Cousins

Only a couple of pictures with all the Lawler cousins together, but I can report that they get along very well!  The boys were both absolutely fascinated with baby Neyome and had fun running around with Kadence.  Michael is now just as tall as or taller than Kadence despite being a year younger.  Poor Mayah was a little under the weather all weekend but by the end of the day Sunday she was jumping right in.

Kadence fed Malcolm french fries and tried to pick him up a few times

A rare moment to corral them all in one place!!

Sunday in Chicago

We were fortunate to be able to go to Chicago this past weekend for Ryan and Nicole's (long-awaited!) wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at Holy Family parish close to downtown. This is a special couple and we've been so happy to have them around in Dallas the past few years. We were very proud of little Michael (listed in the program as "Godson of the Groom" :) as he did a great job this time around in his job as ring bearer. At Dan and Kelly's wedding in September, the poor guy was much more intimidated by everything and burst into tears. This time he walked carefully down the aisle like we practiced and gave Uncle Ryan the pillow. Malcolm made it mostly through the Mass without a repeat of the meltdown from Theresa's wedding, and only one near attempt to rush the altar :) Also: Michael had no potty accidents all weekend, so things were good all around!

I don't have any pictures from the actual wedding, where the boys required a lot of attention even with parental assistance. Still, we did get some fun pictures on Sunday taking trips around to the Bolingbrook fair, Nikki's dad's barbecue restaurant, and a few other destinations.

The boys in a rare moment of sitting nicely in the hotel room

Malcolm hits the stage floor behind the hot-dog-eating-contest contestants.  He also struck this pose multiple times that night in the middle of the airport concourse, much to our chagrin.

Malcolm and Grandpa

Petting a baby calf in the petting zoo tent

Super sweet boys with Mama, right before throwing their cups on the ground

Michael chats with Noni in Spanish at lunch

Picture of a boy approximately 30 seconds after he spent the past two hours of quiet time in the hotel insisting he was wide awake and was NOT TIRED, MAMA

Daddy and Malcolm heading to our plane home

Wedding weekend

This past weekend we embarked only our second all-family plane trip, this time to Chicago for Dan and Kelly's wedding.  This is a big undertaking with two kids, at least in my view.  We each took one kid on Thursday since we had to split up ... and I had a middle seat.  Oomph.  Very fortunately, Malcolm fell asleep after 45 minutes and we made it all right.  If you listen to little Michael, our weekend featured: Kadence, Mayah, Erin, Uncle Brendan, Kelly, Grandma, Grandpa, a gray car (our rental), an elevator, a bus (shuttles at the airport), an airplane, and a hotel.  That more or less sums it up!  We had a wonderful time and were glad to see everybody.  The cousins in particular really seemed to enjoy the visit.

 The wedding itself was beautiful.  Poor Michael didn't make it as the ringbearer, though.  I wasn't surprised at all - I didn't think he'd make it - but the poor guy took off after the third bridesmaid, running down the aisle towards his dad and crying.  We encouraged him to just run the rest of the way down the aisle to me at the front, where he quickly settled down and happily munched on puffs and read "Five Little Monkeys" to himself the rest of the wedding.  Kadence, the flower girl, took off crying after Michael and took a little while longer to calm down with Grandma, but she did great too.  For his part, Malcolm was handed off between Grandma, Grandpa, and Brendan, and did well as long as he had puffs. Amazingly, although we had to roll the pants cuffs several times, at 13 months he fit into the same 24-month outfit that Michael wore to Erin's wedding at 18 months.  Yes, we knew he was a big little guy.  I was just extremely happy to get more than one use out of the outfit.

The wedding reception was also great.  Kelly is very talented at design and it was neat to see the results of all the DIY projects she has been posting about on her wedding blog, from striped paper straws, to mix-and-match painted flower vases, to napkin holders, to table numbers, to paper flowers.  I also was a fan of the Rice Krispie treat wedding cake :)  Congratulations to Dan and Kelly!

We were glad to have some extra time to spend with the extended family.  During one nice lunch in particular at Portillo's, we were lucky to find a back hallway with no traffic where the kids could get up and move around as they pleased, which they definitely took advantage of.  Michael took the opportunity to search for french fries at everyone's place, but also to hang out with Kadence.  Malcolm was his usual sociable self.

Erin's wedding photos

Sorry we never got around to posting the pictures we took from Erin's wedding -- here they are! I still love that little suit :)

Sonny Corleone

How great is this outfit Mike found for Michael for Erin's wedding on Friday?? Loved it :) (More pictures to come later!)

Jesse's Wedding

This past weekend I flew solo to Chicago for the wedding of Lucas' younger brother Jesse (to his longtime paramour Kathryn). Kim sat this trip out, and stayed behind to pick up the keys to our new house and start packing up our stuff. Theresa was kind enough to stop by and help her pack and lift the heavy boxes.

Jesse is the first child in the Rickelman family to get married. He found himself a nice Catholic girl to marry and the wedding was held in the church my family attended for so many years, St. Dominic's. The reception was at a golf club nearby and the reception hall was packed to the brim. It's a good thing everyone knew each other so well.

The day after the wedding Jesse's parents hosted a lunch at their house at noon. Jesse and Kathryn spent some time opening all the gifts they received. This may be the only time in wedding gift history that the groom got the best gift, and neon blue and red Chicago Cubs sign. Jesse and Kathryn will spend their honeymoon in St. Lucia and then finish their big move to Sioux Falls, SD.

This is the first wedding I've attended of someone significantly younger than me. During the now obligatory wedding slideshow, I was reminded that I've known Jesse since he was about 2 years old. Now he's married and will begin his adult life with his lovely bride.

And that's when you really start to feel old. But, all in all, it was a great time, and I got a chance to catch up with even more people that I had known throughout my life. Kim was sorely missed, as more people were interested to see and hear about her than me. It's hard to be more interesting than a new baby, even one that isn't born yet.

Starting tonight, it'll be my turn to start moving boxes, and Kim & I are both excited to the see the job that Wall 2 Wall Art has in store for our home. Thanks to Theresa for fitting us in to her busy schedule!