Last Thursday, the 7th, we loaded up the car (and oh, do I mean loaded) and headed for Johnson City, TN. We were excited to be on our way to drop off Nate, and then head to Charlottesville, VA for Erin & Sameer's wedding. We were going to get to see old high school & college friends, and couldn't wait to celebrate (kid-free) with all of them!
We made it all the way to Cookeville (a whopping 1.5 hrs) before Nate needed a stop. We ate an early dinner at Steak 'N' Shake and Nate had a good ole time. Tried bits of french fries, burger, bun, cracker, and juice. What a feast! He also managed to flag down a cute waitress and flirt with her. He raised his arm (he's been giving high fives a lot these days) and smiled at her. I told her he was trying to give a high five, so she stood there and put her hand out. I said "Nate, give her a high five." He just shook his head "No." It was hilarious! He had so much fun at dinner, he didn't want to get back in the car. So, the next hour (Greg had switched to being in the backseat with him), was not fun. Lots of fussing. His 7:30 pm bottle finally calmed him down, and after that, he had a ball. He loved looking out the window and seeing the dark sky. And he and Dad read books and told "ghost stories" with the flashlight. Too cute. Nate fell asleep for the last 45 minutes of our trip, and though we had hoped to get him into Joyce & Stan's house without waking him, that did not happen. Instead, he fussed on & off in his pack 'n' play until past midnight. I ended up rocking and singing to him and he finally fell asleep by 1 am. Fun night!
Greg & I were up and gone by 7 am - we still had a 4 1/2 hr drive ahead of us and I had to be at the rehearsal by 12:45 pm. The drive was uneventful, and we made it there early, so we backtracked and found a Blimpie for lunch. YUM! The King Family Vineyards (the wedding/reception site) were absolutely breathtaking, and even better, the weather was awesome! Sunny, breezy, no humidity. I want to move to Charlottesville, VA! Erin & Sameer were too cute - both super calm and just ready for their big day. I LOVED the wedding director....shout out to BarbWired....b/c she was super anal & organized. I knew the big day would go off without a hitch, b/c she had every detail thought out. After the rehearsal, we had a few hours to kill, so we did a wine tasting. (Hello, we're a vineyard without our kiddo, so why not!?) Me, Greg, Lora, Moo, and Elke & Rob headed inside to do a wine tasting of 10 different wines. Greg was not a fan of the white wines and dessert wines (go figure). I was just excited we got to keep the wine glasses at the end! After that, we headed to our hotel to unpack, shower, and nap. (Well, at least Greg napped. I swear he can take a nap at the drop of a hat. I am jealous!)
The Indian wedding ceremony/rehearsal dinner started at 5:30 pm, and we got there a little late but didn't miss much. It was held at the Sage Moon Gallery, which was a beautiful art gallery in this super cute pedestrian mall. (Think: stone walkways with stores on either side, only open to foot traffic, with tables & chairs scattered outside. So picturesque!) Anyways - back to the ceremony...When Erin walked in, dressed in bright red Indian garb & adorned in jewels, she took my breath away! She was gorgeous! The ceremony lasted over an hour, and was hard to follow b/c everything was spoken in ancient Sanskrit. Awesome. I don't even think Sameer's family knew what was going on, they just followed the cues they were given. It was so neat to see a small aspect of such a different culture though....the dress, the traditions, the rituals. I felt especially honored when I got to actually take part in the ceremony....all the married women were asked to come forward to help "bless" the bride-to-be. I dipped my finger in red powder and placed a dot in Erin's scalp. She and I were both laughing the whole time - out of nervousness I think, but still, pretty cool. Next was the rehearsal dinner - still at the Sage Moon Gallery - and I got to experience Indian food for the first time. Verdict: loved it! A bit spicy for me, but that's only b/c I am a wimp. The highlight of the night was a slideshow of Erin & Sameer growing up. I made it into a few pictures and WOW was I scary looking when I was younger. It was fun to relive some old memories with Erin though. I have known her since 4th grade!!
