Wednesday, September 09, 2009

My Sister-in-law's Big Fat Christian Wedding...and the rest of the weekend

This is RUL long...you've been warned.

Well, the wedding weekend has come and gone. And, as always, all of my frustrations leading up to it melted away when we were there, because I was pretty much the only sane person in the car on Friday night, between the rehearsal and the dinner.

Let's re-cap, up to that point.

Thursday -- I was off. I took off because I felt so yucky at the beginning of the week that I couldn't get much done. So, I cleaned up and packed and ran errands, etc. etc. I also took Ryan up to work again, so he could see people and I could drop off the treats I said I would bring for the food day. Once he ate, he was not so fussy and let people hold him. Before that...look out!

Thursday night, Grandpa watched Ryan while Grandma and I went for mani/pedi's. It was good. I got red toes and pink french manicure. They looked good.

Friday -- got up at 6am to finish getting ready (I had several loads of laundry left to do) and finished packing. We were ready to hit the road at 10am, which was excellent. We are usually running horribly late and it drives Jake insane. Drove to Chicago and made it there before noon. It was really easy. The room in the hotel was not ready when we got there, so we had to wait. We went and got lunch with Jake's Dad and hung out in their room for a bit. Ryan hit his breaking point right about the time that the room was FINALLY ready (an hour and a half after we got there -- thank you Hampton Inn for putting us in a room that was occupied before we got it) and we quick had to set up the pack-n-play so he could take a nap. He was better after a nap. I got ready for the rehearsal and dinner and we left Ryan with my parents (they were bringing him to the dinner later). I wish he were more like Jameson and could just sleep whenever and chill. He's so high maintenance.

end re-cap.

So, we drove to the rehearsal with Jack and Betsy (Jake's parents, for those of you keeping score at home). We left the rehearsal at 5:45 to drive the 10 mins to the dinner at Giordano's. Josh and Kristine and Jameson followed in their car. Somehow, we had the wrong one (there are many) and we couldn't get the bride or the groom to answer their fracking phones to figure out where we were supposed to be. And the wrong Giordano's has TWO (TWO!) addresses, so when we entered the next address, it took us in a circle. So, we tried to go back to the hotel and tempers were flaring at this point. The bride and groom still did not answer their cell phones. We were driving somewhere (I don't even remember where we were going at that point) and VERY suddenly, Jack pulled off the road we were on, leaving Josh in the dust. And it took them a while to get turned around and back to us. I took this opportunity to figure out where the hell we were supposed to be going. I called the place we had been at and then asked them where "the one up the road" was (in Oak Brook. we were in Westchester.) I called that one to make sure the dinner was ACTUALLY there. Got the address -- the TOMTOM wouldn't take the complete address and so our destination ended up being the bridge over 294, right by the hotel. So, we went back to the hotel (by now, everyone was really irritated, including me) and FINALLY someone noticed that the bride's ENTIRE family hadn't arrived yet. It was around 6:30 at this point. So, I talked to the groom and said, we're at the hotel, just tell me which way we turn out of the hotel lot.

So, in the end, the directions for the place we were supposed to be at were: Go back to the hotel, go past the hotel on 22nd St, until you get to the place.

I'm still not sure what happened, but I was really irritated that nobody noticed we weren't there by 6:10 and it took another 15 mins to get a call back. Who doesn't notice that the bride's parents are missing at 6:05?

Anyway.

The rehearsal dinner was good. Ryan was fussy and hot in his car seat. Then, he ate and was better. Then, he pooped a bit (and he hadn't pooped in 4 days by Friday), but didn't finish and was still a fuss. We went back to the hotel and he went to sleep. I went to sleep and Jake went out with the guys for the bachelor party.

Saturday:

This is where the big news of the week comes in: RYAN SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT NOW!!!!

He picked a hotel in the middle of Chicago to start sleeping through the night. I thought that he was going to wake up, but he just fussed a bit, took the nook and kept on sleeping. I, of course, could not sleep, for the fear that the instant I did, he would wake up. He slept from 9pm to 6:15am. Jameson on the other hand (poor Josh and Kristine) decided not to sleep until 12 and woke up at 6.

I got up with him a little before 7 and took him in the lobby. J&K were in the lobby getting coffee, all dressed and ready for the day already. I sat there and found a little bit to eat and they started asking me if I was going to breakfast. I said yes. They said to me that it was in 3 minutes. I said, what do you mean -- breakfast is at 8. Basically, they changed it to 7 and I missed it. So, I threw on clothes, left the baby with Jake and went to eat. I had the same breakfast as Brooke -- giant berry pancakes. This would prove to be a mistake later in the day. Breakfast was good, but I was tired and in need of caffeine.
So, I got back, found out what was going on with hair and took a shower. Then, I got my hair done and half way changed my clothes. My hair was really cute and it was off my neck, which made me happy. I barely saw Ryan or my parents or anyone that day though. That sucked. We went to church and got dressed, did pictures, watched Brooke get married. Afterward, Kit told me that he saw me laughing up there. In point of fact, I was either smiling at him, so he would feel better or I was grimacing because my feet were killing me. I was only slightly insulted.

Ryan was CRAZY fussy during the ceremony and the rest of the day. Jake had to stick a bottle in his mouth until right before a picture, otherwise, he was crying. By 7pm, he had had enough and my parents took him back to the hotel, since we couldn't leave. But, by 9pm, we were back, because the reception ended about 8:30. The food was good, the cake was okay and I didn't dance, which I am ALWAYS okay with.

But, Ryan was asleep by 9pm again and didn't really wake up until almost 7. It was good. We got up, had breakfast, got dressed, packed everything up and hung out a bit. Then, we said good-bye, as I wanted to stop at teh Carter's outlet in Kenosha (BTW, just go to Johnson Creek. PP is ridic.) and we had to pick Maggie (YES!) up at 1pm at Mitchell Airport. So, the exit for the outlet mall in PP is ridiculous, as was the mall. But, Jake's mom gave us $100 GC, so I spent about half of it on some winter clothes for Ryan. We got McD's for lunch and then found out that Maggie landed about 20 mins early. I don't think she was waiting too long, but we rolled up and had her hop in the car.

I was SO happy that she came up here to see us. I had a really good time and I miss her to death. Sister from another mother. Yakkers hung out with us on Sunday night -- we made food and watched Grandma's Boy. Yakkers went home about 8 and that was right about when Ryan went to sleep. They played Bubble Bobble on Wii and I played Zookeeper on her DS. I went to bed about 10 and they not long after.

On Monday, we lazed around a bit and then went to the baseball game. The crew lost and there was some jackass from Chicago wearing a Cardinals t-shirt who was yelling stuff and generally being belligerent. He was SUCH a jerk. He had served overseas too and I guess that makes it okay to be a stupid idiot. I will let Jill know that when she gets back. Ryan stayed with my parents and ended up taking a two hour nap at their house. WOW! Then, we went shopping and he fell asleep again in the mall. I got two shirts for $30 at Express and a bra and undies for $26 at VS. Good shopping for me! :) We made more food and watched Beerfest when we got back and then it was bed time for me.

Jake took Maggie back to the airport on Tuesday morning. I wish that we could move down there. I really do. I don't care about being here at all. Seriously. If Jake hadn't gotten any job when we left RF, I would have considered it VERY much. Heck, I consider it all the time.

So, there it is. I don't have many pictures, because I was busy with wedding or Ryan. Too bad. I love to take pictures.

Ryan has continued to sleep through the night since Friday. Which is AWESOME!! I love it!

Bring on fall. It's almost here.

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