Picture of first cousins from my Mom's side of the family (plus some of our spouses/significant others).
James and Caroline walking through a sparkler tunnel leaving the reception. Although the sparklers were fun and made a grand exit for the happy couple, they were actually quite dangerous (seriously!). I was relieved that everyone left the reception with both eyes intact and without any grass catching on fire...yikes!
May 28th through May 31st, 2009: What a whirlwind four days!
Thursday evening, we had dinner with my Dad's first cousin, Peter, who flew down from Ontario for the wedding. Several of my Dad's first cousins came to the wedding as well as one of my mom's first cousins and many other extended family members. We had such a good time visiting with our extended family and truly appreciated each and every out of town guest taking time (and spending the money!) to come into town for my brother's wedding. Not that we didn't appreciate the in-town guests, but it especially means a lot when people make a special trip from out of town to be in attendance.
Friday midday was the bridesmaids' luncheon. I took John Harrison with me to the luncheon. For about the past month, he has started screaming very loudly every time he is in the car without someone riding in the back with him. I find it quite amazing that such a little guy is able to know and find consolation in the fact that someone is there beside him! He will still cry sometimes when I ride in the back with him, but not anywhere near the extent he cries when he is in the back seat alone. So, needless to say, I don't leave the house with him alone unless I really need to go somewhere. I promise that there is a connection of this tangent to the bridesmaids' luncheon. The luncheon was about 35 minutes from our house; so, you can imagine that the car rides there and back were not so pleasant. The luncheon was fun and the food excellent! Caroline was so sweet to remember my sister's 29th birthday and brought a birthday cake for Margaret at the luncheon (see above pic).
Friday night was the rehearsal followed by the rehearsal dinner. I really wanted out of town family members to be able to meet John Harrison and so I brought him to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. All things considered, he did really well until his bedtime approached....and then he began to have a meltdown (can't blame the little guy---with the day's activities, he was already sleep-deprived and torn from his normal routine). David kindly volunteered to take John Harrison to his parents' house (thanks Karen and Frank for being willing to babysit on such short notice) so that they could watch him until the dinner was over. David returned to the dinner about 40 minutes later to be greeted by a cold steak :(. I guess we should have left John Harrison with my in-laws from the beginning but at the same time, I am really glad that relatives were able to meet him and also, David and I quickly agreed that we would not try to take him to the wedding with us the following day. We finally got to bed well after midnight. Still two days of wedding and post-wedding festivities to go!!
Saturday, I woke up really early, and was able to get ready for the busy day. We are having a fence installed around our backyard and the huge amount of lumber was supposed to be delivered on Saturday morning. After the wood was delivered, we headed over to my parents' house for a breakfast with my family and my Dad's first cousins. After getting back home early afternoon, we squeezed in a nap for John Harrison, dropped our sweet baby off at David's parents' house, and headed to the church. The wedding and reception were so much fun. People kept asking me if it was weird having my baby brother get married. I was so happy for James and Caroline and have watched my "baby" brother mature in so many ways over the last few years; so, the fact that he was getting married seemed very natural (with no weirdness). David and I were both in the wedding (bridesmaid and groomsman) and we were standing close to James on the stage; I think we both cried when we looked over and saw James crying as his bride walked down the aisle. What a sweet moment . . . and one I will never forget. Congratulations, James and Caroline. Happy almost 2 week anniversary!
Sunday, we spent some more time with family. We were exhausted by the time the weekend came to a close. Having a baby definitely makes weekends like that one a bit challenging. I am learning that, with a baby, there is a fine balance between adhering to a routine (i.e. making sure baby gets the necessary number of naps, etc.) and making sure that you still live your life (i.e. staying the entire time at my brother's wedding reception even though it means picking our 3 month old baby from my in-laws' house at midnight and getting to bed after 1 am, which wrecks havoc on your baby's routine and results in increased fussiness for a few days). We all survived the weekend and almost two weeks later, John Harrison doesn't seem any worse off due to the lack of sleep and the change in routine :). In fact, he's actually quite excited that his Uncle James and Aunt Caroline live only 15 minutes away. John Harrison gets excited just thinking about all the times that they will jump at the opportunity to watch him . . . or is that mom and dad who are excited about that??
5-15-09 (10 weeks old)
James' college graduation
Mother's Day 2009
Three generations
11 weeks old
13 weeks/3 months old
14 weeks old
