How I Met My MBF {Mom Best Friend} + A Giveaway!

Before getting pregnant, I was beyond prepared.  My hubby and I had put aside a little nest egg, I had purchased ALL of the latest and greatest baby gear, and I had poured over books and blogs and research on how to be the best mom I could possibly be.  I was ready, and I knew everything there was to know.

Until March 25, 2011 when my sweet boy made his dramatic entrance into the world.

And I soon realized I knew nothing.

There were SO many things that surprised me about motherhood, but the biggest surprise of all was how it affected my relationships.  My once solid marriage was now shaky as could be…I failed daily at being the daughter and the sister that my dear family deserved…and my overflowing social life and countless number of friends seemed to dwindle.by.the.day.  There I was in the absolute joyous time of my life, and I felt totally and completely alone.

No one had warned me about this.  No one had told me how HARD it would be to nurture all of the relationships that I had put so much heart and soul into all my life.  No one had coached me on how to juggle motherhood and marriage and work and friendships — all at the same time, without dropping a ball or three.  The first two years were a blur as I tried to navigate my way through motherhood, and then baby number two came along…and I was lost all over again.

But here I am.  My youngest is just weeks away from turning two, and I’m quickly realizing how much I’m longing to build up those friendships once again.  Of course, I realize that they will probably look a little bit different now than they once did.  {After all, those weekly happy hours would severely interfere with my kiddos’ naptime.}  But I am on a mission to nurture the friendships that I have been desperately neglecting, make new friends and grow my village, and find a better balance for myself on this wild journey called motherhood.

Mom Best Friend{That’s me and MY Mom Best Friend…who loves me despite myself and has been by my side through so much!}

So where do I start?  And isn’t there some kind of guide for this?  Well, a few of the HMB Contributors are here to tell you how they met their MBF {that’s Mom Best Friend, for those who don’t know}.  And yes, there is in fact a guide for this that all of you mamas NEED to get your hands on too.  Keep reading for more…

 

Heather

I have so many wonderful mom friends that it’s hard to choose just one! My MBF and I met in college, in our pre-kid days. Her parenting journey started before mine, and she was such a rock for me when mine started. As I shuttled to and from the NICU, she left trays of spaghetti on my front porch so I didn’t have to worry about cooking dinner. When the time came, I asked her to be my daughter’s Godmother because I couldn’t think of a better example for my daughter to see. We’ve both had some serious ups and downs of parenting and she’s been an incredible support and encouragement for me the whole time, no matter what she’s going through herself. I’ll always value and cherish her friendship more than she’ll ever know.

Meagan

I met my MBF when we moved to Houston in 2006 – before we were moms.  I worked with her husband in my former “professional” life, and once I discovered they were both Aggies, I wanted him to meet my husband.  Gig ‘Em!  We had our first double date {ha!}, and then a few months later, our first date – just us girls.  I was so nervous {is that weird???}.  She was tall, gorgeous, and smart – truly, I wondered how much we could have in common.  God was smiling that night at Lupe’s because we had a great time and the conversation never stopped.  Through Ash, I met her childhood BFF Erin, and the three of us have been through it ALL over the years – and have never stopped supporting, loving, and praying for each other.  So now we are blessed to all be MBFs together – and bonus, our kids really like each other too!

Amy

I’m not sure I have an MBF, but rather a handful of mom friends.  As soon as I had my daughter, it became exceedingly clear that “mompetitions” weren’t something I was interested in, and if I was going to make it through this whole parenting thing, I was going to need to rely on a village of women and conversely, make myself available to them as well.  I have a really fantastic group of friends who have been successful in guiding me through these first two and a half years — some who I have known my whole life and others who I have become friends with only recently.  Yet I am extremely grateful for each and every one of them.

Misty

My MBF is from childhood.  It’s a crazy, long-lasting friendship that has stayed true and strong and lasted the test of time.  She’s endured marriage turmoil with me, cried during infertility madness, and been the first one to celebrate my adoption and pregnancy miracles.  She supports me and loves me and my kids no matter what.  I consider her my kid’s “Auntie Bec.”  Love her and her family, which includes her son through adoption.  A bonus bond that God knew we’d also have forever.  How cool is that?!

