Blurry Excited Baby at a Wedding

Last Saturday, we had the honor of attending a wedding of Chris' best friend's sister. The bride was absolutely beautiful and radiant, the groom was dashing, and the church was oh-my-goodness so breathtaking.

St. Mary of the Angels in Bucktown, Chicago

Last fall, we made it to the 7:15pm Mass on Sunday quite a bit after many Sunday mornings when we were too sad from an ND loss to roll out of bed to make it to the church that was a five minute walk from out doorstep. I'm happy that we haven't experienced that sad feeling this year...and yet we still find ourselves at the Sunday evening Masses. Thank goodness that both Chicago and South Bend have about a million Masses each weekend.

Anyway, remember how Ryan is thankful for silent churches? Well, imagine how thankful he is for HUGE silent churches. If I can hear his screeches and ooohs all the way from your mind and through the computer screen, then you are imagining his feelings correctly. This kid's pipes were giving the organ pipes a run for their money. Since I was 99% sure that the bride didn't want Ryan's musical talents over the ones that she actually chose and paid for, Chris and I were going to keep Ryan in the lobby of the church during the ceremony. Picture it now: the priest begins to ask, "Will you accept children lovingly from God..." only to be cut off by my son's desire to be heard all around the world with an emphatic shriek. Hmmm, Ryan, I don't think the Rite of Marriage includes a footnote requesting real-time examples so off to the lobby we went!

We went to the lobby for a bit, but the hitching did not go off without a hitch since was a bit of a straight-from-a-movie moment when the priest didn't show up on time! The bridesmaids had already processed down the aisle, and the groom was waiting when a man stepped up to the podium and started with, "Unfortunately..." and thankfully finished with, "the priest hasn't arrived yet." The bride and groom took it all in stride, and this waiting period allowed Ryan to come back into the church for a short amount of time during which an old Cheerio from the floor found a way into his mouth. We can only hope it had been absolved of its germs.

Canon in D began again, and thus so did our time in the lobby. Ryan was excited. How excited? Blurry, blurry excited. The kid could not stand still, sit still, or anything still.

So I huddled near the heater and let him slip and slide everywhere while praying for a nap. When the priest started his homily, Ryan started clearing his throat repeatedly as if he wanted to interrupt and give his two cents about the Sacrament of Matrimony. Sorry, honey, I think we will let the priest do that.

All of this commotion, throat clearing and shrieking led to a hungry and tired baby who was signing for milk and food. I didn't wear a nursing friendly dress at all because I figured that Ryan was almost eleven months and would be able to handle the two hours that I wouldn't have access to privacy. Plus, I packed grapes! Grapes solve all. Except that the grapes were in the car, it was coooold, my coat was in the pew in the quiet and loving church, and there was a long line for the one bathroom in the church. And that is how I found myself perched on the stairs under my scarf that was stretched out to its limits (thank you, pashminas for being in style and for being wide) with my dress pulled up, and praying that the little man with tiny feet peaking out from under the scarf didn't yank it off as a stream of parishioners passed by.

That was my first wedding as a mother.

Does anyone have any good wedding stories to share? 

Please send in your advent wreaths! For Advent, I will be featuring Advent wreaths from my readers on the blog. If you would like to submit yours, please send a photo (or photos!) and a little bit about your family's Advent traditions to cedarsandtinyflowers {at} gmail.com. I hope to post one every day starting on December 2 (the first Sunday of Advent) in addition to my regular posts. Can't wait to read about your wreaths!