On Weddings, Children, and Tic Tacs

On Saturday my son Sammy was the ring bearer at my cousin's wedding. Now all of my children except for Freddie have been a member of a bridal party this year! (Here are the girls in my other cousin's wedding, in case you need a dose of the cuteness.)

While the girls were adorable, their appearance in the wedding didn't have as strong as an effect on me. They wore lovely little flowered dresses and looked positively the picture of little girl sweetness and light.

Sam, on the other hand, wore a tuxedo that was a miniature replica of the groom's outfit. Seeing him all decked out like a big, grown up man made my eyes well and my chest swell all at the same time. My mind was running wild. "Is this what he'll look like in another twenty years or so, when he's waiting down front for his bride??? That bitch better be good to my baby!" Needless to say, I was emotional. Luckily there wasn't much time for me to ponder these things before the wedding started.

He took his duties very seriously, and with good reason. When it was time to walk down the aisle he actually carried the for real rings on his little pillow. My cousin's brother (who is also my cousin, but I don't want to confuse anyone with my damn hell ass huge family) kept the rings until right before Sam's big moment, and then he tied them to the pillow, so he only had to not lose them for about 45 seconds, but man was I nervous.

So was he. I took about a dozen shots of him walking down the aisle with his junior bridesmaid, and there was only one where he wasn't staring intently down at the rings. Afterwards I asked him about it, and he said he just wanted to keep looking at them to make sure they were still there.

Once the part he was responsible for was over, he was rewarded with an entire box of orange tic tacs, which he consumed during the ceremony.

It's tough out there for a kid.

Love, Marriage and Georgia

So the wedding went well. The bride was lovely, as expected. And her groom was delighted in her loveliness.

My girls were lovely, as well.

Lucy, in particular, really held it together well. Until she didn't. But it was 8pm by then, and we called it a day. We literally had to drag her out, kicking and screaming, but when it mattered she was a peach!

I made it through the day in my dress without any major incidents, i.e. no nipple slips. Freddie did dribble a little milk on my dress, but I just held my flowers in front of my left boob and no one noticed!

The next morning, SOB, Freddie and I headed south to Savannah, where we had tea...

And met Paula Dean...

Or a reasonable facsimile of her.

And walked and walked and walked. Seriously, I pushed Fred over at least eight miles of Savannah sidewalk. Which hopefully made up for the meal we ate a Paula Dean's! SOB had a conference, so during the day when he was stuck inside a stoopid convention center I hit the streets with babe and camera.

Freddie was an exceptional travelling companion. He was an angel on the planes, slept well at the hotel and was generally sweet and adorable. Just about everyone I encountered on the street had something sweet to say about him.

I haven't been back to Georgia since we left the ATL. Even though I was rather disenchanted with the south when we left, this trip reminded me of why I wanted to live there in the first place. It was hard to leave, and if three of my kids weren't here waiting for me I may have accidentally missed my plane. But home we came, relaxed and happy, and already looking forward to our next trip back.

Stained Glass

I grew up in a family that went to church every weekend. Now that I'm grown I hardly ever go, but when I do I always fall in love with the stained glass windows. Unfortunately people don't just bring cameras to church. Unless they are weirdos. Luckily the only times I seem to find myself in a house of worship is for weddings where cameras are totally cool!

And just as a reference, here was the view from our hotel this weekend, which is a stark contrast to last weekend, huh?

Visit Mother May I for all of the Best Shots from last week!