All About Love...

Dear Brian,

This week, you're going to be "the best man" at Mommy and Daddy's "wedding!"  We've been talking about it for weeks. We're taking a very special, very whimsical, very outrageous and a very "once in a lifetime" trip to Las Vegas.  We're getting dressed up and taken in a limousine (your first!) to "A Elvis Chapel" to renew our vows with Elvis and a Hula Dancer.  Of course we are!  And why not?

You've asked me several times why we are doing this.  And I love to answer you.  We are doing this because Mommy and Daddy love each other.  A lot.  We just celebrated TEN YEARS of marriage, which is a great and wonderful thing to celebrate.  I hope in ten years and twenty years and thirty years you will remember this - that marriage is a wonderful thing.  That loving your partner and celebrating in special and whimsical and even outrageous ways is - dare I say - necessary!  I hope that you remember always and forever that your Mommy and Daddy loved each other through good times and bad times and sickness and health and even through trials and special needs and the death of two children.  We are doing this because we know all too well that life is short.... and time flies by all too quickly.  On our honeymoon in Hawaii, your Dad and I vowed that we would be back there in ten years.  Ten years went by in a blink - and here we are with a five year old you and your six month old sister.  We wouldn't dream of leaving either of you to take an indulgent trip to Hawaii right now.  So we are bringing Hawaii to Vegas with a "Blue Hawaii" wedding!

This morning I reminded you that you are "the best man" and Hope was the "maid of honor" while you were eating your cereal.  I saw you pause for a moment before saying...

"Mommy?  You forgot Gavin!  Gavin will be a best man, too.  And Pop."

"You're right!" I replied.  "I'm sure they'll all be there with us!  Even Daddy's Mom and Dad.  We don't go anywhere with out all of them."

With that, you smiled.  I know that when we come home from this trip the highlights will probably be the Bellagio hotel room... the buffet (you love a buffet and they have a GREAT one)... the pool... and the plane ride.  And probably pushing buttons for the elevator.  But I really do hope that over the years you realize more and more that this was all about love.

I love your Father so much.  And he loves me.  And we love our little family - ALL of our best men and ALL of our maids of honor.

Love,
Mommy.

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The big day is Wednesday - June 11!  Our vow renewal will be at 3pm (Vegas Time!) and is going to be "live streamed" for everyone to see!!  You're all invited! Here is some information for you from the chapel:

Tell your friends and family to watch your ceremony live on:  www.elvischapel.com. Please have them tune in at least 5 minutes prior to your ceremony time as we may start early. Click on the red link on our home page that says VIEW LIVE WEB CAM. Please keep in mind any time differences. It runs on Windows Media Player. They will see an error message if they click on the box and it is not turned on at the chapel yet. If your package does not include live web cam and you would like to add it, just let us know when you arrive at the chapel. Web cam is live, it will not be played again. 

The chapel is posting our "wedding" on YouTube for us, so if you miss it - no worries!  You'll find it on their YouTube channel below:
 www.youtube.com/elvischapel. 

Connections...

My absence over the last few days has been really refreshing.  Ed and I decided (pretty last minute!) to skip out of town for two days.  It's always when we do this that I am extra grateful for the amazing women in our lives that are happy to spend time with Gavin and Brian while we're gone.  Miss Sara and Miss Katja split the time and it sounds like they had a lot of fun with the boys!

Stealing away together here and there is quite nice if you can swing it.  We didn't do much of anything fancy... but we did reconnect.  An important thing to do when you're raising small kids.  At least to us.  We came home refreshed and recharged... and, unfortunately, to a sick little boy.

The girls reported that Brian took naps both days that we were gone.  That's pretty unusual - especially two days in a row - and there were no other "symptoms" - so I chalked it up to a growth spurt and assumed I'd be buying bigger clothes this week.  Then, twenty minutes from home in the car I got a call from Katja telling me that Brian felt warm.  I pushed my foot down on the accelerator and got home as fast as I could.  Sure enough... a fever of 103.2!

He was up a few times during the night.  Today, he's been pretty lethargic with no appetite, but no other symptoms except high fevers.  Looks like he'll be missing school for a few days.  Poor kid.

Maybe it was the fever - but Brian was overwhelmingly sweet to his big brother all day.  He kept seeking Gavin out to play and interact!

And, even more of a surprise - Gavin wasn't overwhelmed by Brian!  He loved every second of his attention and hung on his every word.

Looks like someone may be following in his Mommy's footsteps with the camera!

He even asked Gavin to say "EEEEEE."

After naps, Brian insisted we hang out in his room so he could read a book to Gavin and me.

It was such a sweet time.  Brian chose a book about a bunny - which, ironically, is MAJOR foreshadowing for an upcoming blog this week.  Stay tuned!

All in all - despite Brian's illness - it was a lovely weekend filled with heartfelt connections in our little family. 

 I hope you enjoyed your weekend, too.