lunch date.

Two of my good "mommy friends" weren't always in the "mommy friends" category. Mandy and Brittany are friends I've known since before babies were in the picture. Mandy and I have been best friends throughout our entire lives, and Brittany has been a close friend since she and her husband Jason moved to Maryland to take over the Youth Pastor position at the church that I grew up in.

I was the first of us to get pregnant, followed closely by Brittany, and not-so-closely by Mandy. Bennet came along in May of 2008, Brittany had Tessie in September of 2008, and Mandy had Cole in July of 2009. It has been an amazing blessing in my life to watch these two girls, who have been such good friends to me, have babies of their own and join me in the joys (and trials!) of motherhood. I have been ecstatic to hear they were pregnant and then meet their little ones, honored when they have come to me for parenting advice, and touched to see our little ones interacting and developing friendships - just like their moms!

Last week, we all got together with our little ones for lunch, something that we try to do as often as possible. Each time we get together, our babies (and now toddlers) are in different places in their development. It is always amusing to see how Bennet, Tessie and Cole interact and to talk about what challenges they are each presenting us with as they grow and learn.

This time around, Bennet was terrified of Tessie! Tessie was very excited to play with Bennet, but whenever she would try to talk to him, he'd burst into tears! We all got quite a laugh out of his Tessie-phobia. Poor little guy, no one took his tears seriously - especially Tessie!

When I spend time with these ladies and their little ones, I get so excited about the future. I think about our babies becoming children and teenagers, and wonder what their relationships will be. Will they be friends? Will they like to play together? I think they will, if they're anything like their mommies!