Villa Nova | Sydney + Nick | Rehearsal Dinner
by Pepper
I got played tonight. Totally played, like a fool. And I felt like a fool, a complete and utter fool.
My son is at that age. I’ll call it two, for those who don’t know what that age is, but it’s that age. I put him to bed, and I did all the good mama things, a bath, a story, and then sleep with singing. He seemed OK so I left the room. 5 minutes later he started screaming. He does that sometimes, and that’s OK. Nothing wrong with a bit of screaming to tire him out and get him all good and sleepy. But this screaming was different.
He was screaming my name.
MAH – MEEEEEEE!!!!! MAH – MEEEEEEE!!!!!
I froze. He’s never called my name before. And i went running, knocking over a pile on my desk and banging my elbow into a door frame, running as quickly as i could to his room and to his crib. [Yes, he still sleeps in a crib and he will continue to sleep in a crib until he figures out how to get out of said crib] And as I lifted him up into my arms, his sobs turned to whimpers, and I help him to my face to look at him and make sure he wasn’t dying, and…
He giggled.
It’s very difficult to whimper and giggle at the same time for the best of us, and he didn’t manage it either. And then I realize that I have just been played. Absolutely, totally, utterly, manipulated by my angel. And that he’s so new at it that he can’t even maintain his cover and is just sitting in my arms giggling. And I can’t help myself. I laugh. And then he laughs. And before I know it, we are both laughing as hard as possible, and he’s grabbing my head and neck hard to not fall over. And you know what? It felt great!
At least until I tried putting him down again to sleep. Then it was sucky again. I stood outside his room, leaning my forehead on the door frame, listening to my child screaming my name, and willing myself not to go inside. And then my son, the brilliant manipulator, switched tactics.
DAH – DEEEEEE!!!!
And as my husband ran past me leaning my forehead on the door frame, I thought that was pretty cool. For Zen to learn in one night, how to get both of his parents to come running to his bedside simply by feverishly screaming their name, is pretty cool. Now I just need to learn to not have it affect me, and everything will be great!
We join Nick & Sydney at their Rehearsal Dinner at Villa Nova, a fabulous Italian restaurant in Newport Beach. I love shooting California weddings when the weather in Utah is kinda icky!
I adore Sydney and her sense of style. Remember Sydney? the one with all the cool coats and hats for her winter engagement session at Sundance? I loved this dress she wore, if I could have a closet filled with dresses this cool I would be a very happy photographer!
Sydney’s sister has identical twin boys about the same age as my son, and they were everywhere. Running here, running there, and I decided it would be awesome to get a picture of the two of them together, to remember how adorable and small they once were. As you can see, my dream of a picture with both 18 month old boys in it never became a reality.
Wedding Day pictures tomorrow! And Sydney, have I mentioned how much I lvoe that dress?!
February 18th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Beautiful! I love that dress too!!
Can’t wait to see the wedding pics!
February 18th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
OMG Kelli, I am in love with this dress. After my triathalon, I am going shopping with Sydney in California, she’s going to help me find some new awesome dresses to wear for this years weddings. There were so many more pictures I wanted to include just because of the dress, but when I showed my peeps the posting, they said I was getting a little weird and obsessive about it, and that no one else would notice how amazing the dress was. thank you for proving me right Kelli! HA HA HA!
February 19th, 2010 at 11:36 am
What a neat looking restaurant. The portraits you shot convey a sense of personality. I like it!!
February 20th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Thanks Jess! Not only was it a great location for a rehearsal dinner, but the food was fantastic! [They insisted on feed me, and who am I to say no?] If you’re in Newport Beach and like Italian Food, you’ve gotta check it out.