Here Comes the Bride

I had planned on writing this post on Monday, but just didn't feel it appropriate. How can we celebrate and rejoice in another's happiness while the world mourns. I, myself, considered calling to work Tuesday just so I could work through my hurts and disappointment. I am of course talking about the devastating break up of.......







So do you think that Jon just couldn't take Kate's hairstyle any longer?

I had a friend in 7th grade once. She had a nasty cowlick right in the crown of her head. Of course, kids being kids, teased her mercilessly. So, she thought she could tame that nasty cowlick and took scissors to it. Cut it right off, even with her scalp. The end product was exactly what Kate Gosselin, or TLC, pays good money for. Of course, she (my friend, not Kate) only got teased even more. Poor Debbie Maybe, that was her name, she was just a few years before her time I guess.

But honestly. Did they really think that they could live their lives as television fodder and not suffer any consequence? I hate that the pursuit of fame, fortune and ego destroyed a marriage, but I am even more concerned about 8 little kids who know of no other life other than always being the center of media attention and living a "reality" life that is no where near reality. Let's just hope somebody takes a stand for them and soon.

Any way now that I have that off my chest.......

Saturday June 20, 2009, was a special day.

Lanita J Smith married Charles M Brown.

The ceremony.

The happy couple

Charlie and Lanita plus 14.
Sounds like a future reality show to me!

The best part of weddings.....CAKE!



And just for good measure, here is a picture of the cutest baby in the world!

Saturday in Chicago

Well this weekend has certainly been very different from last weekend! I was busy, busy, busy!!

Yesterday we drove into Chicago to take a tour of where my grandson will be born. He should be here within the next 17 days or so and we are very excited.

OK...I know this is selfish but even though I try not to be, I can be that way sometimes, but if you are the praying kind, could you please pray that Little Man will not make his appearance between May 14-17th. You see my youngest daughter is graduating on May 16th in Nashville. That is about an 8-9 hour drive from Chicago. I am so excited to see her graduate and want to enjoy every moment of my last child's graduation weekend. She has worked very hard and deserves a fantastic finale to her undergraduate years. I also do not want to miss one single moment of my first grandchild's birth. I am going to be needed there when my very queasy son comes face to face with the reality of birth. Somebody will need to be there to splash cold water on his face to keep him from fainting and his wife is going to be a little preoccupied, so it needs to be his mama!

Regardless of when he comes, my first prayer is for the health and safety of Little Man and Kelly. But I really, really want to be there.

Back to the tour....the hospital is amazing. It is a women's hospital so it is all about the whole process of labor and delivery and new born care. There are a few of the rooms that have the most amazing view of Lake Michigan. I don't know how much a woman in labor would be able to enjoy that, but they are there if she should get the chance. There are Bose stereo systems and large screen TVs in every room. You can choose to have a tub brought into your room where you can soak during labor and even opt to have a water birth. I tell you something for sure, birthin' babies sure has come a long way from the day when all you were given was a bullet to bite on!

After the hospital visit we made our way back to Chris and Kelly's which by the way included a long walk from the hospital to the train, a train ride, a long walk from the train to the car, a car ride and then back upstairs to the apartment. Oh and Kelly's mom, Grandma Kat as she will soon be known as, was with us too. I guess this was kind of like a mini-grandma training weekend!!

My Mom and Charlie met up with us and we all visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. We went to dinner...twice. What happened was my Mom had a gift card that Chris & Kel had given her a couple years ago for Christmas for a restaurant that was near the apartment that they were living in AT THE TIME. Well, there was a restaurant near the zoo by the same name and we thought we would just go there instead of driving all the way across town to go to the other one. All seven us walked in and sat down, drunk some water and determined that this was NOT the same restaurant. Called and made reservations at the Andersonville restaurant. We all got up...all seven of us, and left to go to the correct restaurant!! I am sure the waitress was more than a little confused. But we made it to the right Ranalli's and had a wonderful dinner. We of course needed a little bite of something sweet and stopped and got some ice cream before we had to leave and head back home in the most northern parts of Illinois!

