personal // my last day with the babies.

I had my last day with the family I was nannying for exactly three weeks ago. And you know what?

It's really hard to say goodbye to little ones. 

They don't understand distance (especially the distance of being in another country), how long a year is (or four), what goodbye means, or why you absolutely have to leave & not be their nanny anymore. What do you say to a three year old that says "Wessie, can you stay more pwease? I so much wuv you."

See this precious baby girl? I met Aspen when she was just 9 months old, when she was just starting to explore solid foods and only crawling. Now she is 18 months old, and one amazing little baby girl who runs, uses sign language to communicate, understands everything you say, puts on her own shoes (and even picks out matching ones!), and, well, tries to do and eat everything her siblings do. She still stops crying every time her brother and sister sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"... that hasn't changed over the past year.

Aspen suddenly goes from baby to TODDLER!

This rambunctious little man is Chase. Chase has learned so much about being a big kid over our time together -- he's learned how to count, he can color in the lines better than anyone else in the house, and I potty-trained this kiddo. He now loves to show that he can put clothes in his dresser & make his bed all by himself AND he can pitch a baseball to himself to hit it every time!! My favorite thing about him, though, is that he breaks out into song randomly all the time (I'm a Little Teapot, some Bruno Mars, or even a little Call Me "Baby"), and that when an idea is super exciting to him, his "yeah!" comes out "CHEEEEEAHHH!".

See Chase grow!

My beautiful little lady, Scarlett, is certainly one of the brightest children I have ever met. She practically absorbs knowledge through osmosis or something. When I met this darlin', she was struggling a little with the big cross-country move her family had to make and she would cry at any time something upset her. She could name and recognize all of her ABC's and desperately wanted to learn more things, like how to read. Now, she is so mature and very well settled, and literally helps anyone with everything. Helping is like a favorite hobby to her. She also in the time I was with her, learned to read, write, spell, and do math at a first grade level... and she's never even been to preschool! She blew my mind every day, and taught me a lot about remembering everyone and being thoughtful.

Sweet Scarlett. 

The big sister Taylor is a special girl who completed the 3rd grade in her first school year in Virginia this year. This was a big adjustment for her because she is old enough to remember all of the things she loved about her previous home. She was not used to wearing a big winter coat in February, still wearing jeans in April, or the pool not being open yet. Definitely a warm weather girl, and a kid who judges what she will wear based on how well she can run in it! She spent a lot of time asking me all about Virginia, about what she called "funny farm accents", and about my wedding. I also taught her how to make her first apple pie from scratch!

Taylor with her pie!

The kids grew so much over the time I was with them... more than I probably ever could have imagined or expected. Children are AMAZING. Their ability to learn, and grow, and grasp new things, and acquire knowledge that wasn't even taught directly to them is so awesome. And the crazy thing I know is that the baby will be going to kindergarten when we get back! It's funny because I think she (and each of them) is so grown right now, but in four more years.... just imagine how awesome they'll be! There will be so many changes in all this time, and sometimes I can't believe I won't be there to see it. That also made goodbye hard.


This sweet family sent me off so well. We played and snuggled all day, then we went out for a second of two photo shoots in the back yard, shot by Scarlett, Taylor, and sometimes the self-timer on my camera (that they are in love with). We had a mini-party when their mom got home complete with cheesecake, where they gave me beautiful flowers, kid drawings, and a new scarf (they know me so well!). There were tears from almost everyone. Taylor was the most comfortable with everything because she was happy to know I could video call her like her far-away relatives. Scarlett had two full tearful meltdowns as I was leaving because that's when it set in for her. Chase was the comforter, who told me "Wessie, no more being sad, you have FLOWERS!"

Some of our backyard photos. :)

My heart hurts to know that I can no longer see them all the time because they were constantly a source of joy! But I know that God put me in this place to learn a lot, and I'm so thankful for this time I've had to spend an extended amount of time to truly getting to know just how little kids tick. I know that this will be so great for me when ministering to the children in Danli, Honduras! I can hardly wait to see what other little ones I completely fall head over heels for (again). 

Lesley