Mommy sleepovers.

Our group (from left to right): Clark, Arleigh, Lilah, Nolan, Bri, JJ, Taylor, Jamie, Jake, Mama Saigh, and Linna

I have some of the best mommy-friends ever. You know you surround yourself with good people when you actually look forward to having sleepovers with these ladies AND their kiddos. I have three girlfriends that I spend a lot of time with when we're in Minnesota. I met Bri about five years ago when I was working at Twin Cities Live (I produced her segments), I met Arleigh about 10 years ago when we competed in pageants together, and I've known Jamie since college. When I would produce children's fashion or maternity segments on Twin Cities Live, I would often ask these girls and their cute kiddos to be my models. This is how we all started hanging out together. Between the four of us, we currently have seven kids who have basically grown up together. The oldest is Taylor who is almost five, and the youngest is Jake who is seven months old.

Our first sleepover about a year ago at Bri's house.

Linna and Lilah making ice cream sundaes at our sleepover last night.

I love this photo. THIS is how real parents do sleepovers.

Linna, Clark, Baby Jake, Taylor, and JJ cuddled up to watch a movie.

It's not very often that you find a group of moms that completely click like we do. There's nothing pretentious or fake about these girls. They are REAL. Our conversations are real, and we're very honest with each other. We feel comfortable showing up to our playdates in dirty yoga pants, and rarely wear make-up around each other. I look forward to being back in Minnesota, so we can have our sleepovers at one of our houses with all the kids.

This sounds crazy, right?!

Beautiful Taylor, the cat, and the pajama twins Lilah and Linna.

Linna set up her beauty shop during the sleepover.

See all the sprinkles on the floor?! Letting a 2 and 3-year old control the sprinkles wasn't the BEST idea.

These sleepovers are therapy for me. The kids play, and the mommies drink wine and chat. We did our first sleepover about a year ago, when most of the kids were still babies. We had four baby monitors and the same amount of pack n' plays set up in Bri's house. Sleep was one thing we went without. This time around, the kids are older, and the moms are a little more relaxed. Jamie hosted last night's sleepover at her home in Woodbury, and her husband Tom even hung out with the girls (while babysitting the kids - thanks Tom!). I made a mousakka, Jamie made chicken nuggets, tater tots, and movie snack-packs for the kids, and if I told you how many bottles of wine were consumed... CPS would probably be notified. But that's the beauty of these sleepovers... It's a REALLY fun happy hour, and no one has to drive home! See, we ARE completely responsible parents.

Honestly though, if you have a group of mommy-friends that you completely click with... try a mommy sleepover. The hard work that comes with parenting, deserves to be rewarded!