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Whirlwind Wedding Weekend

12 Feb

Beautiful Princesses

Wow.  What a weekend!  It really featured a little bit of everything – some of the usuals (being stuck in the car for hours, angry little man fits, arguments over nothing and plenty of fast food) but there were also lots of firsts (taking in the Philly sights, a beautiful little flower girl, dancing with my sexy husband on a “Grand Ballroom” floor and enjoying fancy food that you certainly can’t get at the Applebee’s).  Looking back on it all, I realize that I witnessed some wonderful things about my family.

1. Andrew is a saint and an incredible “baby-daddy”

I would have to say that poor Andrew had to suffer through the worst time of the whole weekend.  He had to struggle with Nate during the entire wedding ceremony.  (It was a Catholic mass so that meant he battled it out for a little more than an hour.)  By the end of the ceremony, Nate’s bow tie was off and Andrew had drool/tear marks all down his tux jacket.  As soon as we realized Nate was not going to be quiet through the ceremony (about 5 minutes into it), Andrew took him outside and stuck it out – only occasionally getting a glimpse of the wedding through the back doors of the church.

I know he was really bummed because he would have liked to see his cousin get married and I would have loved for him (and Nate) to share in the beauty of it all with me – but what can we do you know?  I think what really made it all ok in the end was that an older couple came up to Andrew at the reception and told him he was a saint after what they watched him go through at the wedding.  They told him they couldn’t believe how calm he remained and that they wanted him to know he did a great job.  It brought tears to my eyes because it’s one of those things where you think everyone must think we are such horrible parents – I mean, why can’t we get control of our kids, right? Those few words of praise will go along way and I will always remember how great it made both of us feel.

2. Nia may be tiny but her heart is HUGE

"City of Brotherly Love" for sure

Nia did such a perfect job as flower girl princess. Her Lola fixed her hair in a beautiful French braid that circled the back of her head and she told me that she felt like Cinderella. She even said she would put her hand on her heart when she bent over (bowed) just like Cinderella does.  I’m so proud of her – her personality and her ability to spread happiness amazes me every day. I couldn’t believe how many people kept asking her to do her “dance” and she would do it because it made her happy to make them smile.

Most Requested Dance

3.  Nate – is actually a happy little man

I know, it’s so crazy to write that after reading what I wrote earlier but he really is happy.  His smile is contagious and he always has one to flash at people.  Even if he is in the middle of a fit, if someone walks up to him and talks to him or smiles at him, he smiles back and he still manages to say “please” and “thank you” – even if he’s crying!  He loves to dance and laugh at silly things (like people at our table making faces at him).  He loves to play Hide and Seek and Duck, Duck, Goose (which he tried to do a few times in our hotel room).  He puts his head on my shoulder and says, “Hi Mommy” when he wakes up in the morning.  He says the lines of movies while he’s watching them.  He flirts with the ladies with just his eyes!  He happily yells “PAPA!” during a rehearsal dinner toast and makes everyone laugh.  He finds joy in simple things – Andrew put a quarter, two dimes, a nickel and four pennies in a small box and he didn’t want to let it out of his grip.  He kept saying, “My money.  My money.” That little boy.

Chick Magnet

 

I’m just glad that we got to be a part of such a fairy tale wedding.  Erin (the bride) looked straight out of a bridal magazine and even changed into the prettiest pair of hot pink high heels for her reception which I thought was the cutest thing.  Our extended family is such a caring, fun group of people and it was so nice getting to spend time with all of them. And speaking of family, we would be lost without Lola and Papa.  Not only did they come to our rescue and help take care of the kids (letting mommy and daddy have a few hours of couple time) but they also covered all of our hotel costs!

Valles Moms

This trip also gave us another first.  Our first “official” Philly Cheese Steak.  We had no idea where to get one so we, of course, turned to the internet and discovered “Pat’s King of Steaks.”  Andrew punched in the address in the GPS and it led us to a busy neighborhood complete with kids playing basketball and soccer in the cold and crowds of people surrounding two cheese steak shops – both claiming to be the best.  We ordered ours “one wit whiz” and “one mushroom wit wiz” – one with onions and cheese whiz, one with mushrooms, onions and cheese whiz.  I’m happy to say that the sandwich held its own in comparison to the sea bass, red snapper, beef tenderloin and amazing deserts we were treated to at the wedding events.  Even the kids’ chicken fingers were fancier!

What a weekend!

