It was late afternoon on Friday, July 7. The beginning of our busiest weekend to date.

Hubby and I left work early and raced down to pick up Hubby's tux for Billy and Tillie's wedding (an hour or more away) before they closed at 5:00pm and had landed at Millie's house before 6:00pm. The traffic didn't make it easy, and the stress levels were on the rise. We were looking forward to the weekend, and anxious that it all unfurled just right.

The rehearsal was set for 7:30pm, so we hung around Millie's house, worked out sleeping arrangements and kind of settled down in the meantime. It was decided that The Three Ring Circus would all sleep in Shelley's bed, in her living quarters in the basement of Millie's house. (It is a finished basement and Shelley has done a good job of carving out separate spaces for her computer area and 'living room', etc.)

We were soon off to the rehearsal, which went as to be expected. People milling about, some filled with the anticipatory nervousness that comes with the occasion, laughter, and some general horsing around. (but not too much, this was a House of God, remember) The wedding coordinator was doing her best to shepherd everyone into their appropriate roles and places, the bride making sure everything was just so, 11th hour details finalized, etc.

Punkin (I'm almost ashamed to say) has not been in too many churches in her two and a half years, although all the ones she's been in have been Catholic. (My being raised as Baptist gives me a lot to visually explore at some of these Catholic churches, let me tell you. It can be quite distracting actually.) The last time she was in this particular church, she was a week away from being born.

When there was a break in the action during the rehearsal, Punkin begged (and pulled on) the closest relative to go with her to see 'the water.' A fountain and small 'pool' (made of marble) that I presume is for baptisms or christenings. She marveled at 'the lightening' she kept seeing. It reflected quite nicely in the darkened little 'water' alcove. The lightening was actually flashes from cameras as people snapped off a few shots of the proceedings.

The time neared for her to practice her walk down the aisle. Hubby was positioned in his place as Best Man for the ceremony, I was seated in the second pew on the end, Punkin, the bride and the bridesmaids are in place to start their walk down the aisle, and the wedding coordinator is, well, coordinating away. Suddenly the (wonderfully acoustic) church fills with the joyous and melodious voice of our Punkin happily shouting "HI MOMMY! HI DADDY! MOMMY, MOMMY! DADDY!! HI DAD-DEEEEEEEE!" We all laughed (except maybe the wedding coordinator) as Shelley and Tillie attempted to distract her. I know Hubby and I couldn't help but wonder if she'd do that before the actual ceremony.

The bridesmaids began the walk down the aisle to their respective places where they met their groomsmen counterparts, bowed before the cross, and stepped off to the side. I was getting more and more anxious (and this was only the REHEARSAL!) Would she do it? Would she dissolve into a puddle of tears at the half-way point? The fact that she could see her Daddy was a definite plus.

Here she comes, hesitantly, shyly. One hand grasping her very own paper plate covered with bows that served as her basket, the other hand is in her mouth, a coy and tentative little smile on her face, her head was down, but her eyes were not as she made a finely paced beeline for Daddy. I was pleasantly surprised. The wedding coordinator suddenly stopped her by grabbing her arm and attempting to steer her so she's facing the cross and tells her to bow. From that action Punkin suddenly and completely withdraws and nearly bursts into tears. (There's only so much you can ask from a 2-1/2 year old!) Daddy and Mommy fly to her rescue (quickly!) and I usher her back to the pew while I tell her what a great job she did and talk about doing that same thing in the pretty white dress tomorrow. The wedding coordinator is quickly forgotten.

Punkin grew antsy though, and Shelley beckoned to her to come and sit with her (while Shelley was in her 'bridesmaid position' on the sidelines.) Punkin bolted over there for a few minutes. We didn't want her to think, however, that she could do that during the wedding, so we tried to get her to come back by me. Shelley stood up to bring her back, and Punkin quickly and stubbornly wrapped her legs around Shelley's the way only a toddler can. I got a picture of that moment in time. It was priceless.

After rehearsal, it was on to dinner. We were at an informal pizza place that also does banquets, and has a lot of food options. As we were pulling into the parking lot, Punkin announces she wants pizza. Millie asked if we should get one for her; the fare was to be a buffet of lasagna and Italian beef sandwiches, assorted salads and vegetables. We opted to just see what Punkin would eat first.

I went through the line taking a little bit of this and more of that. We were certainly not low on variety! It all looked great! I took it all back to the table and began putting some on Punkin's plate. She saw the lasagna and asked if it was "new pizza." God help me, I told her yes. She loved it and wanted more.

Soon after dinner, the bride- and groom-to-be distributed gifts, giving Punkin a wonderful baby doll that came with it's own teddy bear, blanket and flashlight! It was an awesome gift and she was immediately in love with it.

It was getting late (by Punkin's standards) and the last thing we wanted was to have her be too tired for the wedding, which coincidentally was to take place about an hour passed her usual naptime. We arrived back at Millie's around 10:00pm and eventually got to bed around midnight, after some major restlessness. We turned on Shelley's "la-la lamp" (lava lamp) in an effort to lull her to sleep. It worked. I was out like a light. About ten minutes later, Punkin began crying. My eyes flew open to see what the problem was, but she wasn't there. I scrambled over to the other side of the bed and looked down, and there she was. She'd fallen out of the bed! I was only half awake myself and I struggled to bring all 35 pounds of her back up on the bed (it's a pretty tall bed) when I realized that she was still completely asleep! She never remembered it the next day, but a bruise on her knee was left as evidence. I held her close and prayed that it wouldn't happen again that evening.

Hubby came in just as I was getting back to sleep, and soon we were sleeping triple in a double bed - ok, so it was a Queen-sized bed. You get the picture. Unfortunately, Punkin is 'a sprawler' and took up the middle half of the bed. Hubby took a couple of kicks to the gut during the course of the night, and only Punkin slept peacefully. The Parents were up at least every hour if not more often than that.

All too soon, morning dawned and the real adventure began. This was it. The Big Day.

current entry
previous
next