Ever since Siler was born a little over a year ago we’ve been extremely lucky when it comes to babysitters. Between family and friends there has been maybe 3 days where either Jennifer or I had to take off work to watch Siler. And I’m pretty sure all 3 of those days were either because Siler became sick and needed to go to the doctor or because our main babysitter was giving birth :)

Right off the bat we had family who were available at a moment’s notice. Mine and Jennifer’s parents have never turned down an opportunity to watch Siler. All the Grandparents have taken vacation days to watch Siler without us even asking. When we’re in need of a babysitter the conversation usually goes like this.

Me: Hey, are you off next Tuesday?
Grandparent: I don’t think so, Why?
Me: We were trying to find somebody to watch Siler.
Grandparent: Hang on let me see if I can take a vacation day.
Me: Oh no, it’s not that big of deal. Jennifer said she can take that day off.
Grandparent: I’ll take off. I’ll call you tomorrow to let you know for sure.
Me: Uh, ok.... Awesome. Thanks.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Earlier this Spring we needed somebody to babysit for just 2 days. Our main babysitter was pregnant and a few weeks from giving birth. We wanted to give our parents a break since they had been doing the majority of the babysitting. Basically they used all their off days to babysit for us. So Jennifer called up one of her friends, Natalie Martin, to see if she would be interested. Natalie had told us months earlier that she would gladly watch Siler if we needed her, but things were a little different now. Natalie was actually a few months pregnant herself at this point with her first child. Jennifer and I were both worried that it might to hard on Natalie to watch Siler while pregnant. But Natalie came through in the clutch and watched Siler for 2 days for us with no problems at all. We couldn’t thank her enough for getting us out of that jam. If I remember correctly, we tried to pay her and she wouldn’t accept any money from us. Some people are to kind.

One thing Jennifer and I had agreed on was that we didn’t want Siler going to daycare when she was really little. We wanted to wait until she could talk and carry on conversations with us. We ended up hitting the jackpot when Jennifer’s friend, Amber Kennon, told us she would babysit Siler for us. When Siler was born Amber was a stay-at-home mom with 2 kids (Addison 2 & Ava 1). This was a great situation because Siler would be watched by somebody we trusted and she had 2 kids who were close to Siler’s age. It’s kind of a best of both worlds. Siler is with somebody we know and trust. Plus she gets to interact with kids her age.

The best part is that Amber has been an amazing babysitter. She’s so good, that Siler doesn’t want to leave when Jennifer picks her up in the afternoons. Each day she keeps the kids on a schedule. Breakfast, play, lunch, nap, play, snack and play. Both of Amber’s girls just love Siler. Just the other morning I was dropping Siler off and Addison (now 3 years old) woke up and came in to the living room to see Siler. The first thing she did was bend down and give Siler a hug and a kiss. Ava, who is less then a year older than Siler,our like partners in crime. Amber says they tend to walk around the house talking jibber jabber to each other and play together all day. Not only does Siler have fun, but Amber makes them eat healthy and has them do various activities throughout the day. We really are fortunate that our babysitter situation has been a best-case scenario. To Amber, Natalie and especially all the Grandparents, we say “Thank You”.