The end of a great season...

What a special night we had last night! The Gibbs, the family I work for, wanted to have a "retirement party" for me before the baby came to celebrate our time together. I had no idea how sweet the night would be! Brad and I drove up to see all 4 boys, dressed up in their white shirts and jeans, with hair fixed and all, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me, "Miss Nicole". They ran to greet me and we immediately started a photo session to get pictures with all the boys and me. Melissa thought of all the details...making all my favorite foods that she makes--a yummy sun dried tomato dip for an appetizer, tortilla soup, guacamole, and ending with a yummy chocolate cake with chunky cherry icing! We ate a "fancy" dinner on the dining room table as the boys served as waiters. The most special time of the night came when they gifted me something I will treasure FOREVER--letters. Melissa and all the boys except little Taylor of course, wrote me letters of thanks for these years we've had together. They took it to the next level and each read their letter out loud to me... so, of course, no dry eyes were present! It was precious to hear the things they had to say and the memories that come to their minds when they remember all of our time together. Melissa blessed me beyond words with her sweet letter to me...I think the boys were very concerned with how hard they saw "Mommy and Miss Nicole" crying (something they don't see very often)! Melissa and I have just always been amazed and blessed by how well this situation has worked and although I'm excited about taking care of my own baby and they are in great shape for me to leave, it is sad as we think about not seeing each other most days of the week and sharing in the friendship that we have grown so used to. Thankfully, this relationship with the Gibbs will continue...the boys are all ready to be brothers to my baby (they are all hoping for a little boy, of course!) and I can't wait to continue to watch them grow up!

As I finish up this four year season of taking care of the Gibbs boys--I like to think I've had "the best internship ever"! It is hard to believe that almost 4 1/2 years ago, I sat across from Melissa for an "interview"--still on Young Life staff, not engaged yet, and thinking that being a nanny would be a great temporary job as I moved to Huntersville. We could have never known that it would not only turn out to be my job for the next 4 years, but that we would become like family and partners in their household in the most perfect and natural way that you could imagine. When I started working for them, Taylor, the youngest, at almost 4 years old, was not even born yet...Jackson, a 5th grader, was just starting 1st grade, Jason, at 6, was just potty training and barely talking, and Miller, at 8, was just in preschool! I could never write enough about how much I have learned from Melissa on motherhood... she is so many things that I hope to become and after seeing her in the day to day routine, the hard times, and the easier times, I am so amazed at her consistency, integrity, and faithfulness as she plays the role of Mom to these 4 busy boys. I couldn't have watched a better example and I KNOW I will be a better mom because of her! To say the least, we have seen each other through a lot in these years... from small milestones like taking first steps, learning to read, learning to swim or ride a bike, and first days of school... to the more intense times of Taylor's battle with leukemia...

As a lot of you know, Melissa is a gifted writer, and I'll leave you with a few excerpts from her letter that sum things up well...

"I can't imagine a situation that you can't handle. You have cared for twin newborns, potty trained, home-schooled, administered chemo, cleaned up vomit, mini-golfed with a baby strapped to your chest, sat through an elementary school play, and learned the words to hundreds of songs on XM Kids."

"I hope you will smile a little smile of remembrance when your child takes that first bite of rice cereal, or take a first step, or goes poo-poo on the potty, or cries at the sight of a costume "character", or learns to read, or jumps to you from the side of the pool, or sings "God is so Good". I hope you'll fondly recall your first "children".

So, here I go...leaving this great experience and off to become mommy to my own little one. Thankfully Melissa is just a phone call away...

Enjoy this slideshow from the last few years!