Goofballs

 

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Hotel Bathroom Blog

8 Feb

So here I am – in a fancy Philly hotel with a beautiful view of downtown – trapped in the bathroom as I agonizingly wait for Nate to stop fake crying and fall asleep.  Don’t worry, I’m not dropping the kids off at the pool or anything like that –  I’m just sitting on the beautifully tiled floor hoping that they clean it really well.

Nate and I should be at a wedding rehearsal with Andrew and Nia right now but the little angry man decided he was going to have a terrible-two fit and not eat and not take his nap.  (I mean, what did we think?  We did just have him strapped in his car seat for the most part of the last 24 hours!)  Nevertheless, a No-Nap-Nate wasn’t going to work for us because there was no way we would have been able to make it through a church rehearsal without causing a major scene.  Nope.  We – number 1 – aren’t that brave to test it out and – number 2 – aren’t that stupid to test it out.

Wow.  I wrote that whole last paragraph in peace.  I don’t hear Nate anymore.  That, of course, doesn’t mean he’s sleeping but still, at least I don’t have to be tortured with the whines anymore.  Nope, instead I’ll just be stuck in here – me, some toiletries and this computer until the battery dies because I left the adapter out in the room.

At least I have a yummy (free) dinner to look forward to tonight!  I’ve already got my fancy jewelry on that I got for Christmas!  I just hope I don’t smell like Eau-De-la-Toilet!

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The Best Hints Ever

3 Feb

Lately, Nia’s been playing this game where she’ll say, “Momma, guess what I am.  I have wings and I fly.”

I pretend like I don’t know and that I need some help. To that she replies, “It starts with a b-b-b sound. B-b-b. B-i.  B-i-r.  B-i-r-d.  Bird.”

It is the cutest and most interesting thing – watching her try to quiz me and then sound out the answers. I don’t know where she learned it but it amazes me and leaves me asking, who is less than 3 feet tall, completely adorable and super smart?  N-n-n.  N-i.  N-i-a.  Nia.  My Nia.
 

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Charge me with a B.U.I.

2 Feb

I’m now guilty of Blogging Under the Influence.

Yep, four beers (shouldn’t it technically be beer since you don’t put the ‘s’ on deer?)  – that’s all it takes to get my cheeks all warm and red.

I don’t really have any more to say – I just thought it would be fun to blog while buzzed.  (Although I’m sure I’ll regret it later. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to backspace to correct my intoxicated typos!)

I really wanted to write about the 2 and a half hours of my life that I can’t ever get back after I let a Kirby vacuum salesman into our house.  (I really wanted to tell you about it but I’m afraid I really needed the beer after the experience.  Stay tuned for the next post on why you shouldn’t ever answer your door to people you don’t know – that is unless you entered the Publishers Clearing House or the person has your amazon.com order or a bouquet of flowers!)
 

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“Go to sleep, Nate!”

17 Jan

Nate used to be so wonderful at taking naps.  He would eat his lunch and then say “Night night” and that would be all it took.  I would carry him to his room and he would put his thumb in his mouth as he clutched his blankie and then  he’d curl up in his crib full of stuffed animals and random toys (his new favorite is an old Fisher Price plane).

Now, it’s a much different story. He still eats his lunch and tells me “Night night” when he’s finished – but he will not just go to sleep anymore.  I now have to enter his room anywhere from 2 to 3 times and tell him to go “night night”.  Sometimes, I even have to pick up every blanket, animal and toy that he tossed on the floor.  I went through it all today – except this time, I had a helper.

“Go to sleep Nate!”

Nia had had enough of Nate’s naptime antics so she decided to scream at him as she watched television in the living room. I told her that I didn’t think screaming was going to get him to sleep and then I went downstairs to clean. A few minutes later, Nia walked up to me with a toy that was supposed to be in Nate’s crib.  She told me she got it from his room when she went in to tell him to go to sleep.

“He wasn’t sleeping so I just went in and gave him all the things he wanted and he laid down to go to sleep.”

In other words – our little girl took care of her little brother.  I just think that is the sweetest thing and I’m so proud of her.  Wouldn’t you know it?  That angry man is fast asleep – thanks to his big sis.

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Snow! (Or as Nate said, “No!”)

17 Jan

We might have missed it if it wasn’t for our neighbor Allison.  She called me during dinner and asked me if I had looked outside lately.  It’s not that I haven’t seen snow before or anything – (I was born during a blizzard so the legend is told!) – it’s just a pleasant treat when it snows on us here in Georgia. Besides, this was the first good snow that fell on Nate since he’s been born!  Here’s some of our fun –

At first he was scared!

