He Did It!!!

By Tiffany George
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Andrew Cutie Pants George walked down the aisle at Aunt Val and Uncle Brian's wedding like a little pro. For those who know Andrew, you would understand my skepticism regarding his willingness to walk down an aisle surrounded by many unfamiliar faces. I honestly thought there was probably a 10% chance he'd do it, but that was until the rehearsal. Friday night he marched right down that aisle with flower girl Madison as if it was no big deal at all. This gave me hope. It wasn't that I would have been majorly bummed if he didn't do it, I just knew what a cutie he would be if he did!

The day of the wedding I put Andrew down for a super early nap at 11:30 (at least 2 hours earlier than normal). He didn't notice that it was weird when I prepared lunch at 10:30am...he just rolled with it. He ended up taking a 2 hour nap which was great. When he woke up Meme was here to help me get the kiddos dressed and ready to leave on time (thanks Meme!). Andrew was great putting on his shirt and pants, but when Meme put on the vest, it came off instantly. Andrew claimed that it was "too big", something he likes to say when he doesn't want to wear something (little tricky boy!). Having only a limited amount of time until we needed to leave, I had to think on my feet. I said "oh, Andrew that's too bad that it's too big, because if you put it on, I was going to give you a few M&Ms" (I'm not above bribery...hehehe!). He said "try Momma". I kept up the act, saying, oh no, it's too big, I don't want to force it on you, etc, etc. I was a trooper and I finally gave in, and alas, it fit! I worked this same angle to get on his tie and tuxcdo coat too. It only cost me 6 mini M&Ms, not too bad. I combed his hair and we were on our way.

Once at the church we headed downstairs so that Andrew wouldn't be overwhelmed by all of the unfamilar faces. At 2:30 we made our way up the stairs and he got to watch out the window as the white stretch Hummer pulled up. He was jumping up and down at this point. Grammy, Grampa, and the rest of the girls in the wedding came in and Andrew lined right up where he belonged. He held his little pillow out in front of him, as if he were serving it up to someone.

Grammy & Ann were seated and then Pete and another groomsmen rolled out the aisle runner. Andrew was so excited, saying "here Daddy comes, here Daddy comes!". Once the paper road was in place, Andrew stood and waited for my go. While standing there he spotted Papa down the aisle and gave a huge smile. On my go he went right down the aisle like a sweet little angel. Unfortunately I had to stay back with him so I didn't get to witness his preciousness first hand, but I know he must have been so sweet. Pete said that he had the same pucker lips when he walked down the aisle as he has in the photo from the rehearsal. (Since Pete was in the wedding and I was getting Andrew ready, we didn't get any pictures of him walking down the aisle. If you or anyone you know has one, please forward it to me!!!) He got up to the front of the church and sat with Papa. He didn't even ask for the special treat snack that Papa had loaded in his pocket.

Everyone else made their way into the church. Valerie was absolutely stunning. Big Pete walked her down the aisle and then at the exact second that the priest asked who was to give this woman to be married, Andrew noticed that Aunt Kate was sitting beside him. As if on cue, he announced "Aunt Kate, Aunt Kate". It was priceless. I'm so glad that I know Val & Brian well enough to know that I needn't be worried about this!

Aside from Andrew's adorableness, Natalie was a little jewel as well. Gail got her the cutest little white dress to wear and it even had green ribbons to match the wedding colors! She was a peach the whole day through, though that's not much of a surprise for her. The coolest thing was that just as the priest was saying "I now pronounce you..." Natalie bit down on my finger and I felt her first tooth! I will forever remember this day for so many reasons. So, despite cutting her first tooth, she was still a little angel. She enjoyed the music at the reception and even joined me in the congo line as I pushed her in the stroller. She fell asleep in her stroller, unfazed by the party going on. Andrew had a blast at the reception, dancing it up with Papa, Uncle KJ, and Matt, among others. Though the dancing was a hit, nothing could compare to getting to spend time with Anna. She is toooooo cute!!!

In other Natalie news, she also had her first rice cereal on Friday, September 26th. This was her first ever encounter with food and it went okay. She actually ate more this first day than on subsequent days. She sort of just tries to suck the food off the spoon and it is so cute. Over the weekend she would pretty much push back out anything that we put in, but she is learning! She loves to try to grab the spoon, making feeding her much more of a challenge now that we are used to Andrew! Tonight when Pete fed her she seemed to be getting the hang of it. She loves to get to sit at the big table with us during dinner, that's for sure. She was grinning from ear to ear.