nothing good happens after midnight

dear parents of our babysitter last night,

what can we say but wow? your daughter is nothing short of amazing. i pray tonight that others will talk of the goo and big h like we are talking about your daughter. you've done great work to raise such an incredible young woman. she was courteous, very cute (not that it matters but an added bonus), excited about being here, polite, had a great work ethic, and was extremely caring.

i know we came home late tonight -- the first night to have her over -- but the way she handled herself was incredible. i will apologize over and over again for staying out as late as we did. i promise, we had NO idea our movie would be so long. i hope you felt safer knowing i was following her home.

what a heart for Christ. i don't know what you prayed about for her when she was little (or hadn't even been conceived yet), but things are going to be great for her, and you should be SO PROUD!

thanks again for letting her come over, and we hope to see her very soon.

love,
big h and the goo's parents...





we had a new babysitter last night. we have been searching for a babysitter for a while. (don't get your panties in a wad, biscuit -- i'm talking high school girls.) i have asked said babysitter several times, but she has never been available. last night, she was available. and to say we liked her would be an understatement. she was so prompt and when she walked in the door, she hugged me and said, "oh, it is so good to finally meet you and put a face with a name." i'm serious. she really did. i showed her around. in the midst of us redoing the floor, the house has become, should we say, um...cluttered? now, i am obsessive-compulsive about some things but having an immaculate house is not one of those. i really, really wish it was. but it's not. but to have clutter on top of normal clutter. well, that makes for a lot of clutter. but, i digress. i told her that if she wanted anything besides dr. pepper, she would be up a creek. her response was, "oh, that's ok. i'm not a soda drinker." she proceeded to tell me that our home was beautiful and so nicely decorated and that we had such great taste. i tell you that not to brag because those of you who know me know that decorating is definitely NOT my strong suit. (you're wondering what in the world buz saw in me? i don't clean. i can't decorate. oh, and i don't like to cook. it's like a bachelor pad around here.) again...off the subject. she asked us what we were going to do and told us to have fun. we showed her where the remotes were for the tv as well as where the computer was. and her response was, "oh, that's ok. i brought my pre-cal homework to work on." i wanted to check her pulse but thought that might be inappropriate. we got ready to leave, and i can't explain how good it felt to know that big h and the goo would be in her hands. so we walked around a couple of stores without anyone wanting to touch anything. so liberating. then, we had dinner, and we got to eat it right when it came out, and it was still hot. and then we headed to our really long movie. i don't remember the last time buz and i held hands in a movie theater. and now for the part where you learn how incredibly hip i still am. when we were sitting in the movie theater, i thought it would be a good idea to let babysitter extraordinaire know our plans and our ETA. so i "texted" her. now, before you start thinking i'm still in my 20s or something, i don't know if you say, "i texted her" or "i sent her a text."

she was supposed to be home by midnight, and when our movie was over, i looked at my watch and it said 11:55! i felt so horrible. i called and told her we would get home as fast as we could. on the way home, buz and i talked about we would both feel better if i followed her home. because you know, my dad was FAMOUS for saying, "nothing good happens after midnight." i hated it when i was a junior in high school, or say a sophomore in COLLEGE, but now that i am a parent, i feel the exact same way. don't tell him -- it will give him a big head.

all in all, wonderful evening, and i pray her parents let her sit for us again. or that she even wants to sit for us again.

made it to church today. much needed. always. dropped the goo off, and the girl signing her in to the infant class asked if there were any specific instructions. nope. "does she need a bottle?" nope. "anything we should know?" nope. this is so foreign to me. when we would drop big h off, our instructions went a little something more like this.

"ok, he will probably cry. and it will probably be pretty loud. but i swear he's not hurting or in pain. and he isn't sick. he just has a loud cry. he will probably never smile, but i promise he's not upset. now, if you want to try a pacifier, you can. but he will probably not take it. there is really nothing you can't try. swing. bouncy. exersaucer. your arms. whatever. just know that he will probably cry. and it will probably be really loud. but...he really is a sweet baby."

and to this day, we have NEVER been paged for either of our kids. and yes, i am knocking on wood as i write this.

headed to the mall for some play time for big h. i promise we have made it to at least 4 different malls in the past week for various needs. needs being a loose term.

random note: listening to "waiting for a star to fall" by boy meets girl on the ipod right now. anyone wondering at this point if i have any friends?