Colleen and Nate meet Wendy and Cody

When Nate was about three months old, I found the Spina Bifida message board on babycenter.com. There was like one post, and I posted something with my email address. Soon after, I got an email from Wendy, who was having twins, one of whom had spina bifida. We have been friends ever since! She says Nate is Cody's inspiration, and I think Cody is a little hero! They have both come so far, and so have Wendy and I!

Well, last summer my dad started working up in Wheeling, about an hour from where Wendy lives. It turns out that the woman who diagnosed Cody's SB on ultrasound, who has become friends with Wendy, is married to a man who works with my dad! Didn't follow that? Well, trust me, it was a very small world kind of thing! In fact, when Nate was done with his walker, I sent it home with my dad, who gave it to Lee, who gave it to Jenny, who gave it to Wendy, and Cody has been using it ever since. :) Love it.

This past weekend when we went to Ohio to visit my parents, Wendy and I had the chance to meet in person for the first time! I was so excited to meet her and her family. It's so funny when you "meet" someone online and then meet them in person years later--It's like "nice to meet you" but we already know each other well!

Here's (left to right) Cody, Nate, and Connor (Cody's twin who does not have SB).

I couldn't tell if Nate recognized that that used to be his walker or not.

These two hit it off great.

We were just standing there, all 9 of us, in the middle of Cracker Barrel taking pictures of the boys and chatting, when we realized we had an audience. The people at the table next to us were watching, and the woman wondered why we weren't taking pictures of Connor too. :) I told her that Cody and Nate both had Spina Bifida, and that's how we knew each other and why we were taking pics of just them. Even though I've been Nate's mom for nearly 4 years now (wow), I'm still not really used to how people react about the whole SB thing. I dealt with it a lot more when Nate was using the walker because people noticed that--usually in a positive way. But for example, this woman in Cracker Barrel said, "At least it doesn't affect their minds!" And then, "I know a boy who's deaf, dumb, and blind!" It makes me laugh a little, because I know she genuinely meant well. I rarely get mad about anything anyone says--the only time I remember getting mad was about a little boy rudely asking "What's WRONG with him?"--and honestly I'd rather someone ask questions or talk about it than just stare or, worse, look away because they are uncomfortable. Anyway, then I looked behind me to see a waitress standing there, and I apologized for being in her way, and she said, "No, I'm just standing her watching them." It was sweet. Our boys were putting on a good show.

You can't go to Cracker Barrel without sitting in the rocking chairs.

All our kids! (That's Wendy's oldest son, Casey, in the back.)

There's my friend Wendy!

They look like two old men rocking on the porch together. :)

Then Cody said he saw Santa Claus!

There was this old biker dude with a long white beard, and Wendy's boys were convinced he was Santa! Wendy said, "You've been spotted, Santa!" and he was really nice about it. Casey showed him his Nintendo DS because that's what he brought him for Christmas. :) And as they were leaving the man said, "I'll remember you all this Christmas!" It was great!

Look at them!

It was great to meet you, Wendy and family!