+ 2.5 kids

The wedding trip to Alabama came full circle. Matt proposed! Would you call that a meta-wedding experience where, as a bridesmaid, you get engaged at a wedding? Perhaps.

There I was, reluctantly standing with all the other girls to catch the bouquet per Matt's goading: "You're NOT married, you SHOULD be up there!" "But I'm not SINGLE!" "Just. Go."

We were all shouldering for position when Bride Kelly turns around, looks at us to judge aim, turns back around and throws! It headed right for me.

And I ducked.

The girl next to met caught it, which I thought appropriate, as she's Kelly's brother's girlfriend. I congratulate her. Kelly turns around expectantly and mouths at me"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I shrug. She stomps over to me, yanks the bouquet out of the poor girl's hands and puts it in mine. And then here's how I remember what happened next:

All the girls around me clear to reveal Matt down on one knee with an open box in his hand. I see him ask "Will you marry me?" I clamp my hands to my mouth to stop any shrieking that might occur and nod vigorously. He slides the ring on my finger, the band says our names and begins to play "Beyond the Sea." I might be crying, I can't remember. Everyone is taking pictures and clapping. I am stunned.

See, I knew this was coming, I just didn't know when or how. I helped choose the style of ring (Vintage Art Deco) and color of diamond (yellow!). I even knew when it was delivered by UPS to the apartment. I did NOT ransack the place to find it even though, oh man, I knew it was gonna be beautiful and I really wanted to see it. I would harass Matt daily. He had a poker face about it and when I asked for hints, he merely said, "One word: plastics." I was mystified. Plastics? Is it going to be in the bottom of a plastic cup if we go to a baseball game? Jumbo tron? Ikea? Will it be cleverly disguised as the umlaut in the name of piece of furniture?

Matt has had some serious concerns about measuring up to the degree of surprise all of our other friends received when their now fiances asked. One thing you should know about Matt, that kid is a master planner. He is responsible for booking all plane tickets and hotel reservations when we travel. He wrote to our congressman when we went to D.C. so we could get a semi-private guided tour of the Library of Congress (everyone can do this!). He called me back after we arranged out first date to ask my birth date (with year) and time of birth (with time zone and location) in order to check out our astrological compatibility. We're a match!

So I honestly don't know why I expected anything less orchestrated. He has had this plan formed since January. My parents knew. Kelly of course knew and was so very, very gracious in sharing her wedding with me. The band knew. All the other bridesmaids knew. Julia knew. This whole thing is sort of a private joke between us, because by July, I will have been in 3 weddings in the last 10 months. So Matt figured what better place to ask than at a wedding. Good one, Hebert.

So we are planning our wedding now. It's gonna be a great party. On New Year's Eve. In the not too distant future.

However, apparently, one thing we should start planning for is babies. Because that is everyone's question after "when are you getting married?" Societal assumptions aside, the wedding is a year and a half away!

We're going to try our luck with a dog first.

Cherubim

I know I'm not alone, here but seriously? What is it about baby cheeks that suddenly makes me want to slurp them into my mouth? It is like an uncontrollable urge that I have to distract myself from continually whenever there is a chubby little baby around.

I think my friend Roya said it perfectly, "They're like little desserts!"

Exactly.