It truly was an honor for our family to be a part of my brother's wedding.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere of the wedding venue, I still very much worried about trying to make everything perfect.
I had to force myself not to worry about how Addie would act and I tried not to focus on how confusing it may all seem to Addie.
I made myself focus on the moment - the joy of knowing that we were never supposed to have this opportunity for Addie.
Because, after all, if she could never walk, never talk or never function like a "normal" child, then she would never have the opportunity to be a beautiful princess at such a big event in our lives.
I spent the morning trying to relax and took the opportunity to show Addie several videos of flower girls.
She seemed extremely disinterested in the whole process.
Then, when I spent an obnoxious amount of time trying to get her straighter than straight hair to hold one single curl, she completely lost her patience with me.
When I finally put her dress on her, she became rather anxious.
I suppose it was all the unknown activity taking place, and being in a new place sure didn't help at all.
I finally had to tell her that we were going to a big party and she would get to have cake.
It is hysterical to see the transformation on her little face at the mere mention of one single word.
When she saw the cakes, she was one very happy little girl.
Over the last few months, Addie has shown a great deal of interest in wearing my earrings.
I pondered getting her ears pierced.
I polled every parent that I could think of and when it came down to making a decision, I couldn't decide, so I did nothing.
I figured this would be yet one more time where I would have to wait for complete clarity to find me.
When the time is right, I will know.
For now, I chose little magnetic earrings that worked just fine for pictures.
Speaking of absolute clarity...
I spent months trying to decide what I would buy for Addie to wear in her hair.
I think I browsed every shop over and around "the mountain" and I spent way too many hours searching every Etsy shop that remotely seemed interesting.
One week before the wedding, my moment of clarity hit me like a ton of bricks.
There would be nothing more special than for Addie to wear the headband that I wore at my wedding.
There was no more perfect opportunity and despite the difficulty in keeping it in her hair, it was worth it.
She looked absolutely beautiful
and
I was able to fulfill one of my many "different dreams" of being able to pass down something from my wedding to my daughter.
It was very emotional.
