Kevin's Wedding Weekend...

Last weekend John’s brother got married. So Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed down to Athens. Well, I take that back…we loaded up at 9:00 AM, ran to Yutzy’s and Dings and Dents, then over to a friend’s office to drop off all of the children’s stuff for church, went home and packed up the car with our suitcases and stuff, went to John’s office, and then finally hit the road. We didn’t arrive in Athens until 2:00! I was definitely sick of being in the car, and really, just sick overall anyway.

We head over to my parents’ house and unloaded everything. I sent everyone up for naps because we were all going to the rehearsal dinner and I didn’t want any cranky kids! I forget what I did during their naps, but I know I never got to sit down :)

The rehearsal dinner was nice…the kids had so much fun playing with their two cousins and all of John’s extended family offered their congratulations about the baby. We stayed for a long time, and afterwards we headed over to John’s parents’ house where the kids played some more with Carson and Mya.

Saturday was a super-crazy day. We woke up and John went golfing with his brother and the other groomsmen, so I had all three kids by myself for the whole day. My dad and I loaded up the kids and headed to the farmers market. It was getting so hot! I saw that there was a new sporting goods store, so we went in there, because I was also in charge of getting John’s Father’s day present (he knew what he wanted to get him but never had time to go and get it the week before) and I also had to get John his present. I ended up finding exactly what John wanted for his dad, and the kids and I decided to get John and tent so that we could all go camping (John has a tent but the rain-thing/top-thing has holes in it).

After that we headed up town for lunch because I had a very cranky littlest boy and we were all starved! We went to the Diner, which has always been one of my favorite places to go while pregnant. John ended up meeting us there because his golfing and lunch were over earlier than he thought they would be.

We headed home and everyone went down for naps. I started getting ready for the wedding and packing our stuff up. So not only did I have to get three kids and myself ready for the wedding, I also had to get our car packed up and ready to go so that we could leave for home right after the reception (these are all the things that led up to my meltdown if you can’t tell).

I get myself and all of the kids dressed and ready for the wedding, and with the help of Cindy and Big Josh we get the car all loaded up and actually get to the ceremony 20 minutes before the wedding starts. I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself!

The weather was gorgeous (there had been chances of rain but the sky was so blue!) and the ceremony took place under a lot of trees so in the shade it was the perfect temperature! The actual wedding was so short! 15 minutes tops from the minute the people started walking in until the bride and groom left! Ryan kept talking during the ceremony, even though I kept trying to stuff his mouth with fishies! And as soon as he saw John up there he just kept saying “Daddy!”

Afterwards John had to do more pictures, so I was again trying to wrangle the three kids. Actually, it really was just Ryan and making sure I could see the other two :) I had never heard anything about a limo or anything, so I just assumed John would be going to the reception with us. WRONG. They had a bus and the bridal party was going uptown for what a bunch of us thought were more pictures.

So we head over to the reception, only to find that “cocktail hour” meant drinks…no food. My poor stomach was not doing well, along with the heat in the room and trying to keep three hungry kids happy. The bridal party did not show up for an hour! Guess why! They went uptown to a bar! They were up there drinking while we were all hungry :(

I don’t know when I finally got to eat, but by the time they called our table I was miserable. I have noticed that with this pregnancy, if I need to eat my chemicals are all off and I get very mean and irrational. I can almost feel everything getting back to normal when I eat. Anyway, this is about when the tears started coming…I had had enough and I didn’t think I could finish the night. John finally came over and I told him that I was losing it. How was I going to have 4 kids if I can’t even take care of 3 kids by myself for a day? Thankfully by this time I had my food and was eating, so at least I was feeling a little better.

The hardest part for me was the fact that John felt the need to stay with the bridal party for so long. No one else in the party had kids that needed taken care of. I needed help…badly. I tried really hard to respect this because I know if it was my wedding I would want everyone with me, but I have to admit the selfish part of me showed through and I was angry.

Finally, John came over for good and took Ryan out of my arms. It’s amazing how just a 5 minute break from having to watch anyone can completely rejuvenate me…John said he notice such a huge difference! Kylie danced a ton, and mostly with the bride! She also caught the bouquet :) Around 9:30 we decided to start loading up and get out of there. I was so done and ready to be in my own bed!

On the way home John and I really talked about everything. That’s when he assured me over and over again that we are in this together and parenting is a team thing. He also thanked me over and over again for letting him have that day to spend with his brother and the others without worrying about me or the kids. I told him that I felt so guilty for acting the way I did, but I really felt like I was losing control. He assured me he understood, and that there will be times like that :) He also kept telling me what a great mom I was, which is weird because I really don’t think of myself as a great mom. I just think of myself as someone who is trying as hard as she can to raise good, Christian kids, who won’t hate her when they’re older :)

Sunday I woke up so sore from holding Ryan all day on Saturday! We went to church and then just hung around the house all day. I took a nap, which was desperately needed, and then my mom came over and made us dinner. It was a gorgeous night and we ate outside.

It was such a crazy, stressful weekend, but it was fun being down in Athens again. This weekend is Powell Fest, and even though John will be there Friday and Saturday (leaving me to be with the kids by myself again), I’m not worried because we’ll be at home! Naps can be taken when needed, we can eat when we’re hungry and we can just hang out without any stress about having to be somewhere :)