Kyle's Wedding

I think I'm going to be doing pretty well if I squeak out another 2 blogs in April because we're so busy. I may have to resort to the newly-discovered cell phone blog to communicate. We have had a huge whirlwind of 5 days - Ellie came down with a weird virus, we drove to Memphis, Kyle got married, Audrey got baptized, and on Thursday morning Lee was a total dumb ass and drove off with the his keys on the roof of his car so I had to spend an hour and a half driving around Dallas to try to get him where he needed to go. Lee has a keyless ignition so the key only needs to be within a few feet of the car to start it. He threw the keys on the roof of his car and took off. When he got to where he was going, he could neither restart his car nor could he lock his doors. That meany I had to leave work and go home to pick up his keys (10 miles and two school zones), drive to him (35 miles), and back to work (20 miles). He's pretty sure that the keys fell off the roof somewhere along the highway because he heard a thud. I guess we will be sure if our house doesn't get burglarized.

I picked up Ellie on Thursday afternoon from day care, and she felt warm. She really didn't want to eat much at dinner so I went to get her ready for a bath and decided to take her temp. 103.2. I immediately called the doctor and told him that we were leaving in the morning for a wedding (of course) and he told us to come in. He told us that if she had a good night and was okay in the morning to go ahead, but if she had a bad night and woke up sick to stay home... so we almost missed the wedding festivities entirely. For the record, she was 19 pounds and 15 ounces fully clothed. She woke up like she was totally fine (and she actually was) so we went drove on Friday morning to Memphis.

Ellie was really great in the car and slept pretty much from Dallas to about 30 minutes on the other side of Texarkana. We had lunch and shortly after we got on our way, the person driving in front of us kicked up a retread and knocked it into our car. It made a loud thud but it was only after we got to Memphis that we realized the bumper to my car was dragging on the ground and the plastic part covering the undercarriage was hanging on the ground. We looked like the Grizwolds driving into town. I've called the insurance company and the car is going to have to go into the shop. Damn 18 wheelers.

It was there at the hotel that Ellie met her new bff for life, Audrey. I looked after Audrey and Ellie while Nicole got some things out of the car and Ellie tried desperately to see her new cousin. A short time later, Ellie was able to meet Miles too. Miles knew exactly who she was and was so excited to meet her.

Nicole and Wayne took advantage of all of the family being together and had Audrey baptized before the rehearsal. Ellie was at the baptism and the entire time, she tried to climb into the baptismal font. I think she thought it was a swimming pool. Afterwards, we took her back to the hotel so my second cousin, Katherine, could babysit for her. Katherine is so great and is a special ed teacher so she loves kids, but likes to march to the beat of her own drummer. I hadn't told Lee this. "Um, listen... about Katherine. I don't know how many tattoos are going to be visible so just be cool". Wrong thing to say to hypie the hypo. As it turned out, only two tats were visible so in my opinion, he sort of overreacted.

The rehearsal dinner was at a really lovely place on the Mississippi river called Currents at the River Inn. As we have sat for many years, all of the cousins dined at the "kids" table where many an inappropriate joke was told. My cousin Shannon, who is ten years younger than me, told me that when I was 21, she was too young to hang with me and Nicole, but now that she's 21, I'm just old. That's the thing about family - they'll give it to you straight. My uncle Gus was nice enough to drive all of us back to the hotel.

The big day was on Saturday and we started off the day with breakfast with the Erwins and then lunch with my grandmother and aunt. The wedding was really beautiful and Kyle and Megan were nice enough to ask me to read. The priest (who because we're Catholic is somehow related to me) was moderately irritated because I was a little tardy. Fr. Val, YOU try dressing an 11 month old. Because I was a reader, I had to sit away from Lee and Ellie. Ellie was pretty well behaved and waved at me during the wedding. So cute. I have some funny pictures of the reception, but I'm going to save those for another blog because this one is WAY long. Since Kyle got married during prom season and limos were in high demand, his and Megan were whisked away in a bright yellow stretch Hummer. Awesome. Because every girl dreams that she will be carried away from her wedding in something that looks like a banana on steroids. Kyle, I'd like to take this time to public apologize for Lee crawling into the Bananamobile and waiting for you and Megan. Inappropriate.

We left Memphis around 9:30 on Sunday morning for the long drive home. Along the way, Lee and I got into the conversation about how we are going to celebrate Ellie's first birthday. I want to do a party in the backyard for close friends and family. Lee told me he has another idea. He wants to do a combination First Birthday Party and wait for it... Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament. Not kidding. He wants to commemorate sweet Ellie's first year of life with a POKER TOURNY. I can just see the invitation - some cute little cartoon forest creatures sitting around a table smoking cigars. I told him "no" and now he's calling me "Buzz Kill" and "Power Down Tiffany" (he calls me that and then makes this noise like the nuclear power plant is shutting down). We're still in talks about the "theme" of the party, but if I have my way, it's not going to be Clowns and Casinos.

Ellie was really good the whole way home, but started to loose it about an hour outside of Dallas. She would be okay for a few minutes and then started squirming and whining. She was so glad to get out of that car seat and be back at her house. Lee picked up the dogs from the kennel and when Ellie saw them, she started squealing. We had them behind a gate in the kitchen and she stood there for a long time reaching out for them, laughing, and petting them. The "petting" mostly involves grabbing their ears and ripping their hair out. Lucy and Morgan are nice enough to stand there and take the abuse. She loves her dogs.

So that was it. What a whirlwind - it was fun.