One of the aforementioned religious ceremonies that we attended last weekend in Tyler was the marriage of Angela's cousin, Jeremy. This was an event that we decided to take all the kids to since we were going to see lots of family that we don't get to see that often. We arrived at the chapel about 30 minutes early and settled into our seats. The kids were doing really well, Daniel and Ana were sitting with Mom, Dad and Nana while Charlie wanted to sit with the big kids (Tyler, Tyler, Cole and Brittany).
Nana decided to treat Daniel and Ana to a Tic-Tac, which Daniel loved, but Ana spit out after taking a bite. However, Ana still wanted to hold a Tic-Tac, so she got another. About 10 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, Nana frantically looks over at us and let us know that, "Ana put the Tic-Tac in her nose!" I leaned her back and sure enough the piece of candy was not just "in her nose", it had begun to round a corner. I placed my finger over her other nostril and told her to blow. Now, those of you with kids know what happened next. I got a fine gust of air . . . from her mouth.
We whisked her out of the chapel and came to the realization that we were going to miss this wedding because we would be making a trip to . . . somewhere. I was also realizing that I really wasn't sure what to do. As we were briskly walking out to the car Angela pulled out of her purse, in true Mary Poppins fashion, a disposable, on-the-go toothbrush. If you haven't seen these things they have a little curved pick on the opposite end. We both looked at it and gave each other a "What the hell, it's worth a try" kind of look. Ana was in a little bit of shock I think, she wasn't crying, just stunned. As we were walking though, she did think it was necessary to tell me, "I have candy in my nose, daddy."
When we got to the car, we laid her down. Ang held her arms, while I operated. Luckily, by this time, the candy had started to dissolve a little bit. I think this was starting to sting her nose as Ana started to whimper a little. She was still not crying though, despite both her parents hovering over her with God only knows what kind of looks on their faces. I shoved the pick side of the tooth brush in, careful to go to the side of the obstruction so as not to push it in further. I forced my hand to insert it in much farther than I thought I really should, but I had to get completely around it and that thing was completely into the boney part of nose, making it impossible to push it out from the outside. Try one was unsuccessful, but I didn't push it in any further. Try two moved it out a little bit before the pick slipped off the melty, snotty mess that her nostril was becoming. Try three made the candy pop out, much to our relief. Ang's Cousin Bill, who we forgot was an EMT until we looked up and saw him, arrived and found us all smiling over a snot covered toddler. In the future, he told us, use Afrin to enlarge the nasal passage to remove the item. Afrin and Wisp toothbrushes will ALWAYS be in our van.
We were able to make our way back to the entrance to the chapel just as the bride was being escorted in to begin the ceremony. We found our seats after the procession made their way down the aisle and we enjoyed the occasion. We were a little exasperated, really sweaty, but most certainly candy-free.
So happy Nuptuials Mr. & Mrs. Harris. Ana and Michael's first wedding was definitly memorable!
