outnumbered....

What in the world would college-Amanda have thought of tonight's First Friday Fiesta? She would, I think, have been quite aghast at the turn her life had taken. Its good that life tends to transition slowly, that the big shifts creep and slip and happen without our taking much notice, so that the difference is not so stark and the new normal truly does feel normal. It's only when I examine tonight through the eyes of the past that I am so surprised to find myself where I am...

And where we were tonight, was outnumbered. We took a count earlier in the evening and realized there were 7 children under the age of 4, and only 6 adults. Makes for a different party dynamic, you know? One focused on cutting up bites of food and keeping babies on the porch and juggling climbing and crawling and walking twins and wondering whether the preschoolers had gone back inside. Relaxing with a beer? Savoring the perfectly grilled chicken? Using two hands to do anything? Not so much.

But-- there's something magical about a yard full of littles. Even if we're all an exhausted mess by Friday, even when we wish they'd just go to sleep already... we come together in the early summer perfect-light and eat with our fingers and let our children get all grubby as we take turns holding each other's babies, and I catch myself looking around and thinking how perfect our lives really are.
Watching my college friends-- now my mama friends-- caring for their children; loving them so much and loving their children like my own; my backyard awash with these beautiful people and their beautiful progeny... We are just so very lucky, you know? We really are.