So that was my Saturday. Today, I am tired and my feet are sore, but I had a great time yesterday. I didn't get any pictures from the hospital but here are a couple from us on Michigan Ave.

Isn't Kelly's belly cute?

I only got half of Grandma Kat in the first picture
so here is all of her with Kelly!

Party for the Little Man

Last Saturday was Chris and Kelly's baby shower. It was given by Aunt Liz, Aunt Steph and Cousin Vicci. They did an amazing job....a "Martha Stewart Approved" kind of job. Great Job Girls!

The cake was beautiful, the decorations were adorable and the games were HARD!! But it was fun and Little Man Cantwell got so many nice things. The generosity of our friends and family always humbles me. Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

Here are a few pictures from the party...enjoy!

The Cake



The Diaper Cake
(one of four!)




The Games




Some of The Gifts

The Guests

Paint, Bellies, Museums and Football...

We had so much fun on Sunday. We drove into Chicago and went to church with Chris and Kelly. Then went to brunch at Kitsch'n. It was a very cute place but the food was only OK. Chris was far more intrigued with the hand dryer in the men's room than he was with the food.

After brunch, we went to get the paint for Little Man Cantwell's room. Now, you have no idea how important the choice of color is for a baby's room. We poured over the 136 paint chips that they had at the apartment earlier in the morning, and after lunch we browsed the rest of the 1013 shades of tan and green Menards had to offer. After much discussion and deliberation, we weighed the pros and cons of the Spanish Olive/Barley Wheat combo against the Sassafras/Almond Beige duo settling on the Sassafras/Almond Beige feeling it offered the woodsy feel we were going for while making the room as bright as possible in the absence of good natural light. After such a draining decision we all felt we should nap, but there was no time. Back to the apartment we went with paint, stir sticks and drop cloths in hand.

Grandpa Dano and Daddy Chris donned their painting apparel and dove right in. Grandpa Dano with a roller and Daddy Chris with a brush knocked out the three Almond Beige walls in no time.

To pass the time while this phase of the project dried, we took a little day trip to the South Side of Chicago. Our first stop was at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. (I will be sharing more on this trip in a future post.) We then traveled over to Lake Michigan where Kelly wanted to get her 24.5 week Baby Belly picture. It is a darling picture, but I hope she doesn't end up sick due to her coatless pose in the frigid weather.

There was no more time for frivolity. Back to work ASAP. Grandpa Dano and Daddy Chris went straight to work on the Sassafras wall. In case you are curious, Sassafras is green. It took two coats of paint, but not much time at all to get it done. While the paint crew was busy doing their thing, Kelly whipped up a pot of chili. Thankfully she took the heat level down a notch or two just for us lightweights. Thanks Kel!

All the painting was done just in time for the kick-off of the Superbowl. We ate chili, chips, guacamole and choco chip cookies while watching the football game that was on between the commercials.

Then it was time for the tired grandparents to head home. It was a good day. I love days like that. Probably the thing I will remember the most about this day was seeing Chris on the ladder and thinking "My little boy is painting his little boy's bedroom. How is that possible?" Time has gone by so fast and I feel like I missed so many things about him. I have tons of good memories and some not so good. That all goes with being a parent. But I feel like there is so much more that I can't remember.

I have enjoyed beyond words watching all of my children grow and become amazing young adults. And even though seeing Chris step into his new role of being a parent is yet another reminder to me that my days of being the center of their world is gone, it is fulfilling. It is a blessing beyond belief to see him ready to take on the joys and challenges that the rest of life will bring him in raising his children. I pray that his joy and pride will be as abundant as mine has been. God has been so good to us and we know that it is only by His grace and mercy that we are blessed with these wonderful children of ours. I give only God thanks and all the glory for all he has done.

Grandma Dee got these for the 2nd generation Cornellian.

My little Boy.

No Dad, just paint, we don't save plastic containers.

Mama is craving COOKIES!!

Don't they look so happy?
I think it is because the Sassafras worked out so well.

Soon there will be a baby in our pictures!!