Sunday, March 25, 2012

Phil & Amy, Sitting in a Tree

We have had a jam-packed couple of weeks here.  Wedding, cousins, school pictures, storms, drive-in movies, coffee shop, Mamaw & Papaw, birthdays...

Let's start with a wedding.

Last weekend my cousin Phil got married, and Liam, Daddy, Mamaw, Papaw and I all piled in our car and drove north.  This was a very posh wedding, and children were not invited.  Since the wedding was in Naperville and since Great-Grandma Mary and Aunt Celeste and Uncle Roger and cousins Jake and Andy all live in Naperville, Mamaw and Papaw came along to visit with the family and watch Liam while Mommy and Daddy partied.

On arriving in Naperville, we ate lunch with Papaw's family at a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant - Clara's, in Woodridge, where the pasta is made fresh.  I had a bowl of radiatore with vodka cream sauce (vodka creammmmmm...).  It is a good thing it was a ridiculously huge bowl because after he munched on bread, and after he fished all the noodles out of his minestrone, Liam decided to help himself to my pasta!  That kid loves himself some noodles.

We went back to Great-Grandma Mary's to visit with her and Aunt Celeste, then we hurried back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

Then we got lost on the way to the wedding.

But we found our way back, just in time!

Cousin Phil is in the Air Force Reserves and so there were lots of guests and groomsmen in uniform.  Which was very beautiful to see.  The ceremony was pleasant... casual... I think the pastor was a hippy.  Takes all kinds, eh?  And then the honor guard gave new-cousin-Amy a spanking on the way back down the aisle, as a welcome to the Air Force family.

Then it was time to PAR-TAY!

No, wait.  Then it was time to EAT.  And boy, did we eat.  We started with a potato soup, then moved on to salads, then a pineapple sorbet.  To cleanse our palates.  I had to ask the server.  Then I was full, but we moved on to the main course anyway.  Sides of baked sliced potatoes, steamed carrots and asparagus, and chicken piccata AND beef filet.  It was so good, but it was way too much food!  Oh, and don't forget dessert!  Aunt Colleen made the gorgeous cake - red velvet and almond poppyseed - and there was ice cream on the side.  I was about to burst, so I just had a coffee.  I should have had the cake!

And dancing.  Oh, the dancing!  Daddy danced with me all night long!  So wonderful.  A few hours later Amy's mom (who works and McD's) ordered 150 burgers for those people who'd worked up an appetite dancing.  Yeah, right.

We got back to the hotel at midnight, and Liam had just fallen asleep in Mamaw and Papaw's room.  Daddy and I went back to our room and directly passed out.

The next morning we woke up and met all of my family downstairs for breakfast, and we all sat in the lobby and visited.  It was wonderful!  (We sat with Christina, her husband Tony, and their new baby Ethan at the reception - they just moved to Columbus for his job at Cummins.)  We left around noon, stopped at Fair Oaks Farms for lunch, and was home by evening.

It was a whirlwind trip (they always are), but it was well worth the trip.  I can't wait until the next time we all get together!

Grandma J, Liam, me, and Great Grandma Biwer

Ashton, Ethan, Christina, Brittani, and Liam

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Gravity of the Situation

Who has two thumbs and is a slacker?

THIS GIRL!

I feel like I should have updates on the kid.  Or pictures.  Or something.  Let's see what I can think of...

Well, we took the front off his crib, so now he can climb in and out.  Also, roll out during the night.  Ok, so that only happened the first night.  He was more surpised than anything, as I found him on all fours, whimper-crying.   I helped him back into bed, and he directly fell asleep.

The second night, he woke up at 6am.  I woke up to him calling, "Ee!  Ee!  Ee!"  I went to investigate, only to find he was not in his bed!  I found him standing in the hall between the front door and the dining room, in the dark, asking for something to eat.

Then we got a baby gate.

Then we got a baby gate that fit the doorway.

No more rolling out of bed, no more trips down the hall in the dark... I think we've got this down!

And just in case, we piled up some nice soft pillows along the side of his bed.

Of course, now he's figured out that if he calls, "Potty!  Potty!" we will let him out of bed after his is tucked in.  Usually he does actually go potty - it would just be nice if he did it before being put to bed.

Oh well - at least he's smart.