Our Big News

So, it appears that my last attempt at making this announcement was a little bit less than successful. Take a look at the shirt that Sam is wearing in this post. Did you read it? It says "Big Bro." As in, Big Brother. As in, I'm pregnant.

He wore that shirt up to Chicago, where we told our siblings and a few close family friends. And a few other people who guessed and/or my husband/mother didn't lie properly. The next week I had my first doctors appointment and we got these beautiful pictures taken:

The pictures measured baby at 8 weeks 3 days, the calendar put me at 8 weeks 1 day. That's a week later than our first pictures of Sam, and I can honestly say I can see a difference. Not in what I see, in particular, but in size. And the heartbeat was VERY clear on the ultrasound this time, whereas I never really saw it with Sam. I go back tomorrow for my 12 week appointment, not sure if I'll get new pictures or not.

So there you go. Baby #2 on the way. Mark your calendars for March 14th!

Sam's First Day

Today was the day. Sam's first day of preschool. I know, I know, he's only 2 ("he's just a baby!" my mother will tell you, every time the subject of preschool comes up). But 2 seems to be the new 3 when it comes to starting preschool. So after much prayer, consideration and time on a wait list to get into one of the in-demand neighborhood preschools, we signed him up.

And now I'm glad that we did. He's ready for it. I think I'm ready for it. Time will tell. For today I am proud to report that there were no tears - from either of us - at drop off.

Zion Lutheran Preschool is 5 minutes from our house. There are 24 tots in the 2's class. They spend their mornings in groups of 12 with 1 teacher and 1 aid each, then the afternoons together with all 24 kids and 4 teachers. I can tell you the Lord did not make me for that job, but he did make these women. We were there for orientation and then again today, and I've yet to see any of them stand all the way up for more than a minute at a time.

All reports were that Sam did well until nap time. Yes, they nap there (the program is 9-2). He even ate a good bit of his lunch! But there is a no paci policy, and they sleep on nap mats, so it was a new ball game for him. The director says she sees it every year - "give it a week and he'll be napping just fine." I hope so, cause that cranky boy wouldn't nap once he got home either!

(That's him next to his cubby after we put his lunch away. He was already too distracted to look at the camera. While I was loading it with nap mat, lovie and diapers, I tried not to be discouraged by all of the pull-ups going into all the other cubbies. Granted most of them are pink, and we haven't even tried yet, but something tells me I can't put it off much longer.)

Once we were calm and over the excitement, he started asking to go back. Excellent, how's Thursday sound? Great, cause Mommy has your red shirt clean for "red day!"

A Pic From The Trip

I know I didn't include any pictures from Matt's wedding weekend, and there's a good reason: I didn't take any! I'll post a link when the professional pics are ready. In the meantime, here's a good one of Sam waiting to get on our plane up to Chicago!

Uncle Matt Gets Hitched - Part III

Sunday morning came really, really early. And shortly after came a blissful knock on the door - Papa Dave was going to take Sam. We went back to sleep until 8:45. We were shocked when we woke up to Dave's knock to return Sam to us.

Up and dressed as fast as we can, back to the club for brunch. Yummy, yummy brunch with lobster crepes and chorizo omelettes (yes, I had both). It was a beautiful, sunny morning, actually a pretty pleasant temperature. Which is funny, because my sister kept complaining about how hot it was. Too bad we can't all live in San Diego. More chatting, more balloon play for Sam, and finally some goodbyes. Aunt TT got a big "two arm hug" before she left for the airport -they're pretty addictive if you haven't gotten one yet.

We made the wise decision to stay Sunday night. Sam doesn't fly well in the afternoon, and I knew we'd be exhausted. We all crashed in the hotel for the afternoon before Dave and Debbie left for their flight around dinner time. I have to say, our little trio could not have pulled off our part of the wedding weekend without Grammy and Papa. Their child watching services proved invaluable in allowing us to be where we needed/wanted to be every day. THANK YOU.

