again- bad lighting for pictures and maybe a little TOO much room. The lighting was so discouraging, I did't end up taking many pictures. Thank goodness I have a dad who also loves his camera. He got lots of good pictures for memories' sake.

The theme I chose this year was "bugs in the flower garden". Joselyn loves flowers (Adam's mom is an avid gardner and Jos often joined her in the summer to garden). I threw the bugs in there because she also is fascinated by them too- although it was mostly so that the party wouldn't be too girly since boys would be there.

I made the invitations myself using patterned scrapbook paper- some were flowers and some were leaves with a bug or two on them. I put them in vellum envelopes for cuteness' sake.

For favors I filled mason jars with plastic bugs, bug finger puppets (which I got at Kremers for VERY cheap, might I add!), gummy bugs and other goodies. I also made each child a scarf. A little random I know, but who doesn't love a cute little scarf?

For the table decorations I used a green table cloth and used tissue paper flowers and leaves for place mats. The plates were yellow and were placed in the middle of the flower(the pollen!). Each scarf had a tag with the child's name on it and was placed on the plate to help the kids find their seat. Each place setting also had a bug on their flower place mat!

 

If I had had more time, the buffet table would have been a lot cuter too- lunch was sandwiches on round buns which I was trying to arrange to look like a centipede. I had planned to use carrot sticks for legs but forgot to get them. This is as good as it got:

Now I can't take any credit for the cake. I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like but it turned out SO MUCH BETTER than I could have imagined and I owe it all to my sister Chelsea who slaved a way the day before the party (with a little help from a friend) making this awesome cake. All the flowers, leaves and bugs are made out of fondant. The frosting is Chelsea's yummy recipe!

 

ISN'T IT CUTE!?! I hated to eat it- but it sure tasted good too! (thanks SO MUCH Chelsea!)

In the background you will see the results from one of the games that we played- pin the bug on the flower.

If the cake wasn't enough, Chelsea ALSO made some adorable cupcakes!!

Besides pin the bug on the flower, we also had a race with some cute wind-up bugs I found at Michaels. That was too funny.

(pictures from my dad)

 

Here's a video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Joselyn and blowing out the candles.

And as is tradition, we ended the party with a slideshow of Joselyn. Here it is for you to see :)

It was a great party. It wouldn't have been so fun if it weren't for all the people who helped me (Thanks mom, Chelsea and Jaleelah!) and for the sweet friends who took time out of their weekend to come celebrate! Thanks to all that came out!

I'll close with a few pics that my dad took from the party!

(you can see them all here- password JosJos)

This week...

-Joselyn brought me some hair bands and wanted me to put pigtails in her hair (I used to fight her for this)
-Joselyn ordered Adam to give me a kiss goodnight "kisses right der" she said as she pointed to my cheek.
-I overheard Joselyn tell Landen "Don't make messes!" She had such a serious look on her face. She meant business.
-Joselyn is starting to talk in full sentences- clearly.
-Joselyn dressed herself in her monster costume and said "Mom, I'm a monster. Raaaar. Am I scary?" (I told her she wasn't scary- she was cute!)(and, I might add- I got it all on VIDEO-coming soon)
-Joselyn repeatedly took off her clothes by herself.
-Joselyn sang her ABCs. She mostly has no idea what the letters mean, but she sure does know the song!

-Landen walked in a circle
-Landen walked with a coloring book in one hand and a crayon in the other (he was so proud)
-Landen walks like Frankenstein.
-Landen started SLEEPING 8 HOURS STRAIGHT! (finally!)

I am such a happy mom.

I now have a two year old.

From this...

To this...

 

To this.

 

Time sure does go by fast. I was watching her 1st birthday video this morning and couldn't believe how tiny and small and helpless she used to be. It's hard to believe that without much effort on my part she has learned to walk, talk, eat and do all these amazing things all by herself. She's a walking miracle and laugh machine. We love this little girl.

