I’m excited, and I’m smiling even as I write. Why you ask?

Well, it’s spring and I can’t think of any better way to celebrate it than with news that a new baby is on the way.

No, I’m not having a baby. Are you kidding? That would be a cruel joke.

My friends are having a baby and I can’t wait.

It’s cause for celebration. Yahoo!

These friends are young, and beautiful, and smart, and fun and they will make great new members of the parent club. Boy are they in for the roller coast ride of a life time. You know what I mean; joy, pain, love, worry, insanity, sometimes all at once. What a blast, right? Or, maybe after 19 years on this wild parenthood ride, I’ve finally just gone a little soft in the head.

I’m 25 years their senior. I’ve known Kurt since he was a sophomore at William Chrisman High School, and one of my husband’s students. He was a member of Ceaser’s student entourage that would come to our house from time to time for dinner, a movie, and words of wisdom. I’d come home from work some evenings and our living room would be full of teenagers sitting all over the place while Ceaser held court.

Kurt was one who kept coming long after graduating high school. He came by during every break home from college, even through graduate school. We kind of just adopted him as an unofficial member of the family, another son. He has great parents, they just shared him with us.

Over the years we met all the girlfriends. I remember once my son Jordan got confused and asked one young lady, weren’t you the one who was here last month. Of course she wasn’t. Oops! Too funny.

Then one day last year, he came by with Melani. Perfect! She was obviously the one. They married, and she fits right in. She even tried some of Ceaser’s exotic cooking, succulent turkey necks, African ground-nut stew with fufu and I don’t even know what else.

A few weeks ago they moved into their brand new house and I found out Melani is pregnant. Not to dampen the moment, but I could hardly resist thinking about the beauty of the thing; that God was at work here in his mysterious way. You know the whole — you lose a life, you gain a life.

This is the second time in the last three months I’ve been apart of new baby news. In February, I was in the birthing room with another of my friends, holding her hand as she gave birth. It was the first time I’d been on that side of the birthing process. I tell you it was amazing watch that little life come in to the world; head — full of hair — then shoulders, and wow it took my breath away.

Now here I am again, full of excitement about new life to be. Literally dancing in my seat.

I’m sure everyone she knows will have advice for her; what to expect, what to eat, what not to eat. Breast feed, don’t breast feed. What’s going to make you want to puke and what crazy craving will make you feel like you would walk on hot coals to get it.

“I ate mussels and marinara sauce every Thursday night and could down a whole watermelon in one night. I also went from 110 pounds to nearly 190 with my first one. But I lost it pretty quickly.

I was nine-months pregnant, covering the 1996 Olympics in the hot Georgia sun with the second.”

I had to get my two cents in.

I’m already thinking about a baby gift. Diapers? A cute outfit? And, of course one for the new mom and dad too; maybe a few hours of babysitting. That may not seem like much, but don’t you remember when you were a new parent; what was the one thing you wanted more than anything?

Sleep, right? It was like gold.