Sullivan-Curry Wedding

Just before the ceremony, we attempted a family picture.

Bill and Chris listen to the toasts.
Jason giving his Best Man toast.

Uncle Kevin holds a tired Patrick.

Jackson demands the mike from Grandma and gives his own speech.

Aunt Connie and Patrick

Jason holds Ashlyn for Kendra's speech.

Kendra tries to corral Jackson.

"I'm three."

"And Patrit has three teefs and he can walk! And I'm three and..."

Some of the endless running around.

Kendra and a sleepy Ashlyn.

The happy couple have their first dance.

My father-in-law, Bill, married Chris Sullivan in a sweet ceremony at the Butterfly Pavillion Saturday evening. It was an intimate gathering (I don't think any more of us would've fit) around a tree with two gi-normous butterflies perched on it. Many more were released just after the vows were exchanged. It was a lovely event, and we are thrilled to welcome Chris into our family.

With that said, however, it was nearly a weekend from you-know-where. Jackson was diagnosed with pneumonia last week, and he was on oral steroids, inhaled steroids, antibiotics and his usual allergy medication (just try to keep up with all the dosing!). We'd had some problems before with the oral steroid, but nothing compared with this round. Jackson was a different child. Jason and I kept looking at each other in disbelief. He was hyper, irritable, and ran around not listening to anything we said, no matter the threat. I generally like to use positive reinforcement, but I was out of tricks for good behavior at this important family event. Oh, did I mention he was IN the wedding? Of course he did not want to walk in when he was supposed to, nor did he want to stand up front, or sit with me. Definitely a cringe-worthy performance throughout the ceremony.

Then, there was the reception. I spent most of my time handing Patrick off to various other relatives to chase Jackson down. He demanded the microphone from Grandma so he could also make a toast. Everyone else thought it was just darling. As soon as he got the mike, he said, "Patrit has three teefs and he can walt!" Then, after some inaudible conversation, "Ton-gratlashuns to Papa Bill and Miss Triss!" Ok, that was cute. However, I was ready to go long before cake was sliced or first dances stepped out.

In addition to his pneumonia, Jackson has also regressed in the potty-training arena; knowing this, I packed a pull-up for the ceremony, just in case. Unfortunately, that did not begin to cover the accident he had right before we processed in, which I discovered when I tried to pick him up for our family picture. Thank goodness for a great salesgirl at the tux shop. She saw that Jackson was in between two pant sizes, so she ordered the larger size and let us keep the smaller size, just in case. So his pants were a little short, but he was still appropriately dressed.

PS. There is now a note in Jackson's medical file regarding the oral steroids, to the effect of "use ONLY as a last resort!"