Then it was just us and my parents. Pizza for dinner - ordered in to the hotel because that's how energetic we felt. Even the adults were asleep before 10pm. Flight the next morning. Sam got the window seat. On the runway he informed me we were "going fast!" and craned his neck to look as we left the ground. I turned to say something to Chris. I turned back to find my son fast asleep. It literally happened that fast. He slept for an hour and a half, and it was not even close to nap time. I think we sufficiently wore the kid out.

But he also fell in love that weekend. With Baby Molly. I told you he shared his lovie. He asked for her constantly. One morning he even asked to hold her, which looked cute cause she weighs, at most, 7 pounds less than him. So after a minute I took her back. He looked at me and said, "More hold baby Molly!" So that's what he did. Then he settled for sitting next to her. Its pretty sweet.

So there you go, a summation of Matt's wedding weekend in more detail than most of you probably wanted. But now its out there for Matt and Kate. I could have written more, but this isn't a book. We had fun, and we can't wait to see where life takes you two (Houston, maybe?!).

Uncle Matt Gets Hitched - Part II

We were up early again the next morning. Of course when sharing a hotel room with Sam, you're up early every day. But Saturday I had someplace to be. 9am at the Denison's house, loaded up the car with 7 fancy dresses and plenty of primping supplies. A quick breakfast and off to the salon. Tom, Kate's Dad, cried as he hugged her in the driveway and told her to, "have fun today!"

My mom got her hair done by the famous George. Kate's beloved hair dresser, we'd all heard of him and finally got to meet him. But he doesn't do updo's, so he did the moms. I got to sit next to the bride, and got two stylists since they were running behind and started me 20 minutes later than everyone else. Truth: I kinda liked it.

The bride and her maids headed to the country club, our make-up artists were waiting on us. We lunched on tea sandwiches and lemonade while taking turns being made beautiful. We peaked in on the set-up in the dining room. Gammi brought Molly by for some lunch from her Mommy, and hand delivered Kate's wedding gift from Matt. Happened to double as her something blue. Well done. The lady who worked at the club kept bringing out everything we could have possibly imagined to forget and I decided I need to someday belong to a club. Before we knew it, it was 1:30. Time for dresses.

Round about the time we were donning long black dresses I began to grow nervous about my son. I was trusting that Grammy and Daddy would follow all directions, and he would make it to the church on time having already lunched and napped. Aunt TT and I were pretty nervous.

We looked smashing, if I do say so myself, but there were others still to get dressed. Jeanne, Kate's mom, came out all dolled up and made her husband cry for the 3rd or 4th time of the day, certainly not the last.

Kate and her sister slipped into the locker room and the next thing we knew she was a bride. Seriously, like something straight out of a magazine. My brother got lucky! Accessories, veil, old, new, borrowed, blue...time for the limo!

Which turned out to be a party bus. So much more fun than a limo. And so much easier to get in and out of in a formal dress. And waaaaay cooler in the eyes of my two-year-old.

At this point we must discuss Brian. Brother-in-Law of the bride, Right-Hand-Man to the Matron of Honor. Our 7th Bridesmaid. The answer to every question seemed to be either 1. I'll text Brian, 2. I'll call Brian or 3. Brian has it under control. We pulled up to the church and there he stood out front, in suit and yellow tie, holding up Tom's missing yellow pocket square. He'd handled the final missing piece - time for a wedding.

The church was hot - broken A/C. But Sam found a toy kitchen and Grammy assured me his mood was more good than bad. He looked quite smashing in his tux. And then there was music.

We stood in line. Sam told me we had to wait our turn. With no one left in front of us I told him to tuck the pillow under his arm, I took his hand and the two of us started down the aisle. I'm told he looked quite serious. All I know is we made it down. I distinctly remember thinking, "I can't believe he's doing it, he's not freaking out, just keep smiling and keep walking!" I handed him to Papa in the 4th row and took Uncle Geo's (my real escort) arm for the rest of the walk. And then he cried for a minute because he wanted to stand up front with me.

