I successfully avoided the ugly cry

It's been a wild whirlwind week (how's that for alliteration?) in upstate NY for my little sister's wedding. Obviously I love my sister like crazy, it was amazing, it was emotional, we laughed, we cried, etc, etc. But in the interest of keeping this relevant to the general public (with a small splash of blogger narcissism), I'll be sharing mainly things which I find funny, adorable toddler shots, and pictures where I look good.
 

We started out Wednesday night in Syracuse, and spent the night visiting my college roommate and her husband.

Before I met you, the sun was like a yellow grape. But now, it looks like fire in the sky. Why? Because you light a fire inside me.

Eric used his fancy bartending skills to mix up some martinis, which was quite the contrast from how we used to spend nights in the dorms. I actually didn't meet Eric until after college, but he gets along with everyone so well and has heard the stories so many times that we all agree it pretty much feels like he's been around all along.

Thursday started off with a run (aka walk/jog) around Syracuse, Bruegger's bagels, and a pedicure with the bridal party.

Sorry random pedicure lady.

Then I attempted to shove my beautiful feet into some wedge heels to be all fancy for the rehearsal. I'm not a huge fan of wearing heels. I'm currently pretending it's due to pregnancy, but I actually always hate it and never do it, especially since I already put in my time at the bars and hooked a man. But I was wearing heels in the wedding, and a rehearsal seems sort of pointless if you aren't really going to rehearse. I guess I've been a little spoiled by summer and got used to just throwing on some flip flops. Eric called me while I was trying to fasten the strap on my fancy heels and I was huffing and puffing like I was running the 100m dash in the Olympic trials. That was right before I gave up and had my mom strap them on me.

Immediately after that prime example of my physical fitness, the minister for the wedding thought I was the bride's mother. We're six years apart.

On the bright side, there were some handsome men there. Exhibit A: my brother and my nephew.

With my self esteem at an all time high, it was onward and upward to the groom's family farm for the rehearsal dinner.

I've been dying to visit the farm for years, and it exceeded my wildest expectations. Gorgeous.

Another handsome man and the beautiful bride!

 After that all the youngins went out to the bar. I got a text asking if we would be joining, and I responded that we're in our 30s. Get real. The days of two wild nights out are long over, pregnant or not.

My sister and I started out wedding morning bright and early with some yoga, because weddings can be stressful.

So graceful.

 The women prepared in the typical way, and we ran out of time and had a mad dash to the aisle in typical wedding fashion.



 I learned from the previous day's mistakes and enlisted some bridesmaid assistance this time.



All was well and the most important thing is that not one bridesmaid tripped on the multiple sets of stairs leading to the aisle.

Nor did the bride. Or my dad, although he was wearing more sensible shoes.

I loved the ceremony. My brother is a very talented musician and surprised us both by playing a song that he said always reminded him of his sisters.
 

My mom took some pictures of me during the song and my face looks like I'm concentrating on single-handedly orchestrating an imminent government overthrow or something because I was so focused on not crying. As I've mentioned, the pregnancy hormones create a situation where there's no emotional middle ground, so I knew if I started things would quickly go downhill into full on hysterics.

I don't have too many pictures of the rest. I was in it, obviously, and Eric ended up skipping pretty much the whole thing due to other pressing duties.



That kid's face pretty much sums up his feelings on having his parents in sight and yet not in reach. It really wasn't working out for him so Eric jumped in as official baby whisperer. He turned that frown upside down in no time.

My speech was a huge success. I kept my crying to the single tear/quavering voice variety, as opposed to the all out ugly cry which was my greatest fear. I got lots of compliments from strangers, so I take that as a win. 

The only possible improvement would have been if I could have got some toddler applause like the best man, but my speech was first and someone was too consumed with eating Cheerios to cheer me on.

Once that was finally done, I could breathe much easier and enjoy the reception.

My fellow over 30 peeps. We hung with the 20 year olds till almost the bitter end.

I think I finally saw some pay off from attempting to not be a fat slug these past few months. I had to take more dancing breaks than I have at any wedding before, but I still feel my stamina was impressive, considering I'm 7 months along. Cue the dancing photo montage.

Take cake home tonight.

Dancing. And making weird faces.

My aunt, me, and Eric, and strangers

You can kind of see my fancy hair here.

The final dance of the night. Don't act like you aren't saying "awwwwww". Also, Eric is keeping his wedding tradition of "sweatiest man alive" going strong.

I even stayed at the after party at the bar until 1:30 am. People were impressed by this, and I do love getting accolades for things I don't really consider accomplishments. My little sister only gets married once though! I didn't want the night to end!

Fill in the blank: At any given moment, at a wedding reception, you will most likely find me __________________________________.  

Mine is almost always on the dance floor. I usually even eat my cake as fast as possible standing up, so as not to miss anything. Note: I do not possess rhythm or dancing skills.