When did this all happen?

Last Sunday Brad and I had taken a walk to the Beveridge Place Pub with Colie. (A bar where you can bring your dog...just the place for us.) As we sat playing a mean game of Skipbo my phone started to buzz and Brooke's name scrolled across the screen. Nothing about seeing her name was a surprise except that I knew this late Sunday afternoon call was more than just to say a friendly hello. Before answering, I looked at Brad and said, "Baby S is on her way!" Sure enough, the soon-to-be Auntie was calling to let me know she had "gotten the call" and Ali and Brett had checked in to Swedish and Baby S had decided it was time to show the world what she was all about. We kept the call short as there was little to report except that they were at the hospital. She promised to keep details coming my way as things progressed and I returned to my cider beer and thought to myself, "Here I am having a beer, on a Sunday nonetheless, and my friend is about to give birth to her daughter...man are we in different places right now (literally and figuratively.)"

By the time Brad and I had reached home, news had come across the wire that Baby S was going to appear sooner than expected. Less than four hours after checking into the hospital, Miss Lillian Brooke Schlameus entered the world. While news of her arrival came just shortly after her birth, we had to wait another few hours to learn her name. Brad has fallen asleep by the time the name was texted so I had to wake him with the news. (I'm sure he loved that.) Miss Lillian had been given her Auntie (and godmother's) name as her middle name!

I was lucky enough to meet Lillian when she was less than 12 hours old and Mom and Dad generously let me hold on to her while I asked them a million questions about the whole unfamiliar experience. They happily shared their adventure with me as Lily snuggled in my arms and listened along. Before leaving, I gave her a kiss on the head and promised to see her soon. The new family of four (they have a dog) headed home on Tuesday and Brad and I ventured to their house last night for another meet and greet.

The little pea managed to sleep most of the time (I did sneak in some snuggles before she ate dinner and went down for a nap)leaving the elders to engage in some adult conversation. Like I had done just days before, Brad drilled the new parents with questions such as, "What was the craziest part of the whole experience?" and "What has been the most surprising part of it all?" Ali and Brett did what they do best and answered our questions openly and honestly and did't hide the dirty details or glorify things that simply can't be glorified.

While my attention was mainly focused on Lily, I couldn't help but sneak peeks at the proud parents as they admired their daughter. It was overwhelmingly clear that they were 100%, head-over-heels in love with their little one. How quickly life can change. Here I had just had lunch with Ali two days before she gave birth. It had been no different than any other lunch (minus the fact that she had a large bump protruding from her otherwise tiny body) and exactly one week later I was visting with her again but now she had become a changed woman, a mother. She had a glow and a sparkle that only a mother can have.

She was now in what I like to call the "motherhood club." A club you simply can't belong to until you have had first hand experience with being a mother. I can talk all I want about loving my nieces and nephews to pieces (which I do), changing dirty diapers, giving bottles and actually watching the birth of my two oldest nephews but one thing remains clear...you don't know the "motherhood club" handshake until you have officially been admitted to the club. I'm sure the dues this club requires you to pay are large (emotionally, physically and financially) but from what I can gather, they pale in comparison to the amount of joy you experience upon seeing and meeting your children for the fist time. Sorry for the sappy diversion...back to the evening.

Lillian managed to sleep soundly in her crib (she looked so tiny all swaddled up in there) while we sat down to dinner in the dining room and shared stories over Mexican food and beers. While much of our conversation was about baby and the crazy adventure they had just begun, I was surprised to find that even with all the excitement of the birth of their daughter, Ali and Brett still asked us how we were, how Brad's job was treating him and what was new with us. True adult talk. We dated ourselves even more when we slipped in a brief chat about how none of us can drink like we used to and the idea of a hangover is enough to keep the booze at bay. (I know I said we were having beers but don't be fooled. The four of us didn't even finish a six-pack over a three hour period of time...and only one of us had actually given birth this week and had a reason not to have more than one.)

After dinner Brad and I realized it was getting late (9 ish!) and should probably let the new parents be as they still had a night of feeding, changing and rocking and "shushing" ahead of them while we simply had a date with our Tivo and our couch. We wished them good luck, gave Lillian one last kiss and headed out the door. It was as we were driving home through Belltown at 9:30 p.m. on this Friday night that I realized, "This is where we are in life now. This is our Friday night." I commented to Brad as we drove down 1st Ave that while we were headed home, after already having dinner and an evening with friends, others were just getting ready for a night on the town. The majority of our friends are now married, have children or are having children and our conversations have turned to discussing the latest episodeo of The Office, our dogs and bitching about the housing market. Don't let this depress you, because it hasn't depressed us. In fact, I would have to say that we are in a pretty wonderful place in life right now.

What better weekend plans are there than a Friday evening visit with friends who just welcomed their daughter into the world less than a week ago, a Saturday visiting with family and snuggling our Twinner niece and nephew, and a Sunday with friends and a kickball game? I'm just not sure there is...at least not right now. I'm sure the Schlameus Family won't be able to keep us away for too long as we truly enjoyed meeting little Lillian, chatting about anything and everything and simply enjoying life for what it is.

Now, drumroll please...introducing Miss Lillian Brooke Schlameus!

http://schlameus.blogspot.com/