Our Weekend and Latest Disaster

On Saturday, Evan and I went to the wedding of our friends, Rob and Sabrina. We met them through a group of Italian Greyhound owners (back when Max was our only baby). They have two adorable IGs and they are very sweet and kind (and they have really fascinating jobs). Well, their very special day ended up not exactly as they planned. Their initial plan had been to marry at the Jefferson Memorial. But Saturday was 44 degrees and raining. So, they moved the ceremony to the reception hotel, but still had to rush to marry in DC, since their marriage license was from DC. The bride had a migraine...it was a rough day for them.

I loved the ceremony. I never cry at weddings but I cried at this one. This was the first wedding we've gone to since Marino was born and I have to say that wedding vows are a lot more meaningful to me now that Evan and I have been through such difficult times together. The minister said some fairly traditional vows but here's some of what he said:

"These are the hands that look so large and strong, yet will be so gentle as he holds your baby for the first time."

"These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy."

"These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief wrack your mind."

It was interesting to think that Evan and I, like many couples, had never been through anything truly difficult together before we got married. I could have never imagined that so early on in our marriage (our 3rd anniversary was last April), we would have to go through what we had to go through with Marino or that Evan would have to physically care for me because I couldn't take care of myself. It's just amazing how life can change so quickly and those vows just mean so much more to me now....

Other than that, although their day wasn't they expected, it was a beautiful and fun wedding. Hopefully they are on their honeymoon relaxing and laughing about what went wrong on Saturday:)

My wonderful cousin Miranda watched Marino for us while we were at the wedding and she claims he was an angel for her. She took this family photo for us before we left.

On Sunday, Marino and I went to Virginia to have a playdate with some of our friends. Our friends Jessica and Natalie hosted a great playdate with 6 toddlers and their mamas. That was a lot of toddlers in one place but it was a great time! Jessica made this amazing hot mulled apple cidar - yum! Oh, and cranberry sauce - Marino went crazy for it! He's going to love Thanksgiving this year! He was also completely in love with their cat. Luckily, this cat was very gentle and patient and sat still for toddler petting (which is vastly different from adult petting). Marino kept following her around the house.

From L to R: Katie and Brendan, Christina and Conrad, Jessica and Nicholas, Jen and Sydney, Marino (I'm taking the pic) and Jessica and Natalie.

Lots of playing!
More exploring...

Natalie and Marino
Marino and his buddy Brendan

Marino and Sydney having a tea party (he loves Sydney)
Another group pic, this one with me!!

Marino checking out the vaccuum (hopefully he will be inspired to use one around here some day)

What would a week with Marino be without some accident requiring urgent medical care? Who knows, since we haven't had one any time in recent memory. Yesterday, I got a call from daycare asking if anything had happened on Sunday, since Marino wasn't bearing weight on his left leg and was acting like he was hurting. Honestly, he falls many times in a day, but nothing had happened with his leg. I started telling them about a bump he had on his head, but they wanted to know about his leg. Mother of the Year right here.

I picked him up early since we had an appointment at the allergist for Marino to get a flu shot. Since he has an egg allergy, and the flu shot contains egg, it has to be administered carefully. They first do a scratch test to see if there is a skin reaction to the vaccine (there wasn't). They then give a small injection of the vaccine, along with 2 control injections, to measure the level of reaction. They wait 15 minutes and then look to see if there is a bump. If there is a bump, as there was in Marino's case, they measure it to evaluate it's severity. If its under a certain size, the administer the vaccine. Marino's bump was small enough for the doctor to think the benefit of the vaccine outweighed the potential reaction. He got the vaccine and we waited 30 minutes. The entire visit took 2 hours, but the end result was he is vaccinated and perfectly fine.

After a short nap, we went to see the pediatrician to have her check out his leg/ankle. By that time, he was walking (running) fine and didn't seem to have any pain, so she didn't think he needed an x-ray. But today, the head nurse at daycare told me every time they change his diaper, he refuses to put weight on his left leg for 10-15 minutes after. I have no idea what's going on. Luckily, out physical therapist is seeing him tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully she can help us figure it out. The nurse at daycare was thinking a hip issue. Hopefully, it's nothing!