Believe me, Natalie.

Believe me, Natalie.

Sarah and Scott had a little baby girl Saturday morning and her name is Natalie. Well, relatively not-so-little, weighing in at a whopping 9lb 11oz. We went to see them Saturday evening, and everything about her is so perfect and soft. She smells so good already. I want to know what kind of soap they use in the labor wards.

We sat on the bed with them in the birth center, holding this tiny person and singing The Killers' slightly nonsensical namesake song over and over in my head ("this is your last chance to find a go-go dance to disco now..."). The moment had all the elements of WE MUST BREED NOW with the dim lighting, peaceful ambience, glowingly exhausted parents, and a tiny little baby in my arms, sticking her tongue out and half-opening her eyes. Every time I've visited a friend who had a newborn, their houses all seemed so quiet and peaceful, with hushed voices, soft lights, pretty baby things everywhere and that baby skin smell. Oh, that smell.

Their delivery midwife came in to check on them, and Sarah introduced us to her. She asked us if we had any kids of our own, and after we said no, Sarah said, "just ours."

I know I'm far from being a parent, and far from being a member of their blood-family, but I've never really felt such a perfection and familial happiness as I did while sitting in that room with them. And it didn't hurt to be cradling a perfect gorgeous baby in my arms. I keep thinking about her perfect little face and how her whole life is ahead of her, the ups, the downs, the inbetweens. And unlike the Killers song, this is totally not her last chance for go-go dancing or anything. I can't wait to watch her life unfold ahead of her. Believe me, Natalie.

Then, we spent the night at their house watching sweet big-sisterly Grace (while they were all still in the hospital) and woke up at 6am and had to be on playing and entertaining and making breakfast. It's one thing to wake up at 6 and shuffle through the day, but dude. I had to take an early morning nap. While it was amazing hanging out with Gracie for so long, it was also kind of a MAYBE WE MUST NOT BREED NOW moment.

Good thing we have Grace and Natalie, then.