Anytime now Leona Shalom

Good Morning!
Again today - just woke up....I'm a sloth and I like it.
Drum Roll please.......
Today May 12th 2011 is my dear friend Rachel's baby's due date. Wow that was a mouthful even to type.
Today is the day she waddles her cute butt over to Cappelino's Crazy Cakes and gets herself a lemon drop cupcake - the sure fire labor inducer.
For those of you who are not local, Cappelino's is a 'specialty cupcake bakery' on the downtown mall where Rachel and I work.
In the last few months 38 women have gone into labor immediately after ingesting one of their delicious lemon drop cupcakes.
Today is the day my friend will put it to the test.
Of course I cannot wait for this beautiful little girl (Leona Shalom) to come into this world - I am ready to have all access to a new baby, I cannot wait to smell her and inspect every inch of her precious little body - nothing quite like newborn body parts to remind you how amazing the life cycle really is.
I keep telling Rachel excitedly - this process is really about my needs!
I get the baby tease all the time when cute little bundles of sweetness come into my store and coo at me - I wanna snatch em up and kiss them all over, problem is - I don't know these people.
Snatching babies = kidnapper...
Finally a newborn I can snuggle :)
Me being an integral part (at least in my mind) of Rachel's process began a year and a half ago (or so) when she handed me a sketch of two fish that she was drawing for her beloved Ariel.
Get ready for the supernatural weirdness....
I stared at the fish and I clearly saw images of of children and specifically a little girl with curls drawing a picture of a cornfield - Rachel knew I saw something other than fish and pushed me to divulge - she doesn't think I am nuts - in fact when I told her my vision, her eyes sparkled and her cheeks pinked up nicely.
I just knew Leona was coming.
Then Rachel proceeded to post this picture of herself on facebook, the most lovely picture of her in some sort of "post something" (hmmm?) glow...
I commented - "that is exactly what you will look like post birthing"...
Then she came by the store one Friday to retrieve her paycheck - she was as green as the Grinch and thought she had a stomach flu.
Yeah no - baby flu.
I received the text the next morning and called her immediately to find my friend in tears...Overwhelming to find you are a Mother, a lot of emotion to process...
I remember vividly all four times the news was delivered to me - your head spins with all the possibilities of change.
Greatest thing about Rachel's situation is that although Leona was unplanned, she and Ariel are really and truly in love, and what that love has created is going to be something extraordinary, I just know it.
Sometimes unexpected life altering change is the very best kind.
Scary yes, but so worth the fright.
Rachel is going to be the best Mom - this I am sure of.
Never a more gentle spirit have I met - calm, intuitive and wise beyond her years.
Perfect ingredients for a really great Mom.
And Ariel - well he is a gem. A truly glowing aura about him - a genuinely good guy.
And, they are both musical!!!!
I am excited to see Leona's musical prowess come to fruition - I hope she plays the piano like her Dad and sings like a lark just like her Momma.
Rachel and I have been singing together for years - when we we were at work and not talking, we were harmonizing effortlessly - now we will have our third supreme and be a real girl group, yesss.
Can you tell I am bursting with anticipation???
You would think I was an expectant Grandmother....
I just cannot wait.
And so, I am hoping that the nine months of anticipation comes to a close today, or at the very least in the next few - if not I think Rachel may burst - Leona looks like she could literally just detach and free fall off Rachel's tiny frame - seriously she is low and round...
I am praying that for Rachel the pain of Labor is minimal and that Leona comes into the world with ease - I am praying for a healthy baby girl and a healthy Rachel. I am praying for Ariel that he can bear seeing his love suffer (so hard to watch someone you love hurt) and that when all is said and done, this beautiful family will have a long life of good health, an abundance of happiness.
I am also selfishly praying that this friendship with Rachel will go on and on until the end of my life, that I get to be front row and center to watch their love story unfold...
And I'm just sayin in advance, I want to hold the baby.
God Bless my friends and I'm here if you need me, for always and forever xoxo