My mother, who I cannot accurately describe without an entirely separate post, was milling about Babies-R-Us about 3 days after Mia was born. Now, as anyone who has had a new baby knows... this Babies-R-Us milling was far from the first Glenna had done. The woman might of as well slept in one of their super cozy display cribs or pack-n-plays the first week for all the time she spent in that store.
Buying, returning, re-buying, and well buying some more.
Eventually her trip ends where they all do in Babies-R-Us, at the cash register, and (as I am told by reliable sources) she is something of a mess.
Items are flung on the counter, receipts are strewn about any available surface, change (I am sure) is overflowing from her 2 ton wallet, and many jokes about not having her glasses and needing to find her coupons are being made, as she begins searching for said lost items in what might as well be considered the floor of the Pacific Ocean... her purse.
The people in line begin wondering if their children will have indeed outgrown their current diaper size while waiting, when Glenna drops the bomb...
She cannot find her Babies-R-Us rewards card. And she will not be checking out without it.
The "I am due in less than a month and cannot stand here all day" girl behind Glenna decides it is her time to shine and becomes a savior to everyone in line when she offers Glenna her rewards card.
And that is really how a great adventure began.
It turned out that my Mom had not only noticed "I am due in less than a month and cannot stand here all day" girl already, but had at multiple moments contemplated cornering her in the store and demanding her life story.
Something such as this may seem strange to the average person, but to Glenna it's just another day in her "I talk to everyone I see and 10 times out of 10 find out I am related to them or dated their cousin" life.
The girl, who later properly introduces herself as Stacy, was visibly pregnant, young, and wearing a Kappa Kappa Gamma t-shirt from LSU. While such a shirt would rarely turn heads in the South, here in N.C. we don't see many of those. And so the conversation begins...
Glenna: "My daughter went to LSU. She graduated in 2003. She was a DG. She just had a baby 4 days ago. When are you due?"
Stacy: "I'm due in about a month. I also went to LSU but graduated the year after. We just moved here 2 months ago."
Glenna: "My daughter just moved here 3 weeks ago and she doesn't have any friends."
Stacy: "That's nice."
Glenna: "Here's her number. You should be her friend."
Unfortunately I wasn't there to witness such a conversation as I was at home trying to figure out how to be a Mom to a baby who was confused about night and day. And, fortunately I wasn't there to stop Glenna from doing what I deemed totally irresponsible and awkward when she gave a stranger my name and phone number.
It's 2010 here Glen... an email address would have been sufficient.
But no, she gave her my number.
Everyone who has ever seen a Lifetime Movie knows that is a terrible idea.
Fast forward 2 days and a strange number calls my phone. I quickly hit ignore and hope the caller won't leave a message. She does. I call back and pray she doesn't answer. She doesn't.
Somehow, amidst all the phone tag and awkward pauses the "I'm due in a month and cannot stand here all day" girl and her Mom, who happens to be in town visiting, end up at my house with stuffed bell peppers in hand 9 days after Mia was born.
And to top it off... she was normal.
Born and raised in Baton Rouge, LSU bred whether she wanted to be or not, and like me not super excited about the idea of living the high life in our new town.
Our situations were fairly similar and yet very different in one way. Stacy was here for 2 years, and we are here... well... until Mr. Eanes says so.
I remember it so clearly. Her sitting on my couch looking at my new baby, probably wondering if she was having a boy or girl, saying... "But hey, two years is a really long time. That seems like forever."
Two years later I can safely say... two years does not feel like forever.
When you have a baby there are certain things you just need family for. There are days, especially in the beginning, when you need someone, even just for an hour, to hold your baby while it cries so you can sleep. There are times when you wonder if maybe someone should come and put the baby down and instead hold you, while you cry yourself to sleep. There are times when the days become so long and lonely that being able to call up someone and ask them to keep you company could honestly save your life.
And later on as the baby grows, the list of things you could use family to help out with begins to change with your changing baby. You could use a shower, a nap, an hour to cook dinner, a trip to the dentist would be great, and that haircut you decided to wait to get until after the baby was born... well it's surely not happening now.
But what happens when you don't have family close by? That is the question that Stacy and I were both faced with. And so just having tipped the brink of the huge ice berg known as motherhood Stacy and I begin to rely on the only people either of us knew... each other.
Honestly, don't know how I could have done it without her. After almost 22 months as a Mom, I can confidently say...motherhood was not meant to be done alone.
It really does take a village.
Almost two years and dozens of "Hey I'm at Target do you need anything?", "Do you want to have lunch out today like real people?", "If we don't hang out with someone else soon I may go mad- we're coming over", and "Really just bring her over here and I will watch her for you" laters...
our tee tiny babies grew to toddlers who shared so much life together I often joked Mia spent more time with Stacy and Caden than her Dad.
It's funny how two years can go by so quickly and yet when you think back on them so much life seems to have occurred.
Questions about breastfeeding became questions about baby food, which turned into our most recent questions about how to keep those super mischievous rascals from throwing their mac and cheese all over the floor. Concerns over sleeping through the night and nap time transitions foreshadowed the more recent discussions about toddlers sleeping with newborns in the house and in big kid beds.
Those newbie Mom's on the brink of that great big adventure, became slightly more seasoned and decided it was time to try the whole thing again.
When Stacy welcomed her 2nd son in March, I could not have been more excited for their growing family and at the same time slightly heart broken for mine. I knew the time would soon come when they would pack up their things head off on their next great adventure and our kids who know each other so well would eventually fade from each others memories.
And while our kids might not have the capacity to remember, I have no doubt stories will be told and many eyes will be rolled as we sit and tell our children of their first childhood friends. Friends who if only in our lives for a season, played an integral role in their early days.
We are so glad Stacy took a chance and called the number the crazy lady in Babies-R-Us gave her. Our meeting is proof that God really does care about the littlest details. Thanks for being such a good friend these past two years, we are so excited to have a reason to once again visit the land of football and crawfish!
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| Mia and Caden's first date: Well Mom, I know you said we would be great friends but I had hoped my friends would at least stay awake on our playdates. Not sure how this is all going to unfold. |
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| He's awake this time, but he certainly looks like he is up to no good. |
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| Really... you really went there... matching jackets? |
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| Perhaps if I pull some of his locks out I can glue them to my head and it will go unnoticed. |
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| Boys... totally impressed by the little things. |
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| I see you think flashing my bloomers about it funny but I'm gonna need those back before I go. |
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Again with the matching outfits Mom? Gag me please.  |
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Let us out of this house of unending matching.   |
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Um do you mind? Your sorta interrupting the Valentines Day mood I was trying to set here. heat for this mess.   |
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| Mia you have misunderstood... the bread is for the ducks! |
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| When I am gone our lives will be bound together in the sands of time... don't forget me. |
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| A last date kiss. You will always be my first friend Caden. I love you. |
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