Kind of a mismatched title but that sums up the weekend. Chris and Jackson went to Fleet Farm Friday evening and Jackson got two cows (he picked them out himself). So now he won't quite "moo-ing" and says "cows?" all the time. I realize we live in a state where there are no shortages of cows but I can't magically find them every other second. Try explaining that to a 17 month old!
Saturday moring we left for Chicago to attend the wedding of Chris' cousin, Renee. We decided not to get into our church clothes until we got there. Good call, but then finding a place to change proved a little more challenging than we thought it would be. We were looking for a rest area or McDonald's. Well the wedding was in this quaint upscale bedroom community outside Chicago. No McDonald's to be found. We ended up changing in the bathroom of this fancy restaurant called "Honey". We got some funny stares but we ran out of options so let them stare! After we changed we drove around a little more and of course found a Starbucks (where was that when we needed to change). We got a caffeine boost and Jackson got to run around to burn off some energy before the ceremony. He didn't nap and was wound for sound...can you tell what's coming? Jackson lasted about 3 minutes into the ceremony before he discovered that his voice echoed in the massive cathedral. We watched Uncle Leo give his daughter away and off Jackson and I went to the back (glassed-off portion) of the church. We could watch and listen to the ceremony from there but Jackson had other ideas. He began banging his head, shoes and hands on the glass. Outside we went. For the next hour and a half (Catholic ceremony) I ran after my defiant son all over God's green earth....literally.
The reception was even more "comical". Orneriness was now mixed with crankiness, topped off with tiredness. The reception started at 5 pm, I was convinced he would be asleep by 6 pm and I could relax with a sleeping child on my shoulder and converse with Chris' family. Not to be.
Let me set the stage.... I walked into this reception and turned white with horror. The place was amazing! Every place setting had 4 crystal glasses, 12 pieces of silverware, satin covered chairs and to top it off, tea light candles on the edge of everything, just high enough for a 1 1/2 year old to reach. Are you laughing yet? I ran after that little boy for 3 hours before he finally crashed. I told Chris to just enjoy his family and I would take care of Jackson. I had to change my mind a couple times and get some reprieve. My heels were unforgiving and the blisters on my toes were raw. Can you picture this yet? I actually got the comment from Chris' Aunt that I looked like my son was wearing me out. I kindly responded, "Yes, he is". A trip to the bathroom and a look in the mirror confirmed she was right. He crashed at 9 pm, he normally goes to bed at 7:15 pm (and that's with a 2-hour nap).
You would think he would sleep in right? Wrong. 4:55 am.... he's up, so we're up too. Chris had received a call from our Realtor the night before that a women wanted to see our house for the second time at 1 pm today so we just decided to get up and head back. We were on the road at 6:30 am and back home by 10:30 am to unpack, clean and get ready for the showing. Almost exactly 24 hours since we had left...it felt much longer.
Carving pumpkins was a great way to unwind from a stressful weekend, not to mention both Chris and I used the treadmill after Jackson went to bed (he went to bed at 6 pm tonight!). Depsite his track record from the weekend Jackosn was great tonight. We needed that....he needed that : )
5 comments:
Oh Michelle! I have totally been there! Nothing is worse then a tired, cranky baby that you really really want to behave!! FYI--When he gets older, bribery works wonders!! ;-)
Oh boy- I have been there! Makes me even more greatful to my mom this weekend- she watched our girls so we could also go to a fancy wedding!
I also second what Nikki said- bribery works WONDERS when they hit around age 3 :)
It is CRAZY how big Jackson is in the picture of him & Chris! Jack is half his hieght! Either that or Chris has the torso of a 90 year old scoliotic woman.
I had NO idea that orneriness was actually a word...
For that caption of Jack & that cow; you gotta quote Tommy Boy..."You can get a good look at a bull by sticking your head...". You know the rest...:)
Tell Jackson he can come and see our cows any time!
I love your style of writing - I kept waiting for the part where it got better.....oh yea, when he finally fell asleep! You gotta love 'em!
Oh Michelle, I can so relate to everything you went through. I know that I have said this before but Jackson reminds me so much of Karson at that age. You can just see the energy coming from them (even in pictures). I always say I love having a boy with that much energy...it keeps me going!
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