Getting hitched

The wedding itself was fabulous, and VERY Jordan and Jessica. The Compass Room is a room with a stage on the top floor of the Grand Lodge, decorated in a very eclectic style. Jordan and Jessica took that eclectic style to the next level with their "goldfish" theme. It was perfect.

Vladimir, a friend of Jordan and Jessica's, officiated, and Dudley, Jessica's goldfish, played a central role in the ceremony.

Corey was captivated.

Aunt Toni's due date is getting close!

Charlotte just kept sleeping.

Time for a wedding!

Here's a shot of the room where Jordan and Jessica got married. It's also used as a movie theater (with different furniture).

The "altar" set up was simple-- just Dudley, Jessica's seven-year-old goldfish, in a big bowl.

Dudley made the trip all the way down from Seattle!

Along the aisle were smaller fish bowls, each containing two tiny goldfish swimming around a vase of lilies.

The Evans kids, all grown up! Too bad Erin couldn't be there.

Pizza pizza pizza

After the rehearsal, we headed back out to the Grand Lodge for a pizza party with all of the wedding guests. There, Charlotte met more relatives!

Abbey, Jordan and I ate lots of pizza.

Charlie met her Great Aunt Kim for the first time.

Charlie's Great Grandpa Chuck instinctively knew how to hold Charlie to calm her down when she fussed.

Abbey wants to come out for a summer to nanny Charlie like I nannied Abbey when she was little.

My cousin, Emma, was great with Charlie! She will be a wonderful big sister to baby Audrey, due in July.

Rehearsing the ceremony

After the rehearsal luncheon, we headed a few blocks away to a park for the ceremony rehearsal.

Looks like a scatter drill from my marching band days.

The peanut gallery behaved itself.

Chris brought Scamper to watch the action. The squirrels were none too pleased!

Dancing during the ceremony??

Finalizing the details with the master sound engineer.

Rehearsing how to eat?

For the rehearsal luncheon (which we decided was a rehearsal for how to eat food at the actual wedding reception, because we clearly needed to practice and practice makes perfect), we headed into Portland to the Cadillac Cafe. Jordan and Jessica frequented the cafe while Jessica lived in Portland, and I believe this is actually where Jordan proposed. There is a beautiful private room glassed off from the main dining room, and it provided an excellent view of a 1961 pink Cadillac showcased in a separate area.

At the rehearsal luncheon, Charlie got to meet her Uncle Jordan and soon-to-be-Aunt Jessica, as well as her Great Aunts Mary Jane and Chris. The food was very good and the atmosphere was wonderful.

Great Aunt Mary Jane and Charlie were fast friends.

View of our private dining room.

I gave a toast to Jordan and Jessica (who is sitting to my left) also on behalf of Erin, who couldn't be there since she's less than a month away from her due date.

We stuck decorations for the occasion in the potted plants at the center of each table.

Hangin' out before the wedding events

Before all of the wedding events, we met up with Charlotte's Grandma Jo, Grandpa Spike, Great(est) Aunt Janet, and Great Uncle Bart. There was a restaurant right next to the hotel, so we ate a few meals there together and hung out around the hotel.

Grandma Jo was glad to be reunited with her little pork chop! Charlie was wearing her adorable overalls given to her by cousins John and Susan Scott.

Greatest Aunt Janet (as she calls herself) changed several poopy diapers and was rewarded with one of Charlie's famous smiling and cooing sessions.

You tell her, Charlie Jo!

I think Aunt Janet was telling Charlie a silly story about when I was little. It probably involved poop somehow.

After a vicious debate about whether a man's socks should match his pants or his shoes, we ended up in Target (of course!) to purchase new socks for Uncle Bart's wedding outfit. For the record, you should match the socks to the pants and the shoes to the belt (according to Stacy and Clinton on "What Not to Wear"). At least, that's what we convinced Uncle Bart.

Back in action

We're back from our big trip to Oregon for my brother's wedding, and we have so much to post! Charlotte had her first plane rides (four different flights on four different planes!) and attended her first big family get together. She did remarkably well, and she's still too young for the change in pressure to affect her much. She was a good sport about getting her diaper changed (about 100 times, I think) and nursing at 35,000 feet in the air! Here's some shots of Charlie Jo in transit across the country.

I like flying fast!

Racing from one concourse to another at Midway Airport during a super short layover. People movers are fun!

Mommy and Daddy took turns holding me during the flights.

Getting sleepy...

Can you see the imprint of a button on my forehead from when I fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn carrier and rested my little head on Daddy's chest?

Our first Mother's Day

Our little family spent a wonderful first Mother's Day together yesterday. Even the normal weekend activities like grocery shopping and bathing Charlotte seemed special! We did take a special trip out to Arrington Vineyards with our good buds Alicia, Dan, Faith Carol and David for a little wine tasting. Kix Brooks was there again, and this time he pronounced Charlotte to be "bad news" (we assume because she will be such a heartbreaker). So that's Charlotte's new nickname -- "Bad News".

We had one moment of confusion and anxiety last night when we spotted a large, dark brown spot at the bottom of Charlotte's nightgown. After I pointed it out to Corey and we momentarily panicked, I sniffed it and determined that it was merely some chocolate sauce that had apparently spilled onto Charlotte as I ate my ice cream while holding her. Whoops. In our defense, it did look a little like dried blood or something else awful. After all, Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup in "Psycho" to represent the blood in the famous shower murder scene. Guess I should be a little more careful with my desserts.

Here are some photos from our Mother's Day activities:

My cousin Jake

My cousin, Jake, is leaving today for Iraq. He's a firefighter with the Air Force, and we couldn't be prouder of him for that. We will be thinking of him often while he is overseas and we hope he returns home soon to his wife, Lauren, and daughters, Addie and Ella. Hopefully, their new black lab puppy, Callie, will be good company for the girls until Jake returns!

Happy birthday Uncle Jordan!

Today, Charlotte's Uncle Jordan (my little brother) turns a whopping 29 years old! Not only does he have a birthday today, but he is also getting married in a few short days to Jessica (soon to be known around here as Aunt Jessica). Wowza. That's a whole lot of excitement for one week.

Charlotte is very excited to be taking her first airplane ride on Thursday to Portland, Oregon for the wedding. She will have a chance to meet tons of my relatives and wear some pretty new dresses. Between the wedding photographer and my crazy picture taking, there are going to be lots of flashbulbs going off this weekend. We can't wait!

Here's little Charlie Jo wishing her Uncle Jordan a happy birthday (while wearing a sweet outfit her Grandma Jo gave her when she was still months and months away from birth).

Early Mother's Day breakfast at Loveless Cafe

Charlotte and I took Niki to the Loveless Cafe for an early Mother's Day breakfast. We figured that with a little baby, very early on Saturday morning would work a lot better than on a busy, busy Mother's Day.

Apparently, we were not allowed to park Charlotte here.

When we told Granddad Stringer that Charlie slept through breakfast, he texted back, saying: "For sure I would not sleep at Loveless!" Note the warning sticker on the high chair forbidding us from using it exactly as we were doing.

This picture is actually for Granddad Stringer. These are two of his favorites - Charlie and Loveless strawberry jam.

I'm smiling because I am about to put a yummy Loveless breakfast in my belly. Charlotte is not smiling, because, alas, she is not about to put a yummy breakfast in her belly.

I'm sorry, are we boring you?