How Kari Sees it!: Pull my finger, plus the big city versus the burbs

Last weekend, Joe and I went to New York City for his cousin's wedding. We took Marlo and left Liam with my mom. The wedding was beyond incredible. It was held at the Mandarin Oriental, an exquisite venue. It was a classic New York wedding with plum colors and a cocktail hour that overlooked the grandeur of the city lights.

Here is a picture of Joe's cousin and her husband under the chuppah.

Let me start off by stating the obvious: it is 1,000 times easier to fly with one child and it is awesome to fly with a child that isn't on the move yet. (With Liam I always wanted him to be ahead of the game, but with kid number two, I could care less. I am actually stoked that Marlo isn't crawling - my life is SO MUCH EASIER! I actually hope she never crawls and just figures out around her first birthday how to walk.) So, the flight was pretty good. Marlo napped most of the time and played nicely on my lap when she was awake. I took care of Marlo while Joe watched two movies. The guy needs a break so I didn't mind taking the brunt of the parenting duties on the flight. But by the end of the flight I did have to have a word with my husband. On our descent I asked, "Do you know that the only time you took out your ear buds and engaged me in conversation was when you asked me to pull your finger so you could fart?" Those of you who read this and think I'm kidding...I'm not. This was the only conversation my husband made with me during the entire five hour flight. Joe laughed, I laughed, and he apologized, and then we laughed some more because it is pretty ridiculous and hilarious. I reminded him that I am his wife and not some loser frat brother of his.

Here's a picture of my cutie pie waiting for our flight to take off.

I have to admit that being back in the city made me nostalgic. I miss the city. I know that I wouldn't be as happy as I am now if we lived there, but I still miss it. There is a LARGE difference between New York City and the burbs. Again, I am stating the obvious. Sometimes I wish that I got to live a bit more of my life before I had kids. I became a mom at 25, well, I was almost 26, but still it is pretty young. Joe and I never got a chance to be married without kids. I sometimes fantasize about all the fun we'd have if we didn't have kids. I'm not trying to be ungrateful because I love our life. But, I do think about our lives without our little cutie pies. I guess we have our retirement to look forward too!

Here is a pic of us getting drinks - Joe's sister babysat!