The single mom single no more

I got engaged yesterday! Yep, you read that right. I'm engaged.

(My fiance -- wow, that word still sounds a little funny to use -- was sick as a dog for the rest of the afternoon after popping the question, but I'm trying not to take that as a sign of how he feels about our forthcoming nuptials. "He proposed and then started throwing up." That'll be a story to tell forever.)

Mike has been largely absent from this blog, though some keen-eyed readers might have seen him through the thin veil a "close friend" I've mentioned more than once. But he's been in my life for about 2 1/2 years. And he's got two sons of his own, so I'm going from single mom of one to nuclear family of five. Yowsa!

The first order of business -- after we tore ourselves away from just looking at each other, sighing contentedly and smiling incessantly (sickening, I know) -- was not setting a date or picking a spot or even telling our parents.  As parents ourselves, our first chore was, of course, telling our kids.

Mike has been floating the idea with his older son (10) for a while now, and he has seemed fine with the idea. In fact, we were eating in a restaurant together not too long ago when his son said, "If y'all get married, whoever does the cooking needs to learn to make macaroni and cheese." Clearly, the getting married part was a blip on his radar and he was looking ahead to his need for someone to be making him some cheesy goodness for supper.

We gathered the kids and got their undivided attention, not an easy task in and of itself since there was a playground nearby at that moment, and told them we had decided to get married and that that meant we'd all live together and be a family.

"I've always wanted a little brother," Mike's younger son cheerfully announced.  He's four months older than my son, technically making him a big brother, much to the chagrin of my son.

At the announcement that they would indeed all be brothers, an impromptu wrestling match immediately ensued that was mainly an exuberant expression of excitement and fraternal love... and maybe a little bit of a competition over that whole "big brother/little brother" thing. It was such a spontaneous and real and quite fun and touching reaction on their part. Mike said it's the part of the day he'll remember forever.

Once the fray broke up, though, we asked if they had any questions. Mike's older son, who currently shares a bedroom with his little brother and is growing more eager to have his own space with each passing day, asked immediately if, when we all move in together, the little boys could share a room and he could have a room to himself. Again, I take this as a positive sign that he's not traumatized by the mere thought of our getting married and is instead looking for the best ways to benefit from it.

So as we move toward actually planning our wedding and, more importantly, our life together, this blog is likely to be filled with all sorts of stories about getting my own child and his ready for our blended family-to-be. Wish me luck!