Four weddings (and hopefully no funerals)

Last year, my "little sis" Allie asked me if I would officiate her wedding. Awwww. Of course I did! I love to talk, how could I pass up this opportunity?

Well, then her sister Katie asked if I'd officiate her wedding. Sure!

And then Katie's friend Lisa asked if I'd officiate her wedding. Why not!

And then, Allie's husband's cousin wondered if I'd officiate her wedding. Definitely!

It started off as a fluke, but I have to say, I get so much joy out of officiating weddings. Katie's wedding was this past weekend, in Rockport MA, and it was beautiful. Charlotte was the flower girl, which was hysterical because, well, that child marches (or doesn't, as it turned out) to the beat of her own drummer.

Below, a selection of photos:

 Pre-wedding. This is the only picture I have of the headband, which she (very clearly) refused to wear.
 

Charlotte and Allie walking down the aisle. This was just before Allie tried putting her down to walk. That didn't work, either; she processed in Allie's arms.

Post-ceremony, playing in the chairs.

 Party dress. At this point, she wanted nothing to do with anyone except me.

Blushing bride, cranky flower girl, officiant. 

It is SO HARD to be this girl. Sometimes she just can't take the difficulty.

Transportation

Charlotte and I ventured to DC last weekend so that I could run the Army Ten Miler. This is the first of a few posts chronicling that trip.

(Warning, this is a picture-heavy post)

We flew down. Charlotte was well-behaved, so I did not gate-check her, just the car seat.

As I had not run in at least 3 weeks, I thought a stroll Saturday morning would be good to get the muscles moving the day before the race. So, Dad, Charlotte and I walked to the dry cleaners; joys of living in an urban area! For some reason, she hates being buckled into things. Once she's in them, she's fine, but that sad, sad crocodile tear under her left eye is because I dared to buckle her in.

My friend Rachel and I went for a walk at Great Falls National Park in Maryland, along with half the county. It was a gorgeous fall day, and the place was packed. Charlotte enjoyed playing with my water bottle once we got to the overlook. This was a brief respite from being in the moby wrap (another mode of transportation for her).

We left early Monday morning. My dear mother gave us a ride to the airport. Charlotte decided it was too early, and opted to go back to sleep in the car.

At the airport in her jammy jams. She really enjoyed watching everybody and everything around us. Her mobility is a concern these days. I set her down briefly so I could put on the wrap, and she scooted off towards a Sunglasses Hut.

Unrelated, but I'd like to share my elation that she is finally getting hair.

The further adventures...

of Charlotte!

We took a night off from family to go visit my friend. Mom volunteered to drive us over there, but I knew that Charlotte's first Metro ride would be worthy of documentation, so I turned her down.

Here she is, waiting for the train. We missed one by maybe 20 seconds because I couldn't get the #$*&*! stroller through the fare card gates. Rookie mistake. I felt like such a tourist!

Note her death grip on Oscar the dog, a gift from our cousins. He is her traveling companion.

 And here, on the way home. Just outside the frame were two tourists. She was such a flirt, laughing and grinning at them, and I swear to you, they took photos of her. She has papparazzi.

Verdict: she enjoyed the Metro trains themselves, but did not particularly enjoy the waiting for them.

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man

Last weekend, Charlotte and I traveled to DC to celebrate my grandmothers. Here's thematic installment no. 1 of our trip. I call it: how to travel with a mobile 6 month old and not lose your mind.

We got to the airport three hours early because I figured there'd be a long line at security, it being the Friday before Labor Day and all. Not only was there virtually no line, the TSA agent actually opened another lane for us. Then I had to fill three hours with a mobile baby.

So, we played with the suitcase for a while. I also instagrammed a lot (follow me: joie_12). The awesome gate agent re-arranged things so that Charlotte and I had a row to ourselves, so she flew in the car seat.

Sleeping on the plane. This didn't actually last very long, and I was forced to resort to SkyMall to keep her entertained.

