A Family Affair

We headed to Chapel Hill, NC this past weekend for a beautiful family affair - the marriage of Paul (my first cousin) and Steph! Grant, Julie, William, and I left for Atlanta on Friday morning at 5am. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a terrible wave of nausea. I felt so bad I almost texted my mom in the middle of the night that I wasn't going to be able to go. All sorts of scenarios were going through my head, and I was already sad at the thought of missing out on such a fun weekend. However, I gritted my teeth and hesitantly hopped in the car to head to ATL where we'd catch our flight to Chapel Hill. Not sure if I mentioned this in another post but about 2 months ago I had the worst stomach virus in the history of the bug, and I honest thought I was going to die. Needless to say, I'm extremely paranoid about the stomach virus. As I told my friend Ragan, I'd rather give childbirth over the stomach bug, and I'm not kidding!

Enough whining for now...Once we arrived at the ATL airport, we were greeted by my Mom, Dad, Douglas, Kayla, Quin, Little Lane and her friend, Meredith. We were all on the same flight to Chapel Hill. My parents hadn't seen William since the beginning of December, so they were very excited to see him! He slept in my mom's arms the entire flight. Quin and my Dad caught some zzzzz's as well ;)

When we arrived in Chapel Hill, we Grant and my dad went off to secure 2 minivans for the weekend. It took about an hour for them to get back to the airport to pick up the rest of the crew. Then we all headed to lunch and met "the crazy cousins" aka The Flemings for lunch. Juleann and Sam were in tow with them. As expected lunch was one flurry of chaos with 17 people who haven't seen each other in quite some time. By the time we made it to the hotel, we were all POOPED and I was really feeling queasy by this point. I took a Zofran and hoped to make it to the rehearsal dinner. Since William had a LONG day of traveling, we decided it'd be best if Grant stayed at the hotel with him during the rehearsal dinner. It worked out well that the rehearsal dinner was walking distance from the hotel so I was able to take Grant a plate.

William and Quin had a little fun in Quin's room before we headed to the rehearsal dinner. William's naked because several family members wanted to "see him nakey." I can't blame them ;)

12 members of our clan. There were 22 total. How cute is the bride?!? (4th from the left) She's so tiny compared to all the giants in my fam!

 The original 5.

This picture pretty much sums up our family. Right after the above normal picture was taken, Julie knocked over a HUGE glass of red wine and it splashed all of over MOI, my mom, and my dad. 

 Flemings plus Natalie (Nellie's girlfriend)

 Missing Grant and William. I look a little frazzled because this was post-wine spill ;)

Mother and grandmother of the groom!

Don't let this angelic little picture of baby William in his orphanage crib in our hotel room fool you. He lasted maybe 45 minutes in this cage and spent the rest of the night and Saturday night in a double bed sandwiched in between Mommy and Daddy. William was a perfect baby as long as he was being entertained by one of said 22 family members, but behind closed doors with Mommy and Daddy he was in rare form. 

I didn't eat a bite at the rehearsal dinner and my entire family (all 22 of them) was convinced baby Davis #2 was on the way....WRONG! I woke up Saturday morning feeling just as bad so I told my boys to go out and explore beautiful Chapel Hill while I hid under the covers and felt sorry for myself. KK and Doug graciously agreed to keep the baby during the wedding that afternoon! We are forever in debt to them for being so generous and keeping the nugget AND they got him to take a looooonng nap! 

Paul and Steph's wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful. God's presence and hand in their marriage was evident at every turn. They were beaming as they looked into each other's eyes while saying their vows. As cheesy as it sounds, Grant and I always talk about how going to a wedding makes us reflect on our own vows and commitment to each other. 

My rosy cheeked little doll on his way to his first reception

 William and part of his fan club

 William was just a little overstimulated at the reception but I'm so glad we took him because everyone enjoyed seeing him!

 Douglas and Kayla

 Parents of the groom!

 The "young table" that Grant and I were not included in. We're old.

 Mr. and Mrs. Paul Barrett Billings III

 First Dance

 William sitting in his Daddy's lap

 Cheeks!!

 William just soaking it all in. I know I ALWAYS use that phrase but he's so attentive to his surroundings. 

 Sweet, sweet baby

 Talking to Lee Lee

 My main dudes

 My mom made William's precious little outfit. I'll never live up to her (sigh).

 Juju and William. 

My gorgeous aunt Lee dancing with her handsome son (the groom)

And I just realized I have ZERO pictures of two very important people - Sam (grandfather of the groom) and Lane (sister of the groom). I'll have to post some cell phone pics in another post because I have lots from my phone. As chaotic and exhausting as the weekend was I wouldn't trade it for the world! I love my hyper, crazy, LOUD family and I'm grateful for 3 days full of laughter, memories, and love with them. Congrats to the new beautiful couple! May God bless your marriage with much happiness and love!