Then came Kate. Of course I'd already seen Kate, so I watched Matt. So serious, trying hard not to cry. Yoder, his childhood best friend, beaming beside him.

"Her Mother and I do."
"I will"
"I Kate..."
"I Matt..."
"As Long As We Both Shall Live"
"I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

The pastor spoke directly to them, I liked that. Her sister sang beautifully. DeLisa's prayer for the Marines caught me off guard - that wasn't where I expected to cry. Sam called out for Daddy a few times, I heard Molly once too. Then we recessed. Sam declined George's invite to come with us, but was gladly scooped into Daddy's arms for the walk out.

We walked to the back room to wait for pictures. Someone called out for Mrs. Sivard and I tried to get my mom's attention. Oops - they meant Kate!!! My son's hair was wet with sweat, I was pleased to be in a strapless dress.

A few family pics and back on the party bus. Campaign toast. Much joy.

Pictures at the club. My feet hurt sooooo bad from trying to stand in stilettos sinking into the soft grass. As soon as he was done with pictures, Sam started stripping layers of his tux. The serious business was over, it was time to play golf. God himself walked up to Sam in the form of an 8-year-old boy and handed him a golf ball. Kate's cousin Lucy played with him for an hour, easy. They bonded. Appetizers and drinks on the patio.

The bell chimes. We line up for our introductions. I force a jacked back on my son but there is no hope for the vest and tie. He plays a rousing game of kick-the-balloon with the groomsmen. He cries again when we hand him off to go sit at the head table. Yes child, we are torturing you by making you eat dinner with TWO sets of doting grandparents.

Toasts. I believe Yoder's to be the best, he even memorized the whole thing, never once looked at his notes. (Later I would talk with Yoder's mom, who was beside herself with excitement to have been included in the day. It was quite sweet.) Dinner: soup (insert too many jokes about blowing on the cold soup), fancy salad, steak, cake. They forgot Sam's chicken fingers, we fed him some fillet. Chris went to the kitchen to claim the boy's meal, but it was too late. We ate his fries. The table in the corner adopted the slow clap and crowned themselves the best table ever. Sam tried to join their clapping every time.

Dancing. My parents' skills have increased dramatically since my wedding. Chris and I took them to their first ballroom dancing lesson. They have been taking weekly lessons since our wedding. Now they are good. My dad taught me a new dance. He's better at it than I am. Am I proud or embarrassed? Plenty of country music at the beginning - I like this party. We tried to take Sam out to dance but he was beyond exhausted. Papa Dave took him to lay down on the couch in the other room. I got a dance with my brother.

It was decided that Grammy and Papa would take our boy to bed. Thankfully they got to stay for the little deserts. We must discuss the little deserts. Deep fried Oreos, mini milkshakes in shot glasses, hot donut holes with milk, cotton candy, cheesecake bites and more. That might have been my favorite part.

More dancing. More talking with friends and family. Before we knew it, 11:30. Time for the sparkler send-off. We cheered as we tried not to burn anyone. Someone said, "Matt wants to say goodbye to you," so Chris and I rushed through the sparkler tunnel ourselves. We hugged the newlyweds and I felt honored that they wouldn't leave without that goodbye. And then they were gone.

Back inside. Collect our things, our favors, our flowers. We ride with my parents instead of the party bus. Back to the hotel and off to bed.

My little brother is married.

Uncle Matt Gets Hitched - Part I

It all started last Thursday. In truth it started years ago at Miami University, but for our purposes here today, it started last Thursday morning when our little family of three boarded a (delayed) plane for Chicago. Wiser this time, we didn't tell Sam about the plane until we were putting him in his bed the night before. The anticipation is just too much for the little guy.

He did well on the plane. We landed at nap time, collected our bags, got in Papa's rental car and hit up McDonald's for the boy. By the time we were in our hotel room the exhausted child was begging to go home. Until they wheeled the crib in. He started throwing things in ("I need this, I need this") and attempted to climb in himself. After 2.5 minutes in a strange room in a strange city, we shut the door behind us, went to Papa's room next door and heard from him 2 hours later. Sometimes it is good to wait till they're really tired to put them to sleep.

