As for Mr. Studly Pants...well, he looked pretty snazzy as well.
Yes, our boy did his job, and he did it well. Although he complained about the tux as we stuffed him into it a few hours before the wedding, once we arrived at the church he snapped into Business Mode. I think the beautiful bride and bridesmaids helped matters. As y'all know, our son is already quite the ladies man. A few comments about how cute he looked from a bunch of pretty girls, and he was putty. Putty.
Of course, I have to tell you a little bit more about the weekend leading up to the wedding. Because it was almost a no-go for our boy. More on that in a bit.
After a fun-filled flight to Memphis (boy, 18-months is a delightful age to fly with a child!), we arrived at our destination. We immediately hit up the Rendezvous for some BBQ and then headed back to the room for a long nap for, as it turned out, ALL my boys. After the nap, we headed to the rehearsal at the absolutely gorgeous Catholic church, St. Peter's. On the way to the church, Fionny was basically being a malcontent. Complaining about everything. (We should have known something was wrong then, I suppose.) However, as soon as he arrived to the church and saw this beautiful lady...well, the rest was history.
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| Fionny and the bride, Karen. |
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| Fionny practicing his walk down the aisle. |
The next morning there was a lovely wedding day brunch at the Madison Hotel. Yummy food, wonderful family everywhere. And these two munchkins. I dressed them completely alike (on purpose) for the first time. White button-downs and cords. Oh, it won't be the last time, folks. They looked adorbs!
While at the brunch, Karen presented the hosts of the brunch (which included my dad and most of his siblings, as well as a bunch of my older cousins) with a special host gift. In lieu of a present, Karen and Douglas donated money to Make-A-Wish for each person in honor of Fionn. It was such a touching, thoughtful tribute to our boy. We love you, Karen!
While at the brunch, we noticed that Fionny felt a little warm. I stupidly left the thermometer back at the room, so Conor ran to the CVS across the street and bought one. Sure enough, Fionn's temperature was elevated. Not terrible yet. I think it was 99.7. But for Fionny...that is telling. When healthy, our boy tends to run a bit on the cold side just like me.
So suddenly, we were at high alert. We took the boys back to the room for nap, all the while wondering if we were going to be checking in at the hospital that night instead of the church. Sure enough, Fionn awoke with a higher temperature. This one was officially a low grade (anything from 100.4-100.9 is low-grade). We notified Dad and Julie that we might be heading into the hospital in the next hour if Fionn clocked another low-grade. For a cancer patient, two low-grade fevers in the course of an hour is considered a full-blown fever.
The next hour felt like an eternity. Finally it was time to take his temperature again. We held our breath and stuck the thermometer under his tongue.
100.3. Whew. Just barely under the cutoff. Although we were still concerned about Fionn, we could proceed to the wedding as planned. We dropped Dex off with the babysitter (thanks, Ashley Clark, for the recommendation!) and headed to the lobby. Conor went to get the car while Fionn and I waited. Suddenly, Fionn burst into tears. "Mama, I just pooped in my pants!"
Oh Jesus. Poop. In his little tux pants. And we were scheduled to be at the church for pictures in 10 minutes.
We raced back to the room, washed out the pants with some soap and turned on the blow dryer. My sweet boy who kept apologizing (which broke my heart) sat on the floor with the blow dryer, running it up and down the legs of his pants. "Hmm...I think it needs a little more," he would say and continue blow drying. Ah, that kid. Not sure I've ever loved him more than in that moment.
Now I'd like to be able to blame the pooping incident on some chemo side effect, but to be honest, it was bad parenting. I let Fionny pound 2 truffles from the wedding gift bag right before heading out that night. My bad.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. We arrived to the church just as Fionny was needed for pictures. We sprayed him down with Febreeze (ah, Meadows and Rain) so any lingering smell wouldn't offend the wedding guests. And the rest is history. Our boy did great. It helped that he was stationed right behind Karen's older sister, Tyndale, who was the maid of honor. Tyndale is great with kids (and really just great with everybody, such a people person), and Fionn felt right at home. He even told Conor to hit the road. "Dada, I know what I'm doing. You can go sit down now." Alrighty then.
I have to say that watching my little man walk down the aisle in his tux with the most adorable smile on his face (it was more of an open-mouthed look of wonderment) was a moment I will never forget. Thank you, Karen and Douglas, for giving us that moment. We were so honored to be included.
Once Fionny finished his "job" as we kept calling it, he was allowed to come and sit with us in the pew. He did fine for about...oh, 20 minutes. Then he started asking questions (loudly). My favorite was "What are they doin'?" as Karen and Douglas recited their holy wedding vows. Thankfully, the wedding planner told us about the nursery downstairs and said that we should feel free to hit it up at any time. So Conor and Fionny did just that. And I enjoyed the peaceful remainder of the beautiful wedding. Thank you, Conor.
After the wedding, we headed to the reception at The Columns. We had every intention of partying down for a bit. But it wasn't meant to be. Our boy was tired. And he actually said so which, as every parent of a 4-year-old child knows, is very telling. Conor offered to take him back to the room so that I could stay at the reception for a bit. Sweet offer. And I considered it for a minute. But ultimately, the day had taken its toll. I was wiped. So we all headed back to the room for what was thankfully a great night of sleep.
The next day we spent some time in the Peabody Hotel before heading to the airport. The Peabody Hotel is truly a gorgeous old hotel, and it never looks prettier than at Christmas. The huge Christmas tree was just begging for a family pic in front of it, so we obliged.
We also watched the Peabody ducks walk from their home on the roof down to the fountain in the lobby where they would spend their day. For anyone who hasn't seen this, definitely check it out if you are ever in Memphis. It is something special to behold. Fionny loved it. It was especially fun to watch on Sunday too because Douglas and Karen were Honorary Duckmasters that day.
After the ducks, we headed to lunch and then to the airport. It was a wonderful weekend, but boy...we were ready to get home. Traveling with Fionny right now is just a little too stressful, methinks. Hopefully the Spring will bring Maintenance into our lives, and travel will once again seem do-able. But for now...for now we are just happy to be at home.
Speaking of which, we are thrilled that we have been able to spend Christmas at home with our boys. I'll write again later today or tomorrow with an update on our holiday. Right now, Conor and I are enjoying some quiet time in the kitchen, listening to Christmas music, before the boys wake up. Merry Christmas, Everybody. Wishing a happy holiday to you and your kin.
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