Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of cheesy Valentine's Day and 10 years of marriage and all of the things for which I am so grateful in my little life, Aaron and I renewed our wedding vows. I should say rather, that today Aaron completely indulged my wish to renew our vows! Below is the article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that explains a lot of the particulars of where and how. I've always told Aaron that I thought we should get married again, but he requested that it be without an audience or much pomp or circumstance. I at least obliged on that request. Here are the details not included in the short story.

The day was fun to get ready for, even though it didn't take much preparation or money. I might have splurged on getting a pedicure and a haircut, but otherwise, I wore a $10 white "special occasion" maternity dress from target.com with a red sweater (also from Target) and the jewelry I wore at our first wedding. (Also, my little "secret" -- maternity Spanx. No, really, maternity Spanx. They cost more than the dress, though I guess most things do. It's a crazy world we live in.) Aaron wore the exact same suit from our wedding, though with a different shirt and one of the ties that he wears once or twice a year. If it weren't for my being a gazillion months pregnant, I might have opted for a GIANT princess gown off the rack from David's Bridal, maybe with a tiara, because that was not something I opted for before, but I figured I would be large and obvious enough with a GIANT belly instead.

In typical fashion, we barely made it there on time. Of course, we left in plenty of time, but TWICE missed the turn off for the midtown mansion and got there at the exact moment when we were supposed to start, 12:45 PM. I think the coordinator really thought we weren't coming! So, once we got in there, we rushed right in, I went upstairs, walked down the grand staircase really willing myself to not fall to the strains of a harp playing the wedding march, met Aaron at front, let Zeke take some pictures and we made a bunch of promises that we've already made. Zeke was interested, but mainly in taking pictures and getting into the bag of candy that the hostesses gave him when we came in. The ceremony part of the day probably took less than 10 minutes! Afterwards, we skipped out on the champagne toast, but instead had a cupcake toast and they let Zeke have one as well. He left huge chunks of frosting and crumbs on the floor of the "reception" area, but the historic mansion has probably survived worse than a three year old with a chocolate cupcake. A photographer took some staged portraits that might be worth buying, but we were also photographed and interviewed by the local newspaper. The reporter said she really loved us, but I think it is because we were one of the very few vow renewals for the day and because I think she thought Zeke was cute. (She said that she felt he should be a model for GapKids.) Next year, I bet the paper shoots for the commitment ceremony aspect.

They shooed us right out because the ceremonies kept going and we were leaving so fast that I hit the door before I remembered I didn't have my purse or coat. Afterwards, we had a special brunch to continue the theme of "Cheesy Special Occasions" and went to the Sundial Restaurant at the top of the Westin Hotel downtown. This time we did manage not to miss any turns in our own town and got there in plenty of time. Home we came, where I finished my gift to Aaron, a cherry pie, and we hosted our 3 year old neighbor-friend for the rest of day so that his parents could go out and celebrate. By early evening, we were already getting calls about our photos being in the online paper.

Zeke seemed to really enjoy Valentine's Day, in general, largely because it started last week with a classroom party and because lots of candy and cupcakes seem involved, but he also seemed to enjoy today. One of the interesting side stories about this is that I have been telling him for the past few days that he was going to see Mommy and Daddy get married again and then we would go for a special meal. One time, he said we were going to eat rice after we got married. As with a lot of things these days, I said, "Sure, okay" without really having a clue of why he was saying something. Then today as we getting ready, he said we have to eat the food that falls from the sky when we get married. We had no idea what that was about, especially because we had not connected it with the previous comment about rice. He goes on and on about food falling from the sky when people get married and then it finally occurred to us that he has some cultural knowledge from an unknown source that people throw (or used to throw rice) at weddings. At first we were thinking it had to be from a movie, but now I'm beginning to think that it comes from my talking to him very briefly about a small picture on the title page of Knuffle Bunny that shows the main character's parents leaving a church after being married with people throwing rice. It seems I am perpetually underestimating what makes an impression on this kid.

So, it was an extravagant gesture that was quick and sentimental, but I'm really happy about our vow renewal. I guess it feels a little like we've got the extended warranty for another ten years of marriage, even though it was never really needed. What I really meant to tell the reporter (though she appeared fine smoothing over my original quote) was that I wanted to do this because it seems like such a good time to celebrate where we have been and where we are going and all the things that have happened in between, including Zeke and baby brother-to-be. How grateful we are, how lucky we are. Here's to our first ten years of marriage! Here's to children and happy marriages! Here's to cheesy Valentine's Day!