Hailey's first friend

The last few months adjusting to our new "life" have been filled with new people: new coworkers for Ryan, new leaders in the singles ministry, new people that we're ministering to, new friends in the form of the other pastor's wives, new faces as I get used to dropping Hailey off in the church nursery, and the list goes on... We've met a ton of new people since we've been here in Raleigh.

One thing that's been different for me is to not have an automatic group of people that I hang out with and see everyday like I did when I was teaching. I've had to actually meet people to hang out with, not just have them there. I've loved meeting and getting to know the singles and other pastor's wives but I've been hoping and wanting to find other moms with babies or young kids that are in the same stage of life as I am too. My Bible Study on Tuesday mornings has been a great place for that, but as crazy as it sounds, I've also met a few moms in the nursing room on Sunday mornings as I feed Hailey at church. They have babies right around Hailey's age so it's been neat to talk about things like starting solids, sleeping schedules and such because let's face it, only moms with babies want to talk about things like that!

Anyways, our first week at Providence I met Megan. She has a daughter Clara who is one day younger than Hailey. A few months ago, Megan invited Hailey and I to join her and a few friends on their weekly walk around the park. That has been so much fun for me! I've loved it not only for the exercise, but for the friendships that are forming too. This past Saturday, we went over to their house for dinner. We had a great time! It was awesome for Ryan and I to hang out with another married couple with a baby the same age as Hailey. We don't get to do that much! It was fun to see Hailey interact with another baby too.

Hailey didn't do so well with the sharing thing. Every time Clara would pick up a toy, Hailey would take it from her. We'll have to work on that.

Notice the "grabbing" hand?! Not a good sharer.

We ended up not getting to hang out for long. Hailey was really fussy and tired, so we had to leave right after dinner. But it was still a lot of fun!

Here is a picture that Megan texted me this morning after church. Hailey and Clara went on a stroller ride in the nursery and both fell asleep! How cute are they?! I think Hailey found her first friend...and I did too!