There are a few things in this world that I can credit with helping me to maintain my sanity. One of them is staying up late… till 1 or 2 am every night, so I can have the space and time to think, research, edit photos, read blogs, and online shop till my heart’s content. Another of these things is caffeine at 3 pm. I never drink caffeine in the mornings, because then what do you do when you’re hitting the floor at 4 pm… drink more? Not me; I have it down to a science. A third thing is being able to rely on at least two people, outside of Jake and myself, to be able to care for my children in every way and even run my household for a few hours in my absence. And being able to count on at least one of them at a time to say “yes” to this task when I need it most.
These two beautiful people are our babysitters, Brittany and Brooke.
We have known Brittany since before little Liam was born. We saw her most days of the week at first, but when she got a job as a first-grade teacher, she still came back to us every day during Ari’s Conductive Education program each summer for the past two years. Ari’s Conductive Ed program does Ari more benefit than probably any other single therapy. The progress that she makes in those four weeks is unbelievable. And while it kills me to leave my other three kids every single day for four weeks of their summer, I couldn’t feel better about who they’re with. I know that, not only are they being cared for and nurtured, but that they are learning and having all kinds of fun and new experiences. And when I got home every day, they were always excited to tell me about what awesome activities they got to do with Brittany.
Brooke worked with us after school for much of last year, and even after she had to stop working with us regularly for college, she still babysat for us on date nights. Date nights are our salvation. Like everything else we do, we try to make our date nights as memorable as possible, if we can help it. No chain restaurants. Jake and I try to make those valuable hours count, and while we’re living it up and remembering what we find so enchanting about each other, I know that my kids are in great hands with Brooke at home. And finally, I am able to truly relax.
For the first time ever, this summer, I felt comfortable and secure enough to leave our kids overnight… in a different state… for three days. This made history. Gabe and Ari are 7, and we have yet to do this until this summer. What coaxed me to embrace the freedom? These girls. They were willing to both stay so Jake and I could finally leave without a worry.
These kids are so lucky to have these amazing young women in their lives who love them like family and feel so invested in them. We love them like our family, and for me, that’s saying a lot.
The following photos were mostly taken by Brittany, and all the others were taken by Brooke from this summer. 
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