Later that night, we walked down to a local bar, Zocalo, for the after-party (aka high school reunion). It was so fun to see people I hadn't in years! And the best part was when Bec FINALLY arrived.....with her boyfriend Mike! I was the last one in the family to meet him and was pittin' just thinking about it. Well, as to be expected, I loved him and thought he & Bec were adorable together! We had fun chatting and then all 4 of us called a cab to head back to the hotel. Greg's good friend Ted had given us a number to call. Little did we know, it was for an old pimped out limo, called the Wahooptie. It was classic! Bright green, fur seats, and door falling off. Loved it. It was like "Professors Gone Wild" (aka Greg sticking his head out the sunroof). We made it back to the lovely Red Roof Inn safely, and hit the sack, for we had a long day of partying ahead of us tomorrow.
Saturday was a wonderful day! It started off with breakfast with the Gibbs family + Mike. Greg got a "pass" since they are already married to Gibbs girls and didn't need to impress BethAnn & Spike. (And they wanted to sleep in.) After a whirlwind breakfast of discussions of plans for Thanksgiving and Xmas - sorry Mike, we Gibbs girls like to plan ahead - Lora and I had to get to Erin's house to start bridesmaids preparations. We had so much fun all day, being pampered and having both our hair & make-up done by professionals! Lunch was brought in, and then our limo arrived at 3 pm to take us to the vineyards! So fun! We played games and sang to mixed cd's the whole ride. We had to sit in the "holding room" for close to 2 hrs, but spent the time by taking (a lot of) pics - thanks Moo - and telling stories. I think I was still in shock that little Erin V was getting married. This is the same girl who in high school, didn't even want her boyfriend to hold her hand in public! She had come a long way, and I was SO happy that she had found Sameer. If there ever was a perfect match for Erin, he was it.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, and I don't think Erin was nervous at all, except for maybe the 5 minutes before she walked down the aisle with her dad. But that's pretty normal I think! The ceremony was beautiful, and her brother Dan and sister-in-law Sophie performed the vows & sermon. So neat to have family do that, and make it so personal! We were all crying (and sweating), though as usual, Moo took the prize for the most boo-hooing. Love ya, Moo! Bridal party pictures after the ceremony went unusually fast, I think that was b/c we were snacking on hors 'duerves and wine! :) We joined the rest of the guests, and spent the rest of the night dancing, eating, drinking, and being merry! It was quite a dance party, and I must say that the Indian songs played were pretty awesome! I most surprised at 2 things: 1) my dad got out on the dance floor multiple times and 2) that Bob Zier could dance so well after 2 hip replacements!! We took shuttles back to the hotels around 11 pm, and while some of our friends went out to another bar, Greg and I did not. We knew the 10 hr drive the next day was going to be a long one...but we were looking forward to seeing our little man nonetheless.
Sunday morning, we went for bagels with the fam and then headed out about 10 am. We made it to Johnson City without much trouble, and found Nate asleep on the porch swing with Joyce upon our arrival. We sat down for a quick snack/early dinner, and listened to how much fun Nate had had with his grandparents that weekend. Luckily, he was good as gold, ate well, slept well, and entertained them. He even found a new love....watermelon! We were happy to be on our way and head home, but Joyce & Stan were sad to see their little man leave. (Good thing his bday party is in a few days and they'll see him then!)
On our way home, we had a pitstop in Knoxville, to see one of Greg's high school friends who just had a baby 5 days earlier. Little Coen Michael Geswein was a cutie, and Nate enjoyed being able to crawl around and stretch his legs a bit before getting back in the car. The remaining 3 hrs was not the most enjoyable - think: tired baby b/c he didn't have a good 2nd nap, but too stubborn to fall asleep in the car so he just fussed instead. I think I fed him a whole box of Cheerios to keep him happy. Yes, I am that Mom. At least in the car I am. We made it home around 9 pm central time and Nate settled into his crib pretty fast. There's no place like home!!!
I cannot even begin to describe how I'm feeling today.....it's such a mixture of emotions. Sadness, happiness, bewilderment, and pride. I've been a mom to a wonderful little boy for a whole year now, and just writing that sentence still boggles my mind. It's been a whole year! Where did the time go!? At times, I do want my little baby boy back. It seems like it was so much easier back then, though it was exhausting to be so sleep-deprived. But then again, I look at him now, and though he is FULL of energy and hard to control, he is so much more entertaining and fun. I love every stage we've watched him go through, and I'm eager to see the ones that lie ahead. I love my little man more than anything in the world! Happy birthday, Nate!!! :)
