Last night Brian and I went to my brother in law's engagement party, hosted by his fiance's parents.
It was something to behold. The amount of time, care, and attention to detail that was put into this family party was an act of love.
It was held at her parents home. It started with coctails and appetizers in their beautiful patio garden. They played a "newlywed's" type game and then had some questions for the guests where we got to hear funny stories about their childhood. It was a great icebreaker. (I love me some ice-breakers).
Dinner was served in an unbelievably decorated tent that was put up in the yard. It was like scene out of a movie. No detail was spared. Candlelight, flower arrangements, even the plates were decorated by hand. It was visually stunning.
Her family was warm and funny.
It made me think of my wedding. When Brian and I were getting married, I didn't care about the details of the wedding at first. We were both so in love (still are), that the details didn't seem to matter, and I would have been happy with a pot luck in the church basement. All I cared about was having our loved one's celebrate with us. My mom encouraged us to have a big fancy wedding. She suggested the banquet hall and even helped pay the difference. I had a hard time understanding why she would want to invest that kind of money into an *evening*. Now that I have my own daughter, I understand.
Your love for your children doesn't change from the first love you experience the first days that you hold them in your arms and see their perfection. It just keeps adding layers ontop of layers. Most of us girls dream of our wedding day at some point in our lives, and my mom wanted me to have that dream. She didn't want me to look back on the most important day of my life wishing I had done it differently. Maybe that's why since the beginning of time, mother's of the bride are so involved in their daughter's wedding. And the Brides are all like, "OMG, my mother is CRAZY! You think SHE was the one getting married! All I want is a bucket of chicken and my MAN, but all my mom talks about is prime rib." Then those brides have their daughters and not only do they UNDERSTAND...they eventually BECOME their mothers. I hope to one day honor my daughter the way my mother honored me and Beth's parents honored her last night.
Paul and Beth, Brian and I wish you a magical engagement, a beautiful wedding, and a lifetime of happiness. The stress is worth it, the money is worth it, and a lot of times, giving into your mother's wishes is worth it too.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
Aimee: Your new bedtime is 6 pm.
When I decided to stay at home, we knew that we were immediately going to give up a few things; vacations to the carribbean, bi-monthly manicures and pedicures for me, nice phones. It's totally worth it. I love being home with the babies, but every now and then, there is something that makes me wistful for those days when we indulged because we didn't have to worry about buying formula and diapers. I'm talking about the Nintendo Wii.
We usually try to avoid things that we can't afford. What's the point? But this Wii "contraption" has been hard to avoid because it really and truly is- all the rage. Still, we knew that we'd never have one because, well, we try to be responsible people. And responsible people don't spend money they don't have on things they don't really *need*.
Then my mother in law called me. "I've decided that I'm going to get us a Wii". I almost choked on my coffee. A WHAT? "And I'm getting some games too". She told me that I didn't have to tell Brian if I didn't want to, that we could surpise him. So I kept the information to myself and after having dreamed about it all night, I decided that the excitment of waiting for it was really part of the fun, so I called Brian at work and told him to call him mom because she got something for us.
Brian and I immediately decided that our kid's bedtime is now 6pm, our daily dinner will consist of take out and fast food, and that we are basically going to pretend that we are 14 again. We got the Wii last night and played well past our bedtime. The thing that is so exceptional about the Wii is that most games are very physical. The wireless remote and sensor that you place on the TV allow the games to be lifelike and physically challenging. So, if you are playing bowling, you actually have to go through all of the motions of bowling. The speed of the ball depends on the force that you put into swinging your arm. Wii really is more high tech and fancy schmancy than I thought. So last night we spent hours playing boogie and Dance Dance Revolution. We really felt like we were 14 again....except that this morning, reality hit me when I woke up unable to move because of the soreness in my muscles. I'm 31.
What makes this gift even more fun and meaningful is that it was totally a huge surprise and unexpected and undeserved. I have a feeling that our family parties won't be the same. Now excuse me while I take an ibuprophen and put my kids down for a nap.
We usually try to avoid things that we can't afford. What's the point? But this Wii "contraption" has been hard to avoid because it really and truly is- all the rage. Still, we knew that we'd never have one because, well, we try to be responsible people. And responsible people don't spend money they don't have on things they don't really *need*.
Then my mother in law called me. "I've decided that I'm going to get us a Wii". I almost choked on my coffee. A WHAT? "And I'm getting some games too". She told me that I didn't have to tell Brian if I didn't want to, that we could surpise him. So I kept the information to myself and after having dreamed about it all night, I decided that the excitment of waiting for it was really part of the fun, so I called Brian at work and told him to call him mom because she got something for us.
Brian and I immediately decided that our kid's bedtime is now 6pm, our daily dinner will consist of take out and fast food, and that we are basically going to pretend that we are 14 again. We got the Wii last night and played well past our bedtime. The thing that is so exceptional about the Wii is that most games are very physical. The wireless remote and sensor that you place on the TV allow the games to be lifelike and physically challenging. So, if you are playing bowling, you actually have to go through all of the motions of bowling. The speed of the ball depends on the force that you put into swinging your arm. Wii really is more high tech and fancy schmancy than I thought. So last night we spent hours playing boogie and Dance Dance Revolution. We really felt like we were 14 again....except that this morning, reality hit me when I woke up unable to move because of the soreness in my muscles. I'm 31.
What makes this gift even more fun and meaningful is that it was totally a huge surprise and unexpected and undeserved. I have a feeling that our family parties won't be the same. Now excuse me while I take an ibuprophen and put my kids down for a nap.
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