The Ring Bearer!

They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes, so that leaves relying on your two and a half year-old son to walk down the wedding aisle, while holding the flower girl’s hand, on the one-and-only chance he gets, the antithesis of a sure thing. Yet, to our delight, last Saturday Cole made his flawless debut as a ring bearer at the tender age of 2 years, 5 months and 29 days.

Nicole’s friend from college, Alaina, married a fellow Coug named Barron during a beautiful ceremony at St. Patrick’s church in Seattle. In reverence too a beautiful wedding, we had extreme reluctance dealing Cole as a wild card in this game every bride wants executed perfectly, but we inevitably proceeded with what could only be described then as an impending disaster.

It wasn’t until the Thursday rehearsal we actually believed Cole might pull this off because he met Jolene, the 3 year-old flower girl he was to walk with down the aisle and they immediately hit it off, which is such a relief to us since he really hasn’t played with that many kids before. But play they did, taking turns running after each other, along with showing how each could jump off steps. Regardless of this revelation, Nicole’s and my anxiety was surging through the roof (more so Nicole’s as exemplified by her sweaty hands and inability to remain sedentary) prior to him walking, that you would have thought he was up too bat in the bottom of the seventh with a full count at the Little League World Series. Yet unlike us, Cole wasn’t cognizant of the months of planning that culminated in this one day, so to him he just wanted to play toys, walk to momma at the other end of the aisle and play on the toys at Lala’s (Nicole’s aunt) house when he was done. Ignorance sure is bliss and the bumper crop of photographs this day yielded will pay a lifetime of dividends. How often can you get your toddler dressed like George Clooney at the Oscars? Plus now, since it’s cheaper to buy a sized 3T tuxedo than too rent, we have Caden waiting in the wings to usher a satin pillow down the aisle in the future for one of Nicole’s other friends.