Hi all-
There is one thing that I left out of the September recap because it is so fabulous, so amazing, and so nerve wracking that it deserved a post all it’s own.
Uncle MattMatt’s wedding.
Uncle MattMatt (aka, Peter’s younger brother, Matt) is one of those guys who always thought he’d never find his perfect woman. For every girl he went out with, there was some little thing that he took exception to. But in reality, it was just that he hadn’t met the one person who he wouldn’t care wasn’t perfect. But finally, finally he did. They met last year just as we were preparing to head off to the unknown in Kazakhstan. We didn’t get too many details except for the fact that rather than asking our advice about whether we liked her and thought she was pretty/smart/funny, he just told us he really liked her. For him, this was new and different. But then we went off to Kazakhstan to deal with our own lives for a while. Then we came back. Then we went again. Then we came back again and spent the holidays and most of January waiting. Then I went and brought our new little guy into our lives and he took over our existence for a while.
And once we got our feet under us and rejoined the world after a while, we knew that this girl was the one girl who was going to be perfect for him. And we weren't surprised when he decided that, after 6 months of dating, he was going to ask her to marry him.
And she said yes thank goodness.
And they asked the boys to be in the wedding.
Awww CRAP.
I mean, I love a cute kid in a wedding. But mine being that cute kid? It filled me with stress. Would they wear the clothes, walk the aisle, behave themselves, or scream and ruin it all? But of course we said yes. So clothes were ordered, clothes were exchanged (imagine this- Bek was too fat for his size), clothes were altered (the size that fit his belly were inches too long for his chubby little arms), multiple shoe sizes were bought just in case. And we packed our bags and headed out for the big weekend.
And it was a wonderful weekend. There were fancy parties (and babysitters for us so we could attend the fancy parties!). My wonderful Peter gave a heartfelt speech at the rehearsal dinner; we drank lots of wine and got to spend time with family and friends. And then it was go time. We got the kids all dressed in their fancy white silk suits (yeah, white silk- on a one year old- yikes!), put on their knee high little cotton socks, tied their cute little while oxford shoes, and hopped in the car hoping for good behavior and no rolling around on the floor getting dirty before the photos.
At the church, there was a bagpipe player which was just what the doctor ordered. Aibek was completely enthralled with him. Every time he stopped for a minute, Bek made the ‘more’ sign. He literally stood there, mouth open, watching. And Rin was having a blast with the other two kids who were ring bearers (who, thank goodness were not perfect either but also two cute little boys who were doing what boys do) and behaving himself quite nicely. I think it helped that I had shown him YouTube videos of ring bearers to prep him for the big event. And then the time for the boys to perform was upon us. Rin was very into the whole thing. He knew exactly how to hold his pole with the flower ball on it (I’m sure it has a name, I just have no idea what it is), how fast or slow to walk down the aisle, and being the ham he is he was reveling in having all eyes on him. But Bek… well, I wasn’t really sure he would make it. At the rehearsal the previous day, Rin and Bek held hands going down the aisle but Bek wasn’t super excited at the prospect of being dragged down by his brother so instead he sat his little butt down and screamed. So, for the real deal, I just decided to play it by ear. The other three kids held hands and started to walk. I- who was holding Bek since he wouldn’t hear of anyone else doing it in this room full of scary strangers- said, “Hey look, Bek, there goes RahRah! Go follow him!” and set him down on the ground. Little man started sorta strolling on down behind the big boys swinging his little arms, looking around at all the people but he seemed kinda like ‘alright, there’s all these people looking at me but I’m good with it, they seem nice enough and no one is touching me’ (he’s still scared of strangers at this point) and he kept on strolling without looking back. So I booked it on up the side aisle to the front in my platform heels and whipped around the front aisle to see that Bek had tripped and fallen and someone he didn’t know was very nicely in the process of setting him back on his feet. But I knew what would happen. Almost in slow motion I saw him get that look on his face that precedes a loud wail. So I ran a grabbed him before he could get it out and sat down in the pew where he seemed still confused but pretty happy. And he did well. Until he saw, during the opening prayer, that his daddy was standing up at the front of the church and he proceeded to say, very loudly in that quiet church, “DADA! DAAADAAA!!” So I ran out the side door and once again missed the wedding of a family member.
I seem to be cursed, you see, with missing family weddings. I missed Kate’s last year because I was worshiping the porcelain god; missed Robby’s because we had just gotten home with Bek and I didn’t think I could face traveling again, this time alone, with both of my sometimes rambunctious boys (one, need I mention, with giardia and totally confused about what was going on in his world); missed Matt’s because I was outside sweating and getting bit by mosquitoes and holding Bek (but eventually gave up and sat in the car with the AC); and most recently I missed Emma’s because I was home with the boys because we couldn’t face the 9 hour drive a week after Big Pete’s funeral. One of these days I’ll attend a wedding again. Maybe Peter and I should get married again. Certainly I couldn’t miss that one, right? Oh wait, but that would mean I’d have to plan one. Never mind. Planning a wedding sucks.
But it was fun being outside as Matt and Melissa exited the church as husband and wife. They just seemed so darn happy about it. And then it was back to the club for the posed photos and I have to admit that my perfect little Rin had a moment. I’m pretty sure there will be at least a few photos of my precious boy with a scowl on his pretty little face but I can’t complain. Because it was off to another fancy party with a great band, dancing, food and drinks while the sitter gave the kids their own ice cream and cake of carried them off to bed.
All in all, a great weekend. We had fun, the boys behaved, and Bek made it halfway down the aisle. I have no complaints. And, most importantly, our Uncle MattMatt got to marry the woman he loves. And that, of course, is the only thing that matters anyway.
Love to all, -m
And no, I don’t have any photos. I was such a stress ball about the wedding that it didn’t even occur to me to bring a camera. Oops. Bad Mommy.
No wait, here's one I poached off FaceBook after the fact. Aren't they cute?
