{families}

i mentioned it once before: we have three little nieces or nephews joining the family this spring/summer. one {a girl} arrived a couple weeks ago, and the other two will be here before august. my best friend also just had a baby, and it seems like every day there is another clever birth announcement on facebook, or another phone call to share some happy news.

{one of my good friends is having a baby as i write this.}

it's such a strange little world around me suddenly. everything is hushed and heightened. everyone is so happy and scared out of their minds. everyone has this look on their face.

moving bellies and spare bedroom makeovers and secrets and worries and excitements and preparations and talk about labour and names and expectations and all that. things they shouldn't eat or do, vitamins they need to take and doctor's appointments they need to go to. ultrasounds and grainy black and white pictures of strange, developing bodies and the first time an excited father gets to feel a kick.

and then. actual human beings, where there weren't before. the thought that this person didn't exist anywhere in the world until now. that this person is going to grow up and talk and laugh and relate. birthday parties and graduations and weddings. that my friends and sisters and brothers are suddenly fathers and mothers, with huge responsibilities and inconceivable amounts of love for these little babies.

families are happening. and how lucky that i get front row seats.