Jenna von Oy's Blog: An Ode to October and Our Wedding Day

Celebrity blogger Jenna von Oy is a new mama!

Best known for her roles as Six on Blossom and Stevie on The Parkers, von Oy is also a musician who has released two albums and is set to publish a book, The Betweeners.

von Oy, 36, wed Brad Bratcher on Oct. 10, 2010, and resides in Nashville with her husband and five dogs.

They welcomed their first child, daughter Gray Audrey, in May 2012. She is now 17 months old.

You can find her on Facebook and Twitter @JennavonOy, as well as posting on her weekly blog, The Cradle Chronicles.

In her latest blog, von Oy explains what makes fall particularly special for her trio.

Mimosa Arts Photography

I know we are already making our way into November, but it’s October that still has me beguiled. October ignites the changing of seasons. It is the ushering in of cool days and crisp evenings, a magical time when the foliage cloaks itself in various shades of fire.

It is a season which begs for the retrieval of cozy sweaters from the attic, making hand-dipped caramel apples, picking gourds at the local farmer’s market, sipping hot coffee on the front porch while gazing out at a foggy morning, and smelling the scent of hickory smoke from a neighbor’s wood burning stove.

It prompts the scramble to find recipes for toasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin lattes, and pumpkin pies, and … well, pumpkin everything. (Is it my imagination, or has the pumpkin spice flavor fad taken over this season? Next up: pumpkin spice-scented toothpaste and toilet paper. God forbid.)

I eagerly beckon in the fall; it is my favorite season. The thought of it conjures stunning images of my childhood: the East Coast autumnal landscape, Halloween costume plotting, and swinging into colossal piles of raked leaves with my siblings. October is an enchanting, poetic time of year that has always inspired my heart. And it began doing so on a whole new level when my husband and I chose 10-10-10 to say, “I do.”

These days, October represents the resurrection of memories from our wedding day. It means opening up our treasured, leather-bound album, and reminiscing. It is a time to reflect on that beautiful afternoon when our closest family and friends gathered together at a bed and breakfast in Connecticut, to show their profound support and adoration for the love my husband and I share.

It is celebrating that love all over again every October 10th, and bursting with gratitude for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us since then.

Yes, the month of October has taken on a life of its own. When Brad and I exchanged our heartfelt, self-written vows three years ago, we began a journey of love and learning that has lead to moments of joy, triumph, comedy, exhilaration and even frustration. (After all, marriage is a constant work in progress, isn’t it? I’m a firm believer that if love were easy, we wouldn’t have the same degree of appreciation for it…)

Most of all, our vows intensified the endless amount of trust, respect and affection we have for one another. And there’s proof of all of that in one phenomenal little 17-month old girl named Gray.

Waiting until my mid-thirties to get married meant I’d had plenty of time to dream of babies. Let’s just say my biological clock was ticking so loudly, I didn’t need to wear a wristwatch or set an alarm clock. But as we all know, life abides by its own set of rules and timelines, and they aren’t always in sync with our own.

When Brad and I were finally blessed with finding one another, we knew kids would follow soon after our marriage. We both (firmly and resolutely) wanted children, and we were up front about it from the get-go. In fact, I posed the “Do you want kids?” question on one of our first dates. I wasn’t messing around where that issue was concerned!

In a way, the idea of raising babies became part of what endeared us to one another. It was one more way for us to connect and share our hopes for the future. And the truth is that Brad and I were already head over heels for Gray long before she entered the picture. She was a fixture in our thoughts, even on our wedding day.

We may not have known her name, her arrival date, or whether she would be a boy or girl, but we knew she would eventually be in our lives. In our hearts, we were parents even before we had a living, breathing little girl to show for it. (Unless, of course, one takes canine babies into consideration!)

So in honor of the event that ultimately lead to my becoming a mommy — that stunningly perfect October afternoon when the skies stopped crying long enough for the sun to smile down on our wedding ceremony — I thought I’d do a blog in snapshots this month. I hope you enjoy perusing some of my favorite photos from that special day, as well as a few recent ones from this year. Viva October!

Here’s Your Sign

I love the simplicity of this photo — everything the day stood for was represented on a little wooden sign!

Brooke Boling Photography

It’s All In the Details

I’m a stickler for details, and it was very important to me to have personal touches around that made the wedding ours and ours alone. One of my favorites was my bouquet, which had old brooches of my Grandmother’s fastened onto it. Though she passed away years ago, it was neat to have that special reminder of her with me as I experienced such a beautiful milestone in my life. She would have been so proud!

Brooke Boling Photography

Them Boots Were Made For Walkin’ … Down the Aisle

There’s something I just adore about this photo of the boots I wore under my wedding gown. I love the vibrant colors and the composition of the photograph, but it’s much more than that.

I think I’m partial to the idea that this was taken before our life-changing celebration began. It’s a snapshot of a moment in time: a pair of shoes never worn before, both literally and figuratively. These boots walked me down the aisle, stood beside my husband as we took our marriage vows, and danced us to our wedding song.

Brooke Boling Photography

Our Marriage Vow Journal

Brad and I read our vows, which we wrote ourselves and kept secret from one another until the ceremony, from a little journal engraved with our initials. Along with the other profoundly emotional and sincere words we extended to one another, it happens that we both spoke of the children we couldn’t wait to have together.

Who knew we’d end up celebrating my pregnancy exactly a year later?! Gray has truly been the answer to our prayers.

Brooke Boling Photography

Just Married!

This was taken in the moment immediately following the official pronouncement that we were husband and wife, and it makes me smile every time I see it. All of our happy tears and nerves had faded into giant smiles of sheer euphoria and marriage-induced intoxication!

Brooke Boling Photography

Picture Perfect with a Pug

Before we were Gray’s parents, we were parents to Bruiser, Bailey, Mia, Boo and Ruby. Not all of the pups could attend our wedding due to logistics (not to mention the highly probable, basset hound-instigated ruckus which would have ensued), but Bruiser served as our ring bearer.

He did a fantastic job, and we had a quick photo opportunity with him before he headed home for the night. You know, since it was kind of pushing it to squeeze a Pug into a tuxedo for longer than 10 minutes in the first place.

Carla Ten Eyck Photography

Siblings In Photo Booth

Many of my favorite wedding photos consist of family and friends enjoying the festivities. From the photo booth, to the dance floor, to our amazing after-party (friends got up and sang ’til the wee hours…), there was definitely a lot of love and joy going around!

In an effort to maintain everyone’s privacy, I’ve refrained from posting any of those pictures. However, I just couldn’t resist including this one of my younger siblings Peter, Alyssa, Tyler and me hamming it up in the photo booth. I appreciate them agreeing to let me post it!

Carla Ten Eyck Photography

Dance with the One That Brought You … And Then Married You!

I’m thoroughly captivated by this photo of us captivated with each other. This was during a very special dance that I surprised my husband with during our reception. I’d written and recorded a song for him, then snuck it to our DJ. Brad has been a huge supporter of my music endeavors, so it was neat to give him such an intimate and personal gift!

Brooke Boling Photography

Under the Weather

After a week of pouring rain, the clouds parted and our wedding day was gorgeous. Just in case Murphy’s Law and the inclement weather kicked back in, we’d rented vintage parasols. Thankfully, we didn’t wind up using any of them … except as props for some really cute photos!

Brooke Boling Photography

And it all led to this beautiful, curious, wonderful, tiny human. Marriage has brought a lot of wonderful adventures to Brad and me, but none are as profound as the birth of our daughter.

This little girl has stolen our hearts, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be holding them hostage (in the best possible way, of course) forever!!