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Childhood friend talks about Shanann and the girls

Shanann's childhood friend describes her as the friend everyone wants to have. Lauren Arnold spoke to 9NEWS about Shanann and her daughters and says their story is the one that matters now.

Shanann, Bella and Cece Watts were first reported missing from Frederick on Tuesday by a friend. A day later, Shanann’s husband and the girl’s dad was arrested for three counts of first-degree murder.

Now, one of Sanann’s childhood friends - Lauren Arnold - wants to make sure everyone knows who the pregnant mother and girls were.

Toddlers Bella, 4, and CeCe, 3, had big, but different personalities.

“Cece’s a little firecracker! She’s a big ball of energy,” said Arnold. “Just the complete opposite of Bella but just as sweet.”

Bella, she said, was quiet and shy.

"Bella was excited about having a baby so she was constantly rubbing her stomach and talking to her stomach," described Arnold. "While Cece’s like climbing on chairs and pulling stuff down."

They were all so excited about having a boy. Lauren told 9NEWS Shanann was supposed to have a gender reveal this week.

Lauren and Shanann met in high school back in 2000. They’ve been friends since. They spent holidays together and had many play dates. Lauren has two girls and is also expecting a little boy.

"She was just one of those people where if you were upset and you need to talk, you could call her," said Lauren. "She was just the epitome of a really good friend."

Shanann was a Steelers fan, a great cook and had time for everything.

"Somehow, she would be able to work the whole time and also keep her house spotless and her kids played with," she said. "There were like four of her sometimes, I don’t know how she did it."

Lauren said Shanann was happy, energetic and a very loving person.

"They had way to much ahead of them. She was so excited about having another baby and there was so much more that she wanted to do and she wanted to see," she said. "They don’t get to do any of that now and it’s not fair."

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