Transplanted mom of 3 littles seeking friends

Here we are, transplanted from the east coast all the way to Seattle!  What a change!  We are settling in, things are going well.  We've found the grocery stores, gotten new driver's licenses, found parks, etc.

I feel like part of my job here is finding us local friends.  I thought this was going to be super easy!  Back in Maryland we have an amazing network of awesome friends.  Not just casual friends, but real friends, ones that you are super comfortable with, ones that you help out and they help you, ones that you can just drop in and chat, without schedule a playdate a week in advance, ones that you get along with and just click.  Can you tell I miss you guys???  Leaving our friends is one of the most difficult things with this move.  It's been a major change in our daily lives- not being around you all.  For those that don't know, we'd see our Maryland friends a few times a week.  More often, once we knew we'd be leaving- trying to get as much time with them as we could before we left.  The boys really miss their friends too.

Examples:

"I miss Lily, she's my friend.  I really like her animals too." - Evan with tears in his eyes...

"I want to go to Don and John David's house..... " (pleading, whining voice)- Cooper

It's enough to break your heart...  And I could give examples referencing all of our little friends too :-)

My eastern Maryland friends, I miss you guys too!  We didn't get to see you all as often, but wow, how did we get so lucky to have such good friends!  These are the friends we could plan weekend adventures with- winter sledding and cabin trip, skiing/snowboarding, beach...

Making friends here I believe is going to be an experience...  Right now it feels like I'm dating....  Seriously...  Here's an example...you're at the park...you spot another mom with 2 kids remotely the same age as your's... next step...come up with a way to strike up a conversation... sometimes they pretty much shut you down, ugh, really...how rude! Other times, the conversation continues...yes!  Maybe you talk about things to do...maybe you get a way to work in maybe meeting up at the library or tot gym...afterwards, you excitedly tell your husband- currently the only other adult to talk to...I met someone!  There was one day I emailed Brett, "I met someone!  We even exchanged numbers!"  After most encounters, you find yourself questioning....I don't think I said anything dumb!  We might meet up?  Did she like us?  Will our kids play well?  I wonder if we have anything in common?  And I swear I'm not an insecure person...

I like meeting new people!  So generally I think it's fun to talk to and meet people.  It just feels awful when people totally disregard you.  Who does that?  It would be so awesome if I just had one of our friends, just one person. I'm a better mom, better wife and life is just better when you have friends.  The kids need friends too!  They are getting exposure to other kids often, but I want them to be able to develop friendships.  I have to remind myself it takes time.  Part of me wonders if it's possible to find great friends here.  Before you jump to say of "course it is"...  It's more challenging now to make friends- I've got a lot of variables.  When you just have one little, it's pretty easy to meet and get to know other moms with their first baby too. You instantly have that it's my first baby everything is knew thing in common.  You are similar schedules and have less variables.  I have Oliver napping two times a day and the big boys napping in between that, plus preschool three days a week.  That doesn't leave a lot of 'free' time.  (There are loads of meet ups, PEPs groups, MOMS groups, MOPS, etc- but again, they all meet during naps...)  And those first time moms looking for friends too, well they don't seem to be particularly interested in getting together with a mom with multiple kids...I think they are scared to have their little ones around bigger tots?  I'm not entirely sure.  Most of the preschool moms seem to be busy and settled in their routine.  These moms are all super nice though!  There's hope, I'm not giving up, it's just not going to happen as easily as it has in the past.  I'm spoiled, what can I say?  I love you guys!!!

Oh, we do have a playdate set up for this week and we are meeting some people at the library for story time!  We'll see how it goes! :-)