a tale of 2 friendships

This, of course, is my friend Emilie.

She is a huge part of my life and my family. Life would be unimaginable without her.

And here is the story of how it all came to be...

See we met 6 years ago in hypnobirthing class- a class where they teach you how to have a pain free (ahahahahaha!!!!!) childbirth. We were both suckers, along with our partners, and met in the (mostly) serene living room of a local Douala and her pesky pug dogs who breathed and licked in ways that were R rated.

This was Emilie when I first met her.

(Sorry Em, I seriously COULDN'T find a pregnant pic of me too.)


Before we knew it we had these screaming bundles of baby and we did what all smart women do. We became fast friends.

(To be sure to include Sandi, she and Emilie also formed a bond and most of these pictures were taken by Sandi when the three of us were together. It's just that Em and I being the primary caretakers of the children, have spent a ton of time together while our partners are otherwise occupied and we have come to heartily depend on each other.)

The thing is, so did our girls...

Born only 6 weeks apart, they've been together since the beginning.

(I think it is utterly adorable that Skyler has her hand on Ella in both of these photos!)

While new motherhood was often daunting it didn't stop us from doing what we love. Maybe it should have. But it hasn't.

We've been hiking,

we've been to the beach,

and to every single birthday party.

There have been lots of laughs,

lots more trips to the beach,

pounds of snacks consumed,

and still more birthdays,

and even had the guts to make snowman one Christmas. Two type A personality moms with 2-year-olds making intricate snowmen??? (Sandi took the pictures and just shook her head and laughed at us as we tried to manipulate our kids into snowman making perfection...)

While the kids went downstairs and jumped we tried our hand at the snowmen...

and laughed ourselves silly at how they came out!

Over the years, there has been a lot of love,

more snacks,

camping trips,

and still more trips to the beach.

Then, along came Reed.

Followed 9 months later by Maya.

These girls have grown up before our eyes. Skyler has taught Ella to be brave and Ella has taught Skyler...well, maybe to be less bossy (and maybe a thing or two about dresses I'm not sure.) Em and I have shared tears of joy and pride as well as heartbreak. We have called on each other in need, had tons of fun, used each other as sounding boards for anything from parenting, to being a woman in the world, to being a partner, and now to both being runners. Together we've changed hair styles, body shape, set and achieved big goals, shared our families, our best bread recipes, our worries. We've held each other's babies as they've grown into children, told them "no" when they needed it, and rescued each other from childcare overload more times than I can count.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a friend like this- one who can walk in your house without knocking, who drops off fresh bread on her way to work, who would drop everything and come if you needed, one who reminds you of your magnificence lest, in a weak moment, you forget.

Sometimes you're lucky enough to have such a friend...

and sometimes it happens twice.

xoxo.