I learned an important lesson: just because you CAN carry the diaper bag, carseat/kid combo, and a carry-on duffle, doesn't mean you SHOULD. It wasn't so bad in Albany, but National Airport is a lot bigger. I earned some calluses on my hands this trip!

On the way back, killing time with Mimi before the flight. I had already checked the duffle bag at this point.

Despite the relative emptiness of our return flight, we were forced to gate check the car seat. This ended up not being an issue, because Charlotte (and I!) slept for the first 45 minutes of the 65 minute flight. I really enjoyed our snuggly little nap. 

The last twenty minutes were spent playing and making googly eyes at the baby two rows up.

Whirlwinds

We experienced two different types of whirlwinds the weekend we went to vist my family - a literal one, in the form of a massive thunderstorm that knocked out power to over a million people in the Greater DC area, and a figurative one, in the form of a jam-packed trip home.

We had SO MUCH FUN. Warning: lots of pictures ahead.

We flew out of Albany on Friday. Charlotte handled it like a champ. She got a lot of compliments, too.

Saturday was family day - we hung out with my mom's side for lunch, then went to visit my dad's mom.

 This picture tickles me. Thank heaven she hasn't got any teeth yet!

 I have no words. It kills me that she is so clearly a dog lover.

Cousins and a beaming great-grandmother.

We visited with my little brother, and even went out for a baby-free nightcap.

On Sunday we had some family friends over for coffee cake and fruit. We were back at the airport by 1:45 Sunday afternoon, and back home by dinner. I think. It's been a while!

Back home

Charlotte did fantastically well on our trip. She slept the entire way there (and back!), but that was expected.

She entertained Grandma for a while while M and I went for a 4 mile run Saturday morning. This was the first time the two of us had left her with anyone for more than 15 minutes, and, surprise, she did fine. And since I was so focused on running and hating the fact that his parents live at the top of a hill, I did fine, too.

We had lots of visitors on Saturday, and Charlotte was a champ. I had expressed my concern to M that she was going to be overstimulated once all his family got there - they can be a little loud. He noted that during her witching hours (from 5:00-8:00), she does best if she's being held, and that chances were, she wouldn't get put down much at all once his family arrived. Sometimes his wisdom surprises me. He was right, of course, but don't tell him that!

Great Aunt June giving Charlotte a bottle. The little hungry girl took 5 ounces in one fell swoop! Aren't the two of them adorable?

Sunday went just as smoothly as Saturday. She slept through most of breakfast, then blew out her diaper at the diner. Grandma and I ended up in the bathroom giving her a serious wipe-down. At one point, she was holding a very naked Charlotte while I removed the dirty changing pad, and, you guessed it, she peed all over Grandma's shoes and the floor. And of course, we had an audience for that. We were in hysterics. I was laughing so hard I had a hard time getting the diaper closed. It's always an adventure with us. 

Road trip!

We are taking our first road trip en famille this weekend, to go visit M's family in the Finger Lakes. Gus, Charlotte, M, me, and a whole lot of stuff will be squeezing into my not-so-big hatchback for the 2.5 hour drive. Here is everything we are taking:

What's astonishing is that really, the volume of stuff is no greater than it was before Charlotte. It's just different stuff.

I will admit, I'm a little nervous about the trip. The drive itself isn't a concern - she's a champ in the car. I'm more worried about how she'll react to having 15+ people around her during her fussy time. Hopefully she'll take a good couple naps in the morning to prepare herself!

As for me, I will have to go for a run tomorrow to prepare myself. I know that the weekend will be packed full of yummy food. I know that because I am bringing this cake:

Well, ok, I'm bringing the remainder of the 9x13 pan. I had to make sure it was ok! It's an applesauce cake from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I love it so much that last year when I made applesauce, I froze it in the exact amounts needed to make the cake. Usually I would frost this bad boy with cream cheese frosting, but it's pretty good as a snack cake without the extra calories. And, let's be honest, I can't make cream cheese frosting because I eat half of it before it gets on the cake. So good!