Baby Boom

There are babies everywhere, or it seems like it, anyway. It's almost like when I got engaged and got my first diamond, then suddenly I had a radar for other people's rocks (fine jewelry is something I can honestly say I never cared about before that). They were just so sparkly, and there were so many options- traditional round cut with a simple band, all the way up to gaudy and huge and crusty with diamonds.

It's like that with babies. I don't know if there has been a sudden population explosion, or if I just notice a stroller on every street corner now that I actually own one. I can honestly say in my circle, there has been a real (as opposed to imagined) Baby Boom. Six of our old couples friends have had a baby in the past four months. And three are pregnant as we speak (that we currently know of, anyway). Have we all gotten comfortable enough in life (and with our partners) that we are ready to take the plunge? Did we simultaneously decide we have sewn our collective oats and are decidedly interested in exploring the uncharted territory of Parenthood? Or did we all make a rather rash decision to throw the remainder of our live's worth of spontaneous decision-making and freedom to the wind?

As I suspect for many of us...it was just time. Life was settled and we were really ready. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if it happened sooner (when we were less ready), but it was really good to have a life and marriage as comfortable and broken in as a well worn shoe first. We don't miss the old life except every now and then. And, well, this life, with this family we are making, it is just richer.