Because of scheduling conflicts, her birthday party isn't for another two weeks. But we couldn't let her special day go by without a little celebration and attention. Joselyn got so many calls from friends and family wishing her a "happy birthday" that she ended up singing "happy birthday" to herself all day. We even taught her how to say "I'm two!" 

We asked Joselyn what she wanted for dinner and she said grapes. So she got grapes. And cous cous. 

We got her a little cake with plastic balloons on it and let her blow out the candles. 

Adam had to help out...

I am so excited about her real birthday party in two weeks! I have been planning for weeks and  invitations have been sent! There are few things that are more fun than planning a great party and I can't wait!

I think my heart could just about burst with love for Joselyn! Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Jos Jos!

My two little monsters

When I saw these costumes at Children's Place I knew I had to get them. They were cute, silly and so appropriate for a brother and sister duo. And I just fell in love with the little monster feet!

Halloween was so fun this year. I loved watching my kids enjoy themselves. I feel like this is the first holiday that Joselyn understands and she got so into it. And now I know why Parents make such a big deal over holidays- seeing your child happy is the best reward ever. I really really enjoy that part.

Here's a video of Joselyn at her first real house trick or treating. The whole time we were out trick or treating she was singing the "trick or treat" song from Yo Gabba Gabba. Yeah. She was totally into it.

It was a little chilly, but the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Did anyone else enjoy the beautiful sunset as much as I did?

Now that Halloween is over, I am dreaming about the other fun holidays ahead- Thanksgiving, Christmas... and everything hereafter. We're going to decorate Gingerbread houses, makie hot chocolate with marshmallows, build snowmen, decorate Christmas trees and so much more! This having kids thing is SO MUCH FUN!

Trunk or Treats

This year we got to go to 2 different Trunk or Treats!! I took Melanie, her friend Willow and Joselyn to the Pioneer Trunk or Treat first (last week) and Joselyn had so much fun. I just loved watching her run from trunk to trunk saying "trick or treat!!" and "thank you!!" as she got more candy. We had watched penty of the Yo Gabba Gabba Halloween episode for her to know all about Halloween and trick or treating, so she knew exactly what to do. She made a very cute little monster.

Some video:

Joselyn wasn't in the same kind of mood for the Tates Creek trunk or treat. Don't know why. It could have been the really cool but kinda scary for little kids costume that Brother Rowe was wearing! She wanted us to hold her the whole time, lol! I even went and shook his hand to show her he wasn't scary, but it didn't work.

Our two little monsters were adorable though and got us lots of candy!

By the end of the night, Landen was pretty tired of being pushed around on the stroller. HE wanted to push the stroller and was very determined to do so.

Pumpkin Carving Party

I hate to say this, but I have never carved a pumpkin all by myself until this year (that I can remember...). Very very sad, I know. So when we were invited to Jaleelah's pumpkin carving party, I was excited! Jaleelah is such a great party planner, so I knew it would be a great party. She had prepared some yummy squash soup, breadsticks, Halloween cupcakes, and other yumminess. She also had a huge bucket of goodies for the kids to pick from. I think Joselyn took all of the play dough and balls that were in there, lol. She also had a little station for the kids to decorate their pumpkins with markers! It was perfect and I carved my first pumpkin!

Here's the only picture (very lame) I took of my pumpkin before it got all moldy and yucky.

2 weddings, 2 birthday parties and a little bit of everything else!

This has been a very bust past few weeks bit they have been filled with so many things that I love- spending time with good friends and family, planning Joselyn's 2nd birthday party and Landen's 1st birthday party, taking lots and lots of pictures for awesome people and helping my brother's fiance plan her wedding AND helping Adam's sister plan HER wedding! All things I love so so very much. The other day Suzanne and I went to a few places to take care of wedding stuff. Although Suzanne has her dress already picked out, we thought it would be fun to try some on her anyway- and it WAS fun. She's so gorgeous!! A lot of these dresses are similar to the style she is getting, although hers will have sleeves. Her wedding is going to be so beautiful and I can't wait!