Engagement Day!!

Rory's Mamas are going to get married...

I made her a ring made of wood.

I brought her to the top of my favorite mountain.

I asked her to marry me. She said "yes, of course".

What a beautiful hiking day!!

That's the ideal short version anyway...all the little things that didn't quite go as planned only made the day more amusing and more like our real lives...not quite perfect, but always wonderful and full of happiness and laughter.

First, she didn't want to do the hike I wanted. It took several tries before I could convince her that there were reasons that I really wanted to do Tumbledown. She finally gave in last minute. Not that another hike wouldn't have been wonderful too, but I've always had this one in mind since I started thinking about my plan. Of course, after all the effort I put into making sure it was this mountain that we were at, we got to the top and there were quite honestly probably 50 people up there. So much for a nice private moment. I was counting on some people up there, but never expected this kind of crowd. So we chose a spot a little away from the crowd to sit and eat, and just as I was thinking it would be a good time to ask the question, a group of about 5 very conservative and very talkative people came and sat down about 2 feet from us and talked nonstop from the point they sat down until the time they left. Had I known they were ever going to leave, I would have waited, but thinking I was stuck with them in the background of my perfect moment, I went ahead and asked her anyway, despite the background chatter. I wanted to capture the moment, but since self timer won't take several photos in a row on my camera, I decided to just put it on video and pull still images from it later. In this first picture, you can see Bev is still looking at the camera, thinking we're waiting for the timer to take a family photo. It took a few seconds for her to realize I was saying something important rather than posing for the picture. I finally got out what I wanted to say and it was time to give her the ring. With Rory eating lunch on her lap, when I grabbed her hand to put the ring on it, I had to first empty her hand of the Cheerios and raisins she was holding for him. Of course, as soon as our moment was over, the entire mountain top cleared out and there was only us and 2 other couples hanging out. I guess I should've had a bit of patience, but I was just too excited.




And, the ring:


Some other photos from the hike:
Rory being a goofball in the backpack
Family photo
Human only family photo (Coops is hiding)

Rory checking out the guest book.

"George"

Last week I spent my first night away from Rory ever. I went to my puzzle conference and stayed at a hotel for the night. As nice as it was to get away, I missed him terribly. I'm sure it was harder on me than it was on him because he was home having fun with Mama B. When he woke up in the morning, she gave him a bottle and hung out for a bit in bed reading books, which is usually what we do (only I'm usually there to nurse him). Some of his favorite books lately have been the Curious George series. Apparently he likes them so much that it became one of his first words. Mama B handed him the book and he looked at it and said "George" and pointed and smiled that oh-so-proud smile he has when he knows he's just done something cool.

He's also been saying and signing "All done" at appropriate times; when he's done eating; when he's done nursing; when we get to the end of a book. Its really so cute. I've got a video of it, but I'll have to add that in later. My computer doesn't upload videos well these days. He says it in a really long, drawn out voice that is very sweet and soft. Its beyond adorable.

Below are a few photos of him loving his new monkey. Pete and Laurene came up for a visit to Maine and got him a monkey to love. He gives it a hug and then hands it to us for everyone to hug and then he wants it back for more hugs. He loves his monkeys. Not sure where he gets that from. :) Of course, we've decided to name this one George, since its on his mind these days.