The hotel was a buzz with our people. Our traveling nannies (aka Grammy and Papa, aka Chris's parents) next door, George, Kristen and Molly across from them, Gammi and Papa (aka my parents) next to them. The place would later fill with numerous other family and friends...fun!

Something important happened at some point on Thursday afternoon. Sam was in the elevator with one Papa, when they ran into another Papa getting off. I am told he was confused, didn't know where to look. He announced, "New Papa!" By the end of the weekend, when we asked how many Papas he had, he'd squeel with delight, "TWO PAPAS!" Oh the love and joy in having two papas!

Thursday evening was a BBQ at the Denison's (Kate's Parents) for family and bridal party. I met some new faces, at one delicous burger and lots of amazing salad. Sam displayed his corn hole skills - it was determine his skill level is equal to that of his Gammi. A compliment and an insult all in one! We left early to put the ring bearer to bed, only about an hour late. We had to, because he seems to think that if he stays up when its "getting dark outside," that something very bad will happen to him. I'd like to keep his line of thought in tact for now, thankyouverymuch.

Friday morning I pretty much handed all of my parenting responsibilities over to my husband and his parents - I simply had too many things on my personal itenerary to be Mommy! First it was nails with the bridesmaids, French Manicures to be exact. A word of advice - if you are going to overbook your nail stations, don't try to push the wedding party to the side. Do you see these 6 sweet, pretty faces? We WILL make your day a bad one if you make our bride stress. We'll be leaving with 7 manicures please. Now.

Then it was off to the Bridesmaids luncheon. Gammi and Molly (her very first ladies luncheon), along with several others, joined us for a cooking demo, salad trio and apple tart. Cute little restaurant in a neat little neighborhood that my husband has assured me we will never be able to afford. I am happy to visit.

After some ironing and changing into my second dress of the day (this stay-at-home mom is not used to getting dressed up so many times in a row!) it was off to the rehearsal. If I told you that this went well for our little trio, I would by lying. You see, it was dinner time. And Sam said that he was all done with "Big Church" and wanted to go to "Sam's Class." Not an option, dude. Now take this hungry, bored two year old and force him to partcipate in a run through of the ceremony. HAH! Much screaming. We offer a granola bar - the good, chewy kind with chocolate chips - which he begins shoving in his mouth. Too fast. He gags, chocks, almost throws it up. Grammy and Mommy display no fear or disgust in catching it. We wash up - more tears, still hungry. I offer a second, but now he fears this yummy, blood-sugar-boosting bar and refuses. I give up. He finds solice on the floor with Molly - he feels big and important with her. He shares his Lovie. If ever there was true love, that is it my friends.

We arrive at the rehearsal dinner. Its beautiful, but Gammi was in charge so you would expect no less. The immediate goal is to get food into my son. The first few appetizers are sooo tasty, but not toddler-friendly. I hunt down the woman in charge of food and beg for rolls. She delivers and Chris takes the boy outside where we learn that coconut shrimp is, in fact, toddler fare. 2 for Sam, a beer for Chris, and I decide I could survive on these bacon/blue cheese puffs they are serving, all the sudden our trio is happy again.

With my boy well entertained outside by Daddy and Papa, I get busy socializing. Many friends and family to catch up with. One rather miserable Sarah to send home. She gets bonus points for showing up 4 days post-op, on pain killers and sick because of them. More food consumed - Mexican (Kate's station), Asian (Matt's Station) and Junk Food (do you need a reason?), followed by ice cream sundaes and Miami Merger Groom's Cake. Papa Dave gladly took Sam to bed (probably around 9?!) so that he could get work done at the hotel. I got a present. We looked at old pictures of Matt and Kate. Turns out toddler Matt looks a whole lot like toddler Sam.

My parents thank Chris and I for helping them clean up. We admit they are our ride back. Off to bed for us all...

Tomorrow is a big day!