Monday, October 29, 2012

The Big Day

So in my last post I promised to talk about the wedding the girls were in last weekend.  I keep my promises.  Well, at least this time.

After our lovely time on Friday, dealing with Georgia and her not so friendly migraine, I just prayed that Saturday it would be completely gone.  Lucky for me someone heard that prayer and she remained vomit and mostly dizzy free for the day of the wedding.  She did complain about being dizzy twice in the morning, but it went away quickly and after a good breakfast, there were no more issues.

The wedding wasn't until 4:30, so we spent most of the day relaxing in the hotel and I made Georgia take a nap, because I knew it would be a late night.  We left to go to the wedding around 3:30 and the girls were beyond excited.  They looked absolutely adorable in their tutus.  

All dressed up and ready to go!
Since they had never been flower girls before, they weren't exactly sure what to expect. They had practiced during the rehearsal, but that was without an audience.  As we were waiting for the wedding to begin, Lana looked at me and said,


"I'm nervous!"

"You're nervous?" I said.  "Why?"

"I don't know, I just am," she replied.

"Because of all the people that are here, maybe?" I asked, and she nodded yes.

"Don't worry, girlie!  You guys are going to do great!" I assured her.

With the blushing bride
Since the wedding was outside, most people saw the girls as they arrived.  They kept commenting on how adorable they were, and we were asked the "are they twins" question a number of times from people who don't know us.  Especially when they are dressed identical, that is the question I always get.

 The wedding began and I ran to the front to wait for the girls to walk down the aisle, while Andy stayed in the back to make sure they paid attention, and went when they were supposed to. They did a fantastic job walking down the aisle and dropping their petals meticulously.  Then they sat next to me and paid attention to the ceremony.  The ceremony was perfect.  It lasted long enough to be sweet and get the job done, but not to long that Lana had to ask me "is it almost over" more than once.    
Taking their job seriously

Afterward, we had appetizers and cocktails and I let the girls have the ultimate kiddie cocktail, a Shirley Temple.  What kid doesn't love a Shirley Temple?  I would get those things anytime we went to a fancy restaurant when I was young, which in those days was not often.  Unfortunately, McDonalds never sold them.  

Kiddie Cocktails!




Signing the guestbook

Throughout the night they listened to Andy and I and their behavior was fantastic.  The best part about this, was that several people came up to us to comment on adorable they were, how well they did, and most importantly, to me anyway, how extremely well behaved they were.  No need to tell those people that just days before I had threatened to take away Halloween AND Christmas, if they even thought about misbehaving.  Nah, better to just let people think I have the best, always-listen-to-their-parents kind of kids.  Ok, the truth is, when we go to places or events like that, they are usually pretty good.  Usually.  We also received several compliments on how well mannered they were with their "pleases" and "thank yous".  That's right!  We rock this parent thing!  Well, at least we did that day.  It felt nice being told all those great things about your kids.  It almost makes up for those times I've walked around Target dragging a screaming child behind me clinging to the bottom of a shopping cart.

I just loved this picture of Lana, so had to add it!

However, when it came time for dancing and then cake, Lana was starting to lose a little patience.  She was ready to leave, but I reminded her that cake was coming soon.  That of course gave her incentive to hang on.  I forget that sometimes she freaks out  in a crowded situation.  So, I picked her up, held her and danced a bit, waiting for it to be cake time.

After cake, Lana was ready to call it a night, but then we heard the announcement for the bouquet to be thrown.  I took Sonya and Georgia and let them stand at the front of the crowd of eager girls ready to throw down to catch the bouquet.  Courtney tossed it in Sonya's direction.  She jumped and missed it, but it landed directly behind her.  She turned around to grab it, but the girl the bouquet fell in front of  was quicker than Sonya and she snatched it up.

"Ahhh!  Oh well!" I said, grabbing Georgia and reaching for Sonya who was looking down a the place the bouquet had been.  All of a sudden she looked up at me, with tears in her eyes.  Then she started bawling. Oh boy!  Definitely our cue to leave.

"Sonya, why are  you crying, baby?"  I asked.

"I didn't catch iiiiittttt!!!!" She wailed.

"Oh honey," I said trying to comfort her.  "It's okay, you're to young to get married anyway."

She just continued to cry.  I led her outside where Andy was sitting with a friend.  He gave me a questionly look when he noticed Sonya sobbing.

"She's upset she didn't catch the bouquet, " I told him.

"Oh Sonya!"  He said. "Don't be upset about that!  Do you know what it means if you catch the bouquet?"

She shook her head.

"It means  you are the one to get married next!" He informed her.  "You do NOT want that!  Are you ready to get married?"

Her crying started to subside and she shook her head again.

"I know you just wanted the flowers, girlie," I said.  "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity at other weddings to catch the bouquet."

"Okay," she said sniffing and wiping her eyes.

We started to make the rounds to say goodbye to all of our friends in preparation to leave the festivities. They were scheduled to go on for at least another hour and we would have loved to stay and dance,  but when you have kids...

As we were about to leave I turned around to make sure we had everyone, and Sonya produced the flower bouquet, from nowhere.  Where did she get that?  Did she fleece it from it's rightful winner?
I questioned her, but as it turns out, the extremely sweet girl who grabbed it decided to  give it to Sonya.  She must have seen her crying and felt bad.  I appreciated her generosity giving it to her, but clearly this girl is not a mom.  Now Sonya's going to think all she has to do is cry at a wedding to get what she wants.  GREAT!  Seriously though, I am grateful she did give it to Sonya. It totally made her night.

We left after that and had the girls in bed at the hotel by 10pm.  A VERY late night for them.  But it was the most special of any occasions and they had been so damn good a late night was no biggie.  I was so proud of how well they did and fantastic  they behaved.  It was one of those days where I thought, "Hey look!  We ARE doing this right!"  Those times don't come around to often, so you gotta pat yourself on the back when you can.

It was a great weekend for all of us, because we got to hang out as a family and have fun.  Plus, Andy and I got to hang out and have fun with friends.  It really was the best of both worlds.  Courtney and Mark did an amazing job with every little detail of their wedding and they were both extremely happy and surprisingly relaxed all day.  They are that couple who you know will actually make it.  Something so rare anymore.  I'm so thankful they gave my girls the opportunity to have something to talk about for the rest of their lives, and for giving my entire family an enjoyable memory filled weekend.   I wish them all the best and many happy years to come.  Maybe by the time they have little girls (or boys) of their own, Sonya will be old enough to babysit.  

Congratulations Courtney and Mark!!!

Post wedding tiredness and Sonya with her pity bouquet






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