first comes love, then comes marriage

then comes baby...

well not necessarily in that order for us, but 2010 was a big year for Bryce and I and expect that 2011 will be even bigger...

As you know we got engaged in October 2009.

A funny story about a romantic weekend spent in a cute little cabin in the redwoods. we hiked, took long walks on the beach, watched the sunset together -

it was really a perfect weekend. I had no clue that he had plans to ask me, but apparently he was stressing about it the whole weekend, but couldn't bring himself to do it...

we got home sunday evening, unpacked the car and sat and watched a movie. as we were getting ready for bed, I was clearing dishes in the kitchen, Bryce walked into the kitchen and hugged me in front of the refrigerator and said 'will you marry me?' I said 'yes, of course I will' and instantly teared up. then he said 'am I standing in dog pee???'

little McKenzie was about 5 months old at that point and still in the trying stages of potty training... talk about romantic proposals! :)

we went back and forth on the whole wedding planning thing. we wanted a rustic cabin type thing, and then we wanted to do it in europe, and then my colleague inspired us a little and eloped... but we didn't think we could pull that off without upsetting our family.

basically wedding planning is hard, and so we just kept putting it off. it's so easy to get wrapped up in the whole let's get awesome invites, cool cake toppers and blow a big chunk of cash on one day, but when push came to shove we just couldn't commit to a wedding. instead we'd just cringe when we got the daily question of 'how's the wedding planning going?'

being over the 'ideal baby making age' we knew that having a baby was something we wanted to do in the near future so we started 'trying' in April and figured what will be will be. we stopped worrying about the wedding and started on 'project baby'. let me just say that making a baby is not as easy as they make it sound in high school... but, it's definitely fun :)

by the first week in September we got our first positive test result. i had to check twice to make sure. Bryce nearly fell over when I told him (incidentally he was standing in the kitchen where he'd proposed) - it was definitely a moment I won't forget :)

being pregnant and not married didn't really bother us since we are not the traditional type but the daily question would come up and we still were no closer to an answer of when we were getting married... we were just overjoyed to be pregnant and enjoying our wonderful secret gift (and praying that nothing would go wrong...)

October 25 is the anniversary of when we met, it is also the anniversary of when we got engaged and we'd talked about doing it on that date but as it was fast approaching didn't think we could give people such short notice... so again we put it off... procrastination is a wonderful thing!

pregnancy seemed to be agreeing with me, the only noticeable difference was that I was more tired than usual and my breasts were growing like crazy... Then one morning while I was lying in bed I looked down and noticed a little bump - it just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. not that I am one of those people blessed with a gorgeous flat tummy, but when I'm laying down it's usually flat enough :) this then led to visions of me shopping for a maternity wedding dress.

so about a week before our anniversary we decided to just do it! we made an appointment at City Hall, booked a room at a nearby hotel, took personal days at work and told a few of our friends and family. all we needed now were the outfits.

after a horrendous 10 hours in the mall the Saturday before we had the dress, the suit, the shoes and were all set. I bought my dress and they were able to do overnight alterations on it.

On Monday 25th October we tied the knot and it was honestly the most perfect day. the weather leading up to the day had been rain, rain and more rain and for those of you who know San Francisco it can be downright chilly on the best of days. that Monday the sun shone from a beautiful clear blue sky.

we picked Bryce's mum (Cathy) up from the airport on our way to San Francisco, checked into our hotel and then walked over to pick up the marriage license from City Hall. there were lots of people getting married that Monday.

Melita picked up flowers on the way

and helped me get ready

while the boys went for drinks

here's the marriage guide we got when we got the licence - all sorts of good information in there from sexually transmitted diseases, to taking folate, dealing with abusive relationships etc... (I kid you not)

I told you my breasts were growing... (I am 10 weeks pregnant here)

and we were off to City Hall to get married

but someone forgot their photo id... I mean I had pockets in my dress too, but totally forgot it, along with my video camera - I was just trying to be on time, which those who know me does not come naturally... luckily our hotel was a quick run through the park to get to - thank you Ini for doing the dash :)

once all the official stuff was taken care of we had to wait our turn. we'd never set foot in San Francisco's City Hall but it is the most beautiful building.

we got to choose where we were married, so we chose the rotunda (which you can see at the top of the stairs here)

and we're up. the judge that married us was really lovely with her gorgeous silvery hair, and soft spoken tone. she made it really special.

I love this shot of everyone taking photos

and videos of us...

and then we both said we do

thank you Christina for taking our photos

these two are the funniest captures

as Bryce landed the pin from his flowers went straight into his skin...

me with Bryce's mum - coolest mother-in-law a gal could ask for :)

Hannah was photographers assistant

these doors were really cool - we didn't even notice them on the way there

this is my fave

back at the hotel - I thought this one was fun since I am now married to an American boy ;)

then we headed off a local restaurant for an early dinner

yum

(can you tell I am paranoid about my breasts here...)

it really was the perfect way to get married!

later that night when we left the city we took this shot of city hall all lit up in orange for the Giants who were playing in the World Series