Audrey's BFFs

Audrey hasn't had any choice in who her friends are, because they are the children of some of my friends. Regardless, she has come to know and really enjoy these friends! Just recently she has started mentioning each by name, randomly throughout her day. Something will make her think of one of her friends and she'll say, "Lukey?" or "Connor?" As if she's asking me if she can go play with them! Some of Audrey's friends were meant to be, because I have been friends with their Mom's for a long time and others have formed just because two ladies became moms around the same time, met, and decided they had a lot in common so they got their kids together! However we all met, Audrey and I truly enjoy getting together with these friends and their wonderful mamas.

*Audrey and Luke get to hang out a few times a month at Luke's house when I go to work in the afternoon! Luke's Daddy and I grew up in the same church, but I have come to know Luke's Mommy through church and MOPS over the years! I love watching these two together. Luke is several years older than Audrey and acts like a big brother to Audrey. He graciously lets Audrey terrorize his bedroom and play with all his toys. He makes sure she is safe, having fun, and taken good care of while she is at his house. For such a little guy, he is keenly aware of Audrey and is so kind to her. Audrey gladly says, "bye-bye" to me when I drop her off at Lukey's house, she can't wait to start playing*

*Emily is only eight days older than Audrey. I met Emily's Mama at my brother's wedding in October of 2009 because she and her husband were the photographers! We started chattin' and found out we were both new moms and had a bunch of things in common. We decided to get our girls together not so long after the wedding and have been doing so since! I love bouncing parenting ideas off Jen and seeing our 'twins' playing together. I always find myself wishing Audrey had a little dose of Emily's calmness (like on car rides!)*

 *David and Sammy Chesney have no choice but to be friends with Audrey, because their mama is my longtime, wonderful friend Kelsey! She and I grew up in church together, but became good friends in college as roomates. It's been fun to do grown-up life together, as we got married and had children around the same time. Audrey adores David and Sammy as well as their parents Kels and Jeff (who are now Audrey's Sunday school teachers!) There have been some jokes thrown around that the boys will have to fight over Audrey someday, haha. They'll be in consecutive grades in school as they grow up. So Kels, someday we'll have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grader! Or....10th, 11th, and 12th grader, freaky!!!*

 

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*Caitlin and Connor (or Conna') as Audrey says, are 2 more of Audrey's buddies. They are the sweetest two little ones and Audrey loves to talk about them. Connor is only a few months older than Audrey and they'll be in the same grade in school. She mentions them both at the most random times. They have graced my home with their presences on several occasions! Their mama is a super fun lady (seems weird to say 'lady', but I guess we're too old now to be called girls!) who I met a few years back at church/MOPs. I  love hearing about what Allison is doing with her kids and bouncing ideas off her. She is very encouraging to me as I keep on learning to be a Mom!*

 

*Sweet, precious Zahra is my friend Diana's daughter. I met Diana way back at WSU pre-nursing school, as we had several classes together. We ended up in different nursing schools and parted ways for several years. Later on, I can't remember how, but we discovered we both got nursing jobs at Mayo! And, we both had baby girls! Diana initiated us getting together shorty after Zahra was born and we picked up our friendship were we left off all those years ago! Zahra is a few months younger than Audrey. It's fun to watch the girls together. They used to fail to even acknowledge each other but I have recently caught them being silly and actually 'playing' together! Diana is such a wonderful mom and I've been blessed to also learn from her great ideas in parenting*

I'm so grateful for all of Audrey's friends and their Mamas! It's fun to look back at the pictures and see how they've all grown over the past couple years. I look forward to more years of fun with Audrey's buddies!