Beth is a Mom...

Our friend, Beth, is a Mom. It makes me smile. She'll be an impressive one.

It's been a few weeks now since Avery Grace first soaked up the sunshine of her new life, and she's happy and healthy and well on her way to being the most popular girl on the planet in at least two hearts and minds. I think, absolutely no different than us, it's been a hard first few steps for Mike and Beth. It's pretty hard to find yourself facing the task of managing the manifestation of the most love the two of you can muster without as much as a run through, a practice swing, or a spring training. One day you're two excited, eager friends, waiting for their baby, and the next you're overwhelmed parents charged with the responsibility of nurturing the most complex version of the love that you share between the two of you. That's tough. We found it tough.

There, wrapped in that soft, little, pink blanket is every whisper you've ever breathed into your best friend's ear...every warm word and embrace...every stomach flip and smile and sigh...the entire weight of your boundless affections and inexplicable infatuations with one another. There, cooing and crying, is the reflection of everything your heart is capable of feeling and your head capable of imagining. It's not just the flesh and genetics of two people, it's the combined energy of however you define love itself. It's something worth swooning over.

Swoon away Beth Skinner (she's always Beth Skinner in my mind)...it's the most excruciating pain and perfection on the planet, you know, short of a Rose Bowl berth. You're a lucky little girl Avery Grace...your parents love you so much it hurts, but that's okay, I've learned in two short, short years that it's supposed to.

Congratulations Beth and Mike...welcome to a new world of sweet fragility. Everything's different with your head and heart in the clouds...everything.

Beth's a Mom...wow.