Mr. and Mrs. Aurila

We drove to Pittsburgh last weekend for Dave's sister's wedding. Brad and Julie Aurila were married Saturday, and it was definitely a great time. Just a lot of fun from start to finish.






Melanie's parents made the long trip from Hilton Head (SC) and were a huge help the whole weekend. It was nice having all four grandparents together again.


Liz had a rough wedding day. With all the commotion, she hardly napped and by the reception she was exhausted. Around 8:30, Melanie's parents took her back to the hotel. When they laid her down in the pack-n-play, Liz got this really big peaceful smile on her face. Then she fell asleep for a long time. This picture of her is the morning of the wedding, before her fatigue set in.

Sam, meanwhile, had a blast at the wedding. He loved riding in "the bus" with the wedding party. And he did his two jobs at the ceremony -- co-usher of his Nunny and ring bearer -- with no problems. At the reception he spent the entire night on the dance floor. He especially liked the Cha Cha song because it involved hopping and clapping, which are his two best moves. We didn't realize till the next day that his legs were bruised and his lip was cut open. Those injuries must have happened during his slam dances. He was so wound up from the reception he didn't fall asleep until midnight.

A certain quarterback was in the wedding, which made for a good photo-op at the rehearsal. Also in the picture is Sam's cousin Zack. As usual, Sam and Zack were inseparable during our trip. It's too bad they live so far away from each other. They get along so well.


We do have two regrets about the wedding.
1. We probably should have stayed one extra day in the hotel, instead of leaving early Sunday morning. But the drive back would have been rough no matter how long we stayed.
2. We wish we took more pictures. With everything going on, it was hard to make time for the camera. But we did get a few good shots, and they are in the photo gallery to the right.



The weekend before the wedding, Matt, Molly, and Lillian stopped by for a day visit. It was good seeing them. With our 4-month-old and their 8-month-old, we spent a lot of time comparing notes.


In our last post, we mentioned Liz was having trouble sleeping. Well, Melanie re-read parts of "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" for tips, and we saw results immediately. Liz now falls asleep on her own within minutes of being put down, and she pretty much sleeps through the night. If anyone is having trouble with kids sleeping, we recommend this book.