Cam and Nick's Wedding Weekend

We spent the weekend in Asheville, NC at Biltmore Estate for Cam and Nick's wedding. We were supposed to leave around 5am Friday so that Michael could be set up at a Starbucks for his 10am conference call. At about 11pm Thursday night, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up the dry cleaning, which included Michael's suit, so our departure was delayed until after his call, around 2pm. We rolled in to Asheville around 6pm, just in time to meet Kathryn, Steve, and Henry for a quick dinner. We had breakfast for dinner at IHOP, Henry had prunes :)

After dinner, we met up with the rest of the family at a surprise 60th anniversary celebration for Michael's grandparents, Ray and Kenalene. We didn't stay too long, as it was getting late, and MJ was sleepy.

On Saturday, I went to Cameron's bridal luncheon while Michael and MJ played at the hotel a bit. We met up after the luncheon and spent the day touring the Biltmore grounds with Kathryn, Steve, and Henry. We saw the farm/petting zoo and winery. Marlee really really loves animals. This is the second time we've taken her to a petting zoo, and she has such a great time. We just have to keep her from kissing the animals!




We went back to the hotel for a nap before the wedding. MJ never took a morning nap and was up until 3:30 pm...the longest she's been awake her entire life! Needless to say, she was very tired and more than a bit fussy.

We arrived back at the Biltmore around 6pm to get seated for the wedding. The ceremony was in the Italian Garden, just next to the house. Everything about it was beautiful, especially Cam, of course. :) When the ceremony ended, there was a coctail hour on the Library Terrace followed by the reception in a tent in the garden.

First Dance as Mr. and Mrs. A

Marlee was a dancing fool!

She even danced when the band took a break, and there was no one else on the floor!

All that dancing wore her out!

It was so wonderful to see the whole family, and we had a great time. After nearly running out of gas (gas crisis, ya know!), we made it home safely.

A Long, Catch-You-Up Sort of Post

I'm sorry it's been so long since I blogged. It's been quite the hectic week in the W Household.

Last weekend started off great. Mandi and Jackson came over to play and have lunch. Marlee loved playing with Jackson. She really took to him...more than any other friend so far. Maybe it's just that she's older and getting more interested in playing with friends, as opposed to near them.
We all went to lunch at one of our favorite spots, The Fickle Pickle. MJ and Jackson shared their food with one another...we would come to regret this later.

After nap, we got ready for Casey and Jessica's baby shower. We stopped at the Schugs first to watch a bit of the GA Tech game and play with Emily, Sophie, and Nick. Unfortunately, MJ came down with a fever while we were there, and we never made it to the shower. We felt so horrible that Marlee was sick on the day she played with so many friends.

The fever persisted, followed by a rash. Just as Marlee was feeling better, I started to feel bad...just in time for Michael to head to Austin for three days. He was there attending the Game Developer's Conference, and I was home with Marlee and sick, which was a bit of a challenge. I did manage to get some shopping done though, and my mom and Jenna helped me pick out a dress for Cam's wedding next weeked (thank you, Michael and Tyler, for casting your votes via iPhone).

Marlee is doing great with the walking. She pretty much doesn't crawl any more. It has brought out a whole new layer of her personality, and we're really enjoing it. We heard so many times, "Once she starts, youl'll wish you hadn't wished for it!" That couldn't be farther from the truth. It's so much fun!

We're glad to have Daddy home, and tonight we're all adventuring to a new pizza place and Alive After 5. We've been anticipating the restaurant opening for months...let's hope it's good!

Warning

This post contains lethal amounts of cuteness.

First Day of "Playcare"

Marlee went to her first day of "playcare" today! We have a place nearby that does short term and drop-in daycare. They also have a couple cool gyms and imagination centers where you can stay and play with your child. I was a bit sad to leave her, but she was all grins when I picked her up an hour later. The teachers said she had a great time. Marlee walked me around the room when I got there and showed me all the fun things she played with. It's such a relief to know that I can leave her and she'll be safe and happy. Now that Grammy is back in school, I needed a solution for appointments and labor calls. She'll be going for three hours once a week...I think it will be good for both of us!

Yellow Daisy and Finger Painting

Jenna, my mom, Marlee and I went on a girl's trip to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Yesterday. I love a good festival, and this is one of the best! Aside from having to park a mile away and walk uphill in the heat to get there, we had a great time.


Here's a cute pic of Marlee painting. I usually give her her pacifier to keep her fingers out of her mouth. She had already painted two pictures without getting a spot of paint on her. I turned around to look for a pen to date the paintings, and two seconds later, this is what I saw.

Now THAT'S Walking!

Okay, I'll call it walking now. MJ Just walked through the kitchen. :) I'll work on getting video soon.

A Picnic with Rosemary

We met Marlee's new friend Rosemary and her mommy, Angela, at the park for a picnic yesterday. Angela is a friend from high school. We were friends- but not close- in school. We re-connected on facebook to learn we have lots in common as adults and moms! Social networking is a cool thing.

It was funny to watch the girls together. Marlee petted Rosemary like a dog, and Rosemary looked at Marlee like she was nuts (understandably). They played near each other, but not really with each other. Marlee chewed on Rosemary's toys (sorry, Angela), and Rosemary tried to eat Marlee's sandwich. Rosemary sat nicely on the blanket, and Marlee rolled in the grass clippings. By the end of it all, Rosemary was tuckered out, and MJ was asleep, covered in grass clippings held in place with sticky cantaloupe juice.

Rosemary is the sweetest laid-back baby, and her mom is pretty cool too. Hopefully we can "play" again soon...Marlee wants to show Rosemary how to swing.

[I am kicking myself for not taking pictures...I even had my camera! Oh well, next time.]

An Odd Coincidence

I buy two kinds of milk...Organic Whole for the wee one, and Organic Lactose-free Skim for us. I have two kinds of drinking glasses. I've had these since our wedding. Anyone else think this is really weird?

Collector

Marlee has become quite the little collector. It started a month or so ago with her red wagon. She would put her favorite toys in it and push them around. Last week she got a Chick-Fil-A kids meal that came with a hollow book...it opens and closes like a box. She loves to collect her most prized possessions (currently a piece of tissue paper, a finger puppet, and a chupa) and carry them around in this book. As I type this, I realize that the humor is not quite coming through. It's like...she'll find something..."OOH, what a nice piece of tissue. I should put this in my book box!" And there it stays for a couple of days until something is deemed more valuable and worthy of the space in the book. It's hysterical. She also picked up a seed-pod type thing outside (Michaels says it's called a gumball???), said, "OOOOH!" and carried it around for hours. It's so funny to watch her collect silly little treasures. One day I'm sure I'll find a bug in her pocket or something.














The Collector




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Some Treasures

An update on the "walking," since many have asked: If it's possible, she's less interested than ever. I believe we're moving backwards here. She took her first steps over a month ago, and I felt like walking would be close behind. Now I think she'll walk when she's seven.