Wedding in Ft. Wayne

We had another 'first' this weekend.  We have conquered a wedding with Abby in tow.  Brent's cousin, Jessica Niese, got married in Fort Wayne, Indiana and so we traveled there to celebrate.

I have to say a wedding with a young child is a completely different experience!  On our drive to Fort Wayne with a detour through Lima, which was a 3.5ish hour drive, Abby barely napped. 

I barely saw any of the ceremony as I was entertaining my niece Natalie and then I had to sneak out with Abby to feed her, which I failed to do prior to the ceremony starting.  Luckily, in between the ceremony and reception there was a 2 hour break and so I was hopeful that Abby would take a decent nap.  Normally, I'd be highly annoyed with a break between the ceremony and reception, but in this case, I was very grateful.  Unfortunately, Abby was not going down easily.  Brent was in the hotel lobby having a beverage with family while I stayed in the room with Abby.  I kept texting Brent stressing out that Abby wasn't napping and that she'd be a bear at the reception.  Brent replied with, "Don't worry.  She's Abby".  That immediately calmed down as I knew he was right.  Abby seems to be entertained and distracted with crowds and holds her meltdowns to a smaller crowd.  Soon after she did crash and so did I.  We then had to wake her 20 minutes later to get to the reception. 

At the reception, Abby was a delight.  Not a tear, fuss or holler.  I didn't see much of the traditional dances or hear any of the speeches.  I barely finished a drink.  I did find myself sitting on the floor of the reception area in the corner with Abby and the other kids.  That was a first. 

Around 9:00 or so, I left with Abby to put her to bed since she was up WAY past her bedtime.  Brent stayed and partied it up with the family.  Remember that Abby is able to keep her cool?  She was fine going into the carseat, but once she was in the privacy of just Mom and Dad in the car, she began to wail.  She wailed all the way back to the hotel.  She was quiet as I carried her through the hotel lobby and on the elevator.  Once I put her down in the hotel room, she began to wail again.  Soon after, she was fast asleep in her cozy pack 'n play.  And not long after that, I was asleep too! 

A wedding weekend success!