Didn't want to come inside

Representin' all of us!

It is actually still snowing/sleeting out there and the ground is now covered much more than these pictures show.  I’m so glad the kids got to have a little winter fun.  Now, if I could just get Andrew to go get me a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sonic Blast – my snowy night will be complete…

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Turning 30 with Family, Friends and Feces

12 Jan

Yum right?  I feel bad for even putting that word next to the other words.  Not just because it’s so yucky, but because I literally feel bad because of it.  Don’t worry, I won’t get all detailed or anything.  It’s just – I can’t talk about my 30th birthday without mentioning the disgusting distress Andrew and I are suffering through even now.

We’ve had this rumbly in our tumbly for the past week.  Remember when I wrote I was sick and then all better?  Well, I apparently was deceived by this blah that has taken over our bodies.  We are still able to function with it.  We even are still hungry.  But when we eat, we pay for it later.  Severely.

It all would have been a lot more tolerable if it had rudely entered our lives at a better time.  It happened to hit us right as we were getting ready to visit our family (Anna Marie, Marcus, Baby Ella and new Baby Maggie) – plus our buddies (Ginger, Lee and Baby Cami).  We called and warned them.  “We have a butt disease – still want to see us?”  They must really love us because they all said yes.  We’ll see if they still feel the same if they get it too! (Which I am praying they do not!)

It also came as I was turning 30 and Andrew had a very special surprise for me.  He had secretly invited Anna Marie and her girls plus Ginger, Lee and Cami to go to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook in front of you.  He led me to believe we were going to an all you can eat buffet and never said anything about our friends being there!  It was so super sweet and wonderful – that is – except for our tummy troubles. Andrew and I didn’t even eat our main food. It also wasn’t such a good idea to take 4 small children to one of those restaurants. For the most part, the were entertained by the chef but Nia was not having any of the food and Nate was hysterical before the chef came (“Chicken!  French Fries!”), Ella was petrified of the fire and it was getting way late for Miss Cami. Poor Andrew.  He did such a sweet thing for me – I’m sorry it didn’t turn out as he hoped – I want him to know how much it all meant to me and that I love him bunches.

Well, despite it all – I’m 30 and I had a lot of happy memories to go along with the big day.  I got to spend my actual birthday with great friends.  Ginger and Lee sacrificed their master bedroom so the Valles Fam could crash ever so comfortably.  I got to enjoy 2 cakes – one that Andrew surprised me with and another that Ginger and I nibbled on secretly. She even made us super delicious daiquiris and a breakfast of champions the next day.

I may not be all that thrilled about turning 30 but then again – the older I get, the more time I get to spend with the people I love.  I just hope the next birthday comes without the party on the potty.

 

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Dr. Dad

9 Jan

Ginger-ale on ice – with a straw.

Chicken noodle soup – delivered on a tray with a napkin.

Dishes finished and the kitchen cleaned.

Tucked in nice and cozy – watching whatever I want on television.

All that plus – the kids fed, happy, bathed and kissed goodnight.

He really took care of all of us last night.  I “called in sick” on Monday – well, for as much as I could anyway.  Amazingly, the kids let me lounge around during day – allowing me to get away with a few short book reads and lazy block building sessions.  Andrew came home as early as he could so I could get some sleep as soon as I could.  It was awesome.

Thanks to all of that TLC, I am all better and ready to take care of the next sicky Valles. (I hope we won’t have to do that for awhile though!)
 

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The Good, The Bad and The Kid Locked in the Car

1 Jan

Before I leave you wondering…

Yes, I locked Nia in the car. I really did that.  I was one of those people.  I will tell you all about the hour of fun we had while waiting for Triple A to show up a few sentences later in this post because there was just so much that happened. I think it’s best to break out the bullet points!