Melissa

I’ve had several life-breathing MBFs through the years, each so different, but equally invaluable.  My first MBFs were my high school BFFs and remain so important despite distance and stages.  All my other MBFs are church family friends.  My MBFs and I have literally walked through life, death, and the in-between together.  They have been my caretaker when I was sick, my kid’s caretakers, housekeepers, cooks, all the while on their knees praying on my behalf.  We have cheered each other on and brought each other back to a tough reality when life called for it.  Love these sisters of mine.

Chelsea

I met my MBF long before we were moms.  We weren’t even wives at the time.  But certain people you just click with and are destined to be in each other’s lives.  Through new jobs, marriage, moves, and lots and lots of miles – we remained BFFs.  And after months of each trying to get pregnant, we ended up both expecting within 1.5 months of each other!  Thank heaven for MBFs…and even more so for texting!

Breonna

I have 130 Mom Best Friends.  I met them when we all got positive pregnancy tests and decided to join TheBump.com and talk through the joy, confusion, horror, and uncertainty we all faced as new mothers.  We’ve gone through pregnancy, birth, birthdays, loss, divorces, marriage, clothing choices, hundreds of hairstyles, bump photos, second and third kids, holidays, you name it.  It’s totally unconventional, but I love all of them and so glad we have each other to make it through motherhood together.

Now are you ready to hear about that guide I was telling you about?  Good, because here goes…

There is a brand new book being published by our sponsors over at Zondervan and written by the incredibly talented and hilariously funny Melanie Dale called Women are Scary.  {Because we kind of are…aren’t we?}  In it you will find the perfect mix of silly stories and powerful insight straight from the trenches of motherhood.  This mama is a PRO at forming relationships, and she walks you step-by-step on how to make friends and how to keep them for the long haul.  And as an added bonus, she will make you laugh until you leak.  {Thanks, pregnancy!}

Now I don’t want to give away ALL of the details from this book, but I strongly encourage you to go watch the trailer for it over on YouTube.  Just that video alone is filled with giggles and inspiration, but be prepared – it will probably make you want to head straight over to pre-order your own copy of Women are Scary.  And if you do…Melanie has all kinds of pre-order gifts and giveaways for you too.  {So sweet of her, right?}

Speaking of giveaways, we are giving one lucky reader a copy of the book right here and right now too!  And if you’re on Twitter, don’t miss the Twitter Party for even more chances to win goodies as well!!  More info and a link to RSVP for that below…

Winner :: Brittany A.

On Wednesday, March 18th at 8:30 p.m. CST @CityMomsBlog along with author Melanie Dale will be hosting a #WomenAreScaryBook Pre-Launch Twitter Party and giving away a line-up of fabulous prizes throughout the hour party!
 

Be sure to RSVP to the Twitter Party HERE and follow #WomenAreScaryBook and @CityMomsBlog on March 18th to join in on the fun!


Please Note :: While this may be a sponsored post, all thoughts and opinions are proudly our own!

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Kelly D
Kelly is the founder of Houston Moms Blog and has lived in this beautiful city nearly all of her life. She has a degree in education from Texas State University and was honored to teach special education for eight years to some of the cutest little kiddos you could ever meet. While teaching, Kelly met Cody – a tall drink of water and country boy to the core – and together, they fell in love, got married, and decided to start a family. In March 2011, they welcomed Hayes into the world, a silly but smart little boy with a story you have to read to believe. And in April 2013, their family was complete with the addition of Hadley, a super gregarious and oh-so-cute baby girl. Now, Kelly devotes her days to caring for her own little ones…and would not trade this new job of hers for the world! In her not-so-spare time, Kelly loves meeting up with her girlfriends for margaritas, failing miserably at Pinterest projects, and exploring this big old city with her two favorite little side-kicks in tow.

5 COMMENTS

  1. My MBF was friends with my husband when they were both single. Then she and I both got married and we had babies 2.5 weeks apart. Having each other throughout pregnancy and throughout our short stint as moms (we’re still really new!) has been wonderful, and we hope our little boys can grow up to be friends, too!

  2. I am 15 and pregnant i found my mbf at my school she is due july And i am due October 31 i don’t know what to expect in my life but i will love i

  3. In my early days of motherhood, I’m really enjoying some friendships from my bible study class and from my neighborhood. I’ve also enjoyed meeting moms through other moms’ groups. There are lots of great ways to connect with other women in this stage of life!

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