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Sunny: “Olivia, can you be my big sister and can I keep you forever?”

I would say that our reunion with the mom and daughter of the family Kimmy and I nannied for in Southern California was more than a success. The girls fell in love with Olivia instantly, and vied for her attention and affection throughout our dinner rendez-vous.

When we lived in Ventura, Kimmy and I answered a Craigslist ad for a babysitter for a 6 month old baby boy and 4 year old girl, and an unbelievable friendship and melding of families was born.

This family was such an intimate and significant part of our lives for the two years that we lived in Ventura. In fact, my final months nannying for them, I was pregnant with Sunny. A decision that was very much inspired by my experience caring for their son. Kim, the mom, empowered me to really take ownership of my pregnancy and birth experience. She is the reason I believed in my ability to have an intervention-free birth (assuming all was healthy and well during the labor/pregnancy), and she modeled work/family balance beautifully through those early years of parenting children. James and I very much modeled our own work structure off of the example of their family. It is truly remarkable to think about the profound impact these people had on our lives, and how much they influenced our own family and future. I am forever grateful for the forces of the Universe that brought us together. Our paths were meant to cross. They are our west coast family.

I found pictures from a grand LA adventure that Kimmy and I took Olivia on in celebration of her sixth birthday. It’s wild to think about Sunny’s upcoming sixth birthday, looking at the kind, mature, thoughtful, nearly-13 year old Olivia. Ah time! You pesky cliché you! I realize Sunny will be hitting the teen years before we know it.

Kim and Olivia were in NYC for a work trip slash spring break adventure, and so we decided to all meet half way between VT and the city for a dinner and get together (they had never met Courtland, and seen Sunny last when she was 16-months old), and as James reflected during our icy, snowy, messy ride home, Man, that was SO worth it. 

Yes, indeed, it was.