Gaines was asked to be in a family member's wedding. My first thought was "have you thought this through??" "Are you sure?" I figured we had about 6 months to get him in shape and maybe he would mature some by October. I don't know that we made any real progress the past few months. However, Gaines was absolutely perfect and put my worries to shame as usual.
The real question of the weekend was to take Anne Walker or not to take Anne Walker. She just turned 2 months old and got her shots so the crowd wasn't a worry. The worry was taking a baby to a wedding. I wasn't ready to leave her and felt bad for my mom taking the whole weekend load after keeping her all week. Against all my judgement we took her. A baby attending the rehearsal, wedding photos, and a wedding is just inappropriate. If it would've been my wedding, I would've asked myself to leave. I was a little extra nervous thinking the bride may have been thinking the same thing. I vowed to not let her cry one time. Not that she ever really does, but it was still my mission.
The trip to Jackson went great. Gaines and Anne Walker slept the whole way and Anne Walker put off her bottle until we drove into the parking lot of the hotel. We had a hour to feed her and get dressed before leaving for the rehearsal downtown. Gaines was super excited to get dressed. He knew he couldn't wear his wedding clothes. This was practice clothes night! By the time we were leaving, Anne Walker was getting fussy and ready for another nap.
When we arrived, she was almost asleep. Someone asked to hold her so I could take pictures or be with Gaines. Against my insides saying NO, I let her. I was trying not to seem like an over protective mom. I really didn't care but I was trying to make sure she was on her best behavior. Next thing I knew they were asking for her pacifier. It didn't work. I said 'here I will take her'. They said No. I said 'yes she will not cry in here'. Sorry for the hovering and psycho mom moment but the last thing the bride needed was a baby crying at the start of rehearsal. She was quiet the rest of the night. And Gaines. Well, Gaines was pumped.
The wedding planner asked the party to come sit up front and that included Gaines! She got everybody lined up and then asked for the ring bearer. He jumped out of his seat and bolted down the aisle. He was a little excited :) When it got time to walk back down the aisle, he grabbed the flower girl's hand and down they went :)
I also told them we would not make the rehearsal dinner. It may have been a little rude. But again I was stressing having Anne Walker with us. And 2 kids just were not appropriate for the dinner:) The night back at the hotel went great! We ate dinner at Newk's and then stopped for yogurt. Both kids got ready for bed and slept until 7 the next morning!
We set out to precisely plan our morning to ensure Gaines would be on his game that afternoon. By 8.30 he was climbing the walls of the hotel, so I found a park close by and we headed out. I was trying to wear him out for his afternoon nap. It worked!
Everyone took a nap while I washed bottles and got ready. I woke everyone else up, fed Anne Walker and we got ready in mad rush. Gaines was SO excited to get dressed in his wedding clothes. When he tried them on in the store, he said he was handsome! And just as excited when he realized we could take them home:) He complained a little bit about the neck being tight but he hung in there and wanted everything on. We convinced him not to wear the button covers!
We were leaving late. But I wasn't that worried. We were at rehearsal 30 minutes early and I didn't want a repeat because that makes for a long afternoon of Gaines waiting on pictures. But I wasn't prepared for the wreck on the interstate! Again, if it was my wedding, I would have punched myself ;) We arrived close to 30 minutes late and they were still taking brides pictures. Score! They hadn't needed Gaines yet.
He did great for pictures. He did even more awesome waiting for the wedding. I bought a sticker pirate game that he played with and then he colored until it was time to line up! He told me "I think we should go see if they need us Mama."
Anne Walker....well she just hung out :)
He did exactly what he was supposed to!!
This pacified Gaines ALL night. And Anne Walker slept through the whole reception. Her favorite part of the night was dreaming to "Shout".
Struggling family of 4
This is Anne Walker at 9.30pm when we got home from the wedding!
They gave Gaines an LSU football and MSU cowbell for being part of the wedding! He told me it was okay he had a tiger football because he likes to play with footballs!
To end the weekend, we had another great night at the hotel and a peaceful 2 hour drive home! I was more than impressed with our first weekend away as a family of four!
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