Wedding Day!

October 5th, 2013 was a wonderful day indeed. Our very good friends Brian and Moria got married!

We knew going into the day it could be a challenge managing wedding obligations and caring for Anna. I got up very early to get showered and to feed Anna before leaving to go at get hair and makeup done with the rest of the wedding party. Kevin had Anna and we had hoped that her being up a little earlier than usual would lead to her taking an earlier nap. While the earlier nap did happen it was unfortunately a very very short nap and we were nervous about how Anna would do during the ceremony.

Once my hair and makeup was complete I headed back to the apartment to feed Anna again while Kevin finished getting ready and then off to the church. I waited as long as possible before putting Anna in her flower girl dress so that she'd have more freedom to crawl around before the ceremony.

A pre-ceremony photo op!

 Kevin and I walked down the aisle with Anna in tow. Kevin held her and I dropped the flower petals. During the ceremony Kevin held her and while we had some friends on call to take her if she became restless we didn't end up needing their services. Anna did great! She chewed on her bow and the handle to the basket and was pretty content. The ceremony was absolutely lovely and we were thrilled to be standing up with those two on their wedding day.

Once the ceremony ended things got a little interesting. Anna needed a nap desperately and both Kevin and I were needed for group pictures. Poor baby was so overtired that driving in the car wasn't really working. Our friends Colin and Andi took over driving for a bit and they were eventually able to calm her down while we did pictures but she never actually got to sleep. Once we were done with pictures on campus we headed over the state park for more pictures. Luckily Anna was able to fall asleep in the car on the way there (although that wasn't easy to accomplish) and ended up getting a nice long nap in the car. We managed to find someone to sit with Anna in the car while we took more pictures but we felt bad that Anna didn't make it into any of the group pictures.

Robert H. Treman State Park

Once our little lady had her nap she was ready to party though!

Hanging out at the reception.

The place looked beautiful and Brian and Moria lucked out on the weather. It had rained a lot the night before and while it was overcast at times it only sprinkled once for a short period of time during the reception. It was perfect!

Me with the beautiful bride

  I'm so mad I didn't get a picture of Kevin and Brian together but that's the way it goes at weddings I suppose. 

Anna and Daddy dancing

 We brought the pack n' play with us and set it up by our table so that Anna could get to moving some. She loved it. I think she enjoyed the freedom and allowed her to still watch all the activities going on. It also gave us a break from holding her the entire evening. 

We did manage to get a group shot with some of our California friends. 

With the reception being at a state park people had to be out by 9pm. The earlier start time for the reception worked out great for us and we only had to leave a little bit early. It was nice that we were able to stick around so long and celebrate with our friends. Anna was definitely tired that night and slept wonderfully.

The next morning we got up to help with clean up but by the time we got there (only about 30 minutes late due to a napping baby) almost everything was already done. Instead we enjoyed coffee and bagels and some last minute visiting with friends.

After clean up and a few goodbyes we had a little time before heading to a lunch so we went to check out the waterfall that Anna missed out on the day before. It was such a beautiful day out and Anna loved it.

A family photo with the waterfall behind us.

The lunch was back at the Ithaca Beer Company and was for anybody who was still in town to drop by. We enjoyed getting to talk with more of Brian and Moria's family members that we didn't necessarily have an opportunity to chat with at the wedding.

We couldn't get Anna to look at the camera but we at least got a group picture with the newlyweds! 

After lunch we had just enough time to get Anna a good nap in and finish packing up our stuff before heading to the airport. The second leg of the flight seemed really long since Anna was awake the entire time (there was another older baby sitting across the aisle and as soon as Anna saw her she went from sleepy to bright eyed in about 2 seconds). She crashed on the way home from the airport and we somehow managed to get her out of the car seat, into her sleep sack (she already had her pajamas on) and into her crib without waking her up. This never happens and we were so grateful. No "you woke me up" drama for very tired parents.

Although chaotic, the weekend was absolutely wonderful and were delighted to be able to watch Brian and Moria starting a new chapter in their lives. We love them very much and couldn't be happier for them.