My Best Friend's Baby

So, I am a little behind on the blogging end of life, which makes sense since my teaching life is about to start back up again.  I realize I never wrote about our vacation (which was absolutely delightful, despite Millie's complete refusal to sleep in a pack n' play), but things just keep coming up that delay a post about the vacation.

And this one is big.  And wonderful.  And exciting.

Two weeks ago, one of my oldest and dearest friends had a beautiful, beautiful baby girl.  She is perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

I remember the day that my friend told me that she was pregnant.  Carla were on the adoption waitlist at that point and had no idea when our wait would be ending.  We were also deep into the angst and anxiety that comes along with the adoption process.  The conversation took place while we were in the car, driving to meet my sister and her son at the Children's Museum.  She told me she was pregnant and because she is so kind-hearted and so incredibly thoughtful, she was worried that telling me she was pregnant might make me sad.  And I am sure I was a little sad, but mostly I was overjoyed for her.  She told me that the way she figured, the world had a way of making sure that she and I did things at the same time.  We got married months apart even though she had dated her boyfriend for ten years before getting engaged and I had dated Carla for two years before getting engaged.  Still, we were married within months of each other.  The way she saw it, the world would find a way for us to have babies at the same time as well.  Looking back on the moment, there was not a kinder way that she could have told me.  She found the very perfect words to comfort me and little did I know it at the time, but she was right.

Several months after she told me, we found out we would be bringing Millie home.  And now, Millie is seven months old and her new best friend just entered this world.  I am overjoyed.  And as I watch this friend take the first, frightening steps into motherhood, I am so excited for what she will discover in this strange new land we call parenting.  And I simply could not be happier that we get to do it together.  Her presence in my life has been a constant for so long and I have come to depend on her being there in much the same way we depend on there being air for us to breathe. It just will always be so.  And so it seems so fitting for us to figure out these babies together and I am so excited for what is ahead.

So though I know these next week will be filled with sleep deprivation, anxiety, uncertainty, I also know, without a doubt, that there will be so much joy.  I am thankful to be able to watch it.  I am thankful to have her and her beautiful girl in my life and I am thankful that we get to watch a whole new generation of best friends grow up.