5.5.07

it's official. we're engaged.

it's weird even now, saying that.

here's how it happened...

we were hanging out saturday over at his apartment. we were unpacking boxes, cleaning, organizing, cooking, all very normal activities.

as dinner was getting closer & closer to being done, he asked me to change into the fancy dress i brought. (i didn't know why i brought it, and when he told me we were staying in, i figured maybe plans had changed)...meanwhile he was acting very much himself. very calm & collected. so we changed (he into my favorite shirt of his) me into a little red dress. we sat down to dinner, had great conversation, nothing out of the ordinary.

then he put on some music and we danced and talked and laughed. after a bit of that, he called his dog chewbacca over to us. j. bent over and attempted to pull off a little black bag from his collar (this i saw earlier & didn't think much of) and after some difficulty, he got the bag off.

..just so you know..even up to this point i was convincing myself it wasn't what i thought it was, just in case. but when he pulled out the little black box, i had a feeling. and when he knelt-down on one knee i knew.

of course i began sobbing and he waited patiently for me to get most of it out. then i sat down on the coffee table so we could be on the same level. we just stared at eachother for a while and then i said, 'you are not doing this...' and he said, 'i haven't said anything yet' like the smartass that he is ;)

and he took the ring out of the box (a peridot, not a diamond, just like i wanted) and put it on my hand, asking, 'erica rene, will you marry me? will you live with me forever?'

and i said yes.

here she is. lauryn charlotte. i took this the day after she was born while getting her vitals checked. she is so calm and mild-tempered. beautiful dark eyes and huge cheeks. jet black hair. and a snort warning us of her frustration.