Looking forward to this past weekend was like looking forward to Christmas. Our whole family had a rough week last week; Rob working double time on multiple projects, Liam cutting all four incisors on top of a virus, a fever and a sore throat and me simply trying to stay afloat with the free lance work I have, dealing with a sick baby and keeping some semblance of tidiness in our house.
Needless to say, a getaway weekend was just what we needed. We drove to Rob's parent's house in Cincinnati on Friday, got Liam settled and walked out the door. It was actually a very strange thing to leave him overnight, considering I have not been apart from him for more than six hours since he was born (ie. this child rarely took a bottle...). I felt like part of me was missing and in some ways it was. If I consider the time he was inside of me, plus the almost 16 months since he was born, that is just about two years of being intimately connected with another person. I was a little sad to leave him, but I knew he was in good hands with my in-laws and that he would do great. Going away with just Rob is an important investment in our marriage, especially after a week like we had.
I don't have any pictures of our date night, but I can assure you it was wonderful. We had an amazing dinner at a little Italian place, took some cake to go and checked into a hotel room nearby. It was so fun to be at a hotel where we didn't have to set up a pack n play and sit in the dark. We drank wine and caught up on season 2 of Downton Abbey instead. And, best of all, we slept in until the late hour of 8:00. Pretty sure that hasn't happened in awhile. After breakfast at Panera we drove back to my in-laws feeling relaxed and refreshed.
And that was about the time the rest of the weekend went downhill fast. Liam was perfect for his Mimi and Boppy and Aunt Lauren and Aunt Ka-ka (Kayla as Liam calls her) while we were gone, but as soon as we walked in the door he was like a different child. We still had a wedding to go to in the afternoon so in the midst of many tears (Liam's, not mine), we all got dressed and headed downtown for Christine and Cameron's wedding. Christine is Rob's cousin.
The wedding was in this gorgeous old church with huge stained glass windows and high ceilings. We didn't know what to expect because apparently they had to pay extra to get the heat turned on (yes, it was very hard to know how to dress for this one), but it actually wasn't too bad. Cameron and Christine are a neat couple who love the Lord and have a hip, funky style, both of which were reflected in the wedding and reception.
Lauren and Kayla and I keeping our coats on until the church warmed up
The view toward the stage.
And to the back
Cupcakes!
Cameron and Christine saying their vows
Unfortunately we missed most of the ceremony due to a child who would not sit still (even for his first lollipop), didn't want to read books and kept throwing his snack on the floor. We spent a lot of time in the lobby. The ceremony and reception were in the same building which was nice as we were able to get Liam some food and that cheered him up. But we had to leave before dancing because Liam went into full out meltdown mode.
There was definitely lollipop bribery going on during the ceremony.
A little happier after the ceremony when he could actually get down and run around.
Our table, minus mom and dad
We got a little creative with the chair covers and actually tied the ribbon around Liam's waist. It worked great in lieu of a high chair!
A little washed out, but the whole family together.
Through the highs and the lows, it was a good weekend and I was thankful that Liam did well while we were gone and that we could get away in the first place thanks to the generosity of our family. Now we're already off to this next week and Liam did much better today so I was also thankful for that.
We're working on teaching Liam to use a spoon when he eats and the results are turning out quite funny. Since he loves any kind of digger, tractor, bulldozer, etc., I started by showing him how to use the spoon to "scoop" like a digger does. He caught on pretty quickly and has since enjoyed giving himself a daily bath in yogurt. The trickiest part for him is keeping the spoon right side up as he has a tendency to turn it over when it's heading toward his mouth resulting in the yogurt ending up in his bib or on him somewhere. Runny applesauce was even worse! I don't mind the mess as I think it's helpful to his learning and he's not purposefully being messy. However, I'm not sure we're quite ready to try oatmeal with milk...