  • The visit to my sister’s house was GREAT!  It was so wonderful getting to see her home and spend time with them there (and eat tons of delicious homemade cookies).  Even the drive to Cleveland was awesome!  Nate was like a completely different boy!  He didn’t cry at all!
  • As soon as we got to good ole’ Weirton, my mom and I hit the road to Pennsylvania to shop.  There weren’t even open handicap spots!  It was nutso!  I almost ran a stop sign too!  That should have been the first sign that my brain was struggling.
  • That same night Andrew and I headed back up to Pittsburgh to catch up with our friends Chris and Julie. Lola watched the kids for us so we were able to have some couple time.  Chris and Julie made it possible for me to do something I never did before – enjoy a Primanti Brothers sandwich! If you don’t know about them – they are YUM.  They put cole slaw and french fries on the sandwich.  Again, YUM.
  • The next day with Chris and Julie was also a great time. We took Nia ice skating and she had a blast.  She kept wanting to go around and around but it was getting harder and harder for daddy and mommy to go that slow and bear her weight.  I took some really cute pictures of her skating but sadly, I cannot share them. That is a “bad” that I have to tell you about but first, now it’s time to talk “kid locked in car.”   Yep, this is when I did it.  We were leaving the ice skating rink and I had the task of getting Nia buckled in as Andrew paid for parking.  It’s a long explanation of how I did it – but in the end all that matters is – I did it. I put the keys on the car seat, buckled her in and then closed the door.  All of that would have been ok if I didn’t have the doors locked and if Nia could get out of her child safety seat.  And she certainly was not learning how to do it through a window as her parents tried to mime to hert.  She kept saying, “Just come in and get me!”  We finally got through to her that we couldn’t come and get her – that a man was coming to help.  She tried to help.  She tried to pull her stay-puffed coat arm through the buckle’s strap.  Nope.  She tried using her Barbie to reach the lock.  Nope.  She picked up a book to read.  (She could reach that but not the keys!)  It’s so funny too because there I was so upset and she was totally fine.  Like, “Whatever – I’m waiting for the man to come.  Is he here yet?”  I love you Bean.  I’m so sorry I did that – trust me – it will NEVER, EVER happen again.  I’m sure I’ll do other bad things along the way – but you can take this one off the list.
  • Christmas was a wonderful day.  The kids loved opening presents (they had 3 rounds of opening that day) and Nate is at that age where everything he opens gets a “OH” and the really great things get a “WOW!”
  • The next day my sister and I braved the shopping crowds and scored big on some sales!  I loved being able to hang out with just her.  We haven’t been able to do that in a really long time and it was needed!
  • I also loved being able to celebrate Nate’s 2nd birthday with family. Even though he was pretty sicky that day, he still did great and blew out his candles like a champ!  (Getting us all sick in the process…)  After the party, we got to hang out with my good friends from high school Julie (another one) and Mary Lou and their families.  It’s so crazy to think that we all have children!  We’re like all grown up now and hardly get to talk but we can meet up like we just talked yesterday.  I love that!
  • Andrew and I got to have date night!  At the movies!  My mom watched the kids for us so we hit the theater to see “I Am Legend.”  We really liked it – but not the theater experience.  I’m sure I was annoying when I was a teen but come on!  Taking flash pictures, ringing cell phones and laughing loudly during the sad parts – a police officer came in to settle them down but it was during the last minutes of the movie!  I’m not sure when we’ll be back to a theater – why spend $20 there when we can just buy the DVD and enjoy it in the comfort of our own home and annoyances?
  • Coming home was also an adventure.  We had a luggage carrier strapped to the roof of the Malibu Maxx and it started pouring rain the last hour of the trip – that rain came in through our doors because of the way we had to tie the carrier to the car.  We were using a coffee cup to catch the drips!  It was also on the way home that I so stupidly lost one of our camera’s memory cards.  The one that had the visit to my sister’s on it.  The one that had Nia ice skating.  The one that had all the Christmas pictures on it.  I think it was on my lap and fell out of the car when I got out for a potty break at a gas station.  Andrew called.  Of course, it wasn’t turned in to the gas station. I’m still so sad over the whole thing and really mad at myself.  I will always have the memories in my mind, but still.

So there it is.  Christmas 2007 is history and a new year of laughs, horrors, love and adventures has started.  I can’t wait to share another year with you!  Hopefully, it will feature more of the good stuff – even though some of the bad is more fun to read!
 

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Headed for “Home”

21 Dec

After almost 8 years of living outside of West Virginia, I still refer to it as “home.”  I think it will always feel like it’s “home” but I really need to try not to call it that around Nia.  It totally confuses her when I say “When we get home…” She looks at me all crazy and says with a little miss thang attitude – “But we are already HOME Momma!”

With that said, we are headed for “home” tonight and I’m getting really excited!  Family, friends, presents and possibly some snow for the kids to enjoy!  We even bought them some boots, just in case!

Wild, Wonderful West Vir-Gin-I-A here we come!  YEEHAW!
 

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